“Oh my... Really... There was a real key. It was a real key.”
Liene rubbed her eyes as if she couldn’t believe it even though she saw it with her own eyes.
Madam Flambard couldn’t keep her mouth shut either.
“How wonderful. This is really... This, this little key alone can...”
It was worthy of the word power.
The weight of this lump of iron in her palm was light but at the same time incredibly heavy.
“Then now I have to find a keyhole that fits this key.”
She found the key, but it wasn’t over yet.
“It’s late at night, but do you want to look for it?”
Klima and Madam Flambard agreed.
“Of course. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep at all.”
“Me, me too... Oh, I’ll go and get my mother too. I’m sure she’ll be happy to help.”
Klima moved quickly, unusual for someone who was injured, and brought Mrs. Henton.
After a while, the group of four, including Mrs. Henton, moved to the King’s Gallery.
“This must be the beginning.”
Liene was certain.
The location and foundation of the Nauk Castle were all related to the water-drawing device.
The maze behind the waterfall, which only the Gainers’ bloodlines knew about, was the same. The maze was connected to the device, and the entrance to the maze was in the King’s Gallery.
“It’s a little strange. This room is too small to be called a room, and its purpose is unknown. So it must have been built for a reason.”
Since it was the biggest secret of the Gainers royal family, it was natural that it was located near the King’s bedroom. Like a secret passed down only by word of mouth, it was designed so that no one other than the King could access it.
“Can we touch something like that first? It originally had a separate owner.”
Mrs. Henton was delighted at the news that the water could be returned but calmly expressed her concern.
“Since it’s Gainers’s property, it has to be Gainers’ bloodline.”
“Madam, that’s right.”
Liene felt the same way.
But Black wouldn’t. He had already given up the power that Gainers had monopolized.
He was the one who said that everything happened because he monopolized that power.
“Water is something that everyone needs. It shouldn’t be something that one person can have. Lord Tiwakan... That’s what Prince Fernand said.”
Liene swept the restored key for a moment.
If she were that man.
Would he have thought the same?
...He would have. There had never been a time when she was more certain that Black’s decision was right. The water had to come back as soon as possible.
“That’s why I’m sure he’d be happy if we found it ourselves.”
Madam Flambard nodded.
“Let’s just find it quickly. Now that I know what it is, I can’t wait a moment longer.”
Liene concluded.
“Let’s do that. Instead of telling Lord Tiwakan that we’re looking for it, let’s tell him that we found it.”
“What do we need to find?”
Liene held out the key so that he could see it clearly.
“A hole or lock that this key can fit into.”
Klima had already started to move. She lifted her heels and looked at the wall as if she was determined to inspect this small room.
Everyone followed Klima’s lead. They stood on chairs to inspect places that their eyes couldn’t reach and sat down on the floor to inspect places lower than their knees.
Later, their heads hurt and their shoulders ached, but they were all so enthusiastic that they didn’t even realize how tired they were.
It was past midnight.
And Werose joined them, agreeing that there should be more people.
Everyone was getting a little tired. Masa. Flambard rolled up her sleeves, saying she was sweating.
Klima’s face turned dark as he looked through the passage in the fireplace several times.
“Strange... Wasn’t this the place?”
“Oh my... It’s hard enough just to look through this small room, so you’re saying we have to look through the entire castle?”
“If not this room, then where? I thought it was this room.”
Liene sat down on the floor and stared at the empty walls.
Then suddenly an idea occurred to her.
“Oh, wait... This room was called the King’s Gallery, right?”
“That’s right.”
“So you’re saying there used to be a lot of paintings hanging in this room?”
“That’s right... No, it definitely was. I remember that too. But what about the paintings?”
“If there’s a keyhole on the wall, it’s probably covered up with a painting, right?”
If the reason why they made a room called a gallery and hung many paintings on the wall was to hide the hole, then Liene jumped up and stood on the opposite wall where the round fireplace with the secret passage was hidden.
“If I remember correctly, the largest painting was here.”
