Delia was weeping mournfully, while her mother's sister, Andrea, who had risen from the dead, patted her on the back and whispered, at first glance as if she were comforting the young princess.
But as soon as she whispered a few words, her freshly baked knight pressed her shoulder and shook his head.
"What did you mean just now, Salter?"
After the army took control of the scene and the three left the dense crowd, Ann asked a little wearily.
She habitually wanted to tell Oliver and the others where to meet, but was quickly stopped by Marshal Gallagher.
As a mature fighter, Ann undoubtedly gave her a considerable degree of trust in her new comrade-in-arms. She greeted Oliver briefly, knowingly, and stopped the communication.
"You'd better not meet the tumbleweed people for a while." Marshal Gallagher said with a straight face.
"reason."
"This thing is a demon, and its aura and magic fluctuations are not strong." Gallagher pointed to the cat's beard who was crawling back to the little princess' hair accessories and was happily spinning around. "But Mr. Wright himself is too powerful, and his spells are likely to leave traces of abyssal magic that can be traced back."
"I know your concerns." Ann frowned and thought for a while. "But I think Nemo he should have a way—"
"Mr. Salt's concerns are right." Delia sniffed, her voice so low that she could not hear.
Ann immediately stopped her voice and looked down at the little princess whose eyes were red and swollen.
In the past ten minutes, Delia has undoubtedly vented all her grievances and pains over the years. Now she is back to calm again - the little princess' physical choking has not stopped, and the tears seem to dilute the cold darkness a little.
"You can't tell who the people here are loyal to. If you don't avoid it, the information will be leaked, and if you avoid it completely, it will look suspicious. When you really sit on the throne, it will not be a problem to communicate with people related to the abyss - as long as you are low-key enough , and can justify it.”
Delia is not very tall, and with the unnecessary high heels, she is barely 1.6 meters tall. An thought for a moment, motioned Delia to sit at the table, and sat down on the opposite side. She slumped down slightly, put her arms on the table, and looked at the little princess.
"Tell me what you think, Delia."
"Just now, the Marshal made a statement in front of everyone, announcing that he did not intend to 'cooperate' with other families with royal blood, thereby breaking their idea of 'cooperating with the Salt family, removing the queen, and supporting their own children'. But even so, when some people react, they will definitely not give up the idea of losing the inheritance rights to you and me. It is not impossible to assassinate, after all, Alban never welcomes the queen."
An twitched the corners of his mouth: "I know."
"So... um... before the trial is over, and before you officially take the throne, there will always be some people who will try to design you. Especially Uncle... No, the people from Eldric's side. This means that all your actions will be monitored, and with Everything about you will be investigated. The tumbleweeds aren't too involved now, and there's still time to get them out. Otherwise—"
"If you are caught with clear evidence of being close to the abyss, you will be disqualified from the throne." Gallagher replied.
"If they go deeper, Nemo may be in danger of being exposed." At the same time, Ann also took it.
The two stared at each other for a while.
"Okay." An Xie rubbed his temples, "Mr. Wild Dog, how long will it take you to get rid of those old people?"
"It will take about two months until you officially take the throne." Gallagher responded with a stinky face, and wiped his lips with a handkerchief again. "During this period, you must be careful with your words and deeds. After all, several families are notoriously stubborn, you'd better put down your stature and kindly—"
An thought for a moment, then stood up quickly and patted Delia.
Then take her back to the royal hall not far away.
"Who has an opinion on my succession to the throne?"
Gallagher's army was still standing in the hall, and the noble representatives had just recovered when they were stunned by such a question on the spot.
People who are used to having words in their words have never seen such a rude member of the royal family, and they don't know how to respond for a while.
"If you have an opinion, it's better to say it now." Ann played with the hunting spear in his hand. "No one says anything, so I acquiesce that there are no opponents. Of course, I believe you will always come back to your senses..."
She slammed the end of her spear to the ground.
"You are welcome to come to assassinate at any time, as long as you can do it." The female soldier smiled flamboyantly. "But, if you really dare to use your wacky brains and plan to start with this girl—"
She put her free arm around Delia.
"I don't mind cleaning up 'my distant relatives' in your family, do you hear me?"
The nobles were silent.
Gallagher felt a sharp pain in his temple, convinced that his veins were about to burst. After leaving the hall again, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down: "What are you doing—"
"Play a tyrant." Anson Delia, concise and to the point. "No one wants to slack off with a mad woman, and now you can get them in a month, Salter."
Delia's eye circles turned red again, clearly understanding what Ann meant.
"I personally don't need to maintain too many interpersonal relationships. You are better at this kind of thing than I am. I don't need to be on the throne for too long, and it's not good to leave too deep a mark. To be honest, I'm not suitable to be a king."
The unrestrained smile on Ann's face slowly disappeared.
"I'm very good at frightening people... Anyway, it's only been a few years, why don't I do everything I need to do and pave the way for this girl."
"Why do you think so?" After a long silence, Marshal Gallagher spoke up.
"What do you think so?"
"You are not fit to be king."
"Because I've experienced that kind of despair. When I took... a test." Ann lowered her eyes, "Maybe you're used to that feeling, but I can't stand it. For me, there's only one thing scariest. thing - making the wrong decision, and that decision resulted in a lot of deaths."
"...You're not such a sentimental type." Gallagher recalled the blood and corpses in the lower hall, as well as the heads of soldiers who had been thrown back into the line not long ago.
"Those people died believing in me. They died because of me, but they didn't hate me. For me, it was hell - and even today, I haven't gotten out of it."
