Episode 97
“Your Majesty, welcome.”
Elonia and Artius entered the Rossi estate, greeted with elaborate courtesy. Count Rossi, despite his polite bow, eyed Artius with suspicion and apprehension.
Elonia’s rapier vibrated slightly, reacting to the disguised pocket watch.
She cautiously extended her mana, but it was met with resistance, unable to penetrate the barriers within the estate.
Elonia subtly gestured to Artius, who suppressed a sigh and nodded. Count Rossi, following Artius’s gaze, greeted Elonia.
“Your Highness, I understand you have a matter to discuss with my daughter…”
“Yes, I’m here to see Dianne.”
Count Rossi’s expression darkened. Elonia’s visit was undoubtedly related to Dianne’s expulsion. She quickly added,
“I think I was too harsh. Perhaps expulsion was too much, even though she did insult royalty…”
It was a lie, and her true feelings almost slipped out, but Artius smoothly intervened.
“My daughter wishes for her to return to the academy, so I’m considering it.”
Count Rossi, relieved that they weren’t there to reprimand him further for the insult to royalty, relaxed slightly.
“…I’m honored by your visit, but my daughter hasn’t left her room in months, even when I call for her.”
It wasn’t a hopeful answer.
But Elonia’s true purpose wasn’t to see Dianne, so she readily agreed.
“That’s fine. I’ll wait.”
“…Yes, Your Highness. This way, please.”
Count Rossi, eager to get them out of his hair, led the way, trying to hide his displeasure.
The closer they got to the inner parts of the estate, the stronger the vibrations from her rapier became. Count Rossi stopped, looking around, trying to identify the source of the sound.
“What’s that noise…?”
Elonia quickly sheathed her rapier and put it in her bag. The vibrations stopped.
Artius, feigning ignorance, asked,
“I don’t hear anything. Is something wrong?”
“M-my apologies. I must have been hearing things.”
“I understand. A parent’s worry for their child is a heavy burden.”
“…”
Count Rossi glared at Artius, his eyes silently accusing him of expelling his daughter. But he quickly averted his gaze, his natural timidity taking over.
Elonia sighed inwardly in relief. Having Artius there to make excuses for her was convenient.
This was her first time entering enemy territory with Artius as her ally. They were surprisingly coordinated.
They arrived at the drawing-room.
“I’ll go get Dianne. Please wait here.”
Count Rossi excused himself.
Elonia and Artius, left alone, began searching the room. But the drawing-room looked ordinary, just like any other noble’s drawing-room.
“It’s so ordinary that it’s suspicious.”
“Indeed.”
Artius, examining the decorations on the mantelpiece, reached out to touch one of them, and Elonia gasped.
“Dad, don’t touch anything! Just look! What if you get brainwashed too?”
“…You should be careful as well, Elonia.”
“I’m immune to the prayer altar.”
Artius, now being protected by his daughter, felt pathetic.
But she was right. He had incredible mental fortitude, but caution was still advisable.
They searched the drawing-room, but they couldn’t find anything suspicious.
“They wouldn’t leave anything incriminating out in the open.”
“Of course not. They’re not stupid.”
“How’s the brainwashing detection device working?”
“It’s working fine.”
Elonia pulled out her rapier. It had been vibrating frantically earlier, but now it was quiet.
“I scanned the area with my mana on the way here, but it’s no use. Everyone in the Rossi estate seems to be brainwashed.”
“We have to stop them from spreading the prayer altars. I’ll find a suitable charge against them when we return.”
“Okay. Let’s wait a little longer before we leave.”
They hadn’t intended to actually meet with Dianne. There was no point in talking to someone who was brainwashed, and Dianne wouldn’t want to see Elonia, the one who had expelled her, anyway.
Just then,
A light knock came from the door, followed by Count Rossi’s voice.
“Your Highness, I’ve brought Dianne.”
“…!”
They hadn’t expected Dianne to agree to see them.
Elonia and Artius exchanged glances.
“She must be truly insane.”
“Indeed. She wouldn’t want to see you otherwise.”
But leaving without meeting her would be suspicious. And since she was insane, there was no point in trying to have a proper conversation. Elonia decided to meet her briefly and then leave. She opened the door.
A familiar, cheerful voice greeted her.
“Elonia! You’re finally here! You promised to visit as soon as the break started!”
“…?”
“Welcome to our home! I’ve been waiting for you!”
Both Elonia and Artius were speechless.
Dianne looked exactly the same as before.
She was still wearing her academy uniform, despite claiming it was summer break. But despite her cheerful tone, her blue eyes were dull and lifeless, a clear sign of her brainwashing.
“Your Majesty, perhaps we should excuse ourselves…”
Count Rossi suggested cautiously.
Artius hesitated, but Elonia saw it as an opportunity and pushed him gently.
“I’ll talk to Dianne. Go wait somewhere else.”
“…Alright.”
Artius, his expression filled with concern, left the drawing-room with Count Rossi.
