The festival was held by the pinnacle of the Demon Realm, the Six Kings…… Information about the Six Kings Festival, along with the invitations, quickly spread around the words. especially among the nobles and wealthy merchants.
An invitation from the Six Kings. It could already be described as a kind of status, especially for those who held a high-ranking invitation, as they could even improve the status of the recipient.
Hence, many nobles and wealthy merchants were very busy these days.
And the royalty was no exception for this.
In a room in the royal palace of the Symphonia Kingdom, Ryze, the current King of Symphonia, held an envelope in his hand with a very tense expression on his face. Grasping a paper knife as if he was praying to someone, his shaking hands cut the seal off the envelope.
Although Ryze had reconciled with Kaito, he still didn’t know how the Six Kings currently evaluated him.
Hence, he was still somewhat holding inferior thoughts while within his own royal palace, and this invitation was a chance for him to restore his honor, but at the same time, this invitation could also be a one-way ticket to hell.
If he didn’t receive at least an invitation from the Underworld King and the World King, his position within the royal castle would become increasingly difficult.
Praying that he would somehow be ranked bronze or higher, Ryze took out the invitation…… and let out a sigh of relief so loud that everyone around him could have heard him,
The invitation that Ryze received is glimmering with a beautiful golden hue…… that means that he has a Gold rank, and that means that his honor as a King is safe.
No, on the contrary, having this Gold rank allows him to join the party on the final day, which was more than enough to restore his honor.
When Ryze opened the invitation, it listed the names of the Underworld King, Death King, World King, and the Phantasmal King, and noted that he had received an invitation from four of the Six Kings.
Ryze is relieved to have received an invitation from the Underworld King, which was one of his biggest concerns, but soon afterwards, he found that there’s something else in the envelope…… a message card.
[Hmm? This is……]
The message only had the words “I heard you gave Kaito some advice. Thank you” written in it in clean handwriting, and at the bottom of the note, it was signed with the name of the Death King, Isis Remnant.
It was actually something that Ryze himself didn’t know, but his advice to Kaito was well known, as Kaito himself had told Kuromueina and Isis that he was grateful to Ryze.
And for the girls, it was a fine play on his part that even warrants a standing ovation, and thus, his reputation had explosively risen.
He’s currently already on the level where if he sends out an invitation to Kuromueina for an evening party and other events, Kuromueina will also participate.
Granted, Ryze only seriously advised Kaito because he thought Kaito was consulting about his sister, Lilia, and achieving this result wasn’t his intention at all but…… No, you could say that it was exactly because he thought that it was for his sister, and that must be why he was able to give advice that isn’t for his own interest at all.
Anyway, King Ryze of Symphonia was able to successfully recover his evaluation from the eyes of the Six Kings.
In the royal castle of the Archlesia Empire, Emperor Chris, who had received her invitation just like Ryze, opened the envelope with a serious expression on her face,
[……Oya? Gold rank huh…… I thought I would have a Silver rank……]
Seeing that the rank of her invitation wasn’t quite what she expected, Chris tilted her head, but receiving a rank higher than she expected is of no inconvenience and actually something that she should be grateful about, so she just opened her invitation.
Thereupon, she saw the names of the Underworld King, Dragon King, War King and the Phantasmal King written there, and Chris tilted her head again.
[……Phantasmal King-sama? Hmmm? I think I’ve barely spoken to Phantasmal King-sama though……]
As for the other members of the Six Kings that had sent her invitation, Chris had somewhat expected them.
Chris is one of “Kuromueina’s baby birds” so she expected Kuromueina’s invitation. The Archlesia Empire has a close relationship with the Dragon King, Magnawell, so she also expected his invitation. Chris also had a certain amount of familiarity with one of the Six Kings, so she was thinking that she may receive Megiddo’s invitation…… So far, the invitation came from the people Chris was supposed to have interacted with.
However, she didn’t understand why the name of the Phantasmal King, No Face was also written there. Of course, she has seen her at the Festival of Heroes and some other events, but she rarely had a direct conversation with that mysterious being.
That’s also the same case for the World King, Lillywood.
[……Unnn? There’s something more? A message card?]
