The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 17

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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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Chapter 17
I glanced sideways at Ian, who was being characteristically indecisive, then turned to Beriti with a question.
“What happened to the Celestial Being?”
“It granted your wish quite nicely and then vanished.”
Beriti shrugged.
“I’m sorry about the fashion sense, but that Celestial Being is quite skilled—comparable to the lords, if you insist on a comparison.”
“But Ian wasn’t even afraid of it?”
Compared to when he’d summoned those demons earlier, Ian had been remarkably composed. The only exception being his initial shock at the Celestial Being’s state of dress.
“Well, I… guess I wasn’t?”
Ian only just realized it himself.
“That’s because I trained hard in the Primeval Forest. I’ve developed enough strength to withstand a certain degree of—well, presence. Though the Celestial Being was thoughtful about it as well.”
“You mean like the winter school uniform Beriti wore?”
At my question, Beriti smiled as though confirming the right answer.
‘Well, at least it granted my wish. That’s something.’
The wish I’d made to the Celestial Being was to stage a sacred scene of blessing the young Crown Prince.
An appearance when he was reinforcing his Protection Magic Ritual, to show that his efforts had moved the heavens—a scene portraying exactly that.
As sacred and holy as possible.
On a grand enough scale for as many people as possible to witness.
“Everyone in the Deste territory must have seen it.”
“We saw it too, from inside the carriage as we were leaving.”
A sacred Celestial Being descending into the sky above the territory, bare except for a length of cloth, wings spread wide and magnificent.
Beriti giggled, while Ian hurriedly traced a blessing sign.
‘Oh….’
I rolled my eyes in frustration.
‘So that’s how you chose to grant my wish—in the form you find most distasteful.’
Still, I hoped it would help the Crown Prince.
The sight of that young Crown Prince, who’d genuinely rejoiced at the safety of Ian and myself—notorious criminals that we were—and the warm tears that had soaked my shoulder.
There was no way I could simply pretend I hadn’t seen that.
‘He really doesn’t seem to have much power.’
Just from seeing him keep vigil through the night in such a cramped, miserable chapel, one could easily infer the Crown Prince’s precarious position.
So I desperately hoped my wish would protect him, even just a little.
“…Did I do the right thing, at least?”
“Absolutely.”
Ian even praised me for it, saying I’d acted perfectly.
He’d been lost in thought at the mention of dynastic revolution, but now he finally seemed to have collected himself.
“You’re smart enough to have noticed, Hebenia—that Crown Prince Aidelus has a weak power base.”
“Yeah. I’m smart enough to file my own taxes as a twenty-five-year-old self-funded taxpayer.”
“Needlessly specific.”
I shrugged.
‘So the Crown Prince’s name is Aidelus.’
I remembered the younger me in that dream, fussing about how “Aidelus” was coming.
‘Was Aidelus the Crown Prince all along?’
If that were true, his behavior in the Temple made sense. We must have been quite close.
Next time we met, I’d make sure to act like I already knew him.
“But why is his support base so weak?”
“He was abandoned.”
Ian’s explanation was shocking.
“Ten years ago, the Empress and the Imperial Consort gave birth on the same day.”
The Empire experienced the blessing of two Crown Princes being born in a single day.
The firstborn was the Empress’s son, and a few hours later, the Imperial Consort gave birth to her child.
But then a terrible tragedy followed.
The Empress died of Puerperal Fever.
People fell into shock and grief, and they blamed the Imperial Consort for this terrible loss.
“The Imperial Consort was a concubine the Emperor kept by his side when he was still Crown Prince. She comes from a commoner background, so her backing is weak—or rather, people openly called her lowborn.”
“I understand the sentiment, but calling someone lowborn just because of that seems….”
“By the way, the Imperial Consort was already married when the Emperor took her.”
“Wow….”
What a disgraceful Emperor.
He abandoned his duty to live for the Empire and lived only for his desires below the belt.
“Meanwhile, the Empress was the daughter of a prestigious Duke.”
“……”
“You see how it is, don’t you?”
I could only nod.
A prince born of the Imperial Consort—who had lost his mother, yet was backed by the formidable power of the ducal house as his maternal relatives.
A prince born of the Imperial Consort of humble origins, burdened by past sins, yet favored by the Emperor.
“The nobility all demanded that Her Majesty the Empress’s son be made Crown Prince. A reasonable claim, of course. After all, he’s the rightful heir.”
“I agree with that. But what does that have to do with the prince being abandoned……?”
“The Imperial Consort’s position became precarious.”
Even after the Empress died, the Imperial Consort could never become Empress.
Though she had become the most exalted woman in the Empire, she remained—in their eyes—a base and morally deficient concubine.
The nobility united in opposition, refusing to acknowledge such a woman as the nation’s mother. The Emperor himself could not ignore the tide of opinion.
So the Imperial Consort made a declaration to all.
“I shall never presume to harbor the wish to take the place of the departed Her Majesty the Empress. I am acutely aware of my own shortcomings. It is only with a heart of atonement toward her that I shall raise His Highness the Crown Prince as my own.”
To prove her words, the Imperial Consort raised the Crown Prince as if he were her own flesh and blood.
Even the suspicious nobility came at last to acknowledge her effort.
Thus the Emperor granted her authority to manage certain affairs within the Palace.
And so everything was resolved.
“All except one thing.”
The son born of the Imperial Consort herself.
