At the southernmost point of the Empire, closest to the Principality of Zenos, lies the Sacred Empire’s land of Rozantine.
Rozantine, always under strict surveillance, felt unusually subdued today.
The lord of Rozantine, with streaks of gray in his hair, looked somberly at the letter on the table.
The letter was from Ahwin, the third wing of the goddess, announcing their arrival in Rozantine by this evening and requesting preparations for reception.
Given the large number of people moving at once, everything from accommodations to meals needed to be arranged in advance.
The issue wasn’t the preparations. A terrible event was unfolding within the walls of Rozantine Castle.
Louis, the son of the lord of Rozantine, pale as a ghost, spoke to his father.
“Father, what shall we do? We cannot ignore the Wing’s request.”
“…Yes. Right. We must prepare to welcome them.”
“Can we really get through this? Two of the Saint’s Wings are coming. Can we hide that the Holy Grail is broken?”
“Calm down, Louis.”
The lord pressed his temples, throbbing with tension.
“Let’s start by preparing the accommodations as the Wing commands. We shall offer them the main castle. It should be sufficient for the entire Imperial Knights to stay.”
“But what about the Holy Grail!”
“We’ll have to hide it as best we can.”
Saying so, the lord looked out the window.
In the middle of the garden, there was a pond surrounded by white stones. At one end of the pond, a golden chalice was placed on a wooden stand, tilted.
Astonishingly, droplets of water dripped down from the chalice floating in mid-air.
The sight darkened the lord’s complexion even further.
The usually gushing stream of water was now frighteningly thin.
Louis, watching the same scene, bit his lip anxiously.
“Hiding it won’t solve anything. The Wing will soon realize something’s wrong with the Holy Grail when they see the stream.”
“We won’t let the Wing enter here. There’s no reason for the Wing to come inside. We have enough stored water.”
“But Father!”
“Enough.”
The lord cut off Louis’s words.
“The stream is like that now, but it will return to normal over time. You know it won’t stay like this.”
“It might look fine for a few days. Then it’ll diminish again. And the intervals are getting shorter. That’s the problem!”
“So what do you propose we do? Are you suggesting we reveal to the Wing that the Holy Grail is broken?”
“Of course!”
Louis said.
“We must report to the Saintess. Tell her there’s a problem with the Holy Grail. That the water stops flowing. That Rozantine’s water is drying up. That we need the power of the Elixir, the power of the true representative!”
“Naïve talk.”
The lord laughed bitterly.
“Sure, if we tell the Saintess, the Elixir might fix the Holy Grail. The people of Rozantine would live. But in exchange. We would surely die. The Saintess will blame us entirely for the Holy Grail’s destruction.”
“Father…”
“You don’t know Lady Josephina. She does not tolerate any displeasure. Not even the smallest issue. She never just lets it go.”
Despair shadowed Louis’s face.
“Let’s avoid the storm for now. We’ll try to hold out until they leave Rozantine.”
The lord sighed softly, patting his son’s shoulder, then laughed weakly.
“Perhaps, like a miracle, everything will resolve itself.”
* * *
Ever since Leticia had awakened, the Principality delegation had been in a festive mood, as if they were about to set up a feast and dance in the middle of the desert.
Except for one person, Dietrian.
“It’s odd, isn’t it? It seems like the two Highnesses might have fought, right?”
After Dietrian got out of the carriage half out of his wits, Banessa narrowed his eyes.
Squatting next to him, Enoch, who had been stealing glances at Dietrian, cocked his head.
“Well, rather than having fought, it seems like His Highness was unilaterally dumped.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than voices erupted from all around.
“Our Highness got dumped? Why? What happened?”
“Her Highness had just woken up not even five minutes ago, hadn’t she?”
“What could have happened in that time?”
As the colleagues squeezed into the cramped space behind the wagon, Banessa grimaced.
“We’re supposed to be busy preparing for the welcome party, why are you all crawling over here creating a mess! Go away!”
“We have no choice. If we don’t want to be caught by His Highness, this is the only way. It’s all for Her Highness, so be generous.”
