5 - Summoned
SEVERAL days after the encounter with the fire dragon, I received a letter summoning me to appear at the royal palace. Many important people would be there, so I was primped, fussed over, and dressed like a doll.
I wore a charming light blue chiffon dress with white shoes that reminded me of ballet slippers. A large white ribbon and a pretty hair accessory made of small blue flowers adorned my head. There was a matching white ribbon for my bunny backpack, so I asked to have it tied around the bunny’s neck.
This dress is cute, and I’m happy to wear it, but given how plain my face is, it’s probably wasted on me.
My family praised my appearance exuberantly, but I didn’t take them seriously. I knew they were hopelessly biased in my favor.
Today, we wouldn’t be traveling in our own carriage; a carriage from the royal palace picked us up. You might assume we were receiving VIP treatment, but that wasn’t exactly the case.
It’s more like an armed escort or something. Four knights were accompanying the carriage as guards, and they were heavily armed. Maybe this is because of Papa’s comments about “getting rid of” important people in the government?
I was a little afraid to get in the royal carriage, so I hugged my rabbit tightly. A backpack would look strange with my dress, so I carried it in my arms instead.
Mama was the first to notice my uneasiness, and she quickly hugged me before she helped me climb into the carriage.
I clung to my mother the entire way to the palace.
Once the carriage passed through the front gate, it headed toward the largest entrance, which was for official events. The road leading from the front gate toward the palace was so wide three carriages could travel it side-by-side.
Well, I suppose they intentionally made it this wide so they could use it for parades, military purposes, and so on.
In front of the main entrance was an iconic fountain, and in its center stood an eight-foot-tall Goddess statue. This goddess was the daughter of the God who created the world, and her name was Cresiolle. It was said that because Cresiolle supported the entire world, she held “this world” in her right hand and “the world of the dead” in her left hand.
According to myth, Cresiolle was the goddess of compassion and rebirth who bestowed the power to heal on the living and reincarnated the souls of the dead. Once Cresiolle reincarnated a soul, it would be sent to her father, the God of Creation, to be given life again in this world.
What you were reincarnated as allegedly depended on the merit of your deeds in your previous life.
But if the God of Creation is that God, I have a feeling he makes his decisions based more on his fanciful whims than meritorious deeds or anything like that. His daughter, Cresiolle, must have her hands full dealing with him…
Uh-oh, I’m letting myself go down a rabbit hole to avoid facing the issue at hand.
The carriage traveled to the right around the fountain and stopped in a parking area shaped like a rotary.
Two knights came out to meet us. They would be our escorts.
I guess they are wary of Papa?
Before getting out of the carriage, I thanked the knights who brought us here and waved goodbye. Even the stern-faced knights were no match for the innocence of a child because they waved back with smiles on their faces.
Our escorts led us down absolutely dazzling hallways.
At first glance, it was obvious a master craftsman had carved the fine designs into the pillars. The amount of detail was nothing short of a miracle. It looked like it would break if you so much as brushed against it accidentally.
The maids who clean this place must have superpowers!
I caught a glimpse of the garden, which seemed to be English-style, complete with a gazebo and a hedge maze made out of living bushes. The spring-green foliage was pleasing to the eye, and the flowers were predominantly pastel shades of pink and white.
I’d love to sit and drink tea in a place like this on a sunny day. I’d bring loads of baked treats and call all my fluffy friends to join me. Maybe I’ll ask Will to arrange it for me sometime.
…I’m a little scared to find out what he’d ask for in return, though…
I was so absorbed in enjoying the scenery of the maze-like palace that I didn’t notice the massive door until it seemed to appear in front of us.
This is way too big. It must be a case of putting on airs for appearances’ sake, right?
The door was at least twice Papa’s height, so it must’ve been around 12 feet tall.
Papa was around 6 feet tall. I couldn’t be more specific because the unit of measure here was completely different from my world, and I didn’t understand it very well. Length was measured in gell, mino, kai, and sahs, with 100 of one increment equaling one of the next largest increments. According to the unit of measure in this world, Papa’s height was 73 gell. By earthly measurement standards, it seemed that 1 gell was equal to about an inch?
