Dreams of the Holy Knight - Chapter 20

Dreams of the Holy Knight - Chapter 20

“Liliana Armand sees the supreme sun of the Empire.”  

“Welcome.  For a Saintess to appear like this, I am just amazed at the grace of the Goddess who watches over the empire.”  

“It seems that the deep devotion of Your Majesty and the people of the Empire reached out to the Goddess and granted me such an honorable place.”  

A satisfied smile appeared on the emperor's face, as if her words were quite pleasing to him.  The Emperor grinned and shook her hands, and began chanting praises of the Goddess' grace, but as he kept going on and on, a puzzled smile spread across Liliana's face.  

She was told that she would only meet with him for a brief moment?  It was a disrespectful thought, but it felt like she was catching up with her chattering grandfather.  

“……  Thus, from the beginning of the Abelard Empire, the Goddess' care has been with us.  Our descendants should never forget Valerie's teachings, and always be wary of ignorance and greed, so that they may try to preserve the glory that is passed down from generation to generation.  Now that the Saintess is here too, the hearts of the people of the empire will be filled, and they will be in awe of the great grace of the Goddess!”  

"Haha…….  Yes, you are correct.  Your majesty."  

About the time when Liliana's eyes were clouded by his constant chatter, his attendant approached and told the Emperor.  

“Your Majesty, her highness the Crown Princess wants to see you.”  

“Oh, is that so?  Tell her to come in.  We should also give Evgena the honor of seeing the Saintess.”  

Before the Emperor could even finish speaking, the door opened and Evgena entered.  She was born with the red flag of the imperial family, and she was already appointed as the Crown Princess even before she was less than a year old.  She was a person full of dignity even from a side glance.

Her abilities were also outstanding, and even now, as she had already taken over most of the emperor's work, it had been said that she was the de facto master of the empire.  The emperor also supported the crown princess without having to refute such rumors.

Because of her cool beauty and her magnanimous personality, she was popular with nobles, of course, even with young ladies.  Liliana had only looked at the Crown Princess with longing at a banquet hosted by the imperial family from a distance, so Liliana's cheeks blushed as the Crown Princess was in front of her.  As she bowed her head to greet to the Crown Princess, Evgena’s golden eyes gleamed with curiosity.  

“I see the little sun of the empire.”  

“So this is the Saintess.  Evgena Abel greets the Goddess's representative.  The imperial family decided to spare no support for the Saintess.  Right, Your Majesty?”  

“Oh, yes.  I haven't even talked about that yet."  

“Did you hold onto an innocent person again while being engrossed in chatter?”  

Cough, cough.  

“The Saintess has the same thoughts as me, so the conversation flowed very well.  We were at a good finishing point...…. Don’t you think so?"  

The Emperor looked at Liliana, with his eyes lit.  She thought it was a one-sided speech between a speaker and a listener rather than a conversation, but she carefully nodded her head.  

“It was a good……  time for me too.  Your majesty."  

Evgena raised one eyebrow as if in doubt, then waved her hand.  

“Anyway, your Majesty.  Velita just returned.”  

“Are you talking about what happened in that Cave?  It’s good that the Saintess is here present to hear about it.”  

“Sir Klein is out there right now, so I think I will take the Saintess with me for a while.”  

"I see.  You can do so.”  

“Will you come with me, Saintess?”  

Evgena smiled as she stretched out her arms as if she was going to escort her.  Liliana followed her out of the audience room, blushing for no reason, as Evgena’s curved eyes seemed to resemble Noel. Noel, who was waiting at the door following Lilliana to escort her, found them and approached them.

“Let’s go, Noel.”  

“I will escort the Saintess.”  

“Give me a chance to escort the Saintess too.  You’re such a greedy guy.  Isn't he?”  

"Yes, Yes?"

“Even the Saintess agrees.  Let's go, Noel."  

Noel followed them, not hiding his displeasure.  It had been a long time since they had touched so he had been looking forward to it, but his cousin was of no help.  

