I Proposed to My Childhood Friend After Regressing - Chapter 70

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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After Returning, I Proposed to My Childhood Friend
Chapter 70
‘He’s making me the lead instead of Father? Does that mean he’ll have me appear frequently in official settings?’
Beatrice’s expression clouded with confusion. It was the face of someone who didn’t quite grasp what he meant.
Jedrick, catching sight of this, began to offer a clarification before stopping himself.
“Never mind. You’ll understand soon enough when you meet Her Majesty the Empress.”
“Hmm? Oh, all right.”
Still bewildered, Beatrice nodded and followed Jedrick deeper into the Empress Palace.
And moments later.
“Jedrick, Beatrice. Welcome. Her Majesty has been expecting you.”
“Kaya! How have you been?”
“Very well, I’m relieved to see you’ve returned in good health, Beatrice.”
“That’s all thanks to you and Nao’s help!”
“Oh, you flatter me. Shall we head in?”
“Yes!”
Under Kaya’s guidance, the two of them stepped into the Reception Room.
The Empress, who had been selecting Mana Stones with an attendant, looked up and smiled warmly at them both.
“My two favorite people have come together.”
“Iyette!”
“I bow before Your Majesty.”
At Jedrick’s respectful greeting, Beatrice stepped forward with a radiant smile and approached the Empress.
Delighted by this, Iyette’s lips curved into a soft smile.
“I heard from Crowell. You two had a quarrel the moment you returned from the Marquis Territory?”
“Oh.”
At the Empress’s words, Beatrice shrank back slightly.
‘How far has our story spread?’
Finding her reaction amusing, the Empress laughed softly and gestured lightly.
“First, sit down. I didn’t summon you today for formalities.”
“Yes, thank you!”
Beatrice settled into the seat across from the Empress with ease. Jedrick took the place beside her, watching the pleasant scene between mother and daughter.
The Empress, smiling at the pair, quickly turned to the matter at hand.
“First, the reason I’ve called you today is simple. As I wrote in my letter, I wanted to hear directly from you about what happened in the Marquis Territory, and that’s the first reason—”
Beatrice had already anticipated this much.
The Crown Prince and his advisors knew Beatrice had come to the Marquis Territory as the Empress’s special envoy, so she’d submitted a report alongside their own, but hearing it directly from the person involved was different from reading written words.
‘That’s why I prepared my own detailed report too!’
In matters like this, it was always the one who prepared thoroughly who earned the credit. Seeing her nod enthusiastically, the Empress continued gently.
“The second reason is… Beatrice, do you remember what I told you before about the Fusion Healing System?”
“Oh, yes! Of course!”
“Thanks to a certain noble family’s brilliant daughter, implementing the Fusion Healing System in earnest has become much smoother. That’s why I’d like that young lady to be at the center of it all.”
The moment the Empress finished speaking, Beatrice’s eyes widened.
“I’m sorry?”
It’s hard to say whether to call it oversight or charge, but I haven’t settled on a title yet. Still, I hope you’ll be at the center, overseeing this system, spreading word of it, and guiding it forward.”
“Wait, just a moment.”
Beatrice looked between Jedrick and the Empress in alarm.
Catching the mischievous smile on Jedrick’s face, she narrowed her eyes in turn.
So that ‘starring role in this project’ he’d mentioned earlier meant exactly this.
“First, I’m deeply grateful for such an honor. But surely oversight is too sudden for someone like me. There are many people with far greater abilities than I possess—”
She meant every word. Objectively speaking, didn’t Jedrick beside her possess far superior abilities?
“And besides, I’m not even a mage.”
“That’s exactly why I think you’re the right person. Because you aren’t a mage.”
The Empress rejected Beatrice’s protest with quiet firmness and continued.
“As you know, many in the Empire fear Magic. Whether for political reasons or because the Empire has been so insular that the field of Magic seems alien to them.”
Perhaps it was also because the one who had first proposed the necessity and adoption of Magic was not a subject of the Empire, but a foreigner from another land.
The same words land differently depending on who speaks them.
“When I first took my place as Empress, I heard often enough that ‘a foreign witch was trying to consume the Empire.’ But I didn’t blink once at such talk.”
She spoke of the past without concern, gazing steadily at Beatrice.
“To those people, both Jedrick and I will always be ‘outsiders.'”
…
“But Beatrice, you are different.”
The traditionalists would regard him with prejudice simply by virtue of his bloodline, but there were many who did not. Above all, she was a Hartwell.
“That’s why what you accomplished in the Marquis Territory, Beatrice, carries meaning far beyond simply discovering the cause of an ‘inexplicable illness.'”
“Of course, it was also an outstanding discovery as an alchemist. None of us suspected that Lumen Root would react to Holy Magic in such a way. There are few who would pour Holy Magic—the art that demands the caster’s mental strength most heavily of all—into a Lumen Root.”
Ahem.
“Ah, forgive me. I’ve gotten off track again. Haha!”
The Empress shook her head at the sheepish Jedrick as if he were incorrigible, then turned back to Beatrice.
“I grew weary of a kingdom so consumed by Magic and research that it had lost sight of what mattered. His Majesty, in turn, saw the necessity of change—the need for Magic—in the Empire.”
Their marriage had been inevitable in that sense.
“Don’t be bound by fixed names like ‘mage’ or ‘alchemist,’ Beatrice. What matters is what you accomplish and how you do it using the substance we call Mana.”
“And how you use that tool in service to people.”
At Jedrick’s addition, the Empress nodded and took Beatrice’s hand.
“It’s true I sent you to the Marquis Territory with orders to ‘investigate,’ but I helped you at first because you and Clyde were simply too adorable. Your curiosity is a precious quality, and I thought it would be a good experience for you.”
…
“But Beatrice, you’ve exceeded my expectations. You found the cause of the Lumen Root Erosion Disease, broke down the walls in people’s hearts, and even earned the Marquis’s recognition.”
She recited Beatrice’s accomplishments in full, her eyes crinkling with playful warmth.
“So this is all your fault, Beatrice. You did the work too well.”
“But—”
“Don’t think of it as such a burden. Try to accept it as an experience.”
“That’s right, Beatrice. The advantage of a title like this is being able to conduct whatever research you want with someone else’s resources. A little self-interest mixed in is hardly a problem, as long as you don’t cross the line.”
“Oh.”
Beatrice’s eyes widened slightly at Jedrick’s jest. His words had sparked a thought.
As she and the Empress exchanged light quips about embezzlement, Beatrice raised her hand with a question.
“This Fusion Healing System—the Church will be involved too, won’t they?”
“Right. Holy Magic has been the cornerstone of treatment all this time, after all. It will be a collaborative effort between the Church’s priests, ordinary healers, and mages.”
“Then I’ll do it!”
Using the excuse that if it wasn’t just her alone but all of them putting their heads together, she could manage it, Beatrice quickly accepted the proposal.
If what the Empress said was true, this would naturally create a connection she could use to establish herself within the Church. And—
“And since you mention research with self-interest mixed in, I have another question!”
“Hmm?”
“Would it be all right if I pursued another line of research alongside this one?”
“Another research? Hmm, do you have a field in mind?”
“Yes!”
Beatrice nodded firmly at the Empress and spoke calmly.
“Transportation. I’d like to research Transportation and related fields.”
Starting with Warp, which could move people within the Empire—
‘All the way to Transportation that could transcend dimensions or time.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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