Chapter 15
The priest who had come out of the banquet hall recognized the First Prince.
It was someone I also knew.
Deep brown hair, light hazel eyes.
A kind, gentle expression that looked far removed from worldly concerns.
If you averaged out plainness and mediocrity, he would look exactly like this—an appearance that could easily be described as “extra.”
And indeed, he was just that: an extra character.
Back during the birthday banquet incident early in the story, he had come to the palace to purify areas stained with monster blood and tend to the injured.
That was the extent of his role.
From their conversation, it seemed he was also the one who treated the First Prince’s sprained wrist and leg this time.
“I found a mana stone just now, right in front of here. I think it was accidentally left behind after purification.”
“Really? Is that so?”
The priest looked surprised at the First Prince’s words.
But when he received the mana stone from the First Prince, his expression shifted.
“Your Highness, where exactly did this mana stone fall?”
“Well… around there.”
“Did Your Highness find it first?”
“No. Asphodel found it and picked it up.”
“Asphodel… the Third Princess?”
Suddenly, the extra priest spun to look at me.
“Did the Princess really pick up this mana stone herself?”
Huh… what?
There was an almost comical sparkle in his eyes, like slime.
“Now that I think about it, this banquet held at the palace was for the Third Princess’s birthday, wasn’t it?”
“That’s correct, but…”
Even the First Prince seemed confused by the priest’s behavior, answering reluctantly.
Regardless, the extra priest busied himself with little excited murmurs of “hoho, hoho!” as he marveled to himself.
“Third Princess, did the color of the mana stone change when you picked it up?”
Ah!
Hearing the priest’s question, I realized my mistake.
‘Right, priests can’t instantly purify the aura and poison of a mana stone!’
So, if this mana stone had really fallen here, the stone that absorbed the aura during purification shouldn’t be this pure white yet.
‘Damn, I got used to purifying mana stones instantly with my superpowers as a saint in my previous life, and forgot that the other priests couldn’t do the same.’
“No, it was this color from the start!”
I decided to just insist.
There’s a reason the saying goes, “You can’t argue with someone who insists.”
“That’s impossible…”
“No, really! It was just lying there, sparkling like a white gem, so I picked it up! But the prince said it wasn’t a gem and I had to give it to the priest!”
As I brazenly insisted, the priest looked skeptical but didn’t argue further.
“Hmph… I see? Strange…”
Tch, what’s an extra character so picky about?
Anyway, he only appeared as a one-page cameo in the original story.
Fortunately, the priest didn’t forget his role as an extra.
Still tilting his head, he didn’t press further, accepted the mana stone, and thanked us.
“It seems this mana stone was indeed overlooked by our priests. Thank you for finding it.”
Even as he walked away, though, he kept glancing back at me.
“Why is the priest acting like that?”
The First Prince watched the priest leave, puzzled.
‘Tch, what’s the point of wistfully looking at an extra who’s already gone.’
I didn’t pay him any more attention and grabbed the First Prince’s arm as before.
“Ah.”
He flinched, sensing something, and looked down at me.
I happily confirmed to him that his guess was correct.
“Carry me.”
“…….”
“Carry me back to our palace!”
“Ah… alright.”
So, perched on the First Prince’s back as he trudged along, I comfortably made my way back to our palace.
That day had been quite fulfilling.
Side Story: First Prince Euclid and Priest Isaac
That night.
“Rest early today, Eur. You seem especially tired.”
“Yes, Father, you too.”
A young boy sat neatly at his desk and opened a book.
Golden hair, serious green eyes.
It was the First Prince, Euclid.
Euclid was finishing his day’s duties at the desk when he remembered what had happened earlier that afternoon.
Among his half-siblings, excluding his twin Tamarinne, he wasn’t close to anyone.
Occasionally, he would visit other palaces out of courtesy when invited, but never by his own choice.
So this was the first time he had sought out a half-sibling on his own.
And…
‘Isn’t everyone supposed to help each other in this world?’
‘Life’s just the same everywhere.’
Recalling what he had seen earlier, he couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
A mere five-year-old had displayed a worldly, almost cynically wise expression and tone.
Ever since Asphodel had fearlessly run out in front of a monster and pushed him, he had suspected she was extraordinary—but she was even more unusual than he expected.
“She’s so small and cute… yet…”
Unconsciously murmuring, Euclid looked down at his own hand gripping the book.
It was the same hand Asphodel had suddenly grabbed in the hallway earlier.
‘Her hand was so small and soft.’
Do all children’s hands feel like that?
The warm, soft texture was strange, but not unpleasant.
When Asphodel let go, he felt a slight sense of loss.
It was also the first time he had carried someone on his back, and the feeling still made him strangely self-conscious.
“Carry me.”
“Huh?”
“Carry me.”
He recalled the intense blue eyes that silently pressured him, and Euclid once again made an involuntary, curious expression.
“What a strange child.”
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and returned to reading.
Yet his lips occasionally twitched, and his book remained on the same page for a long time.
Meanwhile…
A young priest with brown hair and gentle eyes was lost in deep thought.
It was Isaac, the priest who had encountered Euclid and Asphodel earlier in front of the palace banquet hall.
Seated cross-legged on the bed, a white mana stone rested in front of him.
Pure white, perfectly purified, without a trace of malice.
Next to it lay a partially purified, light purple mana stone, creating a strong contrast with the white one.
Mana stones collected from monster corpses in the palace were not yet fully purified, like the ones Euclid had given him.
Isaac recalled the two royal children.
First Prince Euclid and Third Princess Asphodel.
Both had said the mana stone had looked like this from the start.
But…
Isaac suspected one of them might have purified the stone.
And the more likely candidate, he felt, was the Third Princess, Asphodel.
‘…And she might be connected to the recent oracle that came down to the palace.’
A sparkle flashed in Isaac’s brown eyes.
Although not publicly revealed, a divine voice had miraculously descended at the main temple recently.
But unless the recipient disclosed the oracle, its content was unknown, so Isaac did not know the full details.
‘I hope she is the one chosen by the gods for salvation…’
He closed his eyes, clasped his hands in prayer, and began to pray again.
It seemed he would have to leave the palace early tomorrow morning and hear more details from his young niece, the recipient of the oracle.
Chapter 6: My Fist is Faster Than Your Tattling! (2)
“Princess, will you be going to the gardens again today?”
The next day, I went out with Margaret.
Luckily, no one discovered that I had snuck out of the palace through the secret door with the First Prince yesterday.
Still, the palace staff were wandering the grounds under my father’s orders, so it had been a close call.
From yesterday’s experience, I realized how difficult it was to navigate outside alone with such short legs.
I subconsciously acted as if I were older, forgetting that a five-year-old’s body is weaker than expected.
So today, I brought Margaret along.
This time, we overtly left my father behind, accompanied only by Margaret and the other attendants.
My father looked a little sad that he wasn’t chosen to come along.
But, accepting his five-year-old daughter’s sudden push for independence, he gave me a moist, wistful look as he saw us off.
“Margaret, wait a moment!”
I whispered to Kino, who I had also brought along.
“Kino, sniff for Pio. Where do you think he is?”
