Children of the Holy Emperor

129. The Oracle (3)

The leader of Arenja had indeed said to meet the saintess, but he never specified who she was.

But who would have thought that two saintesses would visit Seongjin at the same time?

“Look, I knew this would happen. I had a feeling something like this was coming.”

The Demon King boasted for the first time in a while.

[How about it? Behold my foresight! Things that are bound to happen, do happen, after all.]

“Yeah, right. That’s interesting.”

Seongjin observed the doll-like little girl and Seo Yi-seo, who was closely following her, growling and guarding against everyone.

Anyway, having a conversation was also what he wanted. Seongjin nodded agreeably and said,

“Alright, let’s go inside. Shall we have some tea together?”

But no sooner had he spoken,

“Be careful, Princess Sisle! This man is the worst time bomb, pretending to be the best gentleman!”

“……?”

So, what has this woman been doing all this time?

“You say I carry something strange, but what you have is quite formidable too.”

“…Um, Orabeoni (elder brother). It’s complicated to explain, but there are some intricate matters here.”

A rare look of contemplation appeared on the poker-faced Sisle’s face.

The three of them sat facing each other in the Pearl Palace reception room.

Again, Seo Yi-seo clung tightly to the hem of Sisle’s dress and sat close to the girl. She began to be wary of everything around her.

She was wary of Seongjin, the sofa, the cookies on the snack table, and even Bruno, the commander serving tea… Wait, Commander Bruno?

“What are you doing here?”

Seongjin looked up in disbelief at the manager neatly filling the tea cups, and Bruno cleared his throat.

“I happened to see this maid dragging a tea tray into the reception room! If I had been a bit later, it could have been a real disaster, Your Highness.”

He looked proud as if he had preempted some grand conspiracy.

Sure enough, behind the commander, Edith was seen sweating and avoiding eye contact.

“Thank you, Commander.”

When Seongjin sincerely expressed his gratitude, Commander Bruno lightly tugged at his mustache and replied,

“It’s nothing. I’m just fulfilling my duty to assist Your Highness.”

Ignoring Edith’s resentful gaze, Seongjin gulped down his tea.

Ah, indeed. As expected from someone who prides himself on his tea knowledge. The taste is on par with Louis’s Melbourne tea.

In this manner, Seongjin and Sisle quietly sipped their tea for a while.

“Actually, there’s a serious matter I want to discuss with you, brother.”

After some time had passed, Sisle, placing her teacup down on the table, finally spoke.

“A serious matter?”

“Yes.”

After broaching the subject and pondering for a moment, Sisle, as if having made up her mind, looked straight at Seongjin and continued.

“It’s a significant issue involving you, me, and Miss Seo Yi-seo.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Before I tell you, there’s something you should know in advance. It might be hard to believe, but Miss Seo Yi-seo here is no ordinary person.”

Seongjin nodded seriously.

That makes sense. An ordinary person wouldn’t have a staring contest with an innocent teacup like that.

“Miss Seo Yi-seo isn’t from this world. She’s a dimensional traveler who crossed over from another dimension to this place.”

“Oh, really?”

That’s quite believable. She actually is a human from the Regular World.

But, interpreting Seongjin’s nonchalant attitude in her own way, Sisle added with a slightly anxious voice.

“It’s true, brother.”

“I know, I know. But how did you come to know about it?”

“…….”

At Seongjin’s question, Sisle’s eyes widened in surprise. Following suit, a startled Seo Yi-seo quickly turned to Seongjin and exclaimed,

“See, Sisle-nim! What did I tell you? There’s something suspicious about this man! He might even be the second mastermind, you know?”

Mastermind, really? What do they take me for!

I’m just a benign spirit who accidentally possessed a body in this world.

[Mastermind… Right. So that’s what it was! There was a reason behind this damn personality after all!]

‘No, what’s this Demon King convincing himself of now?’

“Really, it’s dangerous! Shouldn’t we reconsider involving this person, Sisle-nim?”

“Who are you to talk? Who’s the one casting strange spells to charm people?”

“What? How do you know about the [Minor Command]? Writer Lee said ordinary people can’t sense it.”

“And who is this Writer Lee?”

“Why are you trying to extract information from me? Before, you were unnecessarily making a fuss about a perfectly fine blueprint, and now you’re suspicious too!”

Due to Seo Yi-seo’s constant nitpicking, it took some time for Sisle to finish explaining to Seongjin.

And the facts she revealed were quite astonishing.

This world was actually a world within a book, and Seongjin and Sisle were characters from that book. Moreover, Seo Yi-seo was a dimensional traveler summoned from another dimension through the book’s author.

“…This is a world within a book?”

Seongjin asked, finding the explanation somewhat unbelievable.

[How could that be?]

The Demon King also seemed puzzled.

[A world created solely from the contents of a book isn’t impossible, but such a place would naturally be a world of imagination. However, this place is unmistakably the Main World!]

The Main World could be the basis for imagination, but it wasn’t something that could be recreated through it. Could there be some misunderstanding?

Seongjin tilted his head, but it was clear that Sisle firmly believed this place to be a world within a book.

“In fact, when I was young, I read the novel Seo Yi-seo mentioned. Since then, I’ve had lingering doubts that this world might be the one from the book.”

Sisle continued, her eyes settled and somber.

“But I couldn’t be completely sure until recently, when Seo Yi-seo, the protagonist of the book, actually appeared. Sharing various information with her made me certain that it was true.”

“Well, let’s assume that’s the case for now. But, you know…”

Seongjin glanced at Seo Yi-seo, who was perched on the back of the sofa hissing, and then asked Sisle again for confirmation.

