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“Are you stupid–!?”
Gustav’s booming voice echoed in the backyard of Hannah’s Orphanage; he was scolding a petite woman sitting in seiza. However, unlike most orphanages, this one didn’t have a flower bed decorating it’s backyard. Apart from the chicken house, this place was mostly a vegetable plantation.
“–How, in God’s name, did you think it’d be a good idea to send me that letter!? And why open a bakery!? You’re the former contractor of the Lady of the Lake! The Emperor would’ve employed you, if you asked him! That’s not how a 35 year old behaves!”
“You know, it’s considered rude to mention a lady’s age, besides, the letter mentioned that I wanted to see you again. You just misinterpreted it.” – Said Chris, with a pout, as she turned her face to look to the side.
“I misinterpreted it!? That thing can only be read as a suicide note, and I misinterpreted it!? Are you sure about that, my dear sister!?”
Because of what he did to Leonora, Gustav couldn’t help but feel more and more guilty every time he spoke with his sister, after all, as soon as he returned from that forest, he received a letter from the same orphanage that she mentioned, saying that Chris would like to meet him on his next day off.
Well, Gustav still had to send a lot of reports about what happened on the field trip to the higher ups, so it wasn’t until five days later that he finally departed to Richard.
On his way there though, Gustav couldn’t help but wonder why would his sister fake her own death. Maybe she was being targeted by some dangerous people, or maybe the citizens were still after her head. Anyway, he couldn’t stop his mind from speculating about the real reason she disappeared.
However, as soon as he arrived at the orphanage, Gustav had a feeling that his wild speculations were definitively wrong, after all, he saw Chris chatting leisurely with the kids in front of the place, while holding a basket full of bread, like nothing happened.
After that surprising reunion, Chris brought him to the backyard of the orphanage, where they talked about everything that happened so far… and the result of doing that was an angry Gustav.
“I-I’m sorry… that won’t happen again.” – Said Chris, in an apologetic tone.
“Haaah∼, I can’t believe that I was worried for nothing… . ”
Gustav was exhausted. And he also had a headache from screaming too much. Honestly, he felt like an idiot for worrying about nothing… but not knowing anything was even worse. Thankfully, those painful days were finally over. Chris was okay. She wasn’t being persecuted, and that’s all that mattered to Gustav, so he kneeled on the ground as well and gave her a tight hug.
“Ugh…! Hey, don’t forget you have a big body…! You’re suffocating me…!”
“This is your fault, so you’ll have to deal with it until I’m done… . ” – Said Gustav, as he rested his head on her shoulder.
Because he was raised in a brotherhood-like environment, Gustav’s sense of distance disappeared along the years, which meant he would often get touchy feely with pretty much anyone. Thankfully though, Chris was his sister, so she didn’t fall victim of his charms, like every other girl. ( Tl/n: I see… so he’s a natural womanizer.)
“Geez, you and that bad habit… you’re lucky that I’m your sister. Haaah∼, now I kinda feel bad for the girls of that magic academy… . ”
When Gustav heard that, he remembered all the bad things he did to Leonora. At the time, he held a grudge against her because he thought she killed his sister, but after hearing what really happened from Chris herself, Gustav felt even more guilty for treating Leonora like that… and that obviously showed on his face.
So, after noticing that her little brother was making a bitter face, Chris decided to ask if he was okay, which Gustav answered with a long sigh, before confessing everything he did to Leonora, the Altruistic Saintess.
“No way! I can’t believe you did that to Leo-chan, of all people!” – Said Chris, in an angry tone.
“Ugh…!”
Gustav was sweating cold. He thought Chris would understand his side of the story, but, contrary to his expectations, she became really mad.
“You blamed me for not acting like someone my age, but you’re more inconsequential than a child! I noticed that she was a good girl on the first day I met her! So how could you turn a blind eye to her good deeds, just for some petty revenge! I should be the one scolding you, not the other way around!”
Chris’s remarks were harsher than Natalia’s, but she was right. Considering the fact that he was an aspiring sage, Gustav indeed acted a bit immature. However, he didn’t want to hear that from her, of all people.
“In the first place, that only happened because of the misunderstanding that you created, so cut me some slack, okay? I know I did something wrong… you don’t have to repeat something that I already know… . ” – Said Gustav, in an grumpy tone.
Anyone would’ve complied with Gustav’s demand after hearing his annoyed voice, after all, he was the strongest knight of the Empire. But, to Chris, he’d always be just her little brother, so instead of backing down, she pressed the matter even further.
“Oh, really!? So it’s my fault now!? For the love of god, Gustav, can’t you see that this is a serious matter!? If word of what you did get’s out, you could even lose your position as a holy knight! So think before you do something stupid, you muscle head!”
