16: Canaan
The cat was walking with little hops across the windowsill’s floorboards.
Emma, sitting in her chair, gazed at it absentmindedly.
Outside the window, the evening was dyed in twilight colors. The room Emma was in seemed to be located quite high up in the building, and below her stretched an orderly, somewhat sterile cityscape. It was the imperial capital, said to be the most advanced city in the world.
The chair Emma was sitting in was an expensive piece with red cushions sewn onto the backrest and seat. When she had been captured by Eugen, she had been forced into sleep, but compared to that, her current treatment was incomparably better.
Two female soldiers served as her guards, and they showed Emma appropriate respect.
Even when she had been made to change into the expensive, beautiful clothes she was now wearing, they had discovered the cat hidden in her apron, but they had responded tolerantly, saying, “Well, a kitten should be fine…”
Of course, she didn’t have to do any housework, so depending on how you looked at it, her circumstances were better than when she had been at Claude’s fortress.
Still, she didn’t feel comfortable here. Emma liked Claude and the others. Even if they were thieves and villains, even if Claude’s true identity was that of a werewolf.
(Could it be that Claude-san is that wolf-san from back then?)
Emma had once encountered a werewolf before.
That werewolf had been covered in wounds and looked tattered, appearing to be on the verge of death.
So she had applied healing medicine and helped him.
However, since it had happened when she was small, she didn’t remember it very clearly.
(Did he remember me, so he tried to hide and help me at the fortress?)
She wanted to ask Claude about that. But with those wounds, there was no way he could have survived. Moreover, it was something she herself had brought about. Her shameless attempt to be protected had led to Claude’s death. Her chest ached with the depth of her sin.
She hadn’t seen the Black Knight who had inflicted those wounds since the time she was captured.
She had the feeling she was somehow being avoided. Did even someone like him feel awkward about it?
Still, why was she even in a place like this?
Emma didn’t think of herself as that important a person. Her homeland, the Kingdom of Tates, had been a small country, so even as a former princess, she didn’t think she had held such a significant position.
However… now that she thought about it, the Kingdom of Tates had been a rather strange country. This was something she had realized after leaving the country. While her life as a commoner hadn’t been much different from other countries, the royal family had had unusual customs and objects. Before leaving the Kingdom of Tates, she had thought “that’s just how royal families are,” but apparently that wasn’t the case.
Especially that thing called “Kikai” – she had never seen anything like it in any other country.
The small gun that only her father and brother among the royalty had possessed. The large, motionless iron dolls. And the cave beneath the castle. The massive object floating there.
If that was the Empire’s objective, she certainly couldn’t think it was for anything good.
Her father, who had been king, had also said:
“Only we royalty can handle The Castle of Canaan. Only royal bloodline serves as the authentication. Of course, I took Emma in because she’s my daughter, but I also didn’t want to let royal blood leave the family. Naturally, once the blood is diluted, it becomes meaningless.”
Her father had been kind to Emma, but he was still someone who valued bloodline above all.
If she had any value, it would be that royal blood.
“How unpleasant.”
Such words slipped out unconsciously.
Perhaps responding to her voice, the cat hopped onto the table in front of Emma.
Then it began licking Emma’s finger with its rough tongue. That scratchy sensation felt very comforting.
“Thank you, cat-san.”
Emma’s gloomy mood lightened a little.
Just then, she heard the sound of someone knocking on the room’s door.
The female guards wouldn’t enter without permission. And even though they were enemies, Emma’s conscience wouldn’t let her ignore them. So
“Please come in.”
she replied.
“Nice to meet you, Princess.”
The person who entered was an unfamiliar tall man with silver hair. He appeared to be around thirty years old. His well-tailored purple clothing indicated his high status. His gaze was sharp, but his expression was gentle.
“…Nice to meet you.”
Emma’s response inevitably came out stiff.
The cat that had been on the desk let out a “Hiss!” and arched its entire body, fur standing on end.
“I am Garnets. I serve as the Empire’s prime minister. By way of introduction, I’ve always had poor compatibility with cats.”
Garnets glanced at the cat sideways and frowned slightly in a troubled manner.
(Ah, this is the person who ordered me to be brought here.)
Emma thought this, yet for some reason couldn’t feel any ill will toward him.
“You have beautiful silver hair.”
Those words came out instead.
Upon hearing this, Garnets widened his eyes, then after a brief pause, smiled and stroked his silver hair that flowed behind him.
“Why, thank you… This hair is one of the few things I can take pride in. And I apologize for the late greeting. I’ve been getting scolded from all directions because of the Black Knight who forcibly brought you here. I’ve finally found the time, you see.”
Garnets had been criticized from various quarters for the Black Knight’s atrocious act of burning down the mountain forest.
The Black Knight hadn’t been attacking a country. He had merely been engaged in an operation to retrieve a small nation’s former princess from just three thieves. Yet the damage he had inflicted on that entire region was far too great. He had completely turned an area the size of one nobleman’s territory into scorched earth.
Among the ancient civilization technologies that the Empire had revived was something called photography. It was a technique that used light to capture scenery exactly as it appeared on paper. When photographs revealed the devastation of the scene, even the Emperor, who usually defended Garnets, this time criticized him, saying “That was excessive.”