Perhaps because it was he was in front of a person he knew intimately, Noel acted differently and Liliana looked at the two alternately, curiously, and asked the Crown Princess a question. 

"Your majesty.  But where are we going now?”  

“Oh, I forgot to explain.  This is the way to my office.  I asked the Magic Tower to interpret one of the Black Magic Circles, and they finished interpreting today.”  

“Black magic?”  

"Yes.  Some kind of bastard, they did some pretty cunning things in the West while avoiding my eyes.  I was waiting because I wondered if I would be able to figure out the culprit if I analyzed what the magic circle was made for.  I may need the help of a Saintess, which is why I am to taking you there."  

Black magic...….  The light green eyes were worried at the unexpected words.  

Black magic was a type of magical power, but since it was a power that guaranteed human vitality, it was at odds with the power of the Goddess. Therefore, she heard that the temple, not the tower, used to deal with black magic. Listening to the story of the Crown Princess, she came to realize the reality of becoming a Saintess.

“If there is anything I can do to help, I will do my best.  Your highness."  

“Since the Saintess says so, I am very reassured.”  

The Crown Princess looked cutely at Liliana, who had a serious expression on her face.  The Saintess, who suddenly appeared, tended to reveal her inner thoughts in her expression, and Evgena thought that Liliana’s innocence was very cute after suffering daily with aristocrats who had different inner thoughts and outer appearances. And even Noel's longing eyes that couldn’t take his eyes off the Saintess. Evegena felt good because she seemed to have found an object of interest after a long time.

* * * (read on pink-grapes.blogspot.com) 

When they reached the front of the office, an aide of the Crown Princess opened the door.  As soon as the door opened, she saw a brown-haired wizard leaning against the sofa as if lying down. When she saw Liliana coming in, she jumped up and straightened out her robes.  

“I see you’re also impertinent today, Velita.”  

“I see the little sun of the empire.  Haha."  

“Okay, is the interpretation done?”  

"Of course.  As Tower Top Magician and I spent a few days and a few nights…….  But is the person...…?”  

"Yes.  She is the Saintess.”  

"Wow!  Greetings from the lowly servant of the Goddess to the representative of the Goddess!”  

The bubbly brown-haired woman, staring intently at Liliana with her eyes lit up, was a well-known figure she knew well, even though she did not know much about social news.  

A few years ago, it was said that after Velita Evans and the Evans Marquis got into an argument because the Marquis refused to allow her to go to the Magician’s Top Tower, and she almost destroyed the Marquis and left.  She was a young lady who excelled at her magic enough to make the Marquis listen to her.  Liliana smiled and greeted her with a strange and fluttering feeling.  

“Hello, Lady Velita.  This is Liliana Armand.”  

"Huh?  Do you know me?  It is an honor that the Saintess knows me such that I should pass it down from generation to generation. Ha ha ha!"  

“If someone doesn’t know about you in the imperial society, they are a spy.  Velita, think about the things you did.”  

“Hmmm.  Is Noel here too?  I think your face looks better?  You are getting more and more handsome, it is definitely a waste for you to rot away. Should I introduce you to a pretty wizard?"

“No thank you.  Please explain the magic circle that you interpreted.”  

“So cold.  Here it is.  Your majesty."  

The face of the crown princess, who received the documents Velita presented, began to harden. Liliana's mind became uneasy when she saw the unusual expression. What did it say? 

“……  Is it some kind of experiment that transplants the body of a monster into a human?”

"Yea.  It looked like they were trying to graft humans and monsters together using black magic.  The idea is novel.  If it succeeds, one demonized human will be able to humbly fight ten knights.”  

Velita spoke in a cynical voice.  Evgena raised her head and looked at her.  Anxiety was mixed in the faintly trembling voice.

“Did it fail?”  

“For now.”  

'For now'?  Then there was the possibility of success.  Listening to their conversation, Liliana bit her lip.  Did the Goddess foresee this and choose her?  However, she still didn’t know how to completely control her holy powers, so what did they mean a human with a monster body implanted?  How does she deal with such people? 

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