Dianne, with no one else around, took Elonia’s hand and smiled, her eyes vacant.
“It’s been so long! We saw each other every day at the academy, but it feels like forever. It’s only been two weeks since the break started!”
“Y-yes, it has.”
Elonia was taken aback. She had known Dianne was insane, but she hadn’t expected her to forget about her expulsion.
Dianne’s smile vanished at Elonia’s hesitant response.
“What’s wrong, Elonia? Are you sick?”
“…!”
It was the first time Elonia had seen Dianne’s face devoid of emotion. She looked like a broken doll, and the realization that she was Noah, a Delan citizen, made Elonia feel uneasy.
Dianne, mistaking her silence for fear, smiled again, her usual cheerful facade returning.
“Right, we had a fight before the break. But you came to see me, which means you still want to be friends, right?”
“That’s—”
“I’m so happy, Elonia! Let’s forget about the fight and make up!”
“…”
“Ah, that’s right! I want to give you a present! Let’s go to my room. It might not be as fancy as the things you have, but Father bought me a lot of pretty ribbons and jewels. I’m sure they’ll look good on you!”
Dianne, her face bright and cheerful, pleaded with her.
Elonia’s initial plan to extract information from Dianne vanished.
There was no point in trying to reason with a crazy person.
“Sorry, Dianne, but I don’t think that’s possible today—”
“Come on, let’s go play in my room!”
Dianne, as if she hadn’t heard Elonia, continued to pull on her arm.
Elonia, thinking it was a symptom of her insanity, tried again,
“Dianne, I just came to see how you were doing.”
“Come on, let’s go play in my room!”
“…?”
“Let’s play, Elonia.”
Dianne repeated the same phrase like a broken record. It was like talking to a doll.
Elonia, speechless, simply blinked, and Dianne’s face began to contort.
She had seen that expression before.
When Dianne’s true identity had been revealed.
Just as she thought that, Dianne shouted,
“Let’s go!”
“Ugh…!”
Dianne’s grip tightened, as if she was trying to crush Elonia’s wrist. Elonia could easily break free, unlike with Olivia.
But she didn’t want to provoke Dianne any further.
“Elonia.”
Dianne called her name again.
‘…I can always escape if things get out of hand.’
She had to calm Dianne down first.
And this was the Rossi estate, the headquarters of the Calamity God cult in Ravanta. There was still a lot she could uncover here.
Elonia swallowed nervously and nodded.
“See? I knew it would look good on you!”
Elonia, dragged to Dianne’s room, was now being subjected to a bizarre dress-up session.
Extracting information from Dianne, who still believed she was attending the academy, was easy.
All Elonia had to do was act like her old self, the naive and gullible Elonia before Dianne’s betrayal, and not provoke her.
Dianne, pleased by Elonia’s obedience, hummed cheerfully as she styled Elonia’s hair with pretty ribbons.
Elonia, seizing the opportunity, said casually,
“By the way, Dianne, you asked me before if I was interested in religion.”
“Ah, right, I did! Are you interested now?”
“Yes, I think it would be good to have faith.”
Even Elonia could lie convincingly in this situation. Dianne’s face lit up, and she clapped her hands excitedly.
“That’s great! There’s a prayer meeting coming up. We can go together!”
“…A prayer meeting?”
“Yes! It’s a prayer meeting led by the chosen one. It’s a rare opportunity to hear their sermon. You’re so lucky, Elonia.”
The chosen one’s sermon?
The chosen one was obviously the Calamity God.
And the Calamity God’s chosen one was…
‘An apostle.’
No way.
Elonia, suppressing her shock and confusion, thought,
An apostle wasn’t just a priest or a cleric.
They were chosen by divine revelation, they heard the god’s voice directly, and they were granted a portion of the god’s power.
The Calamity God chose apostles more frequently than other gods, but it still didn’t make sense. Even in Heilan, a nation obsessed with religion, an apostle appeared only once every hundred years.
As far as Elonia remembered, Alexia had been the last apostle. And now, less than nineteen years later, there was another one?
Dianne, oblivious to Elonia’s inner turmoil, continued excitedly,
“It’s a great opportunity. Ah, that’s right! The chosen one can tell at a glance if someone is truly devout and bless them. So I’ll bring you a nice gift. Can you wait here?”
“Wait…!”
Before Elonia could say anything, Dianne ran out of the room.
She was probably going to bring a prayer altar.
Even if Elonia was immune to holy tools, she wasn’t confident in her ability to pretend to be brainwashed.
And she hadn’t even considered the possibility of an apostle being involved.
An apostle wasn’t someone to be trifled with. Alexia, the former apostle, had given birth to Chelon, the War Demon.
And an apostle’s power grew stronger as the god’s influence increased.
‘I have to get rid of the prayer altar before the apostle gains more power.’
Dianne must have gone to retrieve the altar from the storage room.
Elonia left the room and followed her. She saw Dianne running down a long hallway and turning a corner.
Elonia followed.
“…!”
But it was a dead end.