As Martin squeezed in next to him, Banessa’s eyes shot up.
“For Her Highness, my foot! Since when did you, who claimed you could never trust Her Highness to death, change your tune!”
“Ha, still on about that? How long are you going to keep bringing up that story? It’s been ten days already.”
“I’ll keep it up forever! I’ll never forget! And I’ll tell Her Highness all about it later!”
“How petty. The one who drew the short straw wasn’t me, it was your hand. So why keep resenting me?”
At the word “short straw,” Banessa’s expression soured.
“Ugh! Enough with that crappy lottery talk!”
“Stop being so petty. No matter how much you try to check me, the deputy manager of Her Highness’s welcome party is me. Not you, who drew the short straw.”
“Ugh!”
While Dietrian was busy looking after the sleeping Leticia, the delegation was busy preparing to properly welcome her.
One of those preparations was the welcome party.
Deciding to hold a party was fine, but suddenly, fierce competition erupted. Everyone wanted to lead the party themselves.
All of them were desperate to have a word with Leticia.
“Let’s decide on a chief organizer now…”
“Me! Me! I’ll do it!”
“I will! It’s me!”
Their fervor was so intense, it was like watching hyenas rush towards a bone.
After much agony, they decided the organizer through a lottery.
Enoch became the overall in-charge, and Martin was appointed as the deputy.
The two shared their joy of victory with an embrace.
“Me, the loser? Really?”
Banessa spent the whole day in a daze, excluding that mishap, everything else went smoothly.
Until just now.
Martin looked at Enoch with a serious face.
“Enoch, we’re about to arrive at Rozantine. If we miss this spot, the next party can only be held after we reach the Principality, which will take ten days.”
Rozantine was the city at the very southern end of the Empire, famous for the ‘Holy Grail’ that endlessly flowed with water.
A long time ago, when the goddess was establishing the nation, someone asked.
Why establish a nation in such a barren desert?
The goddess replied.
[Because greed is the root of all sins. Greed sprouts in abundance.]
[I want my children to be humble in scarcity. That’s why I chose the desert.]
To compensate for establishing the nation on such inhospitable land, the goddess distributed her power throughout the land.
The Holy Grail in Rozantine Castle was one of these divine provisions.
To allow people to survive in the barren desert, she imbued her power into the golden chalice.
Thanks to this power, the Holy Grail could draw water from other places, acting as a conduit between the water and Rozantine.
Tilting the Holy Grail slightly, clear water would pour out endlessly. This water was distributed throughout Rozantine via connected aqueducts.
Thanks to this, the people of Rozantine could live without the water concerns common to other desert inhabitants.
Given its large size, the city was the perfect place to host a welcome party for Leticia and take a proper rest.
Passing through Rozantine meant it would be a while before they encountered another city of similar scale. Being in the middle of the desert, drinking water was scarce as well.
“That’s true. Ten days is too long… This is a serious issue.”
Enoch’s expression grew serious as well.
“Should we ask His Highness what happened? Maybe there’s something we can help with.”
“I don’t think it’s the right situation for that.”
Glancing at Dietrian’s expression, Martin shook his head.
“We’d better stay out of it. It’s not our place to interfere in a couple’s fight.”
“Well, that’s true but…”
“We can’t just let it pass like this, can we?”
“So, what do we do?”
“Is there no clever solution?”
“Ugh, seems like we have no choice.”
“Any ideas?”
“We might not know what happened between Their Highnesses… but the problem with Her Highness isn’t something we caused, right?”
Enoch laughed awkwardly.
“Sorry to His Highness… but let’s proceed with the welcome party without him.”
“Oh. That’s a good idea.”
Martin was delighted. The reactions from the other colleagues were similar.
“There’s no need to feel sorry to His Highness. If the party cheers up Her Highness, it might even help mend their relationship.”
“Huh. That’s probably true.”
“Right. So let’s focus on the party.”
The conversation was filled with more enthusiasm for the party than loyalty to Dietrian.
After all, it was also a manifestation of their loyalty to Leticia.
Either way, the Principality delegation was brimming with loyalty that reached the skies.
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