EatApplePies
patreon
TWSB 230
🕑 Added 2025-04-24 07:16:34 +0000 UTC<Curtain Call (3)>
“What is this-”
The Blue Whale let out a breath the size of a house from its head!
- Kwooooooooooooooo......!
I gasped in astonishment. That seemed like the only way to describe it.
The super large creature drenched in seawater sparkled in the moonlight.
It looked like something a god had created out of white gold.
We were all drenched as we watched the whale with our jaws dropped.
This was the most unrealistic sight I saw since transmigrating into this world.
The whale twisted its body and slowly fell into the water like a grand tower crumbling down. Splash......!
- Baaaaaaaang!
Water shot up into the air resembling a folding fan. ‘Eek, the ship is going to flip over!’
“Oh my goodness! Mommyyyyyy!”
“Christelle!”
“Mamma mia!”
Christelle screamed with a mix of joy and shock, Isabelle reacted, and the Navy gasped.
The little troublemakers who snapped awake caught us with their vines.
‘I guess I'm experiencing all sorts of things in life. I'm not going to be satisfied with IMAX once I get back home!’
- Piiiiiii!
“Yeah, our whale friend is so amazing!”
- Screeeech!
“Hold on tight to this big bro!”
- Aaaaaaaaaaaaarf!
I was shaking like crazy but still flinched at Tithé's cry.
The round black eyes were sparkling as if waiting for praise.
I felt like I was losing my mind for a moment.
“You......”
The little harp seal was capable of freely controlling sea creatures.
Unlike the red pandas who could not summon land creatures despite having the earth attribute, Tithé was able to summon mackerel and seaweed to me.
I had been satisfied with enjoying seafood all the time thanks to this guy's help until yesterday.
- Aaarf
“My goodness.”
But our kid was capable of inviting a much larger friend!
- Ooooooooo---
The whale sounded as if it was singing while circling around the pirate ship. It sent electricity throughout my body.
I placed an ether orb into the mouth of our hardworking kid and looked toward the Imperial Crown Prince who had approached me.
His orange eyes sparkled beneath his black hair that was dripping with salt water.
I thought that he wouldn’t like being damp like this but he seemed to be enjoying himself.
‘As expected of the future hubby for our intense main character.’
“He is calling his friends.”
He commented in a low voice.
I patted Tithé, who was swallowing the ether, and nodded my head.
I could see Admiral Emma Corleone’s grey green eyes sparkling on the other side of the tilting mast.
A Blue Whale seemed to be a rare sight even for someone like her who lived for the thrills.
‘Hahahaha!’ The middle-aged woman rubbed her hook as she laughed out loud.
She seemed like a crazy person chasing after Christelle but now, she looked like a warmonger with a screw loose.
‘She’s not planning on hunting i......’
- Baaaaang!
“Eek!”
A second unexpected thing happened right in front of my eyes. My jaws were starting to hurt.
- Splash, splash, splaaaash......!
Blue whales, smaller ones than before, were splashing out of the water as if they were dancing.
It was a surprising and beautiful sight.
We were completely out of our minds but the whales looked extremely relaxed.
I could hear Sir Johann's laugh-like voice.
“They are pushing our ship.”
“Excuse me?”
I finally realized that the pirate ship was moving forward very quickly.
I looked back to see that we were quickly moving away from the Navy.
The first Blue whale was stopping the Admiral from following us.
The woman's loud voice echoed throughout the area.
“It’s been a while! My one hundred years old sworn enemy...... Monstro!”
My eyes opened wide. ‘What kind of setting is this?’
“Today is the day I will finally get my arm back!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
The Riester Navy shouted with their weapons in the air.
Baaaaang! A speedboat fired a blank shot into the air.
The middle-aged woman jumped into the dark sea. Everything soon became so far that they were tiny.
I gasped.
It seemed that Monstro (a 100 year old whale with long white whiskers), the whale that was as large as Mount Tai, was the culprit who gulped the Admiral's right arm a long time ago.
‘Why does it sound like a fairytale?
Maybe it sounds scary because she is involved with it? But anyway!’
“Thank you, Tithé! That was so good. You the real MVP today.”
- Aarf, aaaarf!
“Tithé! You saved big sis, my little benefactor!”
The Admiral's mermaid, I mean, Christelle, who was leaning against Sir Johann, gave a thumbs up.
The harp seal answered with joy.
I rubbed my forehead against the smart and lovable little guy for a while before hugging the little troublemakers and looking out to the sea.
Splash, splash! The dark water was splashing apart.
