Chapter 161

Cornelius Merhes, the mustached mage, decided to trust Shion.

It wasn't that he was trustworthy, but that he was too exhausted to do otherwise.

The mustached mage, exiled after being pushed out of political strife, had already been weary for a long time.

How sweet was it that the great Emperor Continua had prepared a secret plan in the West, and that he could be a part of it?

For a man whose ropes had all been cut, it was excessively sweet.

He had no idea what the plan was, but the trust inspired by the name of Emperor Continua was stronger.

It was just as Shion had thought.

“Her Highness the Princess has retired to her chambers, but she will not be sleeping.”

Cornelius said.

“She has been having trouble sleeping ever since leaving the Imperial Palace.”

“Is that so? I’m worried.”

Shion answered nonchalantly.

His tone was not at all worried.

“……”

Cornelius glanced at Shion’s profile.

It was beautiful.

He had thought him pretty as a boy, and he had grown up to be truly beautiful.

He harbored a renewed thought.

To think that the Fifth Prince Zionis was alive.

Under the name Shion!

“Excuse me……”

“You are free to ask questions, but you will not receive answers.”

Shion cut him off a step ahead.

Cornelius awkwardly stroked his mustache.

“…How did you know what I was going to ask?”

“Wasn’t it something like, what are you going to do when you meet my sister?”

“……”

He kept his mouth shut because it was the correct answer.

“I cannot say, but it will be helpful to you.”

Shion smiled faintly.

It was artificial, but effective.

“And Cornelius, I would like you to be present when I speak with my sister. I don’t want to talk without you.”

“…Oh, Your Highness!”

Cornelius took Shion’s words as a sign of trust.

Perhaps because he had spent several years in the cold treatment of Emperor Ferbias, Shion’s every word came as a great joy.

“You can count on this Cornelius. I will guide you to Her Highness the Princess immediately.”

“You go first.”

Shion gestured.

“I will follow quietly, so check if my sister is alone.”

“You are wise, Your Highness Zionis.”

“You must be careful. You must not allow even the closest of handmaidens.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“And be careful with that ‘Your Highness’ business.”

“Yes, Your Highness… oops.”

Anyway, there’s not a single one who calls me properly.

Shion grumbled under his breath.

“Go on, Cornelius. I’ll follow.”

“I will do so.”

***

Santia Hostanio is not an Imperial Princess.

She is a princess, but not an Imperial Princess.

To be precise, she was originally the Second Imperial Princess of the Cordis Empire, but not anymore.

This was because her father, Emperor Continua, had abdicated.

As the daughter of the former emperor, she was a princess, but not the Second Imperial Princess.

It seemed pointless to be so meticulous, but that was how imperial rules were.

She was no longer the Second Imperial Princess.

However, people still called her the Second Imperial Princess.

Because they were used to it, because the current Emperor Ferbias had no children yet, and because Emperor Continua’s influence remained strong even seven years after his retirement.

Ferbias was dissatisfied with the Emperor's influence.

A great father casts a great shadow.

It was only natural for him to be dissatisfied, being under that shadow even after becoming emperor.

However, Ferbias decided to use that influence rather than just complain.

The name of Emperor Continua was a symbol of greatness to the Empire and an object of fear to the West.

His name could be used effectively in many places.

For example, adding the modifier ‘daughter of the Emperor’ to Santia Hostanio made her a more effective diplomatic tool.

‘In time…….’

Santia Hostanio lifted her sad eyes.

Her hair was golden.

‘…it will be forgotten, the name of the Emperor's daughter.’

She was born and found her father to be Emperor Continua.

It was not her choice.

Yet she had lived her life swayed by the Emperor’s name.

So much so that she couldn’t even remember a time when she wasn’t swayed.

The fatigue was so old that she couldn’t even remember what it felt like not to be tired.

A stifling imperial court, a stifling name, stifling people.

They all surrounded her and forced her into the mold of an Imperial Princess.

Many would say her complaints were those of a spoiled child, but there was no law against voicing such complaints.

‘…No, will that brother Ferbias ever forget me……?’

She had left for an unfamiliar place.

The wind was unfamiliar, the soil was unfamiliar, and the people were unfamiliar.

It was tiring and tiring, but also a little relieving. Because she could get away from Ferbias.

She just wanted to be forgotten.

She wanted to forget the complicated world, the diplomatic dealings, the thousand-year empire, and the great Emperor Continua.

But they would not forget her.

They constantly pushed her to take responsibility for things she had not chosen.

‘…I’m so tired, why can’t I sleep.’

Her sad eyes were deeply tired.

She couldn’t understand anything.

What kind of person would her husband be?

What did he look like, how did he live?

Would he, a man of the West, not hate the Empire?

Could she trust the delegation that had followed her?

They were all people she had never seen before.

What would become of her future?

It was bleak.

So suffocatingly bleak that the word ‘bleak’ felt inadequate.

She was in a position others envied.

But there was a suffering that others could not know.

When the two met, it became a terrible solitude.

She was seized with the conviction that she was isolated in the world.

Her originally bright personality, which shone like a star, had long been gnawed away by fatigue.

It was a very painful thing to watch one's own heart harden.

“Your Highness.”

“……”

Santia raised her head.

A familiar voice came from outside the door.

“It is I. Cornelius.”

“…I have already gone to bed.”

“I apologize. But there is a very urgent matter……”

Sigh. Santia let out a small sigh.

She felt sorry for that mustached mage too.

