NOVEL NEXT Chapter 219
Chapter 219. The Beggar Siblings – It’s a Pretty Necklace.
“Mmm-” Leo stretched.
Sensing that a lot of time had passed, as evidenced by the melted candles, he turned to see the blue moon in the hot night sky outside the window. Lena was still absorbed in her paperwork, and Leo had moved piles of documents onto the table.
Thanks to the siblings working together, the mountain of paperwork was divided into two piles: approved and unapproved. The latter was still larger.
“Lena, aren’t you sleepy?”
“Not yet.”
Leo couldn’t believe his sister. He asked, “Why?” instinctively and regretted it.
“I slept during the day.”
“…Reversing day and night is bad for your health. Let’s call it a day.”
His sister nodded quietly. She leaned against the sofa as if to finish what she was holding, and Leo picked up a teacup. As he took a sip, Lena spoke.
“Hmm… Brother, Prince Eric did a better job than I expected.”
“Yes, he did.”
Lena must have noticed too.
While doing paperwork, they often encountered traces of Prince Eric, the previous person in charge. His work was clean.
He avoided difficult words, kept sentences concise, and the logical structure of each document was consistent, making them easy to read and leaving no room for misunderstanding. His handwriting was also elegant.
Leo had to admit that Prince Eric managed the kingdom quite well, despite being an apostle of the evil god.
Well, it was just that.
Leo read the last document Lena handed him ─ subsidizing the purchase of uniforms for the Rutina guards ─ and added his completion signature next to Prince Eric’s approval. With that, they were done for the day.
His sister, now idle, was lost in thought again.
They had only slept two hours the previous night. Leo wanted to sleep badly but pulled his sister’s hand.
“Why?”
“Just. How about a walk?”
“No. I’m tired of the garden. Unlike your room, my window only shows the garden. I don’t want to go down.”
“Not the garden.”
Leo took Lena and wandered around the quiet castle. He told the maids following them to stay twenty steps back and personally guided his sister.
They explored the ‘Hall of Glory’ filled with statues of past kings and the ‘Hall of Silence’ with its majestic depictions of various myths on the round ceiling and walls. They naturally passed the stairs leading to the first-floor banquet hall and greeted the occasional guards as they headed to the ‘Hall of Peace.’ While chatting, Lena asked.
“Brother, why was the port construction canceled? You know, the one in the southeast.”
“It seemed like Prince Eric was trying to tax Marquis Arne. There didn’t seem to be any other reason.”
“Really? But if it were me, I wouldn’t cancel it. Even if I had to, I wouldn’t do it unilaterally like that.”
“Unilaterally?”
“Everyone over there would know about it. There are probably many people expecting it. More importantly, it’s not far from the ‘Iber Magic Tower.'”
“Well… But there’s something that needs to be done with those funds. I’m planning to build schools across the country. It’s something I promised Bishop Berg.”
“What are schools?”
Leo explained the conversation he had with Bishop Berg. Lena asked, “Why teach the people? It’s a waste,” but eventually agreed.
“Do as you see fit. But I don’t think completely canceling the port construction is a good idea. If the funds are really lacking, reduce the scale. There’s no benefit in having bad relations with the Magic Tower.”
“I’ll do that. I’ll… No, Ristad!”
“Ristad. Yes. It’s Doroff. Prince, it would be difficult if you did that.”
A magician who had been working somewhere under a contract with the royal family suddenly appeared from the air. He should have died the moment he saw Orias, but he was saved thanks to Leo’s warning.
“Long time no see, Uncle Ristad.”
“How have you been, Princess? By the way, Prince, why did you summon me at this late hour?”
“Contact the Iber Magic Tower. Actually, this happened… I will retract the cancellation. However, we might need to reduce the scale.”
“It seems you think all magicians are friendly with each other, but I am from the Correl Magic Tower. Just send an official document.”
“I’ll do that. But since the cancellation notice has already gone out, they might be upset. Could you contact them separately? I think it would make things go more smoothly.”
“My contract is only to guard the palace, not to handle such tasks…”
“Uncle, please.”
Hmm… The magician, who was reluctant, agreed when the princess clasped her hands together. “Alright. This will be the last time. Is there anything else?” He disappeared into the air with a pop. Leo felt as if he had averted a potential disaster.
I should suggest to Bishop Berg that we start by training teachers. That should buy some time.
After Ristad disappeared, Leo and Lena arrived at the Hall of Peace. They stopped in front of the portraits of the past queens.
Ainas de Yeriel.
There was no statue of their father in the Hall of Glory they had just visited. Since only the deceased were honored there, their mother’s portrait was in the Hall of Peace. The siblings gazed endlessly at the mother they were seeing for the first time.
Their mother was beautiful in the portrait.
Was it around the time she had just married into the Kingdom of Conrad? The young woman, who looked similar in age and appearance to Lena now, was smiling brightly.
The difference between Lena and her mother was that her mother did not have blonde hair, had deep dimples, and her facial features were more defined, giving her a stronger impression.
If Lena was like a lily, her mother was like a deep-colored rose—the lily spoke.
“…What about father?”
“He hasn’t woken up yet. According to the bishop, he’s much better.”
Silence followed. After gazing at their mother’s portrait for a while, the siblings walked together without a word. They entered the queen’s room on the third floor and looked around quietly.
Neither Leo nor Lena had any memories of their mother.
