Chapter 25 · Two Powers (2)

Terminal. I was terminal!

When I pressed him about whether there was anyone who had adapted to the two powers, Paeon couldn’t give an answer, which struck me as suspicious, so I kept digging—and out of his mouth came a thunderbolt of a revelation.

No one had lasted more than two months. If that wasn’t terminal, what was? In this life too, I was going to fail to live past twelve!

“You only need to succeed in adapting. In theory, it is possible.”

Paeon said this endlessly and with patience, but I had already become a lost soul.

“What good is theory if it’s possible…?”

So it meant everyone died in practice. If it was this hard, no wonder.

‘As expected, I should just go to the next life…’

No, wait a moment. A chill ran down my spine.

Since divine power had manifested, wouldn’t I regress into the next life already possessing both powers? Then I’d die again quickly, regress immediately, die, regress, die… Oh, this is insane!

‘I’ve been reduced to not even surviving past one year!’

If I couldn’t adapt in this life, I would fall into the hell of an infinite loop—regressing to a three-month-old baby, dying, regressing again, dying again. Worse than dying forever.

“What do I do… What do I do now? Waaah!”

Tears came on their own from despair. I clung to Paeon and wailed. Even in the midst of this, he kept pouring out divine power. Thanks to that, I didn’t have to keep all my attention fixed on the mana inside me—his powerful divine power suppressed my mana for me.

But even Paeon couldn’t stay glued to me all day, could he?

“I will,”

he hesitated, then continued.

“I will help you.”

Huh?

“Until the princess builds immunity, I will help you adapt.”

“B-but, Papa is the commander of the knight order. You have so many duties, and you can’t stay by Asha’s side aww the time.”

“That is not something the princess needs to worry about.”

Oh ho? This man! Didn’t you say with your own mouth that you couldn’t be my escort knight for that very reason!

Still, since he was stepping forward to help, I felt a little relieved. But his face was growing darker and darker, as if clouds were gathering.

Why are you making that ominous face…!

“No one must know yet that the princess has manifested divine power.”

“Is that why you sent the sisters out? Why can’t they know?”

“Because if the royal family and the temple find out, they may… confine the princess. In a space where both prana and mana are blocked.”

Wh-what did you say?

I was dazed for a moment at the shocking words.

“It would be an unavoidable choice. They cannot simply let the princess die.”

“But that means being impwisoned fow wife!”

“I am saying I will help so that it does not come to that.”

Paeon felt unfamiliar. What was this man’s motive for doing this for me? The Paeon I knew wouldn’t care whether I was confined or not.

But looking into his utterly serious eyes, somehow I wanted to just trust him. To trust that adapting to the two powers was not impossible.

‘Please, just let me avoid a hundred-day regression loop or a lifetime of confinement.’

Just then, there was another knock at the door.

“Sir Parsiel! His Majesty is calling for you. I think you need to go at once!”

“Understood. I’ll be out soon.”

“Papa! I wish Siewwa, Yuz, and Wosa could know about this.”

At my cautious whisper, he looked troubled.

“The more people who know, the more easily it will leak. This matter must be known only to me and the princess.”

“You can’t twust the sisters? They’we my angels.”

I persisted. Now that things had come to this, I would have to stay attached to him, and if he didn’t give a clear reason and just glossed over it, that would seem even more suspicious, didn’t he know?

Anyway, this man was far too rigid!

“They might tell others out of worry for the princess.”

“Sciptuwes Chaptew 18, Vewse 6: ‘Twust youw bwothew, and twust youw sistew. Fow those bound in faith, even the shadow of death shaw not d awe to appwoach them.’”

“…”

He opened his eyes wide and looked at me. For a man who knew nothing but religion, responding with religion was the best policy.

“Hah… Understood. We’ll tell only those three.”

Paeon let out a deep sigh, then lifted me off the bed in one swift motion.

“Princess, from now on, we need to get our story straight. That is…”

He trailed off. It seemed his conscience was pricking him about making a young child do something a priest should not do.

“Don’t wowwy about that. Acting is Asha’s speciawty.”

He was worrying for nothing, with a professional actor right in front of him.

◇ ◆ ◇

The audience chamber.

“Welcome, Sir Parsiel.”

The king, who looked somewhat gaunt as if he hadn’t slept properly, greeted us.

“This is… a rather unexpected sight.”

He looked at us with a bewildered gaze. Not just the king, but all the knights around him as well. Paeon had appeared holding me tightly in his arms and hadn’t even offered a knight’s salute to the king.

“…I apologize for the rudeness. The princess suffers panic attacks when she is separated from me.”

“No, a mere greeting doesn’t matter. The princess comes first. But panic attacks! What on earth happened?”