“Is she really the protagonist?”

“Um…”

Sisle seemed at a loss for words to that question.

Who would have known? The new saintess destined to bring about his doom turned out to be someone with such a severe distrust of people.

In fact, Sisle’s visit to the Pearl Palace with Seo Yi-seo had its complications. When she arrived at St. Sebastian’s Church in the morning, she found Seo Yi-seo causing a commotion over a bunch of letters that had been delivered to her.

All these were nothing but swift moves by the influential people of the Imperial City to impress the new saintess.

“These suspicious invitations, what are they all about? Throw them all away!”

“But, Your Holiness, you should at least look at this one. Cardinal Diggory is the head of the administration. He must want to meet you personally to offer his assistance in various matters.”

Sister Electra, newly assigned to assist her, tried to calm her down, but Seo Yi-seo was adamant.

“They invite me with pure goodwill? Even if I had no value to them, would they make such offers? I find it all suspicious! I won’t meet anyone who suddenly sends me an invitation like this!”

Then, she eventually started hissing at the tray piled high with letters.

“Shaaa!”

Is this really the main heroine consecrated as a saintess, or just a stray cat picked up from somewhere?

“Ah! Sisle-nim!”

Noticing Sisle, Seo Yi-seo’s face lit up, and she quickly ran over and clung to her.

“You’re the only one I can trust now, Sisle-nim! From now on, I’ll protect you!”

Refusing to leave her side, Seo Yi-seo ended up accompanying Sisle all the way to the Pearl Palace.

“So, what’s this serious issue involving you and me?”

“Yes. Don’t be shocked, brother. According to the book, a great crisis is approaching this world soon. Powerful high-ranking demon lords will descend, Delcross will lose the blessing of the Supreme God and fall into ruin, and a terrible calamity will finally befall this world.”

“Uh…”

Surprisingly, this information was not new to Seongjin.

At Seongjin’s composed reaction, Seo Yi-seo frowned and exclaimed,

“See! He already knew all about it, this mastermind!”

…What exactly is the problem with her?

“Anyway, Miss Seo Yi-seo is here to save the world from that crisis. A storyteller who travels between dimensions, the writer of this book, came to her and asked her to become a saintess and save the world. He said he’s a storyteller of dimensions, destined to become a great ruler, the king of stories one day.”

[What? A storyteller of dimensions?]

The Demon King exclaimed in surprise.

Could it be Sigurd Sigurdson? The self-proclaimed Dream Demon King, who wanders through a thousand dreams and speaks with a thousand voices.

As I was blankly looking at Sisle, Seo Yi-seo asked with suspicion,

“Don’t tell me, you already knew about him?”

“Well, not exactly ‘know,’ but there is someone I’m slightly suspicious of…”

At that response, Seo Yi-seo clung to Sisle in shock.

“Wow! I’m really scared of him now, Sisle-nim!”

What is she talking about?

As I stared in disbelief, she pointed at me, trembling,

“Writer Lee said so! If you mess with him, it’ll be trouble! He could be the greatest benefactor who bestows everything in this world, but if you step on his toes even slightly, he could become the worst disaster that destroys everything!”

…Was I such a variable character in the story?

While Seo Yi-seo’s gestures swayed back and forth, Sisle let out a small sigh.

“Anyway, that writer is said to have different bodies, traveling between dimensions. He has an avatar here in Delcross Imperial City, but sadly, Miss Seo Yi-seo doesn’t know his true identity. He’s carefully hidden his appearance.”

Sisle looked at me and continued seriously,

“But the book I read had some clues that might hint at his identity.”

This feels like the main point now.

“And my guess is, the writer’s avatar might be Prince Riccardo Scarcepino, brother.”

“……!”

“Your friend.”

…So this was why the leader of Arenja insisted I talk to the saintess first!

***

Sisle stayed in the Pearl Palace almost until lunchtime, conversing with Seongjin.

Returning to St. Sebastian’s Church somewhat weary, Sister Ursula was waiting for her with a small box.

“Sister Sisle! A gift has arrived from Prince Owen.”

“A gift?”

Oh, that’s right. A letter came from dear brother recently.

—”I’ll send a gift to father and you soon.”

Sisle, curious and excited, opened the box.

But what popped out of the box was a small, pink piece of cloth, its purpose unclear. It was slightly longer than a palm, adorned with peculiar embroidery, and had an elastic band attached to the back.

…What is this?

Sister Ursula, who had been observing the gift with curious eyes, suddenly cringed and exclaimed,

“Ugh, what is this? It looks like some kind of underwear. How scandalous!”

“Could it be……”

Did Prince Owen really send something like this after such a long time?

As Sisle was tilting her head in confusion, Seo Yi-seo peered over and remarked,

“Huh? This is a sleep mask, isn’t it? It’s incredibly cute, but seems a bit out of place for our times, doesn’t it?”

“A sleep mask?”

“Yes, you wear it over your eyes to sleep comfortably.”

Wow, it’s shaped like a bunny! Absolutely adorable!

As Seo Yi-seo kept admiring the mask, Sister Ursula, who had mistaken it for underwear, awkwardly averted her eyes.

But then, as Seo Yi-seo was inspecting the mask, her eyes suddenly widened in astonishment and she blurted out,

“Wait? What? There’s item information appearing here?”

“Information?”

“Yes, I’m sure of it. This is an item from our world, Sisle-nim!”

Seo Yi-seo then gently caressed the mask, seemingly reading something invisible in the air.

“…Pangea Chronicle?”