Chapter – 23
Dee grumbled as she grabbed her own hair and twisted it around her finger. Anyway, the reflection in the mirror wasn’t bad. Overall, it looked white and shiny, very lovely.
Just then, the sound of an unfamiliar man’s voice came from the temple’s reception room.
“Well, well. Isn’t putting a god in a basket going a bit too far?”
With wide eyes, Dee rushed outside. A man with brown hair was speaking, looking at Roxand, who was sprawled out sleeping in a basket placed in the reception room. Dee exclaimed in excitement.
“Someone who believes that guy is Roxand! Finally!”
At her intense reaction, the man gave a slight smile.
“Ah, you must be this temple’s Saintess?”
“Yes, but who might you be?”
“Ah, I’m Jason Depp.”
The man with brown hair and brown eyes said with a friendly smile.
“I heard the Saintess here is quite miraculous. Would it be okay to ask you something?’
‘Even though I was happy to see someone appear who believes that fox is Roxand…’
Dee instinctively felt wary as she looked at the man, Jason Depp.
While Dee was sizing up Jason, Roxand, having woken up, had his fur standing on end. Dee asked.
“Do you know him, Roxand?”
-Mmh. Yeah. I’ve seen him once before.
Roxand said, looking very irritable.
-I can’t get too involved with humans.
“Hmm. It doesn’t seem like getting involved would help much anyway.”
-W-well, that’s true…
Perhaps unable to understand Roxand’s words, Jason looked puzzled but spoke in an admiring tone.
“Wow, you really are the Saintess. You can talk to Roxand.”
“Mhmm.”
Dee stared at Jason Depp with an enigmatic expression. Then, she circled around him once, sniffing and muttering.
“But there’s a smell, a smell…”
“Huh? Wh-what smell?”
When Jason flinched and brought his own sleeve to his nose to sniff, Dee narrowed her eyes and said.
“It smells like one of my own kind.”
At her mesmerizing mutter, Jason flinched and stepped back. Dee suddenly raised her head to look at Jason, put one hand on her hip, pointed a finger at Jason, and made a face.
“You’re a con artist, aren’t you?”
“Wh-what are you talking about, Saintess?”
“Ah, it’s written right on your face. ‘I am a con artist.'”
Cowed by her decisiveness, Jason spoke in a somewhat weak voice.
“No, well, I’m the King of the South, you see…”
“King of the South… King of the South?”
As Dee tilted her head in confusion, Stephanie, looking distressed from behind, excitedly grabbed Dee’s arm, pulled her back, and smacked her arm, saying.
“Saintess! Calling His Majesty Jason a con artist!”
“Huh? But what can I do, he smells like a con artist? My instincts are warning me.”
“Ugh, I really can’t go on like this… Anyway, it seems you have a question, so please consult with him quickly and send him on his way.”
“Hmm…”
‘What kind of person is he that Stephanie gets so flustered?’
Puzzled, Dee crossed her arms and examined Jason again. He wasn’t especially handsome, but he wasn’t ugly either. He was tall and slender.
To someone who didn’t know him, he was just an ‘ordinary man’. Dee scrutinized Jason carefully.
She instinctively felt it. This man, who looked utterly ordinary, was definitely lying. But what that lie was, she couldn’t figure out at all at the moment.
‘What is it? What on earth is it? What is he lying about?’
Unable to find an answer no matter how much she pondered, Dee gave up and offered a handshake.
“I don’t know. You’re an excellent con artist. I acknowledge it.”
“…Isn’t giving up too soon?”
Looking doubtful, Jason accepted the handshake and continued.
“Anyway, Saintess. Take a guess about me. What kind of person I am.”
When Jason spoke, Dee replied with interest.
“That’s interesting. Kyle asked the exact same thing at first too.”
“Oh. As expected of the same family.”
“Really? That explains it. His smile is similar to Gene’s too… What kind of family is this?”
“Kyle Clayce’s father’s older brother is my father.”
“Ah. So it really is the same family.”
Dee nodded, while Stephanie sent a look from behind, hoping she’d catch on to something. Dee saw the look but didn’t immediately realize what the problem was. Meanwhile, Jason Depp spoke.
“Don’t just call me a con artist out of the blue. I’m curious, that’s all. How much divine power does the Saintess have? We have one Saintess in our Depp Kingdom too.”
“I’m probably better?”
“Hmm, we’ll see. Can you tell me something about myself?”
Jason bent down to make eye contact. An ordinary face, an ordinary gaze. But a strangely felt sense of otherness, and the smell of a con artist.
Dee crossed her arms and tapped her own arm with her fingers, then pretended to sniff again. Then, as if she had gleaned information from the smell, she muttered.
“You are…”
“Yeah.”
“More unique than I thought.”
“Is that so?”
Jason smiled. Tilting her head, Dee continued with a statement that could apply to many people.
“Should I say you’re someone whose inside and outside are remarkably different? The core is very unique. You sometimes want to reveal it, but you also think it’s better to hide it.”
“…Go on.”
“You have something important to you. A value you hold dear.”
“What kind?”
“Hmm, a person? A person who can have a very big impact.”
It didn’t necessarily have to be a person.
It was just about narrowing down the scope of the other person’s interests. It could be a person, money, professional success. Jason shook his head.
“Well. I don’t hold that person that important.”
“But is that person really completely unrelated to the value you hold dear?”
“…That’s not true.”
The moment the other person shows a bit of trust. That was Dee’s favorite moment. Because they start giving information with their own mouth.
Having learned that ‘that person’ exists, Dee said in a serious voice.
“How should I put it… It’s probably a person with a great ambition inside. That person.”
“Hmm.”
Jason’s brow furrowed slightly. As if reading Jason’s thoughts, Dee pretended to concentrate carefully, then clapped her hands.
