< Chapter 73 - Merit Ceremony #4 >
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“father.”
“You came. Sit over here.”
Rather than a full-fledged reception room, it seemed like a place for casual conversation.
There were three sofas arranged in a T shape around a low table, and Count Bayer, who was sitting at the single seat that could be considered the best seat, offered me a seat.
‘Is it across from your father?’
Count Chase, who was sitting in the middle of the long sofa, gestured to the seat opposite him with his eyes, and Uther and Cordelia obediently took their seats on the sofa opposite them.
Cordelia on the left, Uther on the right.
Although the sofa was very large and there was plenty of space, the two sat next to each other so naturally.
As if it had to be that way.
“It looks good.”
“Yes? Uh… yes. Thank you.”
Cordelia tilted her head at Count Bayer’s words, not knowing what to say, but soon smiled brightly and answered.
It was a bit confusing as to what was pleasing to the eye, but since Cordelia and Uther had just woken up after a few days, it could be that the very sight of them waking up was pleasing to the eye.
‘Anyway, since it’s what my father said, I have to answer even if I don’t know the answer.’
First of all, I would like to thank you for your kind words.
‘Isn’t that right, Yudera?’
‘Oh, maybe.’
Neither Cordelia nor Juder could immediately tell what Count Bayer saw and found pleasing.
Because it was so natural and expected for Uther to be next to Cordelia.
Anyway, when Cordelia answered nicely, Count Bayer smiled even more deeply, and Count Chase was excited as always.
“anyway······.”
Count Bayer, whose words trailed off for a moment, took a deep breath and continued speaking, looking at Jude and Cordelia with warm eyes.
“I’m so glad you woke up like this. Everyone was really worried because neither of you woke up at all.”
“I’m sorry for worrying you.”
“No, no. Sorry. You guys didn’t cause any trouble. There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
As soon as Cordelia lowered her head, Count Bayer immediately tried to dissuade her, and nodded to Count Chase as if to ask him to add something.
And to that wink, Count Chase responded in kind.
“Huh, what a troublesome guy.”
He clicked his tongue as he looked at Yuder, took out a small box from his bosom and held it out to him, and Yuder accepted it gratefully as he always did.
“Take this too. They say it’s good for weaklings like you.”
“Yes, Father. Thank you.”
“Thank you, Dad.”
As Cordelia expressed her gratitude after Uther, Count Chase looked away and spoke quietly.
“Don’t tell Adelia. She’ll try to compare it to what you gave to Gale.”
Because Adelia was dissatisfied even though she was treated equally.
But there was one thing Count Chase overlooked.
“Dad, what did you give Uncle Gale? Did you give him something different from Yuder? Was it better? Something like that?”
It was Cordelia’s presence that had begun to show the same reactions as Adelia.
“No, that means······.”
“therefore?”
Count Chase finally gave up on making any excuses and just furrowed his brows, while Count Bayer let out a small laugh.
“Gail, as well as Uther, are truly born with the luck of a spouse. They were born with it.”
Cordelia, who had been pushing Count Chase away at Count Bayer’s words, blushed and lowered her head for a moment. This was because the words “consort blessing” strangely touched her heart.
And the same was true for Uther.
Yuder, who had been looking elsewhere for no reason, cleared his throat with a slightly red face.
“Ahem.”
Ahem ahem.
“The little guy is coughing.”
Count Bayer, who let out a chuckle, turned back to Count Chase and got straight to the point.
“Uder, and Cordelia. As you may have heard to some extent, this time it wasn’t just the palace that was attacked. The entire capital was thrown into chaos.”
Count Bayer’s expression and even his speech had become a little stiff.
Uther and Cordelia, who had already heard the general situation from Maia and Dahlia, hardened their faces, and Count Chase looked straight into their eyes and spoke.
“Obviously… you warned me and Count Bayer before this incident happened. It wasn’t specific, but thanks to you, we were able to handle this situation.”
Something might happen right after the ball.
Please receive a magic item with a tracking spell on it so that I can notify you if you are in danger.
Stories that Uther and Cordelia told to Count Bayer and Count Chase respectively just before the ball.
Because of the events in the North and the Wild Lands, Count Bayer and Count Chase did not listen to Uther and Cordelia’s story lightly.
Even while attending the ball, I never let my guard down, so I was able to react right away.
What would have happened if there had been no warning from those two people?
“I guess I couldn’t stop the first sword.”
Count Bayer nodded at Count Chase’s words.
