Published: August 10, 2026
"If you possess the Gultrishite that can be granted to others, then are you not the true Zent!"
Anastasius raised his voice, and his guard knights gave troubled cries in response. The uneasy atmosphere made me feel like demanding to know how the royal family's information network even worked.
"No. Since I have dyed the foundation of Arensbach, I am now Aub Arensbach. I cannot become Zent because I cannot dye Jurgenschmidt's foundation. I......"
I was about to ask whether they had failed to report what had happened in Arensbach, but Anastasius cut off my words with his stern, shining gray eyes.
"Then yield Gultrishite to my father immediately and appoint him the true Zent. If you did that, he would never have spoken such defeated words, as though driven to the brink and lamenting his own helplessness. My father has spent his days using recovery potions even in between his duties, and praying at the shrines as much as he could, all in order to be even a little worthy of the position of Zent."
... I've also felt that the Zent was trying desperately to support the country, smelling just like Ferdinand does from all the recovery potions. But handing Gultrishite to someone who already seems to have had his heart broken—would that really solve anything? Wouldn't it just corner him even more?
If Traocval is so mentally broken that he has accepted death for everyone around him as well, then I think it would be better not to give him Gultrishite at all. The Gultrishite Ferdinand made is only for one generation. I can't promise to hand over the Gultrishite Ferdinand created to Traocval, who had just been branded a failure and might choose death himself at any moment.
"I do not know what kind of life King Traocval led. The only thing I heard was the Ordnance just now......"
"Such a cold, dismissive way of speaking. Do you not care at all about the future of your friend Eglantine?"
When Anastasius said that while squinting at me, I tilted my head.
"It's not that I don't care, but it is strange, isn't it?"
I had realized, when I was forced to make shrine visits, that there was no way I could build the kind of "ordinary" friendship with Eglantine that I imagined. And yet, this was supposed to be their ordinary friendship, which made no sense to me.
"I learned from Prince Anastasius and Lady Eglantine that the royal family's way of forcing a choice on the other party is to take a hostage who is important to them. Was something about that wrong?"
... I mean, the royal family also forced my adopted father into a choice between being ousted and becoming Aub Ehrenfest, or marrying Lady Dietlinde, so I don't think that was wrong.
While I was still thinking that noble common sense was difficult as ever, Anastasius looked stunned. His expression turned bitter, and he closed his eyes once.
"...I see. However, if you consider Jurgenschmidt the highest priority, then shouldn't you immediately grant Gultrishite and appoint the true Zent?"
"Then what exactly is the royal family doing right now, since you said Jurgenschmidt should be prioritized above personal circumstances? If you want the true Zent appointed, then I'd like to see the person who will stand at the front and repel the enemy in the current situation."
If they wanted Ehrenfest to be placed ahead of Arensbach for the sake of maintaining Jurgenschmidt, or if they wanted me to become the king's adopted daughter and obtain Gultrishite, then I'd prefer they at least act accordingly in this emergency.
"I understand. If my father cannot move, then I shall act in his place."
Anastasius raised his weapon and looked over his guard knights. As royalty, it was helpful that he would stand at the front, and as royal conduct it was not wrong. But if Traocval could not move, shouldn't it have been Siegiswald's role to act instead?
...Well, as long as someone acts and it gets resolved, that's fine.
"Prince Anastasius, please be sure to cover your mouth with cloth. There is a high chance the enemy has lanzenave's Instant Death Poison."