[It was set up by my father.]
The one who answered my question was the Black Prince.
I feel a bit awkward, like I’ve inadvertently cast a spell of Talulah.
[It’s quite a distance between the main palace and the outbuildings, so this transportation method was installed for the convenience of staff and visitors. Royalty usually rides in private electric cars… Olivia has loved riding on the little train since she was very young.]
The Black Prince speaks with a nostalgic tone.
So that’s how it is.
The little train looks oddly charming now.
“Oh, Your Highness. It’s been a while. Is that… the man from the rumors? The one who made you his exclusive maid?”
The train conductor speaks in French, and the Black Prince translates.
“… It’s been a while, Mr. Conductor. Please drive us to our usual place.”
“To the Queen’s Hamlet, I presume? Very well. Please hop on. I shall make both of you comfortable.”
The Black Prince’s translation is so convenient.
‘But what is the Queen’s Hamlet?’
I’ve never heard of it before.
What sort of hamlet is there in the palace?
[It’s our lovely little sister Olivia’s favorite place. You’ll understand once you see it.]
The Black Prince replies with a hint of laughter.
“Hurry up and get on! You!”
I board the train at Olivia’s urging.
“Then, we depart.”
With the conductor’s voice, the little train sets off.
Clack, clack.
I sit across from Olivia in a cabin open to the surroundings.
The garden of the Versailles Palace comes into view.
Shrubs, flower beds, fountains, ponds, and the gracefully flowing canal water can be seen everywhere.
True to the Versailles Palace, the garden boasts overwhelming size and splendor.
[I used to run around here as a child, what fond memories.]
The Black Prince reminisces with a wistful tone.
As a child.
Well, those were the good old days.
When my mother wasn’t sick, my father’s job was stable, and I went to school without a care in the world.
The biggest worry back then was tomorrow’s homework.
That time when I could eat my mother’s meals every day was the best.
Damn it.
This crazy world truly isn’t a place for me.
I need to go back.
But…
My head is spinning.
“Do you like the view of the garden?”
Olivia’s question snaps me out of my thoughts.
I turn my head.
There’s Olivia casually looking outside.
“I do like it.”
“Hmph. It’s not that I’m pleased to receive obvious compliments, alright?! The garden of the Versailles Palace is a place everyone dreams of visiting! You should be grateful to me for letting you see it!”
Olivia pouts and crosses her arms.
Clack, clack.
The little train continues to speed along.
The beautiful garden scenery rushes by.
Just as the Black Prince boasted about the size of the palace being the reason for installing the train, the Versailles Palace was excessively vast.
I think I once saw that Louis XIV built it to showcase his absolute power in a history class during college, dozing off while looking at a PowerPoint slide in the corner somewhere; indeed, it was an impressive structure.
People entering the Versailles Palace must have been overwhelmed by its scale.
As we pass the garden, another palace comes into view.
[Ah, the outbuilding appears. Here, we have the Grand Trianon, Petit Trianon, and our destination, the Queen’s Hamlet.]
The Black Prince kindly elucidates like a tour guide.
The Black Prince kindly explains like a tour guide.
Tap.
Soon, the train comes to a stop.
“We have arrived.”
The place we arrived at, fittingly named the Queen’s Hamlet, is filled with European countryside buildings and fields, resembling something from a fantasy game.
It’s a bit surprising that there is such a place within the palace.
I get off the train following Olivia.
Walking through the Queen’s Hamlet without saying a word.
I stroll through the pastoral streets with Olivia, which don’t quite match the grandeur of the palace.
Tap.
The spot where she stops is by a lake where the sound of insects can be heard.
She turns to look back at me in her dress.
Unlike the artificial lights of the ballroom, the gentle moonlight reflects off Olivia’s platinum hair.
Olivia mumbles with a wistful look.
“This is… my favorite place in the palace. I used to play here a lot with Bella since I was little.”
Today, Olivia seems different, smiling shyly in a nostalgic voice.
“The hero classes were so tough… I hid here to avoid my tutor and got caught and scolded. Looking back, the burden of being the Black Prince’s heir was probably too much for a ten-year-old me. So… that’s how it was.”
It’s something mentioned in the setting book.
I already knew that ever since she was a child, she had to bear the responsibility of being the Black Prince’s heir, weighed down by that pressure.
But knowing it in my head and hearing it from the person herself is a different matter.
Moreover, such detailed circumstances weren’t written in the setting book.
No, perhaps judging and defining someone’s character based solely on sentences in a setting book is absurd in itself.
“…Maybe that’s why. As the only hero with Korean nationality, carrying the expectations of the Motherland, I felt a sense of kinship with you.”
