Chapter 25
The imperial family always holds a grand festival every spring and autumn. In spring, they celebrate the Country’s Foundation, and in autumn, they celebrate Thanksgiving.

The two festivals are the largest among the numerous events held over the year.

For this reason, nobles, who are usually rare to see, always imprint their faces at spring and autumn festivals.

As a country that praises goddesses, religious ceremonies are held at large events.

And the ‘Domina’ is the woman who would be the first one to perform the ceremony. Perhaps that’s the reason why Domina is usually handled by a woman of noble status in the imperial family, such as the emperor’s companion or empress.

The problem was that there are no women in the imperial family right now.

The emperor’s mother died a few years ago, and the only child, the emperor, is not even engaged, and doesn’t have any siblings.

Under imperial law, the emperor is capable of appointing a Domina in his own will.

In the original novel, for this reason, Tricia becomes Domina. But why would he choose me to do that?

“Why me?”

I mumbled it out of nowhere and covered my mouth.

I must be crazy.

Elyon, who opened his eyes in a surprised manner, laughed loudly.

“Our Amelia had been through a lot.”

“I lost it, haha.”

I quickly bowed my head at him.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“As expected, you look just like your brother.”

Why doesn’t he just curse instead?

Soon after he stopped laughing, he said.

“That’s because, at this point, Amelia, aren’t you the most noble woman in the Rohatin Empire?”

“…Ah.”

I exclaimed belatedly. The duke is young. but still the Cedric family is the second richest after the imperial family.

Thinking of it, it was not a strange request at all.

The most noble woman in the empire is the one in charge of the Domina anyway.

I’m speechless for such a common reason. Then Bastian calmly intervened between us.

“But Amelia hasn’t even made her debut yet, Your Majesty.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem. She’s already 21 years old.

Her 16th birthday passed a long time ago, and now that she’s back safely, Amelia should make a successful debut.”

Come to think of it, Amelia was 16 years old when she went missing.

Under the current law of the Rohatin Empire, all nobles should debut in society only after their 16th birthday.

Until then, one should grow up under the special care and protection of adults in their family. Anyone who violated this would be punished for illegality.

Considering that a woman should debut in social circles should be around 13 in other countries, Rohatin is very late for that manner.

It was thanks to the beliefs of the first emperor that such age restrictions existed.

He is worried about the Young Lords and Young Ladies, who could not grow up as children after stepping into society as they are way too young.

Even considering that the empire’s adult standard was 18 years old, 21 years old is definitely a very late age to make a debut.

Unlike me, who was easily convinced, Bastian still had an astute expression on his face.

“Debutant aside, Domina doesn’t have to be Amelia.”

“That’s true. But there’s no reason for it not to be Amelia.”

“I understand how you feel about caring for your sister a hundred times, but I can’t go out of my way.”

Bastian closed his mouth at the emperor’s reasonable rebuke.

I understood what Bastian was worried about.

This is because after taking the first step into society, a completely different life than before takes place.

In addition to exchanges with young children of my age, proposals would have been issued to the earnest.

Presumably, it is clear that Bastian was worried about the latter.

It is already dizzying to think that all proposals flying into the annex would be pouring in like a powder.

“There’s already a lot of rumors in the capital that the youngest of the Cedric family is back.”

“The rumors are fast.”

“Of course you worked hard to find Amelia.”

If you translate it roughly, it could be interpreted as ‘Are you a person if you don’t even know when someone feels fuzzy?’

No matter how much I looked at it, the emperor is talented in making fun of people with a smile.

“This time, the spring festival ball will be Amelia’s debutant, and it’s not bad for her to experience Domina.”

Unlike the calm Elyon, I am serious.

I’ve been interested in it since I was young.

Isn’t it true that life permeates naturally and quietly just like flowing water?

The Domina, which was recommended by the emperor, was, in short, the main character of the founding festival.

It is not enough to just receive everyone’s attention throughout the schedule, but also during the banquet, she had to go through numerous nobles and climb the podium to pray.

It was terrible just thinking about it.

However, looking at my expression, Elyon seemed to have no intention of not pushing this condition.

“These are all my conditions. Will you be able to do it?”

“Of course, if you refuse, I can’t grant you permission to go to the west.”

He smiled. Bastian changed his gaze towards the emperor and stared at me.

“What do you want to do, Amelia?”

“If you don’t like it, you can say no.”

He spoke calmly. He looked as if he was completely willing and would respect my opinion.

