And so on my 12th birthday, the gift that came from Canaria was a yellow-colored dragon. The populace who saw a dragon for the very first time in their lives clamored throughout the country, and it became a popular topic for a long time.
…Yeah, Canaria really got me beat for this one. Well, I did say that I liked dragons, but I sure didn’t expect that a well-trained dragon would just suddenly pop out as a gift for my birthday. I wanted to give her at least a kiss or so in order to show my appreciation, but much like before, she couldn’t attend this time either. Apparently, she caught cold after accompanying Countess Glinda to the sacred lake in order to pray for a baby.
[I had him trained everyday to ensure that he will listen to Sir Keith. Please give him an adorable name, sir.]
I do not know what kind of training the dragon received, but it does behave well when I pat its head and give it food. However, any other caretaker would still need to use ‘Red Dragon’s Bracelet.’ I guess I would need to put up a quest in the guild to secure some spares.
‘I already knew what kind of gift I will give Canaria to her next birthday after seeing you. ‘Citrin,’ that will be your name.’
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
One day, my brother and I were summoned to the throne room to be entrusted national treasures by our father. We both already have our fiancées, not to mention, my brother is also about to attend the royal academy, so it is meant to signify our positions as candidates to the throne. I was to receive one as well because there was no concrete declaration for the crown prince yet, but if brother is able to get through with his education smoothly, he’ll be declared the crown prince.
We were presented several of the kingdom’s national treasures and were told to pick the one we like. My father picked a choker during his time. Brother picked a forehead ornament with a green jewel in the middle, dazzling like a third eye. It was apparently called ‘Child Dragon’s Eye.’
I was at loss what to pick but before long decided on a red-jeweled hair ornament. This item called ‘Elf’s Precious Jewel’ was apparently the item that I picked in the game that Canaria played, so I thought of picking something different to see what would happen but after hearing about its effect, I decided to pick it anyway.
After having entrusted our respective national treasures, we were to attend a castle conference next. Royalties are treated as adult much earlier even than aristocrats. We were likely made to attend the conference to get a feel of the politics and see what kind of policies we could come up with.
After observing the conference, I was asked for my piece, so I told them everything that happened in the harbour, from how a drug-dependent patient(though I told them that he died,) of the empire came to our country looking for Himemomobana, about the manufacturing of magic drugs in other countries, and lastly, how the cultivation and exportation of plant should be regulated.
Their reactions were quite mixed. Himemomobana is a popular plant among the commoners, more particularly used in cooking, and there were a lot of opposition stating that we cannot afford to have their livelihood wither away like that.
On the other hand, amongst those who supported my idea, minister-to-the-right, the leader of first prince faction, was quite unexpected. He said that an essential oil made of the plant was regulated before for having a strong fascination effect. I did not know that. Although the plant doesn’t have much of an effect when readily eaten fresh, it can have various effects depending on how its processed. I guess rather than just simply banning it outright, we must first consider a prohibition’s ramifications on all sides.
‘You’ve been zealously working hard rather lately, aren’t you?’
After the conference, I was walking the hallways when my brother’s voice made me halt. He was seldom the first one to strike a conversation so it surprised me.
‘I guess so. I want to learn faster to be able to support the kingdom as fast as possible, and I need to study a lot for that.’
‘While that attitude is splendid, there are jabbering fools who would spread that as you aiming for the throne, you know?’
‘Huh? Me? Then their eyes might as well be useless, I would recommend brother to fire those people.’
‘I’m talking about the 2nd prince faction who backs you.’
That might be true…. I kept on poking my head to various things that piqued my interest so the reactions of the faction is quite varied. Some are overjoyed thinking that I am finally interested in overcoming my brother and aiming for the throne, while some others who wishes to make a puppet out of me see it as excessive and unnecessary knowledge for their personal goals. Same faction they may be but they aren’t entirely rock-solid.
‘This is growing even more severe ever since you got a dragon from your fiancée. Even if you do not wish for it yourself, it may prove hard for you to control if your surroundings arbitrarily makes a clamor on their own. You best be careful.’
‘I will keep your advice in mind.’