Madame Flambard, who had followed Liene hurriedly, nodded.
“...That’s right. Yes, that’s right. I used to dust off that frame. The frame was so tall that I had to use a step.”
Liene stood in front of the wall and spread her arms.
“Is the painting this big?”
“It might have been a little bigger. It wasn’t smaller.”
“Then the painting would have been the size of a door. Big enough for a grown man to pass through.”
“Ah...?”
Liene felt the wall. Klima, who realized what she was trying to do, quickly came over and did the same.
“Hey, here...! Princess!”
The wall after the painting was removed was ugly. The marks from the frame were clear, so it had to be repainted.
The paintings disappeared from this room when she was very young when her father was still alive.
At that time, she probably didn’t sell them because she didn’t have money. She probably had to get rid of them because they were related to the Gainers' royal family. And she wiped away every trace left on the wall as if they had never been there.
So the place where the key should go was probably no longer visible.
“Here!”
An excited Klima immediately grabbed Liene’s hand and placed it on the spot he had pointed to earlier.
Liene could tell.
There was a faint clicking sound in her ears.
“The bricks... are moving?”
“Yes, yes!”
Klima raised his fingertips and moved the corner of the brick he had pressed down on earlier.
The new paint came off and one end of the brick was dented. When she pushed it all the way with all her strength, the brick turned halfway and revealed the keyhole hidden inside.
“This is the right place!”
“Oh my gosh! Princess!”
Madam Flambard screamed Mrs. Henton covered her mouth, and Werose turned white and couldn’t say anything.
“Open it.”
Liene was also so trembling that she couldn’t speak properly.
With trembling hands, she put the key into the hole. She turned it sideways with force, and with a click, the key turned.
“Oh my! Oh my!”
The key wasn’t just a key. As if it were another device in itself, a part of the wall that had been covered by the painting moved slowly.
“Oh my, princess...”
Madam Flambard grabbed Liene’s hand. Her own hand was also shaking like crazy.
There was a long staircase in the space behind the wall. There were no landmarks, but it seemed like she could tell where it was going.
King Sharka was more persistent than expected, and more stupid than expected.
He sent people to rescue Princess Bliny, who had been taken hostage. And then he tried to divert attention by picking a fight with some of his troops.
Fermos, who was fully aware of the other side’s movements, sighed instead. Since he had already divided his insufficient forces into two, this was like offering up his own troops and telling them to fight individually. Anyway, he did as he was told.
The battle didn’t even last half a day, and the Sharka army completely lost their will to fight.
In Tiwakan, Princess Bliny’s long hair was cut off and sent to the Sharka army as compensation for the surprise attack. He nailed it down because it was not bleeding, as it was in the best interest of Grand Duke Alito.
The next day, the commander of the Sharka army walked in without his helmet and holding a scroll instead of a sword.
The scroll contained the ceasefire agreement and a list of agreements written by Fermos. It was different in that it had the signature and seal of King Sharka.
That evening, the border was cleared.
The Sharka army returned with the remaining men and agreed to pay the enormous war reparation demanded by Tiwakan in installments over ten years.
And the border changed.
The border was pushed back to where Yadion Bay was. The work of organizing the new border was Tiwakan’s responsibility, but the Kingdom of Sharka had to pay for it. This incident must have reduced the King’s personal wealth significantly.
Tiwakan, who had organized the border, returned to the castle.
It was around noon, and the weather was slightly cool, but the sun was shining brightly.
“Why did you do this?”
Black pursed his lips.
Black and his horse were both large, so his expression was usually invisible to people.
“We should let them know of our victory. Everyone must have been worried.”
This was a comment about the hospitality that had begun within sight of the castle.
The news of the organized border spread through Nauk faster than a bird.
The people of Nauk, who had been in turmoil due to rumors of war with the Kingdom of Sharka, came out excitedly. They wholeheartedly welcomed Tiwakan, who had come to an end without even knowing that a war had broken out.
