Chapter 74

Since trade with a new nation was a rare thing for Santra as well, the king had prepared quite a lavish reception. After the audience ended, they were guided to a grand banquet hall.

I followed Paeon toward it, and he asked with a furrowed brow.

“Why do you keep looking at that man from earlier?”

I had been watching the ruffian-looking interpreter. He would interpret with a cheerful smile, then between moments let out heavy sighs with a face that had turned completely dark.

“Um… because it’s fascinating?”

“Don’t look at him. It’s not good for the princess’s sensibilities.”

Good grief, the one having the worst effect on my sensibilities is you! You insolent excuse for a father!

I forced down the words boiling up inside me and kept watching the interpreter to the end. I had lived ten whole lives, and more than half of them had ended outside the royal palace, but I was someone who had endured Aquila through and through. She had surely prepared some scheme. She wouldn’t miss a matter this important. And if I were Aquila, I would have made the interpreter one of my people first.

Just then, Stella walked toward me. Huh? Why is she suddenly coming to me? Don’t come, don’t come! What nonsense is she going to say now?

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

She said coldly, glancing at Paeon. Her look said, ‘Know your place and leave.’

“…”

But Paeon did not budge, whether on purpose or not. He simply faced her with a face as rigid as a marble sculpture.

Stella couldn’t bring herself to tell Paeon, who radiated such an intimidating aura, to move aside. Even she, who cared little for others, seemed to find Paeon frightening.

“Please go ahead, Aunt.”

When I smiled brightly and spoke, she huffed and turned red and blue by turns before finally opening her mouth.

“Go back to your room.”

“What?”

“Don’t you dare think of attending the banquet, and go back this instant! Do you want to bring shame to the country?!”

“Is my attending the banquet a shame to the country?”

“Of course it is! You’re a bastard!”

In that instant, Paeon beside me flinched.

Listen carefully, you man. This is how I lived in my past lives, always treated like this. You never cared a whit about me, so you wouldn’t know!

“Those people still don’t even know you exist, and if they find out there’s a bastard princess… this will spread across the entire continent!”

In truth, I had intended to only watch the reception and not attend the banquet. There was more than enough else I had to do.

But my intuition told me. There was no way Aquila would sit still. To prevent any possible disaster, I absolutely had to attend an occasion like this.

“Hey, can’t you hear me? I said get out right now!”

As Stella shouted at me while I stood there blankly, the king came walking toward us from far off.

‘That’s right. It’s time to show my ultimate technique that hasn’t seen the light in a long while.’

My talent that had lain dormant since the New Sprout Festival incident when I was four!

I put all my strength into my eyes and squeezed out the saddest thoughts I could. I had so, so many sorrowful and painful things in my life that shedding a few tears like this was nothing. In an instant, a single tear rolled down my cheek.

“?!”

Stella was flustered.

“Hey, hey! What makes you think you can cry? Ha!”

“Anastasia!”

“…A-Aunt? No, Father?”

The king was already close by. Stella turned and started in surprise.

“What’s the matter? Why are you crying here?”

I said nothing at first and simply let the tears stream silently. I had to maximize how pitiful I looked.

“Stella! What did you say to her again?”

The king rebuked Stella with a sharp look. At that, she cried out as if wronged.

“No, that girl just suddenly started crying! I didn’t say anything special!”

“Hngh… Your Majesty, I really don’t think I should attend the banquet after all.”

I said, wiping my tears with the back of my hand.

“No, why? Isn’t it an occasion where all the royals attend!”

“Aunt said I was Santra’s disgrace… that I shouldn’t attend the banquet.”

“Hey! When did I ever say that? I-I never said anything about disgrace—!”

“Aunt was right.”

Stella pointed at me, trembling, but I did not back down and continued in a pitiful voice.

“If my existence is a burden to Santra… how could I dare face Your Majesty the King?”

The king looked at me with pity, then came over and patted my shoulder a few times.

“No, child. A burden? What nonsense! Don’t think such foolish things.”

“Father, don’t fall for that fox. She’s acting right now, I tell you?”

“Stella, you’re nearly of age and still haven’t grown up! Stop causing a fuss and go in. Who is the one actually causing trouble at the banquet right now?”

As he said, the nobles and knights had gathered some distance away, watching to see what was happening. When the king turned his head sharply toward them, they cleared their throats and dispersed.

“Now, now. Anastasia, you go in quickly too. Goodness, your face is all red. I’ll have them bring an ice towel.”

I thanked him and turned to Paeon, smiling brightly.

“Wet’s go, Papa.”

“…Princess, are you all right?”

“Yeah, why? Do I wook that tewwible?”

“No, that’s not it…”

He trailed off with a pale face, then clamped his mouth shut.

Was he asking if I was all right mentally? Hmph, it’s not like I’ve been hit once or twice. His mentality seems to be the one that got wrecked.

