kscans

Chapter 85 - A Foreign Palace and the Little One

"Well then, shall we head home?"

The Little One’s party boarded the Honeybee Carriage and soared through the sky. The people of Donautil saw them off with cries of admiration, uooo.

Come to think of it, that girl can do just about anything.

She can use magic, control monsters, her carriage flies through the sky. It’s all too absurd.

Masahad tried desperately to rouse his eyes, which felt like they were about to glaze over. It was Dīvadatta who spoke to him. He was somewhat haggard and smiled weakly.

"It’s over."

"...Yes, it is."

His brother had lost his mother.

Even if there was just cause, the shock to his heart was immeasurable. For the originally frail Dīvadatta, it was like a fatal blow, and he began to spend more time confined to his bed. Today, too, he had pushed his weakened body to come see the Little One off.

"No. Perhaps it’s the beginning. I’m counting on you, Masahad."

"Of course, brother."

He couldn’t let Dīvadatta overexert himself. He had to make the country prosper, together with their other brothers. As Masahad thought this, he suddenly remembered Marrow.

His younger brother, whose study abroad period was not yet over, had persuaded the reluctant members of the palace and had headed to Frontier with the Little One’s party.

"About that... it’s a shame, isn’t it. That she has a fiancé."

Masahad, who knew Marrow’s feelings, didn’t know how to console him. A clumsy brother who could only offer blunt words. Marrow showed him a bright, cheerful smile, nika, and shook his head.

"It’s not like I’ve given up, you know."

"Eh?"

Masahad’s eyes widened.

"It’s just an engagement. It’s obviously political, isn’t it? If I make Hiiro fall for me, don’t you think things will change?"

His younger brother snorted, fufun.

No, I think the real challenge isn’t the Prince Royal Brother, but that girl.

The tales of His Highness Prince Romel were famous throughout the world. And so was the fact that there were no women around him. He had only one concubine, no consorts, and no official wife. He was a coveted partner for women of status from all nations. Rumors of his engagement had reached them, but he never thought it would be to a seven-year-old girl.

However, after meeting her, he understood. The one more dangerous than the Prince Royal Brother with his inscrutable, calm mask was the count’s daughter. The exceptional young lady who bossed around the Prince Royal Brother, passed orders to the knight order with a single shout, controlled bees, and flew through the sky.

After seeing that, any awe for the Prince Royal Brother vanished. Now, Masahad even felt a sense of pity for him, seeing them as kindred spirits struggling with their respective countries.

He had only made the marriage proposal for Marrow’s sake. He had thought it a shame that Marrow had fallen for such a strange girl, but if Marrow would be happy, he had tried to offer marriage.

But to think she was the Prince Royal Brother’s fiancée.

The combination of the man renowned as a demon king and the mysterious girl who had struck fear into the heart of Donautil was, by any measure, the worst possible. In fact, the image of her being the demon king who commanded monsters, with the Prince Royal Brother as the strategist supporting her, naturally came to mind.

That’s a thorny path, Marrow.

To think he would challenge those two.

Masahad prayed from the bottom of his heart for his reckless brother’s safety.

"Beeans, beans, coffee beans~♪"

Singing a silly song, the Little One was in a great mood. The phrase, though heard for the first time, had a nostalgic ring to it that caught the ears of those around her. She transferred the coffee beans she had received in a sack into a jar, then hugged it and rolled around, gorogoro. The Frontier party and Marrow silently watched over her.

"Nfufu, with this I can make jelly, and candy, and even tiramisuuuu, unyaa~n♪"

The sight of her lying on her back and kicking her arms and legs, batabata, would normally be endearing, like a child of her age throwing a tantrum. But the Little One Squad, who knew what was inside, began to worry about the girl’s state of mind.

...Did she break?

Adonis and Dorfen looked on anxiously. But only Zack was listening intently, funfun.

"So this is the coffee you were talking about, Miss. It’s bitter, right?"

