Chapter 49

Iberin came back to herself with a start and lifted her head.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Rotte appeared with a tray of snacks.

"I was worried — you've been holed up in the study for hours."

"Oh, I'm fine, really…"

She said it, but her eyes had started feeling a little dry anyway, so she closed the book without protest.

"Thank you."

"It's nothing."

Rotte set the snacks on the table and steeped the tea.

Iberin got up and moved over to the table too.

"By the way, Rotte."

"Yes."

"You wouldn't happen to know the god's name, would you?"

"The god's name was lost, wasn't it? Is that what you've been reading all this time?"

"Mm-hm. Nobody knew it. I was curious, so I wanted to look it up."

Iberin gave her an awkward smile.

"Times like this make it really hit me that you lost your memories, Lady Iberin. Anyone from the Aleta Empire would know that."

"R-really? That common knowledge? But then how does the temple use holy power? Ordinary people have a little of it too, after all."

"The accepted view is that the god isn't dead — that's why holy power still exists. They say he just lost his strength for a while and fell asleep."

"…I see."

"That's right. Or would you like me to tell you the story? I know a bit about that part."

Rotte seemed to be hinting that Iberin should leave the study already.

Her health was still poor, and pushing herself even a little sent her fever spiking right back up.

"All right."

After enjoying the snack break, Iberin let herself be coaxed out of the study.

She asked every staff member she ran into about the god's name afterward, but they all gave her the same answer Rotte had.

It really was true — no one knew the god's name.

Iberin thought back to the name she'd seen in the original novel.

"Demedeto."

She mumbled it to herself before she even realized.

And in that instant —

Boom—

Boooom—

A massive sound rolled through, and the ground shook like an earthquake had hit.

Iberin dropped straight to the floor where she stood, throwing her arms over her head.

"Iberin!"

Out of nowhere, Lyssel was there — running to her and pulling her into his arms.

"Y-Your Highness, are you all right? What about Ether and Rozel?"

She forgot her own shock and worried about everyone else.

"The clearing — let's get to the clearing!"

Without a word back, Lyssel scooped her up and asked,

"Is it all right if I run at full speed?"

"Yes. Just go."

The second she gave him the green light, Lyssel took off at an insane pace, and Iberin clutched him tight, terrified she'd fly off.

Aaaagh — humanly speaking, this is not a normal speed!

She thought it, since screaming wasn't an option.

"We're here."

Iberin blinked dumbly, feeling more than a little frazzled.

After a beat she turned her head, looking for the kids.

"Ether! Rozel!"

The two of them seemed to have ducked into the underbrush, startled by the sudden noise mid-training.

When Iberin called, there was a rustle, and then they came bursting out.

"Mommy!"

"Lady Iberin!"

"Are you both okay?!"

"We're fine — but what was that?"

Rozelia delivered the question with surprising composure.

Iberin gathered her and Ether into her arms and tried to catch her breath.

What is going on? Seriously, what?

She was thoroughly thrown.

Still, mercifully, no more sounds came.

"Your Highness, do you know what it was?"

She asked once she'd settled a bit.

"I think it came from the Forest of the World Tree."

"From the forest?"

"I should go take a look."

Had there been anything like this in the original?

"I'll go check it out. Stay here for a bit."

Her head was a mess.

It'll be nothing, right?

"…Be careful — be really careful."

She knew he was as strong as they came, but anything involving the Forest of the World Tree — wrapped in mystery as it was — made her uneasy.

"I will."

Lyssel met her worried face with a gentle smile.

---

Not long after Lyssel left, the staff came running to find them.

They were all in pieces, shaken by something that had never happened before in living memory.

"Lady Iberin, are you all right?"

Rotte and the butler looked her over anxiously.

Apart from being a little startled, she was fine.

"I'm okay…"

Ether, too, looked better than she'd expected.

"I think Rozelia's the one who's really shaken."

The girl who'd been so composed at first crumpled the moment she realized nothing more was going to happen.

"Big sis, you okay?"

Ether wouldn't leave Rozelia's side, his face full of worry. Rozelia just seemed to be in shock.

Rotte went to fetch the physician.

The butler hoisted Rozelia onto his back and carried her toward the bedroom.

Ether pattered along beside them, asking if she was okay over and over.

He asked every other second, until the wrung-out Rozelia balled up a fist and growled at him in irritation.

"It really does look like she just got a fright, but let's give her some calming medicine and see how she does."

"I don't think I need any medicine…"

Rozelia, calming down a little, said it sheepishly.

"Take it anyway, Rozel."

"…Okay."

"You must've been so scared."

Iberin stroked the sweat-damp hair off Rozelia's forehead, fretting nonstop.

