Chosen by the Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 88: Quill Pen (2)

The Sabbatical Year was an interesting punishment.

On the surface, it was the Imperial Family's mercy, but in reality, it was fear of Serzila.

'They had to rebuild the Imperial Palace, and all they got was a Sabbatical Year.'

It meant the Imperial Family had been mindful of Serzila.

If they had imposed a harsher punishment, they didn't know what the disgruntled Grand Duke Aratus might do.

'But it's also strange that he's observing the Sabbatical Year. He's not the type to be patient.'

Grand Duke Aratus was not that kind of person.

He would have started a war instead.

Of course, if there were real signs of war, the Imperial Family would cower.

If Serzila, feigning madness, were to disregard the Otherworld, abandon the Wall, and advance south, the Empire would have to be prepared for immense sacrifices.

Perhaps even defeat.

That was why the Empire kept Serzila in check, along with the Church.

The Empire was burdened by Serzila.

At the same time, they wanted to subjugate it.

'They're so greedy.'

I clicked my tongue.

It wasn't an incomprehensible greed.

Enverque was the master of the Empire, and Serzila was the Empire's vassal.

-Worse than scarecrows.

The Elaine of the past life had once called the Imperial Family Enverque that.

I had agreed. The Emperor of the Empire was too infatuated with the Church of the Sun and Moon.

Of course, perhaps Serzila's standards were too high, and Enverque wasn't that incompetent.

Because the Imperial nobles followed Enverque well, and worshipped the Sun and Moon.

To the regressed me, it was a hypothesis not worth reconsidering.

What was important was Elaine and the regrets she had.

To put it bluntly, as long as the north was intact after defeating the Otherworld, it didn't matter if the Empire and the Church fell. The source of this content ɪs noᴠelfire.net

In fact, even the north...

'No.'

I had to be conscious of the Empire.

Only someone like Grand Duke Aratus or Elaine could call them pathetic; the Empire was the Empire. The same goes for the Church.

The faith that the Empire and the continent believe in is certainly helpful in dealing with the Otherworld.

'If only it's used well.'

But I'm not confident I can use it that well.

Nor am I idle enough to care for the continent.

In the first place, there is a limit to the role I, a mage, can play.

'It's right for Elaine to do it.'

Considering she had passed on the regression, the Empire and the Church should be Elaine's share in the near future, once she recognizes the dream as a past life.

I knocked on the door of the Grand Heir's mansion.

When I asked where Elaine was, Ellen had said she was sleeping at the mansion.

Of course, after saying that, she had left, saying something had come up.

"Hi, hi...!"

"It's been a while, Hihiren."

Hiren, who had once almost become my annex's maid, opened the door and was startled.

"I believe the Grand Heir is inside. Ah. I have an appointment to meet him."

"Tha...!"

"It's unlikely to be a lie."

At my words, Hiren reflexively nodded.

"He's, he's upstairs!"

Hiren said energetically.

It was to the point that the gazes of all the surrounding servants were drawn.

However, there was no vigilance or hostility in those gazes.

They had, at some point, accepted the person named Harad.

'Even though I'm a mage.'

I burst out into a hollow laugh.

This is why the north is ignorant, and this is why Elaine can't help but love the north.

"Thank you."

"It's Hiren!"

Hiren shouted again.

Her nervousness was evident, but that nervousness stemmed from unfamiliarity, not fear.

What they had acknowledged was Harad, not the mage.

"I'll be sure to remember it."

That's why I memorized their names in my past life.

Like Elaine.

"It's at the very end!"

As I was climbing the stairs, Hiren, who had belatedly realized she hadn't told me the room's location, shouted.

'Lively.'

The voice of someone scolding Hiren to quiet down disappeared as I went up to the second floor.

Hiren's consideration was actually meaningless.

I could navigate the Grand Heir's mansion with my eyes closed.

-Go to my room and bring me a military uniform to change into.

-...-?

-Oh. You're here early. But why are you empty-handed?

-It burned on the way.

-Haha. You madman.

How much had the Elaine of the past life ordered me around?

Elaine's calls did not distinguish between day and night.

-What's the matter? Hiren came to see me.

-Put out the fire.

-...-?

-If you're bored, you can sing a song. Until I fall asleep.

-Haha. You madman.

I stood in front of the door I had burned down back then.

"Grand Heir."

There was no need to call loudly.

Elaine's ears could hear everything anyway.

It was one of her few strengths.

"I'm washing up!"

A voice echoed from inside.

It sounded uncharacteristically urgent. It seemed her disguise was not yet complete.

'Was it a magical item that took time to activate?'

That's not it.

Even if we started at the same time, Ellen had always arrived at the appointed time earlier.

'Ah. She has to change clothes. She has to hide the clothes she wore as Ellen.'

Hiding them must be the problem.

If she just stuffed them somewhere, it might arouse suspicion.

Of course, that suspicion wouldn't be that Ellen and Elaine are the same person.

To have such a suspicion, one's imagination would have to be very rich.

'A man who hides his female relative's clothes and underwear in his room. How dreadful.'

