2
“Mizerhyby!”
“Noro?!”
Lord’s office, second building, meeting room.
After taking one look at the surveillance camera footage, Alice and Commander Mismis both exclaimed in astonishment.
This was footage from the Altoria jurisdiction at Kelvina’s lab. They saw a group of men who seemed to be subordinates in black suits surrounding two women.
Princess Mizerhyby of the Hydra.
And the Zoa spy, Shanorotte, who was disguised as an Imperial soldier.
“It looks like one of the Sovereignty’s royal families, the Hydra. I think she’s their princess…”
Alice stared intently at the footage.
She also felt a strong sense of doubt.
Why would Mizerhyby be in the Empire?
And why would she attack Kelvina’s lab?
“Hey, Iska.” Jhin, who had his sniper rifle over his shoulder, knit his brows in confusion. “Isn’t that the princess we butted heads with on the top floor of Snow and Sun?”
“I think she is, too…,” Iska replied.
“You don’t think she came all the way to the Empire just to get revenge on you?”
“…”
He couldn’t deny that was a possibility.
Even though Princess Mizerhyby’s ability, Glory, had brought them to the brink of death, they had managed to get out of Snow and Sun in the end.
……Is this retaliation?
……Is she invading the Empire like we infiltrated Snow and Sun?
It seemed too simple to believe.
But he couldn’t think of any other motives she could have.
“Wow, so that girl with the bright blue hair is a princess?”
As Mei looked up at the monitor, her canines were on full display like a beast’s. A corner of her mouth lifted.
“We’ve got ourselves a big shot. So the witches from all three royal families are in the Empire… Ha-ha, think it’s safe to be excited? She’s not gonna turn out to be a fake or anything?”
“She’s real,” Kissing confirmed.
The purple in her eyes slowly glittered brighter and brighter.
“She radiates astral energy like the sun. Considering how strong she is, this is unlikely to be someone who has used an astral power to transform into her.”
“So she’s the real deal.” Mei seemed in an even better mood as she let out a whistle. “But why’s this happening? Did she plan to duke it out with the Empire when she’s barely got any cronies with her? Since she’s out in the open, there’s gotta be a trap.”
“A trap?”
“They’re planning an all-out war, duh. They’re probably gonna attack us with all they’ve got!”
Instead of answering Kissing, Mei looked directly at Alice.
“So, what’s going on, witch princess? Or should I say, the daughter of the queen?”
Mei and Alice stared at each other for a few seconds.
“We don’t wish for that.” Alice shook her head. “Even if the Hydra’s princess decided to infiltrate the Empire, they don’t represent the Sovereignty. Even I know that can’t possibly be the situation, and Her Majesty doesn’t wish for an all-out war with the Empire, either.”
“And how are you gonna prove that?”
They stared at each other, and as a chill swept through the air…
“I’ll prove it.”
Alice snapped her fingers.
She took a comm from Rin, who had been waiting at the side.
“My comm can communicate directly with Her Majesty. I’ll call her right now and we can hear exactly what she intends to do.”
“Great, that’s more than what I wanted.” Mei opened one eye wider than the other and gleefully looked at Alice. “But I dunno if that really is the queen. If you’re gonna talk to her, do it now, before you have time to be up to any tricks. And the Lord gets final call.”
“Do as you wish.”
Mei, Rin, Kissing, and Iska watched as Alice gripped her comm.
White clouds floated along.
The clouds that lingered in the deep blue of the sky turned to wisps at the edges of her vision and disappeared.
As she watched that scene…
“Alice?!”
The queen, Mirabella Lou Nebulis IIX, held her comm in her hand.
She stared at the name on the device for a while.
“It is me.”
“Your Majesty!”
She heard her daughter, out of breath, on the other side of the comm.
“I need to talk to you right this moment!”
“Right now? All right. I’ll prepare immediately, so in five minutes I will—”
“No.”
Alice’s voice was firm.
“I would like you to answer now like this. This is a request as a princess.”
“……I see.”
She realized that this was no small matter.
On her personal comm, Alice called her “Mother.”
……She wants an official response.
……Someone else is listening to this conversation. Did she call knowing that?
That had been why she had asked for five minutes. She would have called others in to record and tap the line.
“Then let’s hear it. What is it, Aliceliese?”
“Your Majesty, I will be straightforward.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have plans for an all-out war?”
“Huh?”
“I understand that it is disrespectful to ask. If…Your Majesty had the choice of destroying the Empire at the cost of sacrificing many of the Sovereignty’s citizens, would you decide to fight?”
The queen knitted her brows without realizing.
What is the meaning of this? she wanted to ask reflexively, but she stopped herself and thought about what could possibly be behind her daughter’s words.
All-out war.
She had been born a princess and had been selected as queen following the Conclave. How many thousands of times had she heard those words until now?
“Aliceliese, I have only one reply to that.”
She didn’t intend to lie to her daughter. She had no idea who else was listening to this conversation, but she knew her daughter wished for the truth.
“Under those conditions, I would not seek an all-out war.”
“ ”
“Do you need my reasoning?”
“…Please,” Alice said.
“I witnessed things while in the astral corps. The Imperial forces are strong. In an all-out war, we would not simply have a large number of casualties. We would have an unprecedented number of sacrifices and would soon reach a place of no return.”
