Chapter 44 – What Each Can Do

Episode 44 What Each Can Do

At Princess Anne’s resolute words, Marianne lost her words.

I need some help.

“Princess Mama.
Then I wonder if His Majesty the King supports the crusade?
There are also rumors that Marquis John, who is in charge of military affairs, is also moving the frontier army.
Since you just worried about armaments, wouldn’t your highness be resolved by the holy war?”

Princess Anne laughed.
Because I realized my intentions at once.

“Don’t test me.
We’ll skip this one time.
I just said something misleading.”

“… I’m sorry, Princess.
Please forgive the rudeness.”

I stabbed myself.
‘Actually, neither the king nor the princess like the temple, do they?
Please do that.”

Princess Anne stretches out her arm and caresses her flower.

“His Highness the King, me and Stella were active pacifists.
I supported the first war and served the national interest, but…
It’s a war that dragged on for too long without a justification or practical use.
On the contrary, it is difficult to suppress the rampage of cathedrals and local barons under the pretext of war.”

It is a world where the swordsman succeeds.
Those who hold knives and steal are better off than those who farm and make utensils.
So you and I both grab knives.
A world that only seeks to steal and does not produce.
And the world of becoming the leader of the sword-holder and aiming for the king.
The princess can’t like it.
Above all, those who only hold knives do not pay taxes.

“Marquis John, ‘Knight of the Moon’ Angela, Count Mido, etc. Wanted to end the war as quickly as possible using the Holy Temple.
But…
Obama and I have different ideas.
A holy war is not an ordinary war.
Foreign territory occupation war against heterogeneous, infidels…
The demons will come to recover the stolen land, and blood and money will continue to flow.”

“I mean…
If it had been a way to end with surrender and payment of reparations like wars between nobles, Marquis John’s words would have made sense.”

Marianne calmly reveals her thoughts.
Wait, but did you say Angela, the ‘Knight of the Moon’, was a supporter of the temple?!
… It may be necessary to advance the attack on the Knight of the Moon earlier than expected.

“That’s right, saintess.
Whoa, Catherine and her brother-in-law believed they were neutral…
This cathedral terrorism raises doubts.”

In the meantime, it seems that Princess Anne’s dark circles have become thicker.

“I’m a weak person anyway, so I can’t do big things.
My brother will do the rest.”

“Princess, you said that…
You will be healthy in the future.”

“Thank you, Marie.
But I know my body well.
When I see Obama, I know how exhausting it is to lead a country.”

Slurp.

Princess Anne drank a cup of milk tea.
I stare at my teacup sadly.
I’m worried about my father

“Princess Mama.
Your words are getting longer, are you okay?”

“Thank you, Mercy.
Today is a sunny day after rain, so I think I can stay a little longer because the day is warm.”

Mercy bowed quietly and withdrew again.

“Huh, when the wind gets cold, I go in right away…
It’s fortunately warm today, so I’d like to talk a little more.”

I’m only 22 now…
According to Master’s report, it is said that she was too ill to marry.
It is customary for girls in the royal family to be engaged as children, or to be married as soon as they reach adulthood, at least at the age of 15.
So, Princess Anne’s wedding is very late.
… Although Rumika is over a hundred years old and still unmarried.

“… Princess mom.
If it’s not rude, can I go see the doctor as usual?”

Marianne cautiously suggests if she is worried about Princess Anne.

“Oh, would you please?
Thank you.”

Princess Anne willingly stretched out her arms, and Marianne prayed and wrapped Princess Anne’s body in light with her divine power.

“How is it, my body?”

“… It looks like you’ve been working hard lately.
Now that you’ve gotten a little worse, you’d better get her body back on track.
First of all, I looked at it with a prayer for recovery.
Even though prayer can give you energy, it can’t cure the disease… “

Somehow, the dark circles came down more.

“Hmm, that’s right.
We should do that before it is too late.”

“… Yes? What to say…”

While Marianne and I are dumbfounded, Princess Anne throws a bombshell.

“You will be surprised when you hear it later, so I will inform you in advance.
I will renounce the right to succeed to the throne.”

“… !!!!”

No, wait.
So, are we really going to be kites off the string?
Even though Princess Catherine is the first princess!
What could happen in the world, but the second princess gave up her right to succeed?
Then Princess Anne would have no say in her royal court, so who do we turn to?!

While we were staring with our mouths open, Princess Anne continued her words firmly.

“Because it is the saintess’ party, I believe her mouth will be heavy.
Jeon… She will give up her right to the throne to save her brother.
… It’s me that her sister cares about.
I can’t stand watching my poor little brother sigh in the constellation tower any longer.”

Ah… It was like that.
In the end, Princess Catherine was the older of her half-brothers, and Princess Anne, who had thick hair, was the one to look out for.

Princess Catherine has no support from her maternal family because her mother died early, and she has no family or in-laws.
Alberic is popular but alone.

It would be troublesome for Princess Anne to seek the throne by carrying her mother’s family on her back, or by marrying her husband’s family on her back.

So, like a hostage, the star princess was imprisoned in the Constellation Tower under the pretext of practicing magic!

“Princess, is there anything I can do to help?
In fact, the success of the invasion of the castle was thanks to the princess of the star.
If you allow it, I will go to the moon knight and plead for the star princess.”

For those who have never had a one-on-one meeting outside of the operation, after all, seeing the operation once is all
Marianne wants to go to the moon knight and ask for it.
But Princess Anne shakes her head.

“No. It’s okay.
This is not a matter of merit,
It’s a matter of politics.
It won’t do you any good.
I will help you as much as I can until then, and even after that.
Get this first, saintess.”