Had there been no warning, Count Bayer himself would never have thought of helping Judas and Cordelia.
“And if you had lost your lives to the First Sword… the Duke of the Guardians… no, the plan of the traitor Duke Antarius would have succeeded.”
His plan is to destroy the Guardians by annihilating the royal family.
But he didn’t succeed.
Because Uther and Cordelia stopped him.
“It was certainly a great performance. But I want to ask. How on earth did you know about it, and… how much did you know?”
Count Bayer’s voice was soft, and there was no hint of questioning in his tone.
But Uder did not answer hastily.
I continued speaking as calmly and calmly as possible.
“The betrayal of the Duke of Antarius was something we did not expect.”
It was a valid story.
The betrayal of the patriot was truly unimaginable.
“As I said before, the Fairy Queen’s warning was effective. It was just a story of bad feelings, but I couldn’t ignore it because of my experience in the North.”
As I said myself, it was a repetition of what I had already said.
Because there was no other source of information that could be cited other than the Fairy Queen.
‘It’s impossible to use the Holy Cross Guardians as an excuse in this case.’
It was a major incident where the royal capital, of all places, was directly attacked.
Once the immediate chaos was somewhat resolved, the royal family would mobilize all the kingdom’s power to begin a war against the demon followers.
In the midst of all this, there was no way I wouldn’t be linked to the Holy Cross Guardians, so if I rashly made excuses about the Holy Cross Guardians, I would run the risk of getting into trouble because my words wouldn’t make sense.
‘So let’s push through.’
For now, the only ones who can summon the Fairy Queen within the royal capital are Uther himself and Cordelia.
It might have been possible if Sylvia, the second most beautiful person in the North after Cordelia, had tried to summon a fairy out of the blue, but the chances of her trying to summon a fairy out of the blue were close to zero, so as long as Uther and Cordelia didn’t make any mistakes, there was no immediate danger of being caught.
‘I’ve done some work too.’
Just in case, I gave the Fairy Queen a box of chocolates and asked her to match my words.
Of course, one way or another, in the end, it was questionable whether she, a fairy, could really follow the words.
Anyway, Yuder pushed again, and Count Bayer looked at Yuder quietly and nodded.
“I see. I understand. We all owe a great favor to the Fairy Queen.”
Thanks to her, the royal family and the capital were protected.
He was able to save his country from the traitorous Duke Antarius.
But Count Bayer thought of Jude and Cordelia before that.
Although he didn’t say it out loud, he was more grateful that he was able to save two people.
But that was just then.
“There’s one more thing I want to ask.”
It was Count Chase.
He looked at Uther and Cordelia quietly and asked in a soft tone.
“How on earth did you win?”
The subject was omitted.
But Uther and Cordelia knew what Count Chase was talking about.
Duke Antarius, the traitor, was one of the Ten Swordsmen.
Although he was old and frail, he was still one of the top ten masters in the kingdom.
Such a patriotic hero was defeated by Uder and Cordelia.
It wasn’t a story that could be established simply because it was this big deal.
“I don’t doubt you. But honestly, I don’t understand what I heard from the Crown Princess.”
As Count Bayer added, Jude and Cordelia nodded as if they had made a promise.
That is to be expected, because it was a fight in which even the winners found themselves wondering how they won.
Cordelia’s wit in using the power of the Holy Sword and Uder’s ability to handle the power that was passed down in that way.
A miracle that could happen because two people were together.
Instead of answering right away, Uder took a moment to catch his breath. Then he quietly took Cordelia’s hand and looked back at her.
‘Cordelia.’
‘Yeah, Yuder.’
‘Let’s be honest about this.’
How could I win?
How did the miracle happen?
Cordelia nodded at the look in Yuder’s eyes and took Yuder’s hand.
‘Let’s do that.’
I couldn’t keep hiding it forever.
‘And… it’s not that big of a secret.’
Both Count Bayer and Count Chase already knew that Yuder was Landius’s disciple and had been taught the Nine Heavenly Gate by him.
Even if they were to hide it, the only thing they could find was that Cordelia had become an angel through ancestral regression.
‘Then I’ll tell you.’
‘huh.’
It was about Cordelia herself, but it was Uther who was in charge of explaining it.
After Cordelia felt at ease, she fiddled with the hand she was holding with Uther, and Uther began to explain to Count Bayer and Count Chase.
And about ten minutes.
After hearing the whole story, Count Bayer and Count Chase looked at each other and smiled in admiration without saying a word.
