kscans

Chapter 57 - The Twilight of the Gods and Kobito-san ~Six~

Ah, it’s happening again.

When she came to, she was in a pitch-black place. A heavy, cloying air clung to her, along with glowing threads.

Habirush drifted slowly through the darkness, losing all sense of up or down in the ambiguous space.

Since when did I start coming to a place like this?

The tightly woven threads were incredibly intricate, with fine stitches like a crocheted shawl. Nothing could be seen through the gaps, only an endless darkness that spread out with an eerie sound.

But...

‘It’s so calming.’

The silver, net-like object woven from sturdy threads was soft and springy, and it felt good to lie down on it. Would she be happy if she could forget everything and just fall into this darkness?

As she was thinking this, she suddenly heard the threads creak. The first inhabitant, who had been here before Habirush. It seemed this was something he had made.

《Ah, you’ve come. This little one has been waiting for you.》

A small child clung to his feet. The child looked at me happily.

‘Ah...’

The cute little girl smiled softly.

‘Welcome. What story would you like today?’

I hugged the little girl as she toddled closer and began to tell her a story. From reminiscences to fairy tales. It was little more than idle chatter, but the girl was exceptionally pleased.

A brief, smiling rendezvous. Eight black eyes stared intently at the innocent pair.

"Please wake up, Your Highness, Second Consort."

With a light shake of her shoulder, Consort Habirush opened her eyes. It was her familiar bed. This was Habirush’s palace, located in the northern part of the Inner Palace.

One of her ladies-in-waiting opened the curtains, while two others prepared breakfast and her clothes. Accepting the breakfast on a tray, Habirush leaned against the cushions on her bed and ate listlessly.

Her cheeks were slightly relaxed.

"Did you have a pleasant dream?"

One of the maids asked Habirush, her expression a little curious as she arranged the clothes on a dress form.

"I suppose so... It feels like I had a good dream. Oh? Or is this the dream?"

Habirush tilted her head in genuine confusion.

Not again, the ladies-in-waiting thought to themselves without letting it show on their faces as they prepared Habirush for the day.

"Today, Marquis Heburaiheru La Ansbackh will be visiting. Come now, please prepare."

"Oh. We have a guest coming?"

Three pairs of resigned gazes. They were used to it by now, but it was still tiring.

He’s your father, they sighed and muttered again in their minds.

As the maids dressed her, Habirush recalled the dream she had just been having.

For some time now, Habirush had been having the same dream.

A silver bed like a starry sky floating in the pitch-black darkness.

As she floated down like a bird’s feather, she would find a small child and eight eyes there. She would soothe the crying child and listen to the story from the eight eyes. It seemed the bed was of his making, and the little girl had suddenly fallen onto it. The bed of silver threads was about the size of the royal palace, soft and rippling like waves. There, Habirush would tell stories to calm the child. Watched over by the eight eyes, she played freely with the girl, sometimes sitting, sometimes lying down.

Habirush had this same innocent dream every night, but half of the memory would vanish upon waking, and the other half would be forgotten by the time she finished her meal.

Once dressed, she looked out the window at the garden and smiled contentedly.

"What lovely weather. I’d like to have my tea on the terrace today."

"As I said, a guest is arriving. Let us have tea tomorrow."

"Oh, is that so?"

Her reply clearly showed she had forgotten.

Not even ten minutes had passed since she was last told. Furthermore, they had been giving her the same explanation every day for the past two days.

Battling a splitting headache, the ladies-in-waiting escorted Habirush to the grand hall of the Inner Palace.

"Huh? Marquis Ansbackh?"

Romel nodded slowly.

"He’s Consort Habirush’s father. It seems he rushed here to object to your proposal. His domain also has one of the Forest Masters’ forests. He was probably looking forward to your pilgrimage, so it must be a big shock."

Ah, Kobito-san remembered Frontier’s last forest. She had been so caught up in the construction of the new Kilfan nation that she had half-forgotten. Sipping her tea, Chihiro listened to Romel’s explanation.

"Today, the marquis is coming to inquire after Consort Habirush’s well-being. Well, to be honest, I think he also wants to meet you."

There’s no stopping people from talking.

At the royal banquet, not a few people had looked back and forth between Theodore and Chihiro, tilting their heads in confusion. Some must have felt a sense of dissonance seeing the two with such strikingly similar features. The reason such rumors hadn't spread was solely due to Romel and the others thoroughly enforcing the gag order. Still, it wasn't perfect. After half a year, it was inevitable that some cracks would appear. Romel figured the marquis had heard the rumors and wanted to confirm them for himself.

Kobito-san took out some homemade sweets from her bag, offered some to Romel while munching on them herself. Accepting them, Romel lowered his eyes for a moment as if in thought.

This too was a part of daily life. Sweets had already become established, adding color to people’s moments of relaxation. Three-dimensional embroidery as decoration had also become commonplace. Since it didn’t require many types or high quality of thread, it spread among the common people, and clothing became livelier with embroidery that expressed individual personalities. It was enjoyable to see. And now, with the immigration of the Kilfan people, many new technologies and tools were being created.