Black was unfamiliar with Nauk, who called out the name of Lord Tiwakan at the top of his lungs while waving his hands so that his arms would fall off.
“Didn’t you expect this to happen?”
“I didn’t know you would like it this much. I guess the fear of the name Tiwakan has disappeared.”
“It will remain for those who remember the dead.”
“Well....”
Black continued forward without looking around.
Fermos scratched his head awkwardly and followed Black.
“Still, change is inevitable. Everyone must have felt relieved just by the disappearance of the tyranny of the six families. There’s no way they wouldn’t know that.”
“...Then.”
“And above all, you can see that the Princess has changed.”
They must have all seen the shadows disappear from the face of the kind and beautiful Princess they loved so much.
“Change is like a river. Once it starts, it can’t be stopped. And Nauk.”
Fermos paused and turned around for a moment. From here, it was in the direction of the Erendira Mountains, which seemed as far away as the land of the gods.
“Because it has a huge water source. If the river flows, it won’t just be a trickle, it’ll flow so fast. Nothing can stop it.”
“Maybe so... Wait.”
“Huh?”
Black’s horse suddenly charged forward. Fermos tilted his head forward, wondering what was going on, and then smiled in vain.
Randall, who had come up behind, asked.
“What’s going on? Should I chase after him?”
“There’s no need for that.”
“People seem scared?”
“I guess they’ll stop.”
“Aren’t you being too calm? If they’re Kleinfelter’s remnants or something... Oh, dear.”
Randall also learned why Black had suddenly run ahead.
“The Princess has come to greet him.”
“Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to run so fast.”
“Ah... well, yes.”
In any case, Tiwakan’s safe return was proof of victory, and it was a reason to cheer to your heart’s content.
Nauk was noisy all the way until Tiwakan had all entered the castle.
At one point, when the cheering was at its peak, Ternan Kleinfelter committed suicide in the dungeon of Nauk Castle.
Coincidentally, it was the same time that Queen Dileras had authorized the hanging of Lafitte Kleinfelter.
Liene rubbed her eyes as if she couldn’t believe it even though she saw it with her own eyes.
Madam Flambard couldn’t keep her mouth shut either.
“How wonderful. This is really... This, this little key alone can...”
It was worthy of the word power.
The weight of this lump of iron in her palm was light but at the same time incredibly heavy.
“Then now I have to find a keyhole that fits this key.”
She found the key, but it wasn’t over yet.
“It’s late at night, but do you want to look for it?”
Klima and Madam Flambard agreed.
“Of course. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep at all.”
“Me, me too... Oh, I’ll go and get my mother too. I’m sure she’ll be happy to help.”
Klima moved quickly, unusual for someone who was injured, and brought Mrs. Henton.
After a while, the group of four, including Mrs. Henton, moved to the King’s Gallery.
***
“This must be the beginning.”
Liene was certain.
The location and foundation of the Nauk Castle were all related to the water-drawing device.
The maze behind the waterfall, which only the Gainers’ bloodlines knew about, was the same. The maze was connected to the device, and the entrance to the maze was in the King’s Gallery.
“It’s a little strange. This room is too small to be called a room, and its purpose is unknown. So it must have been built for a reason.”
Since it was the biggest secret of the Gainers royal family, it was natural that it was located near the King’s bedroom. Like a secret passed down only by word of mouth, it was designed so that no one other than the King could access it.
“Can we touch something like that first? It originally had a separate owner.”
Mrs. Henton was delighted at the news that the water could be returned but calmly expressed her concern.
“Since it’s Gainers’s property, it has to be Gainers’ bloodline.”
“Madam, that’s right.”
Liene felt the same way.
But Black wouldn’t. He had already given up the power that Gainers had monopolized.
He was the one who said that everything happened because he monopolized that power.
“Water is something that everyone needs. It shouldn’t be something that one person can have. Lord Tiwakan... That’s what Prince Fernand said.”
Liene swept the restored key for a moment.
If she were that man.
Would he have thought the same?
