Chapter 81
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Chapter 81
The Holy Empire Hilderd and the Palen Empire lay in close proximity to one another.
Thus, most of those seeking to attend the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony had already entered the Imperial Capital of Palen.
They waited for Hilderd's gates to open while taking the opportunity to tour Palen.
With the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony drawing near, foreign visitors were easily spotted throughout the Capital Square.
The massive participation of royalty and nobility in this Pure Child Prayer Ceremony stemmed not solely from the Fairy Queen's Crown.
It was hardly commonplace for such a gathering of distinguished personages to assemble in one place.
Many sought attendance for the sake of networking alone.
Obtaining the qualifications to participate in the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony was therefore no simple matter.
I heard that Kieran had made a substantial donation to secure Chesa's participation.
By his own account, he had uprooted one of the pillars of the Basilian household.
Though given that House Basilian ruled the Underworld, it was likely a sum light enough to jest about.
In any case, foreign royalty amusing themselves in the Capital was hardly unusual.
Employing mercenaries as escorts was a common enough sight.
Quarrels between mercenaries and locals on the streets were uncommon, yet not unheard of.
All of these circumstances converging together, however, was rare.
It was truly a vexing matter.
Any royalty participating in the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony possessed either power or wealth—if not both.
Moreover, as a fellow participant in the ceremony, Kieran would be a difficult opponent to provoke, given the political machinations unfolding beneath the surface for supremacy.
I had heard that the supporters of the participants influenced the outcome of the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony.
Chesa offered her farewells to Karha.
"Brother... take care... Chesa was happy to be with you..."
"Hey, hey! Don't go!"
Karha clung to the iron bars, feigning tears.
Seeing his pitiful act, my resolve weakened, and I decided to hear his excuse.
"Why are you like this?"
Karha must have recognized that his companion was of noble birth.
Moreover, if she were a foreigner, her clothing and manner of speech would surely have given it away, allowing him to avoid trouble with a bit of discretion.
I was curious why he had deliberately provoked a confrontation and ended up locked behind bars.
Perhaps sensing my disdain, Karha adopted the expression of a pitiful cat and whimpered to Chesa.
"No, listen. I'm really the victim here, I swear. I was just standing there, and they came at me."
"It's not a carriage, so why did they come at you?"
"Well, probably..."
Karha hesitated, then subtly revealed his waist.
He displayed two swords hanging side by side as he spoke.
"They coveted my blades, I think."
"...?"
"They were at the Weapon Shop. I was just having the leather grips replaced."
It was a regular armorer that Karha visited whenever he came to the Capital.
He always had his swords maintained there.
But it turned out that a royal sibling who attended the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony visited the Weapon Shop at the same time as Karha.
The man admired Karha's sword displayed on the counter and demanded I sell it to him.
Naturally, Karha paid him no mind whatsoever.
Then the mercenaries escorting the royal suddenly picked a fight with him out of nowhere.
"In the end, well... here we are."
Karha muttered dejectedly.
He exhaled a heavy sigh.
Chesa sighed along with him.
"Which royal family are they from?"
If it was a minor kingdom, perhaps Kieran could handle it somehow.
Chesa asked with that hope in mind, but the answer that came back turned her to stone.
"Skaya, they said... The crown prince from there. Apparently he came with a princess attending the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony."
The maritime kingdom of Skaya.
A kingdom of upstart pirates who seized an island and established a nation, now brazenly recognized as a thriving maritime power—a realm without roots or honor.
And the crown prince of that place was...
"My lady! Please, I beg you, marry me!"
A proposal addict who pestered the Sorceress Lichesia daily with marriage proposals.
"...."
Chesa's expression grew gravely serious.
Maybe she should just tell the other Basilian kids to handle this themselves.
'I need to get out of this fast.'
It was precisely when an ominous premonition began seeping into her bones.
Suddenly, chaos erupted outside.
She heard the Security Force members and Theo shouting something.