We seemed at least two times as fast as the speedboats with the whales pushing us.
‘We should arrive at the Imperial Capital quickly like this.’
“Great work, everyone! Should we wash up and get some rest now?”
The drenched Marquis François swung his mace as he made the suggestion.
I finally stopped being tense and could feel the coldness. We laughed and nodded our heads, eek!
“François!”
‘Our patient is fainting again!’
*
The Riester Imperial Palace looked peaceful on the outside.
Most of the staff, other than the closest confidants of the Empress and the Cardinal, had no idea what was going on.
It was obvious as this was strict orders from their liege.
The inside and outside of the palace was still rowdy because of the terrorist incident at the opening ceremony of the Officer Candidate School, but everybody was careful about what they said because the investigation was still ongoing.
Numerous attendants had quietly had an audience with Aurélie Boutier and lost their memories.
The rumors about the deceased culprit praising Prince Jesse Venetiaan and the Holy Kingdom had spread throughout the Empire during the week.
However, most of the people were skeptical. That was to be expected as well.
‘His highness is someone who would even buy items from the old sellers in the alleys. There is no way he would do something so terrible.’
‘I heard those rumors as well. They say his heart is as soft as silk.’
The first snow was abnormally slow despite the extremely cold weather.
However, Riester was in its celebration mode for the end of year as usual.
The magic lights dangling on laundry lines brightly lit up the areas in between buildings.
The commoners gathered in the streets drank wine as if it was water and raised their voices.
‘Yes! My fifth cousin lives in Sérénité and he said that his highness only collects ten percent in taxes. He also invests all of those taxes back into the territory. Apparently my cousin's child was even blessed by his highness.’
‘My goodness. There is such a territory lord? To be honest with you, I thought that it was possible that his highness aimed for his Royal Highness......’
Of course, there were some people who suspected Prince Jesse.
Élisabeth silently recalled the conversations she heard on her way to work.
‘Ahem! He is clearly being framed, framed! Someone is clearly scheming because such a precious person like his highness is being loved by our Empire as well.’
‘Is it?’
‘Did you not hear about the Count’s House of Andresy that was crushed? They’ve been throwing babies away for generations!’
‘Oh my! How could anybody who calls themselves human do such a thing?’
She had been riding her beloved steed back and forth from the Count’s Estate to the Imperial Palace instead of riding a carriage.
She purposely rode down streets with tea houses or restaurants.
The weather was so cold that her nose was freezing but it was important to scope out the thoughts of the people during such a time.
Her responsibilities were heavy since her direct superior, Captain Hervé, was not present.
‘They supposedly cast out their illegitimate children for being dirty, but apparently they were throwing away direct descendants as well if they were ill. His Royal Highness and his friends were the ones who caught them!’
‘And his highness is one of those friends?’
‘That’s right! Use your head. The young master of such a family called out his highness's name and dared to attack his Royal Highness? Why would he do something like that?’
The Vice Captain of the Imperial Guard walked down the hallway of the Empress Palace as she suddenly had a thought.
A portion of the nobles thought that the commoners were stupider and lacking compared to them.
But that was not the truth.
There were smart and lacking people no matter where you went. It was not only based on the differences of status.
‘You heard about the other thing too, right? Don’t you remember how the Haas merchant guild leader was sent to prison? He was using art to scam people. It was a big issue because they are the largest merchant guild in the west.’
‘His highness did that as well?’
‘He did! Have you been fooled your whole life or something?!’
The people of Riester were the type to follow the opinions of the wise.
They were quite exemplary like that.
‘I don’t know about any of the other things, but... I personally saw his highness on the eve of his Royal Highness's succession confirmation ceremony. He had purple eyes, blonde hair, and he was as beautiful as an angel. He was flying in the sky with a wing! Would an evil person be able to pull off something like that?’
‘Purple eyes? I want to see them for myself too.’
‘It is clearly a sign that he is a descendant of the Almighty God. The eyes are the window to the soul. Do you remember reading that in the scriptures?’
‘Oi, this smart guy even reads the scriptures!’
‘Wahahaha!’ Loud laughter burst out. Élisabeth fell into a short moment of thought.
Sadie, his highness, Christelle, and their friends... The things they had done together, the proper path they had walked......
She was happy to see that trying their best to handle all these things had resulted in the trust and affection of the people.
- Step, step, step.
“......”
However, the scheme was not over yet. The swordswoman firmed her resolve to not falter.
Gerrit and priest Sand had gathered all of the pamphlets spouting nonsense, but it was scary to think about what would have happened if those pamphlets were left for the people to read.
