As Tanya and the others entered the audience chamber, they gasped and marveled at its beauty and opulence.
“Holy crap...!”
Stained glass windows. Velvet drapery. A vaulted ceiling. Not a single decoration out of place.
Surrounded by rows of guards on both sides, they walked forward. Ahead of them was a small, but swanky, staircase leading up to a platform. There, two thrones had been erected: one for the ruler of Pajan, and next to it a smaller version of the same chair.
“So this is Lilium, is it?” asked the man sitting on the larger throne, his expression a bitter scowl.
Holy crap, I recognize this guy, thought Tanya.
You see portraits of him everywhere, thought Nadine.
It’s the friggin’ Emperor! thought Katherine.
Growing up, they’d only seen pictures of this man... But now here he was, right in front of them. And for some reason, the man himself didn’t look anywhere near as gallant as he did in all the paintings.
Put bluntly—
“Hey there, mister, who pissed in your cereal this morning?” Laplace snarked.
“Pfffffft!”
Tanya’s shoulders shook as she tried to hold in her laughter. To be fair, Laplace had only voiced what everyone else was already thinking. The Emperor looked ghostly pale and absolutely miserable.
“Allow us to ask you directly. Last night, the top of the Ode Castle clock tower was obliterated using an inhumanly powerful magical attack. Ordinarily we would have Maxwell the Court Grand Mage investigate this, but as of now, he seems to have vanished.”
Tanya flinched. Yes, that’s right! Guilty as charged! We destroyed the clock tower, and then we watched the sunrise. All in all, it was a total blast! Ugh, we can’t tell him that... er... can we...?
Just then, it occurred to her: had any of them actually done anything wrong?
Nadine and Katherine stood close together, both of them gazing at Tanya. Meanwhile, Laplace was shadowboxing the air in front of her and muttering “You gonna sentence me? Huh? Huh?”
No... He wasn’t going to sentence them. After all, they hadn’t actually done anything wrong. Sure, they’d destroyed Maxwell’s 300-year legacy—but so what? So what if he was a war hero? After everything he’d done to oppress women all across the Empire, he kind of had it coming.
So Tanya took a deep breath and said:
“That’s right. Laplace and I destroyed the clock tower and obliterated Maxwell. It was all our doing.”
“Tanya!” Nadine gasped.
All around them, the castle guards gasped in surprise. There was a long moment of silence —so long, they started to wonder if it would ever end. But eventually, the Emperor broke the tension with a heavy sigh.
“Then it appears the report was indeed accurate.”
“R-Report?”
Just then, they heard the clack, clack, clack of high heels. Reflexively, they turned to look as the guards around them all dropped to one knee in perfect unison.
Standing at the door to the audience chamber was—
“Princess Arianora!”
“Lady Tanya! Lady Laplace!”
She took one look at them and smiled gleefully, her eyes sparkling. Next to her stood—
“...Uhh...?”
Like Arianora, this woman had white hair and a slender frame. Her eyes were red in hue, but it was the familiar expression on her face that finally clued Tanya in:
“Vis...?”
Indeed, it was Vis, the princess’s attendant. But now that she was holding hands with Arianora, their relationship seemed less master-servant and more... sororal. Their pale hair glittered in the light, oddly reminiscent of the Brides from the laboratory.
“Hee hee!” Vis giggled, her red eyes shining mischievously. “I admit, I’m sure it must come as a surprise.”
Her dignified voice carried across the room. And there, atop her closely-cropped silvery hair—was the crown of the Empress.
“Wh... Who are you?!”
“My name is Vistalia. Vistalia Aweigkorrt.”
“Wait... but that’s...”
“Yes. I am the Emperor’s wife... or the Empress, if you prefer.”
“Wh... WHAT?!”
Their unmitigated shock made Arianora burst out laughing.
“Empress Vistalia died in a carriage accident. That’s what we told the public,” the Emperor explained quietly. “And it’s true, Vistalia did in fact die that day. But one of our Court Mages was deeply invested in immortality research—and since he’d already lived for 300 years, we succumbed to the temptation.”
