Last night, after dealing with Jack, Wald returned to Kant Manor to report on the situation, and then hurried straight to the Royal Palace.
In short, that’s how things unfolded.
Although we failed to capture the cultists who attacked, at least the Regis Count remains unharmed.’
Wald placed the ring back on the desk in the reception room and knelt down on one knee.
The ring was entirely silver, gleaming with a white light.
“Ominous Omen” was a classic magical artifact, inscribed with a prophecy-type arcane spell.
If the person bound to it encountered a dire twist of fate, black mist would seep from the ring, turning it dark.
The person bound to this ring was El Regis.
Usually, the one responsible for his protection was the Ash Knight from the Royal Knights, but for this banquet, the duty had temporarily fallen to Wald.
“Damn it, Felice, that fool—how could she do something like this!”
Saoirse’s expression was grim.
Anyone could tell that Her Highness the Princess was on the verge of exploding with rage.
“Does he think putting on such a performance can sever his ties to the Cult of Demons? No, he shouldn’t be this naive… There’s something off about this.” She concluded.
Wald dared not say a word more.
First, his performance tonight hadn’t been satisfactory, leaving the Princess fuming with no outlet. Second, he mustn’t interrupt Saoirse’s chain of reasoning.
Without question, in Saoirse’s eyes, the Second Prince’s move was a terrible one.
To orchestrate an attack by cultists on his own banquet, painting himself as a victim, could indeed lessen suspicion in the short term. At least, Saoirse had no way to accuse him right now.
But at what cost?
He had provoked the fury of nearly the entire capital. On one hand, the Cult of Demons now faced even greater pressure.
On the other, if his collusion with the cult had been exposed before, it would merely have been a disgrace. But now, if Saoirse were to find evidence, she could destroy him in one fell swoop.
Honestly, Saoirse couldn’t make sense of his actions.
It was as if everyone was playing Go, and the other side suddenly shouted, “Ha! I’ve completed five in a row.”
Surely, he couldn’t be that stupid…
There must be some deeper meaning behind his baffling actions…
Was it El?
Saoirse had originally thought only the cultists would be interested in El, and that only a few bottom-feeders would try to target him. Now, it didn’t seem so simple.
Inside the Royal Palace, Saoirse left her hair untied, letting her peach-pink locks cascade over her shoulders.
She pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling a headache.
If she’d known it would turn out like this, she wouldn’t have let El do as he pleased—even if it meant fighting with him.
It was all El’s fault for being too active…
He was supposed to be just a flower vase… There was no need for him to do anything extra…
If something like this happens again, once I ascend the throne, I’ll lock him in the basement for some “special instruction.” Saoirse thought viciously.
Out of the corner of his eye, Wald caught the Princess’s terrible mood.
He hesitated over whether or not to tell her what had happened at the ball.
Forget it… Her Highness will hear of it tomorrow anyway. It’s just a trivial matter… probably?
He hurriedly stopped himself from overthinking and looked up. “Your Highness, there is one more thing I would like you to see.”
Wald placed Jack’s corpse on the floor of the reception room.
Since Jack’s insides were mostly made of alchemical materials, there was no risk of soiling the surroundings. Wald recounted the abilities Jack had demonstrated, as well as his unusual traits.
“Hmm, you’re right. Alchemy of this level shouldn’t exist in these parts… The Alchemical City Oricum?”
A twitch appeared at the corner of Saoirse’s lips.
For such a sophisticated alchemical prosthetic… Sian Weistan must have arrived, too.
“Your Highness, I thought the same. The Cult of Demons has reached far too deeply. According to Miss Goldfield, Regis Count’s party also encountered a dragon and the traitorous ‘Withered Knight’ Tywin.”
“Even though just these few aren’t enough to shake your power, I suspect there may be even deeper schemes at work.”
Wald spoke.
The Princess nodded. “Ash Knight, you make good points. Of all the Royal Knights, you have the most experience handling cultists. I order you to track down those cultists involved in the attack.”
“As you command.” Ah, time to get busy again, Wald thought.
***
Time skipped to the next day.
El contacted Saoirse using the communication stone.
“The Lord of Wrath… I see, that explains things.”
But it didn’t, really.
Saoirse knew that the Second Prince wanted to use the demon within El’s body as a trump card to violently seize the throne.
But that didn’t explain why Felice had suddenly gone all in like a crazed gambler, staking everything just to bet on this elusive “Wrath” Lord.
Although the motive was clear, the whole affair was still riddled with doubts.
Saoirse couldn’t help but grumble.
Why, in her previous life, did she only play the demo part of this game? Now, aside from matters of the Empire, she knew nothing about the rest.
After all, Song of Starfeather was a role-playing game, and the most important part was just making the protagonist date handsome men and beautiful women!
Even making the protagonist stronger was just for the sake of romance!
Things like the Cult of Demons and noble power struggles were only background elements.
Why did she have to deal with such troublesome matters?
“Oh, right, Your Highness. My informants in the Lower District have uncovered some very important news—the Marquis Bogut is going to hold a Slave Auction at the Sanya Opera House, and the cultists will be attending as well. We might be able to catch them all in one net,” El said.
“You must not go!”
Saoirse couldn’t even be bothered to correct El’s form of address this time, blurting out her objection.
“Hm?” El was a bit surprised by Saoirse’s resistance.
“Don’t you understand? Right now, your safety is the most important thing. Everything else can wait—even if we lose this lead, it doesn’t matter. Isn’t the ‘Wrath’ Lord inside you? If something happens to you, the consequences would be far worse.”
This was a lie.
El had already explained his constitution clearly—he and Angel were in the same boat. Besides, the demon’s state was extremely stable, and no accidents would occur.
She simply didn’t want El to take any risks—for both care and a strong desire for control.
Yet, under El’s persistent coaxing, Saoirse finally approved his action.
“Haah—must be paying back a debt from my past life, El Regis.”
Saoirse grumbled again. Wait, again?
Come to think of it, in all her previous save files, El Regis the villain was always at the top of her hit list…
Maybe this was karma…
“Thank you, Sister Saoirse.”
In the end, Saoirse lost herself in El’s repeated calls of “Sister.”
“If only you were this obedient all the time.” She muttered.
“In any case, I’ll arrange reinforcements for you, mainly some elite knights from the Royal Knights. As for high-level support… I’ve picked someone better suited—she’s from the church and has quite the experience dealing with cultists.”
Saoirse said.