/
Catherine got ready to go out as soon as she returned to the room after eating.
Meow flew to Abyss Land, saying that Meow wanted to feel the atmosphere of its hometown after a long time. It was the first time Meow was so excited, so Catherine sent Meow to Abyss Land without saying a word.
‘I have to leave quickly before Carl comes up.’
As soon as rumors start to spread that she is going to Busperfield, Carl will show up in a rage. And he’ll tell her that if she wants to leave, she’ll have to take him with her.
She had to leave right away because she knew he would bring up what happened 10 years ago and nag her about it if she did too much.
Fortunately, Damian came to her on time and didn’t say much about what happened in the dining room. The two moved to Christopher’s estate.
“What about Sir Cesare? Is he coming here?”
Catherine bluntly denied Damian’s question.
“No, we’re going to Busperfield on our own.”
Damian also flatly rejected Catherine’s plan.
“No, we can’t. It’s dangerous.”
“That’s why I told my grandmother. Thanks to it, we got the location engraving magic tool, right? So don’t worry, there’s a way to call Cesare even if it’s dangerous.”
“How are you going to call him?”
“It’s a secret between Cesare and me.”
Catherine uttered a word that made Damian would surely accompany her.
“If you’re nervous, you can just stay here.”
“I’m not nervous.”
Immediately upon hearing those words, Damian’s expression changed. The knights are all the same. When they hear the word “nervous”, it’s as if the knight’s honor has been severely damaged. Catherine took out her ticket from her bag and read it.
<Busperfield Admission Ticket: Giovanne Busperfield Ullim.>
<Grab your ticket and wave it up to the sky in the open space! Busperfield is coming!>
She waved the ticket toward the sky as written on the ticket. She wondered what he was doing while shaking, but luckily, the reaction came quickly. Then, something started flying from the sky.
“That—”
A man who appeared to be an aviator was sitting on a monster in the form of a huge eagle. The monster landed with a small gust of wind, and the approaching pilot greeted them.
“Wow, nice to meet you! I’m a guide to pick you up at Busperfield. Please feel free to call me Mr. Guide!”
Mr. Guide? That’s a name she doesn’t want to call. So Catherine decided just to call it ‘excuse me.’
“Then the ticket—”
The guide who checked Catherine’s ticket opened his eyes wide.
“Huh! Invitation from the commander-in-chief!”
And unlike what appeared cheerfully, he bowed and greeted properly.
“It’s an honor! I’ll take you to the VIP!”
Even so, he’s riding a monster. The guide pulled a new saddle out of the bag. It was a saddle so large that it was hard to believe that it had popped out of a small leather bag.
“Very comfortable saddle! The softness of the buttocks is beyond imagination. Come on, get on board, VIPs. Let’s go to Busperfield!”
Is it a magic tool? Nephilim is a magician with strong power since birth, so more various magic tools than Phanya will be developed. There are even rumors that the source of the best magic tools in the market is Busperfield.
It was when Catherine was following the guide to get on the monster.
“Wait a minute, Lady. You have to promise me something before you go.”
Damian grabbed her arm and turned it around with a rather serious look.
“Promise?”
“You mustn’t leave me somewhere, lock me up, drop me in any way and act alone. Do you understand?”
If anyone hears it, they’ll think she’s acting like that. Catherine narrowed her eyes. Then Damian continued.
“Don’t even make a face like ‘this quick-witted punk’.”
When did I make that face? It is said that a twisted person hears anything twisted.
“Okay, don’t worry. No matter what, I don’t have the courage to go alone, especially with the country’s excellent gardener.”
The fact that she deceived Cesare and went alone seemed to make him uneasy. Catherine comforted Damian and got on the monster with him. The large wings began to flap their wings vigorously.
“Giddy up!”
The monster climbed up to the top of the white clouds on the wind. Even though it had climbed far enough for Christopher to be seen at a glance, she wasn’t afraid.
Does the sense of security that Cesare and her grandmother are together affect this aspect as well? At this point, it was a sense of presence that was close to omnipotence.
“Lady.”
They had been flying for a while. Then Damian, who was sitting in front of her, called her name softly.
“Why?”
“Don’t you have any thoughts, Lady? I’m being accepted as an adopted son of the Phanya family.”
When he said it was strangely quiet, she kept thinking about it. Finally, after much deliberation, Catherine found the most appropriate answer.
“There’s one thing that’s bothering me.”
“What is it?”
“If Damian joins Panya, you’ll be my uncle, but I think I’m going to vomit at the thought of calling you, my uncle or brother.”
It was a chosen answer to evoke the atmosphere, but she did not hear Damian’s response until after a while.
“It’s very realistic. That made me feel more negative.”
“You must have liked it.”
He did not answer. Is he even worried about how to answer?
“Think carefully. I will support Damian no matter which path you choose.”