...He would have. There had never been a time when she was more certain that Black’s decision was right. The water had to come back as soon as possible.
“That’s why I’m sure he’d be happy if we found it ourselves.”
Madam Flambard nodded.
“Let’s just find it quickly. Now that I know what it is, I can’t wait a moment longer.”
Liene concluded.
“Let’s do that. Instead of telling Lord Tiwakan that we’re looking for it, let’s tell him that we found it.”
“What do we need to find?”
Liene held out the key so that he could see it clearly.
“A hole or lock that this key can fit into.”
Klima had already started to move. She lifted her heels and looked at the wall as if she was determined to inspect this small room.
Everyone followed Klima’s lead. They stood on chairs to inspect places that their eyes couldn’t reach and sat down on the floor to inspect places lower than their knees.
Later, their heads hurt and their shoulders ached, but they were all so enthusiastic that they didn’t even realize how tired they were.
***
It was past midnight.
And Werose joined them, agreeing that there should be more people.
Everyone was getting a little tired. Masa. Flambard rolled up her sleeves, saying she was sweating.
Klima’s face turned dark as he looked through the passage in the fireplace several times.
“Strange... Wasn’t this the place?”
“Oh my... It’s hard enough just to look through this small room, so you’re saying we have to look through the entire castle?”
“If not this room, then where? I thought it was this room.”
Liene sat down on the floor and stared at the empty walls.
Then suddenly an idea occurred to her.
“Oh, wait... This room was called the King’s Gallery, right?”
“That’s right.”
“So you’re saying there used to be a lot of paintings hanging in this room?”
“That’s right... No, it definitely was. I remember that too. But what about the paintings?”
“If there’s a keyhole on the wall, it’s probably covered up with a painting, right?”
If the reason why they made a room called a gallery and hung many paintings on the wall was to hide the hole, then Liene jumped up and stood on the opposite wall where the round fireplace with the secret passage was hidden.
“If I remember correctly, the largest painting was here.”
Madame Flambard, who had followed Liene hurriedly, nodded.
“...That’s right. Yes, that’s right. I used to dust off that frame. The frame was so tall that I had to use a step.”
Liene stood in front of the wall and spread her arms.
“Is the painting this big?”
“It might have been a little bigger. It wasn’t smaller.”
“Then the painting would have been the size of a door. Big enough for a grown man to pass through.”
“Ah...?”
Liene felt the wall. Klima, who realized what she was trying to do, quickly came over and did the same.
“Hey, here...! Princess!”
The wall after the painting was removed was ugly. The marks from the frame were clear, so it had to be repainted.
The paintings disappeared from this room when she was very young when her father was still alive.
At that time, she probably didn’t sell them because she didn’t have money. She probably had to get rid of them because they were related to the Gainers' royal family. And she wiped away every trace left on the wall as if they had never been there.
So the place where the key should go was probably no longer visible.
“Here!”
An excited Klima immediately grabbed Liene’s hand and placed it on the spot he had pointed to earlier.
Liene could tell.
There was a faint clicking sound in her ears.
“The bricks... are moving?”
“Yes, yes!”
Klima raised his fingertips and moved the corner of the brick he had pressed down on earlier.
The new paint came off and one end of the brick was dented. When she pushed it all the way with all her strength, the brick turned halfway and revealed the keyhole hidden inside.
“This is the right place!”
“Oh my gosh! Princess!”
Madam Flambard screamed Mrs. Henton covered her mouth, and Werose turned white and couldn’t say anything.
“Open it.”
Liene was also so trembling that she couldn’t speak properly.
With trembling hands, she put the key into the hole. She turned it sideways with force, and with a click, the key turned.
“Oh my! Oh my!”
The key wasn’t just a key. As if it were another device in itself, a part of the wall that had been covered by the painting moved slowly.
“Oh my, princess...”
Madam Flambard grabbed Liene’s hand. Her own hand was also shaking like crazy.
There was a long staircase in the space behind the wall. There were no landmarks, but it seemed like she could tell where it was going.
