‘And that one’s the same.’

It was absurd to watch a man who usually rampaged like a wild beast turn into a tame little dog in front of Camilla, as if he had never been like that at all.

“Tch.”

The click of a tongue suddenly split the silence.

“I heard the method of obtaining a divine beast is different in your ducal house than it is in the others.”

Jayner had strongly insisted that Camilla must not be left by Arsian’s side.

And for good reason. What Khan’s information network had uncovered was horrifying.

‘It only comes out if they cut open the head of the house.’

Even the Duke of Esclara, who was usually indifferent to other people’s affairs, had been unable to say anything for quite a while when he heard that.

And he had agreed with Jayner completely.

No—he had agreed until he heard what Arsian said next.

“There won’t be any more divine beasts in our house.”

Whether the duke’s expression turned strange or not, Arsian did not care. He could say it confidently because it was not a lie meant to escape the situation.

Just as he had declared to his father before, he would never again bring a divine beast into House Sepra.

He had no interest at all in some egg that could only be extracted by tearing open the body of the head of the house. He wanted no part of it.

“Do you think that will be up to you?”

The Duke of Esclara’s voice dropped even lower.

When you lead a house, there are bound to be times when you have to do things against your own will.

No matter how firm Arsian’s resolve might be, would the elders of House Sepra really stay quiet?

Even if he showed overwhelming ability, even if he proved he had all the qualities of a head of house, those who had grown used to the existence of divine beasts would not give up so easily.

“......”

The Duke of Esclara, who had been about to make him face that reality, swallowed his words when he saw Arsian’s expression.

‘He already knows it well.’

Seeing the bitterness in his eyes, the Duke of Esclara quietly let out a soundless sigh.

*****

“Big sister!”

Dive came running over again and threw himself into her arms.

Yes, into her arms. Unlike before, when she had wound up being swept into a child’s embrace instead.

“I’m so happy you’re /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ back to normal, big sister!”

“I’m happy too.”

At last, Camilla’s body had returned to normal. Ravi had finally handed over the completed mana stone.

When she broke it, bright light wrapped around her whole body just like last time, and when she opened her eyes, she had returned to her original appearance.

‘She could have stayed like that a little longer.......’

‘That brat controls the mana stone distribution rights, so there’s no way to confiscate it.’

The Duke of Sorpel and the Duke of Esclara both looked particularly disappointed, but Camilla paid them no mind.

“Dive, want to go out with big sister?”

“Really? When?”

“Mmm... soon, maybe? Right now I’ve got a lot of things piled up.”

“Okay! Can Rio come too?”

“Of course he can.”

“I’ll contact Rio myself.”

“Sure.”

Camilla let out a small laugh at the sight of Dive running outside with a bright smile.

‘They really did get close, huh?’

Because of that unexpected accident, she had avoided going out, and Dive had ended up shut inside with her as well.

He had come all the way here, so there was no reason to leave him wandering around only inside the Sepra estate. This time, she intended to show him the capital of the Fabler Empire properly.

“That’s good news. You’ll have to go to the Holy See soon as well.”

“Yeah.”

Just as Dorman said, the papal inauguration was only a few days away. She had already received an invitation, so she had been wondering what to do.

‘There was no way I could show that younger body to the outside world as it was.’

So it was a relief that she had returned to normal before then.

“Arena, you’re coming too, right?”

[Of course I am. I might not bother if it were someone else, but I rather like this one.]

Rather like him? It seemed like more than rather. Camilla snickered inwardly.

Arena’s expression had always been good ever since she went to see Cardinal Martio, who was becoming the new pope this time. It was a world apart from the way she used to come back from the Holy See wearing a face like thunder.

“But Arena.”

[Yeah?]

“You’ve been going out a lot lately. Is something going on?”

There had been a time when she and Zeno clicked so well they never left each other alone for a second, giggling and chatting nonstop, but lately it had become strangely hard to catch sight of her.

Nothing special had happened, and yet she seemed to be going to the Holy See even more often than before. Was it because she liked the new pope?

“By the way, what’s going on with you and Havel?”

[Havel?]

“Yeah. I saw you with him before.”

