Queen Laviosa would do anything to make Rigarez the king, and it was a pity that her target had to be the main lead who was destined to be despised by the entire world. In fact, Queen Laviosa had done quite a few horrible things to Tesilid in the original story.
â¬The Eye Overseeing All Chaos's eyelids are trembling as they recall what Queen Laviosa had done to the main lead in Loop Twenty-Five.â
â¬The Advocate of Confidentiality believes that the part where Queen Laviosa frames the main lead in order to personally flog him is the highlight of the original story.â
â¬The Cliché Gourmet celebrates the provocative and reckless nature of the original story.â
â¬The Eye Overseeing All Chaos jolts with shock and asks The Cliché Gourmet when they arrived.â
â¬The Voice that Shapes the World runs over and bows down to greet The Cliché Gourmet.â
â¬The Cliché Gourmet brushes off the greeting and advises that they arrived a while ago.â
I knew that was the director of the Transmigration Bureau. This god had picked the perfect day to visit, considering their evident taste for tension and melodrama. Anyway... There was a need for me to express my position to Queen Laviosa right now, for I had no intention of accepting her warning, nor did I want to repeat the cliché scenario of the original story by pushing back. That meant my next move was already decided.
"Your Majesty."
"Yes, Divine Emissary. Do speak."
"The priests have a tradition of giving a prayer of blessing in locations that they visit. If it's all right with you, I'd like to pray for the royal family of Vinchester tomorrow." I said this, knowing that Queen Laviosa was most likely an atheist.
"The prayer of the Divine Emissary... I look forward to the effect it might have," she replied, her tone clearly conveying that she'd thought such a thing would be about as useful as the performance of a clown.
"I shall take that as approval and prepare a prayer. As for the topic of the blessing... I believe peace within the family will be a suitable one, since the royal family is a unity of blood as well."
"Peace within the family..." she said with a smile more like a sneer. "This sentiment touches my heart."
"I'm so glad," I replied, offering the queen my most sincere smile. "You will truly appreciate the prayer, Your Majesty."
I couldn't help but excitedly anticipate tomorrow as I looked upon Queen Laviosa's face, riddled with suspicion.
â
"I'd expected that she'd give you a warning..." murmured Celesteed as she lowered her gaze upon hearing what had happened inside the throne room.
I was currently sitting across from her in the living room of the princess's residence. After the attendants prepared some tea and snacks, Celesteed looked up at Bia and suggested, "Why don't you take a seat as well, Bia? And you too, master of the holy sword and Sir Prinz, if you don't mind."
That was how the five of us ended up sitting around the tea table in a circle.
Celesteed continued, "I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but Her Majesty is the type of person who will make something happen if she puts her mind to it. She has purged an uncountable number of political enemies ever since she lost Reminick. She has no mercy, and her methods are violent."
"Yes, that is certainly how it seemed."
"She will not be able to hurt the Divine Emissary who's directly protected by the duchy and the holy kingdom, but when it comes to others who are close to you... she would be more than willing to act using methods that are unimaginable."
Celesteed's gaze drifted toward Tesilid as she spoke, eyes wavering with a sense of remorse. The stare was longer than it needed to be, and I'm sure Tesilid sensed it, but he adamantly kept his eyes on his teacup and refused to look up.
He doesn't want to get involved with Celesteed. This was fair, since none of the Loops of the original story turned out well when he got involved with Celesteed. He'd be wrapped up in unspeakable scandals, sometimes framed for ridiculous reasons that would result in the threat of execution. Even in Loop Sixteenâthe life immediately before this oneâafter Tesilid had simply acted as an official escort for Celesteed, it had earned him the scorn of both princes, forcing him through unimaginable hardship.
The world always returned his kindness with evil, and any interactions with the Vinchester family only exaggerated this rule. This was why Tesilid had been extremely solemn ever since we arrived at the kingdom, his eyes turning colder every time he looked around. Agnes interrupted my depressing thoughts.
«The princess can't take her eyes off of Tesilid. Do you think...?»
Wait. No, Agnes. No. Talking about a potential crush was not a good idea at this point, even if it was a joke, and my concern was immediately confirmed when I noticed Tesilid's face harden.
"Not at all," I quickly corrected Agnes for Tesilid's sake.
«There's no need to fret. I got it.»
I had successfully removed the frown from Tesilid's face by correcting Agnes, but there was a small price to pay for my interference. Celesteed was looking at me oddly following my seemingly random outburst.
"Pardon, Your Eminence?" she asked.
