Chapter 25
After fainting from the shocking news, Aiorin finally opened her eyes much later.
“Ugh… What was I doing…?”
‘Aiorin, are you okay?’
“Wendy? Ah, right! Yes, my darling cheated on me with my granddaughter. I must stop this. I can’t let this outrageous crime against morality go unpunished!”
She wasn’t human, but an elf. Having traveled in human lands since a young age, she had absorbed human culture quite deeply.
‘Huh? But I didn’t tell you yet. That princess did say she was your granddaughter, though.’
“Well… Simply put, my son with him is the father of that princess. That’s probably why she can communicate with you.”
‘I don’t really understand.’
“Well, you’re a spirit. Anyway, I need to escape from here now.”
‘How are you planning to escape?’
“Of course, you’re going to help me. All the wind and tree spirits in this forest prioritize my mother’s orders over mine. No matter what I try, they keep catching me.”
Even now, the earth spirit was listening to Aiorin’s words.
Of course, unless it was a higher-order entity like Wendy, it couldn’t fully understand the language.
‘Hmm… If your mother gives the word, I wouldn’t be able to refuse either.’
“What?! Wendy! Are you betraying me? Where’s the bond we built from decades of adventuring together?”
‘Well, to be fair, I’ve known your mother much longer than you.’
So it was. This was the harsh truth of seniority.
No matter how strong a spirit mage’s affinity was, they were utterly powerless before a spirit mage with more seniority (or years of experience).
Of course, outside the Elf Forest, it was rare to encounter spirit mages at all.
Even if one counted all the elves wandering outside the forest, they wouldn’t fill one hand.
Although there were occasional half-elves, it was extremely rare for them to awaken the talent of a spirit mage. Muriela was an exceptional case.
As a newborn spirit mage, it was fortunate for her that besides her grandmother and her family, no one else could suppress her spirit magic!
“What?! This can’t be! Am I supposed to sit back and watch my darling destroy morality while I twiddle my thumbs? Is this right?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, what is it this time? I can’t get any sleep with your racket!”
“Ah, Mother.”
‘Aiorin asked me to help her escape.’
Aiorin looked at Wendy in disbelief. Betrayal! Betrayal!
“What? This brat again! That’s it. I’m going to break your legs for real this time.”
Clang!
The dwarven frying pan in her mother’s hand roared with fire once again.
Aiorin ended up in solitary confinement (just a cabin).
Thankfully, despite her mother’s threats, her legs were intact.
She hoped Wendy would stay as a companion, but the treacherous spirit claimed boredom and flew back to the princess.
At this point, Wendy wasn’t a wind spirit but a spirit of betrayal.
Feeling abandoned by the whole world, Aiorin cried like a child for the first time in ages.
***
Continental Year 761, March 1st (Monday)
In the middle of the night, Wendy shook Princess Muriela awake.
‘Crazy princess. Crazy princess. I’m back.’
“Huh? Yaaawn… What is it… I’m sleepy…”
‘Crazy princess! I said I’m back.’
As Wendy shook her more vigorously, Muriela finally rubbed her eyes and sat up.
“Oh? Wendy? What’s wrong?”
‘What do you mean, what’s wrong? I delivered your message to Aiorin as you asked.’
“Oh, right. So, what did Aiorin say?”
‘She called me a traitor.’
“What? What do you mean by that?”
This was why you shouldn’t assign messengers to spirits.
‘I don’t know. Anyway, crazy princess, what’s next on your agenda?’
Solinor thought about the day’s schedule.
“Hm. Let’s see? Today, I’ll be practicing swordsmanship with Kaelen. And I’m not a crazy princess; call me Muriela.”
For a moment, Solinor thought about asking Wendy to call him by his real name, but since this body would eventually need to be returned to his granddaughter, it didn’t seem right.
‘Swordsmanship? Like that man, Solinor, who used to travel with Aiorin?’
Technically, Solinor’s skills were closer to mixed martial arts than proper swordsmanship, but calling it swordsmanship wasn’t entirely wrong—he did hold a sword, after all.