Brother is unusually talkative today. But because they were not mere idle talks, I just obediently nodded to his words.
‘For goodness’ sake… even the populace is frolicking around just because of a single dragon. Corrundum Kingdom must be amusing themselves seeing this festivities thinking that we’re such pathetic fools.’
‘Canaria isn’t that kind of a lady!’
Brother’s excessive words made me raise my voice at him for the very first time. Just because his engagement is not going well doesn’t mean the same is going on with mine. I am happy to be engaged with Canaria and I will not allow anyone to deny me that, not even my brother.
‘You’ve become quite devoted for a marriage your country fixed up for you. Those fools must be pretty convinced that you’re easy to incite seeing as you’re this childish.’
I was about to retort in anger but I stopped myself for a moment to think. Perhaps, it would be much better to let them think so. That way, their guards would be much lower. I raised the matter of regulating Himemomobana wanting to improve the situation a little but a half-baked movements would only be met with vigilance.
‘I guess you’re right. You should be the crown prince, brother.’
Not minding brother’s suspicious look on his face, I merely gave him an childish smile in return.
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
Like a child, (which I am,) there are limits to what I can do. As for now, the most important to do is gather information and run simulations of their possibilities inside my head.
Leddorio Route, the route of the main lead of the game, would possibly lead to a future of shared ruin for both kingdoms. If that’s the case, the future could be avoided by shifting towards other routes. But would it really be that simple? Just to test it out, I tried to imagine which enemies would each respective routes make.
The main antagonist of romance games would be the love rivals of the main character or also called as the Villainess. It would Lady Chloe if the heroine tries to capture my brother but, she was also the villainess in Shin’s route. Well, she is his mistress… and tha person would rather die than have her favourite thing stolen from her.
The ending Shin’s Route was for him to revert to his true standing, in other words, he will return to his true home country, Corrundum Kingdom, as it’s 6th prince. If that were to happen, our kingdom would lose its saintess. In a way, it could even be the official history of the Corrundum game. The combination of Corrundum’s Royal and Saintess’ Blood… that’s exactly what Shin’s route will lead to.
The next would be Darck’s Route. His fiancée is my cousin, Shiela Whitey, when captured, will lead to the cancellation of their engagement. My uncle would probably not sit that one idly. After all, that would be the recreation of the mistakes of Darck’s real father. (Although that’s as far as the game information reveals, a closely-guarded secret that I cannot consult the person themselves about.)
But that being said, Uncle Roulette’s is my mother’s older brother and is also in a cordial friendship with my father. I cannot see him betraying the royal family. Shiela is also the type to lend her hand if you manages to convince her properly, so she’s quite weak as an antagonist. Rather than her, the problem would likely be Lady Chloe…
Sei’s fiancee is Lady Missouri who helped me very much recently. House Walter is well reputed thanks to their foreign trade, so there’s a high possibility of them being close to the empire. Furthermore, the Count is highly mercantile-minded, and he likely would not easily forget anyone who causes them harm. I am personally indebted to them so I do not want our relationship to be frictitious as much as possible.
Dai, doesn’t have a fiancee. The only thing that comes close as a detterent would be the trial set by her older sister for the heroine.
That’s when I realized something. In every route, it all ends with Lady Chloe turning into a witch and being defeated as the last boss. To be much more accurate, as the two of them squable for the Saintess’ seat, Lady Chloe who persecuted and harassed the heroine will face ruin regardless of the circumstances, and as she drowned herself with jealousy and despair, will answer the call of the ancient witch.
I already know the circumstances of the Saintess and Witch from Canaria so putting that aside, as long as the Heroine becomes the Saintess, it doesn’t matter who she ends up with; Lady Chloe will still face ruin in the end. The heroine’s sacred power will raise depending on the romantic events, so the only thing that could prevent her from being a witch is either a normal ending or a bad ending. But it’s still the heroine who decides which kind of ending she will pursue….
‘It really is unpleasant, isn’t it? A single woman’s romance troubles holding the fate of the entire world?…Ah, wasn’t it the Saintess, the first, who made it that way? Humph’
“Oi, don’t be feastin’ on my food.”
