We have arrived at the front of the royal castle.
It was a magnificent building situated on a rise of land.
The walls surrounding it seemed to be much stronger than those of the city; they also appeared to be enchanted with defensive magic.
The gardens that can be seen through the gates are well maintained and magnificently decorated.
Everything looks quite beautiful, but since castles are built with defensive strategies in mind, there are some odd things that ruin the regal first impression.
The carriage stopped near the gates; I dismounted my horse to give a report on the princess's arrival.
Although it is already clear that she is the princess, it is still necessary to report it, as indicated by the security policies for entering the castle.
Or so said the gentleman who was traveling next to me.
"I am the mercenary hired by Her Majesty. I have come to report her return."
I tried to moderate my tone as best I could so that it didn't sound like my usual rude tone.
I don't want any trouble in this place, so let's be thorough about it.
"Please present the royal coat of arms."
"This is it."
I handed the badge that Celes gave me earlier to the guard in charge of watching the door.
"It has been confirmed. They may pass."
Without saying anything else, I got back on my horse and we slowly entered the castle grounds.
As we got closer, I could see lines of servants coming out from inside the castle.
They started forming a line on the sides of the road, waiting for our arrival.
"Welcome, Your Majesty."
When we stopped, Celes got out of the carriage, while at the same time all the servants welcomed us.
In the middle of the crowd, a woman and a girl waited, along with an elderly butler.
"Mother! Ellis! I'm back!"
"Onee-sama!"
Celes ran away, so those two must have been her mother and her sister.
Well, it's pretty obvious they all look quite alike. They have the same pink hair.
The mother also has a nice bust; will Celes grow up like that too? You can't see much because of the thick dress, but you can make out the bulge, squeezed tight by a girdle.
If the opportunity ever arises, I'd like to check it out, hehe.
Leaving my perverse thoughts behind, I went back to Maria, who was getting out of the carriage with Gabriela, now awake, in her arms.
"It looks like we're finished here. Do you want to go play after this?"
"Yeah."
"Before that, we should find an inn."
"That's how I forget."
Let's try to get a high class inn; this time, Celes told me that several of them have large bathrooms.
I don't need it, but it wouldn't be bad to soak with Maria after so long. I also want to play in the water with Gabriela.
"Well then—"
"Lucia-san! Maria-san!"
Damn it.
Just as I was about to turn around and tell one of the gentlemen that we were leaving, Celes called us over, gesturing with her hands to indicate that we should come closer.
I wanted to leave before she noticed so I wouldn't get too involved with the royals, but it seems their family reunion ended faster than expected.
I could see Celes's mother looking at me curiously, and her sister with her eyes shining for some reason.
sigh Let's go.
Resigning myself to my fate, I approached Celes, who was all smiles.
"Let me introduce them; these are the people who have helped me so far, and I am very grateful to them."
When we were already close, Celes said that and urged us to introduce ourselves.
"…I'm Lucia. This is my daughter, Gabriela."
"Hello!"
"Nice to meet you. My name is Maria."
I was a little embarrassed, so my greeting was a bit awkward.
Gabriela was as always.
And Maria held both sides of her dress and gracefully curtsied after introducing herself.
This girl is more useful in these situations than I am.
"Thank you so much for taking care of my daughter. She's a bit of a ditz, but I would appreciate it if you could always be her friends."
"Mother! Please don't say that!"
"But wasn't that the same girl who kept getting her dress mixed up at the meetings?"
"That was a long time ago, mooo!"
She seemed like a good mother. I was worried she'd be the typical noblewoman who looks down on commoners, but surprisingly, she's just like any other mother.
This is also the first time I've seen Celes act in a way appropriate for her age.
"??"
I felt a small hand tugging at the edge of my trench coat.
I looked down and saw a miniature Celes holding my clothes while she stared at me as if she were looking at a living legend.
"Madam, you are an old fashioned woman, aren't you?"
She asked with strange tension; it seemed she had a certain admiration for people who have lived the longest.
