Chapter 163

Santia Hostanio had lived her entire life as a princess of Cordis.

This meant she had cultivated her dignity with etiquette, discipline, and all sorts of old-fashioned things.

Her dignity was too solid to be shaken by a little bewilderment, and she could maintain her composure even at the nonsense of the man who was to be her fiancé.

“…Ask me to marry you? I came here with that intention from the start.”

“No, no, no… what should I say……. Please do it twice!”

“Oh my.”

She covered her mouth and laughed.

Santia still did not know what kind of man Gwaemos, her future husband, was.

So, her heart had no reason to open up.

However, it was clear that he had taken a liking to her.

It was much better than him being standoffish or showing off a promiscuous nature.

“Your Highness Santia……”

Gwaemos carefully opened his hand and held it out.

It was clear that he wanted her to place her hand in his.

Santia did not refuse.

She placed her hand on top of his.

Gwaemos held Santia’s hand firmly.

“I, Gwaemos Gustav Guidone, will make you happy for the rest of your life.”

“Do you like me?”

“Of course!”

“What is it about me that you like so much?”

“Uh……”

He looked at her.

He stared intently at the person he was meeting for the first time, scanning her features one by one.

Straight blonde hair, blue eyes, and above all, an innocent smile.

A smile that seemed like it could never be clouded by time.

So, all of it together…….

“…Your outward appearance?”

Santia finally burst out laughing.

He was a man so honest he was ridiculous.

She laughed out loud without even thinking of covering her mouth.

“Shouldn’t you consider my inner self as well?”

“…Hmm. Your Highness, is your inner self a mess?”

“I’ve never thought so.”

“Then that’s settled!”

He stood up abruptly, still holding her hand.

Oh, he’s taller than I thought.

Santia’s cheeks were slightly flushed.

Gwaemos spoke in a powerful voice.

“Let’s hurry with the ceremony!”

***

“Master Cornelius, Master Cornelius.”

Nana kept chuckling.

“It’s a good sight.”

“There’s no harm in it.”

Gwaemos and Santia were holding hands.

They had only just learned each other’s faces and names, yet they were to become husband and wife.

It was a meeting of those who had lost themselves, swept away by their bloodlines.

“It was a very good idea to let them be alone for a while, Master Cornelius. You kept pretending to be uninterested.”

“Since I will have to serve them continuously, I should pay some attention, Chief Handmaiden Nana.”

The Chief Handmaiden’s name was Nana.

Her lustrous black hair was braided in three strands.

A slight Hobel Bay accent, and vibrant white skin. Just as Cornelius would remain in the West with Santia, Chief Handmaiden Nana also had to stay.

They would be seeing each other’s faces until they were sick of it.

“More importantly, Master, I heard you had a visitor yesterday.”

“Weren’t you on the ship then? You’re very well-informed.”

“Hehe. I have my ways.”

“I see……”

Cornelius subtly feigned ignorance.

It was because Chief Handmaiden Nana had brought up Shion.

He wanted to change the subject, but Nana wouldn’t allow it.

With a girlish voice, she threw a probing question.

“What kind of person was he?”

“Hmm……”

Cornelius stroked his mustache.

‘I want to snap at her to stop asking or lie, but…….’

The name of the visitor from yesterday was Shion, the Fifth Prince Zionis, who was known to be dead.

He held the lives of Santia and Cornelius in his hands.

Therefore, he had to be hidden.

‘But if I hide it clumsily, it will only look more suspicious……. He said there would be people from the intelligence agency in the delegation…….’

It was impossible to know how much the Cordis intelligence agency had grasped.

If Chief Handmaiden Nana was testing him, knowing the truth, and his lie was exposed, Cornelius’s position would become very difficult.

He chose his words carefully.

“…It was a man named Shion. He said he was the son-in-law of the Verchello family.”

“I see.”

Nana smiled.

Her smile held conviction.

It was not the joy of obtaining new information, but a smile that came from reconfirming what she already knew.

Cornelius Merhes felt a chill run down his spine.

‘…Damn it. She was testing me, and she knew.’

He would have been in big trouble if he had lied.

He looked down at Chief Handmaiden Nana.

Black hair braided in three strands, vibrant white skin.

No matter how he looked at her, she seemed like an ordinary girl…….

‘Chief Handmaiden Nana, is she really… from the intelligence agency…….’

The Chief Handmaiden serving a imperial was usually a daughter of a noble family.

Yet, Cornelius had never seen or heard of a handmaiden named Nana.

Despite having worked in the capital, Lutilium, for nearly 20 years.

He had been wondering about the identity of the girl named Nana anyway.

If she was from the Cordis intelligence agency, it all made sense.

She was likely a string-puller sent to monitor Cornelius and Santia and report back to the home country.

A surge of anger rose in him, but he suppressed it.

Cornelius was at a disadvantage.

It would do him no good to show suspicious behavior to someone from the intelligence agency in his exiled state.

“Master Cornelius, couldn’t you just tell this Nana a little secret?”

Nana smiled sweetly.

Cornelius found her smile detestable.

“What did that person talk about?”

“…Chief Handmaiden Nana, know your place.”

Cornelius said in a low voice.

A blue-green light flashed from his body.

A four-star mage was already a superhuman, no different from a weapon.

“Who are you to be curious about the secret conversation Her Highness had? Her Highness Santia is the daughter of the Great Emperor!”

“…Oh my, why are you getting angry?”

Nana pouted.

“I didn’t know you were such a loyal person, Master. I was just trying to be friendly.”

“Watch your conduct.”

Cornelius got angry.