That must be what Elaine was worried about.

I waited for a while before entering.

"I told you not to come in!"

Elaine covered her body.

She was in the middle of putting on her top.

"What's the big deal, between men."

That sight was strange and unpleasant.

The unpleasantness was greater. I knew she was actually a woman, but still.

Because she was blushing in a man's form.

"You don't sleep in the same room with a man either."

"We change clothes together."

"Unfortunately, I'm the opposite."

"That's a shame."

"If you know, then get out."

I left without a word.

It seemed she would get genuinely angry if I stayed any longer.

As my vision cleared, the unpleasantness disappeared and the forgotten strangeness rushed in.

'We even went to the bathhouse together.'

It was a different reaction from the Elaine of the past life.

'Is it because she's still young?'

It seemed the twenty-year-old Elaine lacked tolerance.

Grand Duke Elaine was the manliest of men.

-Do you see it, my muscles?

-Yes.

-Your muscles... are just right.

-I'll make them bigger.

-No. Don't. Now is perfect.

...Or not?

* * *

"I dreamt of your past. As a dream."

Elaine spoke of the dream she had had during the day.

It was not a pleasant dream to hear.

'It's rather new.'

My past.

It was a story I had shared everything with the Elaine of the past life.

There were no secrets between us. At least, I was like that.

'We talked about everything in the past life. To think she would show me the past directly.'

I felt as if my insides had been laid bare.

Seeing it directly and hearing it secondhand are different things.

'It's a more sinister magical item than I thought.'

The Stone of Regression.

That magical item was interfering more than I had thought.

To the regressed me. And to the dreaming Elaine.

"Was the dead maid's name really Lily?"

"It was."

I did not deny it.

The feeling of my past being laid bare was not pleasant, even as an empty compliment... but it wasn't that unpleasant. It was because it was Elaine.

"I knew it. You're making me have dreams with magic."

Elaine was trying to continue the conversation she had had when she was Ellen.

She was too relaxed.

Even if there was no chance of being caught.

"The Sun doesn't have that kind of vagueness."

"Wrong?"

"Yes."

Elaine's lips kept twitching.

She seemed displeased with the wrong answer. It seemed she hadn't thought of anything else.

"Then why am I getting it right? Do you know what the dream is?"

"I never told you to get it right. The Grand Heir suddenly started doing it."

"..."

Keep having dreams, I had replied so.

There was nothing else I could say.

"Why would I show you my past? It's not something to be proud of."

"Don't say that. It was a commendable past."

My eyes widened.

Those were not words that should have come from that mouth.

The Elaine, offering comfort.

"The young you did well. To the point of being splendid."

"Did you know how to say such things?"

I was openly awkward with the kind Elaine.

"What do you take me for? When have I ever said anything bad?"

"That's true too."

Come to think of it, it was.

The Elaine of this life had rarely been annoying.

The Elaine of the past life had a bad personality.

It was because her insides had rotted from not being able to live by her cock.

'Is it because she's young? She's not as twisted yet.'

The twenty-year-old Elaine didn't seem to have rotted.

It was a reward of regression, if you could call it that. Elaine's regrets were certainly being erased one by one.

"So. Should I meet the delegation?"

I had already told her when she was Ellen that there was no need to meet them.

Elaine asked as if she didn't know.

She seemed to be trying to hide it, at least.

"If I ask you to meet them, will you?"

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for your request."

"Oh."

"But you have to grant one of my requests later."

"Then never mind. Don't meet them."

"I'm kidding. I'll go meet them."

"I'm not kidding."

"...Did you really just come to hear about the dream?"

Elaine looked disappointed.

She also looked angry.

The reason was clear to my eyes.

She must be frustrated for having gone to all the trouble of coming here and disguising herself.

"Then how will you explain Pelatz's death?"

That frustration made Elaine's occasionally working head work.

"By now, the delegation must be looking for Pelatz."

"We can just say we don't know. Or we can say he died."

"...?"

Elaine's face was one of incomprehension.

"Cause of death?"

"How would we know that? He just died."

"Is that okay?"

"Since when did the north care about those Empire bastards?"

The delegation had been created to win Serzila's favor.

The death of a single knight was nothing from the Empire's perspective.

Originally, Elaine would have handled it that way.

If I hadn't been there.

"Isn't Pelatz a subordinate of the Liberation Tower?"

"We can't say that."

"Why?"

If that fact is revealed, Pelatz's associates will be executed.

Those associates would include Gazdag or some of its members.

"Gazdag is probably not involved anyway."

"Just a moment ago, you called them Empire bastards. You care about Gazdag."

"I just dislike the Church."

"There's another reason."

My eyes widened.

Thus, Elaine was occasionally sharp.

This is why I can't just ignore her, and why I end up expecting things.

I just hope that sharpness is aimed at the dream.

"Pelatz's son, Loque, is innocent."

"He might seek revenge on you."

"He should at least have that chance to feel less wronged."

"Are you like that too?"

I nodded.

Seeing that, Elaine nodded with a lopsided expression.

"I understand. But the Otherworld is behind the Torch."