She's cute, so let's say yes.
"Well, you could say that."
I tried to lower my posture to be at the same height, but even so, I'm still taller than her. Well, she's still a child; she doesn't look older than ten.
"Seriously! So you know the end of the Divine War!"
"...Yeah."
Unfortunately, I know that story, and it's something that happened.
It's the same story that caused the near extinction of the divine trees.
But the end of that conflict was almost as stupid as what started it.
"Really? How was it?!"
"...Well… how do I say this? I don't think it's something I should say. I'm sorry."
"Because?"
She asked, making a disappointed face.
I'm sorry, girl, but if I tell you the truth, you'll be even more disappointed. I can't say that the fight that cost millions of lives was just to sleep with a woman.
"Ellis, don't be so annoying. It's probably a taboo subject, that's why she can't say it. Sorry about that; this girl likes to rummage through old stories and gets frustrated when they're incomplete."
"Don't worry. Something like that would bother me too, but in this case, it's something they really shouldn't know."
"Hmm."
"Don't get discouraged, Ellis. She told me not to either."
The princess now offered comfort.
Now that I think about it, on our first trip, she asked me the same question. Obviously, I didn't tell her. There are many people who worship those gods. If the truth were to escape, there would be quite a disaster.
If you think I'm exaggerating, just think about how religious people act in the modern age.
sigh Leaving the subject of the gods aside, I can answer any other question you may have.
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, of course. Or you can also ask Gabriela; she practically knows half of what I know, but you won't get bored."
"There is!"
Gabriela raised her hand in affirmation.
What I said is not a lie; this girl could truly be called a genius in every sense. When I started teaching her to read and write, she already knew how to make complete, quite complicated sentences. It's also worth mentioning that her handwriting was nicer than Maria's.
For some reason, they started competing over it, even though they were having fun, I think.
I also taught her basic math, arithmetic, algebra, and statistics.
In just one day, she magnificently surpassed the me I was before coming into this world, who had just finished my university degree.
I cried from the inside out because of that.
Since I didn't have much to teach her, I told her several stories from this world: well known ones, not so well known ones, and events that no one has ever heard about.
There have been many heroes in the past whose achievements went unrecognized and whose stories were never told.
When I found out about that, I dedicated a special place in the Vanaheim Forest to those heroes.
A graveyard of stone swords, where each one bears the name of a hero and their achievements.
"Isn't she younger than me? Does she really know that much?"
Well, it's understandable to have doubts; after all, Gabriela doesn't look older than three years old.
"Well, at least she's smarter than her mother… Look, say hello to your new friend."
I put Gabriela down from my shoulders and introduced her to the little princess in front of me.
"Hello!"
Gabriela extended her hand toward Ellis, who was standing motionless.
"Wow, she's so beautiful! And that dress is fantastic! Where did you get it?"
She quickly composed herself and held Gabriela's hand with both hands, quite emotional.
"Mom did it!"
With her hands on her hips and chest lifted, she said that with considerable pride.
Gabriela, I'm happy you like it, but it's quite embarrassing.
"Does Lucia-san know how to make dresses? It looks like it's very good quality and made with a very careful hand."
"Well, yes… even though it doesn't suit me well, I like making dresses for Gabriela. The first time, she was quite happy, so I kept making more for her."
"Wow, you're quite a loving mother. I also like it when my daughter enjoys what I do for her. I recently asked the castle cooks to teach me how to make homemade sweets, but that's a surprise for her, so I'd appreciate it if you kept it a secret."
"Hehe, I understand. If you'd like, I can help; I'm a good cook."
"Really? If it's not too much trouble, I'm curious what kind of sweets the Majin eat."
"It's nothing that extravagant, hehehe."
"Mother, they're talking so much over there! Don't leave me out!"
"Fufufu, don't worry, we're not talking about anything! Oh! Right! You don't feel like having tea with us, Your Highness? The King is currently very busy and won't be joining us, but I would like to speak with you for a little longer."
