As expected, my older sister took the documents regarding the branch family.
More precisely, seeing those documents seemed to spark a new idea in her. A method to somehow create an excuse to return to Roam by contacting a family that was on the verge of being expelled from the branch family.
With Father thrusting the imperial marriage arrangement right in front of my sister's nose, to avoid that, she had no choice but to go through with a marriage arrangement elsewhere first.
Rather than choosing a completely unrelated family, if she selected a family that once held even a speck of Roam's bloodline, even if she were expelled immediately, she could at least use that speck of blood from the man as leverage to somehow establish a foothold in Roam.
It was an option my sister would never have imagined in normal times.
'But now, she has to do something.'
Well, now Frigian will bring the marriage engagement document on her own, so I just need to wait.
I skimmed through the rest with my eyes and roughly categorized them. I didn't want to be the real minor duke anyway, so why work hard?
That wasn't the problem. Something else was.
Tap tap!
Just then, a sound came from the closed window. When I opened the window with delight, Jigor flew in, fluffing his feathers. It was a reply I had been waiting for over a day.
"The reply?"
[Here it is!]
But why did they attach such a large note to this small bird's body?
Seriously, maybe because he's big himself, he has absolutely no consideration for smaller beings.
I clicked my tongue and unfolded the reply Samuel had sent.
'I will visit.'
......Hmm?
"......Jigor. Sorry, but you'll need to go once more."
I wrote that he didn't need to come, and to at least stop them if the temple seemed like it would make a strange announcement. I tied that to Jigor's leg again.
Exactly three hours after Jigor flew out the window.
"S-second young lady. A guest......"
Samuel, covering his entire body with a cloak that looked suspicious to anyone and wearing a helmet pressed low, visited the Roam mansion.
* * *
"A guard?"
"Yes. A guard who accompanied me when I traveled."
"If he's your guard, isn't he already behind you?"
At Father's words, Palides tensed his shoulders and coughed dryly.
I glanced at Palides, swallowed a rising sigh, and forced a smile.
"As you know, Father, Frigian has a lot of grievances against me lately. The employees still follow her more, so I just want to call one more of my people to gain peace of mind. I'll send him away as soon as I feel reassured."
Fortunately, Frigian had thoroughly stirred up my reputation among the employees recently.
Thanks to that becoming a representative example proving my anxiety, Father nodded reluctantly even while making a displeased expression.
I was worried he might ask to see his face and remove the helmet, but fortunately, that didn't happen.
He had already failed to remove Palides's helmet, so he probably guessed Samuel would be similar.
I could only call this luck.
I calmly returned to my room and let out a long sigh only after firmly closing the door.
"It's been a while."
"You, what on earth......! Sigh."
I barely suppressed my voice that was about to rise and slumped onto the sofa. Seeing me pressing my forehead and repeatedly sighing deeply, Samuel gave a short cough.
"I thought it would be faster to tell you in person by visiting, but I didn't know the situation was bad enough that you'd need to station a guard."
I wanted to retort that it became bad because he came, but I held it in and spoke through gritted teeth.
"......Just tell me what it is that you needed to see my face to say."
If it's nothing, I'll throw him out right this moment.
While grinding my teeth inwardly, I was also worried that if he came all this way personally, the situation might be serious.
However, Samuel's first words were the exact opposite of my concerns.
"The atmosphere at the temple is better than ever."
"Better?"
"Yes. New historical records were discovered, so everyone is reverently decoding the words spoken by the god."
"And those new historical records......"
"Books discovered in the basement of Febrin Monastery."
At that moment, the scenery of the dusty basement came to mind. The very place where the unidentified warp gate that sent me flying to the imperial palace was installed.
If those were materials from that place.
"Would they...... include content about the two gods?"
Recalling why that place was a closed monastery, there would naturally have been materials about birth and death within the temple.
Contents about divine authority, god's puppets, and proxies might even be included.
Thinking that there was a headless statue in that monastery, I had to consider the possibility of materials reminiscent of Dullahans.
"Yes, that's correct. The proxy's achievements will be reevaluated as well."
I stared blankly at Samuel speaking uprightly and suddenly thought.
If I hit the back of that helmet, would Samuel's head hurt, or would my hand hurt?
"Sir, in my opinion, the very fact that there are two gods is already ruined."
"What?"
"Do you know how content that shakes the foundation of the logic of domination used for a long time is usually received?"
"The temple doesn't study doctrine to dominate some......"
"You heretic."
At my direct words, Samuel fell silent as if shocked.