“This…”

“This is my palace pass, similar to the one Mr. Kamu received.
However, as for the saintess, since her status and gender meet the conditions, she should be able to enter the parlor of the inner palace.
If you need a room, feel free to tell the ladies-in-waiting.”

“Princess Mama… !!”

This is the first time I’ve heard of such a privilege.
The saintess is neither a maternal relative, nor a high ranking official, nor does she have a family…

Can I really do this?

“Because they are friends and comrades.
And it may be difficult for the saint to get along now that she has returned to the cathedral.
You can count on me whenever you need it.”

“I will never forget the grace of the princess… !”

Marianne is moved to the point of tears.

Princess Anne smiles palely.

“And when you go back, go alone with Mr. Kamu.
There are many eyes around you, and there may be people who know that you are helping the saintess and are aiming for Mr. Kamu.
Mr. Kamu, I must have applied for something to be used for the hiring of a bodyguard the other day.
Make full use of it.”

“Thank you, Princess.
We are already hiring trustworthy people to set up our bodyguards.”

“Hehe, seeing as he was unharmed from the cathedral attack, it must have been a good team…
Cool, cool!”

Princess Anne, who had been laughing heartily, suddenly let out a violent cough.
Then, Mercy comes running from afar.

“Princess Mama… !
Put on your shawl here.
You’d better go in.”

“Cool, cool!
Ah, everyone. Let’s just do this today.
I would like to talk more with nice people, but please understand.”

“You’re welcome.
Always stay safe, princess!”

Princess Anne disappeared deep into her inner palace, attended by Mercy and her other ladies-in-waiting.
We were looking at her behind the complex and subtle.

* * *

By the time the sun goes down and the sun sets.
After stepping out of Princess Anne’s villa, Marianne and I said goodbye at the entrance to her villa.

“… Are you sure you’re okay, Marie?
Why don’t you just be beholden to Princess Anne’s villa right now?”

Marianne shook her head, letting her long ash-gray hair fly.

“Ugh, no.
I don’t want to owe anything more than this.
It’s scary, scary, lonely, but it’s still where I was.
I want to go back inside the cathedral and do what I can.”

Marianne smiled sadly.
When I think of her standing in front of my store door in the rain last night, saying she doesn’t want to go back, I’m so worried.

Will there be rest in the hometown surrounded by enemies?

“… Take this.”

“What it this?”

She tilts her head and accepts the yellow handkerchief I gave her.

“What if I get inside and I get locked up like High Priest William, or something happens?
No way to contact you.
So hang that towel by the window.
Then I’ll find out and go find it, no matter what.”

Marianne stares at the yellow handkerchief she received with both of her hands.

After a moment she put her handkerchief in her arms and put her hand on her stomach.

“I am confident.
If I’m with Kamyu-nim, I’ll do anything well.
… Because you are still in me…”

“?!”

Wow… What did I just hear… ?!
As soon as Marianne had finished her words, she hung her head and ran away.

The red-hot nape of her neck, visible even with her head down, speaks of her shame.

And… This… Really…

I watched until I couldn’t see her running away with the setting sun behind her.

* * *

“I’m back.”

“Are you here, master?
Would you like dinner?”

“Huh. Is Ludvik here?”

As soon as she enters the store, Eva greets her first.

“Yes, you just came and went to wash.
The owner, too, go and clean up and come over to eat.”

It seems that the cleanliness of the shop and house has improved thanks to the water supply facilities installed by Lumica.

“Hey, Ludvik. A lot of trouble.”

“Are you here, Captain?
I’m almost done.”

“Yeah, take it slow.”

Waiting for Ludvik to wash in the shower room on the second floor, I also wash and come out.

As we sat together at the table on the second floor, Zach came out slowly.

“Thank you for this food!”

Clap clap.

“Wow, Eva. What kind of dish is this?
It’s a chicken dish, but why are there twigs in the soup?”

“It’s an imperial-style dish that my friend enjoyed while visiting Humpback Whale Fort the other day.
They say ‘baeksuk’.
I got the recipe and tried it.
In Cheonghaejin, it is eaten for rejuvenation.
It’s an herbalist, but they have all the ingredients.
Everyone is busy these days, so I made it to replenish energy.”

It is exciting to eat Samsamhan chicken in hot soup with salt and pepper.
Ludvik and Jacques gobbled it up like crazy, and when I saw that, I became impatient and used a ladle.
I scooped up my share.

“Aww!”

“Oops, it’s very hot, so eat with care.
By the way, there is glutinous rice inside the chicken belly, so try that too.
That’s what makes it special.”

There was a fairly large chicken, but it ran out quickly because there were three men.

“Hey, Zach. Hands off!
I’m taking this for Eva!”

“Oh, Mr. Ludvik.
Thank you for your kind words, but I have prepared my share in advance.
Don’t worry and eat.”

“Ah, boss…
I couldn’t eat that chicken leg…
You should leave your wings…
Honestly, as a demon, I feel very sad.”

“Omg… Was it the last wing I ate?
I’m really sorry…”

“Don’t worry, Zach.
There are three men, so I knew it, so I ordered a big chicken.
I made more orphans.”

“…Eva, you really…
The best… Sobbing.”

“Eva, please work under me for a long time… “

“Here, here.
A new one has arrived, so please enjoy it.
Zach, please give me a bowl.
I’ll take off a chicken leg and a wing for now.”

A riotous meal on a bountiful table.
It was a good source of energy for me who was tired of the desolate mission.
Time to enrich your heart.
Good! Shall we work hard and plan a strategy?

Is it because I ate delicious chicken dishes?
Power surged.

Until a few days later, a yellow handkerchief hung from a window in the Cathedral Convent.