‘Oops, sorry about that, Citrin.’
Standing at the cage specifically made for raising dragons, I bit into an apple, lost in thought. The dragon sticks out its tongue so I threw one right into it. ‘The national treasure, “Elf’s Precious Jewel,” allows you to converse with all living things. While I heard that Sei should be able to negotiate with enemies upon honing his skills as a merchant, it would still be convenient to have something like this for opponents like monsters or mythical beasts where a language barrier would be an obstacle.
‘If that’s the case, Lady Chloe becoming a witch might really be the key to everything. When she faces ruin, (Although I don’t know how that connects to the kingdom’s destruction,) House Sereknight is unlikely to become an enemy given that they’ll take in the heroine afterward. Not to mention, they’d lost face after Darck’s father’s recklessness.’
“Would you stop blabberin’ already? What would you do if somebody hears you?”
‘Oops’
Reminded by Citrin, I hastily casted the spell ‘Silence’ in my surroundings. He’s quite badmouthed but he’s a good child. As expected of a pet that came from Canaria. To think that my brother could only see a lady as wonderful as her as a partner fixed by the two countries, what a pitiful man he was. But I guess, it’s kinda understandable given that his fiancée is that Lady Chloe…
However, she should still have allies despite of it all. Like for example, Aunt Masumi. She’s the youngest child and at a far age gap to her older brother, the minister to the right, so perhaps even the problematic children such as Chloe and Darck would look adorable in her eyes. As I read the game data book that I disguised as Corundum Dictionary,’ I remembered the tea time I had with Lady Masumi.
“My, once his highness, Leddorio, marries Chloe, we will truly be relatives, you know? Even sister-in-law said that it will be House Moonlight’s dearest wish once fulfilled, during the time she was alive.”
‘…House Moonlight’s dearest wish, huh?’
Come to think of it, I asked her about that numerous times before but she always skillfully glosses it over, and the idea before long was buried by daily troubles. What had her house entrusted to Lady Chloe’s mother? What’s the relation of the marriage between brother and Chloe to the House Moonlight?
‘Moonlight…. Moon?’
As I whispered, tracing the words written on the game data with my fingers, I came to a stop at a certain person’s name. The line that my finger stopped at was regarding the Saintess Myth. There, the real name of the other ancient saintess, the one who turned into a witch was written.
‘Yolda Moon.’
Was this a coincidence? If my conjecture is spot on, then Lady Chloe might have the blood of the ancient witch in her veins. Perhaps that’s explain her disposition to become the next witch. No, wait, wouldn’t it be too simple for them to be ancestors just because of the similar sounding names? Why has no one else traced that connection for over a hundred years?
(Rather, now that I think about it, the real name of the witch is never included in any literatures. I only found out about it with unworldly means.)
According to Canaria, the name of the saintess and the witch when they were humans didn’t come out in the game either. The player would only found out about it through 3rd party mediums called as fan books or novelizations. However, there should still be some who knew about it. House Moonlight, and the King, are clearly two of those people. Perhaps, it was orally instructed to thoroughly not keep it in public records.
At any rate, it was the greatest wish of the witches descedants to have someone with their blood be wed to the royal family. Whether that is for revenge, or to make sure that a saintess would come out of their family this time for sure, I do not know.
‘However, if everything develops accordingly to the game…’
As I glanced towards the sky thinking about the future to come, I fumbled over my words. The sky was clear since earlier but a part of it started swirling with ashen colored clouds. The skies over the horizon suddenly shone bright.
‘Wha? A lightning!?’
“—So she has awakened?”
I yelled in suprise to which Citrin muttered his words. At the same time, the terrific sound reverberated throughout the skies and then I realized that it turned back to its clear skies. Citrin’s words piqued was so curious that I asked him immediately.
‘Hey, what do you mean by awakened? And who awakened?’
“The sacred maiden.”
The dragon yawns and went back to sleep leaving those words for an answer.
So she has arrived. The lady who holds the key to the kingdom’s impending doom. Is she really a Saintess, or perhaps…..