"..."

"And Serzila will be behind you."

"I don't think His Grace the Grand Duke would do that."

"I, the next Grand Duke, will. Ah, and Ellen too."

* * *

Five days passed, and the delegation left the north with their heads bowed.

The soldiers on the castle walls' jeers were quite blatant, said Cassion, who had come to get a meal from Kubel.

"You're busy, but you seem to have the leisure to eavesdrop on such things."

"5th Rank, no, Knights Commander level has good ears."

"..."

Is he pretending to be stupid, or has he become stupid?

I was once again impressed by Grand Duke Aratus.

How on earth did he find out that this concept-devoured bastard was a mage?

While eating grilled vegetables, Cassion said he had beheaded several magical beasts and one mage that had crossed the tunnel.

It was a clear achievement, but his tone was not boastful.

It was the voice of someone who had done what they had to do, like saying they had slept at night.

That was why Cassion wasn't entirely ashamed.

I don't know what he's like as a mage, but he was a splendid 2nd Knights Commander.

As if she had had the same thought, Ellen placed a piece of meat on Cassion's plate.

Cassion looked at Ellen with moved eyes.

"Just eat quietly. Don't look at me, it's burdensome."

"Yes!"

There was more meat on my plate. I didn't bother to say anything.

In the first place, it was too much for me.

It was Ellen's scheme to deliberately give me a lot, and then eat what I left behind.

So she wouldn't look like a pig.

Ellen had not forgotten the time Cassion had treated her like a pig.

I offered my plate to Ellen.

The traces of food were clean. It was noble-like. That was why Ellen used my plate.

"Already? Eat more."

"Never mind the insincere words. Eat up."

"Yes."

Ellen smiled and swapped plates.

Her plate was clean without a trace.

I pushed that plate aside and took out the communication sphere.

The greyish-white, Ivory Tower's communication sphere that Pelatz had possessed.

Looking at it, Ios comes to mind.

Ios, who had made contact with the Tunnel-Digger in the past life and transformed the tunnels into the Otherworld's infiltration routes.

'I wondered how Ios had found the Tunnel-Digger.'

It was the opposite.

It wasn't Ios who had found him, but the Rebellion faction of the Liberation Tower that had made contact with the Ivory Tower.

'The source of this communication sphere must be a mage from the Ivory Tower who has infiltrated the continent. The Rebellion faction of the Liberation Tower has connections with that mage.'

And so, they had connected Isotta and Ios.

'Five days.'

Five days had passed since this communication sphere arrived in Serzila.

To someone, it would be five days since it had fallen into Isotta's hands.

'It will take time for Pelatz's death to be known.'

From Serzila to the northern part of the Empire takes a full month, even on horseback.

There is a possibility that Pelatz's death will be known sooner, but it won't be in five days.

If I'm going to do it, I have to do it before then.

That way, I can rewrite the reason for Pelatz's death.

'If so...'

I carefully took out the quill pen from my pocket.

"What's that?"

Cassion, who had been indifferent to the communication sphere, shone his eyes.

"It looks a bit crude. Is it a magical tool, not a magical item?"

Cassion distinguished between magical items and magical tools.

The two have the same meaning, but magical tools refer to those made on the continent.

Continental magical tools are generally inferior to magical items.

"It's the Liberation Tower's means of communication."

"Does it connect through writing? That must be inconvenient."

Cassion, for once, belittled the quill pen like a mage.

"This quill pen is a pair. It can only send messages to its partner."

"There must be a distance limit. It must be shorter than the communication sphere."

"Exactly. What do you think? I think if the distance is too far, the writing won't appear at all."

"I think so too. I think the writing will only appear when the partner is within communication range."

Our opinions matched.

I smiled with satisfaction.

"You're like a mage with dementia. We can only communicate sometimes."

Cassion gripped his knife.

I ignored him and infused magic power into the quill pen. Then, I wrote.

-Ah.

It was written.

No, the writing was clearly left on the table.

The writing had a faint glow.

"It's been sent."

It meant the communication had connected.

Five days.

During that time, someone with the partner of this quill pen had come to a communicable distance and had been waiting.

I took my hand off the quill pen.

The quill pen stood upright on its own. Cassion showed interest. Ellen also stopped eating and focused on the quill pen.

How much time had passed?

The quill pen, which had received attention, moved.

-Who the hell are you.

The message was aggressive.

"I think we've been found out."

"I think you've been found out."

Cassion and Ellen said at the same time.

I ignored them.

'The handwriting is revealed.'

I can't pretend to be Isotta.

No, the other side must have already realized that I am not Isotta.

Ah.

Even in that simple message, the handwriting is bound to be revealed.

In any case, I had nothing to lose.

I just wrote.

-You speak curtly. How dare you, an ignorant fool who imitates the Tower of Paradise.

Ellen looked at me with a weary expression.

"Again, again. He's doing it again."

However, the effect was tremendous.

-May I ask who you are.

A reply came.

Very politely.

"As expected of Harad."

"...It worked again."

Kubel and Cassion, who had just come out of the kitchen, were impressed.