Is that why I easily accepted defeat?
I learned that for the first time.
In fact, there’s no pressure like that at all.
However, I wonder if Olivia would believe me if I said that.
And for now, I don’t want to reveal that I’m a reincarnator.
Because…
“Ever since then, I… Ah, never mind! Just forget it!! That’s… Uggghhhh…”
Olivia blushes and kicks a nearby stone.
She bites her lip.
After shaking for a while, Olivia places her hand on her chest.
She lifts her head and stares directly at me.
“…You understood everything I said back when we were doing fireworks, right?”
What did she say then?
“The engagement talk? You knew, that’s why you came all the way to France.”
Do you think I’m deaf like someone else?
[What a fool.]
The Black Prince berates me in my head.
“Puhuhuhuhuh! Hahahahahaha!”
Olivia laughs while covering her mouth.
Why is she laughing?
Isn’t that what I meant?
When Olivia stops laughing, she lowers her gaze and speaks in a trembling voice.
“…It’s okay. I’m a little disappointed but… still okay. Because you kept your promise. I can let that slide this time.”
What does she mean by letting it slide?
As I furrowed my brow at that moment.
“…I know. I know that you are hiding something. Don’t underestimate this woman’s intuition of Olivia Napoleon Bonaparte. Do you understand? You?”
I froze in place like a statue at her words.
She knows.
What exactly does she know?
How much…
“I don’t know what exactly you’re hiding, but one thing is for sure.”
Olivia places her hand on her chest.
A faint smile appears on her lips.
“Your feelings have been conveyed to me.”
In the sight of the brightly smiling Olivia, I couldn’t say a word.
My mind went blank.
“What on earth…”
One step.
Olivia approaches.
Her fragrance brushes against my nose.
“So it’s okay. Until you resolve whatever it is you’re hiding and give me a proper answer, I will wait here quietly. Because…”
“Yeah, I’ll just sit here quietly and wait. Because…”
Olivia’s gaze is fixed directly on me.
Her confident eyes meet mine without flinching or trembling.
“Scoring a goal now… is a foul. It’s unfair. It would be disrespectful to those who risked their lives to come to France and help you. So I’ll stop here. Because, while I owe those people a debt… I believe I can be first anytime!”
As usual, Olivia covers her mouth and gives a triumphant smile.
“…And I’d rather everyone be happy, you know. I don’t want to be the only one happy. I don’t want to make others unhappy for my own happiness. Especially if those I owe debts to are involved.”
Olivia finishes with a firm voice.
It’s not just my happiness; it’s everyone’s happiness.
Such kind and soft words that could only exist in a light novel world.
I couldn’t muster any response to her.
[What a guilt-ridden partner.]
Even under the Prince’s rebuke, I had no retort.
I bite my lips.
“Damn it…”
“Fool, idiot… Hmph.”
Just then, when Olivia puffed her cheeks and turned her head away.
“Princess! Found you!”
“Bonaparte! Did you think we wouldn’t find you if you hid there?”
“Bonaparte has a bad habit of cutting in line, huh?”
“My lord! I’m here!”
“…Avoiding the eyes of the Student Council President for indecent relationships… how shameless!”
From afar, I hear the voices of other girls.
Seriously, when did they follow us again?
Upon hearing their voices, Olivia smiles.
“…Really, everyone is such fools. So stupid.”
Soon, Rin, Eri, Makoto, Senior Kasumi, and Aris barge in, filling the once-quiet Queen’s Hamlet with noise.
“Alright, let’s take a commemorative photo.”
Like that time at the Eiffel Tower, Han Seo-Jin, who had suddenly appeared, takes on the role of the photo journalist.
Only after taking pictures all around the Versailles Palace with them was I finally able to wrap up the ball schedule.
The remaining official schedule in France after the ball was just the Legion of Honor award ceremony, which shouldn’t have any major variables.
‘Now the next is… summer school.’
On the night after the ball.
Lying in the hotel bed, I went over the academic schedule of Shuo Hero Academy in my head.
Summer school in Okinawa.
The beach event, which is an essential part of light novels, not to mention Japanese subculture, was finally drawing near.
But considering the mess we’ve made with the UK, is it even possible to have joint training with the British academy like in the original?
Probably not, right?
Isn’t that just an excuse?
Soviet Socialist Republic.
Moscow. Kremlin Palace.
The political center of the superpower that divides the world with the United States.
The cradle of power that commands half the globe, the heart of the Second World.
At the very top of the Kremlin, adorned with a red star symbolizing communism, was the Secretary-General’s office.