“You mean...?”
“Soul transferral is forbidden sorcery to the utmost degree, we... no, the entire Imperial Family... we all owe a great debt to that man and his magic. When tragedy befell our beloved daughter, Maxwell brought us a new one, and we adopted her. That is the girl you know as Arianora. Likewise, when our Empress passed in an unforeseen accident, we... we...”
“Allow me to take over from here,” Vistalia told him quietly.
Her voice was full of love.
✦ ✦ ✦
“When I awoke, word of my death had already spread far and wide. My only option, then, was to serve as Arianora’s attendant, ‘Vis,’ instead,” explained Vis—or rather, Empress Vistalia.
Maxwell’s reign of terror had spanned three centuries. Though she was at least permitted to keep her own identity, Arianora was nonetheless subjected to night after night of inhumane experimentation—and Vistalia was forced to watch from the sidelines. After all, Maxwell had the entire Imperial Family in the palm of his hand.
“I knew about the artificial humans he was creating—and killing—in his laboratory. I knew about the plot to drain mana from Ode. And... I knew that it was he who had taken my soul and placed it into a new vessel after my death, at the request of the Emperor. I witnessed it all as Vis, my daughter’s attendant.”
At this, the Emperor slumped his shoulders and sighed heavily. “It seems we were in the wrong,” he muttered.
Maxwell had the power to fight death itself... and in exchange for access to that power, the Imperial Family turned a blind eye to his petty ambitions and ignored the suffering that was happening right under their noses.
What did they gain from opposing him?
Nothing.
“If our beloved wife claims that Maxwell was a wicked man, erased at the hands of these fine women... then we have no choice but to believe her.”
“It’s the truth. These ladies, the members of Lilium, have saved our family—saved the Empire itself.”
Just then, Arianora rose to her feet. “Um, Empress Vistalia? By ‘family,’ do you mean—”
“Arianora...”
“No, no, I know I’m an impostor! I’m just a puppet pretending to be the princess—”
Vistalia gently held up a hand to stop her. “I was right by your side every step of the way, and I know exactly how hard it was for you. Make no mistake, you are every bit my daughter, as well as our beloved princess. Always have been, always will be.”
“Queen Vistalia...!”
“Heh! Say, would you call me Vis, like you used to?”
“Vis...”
“Alternatively... Let’s see... If possible, I’d like it if you called me Mother.”
“M... Mother...?”
This was something she’d been dying to ask but—until now—never could. Beside her, the Emperor stared down at the floor, clenching his fists.
Tears in her eyes, Arianora ran over and gave Vistalia a big hug. The woman smiled softly, then turned her attention back to Tanya and the others.
“Now then, members of Lilium...”
“Yes?”
Vistalia grinned. “You’ve uncovered the Imperial Family’s secret, haven’t you?”
“Huh?”
Her words didn’t seem to match her radiant smile—nor did they match what came next.
✦ ✦ ✦
NOTICE
Adventurers’ Guild Rank C Party “Lilium”
By Imperial order, the party listed above shall be promoted to Rank S+ for their exemplary service.
Henceforth, this party shall serve the Imperial Family exclusively.
✦ ✦ ✦
A crowd of Ode citizens buzzed excitedly as they gathered around the bulletin board in the central plaza.
“You’re kidding! Rank S+?!”
“Eeeee! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I’m so happy for them!”
“We should celebrate in Lady Tanya’s honor!”
“Heh heh heh... I’ve seen this coming ever since I watched them compete in the Sparring Tournament.”
“Nice try, bro.”
It had been more than ten years since an adventurers’ party was promoted to Rank S+ to serve the Imperial Family officially—and this was the first time in the nation’s history that the party to receive said accolade was staffed entirely by women.
At the bottom of this imperial decree was the following postscript:
✦ ✦ ✦
Reason For Promotion:
For the heroic deeds they performed to resolve a national crisis... and for the unending hope they have inspired in all the little girls out there, dreaming of adventure.