And so on my 12th birthday, the gift that came from Canaria was a yellow-colored dragon. The populace who saw a dragon for the very first time in their lives clamored throughout the country, and it became a popular topic for a long time.
…Yeah, Canaria really got me beat for this one. Well, I did say that I liked dragons, but I sure didn’t expect that a well-trained dragon would just suddenly pop out as a gift for my birthday. I wanted to give her at least a kiss or so in order to show my appreciation, but much like before, she couldn’t attend this time either. Apparently, she caught cold after accompanying Countess Glinda to the sacred lake in order to pray for a baby.
[I had him trained everyday to ensure that he will listen to Sir Keith. Please give him an adorable name, sir.]
I do not know what kind of training the dragon received, but it does behave well when I pat its head and give it food. However, any other caretaker would still need to use ‘Red Dragon’s Bracelet.’ I guess I would need to put up a quest in the guild to secure some spares.
‘I already knew what kind of gift I will give Canaria to her next birthday after seeing you. ‘Citrin,’ that will be your name.’
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
One day, my brother and I were summoned to the throne room to be entrusted national treasures by our father. We both already have our fiancées, not to mention, my brother is also about to attend the royal academy, so it is meant to signify our positions as candidates to the throne. I was to receive one as well because there was no concrete declaration for the crown prince yet, but if brother is able to get through with his education smoothly, he’ll be declared the crown prince.
We were presented several of the kingdom’s national treasures and were told to pick the one we like. My father picked a choker during his time. Brother picked a forehead ornament with a green jewel in the middle, dazzling like a third eye. It was apparently called ‘Child Dragon’s Eye.’
I was at loss what to pick but before long decided on a red-jeweled hair ornament. This item called ‘Elf’s Precious Jewel’ was apparently the item that I picked in the game that Canaria played, so I thought of picking something different to see what would happen but after hearing about its effect, I decided to pick it anyway.
After having entrusted our respective national treasures, we were to attend a castle conference next. Royalties are treated as adult much earlier even than aristocrats. We were likely made to attend the conference to get a feel of the politics and see what kind of policies we could come up with.
After observing the conference, I was asked for my piece, so I told them everything that happened in the harbour, from how a drug-dependent patient(though I told them that he died,) of the empire came to our country looking for Himemomobana, about the manufacturing of magic drugs in other countries, and lastly, how the cultivation and exportation of plant should be regulated.
Their reactions were quite mixed. Himemomobana is a popular plant among the commoners, more particularly used in cooking, and there were a lot of opposition stating that we cannot afford to have their livelihood wither away like that.
On the other hand, amongst those who supported my idea, minister-to-the-right, the leader of first prince faction, was quite unexpected. He said that an essential oil made of the plant was regulated before for having a strong fascination effect. I did not know that. Although the plant doesn’t have much of an effect when readily eaten fresh, it can have various effects depending on how its processed. I guess rather than just simply banning it outright, we must first consider a prohibition’s ramifications on all sides.
‘You’ve been zealously working hard rather lately, aren’t you?’
After the conference, I was walking the hallways when my brother’s voice made me halt. He was seldom the first one to strike a conversation so it surprised me.
‘I guess so. I want to learn faster to be able to support the kingdom as fast as possible, and I need to study a lot for that.’
‘While that attitude is splendid, there are jabbering fools who would spread that as you aiming for the throne, you know?’
‘Huh? Me? Then their eyes might as well be useless, I would recommend brother to fire those people.’
‘I’m talking about the 2nd prince faction who backs you.’
That might be true…. I kept on poking my head to various things that piqued my interest so the reactions of the faction is quite varied. Some are overjoyed thinking that I am finally interested in overcoming my brother and aiming for the throne, while some others who wishes to make a puppet out of me see it as excessive and unnecessary knowledge for their personal goals. Same faction they may be but they aren’t entirely rock-solid.
‘This is growing even more severe ever since you got a dragon from your fiancée. Even if you do not wish for it yourself, it may prove hard for you to control if your surroundings arbitrarily makes a clamor on their own. You best be careful.’
‘I will keep your advice in mind.’