"Whoa! Good idea, Mother. What does Lucia-san say?"
Both the mother and the daughter pleaded with me with their eyes, making it impossible to refuse.
I don't think there will be any problem; it also seems that Gabriela and the little princess get along well.
I don't want to ruin the opportunity for her to make a friend, but I would love to seek confirmation.
In response, she smiled slightly and nodded.
sigh Well then, so be it.
"I don't see why not,"
I said while smiling bitterly.
"Fantastic. Victor, order that things be prepared; we'll be there in thirty minutes."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
At the words of Celes's mother, the old butler who until now had only been silent moved quickly in an unknown direction.
"Then, Lucia-san, let's go!"
"You don't have to rush, Celes. We're not going anywhere."
We followed Celes, who led the group into the castle; the servants and knights followed behind us.
.....
We walked through the castle's grand halls.
There was no need to describe the outstanding decorations on display.
Everything seemed to be covered in gold, and there were so many details that it was difficult to describe them all.
Although I've built castles before
Although this place was still unknown, Gabriela was restless. If she weren't holding the little princess's hand, she would be running around everywhere.
They became good friends before I knew it.
I was also holding Maria's hand.
Unlike those two, though, I held her hand to prevent her from standing still, staring at every painting and decoration that caught her interest.
"I really feel the problems."
"No, it's quite normal for commoners to act this way; they rarely have the opportunity to enter the castle."
"Well, thank you for that."
"Although Lucia-san is quite calm."
"It's not the first time I've been in a castle."
"It's not surprising now, given that this race has lived so long."
No, ma'am. I say that because I myself have built palaces bigger than this castle, but there's no way I'm going to say that.
"Look, once upon a time, Onee-sama tripped over her dress because it was too long. My mother had warned her, but since she was so excited about her coming of age party, she ended up falling face first onto the floor."
"Hahaha!"
"Wait, Ellis, why are you telling her that?!"
"Hahaha! Onee-sama looked funny with her red nose!"
"Ellis!"
"Ara, ara."
"Hahaha."
I couldn't do anything but laugh bitterly. They really didn't resemble the royalty I had imagined, but it was okay, it was good that they were happy together.
"What a great atmosphere here, don't you think, Maria?"
"Fufu, of course."
Maria seemed to be in a good mood today. That was a good thing too. It was because we were walking hand in hand. If that's the case, you're an easy girl to please.
"!"
At that moment, I could feel something unpleasant coming from in front of us. Not only me, Gabriela and Maria felt it too.
An ominous energy, filled with resentment and violence, seemed to be concentrated at a single point.
[Gabriela, don't make any sudden movements and pretend you don't know anything. Mom will take care of this, okay?]
One of my abilities as a god is spiritual resonance; it allows me to speak directly to the soul of the target, and that's what I was using to speak with Gabriela.
Telepathic magic also exists, but what I was using now was unrecognizable to mortals, so it was safer.
At my message, Gabriela turned her head and nodded with a serious face.
She's a smart girl, isn't she?
I also glanced at Maria, to which she only responded with a nod.
I didn't need to tell her anything; she already knew my intentions.
For the moment, despite the unpleasant energy, the presence it came from was not hostile at least, not yet.
Everyone else besides us didn't seem to notice it, even though it was pretty obvious it was there. I guess it was something normal humans couldn't sense.
Focusing my gaze further down the hallway, I could see two people walking slowly toward us.
One was a handsome boy with long red hair and eyes of the same color, a slim but well built physique. His expression was cold, as if everything around him was unworthy of his gaze. He wore a military style suit decorated with medals, among other things.
The other one beside him was taller, with a well trained body, neither too thick nor too thin although he couldn't be called attractive. He had the kind of face that made you wonder if he was laughing at you or at something in his own head.
He also wore a uniform that combined red and black, with pieces of armor on certain parts, and he wore it very carelessly, as if he were a street thug.
The energy was coming from that person.