Actually, I know. Bastian is a human being who will contact Carlys in another way, even if the emperor wouldn’t permit him to go to the West.

The problem is that in that case, the Duke Cedric will be regarded as a felon in an instant.

It’s a very heavy sin to contact the western continent without the official permission of each country.

As long as I am alive, I can’t see another way out of this.

I sighed and nodded.

“I’ll do it, I’ll be the Domina.”

“That’s a good idea. Actually, I didn’t even think about another candidate.”

Elyon replied as if he had been waiting.

In the first place, the choice of rejection seems to have not crossed in the emperor’s head. I just couldn’t get rid of that dry feeling.

The emperor drank tea in front of him with an exceptionally pleasant face.

“For your role as the Domina, I’ll send the work to the duke’s residence as soon as the arrangements are complete.”

I don’t think so. I have read the original novel.

I looked at the emperor who was shamelessly lying filled with distrust.

“By the way, you can send a letter to the western magician any time. From this time on, I will allow Duke Cedric’s voyage to the West.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you, I’m grateful for solving the problem of Domina that had been bothering me.”

Yes. It was noble for a threat, Your Majesty.

“Do you mind having a luncheon together?”

“It’s okay.”

“We can eat at home.”

As soon as Elyon’s words were over, Bastian and I refused side by side.

The emperor looked at me and my brother with surprise, and soon burst into a pleasant laugh.

“Ha ha, you siblings are very close.”

It’s hard for Bastian and me to agree like this.

The emperor let us go coolly without further ado.

Throughout our return at the carriage, Bastian had a mixed expression on his face.

Domina’s social debut is so serious, even if it’s a little unexpected.

Thinking hard, I stopped worrying when I recalled that our first sibling was a human being who raised a poisonous knife to the downtown area. I had rather eagerly hoped that there would be no people around me on the banquet day.

“Amelia.”

Bastian, who had been silent for a long time, looked at me as if he had decided something.

“What?”

“I thought that I would give you an assassin escort.”

“It’s okay, brother.”

I smiled calmly and refused. I am a good citizen who knows the importance of life.

Despite my rejection, Bastian looked like he had already made a decision.

I can’t even tell how terrible things he’s imagining in his head.

This year’s festival will be fine, right?

I tried to press down on the anxiety that was slowly rising. But I am just comforting myself that nothing will happen.

~+~

Law, the competent general manager of the Ashen castle of the western continent, was dumbfounded.

“Again?”

He tilted his head and froze.

At the top of the spire, a letter wrapped in a blue light was floating in the middle of the magic sphere.

“Are they stupid or just stubborn?!”

Law muttered in annoyance. He had a sharp glance while touching the mail.

As expected, he is good at sweeping and cleaning precious castles and even feed their lovely succulents. Perhaps because the weather was nice, he felt lighter today.

Law, who was trying to enjoy his afternoon tea time while humming, hardened due to the familiar sound.

(Chime chime, A carrier pigeon has arrived.)

“This is crazy.”

The highest spire that is given to the Ashen Castle was a communication portal that was made 300 years ago when five continents signed a peace treaty.

For reference, it has actually been only twice in the past 300 years that a carrier pigeon has actually arrived.

Once when the North continent was on the verge of extinction due to an epidemic, and once during the Great War, which turned the East continent into near ruins from war.

So, sending letters from other continents meant that something really urgent happened.

That is…until last month.

Recently, the communication magic of the spire has been used in a completely different sense.

“Sigh.”

Law, who had been staring at the letter for a while, caught it.

In the center of the envelope, an eagle pattern with huge wings spread out was drawn.

It was the symbol of the Cedric Duchy of the Rohatin Empire of the central continent.

“I’m sick of this eagle now.”

His red eyes glowed.

Today was exactly the 38th day. Since he arrived every day from last month, the number of letters he had received was 38.

Law, who was trying to tear the envelope profusely, turned his eyes around with a groaning sound. Even his ears turned red too.

“What kind of annoying magic did they put on this envelope”

Law stepped on it annoyingly.

There was a solid magic seal on the envelope as if they had expected that the letter would be torn.

It was a defensive magic that sucked the person’s mana side when he tried to damage the letter with malice.

“Damn duke.”

In the end, Laq, who gave up tearing the letter, threw it behind his back.

There a new letter gently fell over the envelope piled up in one corner.

“If it wasn’t for a peace treaty, I would have turned the whole empire upside down.”

He gritted his teeth. The whole story of the incident had to be traced back exactly 38 days ago.