The Tyrant’s Last Doll

My body had completely healed when I woke up a few hours later.
I sipped the tea that Lina gave me.

“You—you’re telling me that we’re in the middle of the battlefield,” I said incredulous, as if I was still caught in a dream.
“What do you mean by that?”

Ridrian was out on Kraman’s call.
Lina could speak comfortably with Iona as they were alone now.

“Exactly what I said.
His Majesty said he couldn’t leave you alone in the palace, so Raven Esteban and I brought you secretly on a carriage.”

“Oh, my.” I rubbed my throbbing temples.
Ridrian was being stubborn, as usual.
“Why didn’t he just…wait, what about Eris?” I realized she was nowhere to be seen.
Didn’t she say that she would be my guard again, before I fainted?

“Young lady Deron is currently missing.” It was Ravis who responded this time.
He walked in, wearing regular clothing.

“Pardon?” I must have heard wrongly.
Eris was missing? Even with her swordsmanship and having a divine object? “What happened when I fell asleep?”

“Unfortunately, it was only two weeks ago when I went back into the palace.
Before that, anyone who was related to the religious group was not allowed anywhere near the palace.
As you wouldn’t wake up, His Majesty brought me in as a last resort.
It wasn’t like I could do anything but thank goodness you are okay.”

“I also came in a week after you fell asleep.
But I heard what happened on that day from Esteban,” Lina explained.

The moment Piett left, Ridrian had come straight into my room, as he’d heard that I’d fainted due to a fever.
But for some reason, the entire room where I was had been completely destroyed.
Everyone had been horrified at the sight of the divine barrier protecting the room.

Three of the palace guards had been killed, Eris heavily injured, and as she was escorted to the temple, her consciousness waning, she’d insisted on meeting a priest.
A few days later, she’d woken up and disappeared ever since.

“Nobody knows what happened.
Maybe she went back to her estate out of fear,” Ravis said.

I shook my head almost imperceptibly.

There’s no way she ran.
She’s not like that.
Then…just what happened? Something no one would notice….
Maybe! Was it Piett’s ability to separate space? But didn’t they say he was meeting Ridrian then?

My pondering didn’t continue for long.
Lina changed the subject.

“Well, it’s great Miss woke up.
His Majesty was so scary.”

“Ah, yes.
I was reminded of when he just got on his throne.”

“It was that bad?” I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of guilt.

“Everyone would rub their neck whenever he spoke to them.”

“Only I, the Grand Priest and His Majesty were allowed into the room.
Ah! Many doctors did come by.”

“Then a week ago, he officially declared war against Lucretia.”

“Only a week ago?”

“I don’t what he did, but he had already finished preparing for battle the day he declared war.
We thought it would take at least two more months.
Seems like Marquis Piett did something.”

It seemed like he also heard that Piett was funding the war.
He also knew that Piett is a demon.

“What was he thinking? I should’ve held Piett at all costs that day.”

I bit my nails, certain I’d made a mistake, but Ravis merely shook his head.
“He is a high noble in the Empire.
There was only an assumption, so His Majesty couldn’t hold him, Iona.”

“But we can’t leave him like this!”

“Thankfully, it seems like he’s laying low in Etherium.
Even though they were all eager about the Saintess’s situation, I left the crusaders to watch him, so if anything happens, we’ll know right away.”

There was obstacle one after another.
I was glad to hear that at least they were keeping an eye on him.
I wanted to bring Piett in right away and ask him what his intention was, but he was so sly we couldn’t do anything against him politically.
He was such a headache.

Maybe he’s pretending to be a noble on purpose, to make it so that we can’t lock him up even though we know?

I rubbed my temple again and was reminded of another problem.

“What about the temple? They were trying to bring me in as the Saintess.”

There was so much to be done.
I was getting closer to Rian, but I couldn’t spend any time with him because of all these problems.

“That’s why you’re here, close to the battlefield.
The group wouldn’t give up on you, so he couldn’t leave you unconscious in the palace.
I told him I’d protect you, but he wouldn’t even believe me.” He shrugged.
“Well, I brought this on myself anyway.”

What did he mean by that?

“But bringing an unconscious person onto a battlefield…I need to say something about this.”

I was a bit worried he might have some separation anxiety.
I shivered a bit, thinking about his actions in the original novel.

“Anyways, we need to do something since it’s already been a month.
We can’t just leave it like this.”

“That is correct.
Thanks to the statement posted by the group, the Emperor’s fame is at an all-time low.
Well, His Majesty doesn’t seem to care, but it’s Sir Raven and the chancellor that are having problems.”

“All-time low?”

I got up from the bed.
Thankfully, my body was completely healed.

“I need to see His Majesty now.”