The room she was guided to was a bleak one, very different from the queen’s private quarters.
There weren’t even the minimal furnishings. There was a little bed in the small room, and there slept her mother.
“Mother…”
Kriemhild sensed something was strange. This room was not at all appropriate for a queen. No—it wasn’t even fit to be a room for a servant. It did not feel at all lived-in.
But Kriemhild didn’t care right now that those things didn’t feel right. Her mother, whom she had been unable to see for so long, was before her. And she was lying there, ill. Kriemhild was so worried.
She rushed up to the bed and said to her mother, “It’s been so long. I’m your daughter, Kriemhild. Mother, your health…”
Kriemhild stopped there.
Because she understood there was no longer any need to speak with her.
Her mother, before her, slept with an unnatural look.
Kriemhild’s eyes moved to the blanket. It was strangely flat.
Timidly, she peeled it back.
She had made up her mind that she would cry no more.
She hated herself for being weak.
She hated herself for constantly relying on her sister’s aid.
In order to become strong, she had stopped crying.
Or so she had thought.
“Ah… Ahh…”
Kriemhild sank down on the spot. Her legs were weak.
The tears came and wouldn’t stop.
The fear of what was before her easily shattered Kriemhild’s brave determination.
The queen had no body.
All that lay in the bed was her head.
Underneath the blanket she had peeled back, there was nothing.
As Kriemhild was wordless with terror, Warren explained, “Since the second generation, the queens have been unable to create the Miracle by touching water. Therefore, we have been turning their bodies into the Miracle.”
Warren’s voice traveled right past Kriemhild’s head.
Even though he was right beside her as he spoke, for some reason, his voice sounded like it was coming from a great distance.
“The Miracle that’s being used in the kingdom now is made from the corpses of the past queens. By making the body that bears the Power of God into powder and dissolving it in water, we were able to turn water into the Miracle…”
“Hn…” Kriemhild automatically pressed a hand over her mouth. Her visceral disgust had caused nausea. She herself had drunk the Miracle before, multiple times.
“The bodies of the queens will fundamentally not be injured, but once they become corpses, their divinity is lost and they can be carved up. If not for that, then cutting into them while alive would have been the most efficient, but…”
“Urk…!”
Kriemhild tried to swallow the vomit that was rising in her throat, but she couldn’t bear it. She vomited on the floor. Not even bothered by the sight or the smell of it, Warren continued his explanation. It seemed he had anticipated this would happen. Perhaps the queens of past generations had had the same reaction as Kriemhild.
“Now we reach the subject at hand.”
Even while Kriemhild moaned and vomited, the old retainer did not stop his speech.
“When a new queen ascends to the throne, we have been making the Miracle from the corpse of her predecessor. However, a problem has come up. One year ago, when your predecessor passed away…we made your mother’s body into powder and dissolved it in water, but it did not become the Miracle. We believe the cause is that the queen’s aptitude for the Power of God has declined with each generation.”
Apparently, their mother had actually passed a year ago.
Kriemhild had sensed herself that their aptitude had declined. They did not have the same godlike powers as the First Queen. Their bodies were invincible, but they felt pain, and neither could they control people with their voices alone.
“In order to avoid needless confusion, we hid the death of the queen, and this past year, we have been continuing to test if we could somehow make the Miracle from her corpse. But even after making everything but the head into material, we were unable to make even a drop of the Miracle. Before long, the Miracle will be lost from the kingdom. Before that happens, I would like you to acquire the material for some new Miracle.”
“It can’t be… But where in the world would you get material for the Miracle…?”
“It’s right in front of you. It’s your sister, Brunhild.”
It took her time to understand what her chief vassal was saying.
“That’s why we will have you kill your sister, Princess Brunhild. Since we are not capable of killing the child of God, we would like you to bring her corpse to us.”
“Ridiculous… How could I do such a thing?”
But when Kriemhild tried to resist, an intense pain ran through her head. It was as if the crown were tightening around it.
Unable to stand it, Kriemhild cowered.
“Now you are unable to perform any acts that would harm the kingdom’s benefit.”
“S…silence…” While bearing the headache, Kriemhild said, “In the first place…if you couldn’t make the Miracle from Mother’s corpse, then you might not be able to make it from my sister’s, either.”
“That may be the case. But we won’t know until we test it. In order to maintain supply of the Miracle, we would have had to kill one of you sisters anyway.”
“I would rather my head crack open and die than kill my sister.”
The crown admonished Kriemhild particularly powerfully.
It hurt so much that she cried out, and then she lost consciousness.
After that, Kriemhild’s struggles began.