“Huh… A return to the ancestors?”
One who particularly expressed admiration was Count Chase.
Unlike Count Bayer, who was a prosecutor and had never heard of the concept of ancestral regression before, Count Chase already had some knowledge of ancestral regression.
“I knew that angelic blood ran through my family… but still, this is a return to the ancestors.”
Count Bayer asked with curious eyes as he looked quite disheveled, unusual for Count Chase.
“Arthur, then is it possible for you to become an angel through ancestral regression?”
If Cordelia has angel blood in her veins, then it will flow into her father, Count Chase.
But Count Chase immediately shook his head as if there was no room for hesitation.
“It’s not possible to return to your ancestors just because your ancestors were angels. You have to be born with a strong enough factor to be able to return to your ancestors. Unless there’s some kind of genetic inheritance, it’s impossible.”
“Generational inheritance?”
“It refers to the phenomenon in which the ancestral traits suddenly appear strongly in later generations.”
After saying that, Count Chase looked back at Cordelia and nodded again.
“Cordelia, perhaps your transcendent beauty is the result of genetic inheritance.”
“Yes? Uh… yes.”
Cordelia, whose face turned red due to the mention of her transcendent beauty, lowered her head, and Uther listened to Count Chase’s words with a very serious expression.
“Cordelia is an angel not only in face but also in heart.”
“Well, indeed. Was it something you were born with?”
“Yes, it’s innate. Even Saint Angel Lena praised it a lot.”
“Hmm.”
As Count Chase nodded with satisfaction, a pleased smile appeared on the faces of Counts Yuder and Bayer.
And one more.
Rather than blending in with the current atmosphere, there is one person who is struggling with embarrassment.
‘What the heck is this!’
What? Are you an angel at heart too?
Do you want to die for an angel?
Cordelia wanted to strangle Uther right away, but it was impossible because she was in front of Count Bayer and Count Chase.
I just bit my lip and fought the embarrassment.
But that was just then.
“So if you are normally human and then transform into an angel, you become an angel?”
“Yes, that’s the case now. Lady Lena said that in order to maintain angelization, you need to raise your angel rank to a certain level.”
“indeed.”
Count Chase nodded as if he understood and stared at Cordelia, and Count Bayer also looked at Cordelia while coughing.
Neither of them said anything, but it was obvious what they wanted.
‘Oh, really. Why is it that I always have to be embarrassed? Huh?’
Cordelia was slightly annoyed, but she had no choice so she decided to submit to her fate.
He stood up from his seat and unfurled his angel wings.
“Oh······.”
Count Chase was amazed at the pure white wings of light. Count Bayer also opened his eyes wide and was amazed at the sight of Cordelia starting to emit a divine aura.
And there was one person who was elated at the reaction of those two people.
“She is a real angel.”
By the way, this is my fiancé.
I’m probably the only person in the world who has a real angel as a fiancé.
Count Bayer laughed bitterly at the boast that could be conveyed without saying a word, Count Chase let out a cheer, and Cordelia eventually covered her face with both hands.
And then another few minutes or so.
After the initial commotion died down, Count Bayer asked again.
“Uder, how is your physical condition now? Are there any side effects from opening the meat gate?”
Count Bayer knew nothing about the Nine Heavenly Gates.
At the question mixed with concern, Yuder smiled bitterly and said.
“To be honest… I’m not feeling very well right now. But I’ll be fine after a few days of rest.”
The one who was most surprised by Uther’s answer was Cordelia.
[What, are you still sick?!]
[Oh, it hurts. At least until the day after tomorrow, you can think of the weak Yuder of the past as returning.]
[Oh, really? So you’re just walking around and suddenly falling down?]
[No, it wasn’t like that before either.]
[Yudya?]
[Don’t worry. It’s not that bad. It won’t affect your daily life.]
[Really?]
[Really? You checked it yesterday, right?]
[huh?]
[No, that… um. Just um.]
That was it. Cordelia lowered her head instead of asking any more questions. Her ears, visible through her hair, had turned bright red.
Anyway, when Yuder’s story ended, Count Bayer sighed, straightened his posture, and said.
“Okay, I guess I won’t be able to hold you for long. I’ll just tell you what I have to tell you and stop here for today.”
Calling Uther and Cordelia this morning wasn’t just to clear up any doubts about this matter.
There was a story that absolutely had to be told.
“There will be a ceremony in five days.”
< Chapter 73 - Merit Ceremony #4 > End