“Ugh…!”
Gustav was proud of being a Holy Knight, so when he heard that he could’ve lost his title, it was like he had received a critical hit. He was a bit upset at first, when he learned that Chris dropped everything to start over as a baker… but that was her choice… which is something that he wouldn’t have, if someone ever found out about what he did.
After realizing that what she said just made her little brother feel even more depressed than he initially was, Chris took a deep breath to calm down… then she looked at the blue sky, and said–
“–You know, being a baker isn’t really that bad… it’s actually kinda refreshing–”
“Huh…?”
“–You see, before that whole incident with Harlet even happened, I could already feel that the spirits were losing a significant amount of power with each passing day… but I couldn’t do anything to stop it from happening. It reached a point were I couldn’t even wield Carnelian’s full power without straining her… so I gave up. I was already getting tired of that monotonous life anyway–”
Spirits are prideful and magnificent beings, with strict preferences that don’t change with the passing of time. But humans aren’t like that. They change all the time, and each century is different than the other… which is why Chris chose to dissolve her contract with Carnelian and hand her to someone else… because she changed.
“–Besides, no one really knows if we’ll die tomorrow, or the day after… that’s something completely out of our reach–”
After having a final look at the blue sky, Chris let out a happy chuckle, before lowering her gaze to look at Gustav; there was big smile plastered on her face.
“–Which is why I decided to follow my dreams and open my own bakery.”
Gustav knew how eccentric the spirits could be, and how exhausting it was to serve them, so he couldn’t really say anything back to Chris, after all, that’s why he never made a real contract with his Fire Spirit.
“Haaah∼, now I kinda feel sorry for Princess Bianca… . ” – Said Gustav, in a low tone.
Just imagining the things that the little princess would have to go through from now on, because of Carnelian, was enough to give him a headache.
“Huh? Why would you have to feel sorry for the princess…? Did something happen…?”
“Oh, right, I forgot to tell you… the thing is-”
Gustav then told Chris everything that happened on these past few day, and after hearing everything, she was quite surprised.
“Oh, my…! So that’s why Leo-chan wanted to know her name, huh? As expected of her, she indeed deserves that title. And whats more, to think the First Princess was a Child Loved by the Spirits!”
“Right? I was quite surprised as well. But that’s not everything, you know? The magic crest that the prince created is actually really amazing. It creates a full cycle of prayers that benefit both us humans and the spirits-”
With Albert’s help, the Bernstein company, and some other students of the top classes, began mass producing a lot of smaller magic crests that connected with the one at the bottom of Carnelian’s lake. Thanks to that, now even the poor people had easy access to clean water, which became gratitude to the ones who saved them, after all, they didn’t need to drink dirt water and risk getting an infectious disease anymore.
Without a doubt, that was a beautiful story with a happy ending, however, instead of being happy for everything that happened, Chris was making a troubled expression.
“That’s wonderful news, but… is it really okay for the Crown Prince to do something like that? What about the opposition? If even the poor people can afford clean water, then I’m sure that there must be some who are against it… . ”
“Well, the Spirit Faith has no intention of opposing him, since he’s not exploiting the spirits, or anything like that… but the nobles, on the other hand… . ”
Albert wasn’t using that infinite supply of water to earn money, he was using it to help the poor people of his country, so it was just a matter of time before a greedy noble tried to take that water business away from him, after all, that thing could be a powerful weapon in the right hands.
Well, some nobles would probably band together to complain that Albert didn’t know how to use all that power, so the Emperor would be forced to do something about his son, which meant that Gustav would have to intervene, otherwise, that’d hinder his plan to make Leonora the next Empress.
However, while Gustav was lost in thought—
“Hey, Gustav—”
—Chris called out to him in a sweet tone; she had a kind smile plastered on her face.
“—I just noticed something really important…… you let a child clean your mess again, didn’t you?” ( Tl/n: I think she’s talking about the water problem. Not sure.)
When Gustav heard that, he started trembling. That sweet tone, coupled with that smile, could only mean one thing… his sister was angry.
When you take a shit, you have to wipe your own ass. But you guys didn’t do that. Instead, you blamed an innocent girl who wiped it for you.
For some reason, Gustav could hear Natalia’s voice echoing his head… but that only made him tremble even more. Aside from his sister, she was the only girl who ever made him feel the grasps of death tightening around his neck. In a way, you could even say that she had left as much of a strong impression on him as Leonora did… but not a pleasant one.
“H-hey, hmm… w-we can talk this out like civilized people… .
“Uh-uh… bad kids must be punished… . ” – Said Chris, with a smile, as she watched her little brother tremble in fear.