Published: September 6, 2025
Immanuel guided us to the head priest’s waiting area, proudly presenting an ancient text. The document, inscribed on a white stone tablet, closely resembled the one stored in the library’s underground archive.
“This is the text. Lady Rosemine, could you read it...?”
“No problem.”
I took the white stone tablet and dispelled the divine relic I was wearing. Once I had the text in hand, the relic was unnecessary.
“The divine relic disappeared!?”
“It’s a waste of mana to keep maintaining a divine relic when it’s not needed. After reviewing this, I’ll wear it only if it’s truly necessary.”
I responded without taking my eyes off the white stone tablet, tracing the carved characters. While preparations for the ritual were underway around me, I was the only one reading. As the head priest conducting the ritual, I needed to understand the old procedures before beginning.
...This immersion in reading is my duty as head priest. Duty.
“Heheh, heheh...”
Old scripts are classified into several types depending on the era. The characters carved on this tablet matched those from the underground archive, so I suspected this was a replica of the document stored there. The writing style was similar to another tablet describing a different ritual.
...Still, someone at the Central Temple can read this script.
Though the royal family claimed they couldn’t read the ancient language, it seemed the Central Temple had individuals who could. Whether the Central Temple refused to teach the counterfeit Zent, or the royal family dismissed the temple’s capability to read ancient scripts, or they simply didn’t ask from the start, I don’t know. But if the Central Temple and the royal family had cooperated, the royal family might have fared better.
...Even though I’m sacrificing myself to support the country, being called “a false king without Gultrishite” or “unworthy of cooperation” would certainly make anyone unwilling to compromise.
Regardless of the tension between the royal family and the temple, as Immanuel claimed, this text was definitely about the starbinding ceremony. The flow of the ritual, summarized briefly, matched what I knew. The blessing incantations were unchanged. Since the tablet only contained a limited amount of text, reviewing it didn’t take long.
...However, something’s odd. The starbinding ceremony in Ehrenfest is traditionally a nighttime ritual.
I learned that it’s based on the myth where the god of darkness, the supreme deity, blesses the marriage of the goddess of life and goddess of earth. It’s held at night to receive the god of darkness’s blessing more easily. Even now, in Ehrenfest, the ritual is conducted at night.
Yet, as I headed to the auditorium right after breakfast, the starbinding ceremony at the lords' council began at the third bell. Since it’s a royal family ritual, shouldn’t it still be held at night? This doubt crossed my mind, but the white stone tablet didn’t mention any specific time.
“Is something wrong, Lady Rosemine?”
Leonore peeked in. I shook my head and replied, “It seems the only difference is that the head priest wears the divine relic. The order of the ritual and the blessing incantations appear unchanged.” Then, I returned the tablet to Immanuel.
...Well, that’s fine. If we follow what’s written here, the Central Temple will be satisfied, and once I bless Prince Siegiswald, the royal family’s request will be fulfilled.
The Aubs from all territories were already preparing to attend the ritual. There was no way to change the ritual’s timing now. Arguing would be pointless.
“For now, I’ll inform the royal family of the current situation.”
Satisfied with my reading of the text, I summoned the Ordnance and relayed to Anastasius that the Central Temple was trying to revive the old ritual using the cloak of darkness and crown of light, and that I had been asked to cooperate.
“The document itself appears genuine. Shall we revive the old ritual? Or have the head priest perform the usual ritual?”