I could easily imagine what expression he was making inside that helmet.
"Sir. You really...... your faith is so firm that it's comfortable, but I really don't like that."
When I pressed my forehead and muttered, Samuel opened his mouth with difficulty even while in shock.
"I will...... return to the temple......"
"Return, and testify that all the content of those materials is true?"
"I have already told the High Priest that I received a divine revelation. He will surely listen."
"Sir, this time, it would be better to listen to me. At least I seem more familiar with politics than you."
When I dismissed his opinion with no room for reconsideration, Samuel's shoulders slumped.
That human could live much more comfortably if he dealt with the temple even half as cunningly as he yields to me. The temple seemed to have done quite well in educating clergy.
"Five days. No, four days? Or was it three?"
"......What are you talking about?"
"The time given to us."
It wasn't an oracle or anything. This was a conclusion that would be derived based on the historical records Samuel brought.
That Dullahans were creatures that appeared to place a curse on this land. The possibility that the temple would announce such nonsense as an official opinion had grown too large.
Then hadn't the likelihood of the Empress collapsing also increased?
'Damn it, Lilia......'
If she really regained her foresight, curses would naturally pour out, but thanks to the foresight, I learned this fact even if just a few days in advance. Should I be grateful or annoyed? I didn't know.
I grabbed my head at this unexpected problem and took a deep breath.
First...... let's contact Heinri again. And Zenon too.
* * *
Lilia's daily life these days was simple.
Reading books in her room, embroidering handkerchiefs, or taking care of Seiri, who had been especially lonely lately.
Once, the atmosphere was such that she could be kicked out of the house at any moment, but after Aneli came, people's attention shifted slightly away from Lilia.
In the past, she would have been upset at losing the attention focused on her, but this time, Aneli's presence was only welcome.
Also, she hoped Aneli and Frigian would clash more. Because the more the two collided, the more Lilia could breathe.
Lilia leaned her body back languidly and recalled the conversation she had with Frigian yesterday.
"I heard the news long ago that you clung to Aneli."
"I won't deny it. But sister, if you knew how greatly I was insulted by the younger sister at the imperial banquet, you'd have no choice but to understand my actions."
Lilia put on an expression filled with sorrow.
"Older sister, you know how much the younger sister hates me. I...... I tried to do something, anything, hoping that the younger sister's desire for revenge would stop."
"......Is that true?"
"Yes. But it didn't have much effect. The younger sister is burning with desire for revenge and not caring about anything else."
Lilia had recently heard from some employees she had invested effort to gain sympathy from that the two fought greatly whenever they met.
From the employees' perspective, they were probably conveying the information with the intention of having Lilia avoid them so she wouldn't get caught up in their anger. Although Lilia was using that much in a different way.
"Do you remember the prophecy I made about the younger sister?"
"Yes."
"That prophecy is true."
Lilia saw Frigian's eyes trembling at that moment. Knowing that Frigian had great attachment to the Roam family, Lilia could easily tell that her words had shaken her heart again this time.
"I'm so worried."
"That won't happen."
"I hope so."
Sincerely.
The conversation between the two wasn't long, but Lilia got everything she wanted.
Lilia could easily guess that Frigian would grab Aneli's ankle even more desperately.
And while Aneli was preoccupied with the information she gave, she wouldn't be able to focus on Frigian.
While they beat each other up like that, she planned to focus on the prophecy she newly received.
'I really was the protagonist!'
Thinking of the new prophecy, her heart swelled.
It was meaningless to worry that she might be nothing for a moment, but Lilia recently became able to know the future again.
However, unlike before when it remained clearly in her head and she could remember it whenever she wanted, now she saw it in the form of dreams.
The time for dreaming was limited, and the speed of reading books in dreams was also fixed.
But the most troublesome thing was that after waking from the dream, as time passed, she could barely remember it.
'It's inconvenient but there's no helping it. I have no choice but to record it as soon as I wake up.'
After checking once more that no one was in her room, she quietly opened the drawer. It was the 'record book' she had started writing diligently a few days ago.
She gently stroked the cover of the record book and smiled faintly. With just this, she could easily turn around the hearts of the Roam Duke and Duchess.
So if just one person, whether Aneli or Frigian, would lend her strength, she would recover her position within Roam.
After that...... I should dispose of both of them with this future knowledge.
She could even seat Seiri, who followed her well, in the Roam heir's position.
Lilia was so imagining the future spread out like a smooth road that she ended up missing the sound of a bee's wings buzzing around her.