Chapter Seventy-One: Sai, Do You Know of Any Methods to Eliminate the Saint?
OUR Centorian guests stayed for two weeks after the festival. I had already participated in all the official events for which my presence was required, so all that remained was to wait for the visitors to embark on their return journey.
The morning of their departure, I was organizing cleanup and post-event administrative matters at Sekirei Palace when I was interrupted by a Centorian maid.
“Her Majesty would like to speak with you,” she said.
Our guests resided in an imperial guesthouse on the palace grounds. I followed the maid to the queen’s room, where I found the queen unwinding on an elevated balcony as she gazed down at the streets of the capital.
I bowed. “Greetings, Your Majesty. It is Sai.”
“Ah, you came.” She smiled. “You know, I forgot that skywatching can be so pleasant.” Some color had returned to her cheeks, a contrast to the paleness of her complexion on her first morning in Orient.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Oh, the food here is an absolute delight.” She let out a content sigh. “I can’t remember the last time I ate until my belly was full.”
“I am very glad to hear that. The kitchen staff were also elated when they saw your empty platters.”
“I see. Please pass on a message to them. Tell them that they did me a great favor by tailoring the menu to suit my palate perfectly.”
Placing my hand on my chest, I promised, “I will make sure to convey your praise to the chefs.”
“My, my. Sai, I’m also praising you.”
I blinked at her in surprise.
She narrowed her eyes slightly. I couldn’t decipher the meaning behind her words, so I chose to wait for her to elaborate.
“Sai,” she said, “all the dishes prepared for me were delectable, but one stood out among the rest—the fresh white fish. How did you know that I like fish? As far as I can remember, I scarcely ever indulged in it back in the royal capital.”
I shook my head. “The chefs were the ones who planned your meals. I did not do anything.”
“But it is generally assumed that Centorian citizens are unfamiliar with seafood, even the aristocrats. None of the other guests were served fish, likely to avoid discomfiting them. Strange, isn’t it, that I, the queen, was the exception? Furthermore, the fish wasn’t a mere side dish and wasn’t prepared in a way that made its appearance more acceptable to my culture—anyone could tell that it was fish.”
I was quiet. I couldn’t come up with a reply to that.
She inclined her head. “Was this a decision by the chefs as well, I wonder?”
After much hesitation, I carefully said, “Well, I assumed that you often ate seafood in your hometown, Your Majesty.”
At the further narrowing of her eyes and silent prompt of her gaze, I explained, “You grew up in the Riviera lands, a fiefdom that has an excellent water transportation system centered around the large river there. Centoria is a landlocked nation, yet I have heard that the Riviera territory receives bountiful seafood from Occidenia, which is located at the mouth of the river. Quite an extensive distance separates the Riviera lands and the royal capital, however, so a fresh sea catch is a rare sight in the capital. With that in mind, I hoped that the seafood of Orient might bring you joy, which is why I made such a decision.”
The queen’s eyes widened. A moment later, she began to chuckle. “I was totally convinced that you ordered someone to investigate me, but my, we have a detective here.”
“Please pardon my insolence.”
“The seafood we get in the Riviera lands is lovely.” She paused, casting her eyes down. “As queen, I haven’t had the chance to eat fresh fish in a long, long time, so…I was overjoyed. Perhaps that’s why my body feels so light today.”
That time, it was my eyes that grew wide. “That is wonderful news.”
Although her cheekbones were still too pronounced to be healthy, her smile had regained its cheer, and I breathed an internal sigh of relief. The enchantment on her specialized tableware had helped stabilize her mind and increased her appetite. In truth, most of the medicine the queen took wasn’t necessary for her recovery. What she needed was a tranquil environment where she could relax and have peace of mind.
Wind pulled at locks of her hair, and she closed her eyes briefly at the pleasant sensation. Sounding more as though she were uttering her thoughts aloud, she said, “I confined myself to the royal palace and the chapel for the longest time, focusing only on duty and prayer, but…you made me realize something. Obstinacy doesn’t guarantee that the heavens will fulfill my wishes. I’m very grateful that my king suggested I attend the festival here. I experienced the atmosphere of Orient, I got to dine on fish, and I even relaxed in the hot spring… My trip was full of invaluable experiences.”