Hermai Merhes’s top disciple and adopted son, his skills were certain, but because he had fallen out of favor with Ferbias……. The sight of him struggling this way and that to get back on the path to success was very pitiful.

It would be easier for him if he just accepted it.

Santia, feeling sorry for him, easily opened her mouth.

“I understand. You may come in.”

Cornelius immediately opened the door and bowed deeply.

Santia waved her hand as if to say there was no need for such troublesome etiquette.

After finishing his greeting, Cornelius looked around.

“Were you alone, Your Highness?”

“That’s right.”

“Chief Handmaiden Nana……”

“I sent her to the ship. She’ll be more comfortable resting there.”

“Ah……”

Most of the Imperial delegation remained on the ship.

Because no accommodation provided by Guidone was better than their cabins.

Santia had taken a firm stance, saying that while she was staying at the Guidone family’s mansion for diplomatic reasons, there was no reason for others to do the same.

She had the delegation members, except for the minimum number needed for her escort, remain on the ship.

“I see. You were alone……”

Cornelius stroked his mustache and turned his head.

The night was deep.

There was only darkness in the corridor.

But where was he looking, to whom was he speaking?

“…So she says.”

“That’s good.”

A face suddenly popped out from the darkness.

Blonde hair and blue eyes, with delicate features.

The man walked out of the shadows nonchalantly, and the shadows clung to his body for a moment before scattering and disappearing.

Cornelius shivered with a start.

The first reason was that he hadn’t realized Shion was right next to him, and the second was that the shadow he wore held an indescribable strangeness.

What Shion wore was the Mana Armor Valziart.

Thanks to the Great Witch's adjustments, it had regained its original power, allowing him to melt into the darkness.

He slowly drew the shadows in.

The black mud writhed more fiercely and more vividly than before. It even gave rise to a kind of fear.

He was quite satisfied.

“…Who is this, Cornelius?”

Santia slowly parted her lips.

She was now holding a dagger.

“…You brought a strange man into my bedroom? In the middle of the night? I am extremely embarrassed and disappointed in you.”

“Your Highness Santia! I will explain everything!”

Cornelius hastily raised both hands to calm her.

Santia bit her lip.

She thought Cornelius was taking a desperate gamble out of his obsession with success, and she wasn't far from the truth.

“So for now, please put down the dagger……”

“Step back, Cornelius.”

Shion took a step forward.

“Good evening, Your Highness, the Second Imperial Princess Santia.”

“…I am not pleased to receive greetings from a strange man who has barged into my bedroom.”

“Strange?”

He chuckled and took out a candy box.

Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter, he pressed the created protrusion.

A magical mist spread, adding secrecy to the space.

Their conversation would not leak out.

“You don’t know me?”

“……?”

At Shion’s question, Santia unconsciously looked at his face.

Blonde hair and blue eyes, a color similar to hers. Definitely unfamiliar, yet familiar.

It felt as if she were meeting someone she had known long ago.

“Well……”

“You really don’t know me?”

Perhaps because of her long loneliness and fatigue, she felt as if her head was in a fog.

It seemed like she would remember if she thought a little more, but it just wouldn't come to her.

“I’m hurt.”

Shion said with a chuckle.

“Very hurt, Sister Santia.”

“…Sister?”

Santia Hostanio felt her breath catch.

There were only three people in the world who would call her sister.

One was Kateka Keshulei.

He was currently fighting on the eastern front with Secundus Debius.

One was Babato Lurudis.

He was a newborn baby seven years ago and is still a young child now.

And one was…….

A corner of her chest trembled.

“You……”

She raised a trembling finger.

“Are you Zionis……?”

***

The Fifth Prince Zionis.

A name buried seven years ago.

“Yes. That was my name.”

Facing his old name, Shion’s smile deepened.

“I knew you would recognize me, sister……”

“You’re alive!”

Santia Hostanio rushed forward.

She hugged Shion tightly and rubbed her face against his, looking as if she would burst into tears.

Shion felt a little bewildered.

“…Were we this close?”

“How hurtful! We’re siblings!”

“You haven’t changed. I heard you’ve been feeling down lately, but your true personality is coming out right away.”

Among the monstrous princes and princesses, she was the only one who was human, and therefore always the most deeply hurt, Santia Hostanio.

Even for Shion, whose anger would rise unconditionally at the name of Cordis, it was difficult to hate her blindly, his half-sister.

“Your Highness Santia!”

Cornelius, who had been watching Shion and Santia’s reunion, raised his voice.

He spoke in a solemn tone.

“I apologize for the breach of etiquette. But I had to have you meet His Highness Zionis. His Highness Zionis is here in the West on the orders of His Majesty the Great Emperor……”

“Ah. That’s a lie.”

“…Pardon?”

Cornelius’s mustache trembled.

“What do you mean, a lie……?”

“Everything about Emperor Continua. Seven years ago, I just ran away on my own.”

“Whaaaaaat?”

The mustached mage asked in astonishment.

“Why! Why would you tell such a lie……!?”

“Because then you would obediently guide me to my sister Santia?”

“Huh? Huh-huh-huh? Then my path to success is……?”

“Haha, you have big dreams.”

Cornelius Merhes collapsed in despair.

He muttered something, but it was so full of self-interest that I didn’t want to bother listening.

“But Cornelius, my words that it will be helpful to you were not a lie.”

The regressed prince swept his hair back.

“Because I have come to give you all a way to live.”