After a few minutes of walking, while the royals continued talking oblivious to what was happening, we finally got close enough for the others to see the people in front of us.
At that moment, they stopped making noise.
Both Celes and her sister Ellis had tense faces, and their mother was looking ahead, a little worried.
I knew why, because Celes told me during the trip when we stayed together at an inn.
The red haired boy was the fourth prince of this kingdom and a difficult person to deal with.
He appeared to be the leader of a militaristic faction that advocated changing the kingdom's policies toward expansionism.
There were many strange rumors surrounding him, and Celes personally disliked him. In her words, this was because there was a time when he tried to force a political marriage between Celes and a member of the royal court who was in charge of managing military supplies and the budget.
The problem was that this person was a forty year old pig who already had a bad reputation for being an abuser and to top it all off, Celes was only ten years old at the time.
Can you imagine if, at that age, your brother came and ordered you to marry an orc? I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
Luckily for her, the plan backfired, as that pig was executed on charges of embezzlement and slave trafficking.
Slavery is prohibited in this country, and anyone who practices it is punished with immediate execution.
His position was then filled by a close confidant of the king.
There, the prince could no longer intervene, which freed Celes from that terrible fate.
Although the fourth prince seemed to be a stubborn person, he still tried to force political marriages of members of his faction onto Celes and also onto his little sister.
He could do this because Celes was lower in the line of succession to the throne, and although she renounced that position, she was still a princess, so she had political value.
At least the king seemed to be interfering by making excuses and finding fault with the prospective suitors.
The king loved his children very much and wanted them to be happy, but his position didn't allow him to be overly affectionate. He knew this was an obligation as a princess and a noblewoman. There was also the fact that not many princesses had been born.
Well, it was likely that Celes would never be safe unless this guy stopped his persistence. The reason he was after her was because the other princesses older than her were already married, and Celes didn't have a fiancé yet.
There was no need to describe this type of person further; he was the kind who only saw people as tools, including his family.
"I see you've returned safely, Celes."
After a while, we were finally in front of the prince. He smiled when he saw her, but that smile was drier than grass in the desert.
"I'm back, nii-sama. I appreciate your concern."
The lively girl had disappeared; instead, there was a girl I never thought could put on such a cold face.
Ellis also seemed to be trembling a little, but she tried to maintain her composure. Gabriela stood in front of her, trying to shield her.
A rather admirable gesture, were it not for the height difference between the two.
"I just found out what happened. It's lucky you came back alive."
"...Yeah."
He seemed to say it with concern, but in my opinion, it sounded more like he was reproaching her for still being alive.
This guy was scum, there was no doubt about it.
"...By the way, nii-sama, who is that person?"
Trying to change the subject a little, Celes pointed at the man with the unpleasant smile who hadn't said anything so far.
"Is he…? Is he just someone I found to be a new knight candidate?"
"If he is someone recognized by nii-sama, he must be very capable."
"Hehehe, who knows?"
For the first time, the man behind the prince spoke, but immediately fell silent again.
This guy had been staring at me ever since I entered his field of vision.
"Then, Celes, let me ask you the same thing. Who are those people?"
The prince was now looking at us, squinting as he tried to assess us.
"...They are—"
"They are my guests."
Before Celes could answer, her mother the queen intervened.
"Mother?"
"They are old friends of mine. I saw them after a long time, so I invited them for a cup of tea."
Celes seemed confused by what her mother said, but I already had an idea of the reason.
If it were Celes, who held a low position in the hierarchy, the prince could probably order her to intervene if he discovered we had value; he'd want us under his control.
Even though our statuses were currently false, we could still be judged as exceptional people including myself, who looked like a Majin who had lived for a very long time.
But it was another story if we were confidants of the queen.
From what I'd been told, she was the king's third wife and held a strong position at court. She was also a good friend of the first queen, the prince's mother.
She was someone you couldn't treat carelessly, so if she said we were her friends, it meant we were under her protection.