“She seems to have been deeply shocked. After all, she went through something like that…”

I was acting too, but Paeon was quite shameless as well. Perhaps this talent was the only thing I had inherited from him. I hung from him like a koala, burying my face in his shoulder, as if every human being other than him were an object of terror.

“I thought my heart would drop last night too. And my heart is weak as it is! For the princess to be seized by those horrible men… It was truly the worst possible situation!”

“I am sorry. This happened due to my negligence.”

“I don’t think this is something that can be passed off as mere negligence.”

This unpleasant voice was… the vice-commander of Dinitas, Count Ellenoa.

“The royal palace has been turned upside down. We must all reflect on the fact that we have protected the palace and the temple with only this level of security. However!”

Ugh, how long is this man going to keep nitpicking! He’s caught quite a big one this time!

“I have received a report that Sir Parsiel did not immediately share the fact of the princess’s disappearance with the royal family, which made the search even more difficult.”

What?! Why on earth would he do that? It was strange, given how thorough Paeon was.

“This is a clear dereliction of duty!”

Ugh, but Paeon was the one who found and saved me, so why is he making such a fuss! This man’s hatred for Paeon is truly petty!

“…Yes, it was my mistake. I thought I could find her on my own.”

Why are you just admitting it so meekly?!

I felt like I was going to explode with frustration, so I hugged his shoulder as if to crush it, but he didn’t seem to feel it at all and continued speaking indifferently.

“As a sign of taking responsibility, please entrust Princess Anastasia’s escort to me for the time being. I will protect the princess with all my heart and soul.”

“Wh-what did you say?”

I heard the king nearly slide off his throne in surprise.

“How will you carry out your duties as commander?!”

“For the time being, Shellman will act in my place for external missions. Shellman has led the knight order well on her own even when I was carrying out separate missions. I can handle internal management while escorting the princess.”

“But you clearly said you wouldn’t escort the princess.”

“The situation is different from then. Now that the princess has suffered serious trauma… I believe it is right to stay by her side until she stabilizes.”

“Yes, if you’ll do that, then… The royal family would be very grateful. Does the High Priest agree as well?”

When the king asked Belus, who had been standing quietly beside him, he agreed in his gentle voice.

“Yes, the temple also prioritizes the princess’s stability and health above all. I respect Sir Parsiel’s judgment.”

Fortunately, things were flowing smoothly!

“I heard that an apprentice knight of Veritas took the princess and slipped out of the temple!”

Count Ellenoa, apparently furious that Paeon had slipped out of his reprimand like a snake gliding over a wall, shouted at the top of his lungs.

“How do you intend to take responsibility for your negligence in managing your knights, Sir Parsiel?!”

“I heard your son was also wandering around the plaza, Lord Ellenoa.”

The king shot back reproachfully.

“Kuh…! That is…”

Good grief, he’s ended up spitting on his own face. I couldn’t see, but his face must have been burning red by now.

“Failing to properly manage my own child is… my negligence. I will educate him thoroughly when I get home.”

Fortunately, it seemed both Rizen and Ark were safe. But I worried whether Ark’s calves would survive. I felt so sorry, what should I do…?

“Thanks to Sir Parsiel, we were able to catch all of them, so I won’t hold you accountable. We nearly lost them again this time. Their base isn’t only in the capital, but if we torture the ones we captured alive, we should soon catch their head.”

“We will take responsibility for that matter. They seemed to be a highly organized group. Such people tend to have considerable loyalty as well. Some took their own lives before they could be dragged in.”

I heard the drawling voice of Edwin Alter, commander of Dinitas. Those cockroach-like bastards seemed to have put down deeper roots in Santra than I had thought. Well, of course—a criminal organization with that many magic users. There was no way they could all be wiped out at once.

“Please take good care of the princess. For a princess who was so lively to not even be able to lift her head… It pains me that she seems to be going through too much at such a young age.”

The king said worriedly. To me, who had been through ten times more than he imagined, it was a little funny, but still, receiving sincere worry from my maternal grandfather wasn’t so bad.

‘…You should have done that from the start, in my past lives.’

No matter how well he treated me now, I couldn’t help but resent him. In the end, he too had weighed me against Aquila and chosen Aquila. No—he had never even put me on the scales to begin with.

I was going to escape before I turned twelve once I got past this crisis, so I wouldn’t get to see my grandfather regret anything with my own eyes… But anyway, I hoped he would shed tears of blood at least once.

Whether or not Paeon knew my complicated feelings, he silently carried me back to the temple. Why was this man suddenly acting like this toward me? For it to be mere responsibility and duty, there was no reason anywhere for him to go this far.

A thought drifted softly in. A thought carrying a very sweet fragrance. I tried hard to look away from it, but it would not easily disappear.

‘Could it be… he’s grown a little fond of me?’