Unlike the other ghosts, who feared and avoided Havel the reaper, Arena had no such reaction. If anything, it felt more like Havel was the one who found her difficult.

[What could be going on? A guy who drags off the dead only has one kind of thing to say to the dead.]

“Hm.”

Even so, the atmosphere between them had been strange.

She had been too far away then to hear a word of what they were saying.

But unlike Arena, who had looked irritation itself, Havel had seemed to be in a good mood.

‘It looked like he was smiling.’

Havel, of all people.

That guy almost never showed emotion, and yet he had given a faint smile at something Arena said.

‘On the other hand.......’

Camilla’s gaze shifted toward the window.

The man standing there quietly, the ghost Zeno.

Her head tilted again as she looked at him.

‘Ever since that day, Zeno’s mood has been strange.’

It was as though he had no energy. He had never been especially loud or lively in the first place, but lately he had become particularly quiet.

“Zeno.”

[Hm?]

“Is something wrong?”

[...No.]

Zeno, who had been looking at Arena for a moment, slowly shook his head. But unlike his answer, his shoulders drooped limply, and Camilla only grew more puzzled.

‘Did something happen in House Jeyvill?’

Something was clearly going on, but she could not make sense of it at all. That said, it was not as though she could force him to open his mouth and explain......

[Camilla, did you prepare a gift?]

At that moment, Arena’s voice rang out again.

“Money.”

[Money?]

“No matter how you look at it, money is still the best.”

She had been wondering what to prepare as an inauguration gift, but after hearing one particular rumor, she had decided to make a donation instead.

Until now, they had probably been piling up money by selling fake holy relics and through other illegal acts, but there was no way Cardinal Martio would just sit and watch that.

On top of that, after recent events, quite a few people had started looking at the order with disapproval, and she had heard donations had dried up completely as well.

[That’s a good idea.]

Arena already knew the situation inside the order well, so she nodded emphatically in agreement.

“Should I pick out clothes now?”

[Want me to help?]

“...Arena, you don’t really have good taste in clothes.”

[What’s that supposed to mean? I was pretty famous for dressing well when I was a saintess!]

“Didn’t you only wear priestly robes?” 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

How exactly had she shown off her fashion sense in those? Shaking her head slightly, Camilla headed for the dressing room with Arena.

[.......]

Watching the two of them, Zeno’s gaze sank even heavier.

******

‘This place hasn’t changed.’

The papal inauguration held in the grand cathedral ended without incident in front of countless witnesses.

After that came the next step: a kind of formal report before the Tree of the Main God in the Holy See garden. Camilla had no choice but to set foot in that place again.

‘It’s as scrawny as ever.’

The Tree of the Main God, which had briefly grown lush thanks to the red little dragon, the Spirit King of Autumn, had gone back to looking gaunt as though that had never happened.

Blanketed in white snow, it had a certain charm, but it still looked cold.

“So he’s going to pour holy power into it again?”

[That’s right.]

Calling it a completely pointless thing to do, Arena, the priest ghost, clicked her tongue, but even Pope Martio had no choice but to follow this long-standing tradition.

‘There he comes.’

Wearing the ceremonial robes that only the pope could wear, Pope Martio appeared before the gathered crowd with his usual detached expression.

The moment they saw him, everyone bowed politely. Receiving their greetings, Pope Martio slowly walked toward the Tree of the Main God.

[Why do humans try to show off their power with things like that? All they’re doing is going against nature.]

Aisla, who sat on Camilla’s shoulder watching the whole thing, clicked her tongue repeatedly as well.

She said the exact same thing the red little dragon had said before. It seemed she also thoroughly disliked the way humans tried to defy nature with holy power.

Whatever the case, Pope Martio bowed his head before the Tree of the Main God and offered a prayer.

At the sight, the others also clasped their hands together and prayed.

Fwoooosh!

“......?”

A moment later, the people raised their heads at a strange sensation, and every one of them widened their eyes.

“L-look at that!”

“My God!”

The tree that had been covered in white snow was gone, and in its place stood a tree thick with fresh blue-green leaves, as though spring had suddenly arrived.

Soft pink blossoms bloomed among them, and petals drifted down in the wind, scattering all around.

The sight of flower petals falling through the white snow was, quite literally, spectacular.