Episode(24): Maria's Thoughts
SOVEREIGN OF DEATH~(24)
Capital city of the Empire of Floren Royal Capital.
Royal palace!
It was morning. The dazzling rays of sunlight brightly lit up the sky and the earth as the morning breeze swept by a cool breeze. Birds chirped sweetly and all sorts of beautiful creatures of nature snuck a peak at the outside world.
Inside the palace.
Knock! Knock!
The door to the princess's room was gently knocked before it opened with a creak.
[Good morning, Maria-Sama]
A middle aged lady dressed from head to toe in maid attire said respectfully with a bow as she entered the princess's room. She had no expression on her face but the respect in her eyes towards her master could easily be seen when she looked at the princess.
At the end of her gaze, Princess Maria was slowly getting ready for the day. Normally a princess would only get ready with the help of maids but Maria tended to like doing these things herself or it felt strange otherwise.
She heard the respectful tone of her maid and smiled before turning slightly and replying.
[Good morning head maid, have you had a great rest?]
The head maid was instantly touched. Where else could you find a master that worried about how well their servants rested?
[Yes your highness! Just going to bed knowing that I will be serving you for the next day is enough to put my heart at ease for the night and give me endless energy for the brand new day!]
Maria chuckled.
[I see, then that's good]
[Yes princess]
The room fell silent as Maria again began to prepare herself again. Neither Maria nor the maid spoke as they both did what they had to.
However the silence wasn't awkward. Rather this was how it was to be in the first place as nobles and royalty didn't usually chat casually with their subordinates. It was just that Maria was the exception which was why people were more loyal to here than normal servant and master.
Maria was about to finish putting on her clothes when suddenly she spoke again.
[What about the heroes? Are they settling well?]
It had already been a month since the heroes of the other world had been brought here by her father. Maria was slightly concerned that issue may arise because of the different culture and customs so she would ask about the heroes from time to time.
No one would blame them for being out of sorts when they were all just suddenly brought to an unfamiliar world.
From what she heard, the heroes were from a world where the technology and civilization that were still in the initial stages in this world were already flourishing and had advanced several leaps over the years.
This was the main reason why Maria couldn't state with full confidence that she could accommodate all the needs of the heroes. It was their fault that the heroes had to be forced to stay in this world after all.
If they were still bad hosts then what would stop the heroes from leaving when they found out that they couldn't return to their original world? Maria sighed as she thought about the sad fates of the heroes never to return to their homeland.
'Its fathers greed that caused this situation, not to mention he even attempted to kill a hero and made the issue spiral out of control'
In Maria's mind, it wouldn't even be strange for the heroes to have suspicions about their motives. Even if the heroes harbored misgivings no one but themselves could be blamed.
However she seemed to be thinking too much. The next words of the maid caused her stirring heart to calm down.
[Yes, it seems that everyone managed to settle down in the accommodations without any issues and we have servants dedicated to their care so please do not worry Maria-sama]
A confident smile was on the maids face as she said these words so Maria didn't think it was an exaggeration. She smiled as well finally able to take the weight off her heart.
In the end, it was just her thinking in a pessimistic light but she was glad her thoughts weren't the true reality in the end. She thought about it for a moment but still decided to approach this cautiously.
'Even if they aren't suspicious now who's to say someone won't start having ideas if we just ignored basic etiquette as the hosts?'
[If they are in need of anything do your best to make them feel at home. If it's a request that seems over the line then bring the proposal to me or my attendant to have a look whether or not it can be accepted. At that time we will do our best to appease the situation]
The maid nodded. Her eyes shone at how quickly Maria came up with a resolution to the problem.
However she only thought her princess was worrying about nothing.
With the birth of the demon king, having heroes around them was like having bug repellant in the wild. Even if they had to use their bodies the maids would never allow the heroes to feel dissatisfied or discomfort.
In their eyes, this was their duty as the princess's servants.
Naturally Maria didn't know what they were thinking. Even if she did she wouldn't care much.
At most she would frown but if the maids had no issue with it and it helped the heroes calm down then she wasn't against it.
It was a different story if it was forced but since it wasn't who was she to intervene?
[...I see, then good work. You have done well]
Since the heroes were alright with their current conditions and there was no issues then she had nothing to worry about.