Brother is unusually talkative today. But because they were not mere idle talks, I just obediently nodded to his words.
‘For goodness’ sake… even the populace is frolicking around just because of a single dragon. Corrundum Kingdom must be amusing themselves seeing this festivities thinking that we’re such pathetic fools.’
‘Canaria isn’t that kind of a lady!’
Brother’s excessive words made me raise my voice at him for the very first time. Just because his engagement is not going well doesn’t mean the same is going on with mine. I am happy to be engaged with Canaria and I will not allow anyone to deny me that, not even my brother.
‘You’ve become quite devoted for a marriage your country fixed up for you. Those fools must be pretty convinced that you’re easy to incite seeing as you’re this childish.’
I was about to retort in anger but I stopped myself for a moment to think. Perhaps, it would be much better to let them think so. That way, their guards would be much lower. I raised the matter of regulating Himemomobana wanting to improve the situation a little but a half-baked movements would only be met with vigilance.
‘I guess you’re right. You should be the crown prince, brother.’
Not minding brother’s suspicious look on his face, I merely gave him an childish smile in return.
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
Like a child, (which I am,) there are limits to what I can do. As for now, the most important to do is gather information and run simulations of their possibilities inside my head.
Leddorio Route, the route of the main lead of the game, would possibly lead to a future of shared ruin for both kingdoms. If that’s the case, the future could be avoided by shifting towards other routes. But would it really be that simple? Just to test it out, I tried to imagine which enemies would each respective routes make.
The main antagonist of romance games would be the love rivals of the main character or also called as the Villainess. It would Lady Chloe if the heroine tries to capture my brother but, she was also the villainess in Shin’s route. Well, she is his mistress… and tha person would rather die than have her favourite thing stolen from her.
The ending Shin’s Route was for him to revert to his true standing, in other words, he will return to his true home country, Corrundum Kingdom, as it’s 6th prince. If that were to happen, our kingdom would lose its saintess. In a way, it could even be the official history of the Corrundum game. The combination of Corrundum’s Royal and Saintess’ Blood… that’s exactly what Shin’s route will lead to.
The next would be Darck’s Route. His fiancée is my cousin, Shiela Whitey, when captured, will lead to the cancellation of their engagement. My uncle would probably not sit that one idly. After all, that would be the recreation of the mistakes of Darck’s real father. (Although that’s as far as the game information reveals, a closely-guarded secret that I cannot consult the person themselves about.)
But that being said, Uncle Roulette’s is my mother’s older brother and is also in a cordial friendship with my father. I cannot see him betraying the royal family. Shiela is also the type to lend her hand if you manages to convince her properly, so she’s quite weak as an antagonist. Rather than her, the problem would likely be Lady Chloe…
Sei’s fiancee is Lady Missouri who helped me very much recently. House Walter is well reputed thanks to their foreign trade, so there’s a high possibility of them being close to the empire. Furthermore, the Count is highly mercantile-minded, and he likely would not easily forget anyone who causes them harm. I am personally indebted to them so I do not want our relationship to be frictitious as much as possible.
Dai, doesn’t have a fiancee. The only thing that comes close as a detterent would be the trial set by her older sister for the heroine.
That’s when I realized something. In every route, it all ends with Lady Chloe turning into a witch and being defeated as the last boss. To be much more accurate, as the two of them squable for the Saintess’ seat, Lady Chloe who persecuted and harassed the heroine will face ruin regardless of the circumstances, and as she drowned herself with jealousy and despair, will answer the call of the ancient witch.
I already know the circumstances of the Saintess and Witch from Canaria so putting that aside, as long as the Heroine becomes the Saintess, it doesn’t matter who she ends up with; Lady Chloe will still face ruin in the end. The heroine’s sacred power will raise depending on the romantic events, so the only thing that could prevent her from being a witch is either a normal ending or a bad ending. But it’s still the heroine who decides which kind of ending she will pursue….
‘It really is unpleasant, isn’t it? A single woman’s romance troubles holding the fate of the entire world?…Ah, wasn’t it the Saintess, the first, who made it that way? Humph’
“Oi, don’t be feastin’ on my food.”