On the message card in the envelope…… written on it was “Dinner was delicious. From Kaito-san’s gorgeous guard.” and seeing that, Chris’s expression stiffened.
[……Miyama-sama’s guard? ……C- Could it be, Alice-sama…… is the Phantasmal King?]
That’s when she realized that the masked girl who was with Kaito when he visited the castle…… Alice was the Phantasmal King, No Face.
After that thought surfaced within her mind, she looked shaken, which is very unusual for her, and a great amount of sweat poured out of her face.
[……Alice-sama is the Phantasmal King-sama…… That means…… Even that time when I received information that Miyama-sama was sighted in the monster racetrack……]
That day, Chris received information that Kaito had come to the Archlesia Empire and that’s why she invited Kaito to the royal castle…… But thinking about it again, to receive such information was too convenient for her.
A subordinate who had attended the Sacred Tree Festival had informed her that she had seen Kaito, whose face was barely known to the public at that point, at the monster racetrack, and that was a really convenient coincidence.
[……Could it be that the information was sent by the Phantasmal King…… For those powerful nobles, who were vehemently opposed to inviting Miyama-sama as a state guest, to not make any particular movements after that…… And even those people who just want to watch over Miyama-sama……]
Chris shuddered. It was because she was thinking about how Alice had figured out and controlled all of her thoughts once she acquired such information about Kaito, and what method she would use if she was opposed by the nobles.
[……N- No, I guess I was just thinking too much. Even if she does that, the benefit to Phantasmal King-sam is just…… could it be…… There’s something hidden within it? If she has read through my actions and thoughts…… Did she deliberately do it to search for the powerful nobles who would try opposing Miyama-sama?]
When Chris tries to welcome him as a state guest, and if any nobles speak in opposition…… And from those antagonistic nobles, search for the nobles on their side and monitor their every move.
Thinking about that, that explains the deliberately aggravating statements she said to Chris at that time.
[…….In other words, she was also testing me. While acting as if she was cooperating with my plan, she repeatedly said and did things that were provoking me. That means that her interactions with me…… If I had made a mistake in judgment and turned against Miyama-sama…… Perhaps, I would have been……]
Chris’ predictions were undoubtedly correct. That’s why cold sweat ran down her back.
Chris only tried to proceed in the direction of not antagonizing Kaito at that time, but if she had given priority to the opinions of the powerful nobles, if the situation had resulted in any harm to Kaito……
[Well, I’ll be damned…… Should I say that this is to be expected from Phantasmal King-sama……. How frightening. I’m completely running around the palm of her hand…… As I thought, that person really is the most frightening in the world for me. Moreover, the -people that Phantasmal King-sama had in control are all irreplaceable for me…… There’s nothing I can do to stop her.]
Chris doesn’t know if the great nobles and her subordinates are under the Phantasmal King’s command, or if they were just requested to do so.
No, even if they were under the Phantasmal King’s command and the great nobles carelessly made their move and started a civil war, even if she were to dismiss her subordinates, Phantasmal King’s other subordinates would undoubtedly be in the castle.
If that’s the case, for Chris, pursuing this matter would only result in the loss of excellent personnel, and there’s even a chance that making this move might incite the Phantasmal King’s displeasure.
[Well, I guess I think of this as me being lucky to have a bit of recognition from Phantasmal King-sama…… Haahhh…… I really couldn’t match up to Miyama-sama.]
After muttering that with a smile, Chris keeps the invitation safely kept away before turning her gaze to the letter sent by Kaito.
Even with the way Kaito acts, he still faithfully sends back a letter back to her, making their exchange in letters last for a reasonable amount of time.
[……Speaking of which, Miyama-sama would obviously be at the Six Kings Festival…… Fumu. I’m not really fond of wearing clothes like that, but I guess I’ll wear feminine clothes once in a while.]
<Afterword>
Ahhh…… I can’t do this anymore…… Writing two stories in a row that aren’t sweet…… I’m having withdrawal symptoms…… I’ll definitely write a sweet story next time.
Senior-senpai: [Why are you not giving up on that part!? Why!!!?]
T/N: 5/146