However she still felt guilty every time she thought back to the day the heroes were brought into this world. After that day she couldn't help but feel like the eyes of the heroes were filled suspicion and wariness towards her and her people.
Even though she knew she wasn't to blame and that it was mostly her imagination the stuffiness in her chest wouldn't disappear at all. A friend that they had come from another world with was condemned to die just because his class was a non-combatant.
And the real problem is that he was banished to the world's deadliest dungeon ever. She wouldn't be humane if she didn't even worry about the person's safety in that vile place.
'Even the previous strongest heroes never cleared that god forsaken place'
In fact, the previous heroes didn't even return from their expedition.
No one knows whether they are still alive in the dungeon or not. And if they couldn't even clear it then what of a hero that was just summoned to this world?
Maria tried hard to forgetting by drowning herself in her work and official duties of a royal. She even took up work that was beyond her capabilities all to clear her mind.
However she couldn't brush aside the fact that they treated a person unfairly and forced him to die in such a terrible place where not even his corpse was guaranteed to be left intact.
'It's inhumane….'
Because of this even when she temporarily forgot while drowning in work, after she finished her work and laid down to rest the scene would continuously play in her head.
She felt wretched and confused but more so she was angry. As a princess that always viewed the lives of others as precious she couldn't agree with what happened and felt disgusted that her father actually did such a deplorable thing.
'But…it was indeed as father said'
If the boy had been kept in this country then after the other nations found out that each of their own summoning circles were tampered with and stolen they could use this as a loophole to attack the empire.
If he was kept alive then that was all good for her heart but the country would suffer a lot.
And if the continent knew their folly then the reputation of the empire would fall quickly to rock bottom.
'In this way the other nations could join arms against them without even having to give a proper reason. It'd be just because public opinion was against them and if everyone agreed then who needed a reason?'
The Floren empire was one of the most influential nations on the entire continent and had relations with numerous nations.
However as one of the top leading nations, this also meant that these relations weren't stable and others would see them as competitors. If they gave them even the slightest reason then all these competitors would come swarming like an army of ants to swallow the entire empire in that single moment of weakness.
It wouldn't take much to incite a conflict and in the case were everybody held a blade behind their backs while waiting for a chance to pounce the entire empire was now in a tight spot.
Still, even though she knew this it wouldn't change that as a person she couldn't agree with the method!
So, she couldn't properly face the heroes without a guilty conscience now.
Maria had previously asked around and found out that the person in question didn't usually go out of his way to interact with others so apart from a few others no one really knew he was there until that day.
If not for that incident they wouldn't even know about his existence. Aside from knowing his last name was 'Kanata', people barely knew him. And those that did didn't want to speak at all.
'Figures they'd be sad...I would be as well if the situation were switched around'
Thanks to this the heroes acted like nothing happened that day, but to think that someone so skilled was unknown by his peers?
His skill intrigued her but it also confused her at the same time.
How did a new hero gain such expertise when he only just arrived in the world? If you told her he snuck into the hero summoning she wouldn't be surprised but it was impossible for that to be the case because it was a ritual set up by the Gods themselves.
Anyone who dared to violate the law of the gods would be struck with divine punishment and might even not have peace even in death.
'Also…'
After thinking over it for a few days she realized that he might have been lying about his class. Maria would have been a fool if she hadn't even noticed this fact.
But what class could he had gotten to want to hide it so badly?
She couldn't tell. There were many classes in this world, but there could have also been many reasons to want to keep his class a secret.
For example if he had an evil class then he would have been persecuted by the church even if he was a hero.
Or it could be that his class was so special that it even surpasses the value of a hero and he was worried what might happen to him if greedy people popped up all of a sudden.
'Indeed, no matter what speculation I come up with I'd never be closer to the truth'
She shook her head. Her lush pink hair swayed as her beautiful face was reflected with a thoughtful expression in the mirror.
Maria was thinking back to the boy's fluid and beautiful movements.
The way he moved, how he skillfully wielded the spear when he was fighting and his steps as if dancing.
Even though Maria knew that he killed the nation's soldiers she couldn't help but be fascinated by that person.
At the time, her eyes were completely glued to his figure and she was unable to extricate herself.