Chapter 113

Therefore, Liliarge was feeling sorry about having to turn to Aquasteed and Tiararose for help with her messes.

She didn’t want to bother Tiararose with her own troubles.

But Aquasteed and Pheles accept them naturally as part of their duties as members of the royalty. They wouldn’t understand Liliarge’s feelings, which would make her feel sad all the time.

『In short, us girls just tend to be sad all the time. And girls from the royalty like you and me just can’t help being saddened by our royal men!』

“Lady Lilia…”

Liliarge’s statement was so strange, that Tiararose couldn’t help but laugh a little.

『At last your smile is back, Tiara.』

“Ah…”

『You certainly look much cuter when you’re laughing.』

“You think…?”

She touched her own cheeks, releasing some of the tension in her face. She had been too embarrassed to do it in front of Aquasteed, but doing it in front of Liliarge was not a problem since she was a woman like her.

She took a deep breath, and collected her feelings.

There’s no way around feeling sad. It happens.

She held both her cheeks with her hands, slapped herself softly, and motivated herself with saying “Okay!”

Seeing that, Liliarge blinked in surprise, and just like Tiararose had a few moments ago, bursted into laughter.

『You do behave kind of manly sometimes, you know?』

“Eh!? Is that so?”

It was the first time someone had called her “manly” ever since she started living gracefully as a daughter of the royalty. But it wasn’t as bad since Liliarge seemed to be praising her for it.

“I know! Please tell me about you and Lord Pheles. Was it too hard to found a nation all by yourselves?”

『Ah, sure, I can do that.』

Liliarge took a bite from a cookie and cheerfully said: 『Where should I start?』. Then, suddenly, she seemed to have remembered something and said: 『Ah, come to think of it』.

『Back when we founded this nation, we took the Fairy King’s encampments.』

“Is that so?”

『I’ve heard that nowadays the fairies have a simplified version of that as a board game.』

“That’s right. Lord Grail is very good at it.”

That game used to be played a lot not too long ago. In that game, you use three pieces in a 5×5 board in order to turn your opponent’s pieces into your own by jumping over them, much like in a game of reversi.

Tiararose remembered always losing when playing these kinds of tricky games.

“But to actually take an encampment… didn’t you join forces in order to found this country?”

『I did say we ‘took’ the encampments, but it might have been a bit too harsh to put it that way. It’s just said that way so that men can assert their own strength. Something like ‘I’m so strong that I must protect this place at all costs’.』

It was a struggle between how much one could bless or protect their own country.

Liliarge said this could be done precisely because the Fairy Kings loved the land of Marineforest. And precisely because the encampments were taken, Marineforest became such an abundant land.

Since the Fairy Kings were so eager in struggling for this country, Pheles’ efforts must have been tremendous.

Having listened to that story, Tiararose felt impressed, wondering if she would be able to see such an event as one that involved the foundation of a country. She would be the only one to know about this secret story of the foundation of a new country in the game.

–Does Prince Aqua know about this?

That thought lingered in her mind.

Perhaps he had heard this story from Pheles himself, much like she had just heard it from Liliarge.

And if he did, maybe that’s why he was worried? This was just a hunch for Tiararose, but Aquasteed had just made that ring for the King of the Starry Sky. Perhaps he was worried that this would mean some sort of quarrel was afoot.

『Perhaps your sadness has something to do with this game of taking the other’s encampment.』

“!”

Currently, Marineforest’s encampments were owned by Pheles, Keith, Grail, and Pearl.

『If Aquasteed were to become king, he would need to take the one Pheles had taken from the Fairy Kings.』

“Would he need to fight His Majesty…?”

『No, it would be simply a display of power. Pheles is getting old, so I’m sure he wishes for them to take it easy.』

Liliarge’s cheerful tone of voice was completely devoid of concern, which made Tiararose feel relieved. At the same time, it seemed to confirm her own worries.

Liliarge suddenly jumped down from the sofa and went towards the balcony. As Tiararose followed her, Liliarge sat on the railing and stared at the ring that had formed in the sky.

『This ring of light… perhaps is here because Marineforest is searching for a new king.』

“But if Prince Aqua is this worried, then he wouldn’t be able to become king, would he…?”

『That might be the case, but I can’t say for sure. If Pheles was here I might be able to understand this a little more, but I don’t think he will just tell me.』

Liliarge puffed up her cheeks and said 『It makes me sad, you know?』.

『Pheles just doesn’t tell me about the things he deems I don’t need to know about. I’m sure it’s because he doesn’t want me to worry or to be involved in anything dangerous, but… it’s still very saddening. I want to stand next to Pheles as his wife.』

“Lady Lilia.”

Tiararose nodded vigorously. She really understood that feeling.

『That’s why I ignored Pheles’ opinion, continued to consume more and more power, and ended up becoming a monster.』

“Ah,”

『I thought that Pheles should feel a bit sad too.』

Tiararose thought that Liliarge too had a manly side, but didn’t dare to say it out loud. She was too worried she would be doing that too much.

『Though if that hadn’t happened, there would have been no way to help Pheles. So it turned out alright in the end.』 “Is that so…?”

Tiararose felt bad that she had brought about such painful memories. However, Liliarge didn’t seem to mind, and continued smiling.

After returning to the room from the balcony, they enjoyed the remaining cookies. In the meantime, Tiararose went over the information Liliarge had shared with her and considered their possible outcome in the game.

That ring of light might be there to help Aquasteed establish himself as the new King of the Starry Sky.

As long as you could read the message that had appeared in the square where all started, the starting sign is the rings of the kings. The problem was who would be the one to gather them all and offer their prayers to them.

— The text was written in Japanese.

So it makes sense that the appearance of the game’s heroine is an event that will happen.

Tiararose was the villainess, but she had been able to go through the hidden passages of the Fairy Kings, so there shouldn’t be any problems. She only needed to get four rings and offer up a prayer to them.

Then the taking of the Fairy King’s encampment would begin.

That is none other than the square where it all began.

But that’s where the concerns suddenly began to come to mind.

Since there already is a king, couldn’t the taking of the encampment be seen as trying to take over the country? Nevertheless, the people of this country may never calm down as long as that ring of light remains in the sky.

『You seem worried.』

“Lady Lilia…!”

『Tiara, I have a favor to ask of you. Give Aquasteed that push and make him the true king. I want Pheles to be free so that he may not only see this country, but the rest of the world as well.』

Hearing Liliarge’s serious voice made Tiararose hold her breath. Being the King of the Starry Sky had been Pheles’ responsibility ever since the country was founded.

Thinking he too must be free, Tiararose made up her mind.

— I’ll collect the rings and start the event at the square where it all began.