This emboldened the anti-Garnets noble faction, putting Garnets at a political disadvantage.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
“Really, new technology is quite the double-edged sword,” he had sighed about the technological innovation he himself had brought about.
“The Black Knight is… a terrible person. He burned down all those beautiful mountains and forests. And by having me targeted with a gun, he killed Claude-san.”
Emma glared with slightly resentful eyes, but Garnets received it calmly.
“There’s a bit of a misunderstanding there. When the Black Knight had you targeted, he held up two fingers, didn’t he?”
Garnets held up two fingers as if recreating that moment.
“…Probably.”
“That’s a signal for drawing out the enemy. He wasn’t seriously targeting you. It’s a tactic sometimes used on battlefields. There’s no way he would harm you. Doing so would defeat the entire purpose.”
“Because the goal is the blood of the Tates royal family?”
Emma boldly voiced her theory.
“You catch on quickly.”
Garnets laughed lightly, like a sigh.
“That’s right. Our objective is your blood. That blood is the key to entering the underground ruins of the Kingdom of Tates.”
“Underground ruins? You know about that cave?”
Even in the Kingdom of Tates, no one except the royal family should have known about it. Why did this man know?
“Of course I know. The ruins sleeping beneath that castle. You could say they are the true body of the Kingdom of Tates. You must have seen it before. The Castle of Canaan.”
Garnets pointed his finger at Emma, as if saying he wouldn’t let her claim ignorance.
Under that pressure, Emma instinctively stepped back, but immediately hit the wall and couldn’t retreat any further.
“The Castle of Canaan… that should be a secret of the Kingdom of Tates.”
“There are few true secrets in this world. With a little investigation, it’s easy to imagine that the Tates royal family had close ties to the ancient civilization of Canaan. The Kingdom of Tates was a small country, but it had an oddly long history. Throughout history, it had been invaded by other countries multiple times and faced extinction, but each time it performed miracles to survive. Sudden natural disasters are a good example. There are records of invading enemy armies being annihilated by massive lightning strikes. There are stories of enemy capitals disappearing entirely. The most famous is the tale of the five guardian knights – have you seen them?”
“Only heard stories. They were said to move on their own when danger came to the Kingdom of Tates. But they didn’t move.”
If the five suits of guardian knight armor placed in the innermost part of the throne room had really moved and fought, the Kingdom of Tates wouldn’t have been destroyed.
“Indeed. All of these were quite old stories and considered legends, but for a long time the Kingdom of Tates was feared, and no one dared to attack it. The fact that it was originally in a remote area and not geographically important also played a role.”
“…And you destroyed that Kingdom of Tates.”
Emma clenched her fists tightly and stared into Garnets’ gray eyes.
“I have no intention of making excuses, but I never intended to destroy it. I simply wanted the King of Tates to cooperate with us. If we had engaged in full-scale war, there was no telling what might have happened. By positioning troops at the border to intimidate, I made just one demand of your father. Though it seems you had already been evacuated from the country by then.”
“A demand?”
“‘Let us enter The Castle of Canaan.’ That’s all I said. Right in front of the King of Tates. However, his reaction was intense. Do you know how the King of Tates met his end?”
Garnets spread both hands to his sides meaningfully.
“I only know he was killed by the Empire…”
Emma felt something ominous about Garnets’ gesture.
“Nothing of the sort. We never killed the king. The King of Tates asked, ‘Are the people in this room the only ones who know about Canaan?’ and I confirmed that was the case. I had only reported to His Majesty that our purpose in negotiating with the Kingdom of Tates was because ‘there are ancient civilization artifacts there.’ Whether that was good or bad…”
Garnets dramatically dropped his shoulders.
“What do you mean?”
“The King of Tates blew up the entire castle, including us, using the power of a jewel passed down through the royal family.”
Emma remembered the red jewel her father had treasured and gasped, wondering if it had possessed such terrifying power.
“He probably didn’t want to leave alive even one person who knew about The Castle of Canaan. At the same time, he aimed to seal the entrance to The Castle of Canaan. I miraculously survived, but all the subordinates who had accompanied me were wiped out. The King of Tates and all the royalty died as well. Your brother Sid too. If I had informed His Majesty of the detailed objectives, there’s no telling what would have happened to the Empire. In that sense, you could say the King of Tates didn’t wish for unnecessary deaths.”
“My brother died too?!”
Even though she had expected this, Emma felt a shock that made everything go white before her eyes. The face of her strong, gentle brother Sid flashed through her mind. She couldn’t believe that brother was dead.
“Yes. At that time, every member of Tates royalty died. Except for you, who had fled to another country. Now the royal blood is a rare thing that only you possess.”
Garnets wore a cold smile befitting his appearance.
TLNOTE
While waiting for the next chapter, I encourage you, dear readers, to explore other masterpieces written by Daken-sensei :
- Monster Meat Led Me to the Throne
- Who killed the Hero?
- The Wicked Princess and 12 Eyes – The Strongest Squires and the Legendary Evil Woman, the Second Time in Her Life
- The Suspects of Necromancy
- The Exiled Merchant Saves the World with the Power of Gold (translated by my friend meerkat)
- The Last Magic (translated by my friend narwhal)
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated. Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
