Chapter 84
If there was only one thing I liked in the stifling, suffocating imperial palace, it was probably the bed.
It couldn't quite compare to the heavenly bed in Princess Celestina's room, but it was still a good match for the bed in my room at Linnea Hall.
The perfect softness that wrapped around every vertebra the moment I leaned back.
Roushlin Star, 2.5 stars—bang, bang, bang.
If it were up to me, I would have liked to sleep soundly for 24 hours straight like this.
“Lady Lunaris, are you awake?”
“...?”
When I opened my eyes, the situation had turned strange.
I had clearly been sleeping in bed, but before I knew it I was seated in a chair, getting kneaded by the imperial maids.
Apparently, while I was asleep, they had carried me over as if I were luggage.
“You may sleep a little longer. It will still take a bit more time before the styling is finished.”
No, how am I supposed to sleep when you're rubbing me without mercy like this?
“Would you raise your head a little?”
“...”
“Your arms as well, please.”
...You said I could sleep a little longer! You're asking for way too much!
The maids of the imperial palace were far more aggressive than the ones at Linnea Hall.
Their merciless kneading of me was, to put it nicely, professional; to put it badly, lacking the slightest hint of humanity.
How should I put it... they had no expressions and hardly spoke, so they felt like machines.
Like dolls moving only to dress me up.
In any case, thanks to them, I became the helpless victim of doll play(?) without even being able to resist once.
“Haaahm-”
Still, their touch wasn't rough, just gentle, so before I knew it a yawn slipped out.
Mm-hm... The Linnea Hall maid brigade was professional too, but... as you'd expect from imperial maids... this is so drowsy and floppy and...
At that moment, the waiting-room door opened and familiar faces came inside.
“Our dear! Did you have a good dream last night?”
Grandma Eleanor was so high-energy it was hard to believe it was morning.
By contrast, next to her...
“Puhh... I'm done for.”
Dean Raymond was dying.
The dark circles under his eyes looked like they might reach all the way to his chin.
“Grandma, where did you go yesterday?”
“Hm? Ah, I went to meet an important person for a little while.”
She said that she had wanted to stay by my side, but someone she couldn't refuse had called for her, so there was nothing she could do, and Eleanor Grandma spoke in a voice full of regret.
Come to think of it, she'd really come down from the Magic Tower for the first time in a long while. No way the people of the imperial palace would have left Grandma alone.
I shifted my gaze and peeked at the dean through the mirror.
“Dean, I can tell at a glance what you got up to yesterday.”
“...Is it that obvious?”
“I still smell alcohol.”
“Th-there's no way! I cast Cleanse magic several times!”
Dean Raymond jumped.
“No, I don't mean you literally smell... I mean your face. Your face.”
His eyes were sunken so deeply he looked like he'd been cursed and turned into an undead.
“Grr... this is one thing magic couldn't do anything about.”
Dean Raymond sat down in the chair beside me with a miserable look on his face.
Soon, other maids rushed in and began applying powder to the dean's face, especially around the eye sockets.
“Well, today's main character isn't me but Student Lunaris, after all. It's enough if I don't end up too humiliated.”
It didn't take long for the zombie to turn human again.
“If the preparations are done, let's head out.”
Before long, an attendant entered the waiting room and coughed awkwardly.
“My dear, don't be nervous; just do as you always do.”
“Well, Student Lunaris will manage fine on her own. More importantly, please don't cause any trouble. Even if something bothers you, just bear with it once, okay?”
After giving me encouragement and a plea(?) respectively, Grandma and the dean left the waiting room one step ahead of me.
“Lady Lunaris Evermoon, congratulations on your Archmage investiture.”
“It was an honor to help with the styling of the youngest archmage.”
I stood up, leaving the maids' send-off behind me.
This damn Archmage investiture ceremony is finally starting.
I'll finish it quickly and go back to the dorm to sleep soundly and make up for all the sleep I've lost.
*
“Lady Lunaris Evermoon is entering!”
The vast audience chamber.
A red carpet stretched so far ahead that I couldn't see the end of it.
Nobles in splendid formal wear and mages in robes were lined up along both sides.
Nobles making themselves look good was part of daily life, but even the mages had properly cleaned up today.
Grandma Eleanor must have given them a talking-to.
Anyway... it's long.
I padded forward, suppressing my annoyance.
With every step I took, countless gazes pierced me.
The quality of those gazes was a little different from yesterday's.
Maybe the warning I casually slipped out after smashing the crystal orb wasn't for nothing; their eyes held a mix of awe and tension.
After walking for quite a while, I reached the end of the carpet.
On the highest dais, someone sat on a golden throne.
My first impression was: pale.
His face was so white it looked like he might collapse at any moment.
Too young to be His Majesty the Emperor.
He must be a prince, though I didn't know which one.
<A School Mage with Grit> was an academy story that practically left imperial power struggles out altogether.
