The Princess's Declaration
“Princess Cecilia? Why her?”
“That’s… ahem! Ahem!”
Reina had rushed here in such a hurry that she could barely speak, her words interrupted by harsh coughs. Irene immediately fetched some water and held it to her lips while rubbing her back. Only after a moment of recovery did Reina drink it all in one go, then take a deep breath and speak with the heaviness of someone forcing it out. “She’s declared she’ll participate in the purge!”
At those words, Irene stared at Reina with a bewildered expression. “Why?”
She had naturally assumed the princess would join as well. After all, she had entered the Distortion Dungeon in the previous life too. “She said she’d assemble a raid using people from her own group and come in!”
That was hardly surprising either. She had done exactly the same back then. “If it had only been her and her knights, that would have been far more shocking.”
“Calm down. This was what we expected anyway.”
“But…”
Reina’s voice trembled with emotion as she cried out, “She declared that this time she would distribute the rewards from the raid equally to everyone!”
“Oh dear.”
Hearing Reina’s words, Irene pressed a hand to her forehead. She had anticipated that the princess would attempt something, but she hadn’t expected her to come out with the exact same method so quickly. “I thought she would at least show some pride…”
The moment she joined her group, Irene had realized the harsh hierarchy based on purifier ranks. For the princess, the difference in distribution according to rank was as natural as commoners bowing their heads before the king. Yet now she had wiped all of that away. Irene let out a wry smile. The king coming down from the high steps to extend his hand to those below was exactly this situation. “We must have become quite the threat after all.”
“Aren’t you worried?” Irene asked. “I met Cynthia before coming here, and she’s already in a complete panic. Apparently, more than half of the people who had agreed to join our raid have gone back to the princess.”
More than half. “That’s only natural,” Irene thought. The biggest complaint from those who had switched sides was the disparity in distribution. Now that it had vanished… “There’s no reason for them to come over.”
Her group boasted strong purifiers and knights, and because they had fought side by side for so long, their coordination in attacks and support was far more refined than Irene’s new group, which had only recently formed. The survival rate would be higher, and the chance of securing more rewards would also be greater. “And the princess’s side will give their all in this raid.”
To obtain even more rewards, they would start from another entrance and move like madmen. “There is no better opportunity than this to prove just how overwhelming they are.”
When they returned from the dungeon and compared the rewards they had obtained, the gap would be enormous. The opposing force was, in truth, the largest raid group in the fortress—perhaps the only one that could truly claim that title. Meanwhile, this side was a small raid that had only just begun its second purge. The princess seemed determined to cut off their lineage entirely with this opportunity. Irene sorted her thoughts and turned to Reina. “Reina, please gather a list of everyone who left our side and those who remained after receiving the news.”
“That’s easy enough, but why the people who left?”
At the question, Irene smiled coldly. These were the very people who had come here to complain about the princess as if they had finally found a true listener. The moment the conditions changed, they had turned away without a moment’s hesitation. “Even the princess will still treat us as usual for now, but once she learns who has joined our side, she’ll make her distinction.”
It would have been better if they had at least shown a little pride by thinking about it for a few days. Irene spoke with genuine sorrow in her voice. “We must definitely prove to the people that even trust has a rank.”
* * *
Having finished her other requests with Reina, Irene hurried toward the Temple in the fortress. She needed to keep her promise to Michael. The Temple stood in the far corner of the northern section of the fortress—honestly, the most remote place within the entire fortress. “If only I could kick all the annoying people out, but here we are.”
She found the site displeasing, yet she could not simply cast them out. Many knights still came to the Temple before entering dungeons to pray for a safe return. The Temple also handled the recovery of those who had died in the dungeons. “Even though it’s tucked away in the corner, the grounds are surprisingly spacious.”
A grand temple, a residence for the injured, and farmland cultivated according to the gods’ teachings. It seemed as if even tucked away in the corner, it enjoyed all these comforts. Irene scanned her surroundings and stepped inside the Temple. In the previous life, she had wandered the fortress alone, but she had never set foot in the Temple. “Back then, I couldn’t even look at this place.”
Unlike other pairs, Michael had not used the accommodation provided in the fortress. No matter how well soundproofed, the moans that leaked from every room would have made him look as if he had entered the world’s most lewd and filthy place. Since the night they had formed their pair contract, he had never once entered any building. Instead, he would say he stayed in the Temple’s prayer room and that she should come there if anything happened. But he had never once visited it himself. “I had wanted to go there once.”
The day after the steward from the Count had come to collect her money without leaving a single coin, Irene had gone to the Temple to ask Michael when the next dungeon would be. There, she met a priest. When she asked him where Michael’s room was, the priest asked who she was and why she wanted to find Sir Michael. She would have been cautious back then, but in her desperation she blurted out that she was his pair. At that moment, Irene saw the deep contempt on the priest’s face. He then suddenly said, “Upon second thought, Sir Michael left the Temple today, so return to the fortress.”
From his expression and cold voice, Irene understood that she was not welcome here. Since then, she had never once approached the Temple’s side. “That’s what happened, yet here I am again.”
Still, she did not know exactly which room Michael stayed in. As she wandered the Temple, she spotted a priest and approached him. “Excuse me, but is this Sir Michael’s residence…?”
While asking the question, Irene froze. The man she had grabbed was the same priest from the previous life who had told her where Michael was. “I’m sorry, but who are you, and what do you want with Sir Michael?”
Hearing the exact same question as before, Irene had to think for a moment what to say. Even if she answered as some unrelated person, the priest would tell her where he stayed. If she were an intruder, he would simply send her away anyway. But… “I am his pair.”
Unlike the previous life, Irene spoke with her chest proudly raised and her head held high. Back then she might have been grabbing his ankle, but this time it was the opposite—he was the one who had grabbed her. Therefore… there was no reason for these people to show contempt toward her. The instant Irene answered, the priest’s expression changed. Was he still receiving the same treatment as before? Even as he thought that, the priest smiled brightly and bowed his head slightly. “Forgive me for not recognizing a distinguished guest. Please come this way. I will guide you.”
He walked ahead, his reaction completely different from the previous life. At that moment, more than ever, Irene felt how much had truly changed between the past and the present.