"Oh, I was talking to myself... Haha." I glossed over the remark with an awkward smile, but the embarrassment was real.
I better change the topic. I figured redirecting attention to the most likable member of our group would quickly move the conversation away from my odd gaffe.
"Prinz."
"Yes, Your Eminence."
"Ugh, I told you not to address me like that. It's awkward. It's been ages since we last had the chance to really talk, so don't upset me by acting weird."
"O-Oh, I didn't know you felt that way. All right. I'll stop."
"Thank you. Anyway, I wanted to ask you a question."
"What is it?"
"Have you been assigned as Princess Celesteed's guard? From what I heard, the two princes were in a battle to take you as their own guard."
Prinz awkwardly nodded at my question, which suggested that he rendered both of their efforts useless. "I'll be assigned soon. They stopped pressuring me after it was revealed that I'm the grandson of the grand duke. Now that I have a choice, I decided to work for the person I wish to serve," he remarked, his eyes naturally floating toward Bianca as he completed his sentence.
He was such a hopeless romantic. Little did he know, he had been removed from Bianca's list of potential suitors ten years ago when Bianca found out that he and I were the grandchildren of the grand duke.
That was when Bianca took a sip from her tea and glanced over at Prinz. "As a servant of Her Highness myself, I am very grateful for your decision, Sir Prinz."
"It is an honor, my lady."
"That title is no longer suitable considering your status now. Please call me Bianca."
"All right, Lady Bianca."
"You can remove the 'lady' too."
"B-B-Bianca..." Prinz looked like he might choke on the name he'd finally been given permission to use, but the moment was cut short when Bianca spoke again.
"To be honest, I plan to take advantage of your service. Now that the trustworthy grandson of Grand Duke Heathfenrir is by Her Highness's side, I am able to take my leave with peace of mind."
"Pardon? You're going away?"
"I must keep an old promise I made to a friend."
While Prinz remained frozen with shock, Bianca looked at me with a smile. "Allie, I believe it's about time you take me with you. Am I right?" she asked, causing me to grin in return.
"Oh my, you remember?"
"Of course."
"I knew it. You're the best, Bia."
My precious friend not only recalled the promise she made about helping me with administrative duties once I formed my own subjugation unit, but she also realized that now was when I needed her. Better yet, she seemed to have spoken to and gotten approval from Celesteed on the matter already. I was worried that there might be some conflict because I was stealing a talented individual away, but Celesteed looked like she was willing to let Bianca go.
Only Prinz looked exceptionally shocked and disappointed. "My goodness," he muttered. "But I was just about to be posted..."
"I'm sorry, Prinz, but this can't be helped because we already had an agreement," I said, feeling bad for my forlorn brother. "And thank you so much for deciding to protect Her Highness," I added. "Let's have you focus on maintaining peace in Vinchester."
"But, I..."
"Where is your knight's code of honor, Prinz?" I asked before he could finish his thought. "I trust that you will stick to your decision."
"Hmph..."
â¬The Eye Overseeing All Chaos is genuinely delighted.â
Meanwhile, Tesilid also seemed quite surprised and turned to face Bianca. "The person Allie had in mind as our administrative assistant was... you, her friend."
"I am honored to be working with you, Sir Tesilid."
"The honor is all mine."
â¬The Eye Overseeing All Chaos glistens their eyes at the main lead's interaction with your potential rival.â
â¬The Advocate of Confidentiality attempts to calm The Eye Overseeing All Chaos down.â
â¬The Cliché Gourmet excitedly asks when they can see some battles of love.â
Just like that, we decided that Bianca would return to the holy kingdom with us once my time at Vinchester kingdom finished.
"This was lovely. I hope you get some well-needed rest."
With the teatime coming to an end, each of us was guided to our rooms. I had been assigned an extremely big and extravagant room, but the downside was that it was a bit of a distance from the rest of my division members. Walking in, I was greeted by a living room bustling with six attendants and twelve maids who were eagerly waiting for me.
However, it seemed that there was an additional person who was awaiting my arrival, for the oldest-looking lady of the attendants carefully said, "Umm, Your Eminence."
"Yes?"
"Prince Hardale is waiting for you inside."
"Inside?"
But I'm already in my room?
Noticing the confusion in my eyes, the lady awkwardly remarked, "He's... further inside."
That meant he was in my bedroom. This was an unbelievable situation. The idiot prince had entered my bedroomâwhich I had not even seen yetâand was waiting for me as if I were the guest. Even if we were technically in his home, this was completely inappropriate.
Agnes agreed. «This bastard has crossed the line!»