Because of that, aside from Princess Celestina, the other royals barely appeared.
Not only did their looks never come up, their names didn't either.
At most, the Second Prince had been mentioned only rarely in Senior Mireil's episode.
Well, that didn't really matter.
What mattered more was why a corpse was sitting over there.
Narrowing my eyes, I could feel it even more clearly.
That prince didn't have the vessel that held mana inside his body.
He lacked the organ that every human living in this world should naturally have.
It was like looking at a modern person summoned from Earth, a world where magic doesn't exist.
“He'd have trouble breathing.”
The words slipped out before I knew it.
Because the atmosphere in this world is filled with mana.
Without the artifacts hanging all over my body or Grandma Eleanor's care nearby, I wouldn't be surprised if I coughed up blood and collapsed right away.
“Come in, Lady Lunaris Evermoon.”
As I was thinking that, the prince seated on the throne spoke with a faint smile.
“His Majesty is in poor health, so as the First Prince, I have come in his place today.”
Ah. So that gentleman was the First Prince.
“...It's an honor, Your Highness.”
I bowed according to etiquette.
It was fortunate I'd studied etiquette as a Tuesday elective at Elterion Academy.
Of course, I slept through the lectures, but I had memorized all the textbook content.
“Then let us proceed with the Archmage investiture ceremony at once.”
With the prince's declaration, the chamberlain standing beside him stepped forward.
He unfolded the thick scroll in his arms and cleared his throat.
“Ahem! An archmage is, before being a master of magic, a guardian of the Empire, and must therefore possess the dignity and...”
Wait. He's not seriously planning to read all of that, is he?
“...service founded on a spirit of sacrifice...”
It looked like the chamberlain's boring, pedantic lecture was about to go on.
“Enough.”
The First Prince suddenly raised a hand.
“Let's skip the formalities. The chamberlain speaking will strain his throat, and the listeners will only get bored, won't they?”
“However, Your Highness, there is a procedure...”
“I'm sure you'll handle it just fine.”
I could hear the nobles whispering behind me.
It was the usual sort of thing, like how his body was weak, or that he didn't have much time left.
Those were comments that came uncomfortably close to insulting the imperial family, spoken in low voices.
As for me, I didn't care.
More than that, I really liked that he wanted to get this over with quickly.
Yeah, this no-nonsense style is good too.
In the end, the chamberlain rolled the scroll back up and stepped away.
The First Prince smiled faintly and signaled the knights.
Soon, two knights walked up to me carrying a long box wrapped in iron chains.
I thought it might be heavy, but the sound when it was set down on the floor was surprisingly light.
“The first Belhardt defeated the witch who tried to destroy the world, and upon that foundation built the Empire in which we, her descendants, have lived for generations.”
The chamberlain began his explanation in a solemn voice.
“The witch met her end beneath the blade of justice! But the abomination she used was too powerful to destroy, so it had no choice but to be sealed away.”
His finger pointed at the box placed before me.
“Inside this is the witch's legacy! The Innocent Hunger, Arche.”
Looking at the runes engraved on the outside of the box, it seemed to have a fairly powerful seal on it.
Even so, a sinister, sticky aura was leaking out through the tiny gaps.
But... why didn't this aura feel entirely unpleasant?
Strangely, it didn't feel unfamiliar.
“The Imperial Archmage investiture ceremony is a ritual in which the candidate fills this abomination's hunger with their mana, suppressing its rampage, and then strengthens the seal once more.”
The chamberlain's explanation was starting to get long again.
“Through this, the one who becomes an archmage learns to control their power and to sacrifice themselves...”
How boring.
So basically, it's just telling me to be loyal-loyal-loyal to the Empire.
I'm getting sleepy.
“Haaahm-”
So I just yawned without restraint.
I'm not the type to hold back.
Suddenly, silence fell.
I could feel a few shocked stares, but who cared.
“Well, so... should I just open this box now?”
At my question, the First Prince gave a bitter smile and nodded.
“Begin.”
At the same time, Grandma Eleanor beside me extended her hand.
A translucent barrier formed a circle around the prince.
-Clink, clatter.
The knights undid the chains and opened the box.
-Hissss!
Red smoke billowed up.
Before the little screams around us could even erupt, Dean Raymond and the white-robed mages symbolizing the Imperial Mage Corps raised barriers to suppress the smoke.
I ignored them and reached into the box.
Something long wrapped in black cloth came into my hand.
When I pulled the cloth away, a grotesquely twisted old tree was revealed.
It looked like the arm of a dried-up mummy.
I don't know if I can say this, but... that design sense is really foul.
The instant I absentmindedly gripped the staff in my hand.
“...?”
The sound of a dam collapsing—crash—echoed inside me.
“?!??!”
Soon, an uncontrollable amount of mana began to be sucked into the staff.