“Yeah, that’s right. Well, looking back, it was too clumsy and forced to really be called swordsmanship.”
‘I don’t care, as long as I get to watch something entertaining.’
“I’m not sure if a spirit would find swordsmanship interesting. Anyway, thanks for delivering my message to Aiorin.”
“Of course. If you have another message, let me know anytime. I’d like to see Aiorin again, anyway.”
“Hm, this time, I hope her reaction is a bit more understandable. I need to think more carefully about the next message.”
‘Muriela, even if you think about it for a long time, it probably won’t help. Look how your last one turned out after all that effort.’
Wendy’s comment was unexpectedly sensible, but Solinor wasn’t about to back down.
“Do you know I used to be praised for how eloquently I spoke? Just wait and see. I’ll come up with something so amazing that Aiorin will fall over in astonishment.”
She already fainted the last time she heard his message.
Unaware that he had already exceeded his goal, Solinor resumed his deliberations.
***
Continental Year 761, March 2nd (Tuesday)
“So, isolating the princess, huh? Ha ha ha, what an amusing idea. Such an adorable thing.”
Corbin set Florina’s report aside and propped both feet up on the desk.
If his parents had seen him, they’d have scolded him, “Hey! That’ll ruin your back!”
But his parents had long since passed. Corbin was free!
“Hmm… Florina seems unusually enthusiastic these days.”
Known for her slow reporting and lackluster quality, Florina had recently been submitting reports almost like a factory, with surprising frequency and improved substance.
Still, Corbin had no intention of proposing to Eldric that the princess be isolated.
From what Corbin could see, Muriela was not someone who mistook herself for Solinor or was lost in delusions.
Florina believed the princess was insane or delusional, but the behaviors Muriela displayed…
Some of them bore uncanny similarities to Solinor, things only someone who had experienced adventures with him could know—details absent from any history book.
Yes, it was a sense of familiarity only someone like Corbin, who had spent years adventuring with Solinor, could detect.
Solinor had returned to the world.
Though Corbin couldn’t understand how such a thing was possible, he was a pragmatic man.
The reason didn’t matter. What mattered was whether it happened or not.
Corbin’s certainty came from observations like the “flying kick,” “Wendy,” “35 years,” and other peculiar habits detailed in Florina’s report.
Blood alone couldn’t account for these behaviors, especially habits acquired during adventures.
A princess who had spent her entire life protected in the palace could never develop such tendencies.
Even if her brother Kaelen had taught her, her swordsmanship was far too skilled.
Florina’s report, written with her experience as someone personally trained by Corbin in the art of the sword, described Muriela’s technique in detail, expressing an unease about how adept she seemed.
At this point, there was no doubt left.
“Looks like Eldric won’t rule the kingdom much longer.”
Corbin knew Solinor’s character well.
He was a man willing to sacrifice even his life to take responsibility.
If it meant improving the lives of his people, the kind of man who would tearfully depose his son from the throne without hesitation.
Florina’s report confirmed that Muriela, under the guise of history lessons, was already analyzing governance indicators.
“For someone who doesn’t know much, his decisiveness is truly admirable.”
Now that he knew Solinor intended to reform the kingdom, Corbin’s role was clear.
He had to shield Muriela’s activities from Eldric, feed her the necessary information, and pave the way for her plans.
Though meeting Muriela directly was an option, it was too risky given their lack of prior interactions, which could arouse suspicion.
And since Corbin intended to betray Eldric, he needed to keep his actions hidden even from his spies.
Then there was another problem to resolve—
“What should I do about her?”
Florina, the agent closest to the princess, suspected her of severe mental illness.
Corbin needed to convince Florina to continue serving as Muriela’s attendant while creating a justification to avoid her isolation.
“Ha ha ha, another headache from you, old friend.”
Once this was all over, they could roll dice together like the old days.
“This time, I’m going to win.”
Corbin closed his eyes and smiled.
—
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