Chapter 130
Such a completely, completely kind person!
"You mean 1 gold coin at the auction? I didn't call you because of that. Rather, hearing of your dazzling skill reminded me of Blossom, which put me in a good mood."
The Emperor, resting his chin on his hand, smiled pleasantly and waved his hand dismissively.
How could he be so broad-minded!
How completely, completely warm His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!
The Emperor pierced an apple slice with his fork. Then he handed it to the waiting Lady-in-waiting. The Lady-in-waiting walked around the table and handed the fork with the apple slice to Pastel.
"Try this too. It's an apple from the Camelot Family, and it's perfectly ripe since it's in season."
"Wow!"
Her pink eyes sparkled.
"I like Melissa's apples!"
"Melissa?"
The Emperor retraced his memories as if hearing a topic that didn't interest him.
"Ah, the next Archmage? The results compared to the investment have been quite good. I'm glad it's a variety you like. Enjoy."
"Yes!"
Pastel's cheeks flushed at the completely pleasant meal setting. She dabbed the apple slice into the Magic Stone Powder sprinkled on a small plate, then took a bite. A crunching sound rang out. The sweet and sour flesh filled her mouth.
Woah! Woah!
It's an apple! Apple-apple!
A full sense of satiety washed over her.
The salmon-salmon steak was delicious too!
The tomato-mato soup was good too!
Besides that, the green-green salad and other things that came out had a completely refreshing and sour sauce that was delicious-delicious!
I felt too guilty about the auction incident to dare expect anything, but this is exactly the Imperial Banquet I wanted!
A meal custom-cooked with the finest ingredients by a top-tier chef who put his or her career and life on the line to give it his or her all!
A feast that made my tongue react as if it had been waiting its entire life for this!
I feel a sense of satisfaction, like I'm finally receiving the treatment I was originally meant to get!
Gasp.
Pastel's eyes widened in realization.
I guess I have an imperial family constitution.
Why was I born in a Marquisate? Shouldn't I be an imperial family member, preferably as the first-in-line successor?
I just can't understand my birth.
"You eat well. It reminds me of Blossom when we camped, and it's nice to see. If I had known, I would have invited you sooner."
The Emperor smiled, his chin resting on his hand.
Pastel swallowed the apple with a munching and chewing sound.
"I'm good anytime!"
Lots and lots of banquet invitations!
"Shall I?"
"Yes! I'd love that! I'd love that!"
Yay!
The Emperor laughed.
"But doesn't Marquis Pastel have a lot of work to do on the Sky Island?"
"Thaaat is."
True.
"That's true."
Pastel became slightly gloomy.
If I had known His Imperial Majesty the Emperor was this kind, I wouldn't have settled on the Frontier Sky Island just because magic stones were cheap; I would have run to the Imperial Palace and made a request for rescue.
This feels like a slight misjudgment on Lord Demon's part.
Hmph-hmph.
If you had told me to ask His Imperial Majesty the Emperor for help, so many problems would have been solved easily!
And I wouldn't have had to do the smuggling that Lord Demon hates so much!
Honestly! Honestly! Hmph-!
Of course, I know that leaving my lifeline to someone else's mercy makes me perfectly ripe for exploitation, but there's no way such a kind person as His Imperial Majesty the Emperor would do that!
Actually, wasn't Lord Demon just enjoying watching me suffer?
Hmph.
Making lots of friends and having fun was nice, but a life of walking a tightrope while relying on a Hormone Friend wasn't entirely happy.
If there had been an easier path, shouldn't he have at least let me know the option existed?
Hmph-hmph.
A sudden surge of rebelliousness.
Didn't Lord Demon say he was bringing something to eat?
I'm full anyway, so I won't eat a single bite!
Hehe.
"Listen while you eat."
At the Emperor's gesture, the Lady-in-waiting brought over the bowl of apple slices.
Fresh-fresh apples!
She twisted the Magic Stone pepper shaker, sprinkled the powder lightly, poked it with her fork, and, chomp~!, took a bite.
Crunch-crunch!
"Originally, I didn't call you because of the railway construction rights, but to ask for Marquis Pastel's cooperation due to an incident in the Bellamont Family."
Huh.
The sudden appearance of the Bellamont Family.
Just as Melissa would prick up her ears and pay attention whenever Alsher Bellamont said something, the apple friend in my mouth suddenly seemed to be listening closely too.
So Pastel just chewed the apple-friend crunch-crunch.
Apple friend: Aaaack!
The apple friend was chopped to pieces and croaked.
Sorry!
But if even the apple friend joins this conversation, it'll be too chaotic! Just go quietly into my stomach!
Yeah, yeah!
She gulped down the apple corpse.
"Did something happen to the Bellamont Family?"
"We're still hiding it, but..."
The Emperor put on a sad expression.
"The eldest son died."
Ehh?
If it's the eldest son, isn't he probably the next family head?
Someone like that died?
Ehh-ehh?
The Emperor shook his head.
"Although the exact cause is still under investigation, the eldest son requested the assassination of Alsher Bellamont from the Radical Demons."
