Volume 5, Chapter 54 – The Victory Banquet

A few nights later.

A night sky full of starlight.

The plain was covered in the trenches left by the war, but the rebel army was long gone. Outside the empty city of Alvier, one hundred thousand undead were arranged in neat rows. As promised, they would receive their peace under Andrea’s blessing.

Leading Boris and Yisi’s group, and surrounded by a guard of honor, Andrea slowly appeared on the outskirts of Alvier City.

Dressed in the ceremonial attire of the Festival of Original Sin, wearing a crown, with her long pink hair pinned up, Andrea slowly took a step forward. Under the gaze of all the undead, she walked with a solemn expression to the front of the tenth Count Hillary.

She placed her jet-black staff on the shoulder of the kneeling Count.

“I have seen your courage and your loyalty. You have reclaimed your honor as nobles. Now, in the name of the seventh-generation King of the Blood Clan, Andrea Fred Alvier, I grant you freedom. Rest in peace.”

The tenth Count Hillary looked up, a satisfied expression on his long-decayed face. A harsh sound that was probably laughter came from his throat. Starting from his head, as if time had accelerated upon him, his body rapidly weathered, turning to dust in a few seconds.

Disappearing at the same time were the one hundred thousand undead behind him. With the aid of the Alvier Tower, Andrea’s voice had reached the ears of every single one.

With a clatter of weapons and armor falling to the ground, the vast plain was suddenly empty, leaving only Andrea and Yisi’s group. Letting the desolate autumn wind lift her hair and the hem of her skirt, Andrea was silent for a moment. Then, as if she had become a different person, the solemn atmosphere instantly vanished. She let out a big sigh and put a hand to her forehead.

“Thank goodness that was successful… If even that couldn’t let them rest in peace, I don’t know what method I could have used to calm them.”

“Well, as long as the matter is resolved, that’s good. You’re not done with your schedule for today, are you, Andrea?”

“No. They’re all things that will take a long time to finalize. Just thinking about it makes me lose motivation. Like whether to take back the lands of the southern nobles and redistribute them, or to continue the existing model and appoint new heads of the families. And then there’s negotiating with the Empire using the captured Imperial soldiers. Just thinking about it makes my head spin.”

Habitually, Andrea prepared to hug Yisi as if to seek comfort, but the moment she started the motion, she realized the occasion was not right. She glanced at the soldiers and attendants standing behind Yisi—and could see clear expressions of snickering on their faces. She coughed awkwardly twice.

These servants were not at fault. The fault was her own for forgetting that this was not the dream. A habit formed over two years was not something that could be changed just like that.

“Boris, have someone collect the weapons left behind by the tenth Count Hillary and the other soldiers. I’m returning to the Royal Castle. There’s a noble council waiting for me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. But these weapons and armor are severely rusted and cannot be used again. Is Your Majesty collecting them in order to…”

“To melt them into ingots and reforge them into new equipment. We will need a lot of iron for the army’s expansion. We can’t just let ready-made materials go to waste.”

“I understand, Your Majesty.”

Giving Andrea a salute, Boris began to direct the soldiers following behind the honor guard to clean up the undead’s weapons and armor.

Andrea, on the other hand, walked back into the city with Yisi, Camilla, Mary, Tiffany, Edith, and Refina. Surrounded by handmaidens, she boarded the royal family’s exclusive carriage.

…

They soon returned to the solemn and magnificent Royal Castle. Unlike its deserted appearance a few days ago, the castle was now exceptionally lively. Handmaidens carrying silver platters hurried between the kitchen and the courtyard. The Royal Guard stood as strict as stone statues, monitoring everyone who came and went. As for the nobles, they were now chatting and laughing with one another, feasting on the fine wine and food laid out on the tables in the courtyard.

It was the celebration banquet after the victory in the war.

“Her Majesty the Queen arrives!”

The lively banquet quickly quieted down. The nobles all saluted Andrea. She just waved her hand.

“There is no need for such ceremony. Please continue to enjoy the fruits of victory, my lords. I still have a council to attend. I will celebrate with you all later.”

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The nobles who could participate in the council were all from prominent families or held important positions, and they were currently waiting for Andrea at the conference table. Therefore, the ones in the courtyard were all minor nobles who were rarely seen on normal days.

While responding to the blessings from the nobles, Andrea walked into the castle’s interior with a smile and eventually disappeared from Yisi’s sight.

Yisi sighed.

“Finally, I can move freely for a while.”

A few days ago, she had taken the initiative to declare that she was not a lost member of the royal bloodline, and the title of Duchess was naturally taken from her. Now that Andrea was secure, she no longer needed her as a safe harbor—or rather, as a person to divert the topic at critical moments—so there was no need for her to set foot in the noble council again.

