Chapter 195

Prince and Childhood Friend (2)
"The Princess is an angel even now! That means she was an angel in her past life too! This is an absolute and unchanging truth!"

"Ah, someone take him to the infirmary."

At Gilbert’s command, the noble causing the disturbance was dragged away by knights.

"Let go of me! She is absolutely an angel! You all think so too, don’t you? I’m sure many comrades feel the same!"

"Yes, yes, just calm down. Breathe deeply now."

"Suu~ haaa~ suu~ haaa~ yes, she’s an angel after all!"

"Let’s go see a doctor."

The noble was carried off with both arms held.

"… Um."

"Sorry. It's just that some of them worship her."

Alicetia was worshipped by some commoner nobles and most beastkin nobles.

Incidentally, the dwarves respected her not quite to the level of worship, but as a great engineer. The elves, while maintaining a bit of distance, held her in esteem.

"… I see."

It bothered Takuto a little that Alicetia, who might be his childhood friend, was being worshipped by some strange old men, but he still wasn’t certain that Alicetia was Iris.

Thinking about Iris’s personality, she would absolutely hate being widely known like Alicetia was. And Iris would never have something like patriotism. Iris only used her wisdom for her own sake. That was absolute.

If her family wished for it, she would use it—for the sake of pleasing her family.

If Takuto wished for it, she would use it—because she wanted to. Everything she did was based on her own will. She would never act for the sake of someone she didn’t know. That was Iris.

Even if a terrorist pointed a gun at a child right in front of her and Iris happened to be walking by with a gun, she would walk away without doing anything. Well, in the end, she was hit by a car while saving a child she didn’t know.

Even so, Takuto couldn’t understand why Alicetia would go this far for Arland. If she really was Iris, then she might act for the sake of the royal family. But not for the citizens. To Iris, they were people who didn’t exist in her world.

"Before I answer that question, there’s something I want to ask you."

As Takuto was deep in thought, Gilbert asked him seriously.

"I don’t mind."

"What do you plan to do if you find her? And what’s your relationship with this girl?"

A question of utmost importance to Gilbert.

"I’d like to reunite with her if possible. And in our past lives, we were childhood friends and engaged."

At those words, everyone in the room froze. And then—

"No, I don’t know anything about that. You must be mistaken. My sister is not a reincarnator. Sorry, but I’m busy. Let’s end the audience here."

Gilbert chose to flee.

In no time, Takuto was escorted out of the castle. They at least made sure not to be rude in doing so.

Left in the audience chamber were nobles with darkened expressions—nobles who did not worship Alicetia and were still of sound mind.

"Your Highness… could it be that the Princess is…?"

"Yes. Alicetia is a reincarnator. She asked me to keep it secret, so I did. Is there a problem?"

There was a sharp edge to his words. He was implicitly saying that if there was a problem, he would eliminate it by any means. But to the nobles, Alicetia’s past life didn’t matter in the least.

"No, not at all. It just answers a long-standing question. Whether souls have bloodlines is still unproven, and the Princess undeniably carries royal blood. No one will object."

To the nobles, bloodlines were what mattered. The existence of something like a "lineage of souls," an unknown and unverified concept, was irrelevant. As long as Alicetia was royalty and one of their own, what she had done in a previous life didn’t matter. Most nobles would say the same. She had earned that much.

The same went for the citizens. Alicetia had earned their support through her personality and intelligence. But there was still a problem.

"However, I can’t trust this claim about being the Princess’s fiancé in her past life. He could be a spy from another country."

There were many countries with hostile intent toward Arland. It was possible that the man calling himself Takuto was being manipulated behind the scenes by one of them, to bring chaos to the kingdom.

"But he figured out that the Princess is a reincarnator."

"Even that isn't so strange. If the root of the Princess’s technology is knowledge from another world, someone from the same world would recognize it right away. They might have even sent such a person on purpose. It’s unlikely, but not impossible."

In this world, which saw many people from other worlds drift in, the existence of countless parallel worlds was common knowledge. Many such otherworlders had already been confirmed. It wasn’t strange.

"How about we ask the Princess directly?"

One of the nobles suggested, and Gilbert let out a sigh.

"My sister becomes childishly evasive when cornered… do you really think she’ll tell us?"

When asked unpleasant questions, Alicetia would mentally become a little girl and dodge the issue. If pushed further, she would dive into bed and fall asleep.

"Her secretiveness is a bit excessive."

"It’s a form of self-defense, I suppose."

Everyone present let out a sigh.

Then the doors to the audience chamber burst open, and a knight came rushing in, breathing heavily.

"I'm terribly sorry. However, a divine oracle has been delivered to the temple! It declares that Takuto Shishidou is a Hero... and there's also an uproar in the Temple of Beauty due to a similar oracle."