"I'm really fine, though…"

The fussing was apparently a bit much, and Rozelia trailed off, looking awkward.

"How are you fine. You were terrified by that big sound, weren't you?"

The noise had been huge, but it had been brief, and everyone else was fine — only Rozelia had collapsed like that, so of course Iberin was worried.

"Yup. Ether's all good, but big sis isn't."

"I'm fine too, you know. I just got startled."

"Got really startled."

"…You hush."

In any case, once she took the medicine, drowsiness started pulling at her. She traded a few more jabs with Ether and dropped off.

After making sure Rozelia was asleep, Iberin turned the bedroom lights off, slipped out quietly, and looked toward the Forest of the World Tree with a grim expression.

Rotte draped a shawl over her from behind and spoke.

"It'll be nothing. His Highness will handle it."

It wasn't that she didn't believe her.

It was just that the thought of him going through something dangerous alone weighed on her.

If anyone heard her, they'd say Lecashe is the strongest, what's there to worry about — but no matter how strong he was, he was still a person.

In the original, he'd been a man who'd killed himself.

He looked much more settled now, and she believed he'd be fine, but she couldn't help dwelling on it.

She'd never know what had been so unbearable that he'd chosen to end his life — and exactly because of that, Iberin was going to spend her life worrying about Lyssel.

---

Rozelia, who'd seemed fine, suddenly started faking being sick again and made sure she claimed the spot next to Iberin on the bed.

"You're not sick — you're just pretending, right?"

Ether watched her, exasperated.

His emotional range was widening by the day, and weirdly enough, he was starting to resemble Rozelia.

"I am too sick."

"You look fine."

"…Ugh."

You could feel the iron will to sleep in Iberin's bed by any means necessary.

She didn't need to go this hard — she was welcome anytime.

"Rozelia. You can sleep with me even when you're not sick, you know."

"Really?!"

"Of course."

Her face cleared in an instant, like the sulking had never happened.

"Then let's sleep together!"

"Okay."

Iberin patted the space next to her invitingly.

"Ether too…"

Ether had also clearly been grumbling about wanting to sleep with her.

Iberin scooped him straight up and tucked him into her arms.

Lyssel was beside her.

He'd always watched the three of them from the side, as if he were an observer rather than a participant.

"Lyssel, want to come over here too?"

"…I beg your pardon?"

At first he reacted like he'd misheard, but when Iberin pointed at the bed he started stammering.

"Yeah, you sleep with us."

"You sleep next to me, mister!"

"I'm fine where I—"

He tried to refuse, but he didn't get to finish.

Because Rozelia hauled him right onto the bed.

Of course, the idea that Rozelia could actually drag Lyssel anywhere by force was nonsense.

"Aw, would it kill you to just sleep with us?"

"…."

Outnumbered by three pairs of shining eyes locked onto him, Lyssel let out a defeated sigh.

So in the end, after washing up and changing into nightclothes, the four of them lined up in bed.

"The bed's a little cramped, but somehow it feels nice. We should do this more often."

That was Iberin's verdict, with Ether and Rozelia tucked against either side of her.

"Yes! I like it!"

"Me too!"

The kids giggled and burrowed into her arms.

"Back at the orphanage, I slept with the other kids like this every night, and I hated it. But this — this is really nice."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. I wish you were my mom, Lady Iberin."

"Wait, I wasn't already? I've been thinking of you that way since the day you decided to stay."

"…Oh…."

Rozelia went speechless for a beat, thrown — then beamed and answered a bright yes!

"So Rozel is my big sister?"

Iberin smiled fondly at the question, then froze a little.

"Are you two going to fall in love and get married one day…?"

Considering that in the original Ether had chased Rozelia around insisting he liked her, there was a not-zero chance of disaster — so she'd asked. The two of them recoiled in horror.

"Ugh, what are you talking about?!"

"Eww, no!"

"Still, you never know how things'll turn out…"

"AAAAH!"

Iberin still couldn't quite let go of the original.

The four of them stayed up chatting late into the night and ended up sleeping in.

---

The day of the tremor passed without much overthinking, thanks to Rozelia — but after that, Iberin's mind started churning.

Unable to fall asleep late one night, she found herself wondering.

Why didn't anyone know the god's name?

And the instant she'd murmured the name, the Forest of the World Tree had shaken.

She'd been too rattled to think about it at the time and had just let it go, but now she couldn't help wondering if the forest's quake and the god's name were connected.

Iberin hesitated, then breathed the word out carefully.

"Demedeto?"

Hmmm—

Hmmmm—

The moment the word left her mouth, a faint vibration rolled through, and she jerked.