As she was feeling emotional, Yisi suddenly felt someone bump her hard from behind. She turned around and found that it was Edith, who had a look of great interest on her face.

“Aren’t you going to follow her?”

Yisi shrugged.

“Why should I? Andrea has already grown up. Now is the time for her to be independent. Speaking of which, you’re the one who should be there, Edith. As the representative of the Pescia family, aren’t you going to attend the noble council?”

Not taking Yisi’s words to heart, Edith moved a step to the side, walking from the red carpet to a dining table in the courtyard. She casually picked up a glass of freshly poured fruit wine and shook it at Yisi.

“If Her Majesty knew that you had suddenly left her, she would fall into a panic, wouldn’t she? The prestige she has worked so hard to build in front of the nobles would just disappear like that. Don’t you think it’s a pity? As for why I’m not attending the council, my Father is there now, so it doesn’t matter whether I go or not.”

But with Edith’s personality, she would normally never avoid such an important occasion.

Yisi sighed helplessly and also picked up a wine glass from a serving cart—the deep red liquid reflected the graceful figure of the moon.

“I’m not her mother.”

Downing it in one gulp and feeling the liquid slide down her throat into her stomach, Yisi tilted her head and beckoned to Camilla, Mary, Edith, and Refina, who were still standing on the red carpet.

“Come and enjoy the banquet first.”

“Can we eat whatever we want?” Mary’s cute eyes widened.

Yisi nodded with a smile.

“Of course. Even if you eat all the food here, no one will say a bad word about you.”

“That’s great! Tiffany and Miss Refina, come on over too~!”

“Slow down.”

“If you eat like that, Mary, you’ll choke again like last time.”

Watching the happily running Mary, Tiffany and Refina quickly chased after her. Camilla, like Edith, picked up a wine glass and came to the empty side next to Yisi.

“Her Majesty the Queen has really grown up.”

“She has…”

Although only a few short days had passed, Andrea had indeed grown into a person capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility of a king. The Andrea of the past did not lack the wisdom needed to be a king; what she lacked was only confidence and resolve.

But it was still the same.

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She still preferred the original Andrea who needed help.

Perhaps she had unknowingly come to see Andrea as a younger sister.

“Your tone, Onee-sama, sounds as if you don’t want Her Majesty to grow up.”

“She is a thoroughbred lolicon, after all,” Edith said nonchalantly.

“Huh?” Yisi’s gaze shifted to Edith.

“Hey, hey, what I like are mature and charming older sisters. It has nothing to do with being a lolicon.”

“Then why do you always get on good terms with young people? Setting aside the already adult me and Camilla, in the past, even though you had Refina by your side, you never touched her. Later, you became close with Mary, Tiffany, and Her Majesty. What is that if not a lolicon?”

“The ones I meet are always such young girls. What can I do? And speaking of which, you’re not an adult yet, are you, Edith?”

“According to the human calculation, I’ll be fifteen in another month.”

“But you’re from the Blood Clan.”

Before Edith could answer, Camilla lowered her head with a very self-deprecating expression.

“So you really do prefer bigger ones, Onee-sama…”

“Eh? No, no, the premise is ‘if possible.’ You’re fine just as you are, Camilla. Very beautiful.”

Her azure eyes filled with disdain, Edith frowned.

“You’re actually satisfied as long as they’re good-looking, aren’t you?”

Although she was right, there was no way she could admit it. Yisi changed the subject at an opportune moment.

“Do you know what Andrea is going to do with Augustin, Edith?”

“Augustin? He was supposed to be hanged, but because he provided some important information, he was sentenced to exile in the end. Her Majesty the Queen played a part in this. Otherwise, no matter how much information he provided, it would only have been a change from hanging to beheading.”

It was particularly noteworthy that in this world, hanging was an extremely shameful way to die, while beheading was relatively dignified. Most people believed that those who died by hanging could not receive the gods’ blessing, and their souls would be tormented for eternity. And the ugly sight of the prisoner struggling during the hanging was also a major reason why people rejected it.

“Exile…”

Yisi murmured in a low voice.

In the face of her once most trusted tutor, Andrea ultimately couldn’t bring herself to kill him. But this was completely within her expectations. Although Andrea was already a qualified king, her inner gentleness had already taken shape. The current Andrea was just hiding this gentleness, not showing it to others casually. If Andrea had ordered Augustin to be killed, she would have found it strange.

“What, you’re not satisfied with this result?”

“No. In fact, it’s completely within my expectations.”

“What was the important information Augustin provided?”

Camilla’s question made Edith raise an eyebrow.

“Well… there are a lot of people here with prying eyes. When you come to my room tonight, I’ll tell you then.”

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Yisi immediately slapped Edith on the head.

“Hey.”

Edith looked displeased.