Heavy footsteps approached rapidly, and then the door suddenly burst open.
Light from outside poured brilliantly into the darkened prison area.
"So you're here?"
A somewhat cheerful voice carried a hint of mischievous malice.
Chesa swallowed a curse silently.
She quickly pulled her hat down over her face with both hands.
Footsteps drew closer with deliberate heaviness.
"Hello, boy. I came personally because I heard you were suffering on my account... hm?"
Chesa, pressed flat against the iron bars with her hat on, flinched.
"...A baby?"
A Security Office Prison and a baby were indeed an odd pairing.
Chesa stubbornly held her ground without turning around, pretending ignorance.
In the meantime, Karha stretched his legs and stood, responding with a slight edge to his tone.
"My name is Karha Basilian, not boy."
"Aha, I see. Have you reflected on your actions at all?"
"...."
Karha's expression twisted with irritation.
Yet he held it back and spoke.
"...Yes."
At his sullen reply, the man burst into laughter again.
He spoke in an ostentatiously generous tone.
"I didn't know it was a cherished blade. Still, what do you say to handing it over to me? I'll pay you well for it."
"It's a keepsake from my mother."
With a single sentence, Karha silenced the man—truly a scion of House Basilian.
The man seemed momentarily flustered, then smoothly changed the subject.
"Is this young one your sister? Coming all the way to the Security Office to see your brother—how impressive."
Misfortune was descending upon Chesa.
"Hello there, little one?"
The man extended his hand toward Chesa.
Whoosh.
Pressed against the iron bars, Chesa nimbly dodged his hand.
"Huh?"
Swish, swish.
She dodged again.
"Mmph?"
Swish, swish, swish.
"...Mmmph?"
She kept evading!
Karha, watching from his cell, blinked.
He wondered what in the world was happening.
Suddenly, he recalled a similar incident from when he first met Chesa in the Snake Castle Underground Prison.
But Chesa was far more desperate this time.
As she dodged with such fervor, the man seemed to be giving up.
Just as he withdrew, relief washing over her—
With a sharp whistle of air, his hands plunged toward both her sides.
Chesa's body shot upward into the air in an instant.
Her hat tumbled to the floor, and a low chuckle reached her ears.
"Got you."
Clang!
Karha struck the iron bars with his fist.
"What are you doing? Don't touch the child!"
But the man ignored Karha's cry.
He chuckled as he turned Chesa around and held her.
"Let me see that little face of yours..."
His voice gradually trailed off.
Chesa stared at the man with eyes of utter resignation.
Dark indigo hair caught my eye first.
Bronzed skin and a lean, muscular frame.
A man who resembled a feline predator, as though he might hunt down prey at any moment.
Crown Prince of Skaya, Itar Skaya.
"...Insane."
He spat out a vulgar word without hesitation.
Itar, who had uttered a word unbecoming of royal lips, let out another exclamation.
"Insane, my lady...!"
I knew this would happen.
Chesa hung limply from him, swaying like a dangling ornament.
Itar was utterly obsessed with the lady.
What would become of him if his eyes fell upon Chesa, a miniature version of Lichesia?
Surely he would rush forward without hesitation or restraint to claim her.
Indeed, as Itar embraced Chesa with rapture, his eyes had already taken on that crazed gleam.
"Boy, there's no need for swords. I apologize for trying to take your mother's keepsake."
And just as Chesa had predicted, he proceeded to act.
"Instead, I wish to take the child to my kingdom."
"...."
Silence fell over the prison cell.
Theo, who had just rushed in to stop Itar, stood with his mouth agape.
Karha also stared up at Itar blankly for a moment.
Then he let out a deep sigh and nodded toward Theo.
"Security Chief."
"...Yes?"
"Forget the charge of insulting royalty."
Two blades were drawn with a metallic ring.
As the steel gleamed, Karha smiled wickedly.
"I'll charge him with regicide instead."
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