In embracing the Crown Prince as her own, the Imperial Consort abandoned the prince she had carried in her own womb.
Yet no one pointed this out. Rather, they praised it as the right decision.
After all, the possibility of a prince of humble birth ever inheriting the throne had vanished.
* * *
It took a full three days to travel from the exiled village of Exsilium to the edge of the Primeval Forest—slowed by our monster-hunting training.
But this time, little Flora came with us.
Beriti conjured a blue lantern in the empty air as she spoke.
“Advancing while killing monsters isn’t good for a young child’s sensibilities.”
“What about me, then?”
Seven-year-old Hebenia glared at her with eyes sharp and cold.
“Why, you’re a splendid independent woman with the mental maturity of a Self-funded Taxpayer. We’re calling this special treatment.”
“Self-funded Taxpayer?”
“Self-funded, self-taxed.”
“That’s some……”
“Ah, is that shorthand for ‘You come up with the strangest things’?”
“Hmph.”
Apparently satisfied, Hebenia didn’t press the matter any further.
“Flora, we’ll be walking for quite a while from here on.”
Instead, she turned and imitated her as a cool big sister.
“If it gets hard, just tell me. Understood?”
“Okay.”
“The Primeval Forest is dark, but there’s lots of fun stuff too. When you see those huge buildings wrapped up in vines, it’s going to be amazing.”
Ian watched Hebenia with quiet approval. She looked exactly like a child her age, doting on her little sister and showing off—it was endearing to see.
“Then let’s move out.”
Beriti, leading the way, was dressed in athletic wear.
Unlike when she’d trained in her winter uniform, not a single monster came near us.
Ian, whose Sensory Perception had developed to monstrous levels, could detect the creatures lurking nearby, watching over them from the shadows, but he said nothing.
‘I understand how they feel.’
Ian now understood Beriti’s overwhelming presence.
Had he not been on her side, he would have fled just like those monsters.
‘The stronger I become, the more clearly I’ll sense her power.’
After walking steadily, we arrived at some kind of shopping complex entangled in massive vines.
“This is where we stayed on the second day of training.”
Beriti pulled a Tent, instant food, thermos containers, and various other supplies from the inner pockets of her cloak.
“The distance from the forest to the village is quite short.”
Ian unfolded a Map beneath the lantern light and marked the route.
Then, based on this, he and Beriti discussed and calculated how long it would take to go in other directions.
Flora, set down on the ground, gazed around at the building interior with wide, rounded eyes.
“Sister……”
Then she scurried over to Hebenia’s side.
Hebenia, who had been pondering which instant food to choose so people would say she had good taste, lifted her head.
“Hmm? What is it? Are you hungry?”
“…….”
“Oh, could it be this?”
She raised her wrist, showing off the watch she wore.
Flora didn’t answer. Instead, her fingers fidgeted as she clutched the Rabbit Doll tighter.
“……yes.”
Hebenia had been wanting to ask something all along.
“Do you like your mother?”
“Yes.”
Flora’s answer came back without hesitation.
“Mom, I love you.”
“…….”
“She gave me this.”
The Rabbit Doll was something Beriti had found in the basement of the Deste Mansion.
It was said to be a cherished keepsake that Dalis had made by hand for her daughter.
There wasn’t a trace of falsehood in Flora’s face as she answered without hesitation.
“I see.”
Hebenia smiled with genuine warmth.
“That’s truly a relief.”
Hebenia stood in silence until the tearful video call between Flora and her mother Dalis came to an end.
* * *
Late into the night.
“So the misbehaved child who won’t sleep at this hour is you.”
I was sitting at the entrance of the building, gazing out at the dark Primeval Forest, when someone approached and dropped down beside me with a thud. It was Beriti.
“A lady’s attendant is always worried. After all that hardship in exile, you ought to rest well now so you can make up for all the sleep you’ve lost and grow up strong.”
“As if two months of labor is anything to complain about.”
My suffering barely registered compared to the other exiles I’d known.
‘Compared to my last job, this was paradise.’
Still, I didn’t dislike this fussy concern, so I deliberately ignored the fact that my lips had already curved upward enough to dimple my cheeks.
“You’ve raised that barrier very well.”
Beriti offered her praise.
The building we were currently camped in was surrounded by a barrier I’d created with my own ability.
I opened and closed my palms repeatedly.
“With the right applications, it seems like it could be used in endless ways. Already a few ideas have come to me.”
“A remarkable student who grasps ten concepts from learning one.”
Beriti praised me with genuine admiration, kind as the older brother I’d seen in my dream.
‘Maybe we’re similar in age too? Around fifteen, perhaps?’
I was thinking about my blood relatives, still feeling unfamiliar and awkward about them, when Beriti spoke up beside me.
“Was it difficult?”
“Hm?”
Not understanding what she meant, my head tilted of its own accord.
“Ah…….”
But soon I grasped what she was asking about.
“Do you think she’ll want to go to her mother?”
“Well…….”
I pondered for a moment, then decided this was an opportunity and began to speak.
“When I was seven, I saw my father with another woman.”
After playing with friends at the apartment playground and parting ways, I happened to see them on my way home.
With innocent curiosity, I asked about it that evening when everyone gathered for dinner.
Who was that pretty sister?
“Do you know what my father said?”
“Was he angry?”
“He didn’t say anything. Instead, my mother slapped my cheek.”

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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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