“Haah…” I couldn’t even count how many times I’d tried to swallow back sobs that day. I let out another sigh, then I heard a knock at the door.
“Princess Cecilia, may we come in?”
“Yes.”
Anna, Kate, and Elsa stepped into the room to get me ready for bed. They bowed their heads before approaching me.
“We’re sorry. We investigated Canaan again, but we couldn’t find any hard evidence,” Anna said.
“Prince Akeem is still recovering from being poisoned during the wyrm attack. He’s past the critical point, but they say he’s too unstable to serve as a witness,” Kate said.
“I see. I’m just glad he’s alive. Anna, Kate, I’m sorry, but please continue keeping a close watch on Dirk. If Akeem does wake, we’ll need him.”
They both nodded quietly. I turned to Elsa, who still hadn’t raised her head.
“Elsa, are you all right?”
I reached out to touch her, and she flinched slightly, then let out a low, bitter voice like she was remembering something awful. “Barn and I scouted out the wyrm nest. We found the remains…of beastmen. A lot of them.”
“So they were making them.”
They must’ve been creating the beastmen in secret, then feeding them to the wyrms to create stronger variants that would form hunting packs.
The wyrms that attacked Aram had done so in a group, though they were normally solitary predators, and had been remarkably organized. Dirk had pointed out that the leader had a particular color variation—the successful mutation. That was the one controlling the others.
Aram wouldn’t have survived if Lucas and Dirk hadn’t been there. Not even close.
And worst-case scenario, that entire region could’ve fallen. And if Aram fell, the next logical target would be…
“So it was Canaan all along,” I whispered, and Elsa let out a painful cry.
“Why?! How can humans do something like this?!” Her eyes burned as she turned toward me, one hand pressed to her chest, trembling. I knew how grim Elsa’s past was.
Slave merchants separated her from her family when she was young, and mercenaries sold her off. She escaped, and that’s when Lucas found her and saved her.
Even divine beasts were vulnerable in their youth, but that was especially true of Cath Palug. The tiny, beautiful kittens get smuggled, sold, or even killed for their fur when they grow up.
Elsa saw herself in these victims, the people who were forced into beastmen bodies and treated like objects.
I hated that she’d had to see such cruelty in the world, but I was also glad she’d made it out alive.
Slavery was outlawed in Bern, and we’d banned the trafficking of monsters as well. The only exception was summoning magic that didn’t require a sacrifice, but that could only be used by a truly elite magic caster.
Basically, the exception was written for the Hero alone.
And yet at ten years old, Lucas had made it work. He met Elsa while traveling with Marshal Webber. She’d attacked them out of fear, and Lucas shaved her fur and trapped her, then forged a magical contract with her.
He thought her fur was beautiful enough to sell. Honestly, even as a kid, he was ruthless.
I didn’t blame Elsa for asking how anyone could do this. She wasn’t wrong. Not one bit.
“Elsa, I’m sorry. You don’t have to take on anything you’re not ready for.”
I’d left it to them to choose their missions, but hers had been the worst by far. She was the best suited for it, of course. With her sharp senses, she was the only one who could’ve traced the wyrms’ path back to their nest. That was exactly why I shouldn’t have let her decide. I should’ve made the call myself.
I started to slump in regret, but she lifted her chin with a forced cheerfulness.
“N-no, I’m fine! This is nothing compared to what Prince Lucas is facing! I’ll be even more useful next time, I swear!” Her shoulders were trembling. She was clearly holding back tears, but I could feel her loyalty and her worry for Lucas. I reached out a hand and gently placed it over hers.
“Thank you, but you’ve done enough for the day. Get some rest.” I cast a healing spell on her. Anna and Kate moved closer, with Anna hesitating a bit before speaking.
“Princess Cecilia, if the Egrich Empire really was targeting Canaan, then why are they trying to eliminate the beastmen entirely? Is it because they’ve served their purpose?”
“I don’t know. The timing’s too suspicious, though.”
The Egrich Empire was the only nation with the means to create the beastmen. But so far, we had no proof they were actually involved. As far as the public knew, the experiments had been run by Prince Akeem, a Majaarian royal.
That meant it was in Majaar’s interests to keep things secret. They didn’t want a scandal. And since Bern had helped, we were bound by that secrecy, too. We couldn’t expose the beastmen project or tell the world about the wyrm horde.
All we could do was call it a natural disaster. And if we did that, then the Empire could dismiss the destruction in Aram and Canaan as the goddess’s will.
They would let thousands die simply for a difference of faith. And they would call it a divine act to boot.
I clamped a hand over my mouth, nausea twisting my stomach. Anna and Kate rushed to rub my back.
“Forgive me for saying something so grim. Please sit, Your Highness.”
“Please take it easy, Princess.”
“I’m fine, really. I’m not tired.” When I said that, I realized I had nothing to be tired from—I hadn’t even left the room after all. I forced a smile.