Ann ignored the Marshal's response and continued. She turned her gaze to Delia, her voice very serious.
"And that's definitely part of the king's 'job', and it turns out that I really don't have that qualification. I can't control my heart, like knowing that Eldric is a complete asshole, I'm still… a little sad."
The female warrior embraced the bloody hunting spear, sat on the chair, and looked up at the ornate ceiling.
She suddenly felt that the room was a little empty.
"Delia... I know, you're going to be a good king. You're calmer than I am, and better at strategy than I am. As a stupid elder, I have only one piece of advice - in the next few years, I hope you can get out as much as possible. Here, as someone who has been in pain, to touch the world. I'm sure you'll understand because you know how to look down."
"Didn't you always want to go to Clement College? Now that I'm your sole guardian, I'll help you find a way."
She covered her eyes with one hand, as if awake from a long nightmare, exhaustion and sadness mixed with a little bit of relief from the dust.
"As for the future... Mr. Dingo, Andrea Alastair will come to the throne, but Ann Savage won't quit the tumbleweed."
Meanwhile, outside the capital city of Alban.
Bagelmoru, who had just flown out of the palace, was standing on the ground dissatisfied, slashing a torn envelope with his claws.
"What does she take me for? You say, what does she take me for?"
The grey parrot, who was busy tearing the thick paper, cried out in dissatisfaction: "Does she think I'm a goddamn pigeon, even if I tell it! Hell, this is a shame... She just let me come back! At least it's sealed. I'm a duke? I'm a big hero—"
"Because you'd expand her ten sentences into an hour-long speech," Nemo pointed out brutally. "Calm down, Ann must have her own ideas."
"She wants us to wait a month before reuniting with her, and keep a low profile, especially you, Nemo. If you get caught, those opponents may come to dig up our intelligence." Oliver muttered, closing the letter, his eyes a little blank vast. "Ann is really going to be our king."
"…I know," Nemo replied dryly.
The two Alban civilians stared at each other, panicked, and then found themselves terrified—especially Oliver.
"It seems that there is an accurate prophecy in this world." Oliver said weakly, waving the wrapped letter paper and destroying it completely. "God, I've been on adventures with the king—forget it, so far..."
He glanced at Nemo again, as if trying to stabilize his mind.
Nemo smiled reluctantly.
"...Are you thinking about confessing the truth with Ann?" Oliver keenly caught the lover's mood swings.
"Yes," Nemo answered honestly. "After all, it's not… something that's suitable for communicating on paper or in pure voice."
Too far apart to see each other's expressions. Good intentions are often difficult to convey, but negative conjectures are magnified countless times.
"One month." Oliver sighed, "We should have time to go to the mercenary guild headquarters, find Della Lane, and find out what happened in the past. According to the agreement, Ann will forgive us later. At that time, we will have freedom. , and has the answer - things are getting better, Nemo."
Without hesitation, he opened his arms and circled the person in front of him.
Yes, they will no longer be black chapters. As long as they don't have expeditions for decades, and the answers they get aren't terrible, then they might be able to have... a normal life.
Leave the chaotic battlefield, no longer wander around, and even have a home.
Oliver's body was warm and his heartbeat was strong. Holding each other tightly is like holding on to hope itself. Nemo suppressed the anxiety in his heart, tried to let go, and enjoyed the peace of the moment.
"Looking at it another way, our luck is actually pretty good."
Oliver's palm rested on Nemo's back and slid down soothingly.
"Look, when we ran into the border forest, we met An... If we encountered other black seals, we might have become three thousand gold coins in other people's pockets. Now that An has become king, we even To be pardoned outright - from the point of view of the two fugitives, that's lucky enough."
"Although a lot of things happened, we rescued Mr. Cross, and we cured my Trent blight by mistake... The most important thing is that I can stand with you like this."
Nemo raised the corner of his mouth and was about to respond, but a sense of disobedience enveloped his nerves, and a subtle tingling suddenly struck.
Ann became King of Albans, and Ann was their first guide.
No, Ann was Oliver's original guide.
Nemo suddenly realizes the source of this unknown panic—
[Born by death and betrayal.]
Oliver's mother, Sonia, died after giving birth to Oliver. Afterwards, Medes confided to the late emperor, causing Oliver's father Flint to remain anonymous and leave the country.
[Stepping over the skeleton of a loved one.]
He witnessed Oliver kill Flint with his own eyes.
[Smash the curse and embrace the abyss.]
Because of his knightly oath, Oliver escaped the curse of Trent blight. Embrace the abyss... Perhaps there is no more suitable concept to symbolize the abyss than "Demon King".
[Follow the king's instructions, a knight blessed by God. He followed the starlight, and came down like winter.]
Follow Queen Alban's lead and be helped by Jesse...literally. The swordsman master is the 'Dawning Star' proclaimed by the Pope, and he is used to ice spells...
Nemo began to have trouble breathing, and he increased his embrace to Oliver. The fingers accidentally scratched the shirt on the other's back.
[His sword will bring the true end.]
If what awaited them was a peaceful and uncontested ending, why was it "his sword" that brought the end
Nemo shivered uncontrollably, but he immediately suppressed his anomaly. The sun was shining on the two of them, and he could smell Oliver's joy and happiness. Faced with the answers to come, his lover is doing his best to remain optimistic, trying to make him happy.
Then wait until sunset. After sunset, he'll check in with the rambunctious prophecy...if necessary, he'll tell Oliver this cruel thing.
But at least for now...
"Hmm." Nemo buried the tip of his nose into Oliver's shoulder and took a deep breath. "You're right, Ollie. Things are getting better... We're really, really lucky."