Even so, Little Red Riding Hood did not give up.
"Mother Cecilia, I never heard that you had a Majin acquaintance."
"It's something from when I was just a child, back when I was still in the northern nations, so it's normal that you don't know."
"Even so—"
"Okay, Gladius. They're my friends."
"..."
The queen did not yield. She seemed to be smiling, but it looked more like the grimace of a warrior willing to give everything to stop the enemy from advancing.
At first, she seemed like a kind mother, but after all she was a queen.
My only concern was the man standing behind the prince. We didn't have any weapons on hand; they were left at the checkpoint at the castle entrance, but it wasn't like we needed them.
If it were just acting defensively, I could have easily roasted him without weapons. Maria too, who was practically the strongest living shield.
"...I see. Then I'll take my leave here. I have some work to do. Let's go."
"..."
Having said that, the prince withdrew, walking past us. The man behind him didn't say anything again.
I'll keep an eye on him; it'll be a problem if something happens while I'm not watching.
Sigh.
"I'm so sorry for the awkward situation, Lucia-san, and I'm sorry for the lie. If I hadn't done that, it would have become a problem."
"I understand; the situation warranted it. Are you alright, Celes?"
I asked her, as she was still stiff even after those two left.
"If I'm okay… it just brought back bad memories."
You say that, but it's hard to hide the anxiety in your eyes.
Gabriela was also comforting the little princess, who was using her as a full body pillow.
Maria hadn't said anything since those two appeared either, but that was because she had been keeping her guard up.
She knew it too just like I did that the man behind the prince was a bastard.
And not just any user, but a cursed user someone who had mastered their cursed brand by being exposed to miasma for a long time.
sigh "Come on, don't overwhelm yourself."
"!!"
I approached Celes from behind and lowered myself to her level. Once there, I hugged her, wrapping her body in my arms.
This might have been a rather bold gesture if I were still a man, but in this case, it was quite acceptable.
My mother once told me that words of comfort don't always reach people; sometimes it's better to show concern with actions and convey honesty by bringing hearts together.
She was very kind.
After a while, the tremors in her body stopped, and her expression relaxed.
"Do you feel better?"
"Yes, thank you, but… I'm surprised that despite having such strong arms, they're also surprisingly soft and warm. It reminds me that Lucia-san is also a woman."
"Is that so?"
I never really thought about it, but normally I wouldn't care if my arms were soft or not or rather, I'd want to avoid anything that reminded me I was a woman. I still haven't completely gotten over it.
"My back also feels a softness I've never felt before, not even when my mother hugs me."
"Okay! That's it, no more hugs."
Celes, with a red face, seemed to be awakening something she shouldn't. To be honest, with that lovely expression she had, I was afraid she might end up attacking me at some point.
"Fufu, you're quite good at dealing with people, aren't you, Lucia-san?"
"Well, it's a habit. And just call me Lucia we're in the same position when it comes to being mothers, aren't we, my old friend?"
"Fufufu, okay then, that's fine, Lucia."
sigh
It was good that my old sense of humor had returned. Feeling more relieved, I approached Maria to ask her a question.
Are my arms soft?
"..."
She just turned her face away, slightly blushing.
So that's something you like but are embarrassed to admit in a place full of strangers.
That's probably what she was thinking.
"Well, there was a slight delay, but it's okay if we continue on our way, alright?"
"Yes, of course. In fact, I have some sweets from my homeland with me. Would you like to try them?"
"Seriously? Wow, I'd like to try them."
"Wait, Lucia, didn't you give me any candy when we were traveling?"
"Well, I made them sometime when we stopped in the last city. Gabriela and Maria really liked them."
"Lucia-sama's sweets are amazing."
"Yay! Sweets!"
"I'm curious too!"
It seemed everyone was looking forward to it, hehehe. There's no world where women don't like sweets. It's good that I made some, I wanted Gabriela to try them when the time came.
In a better mood, we headed toward what appeared to be the castle's inner courtyard.