In the past, Yujin had once given Ines a heads-up, telling her that when Elicia woke up, she should send the princess back to the Empire. He had also told her to make sure his intentions were conveyed clearly during the process but to avoid pushing her too hard.
Sending Elicia back to the Empire had been an unavoidable choice, as she had become overly dependent on him, and he believed it was necessary to create some distance between them for a while.
Moreover, precisely because her dependence had grown so severe, he had warned Ines not to pressure her forcefully, thinking that using a heavy-handed approach might only backfire.
Of course, truthfully, he would have preferred to handle the matter himself. But as a professor rather than a Transcendent, it was impossible for him to arbitrarily send Princess Elicia back to the Empire on his own. And even if he were to meet her face-to-face and ask her to return, it didn’t seem like she would easily listen to him.
That was why he had asked the Headmistress to take care of the matter. He believed that, given her long years of experience, she would surely handle the situation wisely.
Of course, he had firmly cautioned her about all of the points mentioned above.
Yes, it hadn’t been something he mentioned lightly or in passing. He had told Ines very clearly to convey the message that he wasn’t trying to sever all ties with Elicia. He had even gone so far as to give her a means of keeping in touch with the princess. He had practically pleaded with her to make sure that was understood.
It wasn’t as if the Headmistress was a foolish person, so Yujin had believed without a shadow of a doubt that she would have properly understood what he meant and that she would have handled the matter he had entrusted to her accordingly.
…And yet.
What am I supposed to do with this?
Yujin pressed both his temples with one hand as he watched Ines fidget awkwardly nearby while stealing glances at him.
Judging from what he had just heard from her, it was practically the same as if she had carried out, at 200%, exactly what he had told her not to do.
Not only had Yujin directly told her to convey the fact that he was rejecting Elicia, but he had even gone so far as to subdue her by force when she resisted and lashed out, sending her back to the Empire against her will.
His head throbbed. Yujin opened his mouth, wondering if she had perhaps ignored even that instruction.
“Headmistress, by any chance… you didn’t forget to pass along the means of contact as well, did you?”
“Ah, no! Not at all! I definitely handed over the communication crystal to the imperial officials who came to escort Princess Elicia, telling them it was a way to contact her personal physician! I even made sure to tell them to pass it on to the princess once she regained consciousness!”
“……”
Well, if that was the case, then at least that part was a relief. The problem, however…
“If you handed the means of contact not directly to Her Highness, but to the imperial officials who came to fetch her, wouldn’t it naturally end up being reported first to someone like His Majesty the Emperor? And wouldn’t he be the one to contact me first?”
From Yujin’s perspective, if he were the Emperor, and someone capable of curing his terminally ill daughter had suddenly appeared and taken charge of her treatment, he would obviously want to verify that person first. That was only natural.
Especially since Yujin had even provided a direct means to contact him. There was no way the Empire wouldn’t reach out first. The Headmistress gave a nod.
“Yes, I’m sure that’s exactly what will happen.”
“……”
Ines didn’t seem to think that receiving contact from the Emperor would be much of an issue. Seeing that, Yujin let out a sigh and ran a hand down his face.
Well, of course, it wasn’t like Yujin himself thought he could avoid getting entangled with the Emperor forever, either.
The Emperor had not given up, even though his daughter was being consumed by a demon. From an emperor’s standpoint, it could only be seen as the height of foolishness.
Transcendents, by their very nature, usually stood in a position revered by mortals. Needless to say, there were the gods who, after their victory in the Great War, watched over mortals from above. There were also the dragons, who, as the lords of magic, had spread the power of magic to humankind, and the giants, a warrior race who had created the power of aura and the very concept of martial arts …all of them were objects of reverence among mortals.
Even those who had been defeated in the Great War were no exception. There was no place in the world where mortals dared to look down on them.
However, demons were different.
They had always brought great chaos to the world, delighting in destruction and disorder. What they considered to be mere “harmless pranks” were, from the perspective of poor and helpless mortals, disasters in every sense of the word. Mortals had been endlessly sacrificed and made to suffer for the sake of the demons’ cruel games.
To beings who regarded mortals as nothing more than convenient insects or toys to amuse themselves with, the only emotion mortals could possibly feel toward them was fear.
Even now, when all demons had either died or been sealed away in labyrinths after the Great War, nothing had changed. In fact, with the demons no longer able to directly threaten mortals, the fear toward them had long since evolved into deep-seated hatred and loathing.
Except for certain kinds of people like dark mages, no mortals recognized demons as transcendent beings worthy of reverence. On the contrary, anything related to demons was more often treated as a taboo.
From the standpoint of mortals, anyone being consumed by a demon was nothing more and nothing less than a danger that had to be eliminated immediately and cut away like a festering wound.
Even for the imperial family, protecting a princess who was undergoing such a thing in real time carried an enormous risk. If the truth were to come to light, it would be enough to put the very existence of the imperial family in jeopardy.