That was what the queen truly thought. She had no other reason.
……In an all-out war…
……I may lose my daughters. What parent would wish for that?
When she thought about it, in her days as a princess, the man who had known her most had said something to her.
“Mira, you’re not fit to be queen.”
“Why, Salinger?! Why would you come all the way here just to say that?!”
“You’re a dreamer. You’ll never have the ability to be ruthless.”
She couldn’t do it.
If she could have been like Lord Mask and used her family as pawns, then perhaps an all-out war would have been possible.
……If we had the Revered Founder as our secret weapon, this might have been different.
……But she left after awakening.
When it came down to it, they didn’t have enough firepower. They didn’t have some miraculous weapon that could change the power dynamics between the Empire and the Sovereignty.
“You were the one who said, Aliceliese, that the greatest threat to the Sovereignty wasn’t the Empire but Elletear.”
“It’s true, Your Majesty.”
She could see Alice nodding on the other side of the comm.
“She plans to destroy both the Sovereignty and the Empire indiscriminately.”
“…”
“She plans to do this by awakening a monster at the planet’s core. I want to go after her. And stop her.”
“Then allow me to ask a question.” The queen addressed her daughter. “Is this an urgent matter? I would think it difficult to consider it one.”
“The Zoa and the Hydra have joined forces.”
“…What did you say?”
“They overcame the Empire’s borders and were on the security feeds. I saw a Zoa spy and Mizerhyby.”
“…”
The news was so unexpected that it was difficult to believe.
Did the Zoa and the Hydra plan to start an all-out war through sheer force?
But what about their leaders?
Without Lord Mask and Growley, the Zoa were far from their full strength. And Talisman was unlikely to take such shortsighted action.
“Are you certain? Do you think that after their losses, the Zoa are betting it all on a reckless attack? Would Talisman really do something so thoughtless…?”
“No.”
No, what?
Before she could ask, Alice answered, “Mizerhyby is the one leading them.”
“Her?!”
The surprise came through in her exclamation.
If Mizerhyby was leading the charge, this changed things entirely.
It wouldn’t be the same as just the astral corps attacking. Since she was a princess, the Empire might see her as representing the Sovereignty.
……This won’t end in a small skirmish.
……I see. This must be why Alice is so flustered.
The queen gripped the comm and nodded slightly.
“I see now. We must stop Mizerhyby at once. Her assault of the Empire may be seen as representative of the Sovereignty as a princess.”
“Yes, I plan to go stop her.”
“That’s quite a reassuring thing to say, but Mizerhyby is already in the Empire, isn’t she?”
“You have nothing to worry about, Your Majesty.”
She doubted her ears when she heard what her daughter said next.
“Because I am in the Empire as well. I was invited to the Lord’s residence as an honored guest.”
“…………Excuse me?”
Her daughter? In the Empire? At the Lord’s residence?
Why? How had she entered Imperial territory?
Had she been captured? Then why had she said she was an honored guest?
And was Rin with her? If she was in the Lord’s residence, did that mean she had met him?
The queen was holding back a geyser of questions; she had no idea where to start.
“Um…I believe you said you were going to Katalisk—”
In that moment, a servant with brown hair appeared on the screen of the comm.
“I apologize, Your Majesty! We normally would have reported to you immediately…”
“Rin! So you’re with Alice!”
She accidentally said her daughter’s nickname. But she couldn’t correct herself now. She had so many questions to ask, regardless.
“Lady Aliceliese and I are safe. We are in Imperial territory, but we have not been captured by them.”
“I feel relieved… Hearing that is enough for me.”
“Lady Sisbell has a letter from the Lord and is headed to the Sovereignty. It will have information about what caused the conflict between the Empire and the Sovereignty.”
“I must correct myself. I truly am worried about the state of affairs.”
The queen let out a large sigh.
She hoped that her emotions would be conveyed to Rin and Alice even through the comm.
A letter from the Lord?
What was going on?
“I’ve lost my composure… But……”
She opened the window of the vehicle.
The cool air fluttered through her hair and felt pleasant against her skin, as she had flushed from all the excitement.
“Sisbell just called to inform me that she is returning to the Sovereignty just earlier. I am currently out of the palace and on the way to a neutral city.”
Yes.
At that very moment, she was in a car driven by Schwartz, Sisbell’s attendant.
The queen was going out to retrieve the princess herself.
Sisbell’s homecoming had been blocked over and over again until then.
In which case, the queen thought it would be best for her to retrieve her daughter herself. She had brushed aside the ministers’ anxieties and left a few hours ago.
“Rin, hand the comm back to Aliceliese again.”
“I am here, Your Majesty.”
“I have so many things to ask, but it seems Sisbell knows the same information that you do about the state of affairs. In that case, the fastest remedy is for me to take charge of Sisbell, is that right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I will ask Sisbell about everything. I will take care of her.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
The comms cut off.
In the now-quiet car, she exchanged a look with the elderly driver.
“Really now. It’s so difficult having such rambunctious daughters.”
“I am glad you’ve come to understand my plight of thirty years ago when I was once your custodian, Your Majesty.”
“That is a separate matter entirely…”
The queen turned away from the rearview mirror and averted her gaze from the man.
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