"At this timing!? And even that temple received an oracle... Those people are going to deify Alice even more now.

Should we just shut it down?"

The temple that used to be the Beastkin Temple, now transformed into the Temple of Beauty and a gathering place for Alicetia’s followers, had received a divine oracle. This meant the goddess had officially recognized the Temple of Beauty as a legitimate place of worship with sufficient faith. Naturally, the frenzy of Alicetia’s followers there was immense.

And now the priests were seriously crying. It was the moment a new religion had begun to take root in Arland.

"If we shut that place down, there’ll be riots."

The nobles muttered bitterly. Many of them had daughters or wives who attended the temple.

The beauty of one's hair, its length, style—all of it just as desired—the Temple of Beauty was an indispensable facility for many noble ladies. Shutting it down would surely enrage them.

And the biggest issue was that the goddess had declared Takuto to be a Hero. In truth, the goddess had seen that Arland suspected Takuto of being a foreign spy, and this was her way of assisting him. From Gilbert’s point of view, it was a massive nuisance.

"S-Still, if he’s a Hero, what sort of fighting strength might he possess?"

"Indeed. Having a Hero in our country would provide us with unmatched military might."

The nobles, bitter as they were, began discussing Takuto's value. The knights’ faces twisted at what they heard.

"Wait. Even if he is a Hero, I have no intention of putting him in the military."

Gilbert scolded them. A natural decision. The kingdom already had brave and valiant knights. Favoring a Hero over them would only cause the knights to question their loyalty to the kingdom.

It would be an insult to the pride of the knights who had protected the kingdom until now. For those who had devoted everything to safeguarding the realm, allowing an outsider who merely received power from the goddess to take part in its defense was unbearable.

Gilbert felt the same. The pride of knights who had offered their swords of their own will to the kingdom should be honored. Besides, even without the Hero’s power, Alicetia was already moving to build the strongest army.

"However!"

Still, the nobles couldn't give up. Having a Hero was the ultimate diplomatic trump card.

"Then can you say the same to the knights who have died protecting the homeland until now?

And if we forcibly conscript the Hero into the military, we'd be no different from the central nations of the continent. Even if we did force him in, it wouldn't make him a reliable asset. In fact, he might betray us in a crisis."

"... Understood."

At those words, the nobles finally yielded.

In the final battle at Cinciana, part of the kingdom's army had been betrayed by certain nobles at the decisive moment. Because of that, they lost the war they should have won, along with Cinciana and their elite troops. No noble wished to repeat that mistake.

"For now, given the timing of this oracle, the possibility of Takuto Shishidou being a foreign spy is low."

"Indeed. The goddess likely witnessed our discussions as well.

But that's not the only problem! If Hero Takuto were to meet the Princess… If they were to fall in love and marry—I can't bear it! The Princess mustn’t marry yet!"

"So you're an Alice believer too, huh?"

"Actually, I am... My thinning hair grew back thick and full."

The spread of Alicetia’s believers was overwhelming.

"Truly, the thought of my little sister ending up with a man like that—it's intolerable... Should we consider assassination?"

Gilbert was already considering eliminating Takuto, who could become an enemy in the future.

"Please wait. Even if the assassination succeeded, if by any chance he was an 'acquaintance' from the Princess’s past life, she might grow distrustful of the kingdom… At worst, the nation could split."

Some nobles, refusing to believe he was her past-life fiancé, began using the word “acquaintance.”

"But just think if we leave it alone. I don’t want to hear her say, ‘I’m marrying this man.’ We’d have no way to stop her."

If Alicetia, still influenced by her past life, chose Takuto, it would be a declaration of a final decision. She’d fully leverage her influence to ask, “You’re not going to oppose me, are you?”

From Gilbert’s perspective, the worst possible opponent had appeared.

"First, we should inquire with the Princess. If it turns out he is... *that*, then we must ensure they never come into contact. By the way, where is the Princess?"

"Ah, she should be meeting with the cardinal at the temple of the Orthodox Church, regarding the construction of the Grand Cathedral.

Well, she’s moving by teleportation, so she’s unlikely to cross paths with him."

The real Alicetia was currently in Arland’s capital negotiating over the construction of a Grand Cathedral and the expansion of the orphanage. She was also negotiating with the cardinal to fix the emotional distance being maintained without her knowledge. The one in the castle was a duplicate.

"Then once she returns, let's have His Highness question her directly."

"Wait! Why me!? She might hate me for it! You guys should do it!"

"We want to remain on friendly terms with the Princess too. This is exactly the moment to use your negotiating skills, Your Highness!"

"Wait, don’t run away!"

The nobles present promptly vanished, leaving everything to Gilbert.

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