I snorted and entered the banquet hall. If my mentality could be wrecked by just this much, I felt like tying him to a chair and replaying my past nine lives to him for twenty-four hours straight.

◇ ◆ ◇

The tables lined up in the banquet hall were laden with all kinds of delicacies. It must have been the result of the king’s having grilled the chefs since morning to let them taste Santran specialties. But I wondered if it would suit the delegation’s palates. What kind of food did these people usually eat?

“It’s dewicious!”

As if to answer my curiosity, exclamations rose from here and there. Their pronunciation was terribly awkward, but even so, the sight of them trying hard to praise in the Santran language was pleasing. Had that interpreter taught them?

‘They seem like polite, good people. I hope the trade goes well.’

They were not barbaric or rude as the Santran nobles had feared. Their clothes were a little thin, but overall they gave a warm impression. Their manner was proactive as well.

“Every dish suits our palates well.”

The platinum-blond interpreter, seated near the king, was working his mouth busily.

“Lord Azman says this fried chicken dish is especially delicious.”

‘Chicken is right wherever you go.’

As I nodded and dismantled the chicken dish, the king suddenly called me.

“Anastasia, come here. I must introduce you to these people.”

The delegation’s eyes fixed on me. Ugh, doing this during a meal might give me indigestion.

Aquila and Stella, seated right beside the king, were scowling deeply. Hey, you two, staying like that isn’t good for your digestion either.

I trotted up to the head table where the king was. I could feel the interpreter’s blue eyes fixing on me. He watched me carefully and relayed the king’s words to those around him.

“I present Princess Anastasia, the daughter of the late Princess Beatrice.”

The women in the delegation in particular smiled brightly and clapped their hands. Then they repeated a few words in a foreign language. Since I could understand them, my face grew a little hot.

“They say she is truly as lovely as a doll.”

“Haha, Anastasia certainly is adorable.”

“She resembles Your Majesty greatly as well.”

At that, the king laughed and spoke in a proud voice.

“What is astonishing about Princess Anastasia is not merely her appearance. The princess can use both divine power and mana.”

“Pardon?”

The interpreter forgot to interpret and cried out in surprise.

“Haha, it is surprising indeed. There has never been a single person like that before!”

“Surely… is that true?”

“Would I lie?”

“I-I apologize. It is unprecedented even in Brilian history…”

“Everyone seems unable to believe it, so could you show them once?”

The king winked at me. So this was why this grandfather called me over? Well, he took my side earlier, so I should repay him this much. How should I make it look more dramatic?

“Circumfúlgĕo.”

The moment I recited the activation word, a round, sparkling ring of light appeared in the air. Normally, magic loses its effect quickly unless mana is maintained, but this spell had a relatively long duration compared to others.

“Servus servórum Dei.”

The moment I released my mana, I immediately gathered divine power and recited the holy word, and Nine appeared in the air and hopped into the ring of light.

“Whoa!”

Everyone there applauded in admiration. Paeon nagged that I shouldn’t use a divine beast for something like that, but Nine performed tricks it had learned recently in the air, then nuzzled against people and acted cute. Everyone was beside themselves over Nine’s cuteness and busied themselves petting it.

‘Thank goodness cuteness works on people from any country.’

“I truly cannot believe it.”

The interpreter too murmured blankly with an awed face.

“It is something impossible without the grace of Lord Lux.”

The king murmured with satisfaction. No, this grandfather was subtly pushing religion!

As I stood there dumbfounded, the interpreter hesitated and cautiously opened his mouth.

“But the princess’s father is…”

Khh. So it’s come. I had hoped the word ‘bastard’ wouldn’t come up here, but I suppose it can’t be helped.

“Ah…”

The king hesitated for a moment, then spoke in a somber voice.

“We fought a war for three years, you see. The princess’s father died during the war without even having a wedding ceremony with Princess Beatrice. Both became victims of the war, so there is no choice but to forgive.”

Wh-what did he just say?

“What a sorrowful thing. Still, Princess Anastasia has grown up healthy.”

Wow… This is a complete fabrication! Of course, the story that my father was a Kalisan mercenary is also a fabrication, but in any case, that was what was written in the will… Yet the king’s words made it sound as if my father was Santran and died fighting bravely in the war.

Aquila and Stella looked equally appalled and were trembling, but the king gave them a stern look. It was a warning not to ruin things.

Since I couldn’t very well shout that it wasn’t true, I sat on pins and needles and accepted the dessert plate. Eating the chocolate wafer felt like chewing on a piece of wood.

Just then, Aquila looked straight at the interpreter and asked.

“Actually, Santra is in an uproar right now because of a plague. Has Brilia ever had a disease with symptoms like this?”

She calmly described the symptoms of the plague, and the interpreter listened attentively, then snapped his fingers.

“Yes, of course I know! A very long time ago, Brilia had a plague like that too.”

‘What?!’

I nearly spat out the juice I was drinking in surprise, but soon my mind went cold. I thought I knew what Aquila was trying to do.