Is it the Radical Demons, those scary people who were shooting with shotguns?
"However, the overly extreme academy terror attack must have been unexpected, as he cut off the deal right after the attack. In retaliation, the demons sought him out and carried out a revenge assassination on the eldest son. I heard they turned him into meat paste with a brutal barrage of gunfire."
Ehh-ehh!
Meat paste...!
Pastel's hands trembled. The fork holding the apple slice in her grip shook violently.
Completely scary people!
The Emperor's expression changed to one of pity.
"I don't particularly dislike Demonkind, but with things like this, I have to crack down on the Radical Faction, which is why I called Marquis Pastel."
"M-Me?"
A smile spread across the Emperor's face.
"The Marquis selected the acting academy president, reorganized the Knights Order, and worked hard for the Family's reconstruction. It's also what the Kraft Family originally did, so aren't you the right person for the job?"
With great power comes great responsibility.
With great authority comes great duty.
But! But!
I don't want to do something scary like cracking down on the Radical Faction whose hobby is shotgun shooting!
"But originally, I called you for a minor purpose, partly to see the face that resembles Blossom..."
The Emperor received a letter from the Lady-in-waiting.
It was a somewhat familiar letter.
Specifically, it looked similar to the coded letter Ellie had written to secretly inform the Moderate Faction core of the good news of discovering the Demon King (fake).
Uh-oh.
Pastel felt like she was breaking out in a cold sweat even before hearing anything.
"An urgent report arrived while the Marquis was on her way."
The letter fluttered.
"Even though the former emperor eliminated around a million newborns, the Demon King didn't die in the end. And what's more, Demonkind has secured his custody."
In contrast to his previously sad and pitying face, his golden eyes, which had seemed somewhat indifferent, turned cold.
"This makes it no longer a minor matter."
Aaaah!
Ellieee!
All the secrets are leaking out?!
There's a spy in your Faction?!
Her pink eyes wavered.
Pastel flusteredly clapped her hands together with slight exaggeration.
"Such a huge deal!"
An evil Demon King!
A really huge deal!
Too huge a deal!
The truly kind Pastel could empathize a million times over. She empathized so much that she wanted to run out of here right now and return to the Sky Island.
Save me, Demon King...!
"I have many worries. The Marquis might not know because she didn't learn it from Blossom, but the prophecy also mentions the collapse of the Empire alongside the appearance of the Demon King."
The Emperor sighed languidly.
"For a collapse to happen all at once, geographically, the Demon Realm alone isn't enough, so someone among the Empire's great nobles who possesses a large-scale private army must side with the Demon King, but I can't get a grasp on who it is."
Gasp, a betrayal!
Pastel immediately put on an angry expression. She lightly pounded the table with her small fist.
Thump-!
"Such a bad person!"
It seems better to find that bad traitor first instead of the Demon King!
"Indeed. A bad person. Still, it worked out well. I called the right person, didn't I? There's no safer candidate for the Demon King hunt than the Kraft Family, right?"
Huh.
The Emperor smiled, resting his chin on his hand.
"Because even if you wanted to side with the Demon King, you couldn't because of past history. To think the task Blossom couldn't resolve would return like this! It's quite ironic."
The Emperor stood up from his seat.
As Pastel reflexively stood up as well, he received a sword from a knight who at some point had entered and stood in front of Pastel.
"I am reviving the Sky Island Governor-General position and appointing Marquis Kraft to that seat."
Huuuh.
"And I will grant the Governor-General the authority to operate the private army of the Demon World Merchant Alliance Co., Ltd. and its related matters. Devote yourself to the Demon King hunt in the Sky Island and the Demon Realm."
The Emperor's sword was handed over.
Gasp.
Pastel's heart pounded thump-thump.
Governor-General Pastel,
A true person in power acknowledged by the highest authority.
A person in power who cannot be denied legally, institutionally, or politically.
Her cheeks flushed.
Governor-General Pastel, from today on!
The scary future of having to clash with Demonkind whose hobby was shooting shotguns vanished whoosh~ from her mind.
All that remained was a pink future befitting the Pink-Pink Pastel.
Her pink eyes grew hazy.
She knelt on one knee, just as she had heard somewhere, and received the Emperor's Sword with both hands.
"I receive your command."
The weight of the sword could be felt in her palms.
It was a heavy sensation, like the weight of the power she had just been handed.
Pastel was moved just as much as that weight.
Long live His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!
Long, long live!
I usually respected His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, wondering how he was born so emperor-like. But to think he would give me such an opportunity!
He even clearly possesses the insight to recognize a loyal subject!
Respect naturally welled up within her.
If only I could become a person in power like that!
I will be loyal for the rest of my life!
A loyalty that won't change even an inch!
Demon King!
To give His Imperial Majesty the Emperor such a sense of crisis!
Bad Demon King!
Following this solemn command, I will definitely arrest you!
Hiya! Hiya!
The loyal subject Pastel, in whose mind the word betrayal did not exist even a single speck, firmly resolved.
Evil Demon King!
This loyal subject Pastel will not forgive you!