Originally, the commoners had little magic and could only use basic life magic. So, they probably wouldn't be too troubled by a life without magic. The problem was the land, whose productivity would plummet with the loss of magic. Frontier’s agriculture and animal husbandry, everything would suffer catastrophic damage. The farther from the royal capital, the more severe the damage would be.

However, Kobito-san had also shown them a way to overcome these issues. The Kilfan people were building farms and ranches as a matter of course, so that people wouldn't be in dire straits when the time came.

What will be, will be.

It was a phrase Kobito-san often used.

"Well, if he asks to meet you, I suppose we can’t refuse. He is a border marquis, after all. I want to show some flexibility to those who border neighboring countries, as a sign of appreciation for their efforts."

Looking up at Romel’s wry smile, Kobito-san’s face showed she understood.

I see.

"Very well. I shall stay in the castle as a princess today."

At the child’s gentle smile, Romel, relieved by her quick understanding, called a maid to have her change.

Chihiro had a room in the royal palace.

She hardly ever used it, but for times when the royal family absolutely had to appear together, she would take off her Kobito-san clothes here and change into a princess’s attire. It happened about once a season, but the room existed for form’s sake.

She wore a plain, cream-colored A-line dress with a decorative sash draped diagonally from her shoulder. The sash had fine embroidery and was tied with a braided cord that had a tassel ornament. And on her head shone the tiara gifted to her by Prince Wilfe.

Her posture was simple yet exuded elegance.

Romel had found it strange when Chihiro had specified an unadorned dress when it was being tailored, but seeing it again now, he was struck by how splendid it was.

The dress was simple but made of high-quality silk, with silver embroidery here and there that tastefully colored the whole garment, serving to enhance her accessories. It was a light, yet dignified attire. Precisely because she was young and cute, she didn’t need ornate decorations. Extravagant embellishments would, in fact, give a heavy impression. This kind of sense was something Frontier, with its strong Western-style culture, lacked.

"No, really. I take my hat off to your sensibilities."

"Even if it’s only occasionally, the royal family has its dignity to maintain. If I have a few tailored in seasonal colors, I can change the impression with accessories and wear them repeatedly. It’s a convenient dress, you know."

Kobito-san smiled brightly.

Seriously, a princess of a country talking about convenient, repeatable outfits. ...Well, that's just the kind of girl you are.

While Romel was offering a dry, half-exasperated laugh, in the palace audience chamber, Marquis Vanfel was passionately addressing the King.

"Such an act that goes against the divine will cannot be permitted, Your Majesty. I implore you to reconsider."

The Frontier soil improvement plan had been decided in a rush last time, as everyone was overwhelmed by the little girl's intensity. Being carried out on a national scale, it was a massive project. It involved reorganizing land plots, combining agriculture and animal husbandry, fertilizing the land, and making adjustments as problems arose, a project that would continue over the long term. It couldn't be done overnight and would require a great deal of funding.

It was a plan unnecessary for Frontier, which overflowed with the blessings of the gods. It was just a waste of taxes.

Marquis Vanfel genuinely believed this.

Stared at with a serious gaze from the old man, the King let out a faint sigh.

"On what grounds do you say that?"

"Grounds?"

"Yes. You are aware that the surrounding countries lost their magic and their civilizations regressed. State your grounds for believing that this will absolutely not happen in Frontier."

At his words, Marquis Vanfel was at a loss. Even he understood that nonsense like "the divine will" would not serve as a basis.

Count Glacius’s words were backed by the grounds of the actual situation in neighboring countries. There was no guarantee that something that happened once wouldn’t happen again, and no guarantee that what happened elsewhere wouldn’t happen in Frontier. However, that would deeply wound the pride of Frontier as a magical nation beloved by the gods.

He could never admit it.

And at the council meeting he had attended with that thought, he had been completely refuted by the very Golden King who was supposed to be receiving the full extent of that divine favor.

The blessings of the gods were not absolute.

As if scolding a daydreaming child, that little girl had cut down Marquis Vanfel and his conservative faction with a single stroke. Look at reality, she had said. Her fixed gaze had spoken, asking how they could blindly enjoy the blessings of the gods.

Looking down at the faltering Marquis Vanfel, the King opened his mouth, though with some hesitation.

"That child... is one recognized by the gods as their equal. To question her actions is, in itself, to go against the divine will."

At these unexpected words, Marquis Vanfel was speechless, and the King explained the series of events that had occurred in Kilfan. The descent of the gods that Romel and the Royal Knights had witnessed. And Kobito-san, who had negotiated with those gods as an equal.

The characters for "living god" flashed through the mind of the stammering Marquis Vanfel.

"The gods approve of Chihiro’s actions. This means none other than that Chihiro is acting as the gods’ proxy. I could not say this at yesterday’s council with so many nobles present, but you understand, do you not?"

The King spoke as calmly as he could.

Marquis Vanfel now, finally, understood the blunder he had made. But even so, his faith in the gods did not waver.

Even if that was not what the gods desired.

He asked for leave in a low voice and quietly departed from the King’s presence.

Watching him go, the King sank into his throne as if exhausted.

It wouldn’t end like this. But he didn’t know what would happen, or how.

With an unknown anxiety in his heart, the King headed for Chihiro’s room.

The King knew she was here today. The tired old man unconsciously sought out Kobito-san for some comfort.