"It’s bitter, but that’s what makes it addicting~♪ When you pair it with something sweet, the bitterness stands out... unih, it’s irresistible~~♪"

The Little One danced around, wachawacha. The little ogres watched her with curiosity. Noticing their gaze, the Little One suddenly looked around the room.

"Eh? Aren’t we missing a little ogre?!"

There should have been three little ogres, but one was missing. His presence was so faint that she hadn’t noticed until now. Because he had always stayed inside the carriage and never came out.

"Where did we drop him? We have to find him...!"

As the Little One hurriedly tried to turn back and opened the window, the little ogres pulled on the hem of her skirt. Seeing them shake their heads, a terrible premonition, as if her heart was being squeezed, ran through the Little One. And as if to confirm it, a blackish-purple magic power burst from Chihaya. The one who appeared was, of course, Cesare.

‘If you mean that one, I have devoured it. It was a sacrifice, was it not?’

"Hah?!"

The girl glared at Cesare, moving only her eyeballs, giro. Overwhelmed by her ferocious gaze, Onii-sama instinctively recoiled.

‘It was a catalyst sent by the O-saki to release my power. Did you not know?’

I did not know.

The Little One was dumbfounded.

‘It seems my power and memories have been divided. Into five... no, seven pieces.’

Cesare muttered casually.

Wait a minute. Does this mean a little ogre gets eaten every time?

The blood drained from the Little One’s face, zaa. A life lost without her knowledge.

While the Frontier party stood in stunned silence, Legion was weeping in the borderlands of Flowers.

‘My master... welcome back. Forgive me, my king. This is what we exist for.’

The little ogres looked up at the constantly weeping Legion, hotahota, with concern.

He did not yet know of the future where the Little One would storm in and smack him on the head.

"So what you’re saying is?!"

Making the incoherent Cesare retreat, the Little One glared at Chihaya. Just as Cesare, who had been with Chihaya since birth, shared his memories, Chihaya could share the memories that Cesare had recovered.

"Um... a dying star? From there? Someone ordered it? And they carried... seeds of life? To Arcadia. What got mixed in was a black-purple magic crystal. And... he ordered a monster to bury it in the earth and raise it."

It seemed there were many memories Chihaya couldn’t understand, but apparently, the horns on the little ogres served as a catalyst connecting the magic crystal and Cesare. The little ogre whose horn was used as a catalyst was converted into magical power and absorbed by Cesare.

"So he didn’t die?"

‘It was a life I created to begin with. It merely returned to being a part of me. How ill-sounding.’

Then don’t use such strange phrasing! It’s bad for my heart!!

Come to think of it, I heard that the children of a queen who is undergoing a generational change are absorbed by the queen when their lives end and become new eggs. It must be the same as that.

‘I do not lay eggs, though.’

Stop reading my mind!

"So, why did you go to such lengths to preserve your memories?"

Cesare looked at the Little One with a difficult expression. The complex colors in his eyes reflected the contradictory hues of joy and anguish cohabiting.

‘I do not know. I may understand when I have recovered all my memories, but for now, I do not.’

Even as he said this, a faint air of melancholy, as if he did not wish for that, surrounded Cesare.

‘...Gods cannot save people. Only people can save people. That is why... I...’

Cesare muttered as if in a trance. Hearing this, the Little One tilted her head.

"What? What’s wrong, Onii-sama?"

Cesare snapped back to reality, ha, and shook his head lightly.

‘No, it is nothing. It seems I am a little confused, having just recovered new memories.’

With those words, he disappeared, and Chihaya returned.

"..............."

For some reason, Nii-ni was silent.

Each harboring complex thoughts, the Honeybee Carriage headed for tonight’s campsite at the Flowers border. There, Prince Marcello, still unaware of the outcome in Donautil, remained encamped, restlessly awaiting the Little One’s return.

Her head aching from the lingering traces of ancient times that only brought more mysteries, the Little One was, today as well, dancing around wachawacha.

As long as the Little One is dancing wachawacha, Arcadia is at peace. It is, it is♪