They tried to imagine what she might have been like by looking around the room where offerings for Akine were placed. The room was filled with many books instead of gaudy ornaments, suggesting that she enjoyed reading…
– Sparkle
A necklace reflecting the blue moonlight shone through the window. Leo, recalling something, picked up the blue necklace, and a message appeared.
[Achievement: Bound Item, 1/3]
[Sword – Indestructible.]
[Mirror – Unusable.]
[Necklace – It’s a pretty necklace.]
If Minseo had seen it, he might have grabbed the back of his neck. But Leo simply thought, “It’s pretty,” as he turned it over.
The necklace was similar to the one his sister and he wore. It had the same engraved pattern and was slightly larger. Their mother in the portrait had been wearing this necklace.
All the bound items were related to their mother. Why didn’t the achievement counter go up? When Lev received the mirror from their mother, it did.
With this realization and question in mind, Leo tucked the necklace into his pocket. As he approached his sister, who was touching their mother’s clothes, he heard footsteps. It was Galren, reinstated as a royal guard.
“Prince, Sir Bart has arrived.”
* * *
After sending Lena back to her room, Leo met with Bart and his companions. They looked disheveled, as if they had rushed over.
“Sir Bart. It’s been a while.”
I know Bart. We met before, worked together, and even shared drinks.
But since Bart wouldn’t remember that, Leo hid his eagerness.
“Wow, Prince. You’re really alive…”
The knights were on the verge of tears. However, Bart did not speak. He knelt with a very dejected expression, unable to move, and Leo could guess why.
“Thank you all for your hard work. The fact that I could return is entirely thanks to you. I actually tried to find you, but had no luck. Please don’t feel bad and return to your duties.”
“…How can I return to my duties with any dignity? Galren helped reinstate you, Prince, but I did nothing. A disloyal servant like me… I will take my leave. It is enough to have seen you alive again.”
Bart spoke gloomily, his voice filled with regret. Leo did not accept this.
“Do you think my life is trivial? The lives of my sister and me? Stand tall. No matter what anyone says, you are the greatest heroes.”
“But…”
Leo straightened Bart’s wrinkled collar. He consoled the middle-aged knight, whose cheekbones jutted out from his emaciated face, covered in small scars.
“If you question my decision one more time, I will consider it disloyalty. Surely, as a knight, you wouldn’t defy my orders?”
Relying on the master-servant relationship achievement, Leo believed his knight, who ‘absolutely’ couldn’t betray him, would comply. However, Bart refused.
“I am sorry. Please reinstate the others. I cannot return.”
“…Why?”
“I am no longer a knight… I failed to keep my vow.”
Bart took up his scabbard. He drew a long sword, abnormally battered except for the tip.
“This sword… I forged it from the weapons of my fallen comrades. I swore to avenge them with this sword before it broke, but I failed. I have no offering for their memory, so please, do not disgrace me.”
Bart’s eyes were full of disappointment but unwavering.
A knight who lived solely for vengeance. Leo realized it was impossible to persuade him and dismissed everyone else.
“So what will you do now?”
“…I don’t know. First, I plan to bury my fallen comrades in a sunny place. After that…”
Bart sighed.
He seemed never to have considered life beyond avenging Duke Lapert Tertan.
Leo poured him a drink. Bart did not refuse, downing it in one gulp, and Leo, feeling sorry for him, revealed some strange information he shouldn’t have known.
“Do you not plan to find your wife and children?”
“…You must have heard from Galren. How can I face my wife? I once tried to find them, but they had gone. I wonder if they are living well… The children must have grown up by now.”
“They are in the Orun Kingdom. Your wife is working as a maid in the domain of Marquis Guidan.”
“…What?”
“Your eldest son is married. His wife is about to give birth… He runs a lumber mill with your second son, and they are both very robust young men.”
“H-How do you know this, Prince?”
“Don’t ask. Your wife’s name is Marisa, correct? I speak the truth, so trust me and go find them. If you don’t believe me, contact the church there.”
“…I understand. I will do so.”
As Leo took a drink, Bart, utterly bewildered, sat there. In what was now Eric Prince’s room, Leo felt sleep overcoming him and quickly asked a question.
“I have something I want to ask.”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
“Why did you take the necklace from Harriet Guidan?”
“…Prince, how do you know…?”
“I learned from meeting her, so don’t be surprised. Be careful when you visit Guidan’s domain, as she harbors deep resentment against you. Now, please answer quickly.”
Bart trembled.
That necklace. He recalled the eerie feeling he had when he first saw the blood-red gem attached to it.
“I don’t know why I did it either. It felt ominous, so I instinctively tried to take it and break it, but no matter what I did, it wouldn’t break. My comrades said it was nothing, but… does it have something to do with the evil god you defeated?”
“Yes, it is related.”
Leo fell into thought for a moment. It was strange that Bart felt an ominous aura from the gem.
The power of the evil god isn’t particularly opposed to that of the main god, just different. Even priests who handle divine power can’t sense it.
So why could Sir Bart?
Did Sir Bart have some special quality that made him wary of the gem, which was clearly Oriax’s? Leo couldn’t understand.
Even I can’t recognize the power of the evil gods without the ‘Divine Power Perception’ achievement…
“So what did you do with the necklace?”
If he still had it, I’d ask for it. I’ll try to break it with my aura blade, Leo thought, but Bart’s brief response disappointed him.
“I threw it into the sea.”