Then weariness dulled the light in her eyes as she murmured, “Say, can you keep this between the two of us?”
“Yes, of course.”
She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “After the advent of that…Saint, I admit, I was a little tired. For better or for worse, she is a free spirit—nothing binds her, not even morals. Incited by her lack of restraint, everyone in the castle has started to lose their rationality as well. At one point, I even thought that it might be best for my king to take a romantic interest in her and sire an heir, but, well…”
I gasped. “Your Majesty…”
“But in the end, my king still desires offspring only between the two of us.” She paused. “Perhaps after we have one child, he may be more open-minded to other possibilities, but who knows? I feared that this anguish would haunt me until I turned old and feeble. I just couldn’t control myself anymore, so I ended up locking myself away.”
The queen abruptly stopped talking, the pain in her expression evident. I could tell that she dreaded her return to Centoria. She clasped her pallid, skinny hands together, squeezing her fingers hard. In a voice that was barely a whisper, she asked, “Hey, Sai. Do you…know of any methods to eliminate the Saint?”
My mind stuttered. “To…eliminate the Saint?”
“Throughout Centoria’s history, there are countless records of saint summons by the royal family. But alarmingly, there are no accounts of what happened to the Saints after they performed their miracles. Not of their lives or deaths, not of their marriage—absolutely nothing.”
The queen was planning to eliminate the Saint. The very thought of it stole my words from me and made all my hair stand on end. The saint summons was a sacred ritual integral to Centoria’s national identity and prestige, and they had staked their honor on summoning Saint Lilly. It must have required a lot of courage for the queen to speak ill of such a holy tradition.
Her eyes bored into mine. “Sai, I hear that as the Wagtail Priestess, you used to safekeep records that date back to the age of the Myth of Beginning. But all of those documents were burned, is that correct?”
“…Yes.” The memory floated to the surface of my mind. I could still vividly picture the pillar of flame that had reduced them all to ashes—that had destroyed my estate and everything I had inherited as the Wagtail Priestess.
“What if the Saint did that on purpose?”
I whipped my head up and stared at her face. She appeared entirely serious.
“Right now, I have a suspicion: the Saint realized that the Wagtail Priestess possessed records of what people did after they summoned the Saints, which is why she wanted to erase all of that—along with you.”
“Your Majesty.” I chewed on my lip nervously. “It is best that you pursue this topic no further.”
“No, please allow me to continue. After all, it is the reason I came all this way.” She reached out to hold my hands in a firm grip. Her fingertips were cold, but her palms were sweaty from the stir in her heart. “Sai, now that everything has been reduced to ashes, even you might not know all the information the Wagtail Priestesses once had. But please lend me your knowledge.”
She took a deep breath. “Think about it. If there truly is a way to send that Saint back to her world…I am certain that the only ones who know it is the clan of the Wagtail Priestess—your family, who have hidden yourselves away from the eye of the ruling classes and passed the secrets of your blood from one generation to the next.”
“Your Majesty…”
“We summoned the Saint, yet my country couldn’t stop her when she started causing more harm than good. At this rate…our conflict with Meridiona will also—” She broke off at the sudden sound of heels clicking against hard ground.
With a start, the queen schooled her expression into one more befitting a queen.
I deliberately adopted a cheery air as I smiled and said, “Please come to Orient again, Your Majesty. You are very welcome here. Sekirei Palace would be thrilled to have you as our guest. We hope to be a place where you can relax and enjoy a leisurely stay.”
“…Thank you. I come from a kingdom that has left you only bitter memories, and you are nonetheless very kind to me.” Once again, she held my hands. Though her skin felt cold against mine, her fingers were long and beautiful. “As the Wagtail Priestess, you are also burdened with the responsibility to have a successor. Let us pray that we both carve out a happy future for ourselves.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
She was silent for a moment as if searching for the right words. Finally, she said, “I hope to have a longer chat with you next time.”
The Centorian maid arrived at the door. That was the cue for the queen’s departure.