‘Oops, sorry about that, Citrin.’
Standing at the cage specifically made for raising dragons, I bit into an apple, lost in thought. The dragon sticks out its tongue so I threw one right into it. ‘The national treasure, “Elf’s Precious Jewel,” allows you to converse with all living things. While I heard that Sei should be able to negotiate with enemies upon honing his skills as a merchant, it would still be convenient to have something like this for opponents like monsters or mythical beasts where a language barrier would be an obstacle.
‘If that’s the case, Lady Chloe becoming a witch might really be the key to everything. When she faces ruin, (Although I don’t know how that connects to the kingdom’s destruction,) House Sereknight is unlikely to become an enemy given that they’ll take in the heroine afterward. Not to mention, they’d lost face after Darck’s father’s recklessness.’
“Would you stop blabberin’ already? What would you do if somebody hears you?”
‘Oops’
Reminded by Citrin, I hastily casted the spell ‘Silence’ in my surroundings. He’s quite badmouthed but he’s a good child. As expected of a pet that came from Canaria. To think that my brother could only see a lady as wonderful as her as a partner fixed by the two countries, what a pitiful man he was. But I guess, it’s kinda understandable given that his fiancée is that Lady Chloe…
However, she should still have allies despite of it all. Like for example, Aunt Masumi. She’s the youngest child and at a far age gap to her older brother, the minister to the right, so perhaps even the problematic children such as Chloe and Darck would look adorable in her eyes. As I read the game data book that I disguised as Corundum Dictionary,’ I remembered the tea time I had with Lady Masumi.
“My, once his highness, Leddorio, marries Chloe, we will truly be relatives, you know? Even sister-in-law said that it will be House Moonlight’s dearest wish once fulfilled, during the time she was alive.”
‘…House Moonlight’s dearest wish, huh?’
Come to think of it, I asked her about that numerous times before but she always skillfully glosses it over, and the idea before long was buried by daily troubles. What had her house entrusted to Lady Chloe’s mother? What’s the relation of the marriage between brother and Chloe to the House Moonlight?
‘Moonlight…. Moon?’
As I whispered, tracing the words written on the game data with my fingers, I came to a stop at a certain person’s name. The line that my finger stopped at was regarding the Saintess Myth. There, the real name of the other ancient saintess, the one who turned into a witch was written.
‘Yolda Moon.’
Was this a coincidence? If my conjecture is spot on, then Lady Chloe might have the blood of the ancient witch in her veins. Perhaps that’s explain her disposition to become the next witch. No, wait, wouldn’t it be too simple for them to be ancestors just because of the similar sounding names? Why has no one else traced that connection for over a hundred years?
(Rather, now that I think about it, the real name of the witch is never included in any literatures. I only found out about it with unworldly means.)
According to Canaria, the name of the saintess and the witch when they were humans didn’t come out in the game either. The player would only found out about it through 3rd party mediums called as fan books or novelizations. However, there should still be some who knew about it. House Moonlight, and the King, are clearly two of those people. Perhaps, it was orally instructed to thoroughly not keep it in public records.
At any rate, it was the greatest wish of the witches descedants to have someone with their blood be wed to the royal family. Whether that is for revenge, or to make sure that a saintess would come out of their family this time for sure, I do not know.
‘However, if everything develops accordingly to the game…’
As I glanced towards the sky thinking about the future to come, I fumbled over my words. The sky was clear since earlier but a part of it started swirling with ashen colored clouds. The skies over the horizon suddenly shone bright.
‘Wha? A lightning!?’
“—So she has awakened?”
I yelled in suprise to which Citrin muttered his words. At the same time, the terrific sound reverberated throughout the skies and then I realized that it turned back to its clear skies. Citrin’s words piqued was so curious that I asked him immediately.
‘Hey, what do you mean by awakened? And who awakened?’
“The sacred maiden.”
The dragon yawns and went back to sleep leaving those words for an answer.
So she has arrived. The lady who holds the key to the kingdom’s impending doom. Is she really a Saintess, or perhaps…..