***
King Sharka was more persistent than expected, and more stupid than expected.
He sent people to rescue Princess Bliny, who had been taken hostage. And then he tried to divert attention by picking a fight with some of his troops.
Fermos, who was fully aware of the other side’s movements, sighed instead. Since he had already divided his insufficient forces into two, this was like offering up his own troops and telling them to fight individually. Anyway, he did as he was told.
The battle didn’t even last half a day, and the Sharka army completely lost their will to fight.
In Tiwakan, Princess Bliny’s long hair was cut off and sent to the Sharka army as compensation for the surprise attack. He nailed it down because it was not bleeding, as it was in the best interest of Grand Duke Alito.
The next day, the commander of the Sharka army walked in without his helmet and holding a scroll instead of a sword.
The scroll contained the ceasefire agreement and a list of agreements written by Fermos. It was different in that it had the signature and seal of King Sharka.
That evening, the border was cleared.
The Sharka army returned with the remaining men and agreed to pay the enormous war reparation demanded by Tiwakan in installments over ten years.
And the border changed.
The border was pushed back to where Yadion Bay was. The work of organizing the new border was Tiwakan’s responsibility, but the Kingdom of Sharka had to pay for it. This incident must have reduced the King’s personal wealth significantly.
Tiwakan, who had organized the border, returned to the castle.
It was around noon, and the weather was slightly cool, but the sun was shining brightly.
“Why did you do this?”
Black pursed his lips.
Black and his horse were both large, so his expression was usually invisible to people.
“We should let them know of our victory. Everyone must have been worried.”
This was a comment about the hospitality that had begun within sight of the castle.
The news of the organized border spread through Nauk faster than a bird.
The people of Nauk, who had been in turmoil due to rumors of war with the Kingdom of Sharka, came out excitedly. They wholeheartedly welcomed Tiwakan, who had come to an end without even knowing that a war had broken out.
Black was unfamiliar with Nauk, who called out the name of Lord Tiwakan at the top of his lungs while waving his hands so that his arms would fall off.
“Didn’t you expect this to happen?”
“I didn’t know you would like it this much. I guess the fear of the name Tiwakan has disappeared.”
“It will remain for those who remember the dead.”
“Well....”
Black continued forward without looking around.
Fermos scratched his head awkwardly and followed Black.
“Still, change is inevitable. Everyone must have felt relieved just by the disappearance of the tyranny of the six families. There’s no way they wouldn’t know that.”
“...Then.”
“And above all, you can see that the Princess has changed.”
They must have all seen the shadows disappear from the face of the kind and beautiful Princess they loved so much.
“Change is like a river. Once it starts, it can’t be stopped. And Nauk.”
Fermos paused and turned around for a moment. From here, it was in the direction of the Erendira Mountains, which seemed as far away as the land of the gods.
“Because it has a huge water source. If the river flows, it won’t just be a trickle, it’ll flow so fast. Nothing can stop it.”
“Maybe so... Wait.”
“Huh?”
Black’s horse suddenly charged forward. Fermos tilted his head forward, wondering what was going on, and then smiled in vain.
Randall, who had come up behind, asked.
“What’s going on? Should I chase after him?”
“There’s no need for that.”
“People seem scared?”
“I guess they’ll stop.”
“Aren’t you being too calm? If they’re Kleinfelter’s remnants or something... Oh, dear.”
Randall also learned why Black had suddenly run ahead.
“The Princess has come to greet him.”
“Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to run so fast.”
“Ah... well, yes.”
In any case, Tiwakan’s safe return was proof of victory, and it was a reason to cheer to your heart’s content.
Nauk was noisy all the way until Tiwakan had all entered the castle.
At one point, when the cheering was at its peak, Ternan Kleinfelter committed suicide in the dungeon of Nauk Castle.
Coincidentally, it was the same time that Queen Dileras had authorized the hanging of Lafitte Kleinfelter.
Support Novellate!
i wanted more blood :(
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