“Act like a Chief Handmaiden. Just now, you were not at all like a Chief Handmaiden serving Her Highness.”

“Yes, Master Cornelius’s words, I will take them to heart.”

She still held a smile.

“This Nana will act like a Chief Handmaiden.”

***

Three weeks after Shion and Serena left for Guidone.

Amethus and Valziart remained in Merion.

One was the jade-eyed diviner, and the other was a noble of the shadow dimension.

They were managing Merion from behind while Shion and Serena were away.

“Is the sewer cleaning finished, Valziart?”

“It was delicious.”

“…You’ve gotten a little taller.”

Valziart giggled and patted her stomach.

She was a head taller than when she first met Amethus.

Still, she only came up to Amethus’s chest.

She declared that the Merion sewers were completely clean.

She had swallowed everything, whether it was cockroach fiends or magical beasts, into her shadow.

As a being of the shadow dimension, her concept of hygiene was different from that of an ordinary person.

Regardless of physical hygiene, she was satisfied with having absorbed a great deal of mana.

Amethus was amazed to see Valziart, who didn't even smell bad after spending days in the sewer.

Her clothes looked like fabric, but they were actually shadows, a part of Valziart’s body.

“More importantly, I found these guys.”

Valziart pushed aside her dress and revealed her stomach.

There, a black shadow was churning.

A large mouth seemed to form on her exposed stomach, and with a spitting sound, she spewed out several humans.

Three men, one woman.

All of them were in a filthy state and unconscious.

Amethus, who searched their belongings, came to a conclusion without difficulty.

“…Agents of the Cordis intelligence agency.”

He continued to search their belongings.

He found pieces of metal and scraps of paper that seemed to have no connection.

They were a kind of directive that revealed information when combined in a specific way.

The security system of the Cordis intelligence agency boasted the highest level of robustness and complexity on the continent.

However, Amethus had a past as the captain of the Cordis Security Bureau's special operations unit and a confidant of the current emperor.

He could decipher Cordis ciphers to some extent.

Though he couldn’t read the most difficult types, as seven years had passed.

“…They were in the middle of erasing their tracks.”

“What does it say?”

“I’ll write it down so you can understand it too.”

He took out a pen and paper and transcribed the cipher.

[INOKGGMO9]

“What does this mean?”

“I’ll explain.”

Amethus continued, seeing Valziart tilt her head at the string of letters and numbers.

“This type of cipher uses the O in the middle as a comma. It means IN, KGGM, 9.”

“What’s that……. Why do humans live so complicatedly……”

“IN is the secrecy level. One level below the highest. KGGM can be interpreted in three ways, but since a number follows, it is read as KG and GM. KG is the operation termination code, and GM is the assembly code.”

“Hmm. The preparations are finished, so assemble? It’s a very secret matter?”

“That would be the case if the cipher hasn’t changed in seven years. The context fits well, so it seems unlikely to be wrong.”

His intuition also didn't raise any flags.

It seemed he had interpreted it correctly.

Valziart scratched her lip.

“Then what does the last 9 mean?”

“It means the sender, but… I’m not sure either.”

Amethus swept his hair back.

“Usually, a unique number assigned to the sender is used, but a single-digit number is very rare.”

“Is it that important?”

Valziart giggled.

She ran around excitedly.

Black mud flowed with every step.

It was impossible to know what she was so excited about.

“It means something big is about to happen, right?”

***

Santia faced her wedding ceremony.

She was so anxious she couldn't bear it.

Even while greeting the guests who came in her beautiful bridal attire, she had to struggle to hide the look of fear.

In the end, when she saw Shion who came to the bride’s waiting room, she couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.

“You are beautiful, Your Highness Santia.”

“Mr. Shion……”

“Are you alone?”

“…Of course. I’ve sent the Chief Handmaiden outside for a moment.”

She had almost shouted, Zionis!

Shion immediately took out the candy box.

Soon, a magical mist rose and protected their secret.

“You can speak comfortably now. To me, Shion.”

Only then did Santia pour out what was on her mind.

However, she had enough sense not to call him Zionis after hearing Shion’s words.

“…You said you would contact me if I waited, so why didn’t you? The wedding ceremony is already here. You spoke as if you were going to prepare something……!”

“I’m sorry for making you wait.”

Shion smiled sweetly.

He had not given any news to Cornelius and Santia.

Even knowing that they were burning with anxiety day by day, he had deliberately gone around playing with Serena.

That time was fun, but it was not the main purpose.

“I will tell you now, Your Highness Santia.”

He said, as if whispering.

“A horde of fishmen is coming. To attack this wedding ceremony in the middle of it. I tried to reduce their numbers, but they are still enormous.”

“…How many?”

“Twenty thousand? To be precise, it looks to be about twenty-two thousand.”

“……!!!”

Santia’s eyes widened.

She would faint if I told her there were over seventy thousand before the regression.

Thanks to Amethus breaking all the hatcheries, less than a third of the number remained.

“I made you wait on purpose. I was planning to let you escape at the most decisive moment.”

“…Why?”

“Because the enemy was too close.”

They had a secret conversation and did not contact each other again.

It was all intentional.

To make the enemy’s gaze fall only on Cornelius and Santia and Shion’s intention was successful. He chuckled and looked outside the door.

‘The Empire is ready. The calamity that crossed the sea has reached our chins.’

Perhaps two hours until the horde of fishmen arrives?

Shion couldn’t suppress his laughter.

It was different from before the regression.

It had to be different from that time when he was helplessly swept away by the calamity and it was really changing.

“But I, too, am ready.”