“A carriage. It’s related to a carriage.”
She mentioned something commonly seen, but this time, perhaps having completely missed the mark, Jason relaxed and smiled again as he replied.
“A carriage? I’m not sure about that.”
However, Dee, not flustered at all, continued.
“The carriage itself isn’t important. It’s what you can see through the carriage that’s important.”
“For example?”
“Something like, I see an emblem. What’s that called, I can’t recall for a moment…”
Just as Jason was about to say something, perhaps to draw out information, during that moment when she trailed off, the smile vanished from Jason’s face.
“That’s enough. This is sufficient.”
An emblem.
He had just reacted to the word ’emblem’. Dee continued.
“Wait a moment. If I concentrate a bit more, I think I can see that emblem clearly… Ouch!”
Jason grabbed Dee’s arm. Then, bending down, he whispered into her ear.
“Keep what you just saw well hidden in your mind. It’s for your own safety.”
Dee’s eyes widened.
‘This familiar feeling…’
A death threat!
‘Again! Here too! From a foreigner (probably)!’
Having heard death threats so often they were practically stuck to her ears by now, Dee wasn’t scared. She shook off Jason’s arm and shoved him away hard. Then, she started getting angry at him.
“Hey, it’s not like I saw it clearly, I just said I saw an emblem. I’d have to pray for a long, long time at the temple to see something like this clearly, you know? I was just about to grind my teeth at the God Roxand.”
“Huh? Let’s not be mean and hide behind the god like that, Saintess…”
“Who’s being mean, who!”
“Wow, you look cute but you’re really feisty.”
“Ugh, that’s the most annoying thing I’ve heard lately.”
As she spoke, Dee, unable to stand the irritation, stomped hard on Jason’s foot. Then, Jason yelled.
“That hurts!”
“My divine power is bringing your foot beneath my foot, Jason Depp!”
“Don’t try to cover it up!”
The two raised their voices and argued until Jason, who ran out of stamina first, was panting. At that moment, Stephanie, who had run off to get Kyle as soon as Jason threatened Dee, returned with Kyle. Jason waved happily.
“Oh, Kyle. Long time no… you, you’re drawing your sword!”
As Kyle’s hand went to his sword, Jason flinched and stepped back in surprise. Kyle asked in a fierce voice.
“What are you doing here.”
“Well, I need to see what cards my competitor holds.”
“Cards?”
“The Saintess seems quite miraculous?”
When Jason said this slyly, Dee crossed her arms and nodded as if it were obvious. Then, Jason smirked and said.
“And besides, she’s cute. My type.”
At those words, Dee glared sharply at Jason and said.
“That makes me feel bad.”
“Is, is it something to feel that bad about? That’s hurtful.”
Kyle gestured with his chin toward Jason.
“Come with me.”
“Anyway, Kyle, you’ve always disliked me too much.”
Jason followed Kyle out, joking around without any seriousness. Then, Kyle looked back at Jason expressionlessly and asked.
“Do I look like I’m joking right now?”
“…But I’m your cousin, you wouldn’t kill me, right?”
Keeping an eye on Kyle’s mood, Jason followed him as he walked toward the palace.
After Kyle took Jason away, Dee, feeling strangely drained, plopped down on a chair in the reception room. Stephanie also sighed. Later, Rita Der, who had just entered the West Temple, asked with wide eyes.
“Saintess, are you okay? What’s wrong with Stephanie? Did something happen?”
“His Majesty Jason Depp came.”
At Stephanie’s words, Rita Der nodded sympathetically as if she understood. Dee asked.
“What on earth does that guy do?”
Then Rita Der answered.
“Ah. His Majesty Jason Depp, you see… Well, the current Crown Prince Sian is critically ill, so if His Highness the Crown Prince passes away, normally the second son, His Highness Kyle Clayce, would succeed the throne, right?”
Rita Der, finding it a bit hard to explain, counted on her fingers and tilted her head. Then, Stephanie explained instead.
“As you know, His Highness Kyle isn’t very popular.”
“Yeah. Very much so.”
When Dee answered coldly, Stephanie continued.
“But if, due to people’s fierce opposition, His Highness Kyle cannot ascend to the throne of the Emperor of the Vitenxia Empire, there is exactly one person in a position to ascend.”
“Wh-who is it?”
“His Majesty Jason Depp, the King of the Depp Kingdom in the south of the Vitenxia Empire. He is the son of the previous emperor, Emperor Illin, the older brother of the current Emperor William.”
Finally understanding the meaning of the look Stephanie had given her earlier, Dee raised her right hand.
“I have a question, Teacher Stephanie.”
“What is it, Student Diana?”
“Why is it Jason Depp, not Jason Clayce? If he’s the son of Illin Clayce.”
“That’s an excellent question. It’s because when the family was separated, the previous Emperor Illin gave him a new surname along with vast wealth. A completely new, Depp family was started. For reference, the daughter of the younger sister of the previous Empress, that is, His Majesty Jason Depp’s cousin, is Her Majesty Queen Lona Clayce of the Tolte family. Originally, marriage is allowed from cousins onward in the Vitenxia Empire.”
“Ah, a mess… Ah!”
Dee was momentarily stunned by the complicated family tree.
“Anyway, then originally, shouldn’t the emperor now be Jason Depp? Since he’s the son of the previous emperor!”
“Yes. Originally, that would be the case. But Emperor Illin, thinking his son was too lackadaisical to become the emperor of the Vitenxia Empire, gave the throne to his younger brother, Emperor William, and sent his son away to the south with a kingdom. Well, the reasons are completely different, but it’s similar to how His Highness Kyle came to Petun now. But after Emperor William married Queen Lona Clayce, His Majesty Jason has been implementing extraordinarily good governance, you see?”
“Then…”