Duke Sarnez had not tried to spread those pamphlets again despite knowing that they had not done their job the first time.
He was probably protecting himself after learning that the pamphlet had ended up in her Majesty’s hands.
Élisabeth had planted Imperial Guards dressed as commoners in Claire Plaza, but nothing had happened.
But the evidence will soon be gathered. No, it had to be that way.
There was only one day left in the week that her Majesty had given to the Marquis’s House of Duhem.
“Excuse me.”
The attendant who had been following her called out to her. The young Countess turned around.
This was the problematic woman, Jeanette, the one who assisted the Chief of Staff with the accounting in the Imperial Palace.
Christelle had believed this woman to be the person her father was cheating with until recently.
“Vice Captain, would you happen to know why her Eminence called for me? The Chief of Staff’s office has been in quite the disarray lately......”
The woman asked in an anxious voice.
At first glance, it seemed as if she was tense because she had no idea about the intentions of her superiors.
Élisabeth answered warmly.
“I think she wishes to look over the budget for her Majesty’s birthday and the celebration that is happening next month.”
“Ah. I see.”
Color returned to the woman’s face.
The young Countess smiled and looked forward with a gruff look on her face again.
They soon arrived at the Cardinal's office. Her attendant, Natalie, announced their arrival and opened the door.
- Click.
“Your Eminence.”
“Welcome, Élisabeth. Take some refreshments with you.”
“Thank you very much.”
“Your poor cheeks look so thin.”
She heard the Cardinal’s uniquely gentle voice.
Jeanette let out a deep sigh of relief and walked into the office. The air around the Imperial Palace had been quite odd these days.
Of course, it wasn’t as scary as during the attempted assassination of Prince Jesse, and it wasn’t as tense as before crown princess Elise had visited.
However, it felt oddly bleak and ominous. The terrorist incident only added to the anxiety.
The woman was tense that her crimes would be found out.
“You are Laura’s accounting clerk. I just have a few things I am curious about.”
“Please ask anything you wish to know, your Eminence.”
“Okay. It’s nothing serious.”
But thankfully, that did not seem to be the case.
The palace must feel gloomy because of the weather.
Jeanette bowed politely and waited for the Cardinal to speak.
“Were you the one who leaked the Prince's expenses to Simon?”
She got chills. She urgently raised her head.
The beige eyes seated on the higher seat were looking right at her.
The person's lips and eyes were smiling, but no emotions could be felt from the complete expression.
Click. She heard the door lock behind her. Jeanette opened and closed her mouth without saying anything.
“I, I don't know w, what you are talking about, your Eminence......”
"Everybody always starts like this. I did say I will take care of it, but it is a bit boring.”
“Your Eminence. I-”
- Paaaaa......!
A bright light, a holy golden circle, wrapped around her.
Jeanette's limbs started to shake as if she was ill.
Élisabeth watched the woman as if she was familiar with this sight and chewed on her apple mille-feuille.
[Stay still. Not that you have anywhere to run.]
It was a terrible sensation. Her legs stopped moving the moment the Divine Oracle was given.
An instinctual fear stuck deep down into her lungs.
The woman gasped and looked up at the Cardinal.
[I will ask one more time. Were you the one who leaked the Prince's expenses to Simon?]
“......Yes, yes. Yes, your Eminence! It was me! Gasp, but it was because the Duke ordered me to do so. I didn’t know about anything!”
Her voice was cracking as she urgently replied.
She might be leaving the palace as a corpse today.
Such fear drove the woman to lunacy.
[I see. Then here is my next question.]
“Yes, your Eminence! I will answer any question you may have. As long as you let me live-”
[Are you a spy of the Holy Kingdom?]
‘My goodness.’
“N, no your Eminence! Absolutely not! I, I may carry a heavy sin but I would never dare to dream of betraying her Majesty and the Empire......”
‘Eek.’ Jeanette stopped talking and clenched her head with both hands.
A tsunami-like pain filled her mind.
“......Aaah! Aaaaaaah!”
The woman fell to the ground, curled up, and screamed.
Her brain felt like it was burning before it became so cold she felt as if her brain had fallen into ice water.
It became extremely heavy before it hurt as if it was splitting into two.
She felt like it might be better to just die.
It hurt so much that she was sobbing. She could barely make out the appearance of the Cardinal.
“Ah ah! It hurts......! Please save me! Aaah!”
[You have been brainwashed.]
An expression appeared on her face for the first time. It was pity.