“Do you not hate it? That I, the illegitimate son of the Imperial family, is being discussed as the adopted son of the Phanya family.”
She had heard this question before.
‘Doesn’t Unnie hate Anne and me? I’d hate it so much that I’d be sick and tired of it. But I think we can get along well because Unnie is indifferent.’
Yep, Maggie said something similar to that. But, to be honest, belatedly— Catherine was rather fond of Anne and Maggie. With her busy father and capable mother, she was always lonely. But, she loved her late sister so much.
Of course, as time went by, that kind of mindset changed.
“If you think about it, I didn’t even have a drop of blood with Phanya. Besides, my grandmother is my only maternal relative— I don’t think it would be bad to have one more.”
After that, the conversation between the two cut off. The monster crossed the space that looked like a long-distance gate two or three times, and after a few more minutes, a huge island appeared through the clouds.
Mechanical island floating in the sky, a floating garden.
The largest fortress on earth and the hometown of the Nephilim. The stronghold of the armed group Busperfield.
Above the island was a high spire so high that the end could not be seen.
“Now, honor guests? Welcome to Busperfield, the cradle of the Nephilim!”
The monster entered the building that looked like a station at the end of the public garden. As soon as they got off the monster, they got on the carriage and moved into the mid-air garden.
Buildings so high that she can’t see the sky. Thousands of people are busily walking along the neatly paved road. Stalls with dozens of newspapers, restaurants, florists, guards—to the towering spire in between.
This place was simply a big city itself.
“What do you think? Isn’t it cool?” Isn’t it fantastic? Everyone’s jaw drops when they see this.”
The guide was looking forward to seeing Catherine and Damian turn surprised. However, Catherine did not seem to have time to be surprised because Catherine was too salty to express her original emotions, and Damian was worried about it.
Tsk. The guide continued with a disappointing look on his face.
“Then let me give you a brief introduction to Busperfield! Busperfield is a 100-floor spire built in a floating garden, the most perfect fortress in the world. On the 1st floor—.”
Oh, it’s noisy. She’s not even going to live here. So why does she have to listen so closely? Catherine quickly cut off the explanation that began to lengthen.
“Where do you eat? I’m hungry.”
“Haha! You deserve to be hungry! I’ll continue to tell you on your way. Following the 4th floor, the 5th floor—”
The damn guide said that without stopping until the magic carriage stopped. But, even after getting off, the praise of Busperfield didn’t stop, and it was time for Catherine, who couldn’t stand it, to call Damian.
“Dami—”
At that moment, puk! The guide’s body curled up toward the steering wheel with a dull noise. Damian raised his hand and said in an annoyed voice.
“This guide punk, you’re too loud. Can’t you leave it alone?”
“That’s what I meant.”
He was trying to scare him a little bit, but he would take one more step from there and lose his mind. Catherine gave up on being a bully and got out of the carriage.
Even if he had said that he was too violent, the answer she would have heard was obvious. To the damn terror, violence is the way to communicate.
Therefore Damian, who got off, asked her.
“Where are you going now?”
“I’ll go to the person who gave me the invitation.”
To that fat leopard-like man, Giovanne Busperfield.
“Giovanne, you mean him? He’s too dangerous. Ranked 2nd place in the ‘Most Dangerous Person on the Continent’ surveyed by the Imperial newspaper—.”
“It doesn’t matter because Cesare, who was chosen as the number one there, is looking after me.”
Catherine knew that the ‘dangerous’ referred to in the investigation was far from the ‘dangerous’ that Damian thought. If she listens to the reason why they were chosen as the 1st and 2nd place side by side, Damian’s sense of crisis will evaporate without knowing.
“It’s probably a more reliable and quick way than investigating all over the place. Also, he’s a man equivalent to the commander-in-chief of Busperfield, so he’ll know everything he needs to know.”
Catherine moved into the middle of a street full of people on the move. Damian’s eyes following her side by side made her feel completely impure.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Damian replied as if he had been waiting.
“I feel like you’re becoming more and more like Cesare as time passes by.”
She doesn’t know if it’s a compliment or an insult. Catherine paused for a moment in her place and looked around. She thought it was a space of eccentric wizards, but it was more lively than when she vaguely imagined it.
“So, how are you going to meet commander-in-chief Giovanne?”
Maybe Giovanne already knows she has arrived. Catherine was half sure.
“If there’s a problem, won’t he come out?”
“Are you going to beat up Nephilim on the street?”
For Damian, the dialogue seems going to be violent. But Catherine wasn’t sure about fighting, so she decided to use the gentleman’s method.
“It’s too violent— so let’s use a more peaceful method.”
Catherine pulled herself together to prepare for the pain to come. And shouted in a clear voice.
“[Queen.]”
Looking up at the red magic circle that had begun to be drawn up in the sky, Damian laughed as if he couldn’t stop it.
“Lady, I’m not kidding, but you’re really becoming like Sir Cesare.”