Politically, their enemies would seize upon this fact and relentlessly drag down the authority of the imperial family, while public sentiment would plummet into the abyss.
And that wasn’t all. It was highly likely that other nations and powers would not merely express concern, but would come to view the Empire who was protecting a princess being consumed by a demon as an enemy. The Church would be particularly likely to do so.
With the Pope and most of the Saints and Saintesses currently away on an expedition to the Demon Realm, the only reason the Pantheon Church hadn’t directly attacked the Empire over this issue was because the Saintess of Purification had lent her support to the moderate faction. But once this expedition was over, and the news reached the ears of the Pope and the other Saints and Saintesses, the situation would become far more chaotic than it was now.
Specifically, rumors about the ‘princess being consumed by a demon which had so far been kept under the strictest secrecy would start to spread.
That alone would stir unrest among the people, and even the moderate faction within the Pantheon Church would be forced to lower their stance somewhat, mindful of public opinion. After all, not even they could afford to turn the people against them over a single imperial princess.
In the end, unless the imperial family “took care of” the princess as soon as possible, they would gradually become isolated and lose their authority. Not only would other powers refuse to support the Empire, but even within the Empire itself, no one would side with the imperial family, which might as well be seen as protecting a demon.
Could the Emperor possibly be unaware of this? Of course not. From an emperor’s standpoint, the wisest course of action would be to quietly dispose of the princess and bury the truth along with her. It might be heartless as a father, but it was the natural choice as an emperor.
And yet, the Emperor had not chosen that path. As a father, he had been searching for a way to save his daughter.
That being the case, it was only natural that he couldn’t help but take an interest in Yujin, who had appeared claiming he could treat his daughter. No, rather than mere interest, it was inevitable that he would want to thoroughly investigate everything about Yujin. It was only natural.
Ines knew this as well. She understood that sooner or later Yujin would inevitably become involved with the Emperor. That was probably why she didn’t really see it as a problem, even though she was aware that the means to contact Yujin that had been given to the princess could end up in the Emperor’s hands.
No, more than that, there was a high chance that Ines had already informed the Empire about Yujin when she sent the princess back. One of the reasons she was returning Elicia in the first place was because they had found a possible solution to her problem, and thus there was no longer any need for her to remain at the Academy.
The main reason, of course, was Elicia’s excessive obsession with Yujin, but if they hadn’t even found a clue toward solving her problem, they wouldn’t have been able to send her back like this in the first place.
As a result, it was highly likely that information about Yujin had somehow found its way to the Emperor’s ears. Of course, it was unlikely that sensitive details such as the fact that Yujin was a Transcendent, along with his various other secrets had been leaked. But even apart from that, from the Emperor’s point of view, this was not the kind of information he could simply accept at face value. He would probably suspect it again and again.
A mere mage claiming he could treat his daughter, who was being consumed by a demon? What method was he using? Was that method really safe? Wasn’t there something suspicious about it? Was this person truly someone who wished to solve her problem? Was this really a problem that a mere mortal could resolve? Or was he perhaps a swindler…
From the Emperor’s point of view, there were surely countless things to question, and Yujin was fully aware of that. That was why he had already thought that he would end up having a conversation with the Emperor sooner or later. In fact, Yujin considered it fortunate that the Emperor hadn’t rushed over to him right away.
So, it wasn’t really a problem if the means of contacting him, which he had handed over to the princess, ended up in the Emperor’s hands. The real problem was…
“If the means of contact that was supposed to go to the princess ends up with His Majesty the Emperor, I have a feeling Her Highness the Princess will be anxious until she actually receives it.”
“……”
Yes, that was the real problem.
It was one thing for the means of contact to end up with the Emperor. But if the item, which had been given to reassure Elicia, ended up in the Emperor’s possession, there was a high chance that Elicia who was already pushed to her limits by the harsh treatment she had received would become even more mentally exhausted during that time. Since she was completely unaware that such a means of contact even existed.
From Yujin’s point of view, that was the biggest issue. When he said that and stared intently at Ines, she awkwardly averted her gaze and opened her mouth.
“Th-Th-That’s…”
Just as Ines was desperately trying to come up with some sort of excuse—
“…Wait a moment.”
Yujin sensed something and opened a subspace. He took out a small, round sphere. Ines, while feeling somewhat relieved, also tensed slightly as she asked him cautiously.
“Sir Yujin, that is…?”
“…It’s a message transmitted from the communication crystal I handed over to Her Highness the Princess.”
“!”
At that, Ines flinched, and Yujin let out a sigh as if thinking “So it’s finally come”, before channeling his mana into the sphere.
Wuuuuung—
[…I see. It’s working. Are you Yujin?]
And then, the crystal ball displayed the image of a middle-aged man with a stern and imposing expression.
“…Your Majesty the Emperor.”
Yujin greeted him with a bitter smile as if thinking “Speak of the devil and he shall appear.”
The Emperor had contacted him.
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