Not as if I can pull out a ruler and measure it to check, though.
Oh no, I’m doing it again―letting myself go off on a tangent to avoid the issue at hand.
In any case, there was no denying that the door was absolutely gorgeous. Guards were posted on both sides of it. Their uniforms were different from what the knights were wearing, so maybe they were members of the royal guard? Come to think of it, some of these guys were there when I met the king, too.
Based on these indicators, I could only assume that this door led into the throne room or something! Inside, there would probably be rows of cabinet ministers and other important people, and a red carpet would lead down the center of the room to a set of stairs, where the king and queen would be sitting atop a raised dais.
Oh man, I really wanna turn and run.
While my imagination ran wild, Papa showed the letter of summons to one of the royal guards. Once they confirmed the authenticity of the letter, the two guards worked together to open the door.
Whoa, it looks really heavy.
My mother tugged on my hand, leading me into the room.
I panicked internally. This was the throne room. A voice boomed out from behind us…
“The Prime Minister, Duke Dayland Osphe, The Head of the Royal Magical Research Center’s Magical Engineering Department, Duchess Cerulia Osphe, and their noble daughter, Lady Nefertima Osphe, have arrived!”
He’s got an impressive pair of lungs.
…Wait a minute, Papa’s the prime minister?! Of all the ridiculous things! And Mama… What is “magical engineering”? And she’s the department head? That sounds like a pretty important job.
I knew my parents were very important people, but this was my first time hearing their job titles in my three years since being reincarnated.
The sources of my anxiety have officially reached maximum capacity…
Once our names were announced, we proceeded to the foot of the dais, where we paid homage to the king.
I curtsied deeply on wobbling legs, just like my mother. My bunny backpack was squashed under one of my armpits while I used both hands to hold up my skirt. I must’ve looked ridiculous.
“My apologies for the inconvenience of this summons, esteemed members of the Osphe family. Please be at ease.”
Thank goodness the king permitted us to rise so quickly.
I raised my head and looked around, taking in my surroundings. It was exactly as I’d pictured. Atop the dais sat the king and queen, along with Will.
Immediately at the base of the dais were the cabinet ministers, but they were all familiar faces, which eased my fears a bit. In the lower seats were the aristocrats who held various official positions, as well as the royal guards serving as security for this meeting and the maids who waited along the wall.
“It is our great honor and distinct pleasure to answer Your Majesty’s summons.”
“The reason I’ve summoned you here today is in regard to the incident with the fire dragon that occurred at the royal academy several days ago. I heard that Nefertima bonded with the fire dragon. Is this true?”
The king’s words ignited a commotion among the onlookers.
Even if they knew that a fire dragon had appeared, they apparently hadn’t heard anything about it bonding with me.
“It wasn’t an official bonding.” Papa attempted to contradict the king’s statement.
“And yet, she obtained the ability to use the dragon’s power?” the king countered.
“Indeed, the dragon promised to lend her his power if she ever had need of it. However, my daughter has not received the holy beast’s blessing.”
Hm? What is the holy beast’s blessing? Based on this conversation, maybe it’s some kind of nifty power or compensational ability?
“Then there is no reason to be concerned that she will use the fire dragon’s power against our country?” His Majesty asked.
“None at all. I, Dayland Osphe, vow it on my name.”
In this world, vowing on one’s name was the most weighty promise a person could make. A person’s true name held the power of the God of Creation, and to break this vow would result in death. It was said that in that event, your soul would be destroyed and would not travel to the world of the dead. Furthermore, using a fake name was impossible when vowing on your name. If you attempted to speak a false name, supposedly, you would be unable to speak a single word. I’d never tried it myself, so I couldn’t say if it was true or not.
And, finally, only the person in question could swear on their own name. It wasn’t possible to make a vow on someone else’s name on their behalf.
I didn’t know the reason for this. It was a system that God built into the very foundation of this world, so I supposed it didn’t matter if I understood it or not; it wouldn’t change anything.
“Very well, I believe you. So, what have we discovered about the cause of this incident?”
An elderly man stepped forward in response to the king’s question. He wore a hooded robe and carried a wand as if practically screaming, Yes, hello, I’m a wizard!