In a large office decorated with the impressive Soviet flag featuring the hammer and sickle, a middle-aged man in a suit with medals on his chest sits.
On the nameplate on his desk, the name reads Vasily Kuznetsov.
He is the Secretary-General of the Soviet Communist Party and the chairman of the Supreme Soviet’s Executive Committee, in other words, the highest authority in the Soviet Union.
“I received a report that the Lion Taming plan has failed.”
Vasily opens his mouth.
His sharp gaze turns toward the bespectacled handsome man in front of him.
“Weren’t you all confident that you’d get the UK through William? And now it’s a failure? What happened? Explain, Professor.”
Professor, one of the League’s 13 Apostles and an EX-rank villain.
He adjusts his glasses and smiles as he speaks.
“Our master is also very apologetic about that matter. Due to an unforeseen variable…”
“You calling that an excuse?”
Vasily’s eyes narrow.
“The Lion Taming plan was a crucial plan that had to succeed for the ultimate victory of the socialist camp through worldwide communism. And you’re telling me the failure comes down to an unforeseen variable? Do you have any idea how many people’s blood and sweat in rubles went into supporting you for this plan?”
“It was a plan that had to succeed for the ultimate victory of the socialist camp through global chaos. But you think that failing it is an unexpected variable? Do you even know how much the blood, sweat, and tears of the people you’ve been supported by in rubles amount to?”
“I have no excuse.”
The Professor continues to smile as he wipes his cold sweat with a handkerchief.
As the secretary said.
The Lion’s Wrath plan was one where the interests of both the League and the Soviet Union aligned, and was crucial for both sides.
If they had taken control of England, the League could have expanded its influence in the First World, while the Soviet could have shaken the unity of the First World and ultimately secure a foothold to take down their only rival, the United States.
It was a plan that had been carefully prepared for a long time.
They had even infiltrated Gares, a member of the 13 Apostles, into the British royal family a decade ago.
Here, the Soviets provided funding and logistical support, while the League handled the direct execution of the plan.
But just before it was about to succeed, everything fell apart due to the interference of some rookie.
“I didn’t expect you to come up with a plausible excuse anyway. I have no intention of cutting off cooperation with you right now.”
“…”
The Professor’s half-closed eyes shift toward Basil.
The secretary glares at the Professor.
“At least you are still… quite useful, I must say.”
The New World League.
A shadowy organization that indirectly controls every terrorist and villain across the globe.
But no matter how impressive an organization it might seem, ultimately, it is impossible to defeat a nation’s power in an all-out confrontation.
That’s why the New World League and the Soviets cooperate.
The New World League provides an umbrella to block external risks, while the Soviets use the third-party label of “villain,” and the method of “terror,” to proxy-attack the First World.
It was a win-win deal.
The Messiah’s target was Japan, specifically the Source of the Meridian hidden in the underground ruins of Shuo Academy, not the Soviets.
And Japan belonged to the First World.
With the logic that an enemy’s enemy is a friend, teaming up with the leader of the Second World, which is an enemy of the First World, was, in a way, obvious political engineering.
“But my patience isn’t that deep. Pass this on to your Master.”
The secretary’s gaze fixes on the Professor.
“I can overlook it once, but a second failure will not be tolerated.”
“I’ll make sure to convey that.”
“Good. You may leave.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Professor bows his head and exits the secretary’s office.
Left alone, the secretary spins the globe on his desk while muttering.
“…I can’t believe it.”
The secretary did not trust the League, nor the leader, the Messiah.
He couldn’t even figure out what their true purpose was, despite being in a cooperative relationship with them.
Moreover, they were quite literally a terrorist group.
A rabid dog with no leash, unpredictable and dangerous.
But letting them go free was not an option, as they were far too capable.
Both the gate generator and the amplification drugs being churned out from the factory in Siberia were impressive.
He couldn’t let that go to waste.
“So I need to put a leash on that mad dog.”
The secretary opens a locked drawer with a dial.
Dring.
He pulls out a document.
It was a report on the New World League prepared by the KGB.
“…Their key target is the Saintess of the Cult…”
The secretary’s eyes narrow.
The Saintess of the Cult.
Information about her flashes in his mind.
Exact details about her had never been clearly revealed, but…
“That woman was said to have a key-like ability to control ruins.”
The value of the ruins after the great disaster was astronomical.
If she had the ability to control that ruin and was a key target of the New World League…
“If I can put a leash on that mad dog and control the ruins… securing that Saintess would be killing two birds with one stone.”
A sinister smile spreads across the secretary’s face.