“Do you want me to chop off your hand?”

Yisi took the initiative to hold out her hand.

“Here, be my guest.”

“…Don’t think I’d hesitate.”

However, before Edith could, Camilla, who was standing on Yisi’s other side, quickly pulled Yisi’s outstretched arm into her own embrace, looking at Edith with vigilance.

“Did you think I would believe your words and go to your room?”

Letting Camilla go to her room was nothing more than wanting to make a move on her. Although since meeting Yisi, Edith’s primary target had become Yisi, her interest in Camilla had not diminished.

“You lewd woman.”

“Lewd? I just act according to my own preferences. In the end, as long as I have Yisi in my hands, won’t you come along sooner or later too?”

“Some people are all talk and no action.”

The moment Camilla’s words fell, Yisi felt the surrounding atmosphere slowly freeze. Camilla had said something she shouldn’t have in front of Pepe.

Her azure eyes filled with a murky darkness, Edith’s lips gradually curved into a smile.

“…You say no action? I originally thought of giving you enough freedom, but in others’ eyes, it’s become cowardice. Very well. In that case, tonight I will make you regret what you’ve done.”

After speaking, Edith put down her wine glass and stalked away.

Yisi immediately felt her headache worsen.

“…What is she planning to do?”

“Onee-sama, please be sure to come to my room tonight. I will protect your chastity.”

Her ruby-like eyes were full of determination. Camilla had said something that made the people around them turn their heads.

“No, even if I don’t do anything, there’s no way Pepe can get into my room.”

Every night before bed, she would place a “Pepe cannot enter” barrier on her door and windows. Otherwise, she would always suspect that she would wake up in a strange place the next day. Although it wasn’t a big deal, or rather, being kidnapped by a beautiful girl should be a reward, with Pepe’s possessiveness and various perverted interests, she might encounter some terrible games.

Plus, she was not a very self-disciplined person—in other words, she was easily defeated by desire. Not to mention getting into character, it would be terrible if she got carried away and, on a whim, did the same thing back to Pepe.

…No, her crying face might be surprisingly cute, just like Sandra’s.

Recalling the look on Sandra’s face when she was about to cry from fear when she was fixing her tooth, the thing called sadism in Yisi’s heart began to stir.

As for where Sandra was now, she should still be sleeping lazily in the Pescia family’s mansion. That girl, after tasting all sorts of delicious food, had stuck to her side and couldn’t be driven away.

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Yisi sighed.

If Sandra were an older sister type, she would be able to get rid of the inexplicable lolicon label.

Why couldn’t the people who gathered around her be a gentle older sister type like Refina?

“Master, ahh~”

While Yisi was thinking about this and that, Mary came to her with a plate, the fork she held up holding a fruit that looked like a grape. She probably wanted to feed her.

But to be fed by Mary in public was too embarrassing.

Yisi patted Mary’s head, preparing to take the fork herself. Mary quickly pulled her hand back and shook her head forcefully.

“You have to open your mouth, Master!”

“Ehh.”

“This is the last one that I managed to snatch from the nobles. The waitress over there said this is a fruit called ‘Kiss of True Love.’ You have to feed it to the person you love most like this so that both you and the other person can be blessed.”

The so-called Kiss of True Love was actually something for couples to eat. Mary had misunderstood the meaning of “love.”

But since it was something Mary had managed to snatch from the nobles, she couldn’t waste her good intentions. And if it were Mary, it wouldn’t cause dissatisfaction from others like Camilla or Edith would.

First, she looked around to confirm that no one was looking their way. Then Yisi bent down and opened her mouth slightly. Mary gently pushed the fruit from the fork into her mouth.

A sweet taste with a hint of sourness. It was probably a fruit in the tomato family.

“Ah, she ate it.”

“This way, Master can be blessed!”

Mary raised her hand excitedly and turned to Tiffany beside her.

“The person who eats it will never be separated. That’s what the waitress said, right?”

“Mm.”

“Um, M-Miss Camilla, where are you going?”

Refina’s panicked voice made Yisi turn her gaze. Camilla was frantically searching the other dining tables for something—she was surely looking for a Kiss of True Love. Yisi couldn’t help but give a wry smile. Camilla knew that she would not abandon her, so the reason she was still looking was probably that she didn’t want to lose to Mary.

To get serious with a child… honestly.

But this wasn’t so bad either. Although she didn’t have an older sister type, her current companions were surely precious treasures. In fact, just having one of them, she should be proudly boasting to everyone around her.

Should this be called not knowing how good one has it?

A wave of emotion suddenly rose in her heart. Yisi looked up at the new moon above the courtyard.

“I hope it will stay peaceful like this…”

Unfortunately and fortunately, Yisi’s night was destined not to be peaceful.