Merche Ashtad.

⌜From the first era of the previous king, after 775 years have passed, a new king shall be born among the six families.⌟

A being who may be the protagonist of that great prophecy.

Due to hurrying too much, even the pegasus cannot hide its exhaustion.

While stroking the mane of the weary pegasus, he rode until reaching the end of the serpents’ domain.

“……!”

At last. At the end of the path, the golden hair he had been pursuing so ardently revealed itself. The woman also noticed him.

In the moment they recognized each other’s presence in the deep darkness. An exhilaration bordering on ecstasy engulfed Fabio.

Like a moth leaping into flames, he threw his entire being and pounced towards Merche.

“Lady Merche.”

Perhaps due to his labored breathing, Fabio was unable to speak for a while.

“…In our family’s nature, there is a portrait that has been kept secret, only to be seen by the family’s direct lineage.”

“……A portrait, you say.”

“Yes. And it is a portrait of the first king, King Iker.”

Lady Merche.

His tense tongue was parched. His heart, weary from the long sprint, pounded as if it would tear.

“Your face and King Iker’s face in that portrait resemble each other like twins.”

“……Pardon?”

As if she had misheard, the end of her cracked voice rose sharply.

Fabio silently rummaged through his bosom and pulled out the leather pouch Carla had given him. Then he placed it on Merche’s hand.

“It is an item Lady Carla earnestly requested me to deliver. I do not know what is inside, but perhaps Her Ladyship wishes for you to confront the basilisk with that item.”

“…Is the monster in Benenum right now truly a basilisk?”

“…Have you not seen it directly?”

Merche looked at him with affirmation in her eyes.

“That monster is indeed the legendary basilisk that King Iker is said to have subjugated hundreds of years ago.”

Thump! Coincidentally, at that moment, the ground trembled greatly in the distance. The bizarre cry of the basilisk was heard.

Merche asked with a dumbfounded expression.

“Did you say I am to confront the basilisk with what is inside this?”

The string tying the pouch loosely unraveled. From within, a small ring rolled out with a crisp, lively sound.

Fabio also seemed at a loss for words, staring at that tiny ring with a stiff expression.

However, he soon regained his original complexion. Gazing intently into Merche’s eyes, he spoke clearly.

“Lady Merche.”

The most Ardor-like successor. His intuition that had never once been wrong.

“I believe you are a being who has inherited the royal blood.”

“…You are spouting excessive nonsense. That cannot be.”

“Do you remember the question I asked before?”

−Do you remember your childhood, milady?

−What is your oldest memory?

−Then what about portraits? Are there any portraits or family paintings depicting you in your childhood?

He recited the questions he had asked in the past, not omitting a single word.

“Lady Merche. The royals who have inherited King Iker’s blood do not remember their childhood at all.”

The king who was born from the sea and swept ashore by the waves. Everything began with the first king, Iker.

‘King Iker has no past.’

It was a rumor that floated around the kingdom like a cloud during his reign.

Isn’t it bizarre? No matter how many investigators were assigned and all sorts of people were employed to dig into the past, the king’s past was nowhere to be found as if someone had cleanly cut it out.

Even after using all means and attempting to unearth that past, all efforts ended in miserable failure.

When they begged and pleaded with their hands and feet, only then did the king throw a few brief words as if it were a jest.

−Have you forgotten that my origin is the sea? How can I, born from the sea, be the same as one born from the land!

What you seek is an illusion. I have no past, so stop the foolish act of trying to hold the sea in one hand.

In the end, the past of the great first king remained undiscovered even until his passing.

Like a sandcastle swept away by the waves, not even a small fragment or trace could be found.

Perhaps it was because they were the descendants of King Iker that they came to resemble him.

Strangely enough, all the royals born through generations were unable to remember their own pasts, just like King Iker.

It was futile even when the court painter put all their heart into capturing their childhood appearance in paintings.

As the royals grew up, they instinctively rejected the paintings of themselves as if they were entirely different individuals.

“Everyone forgets old memories. However, even if you forget the majority of them, there will be a few moments that you will recall without forgetting.”

“…….”

“Do you have such moments, milady? Even if it’s just a brief instant, do you have any memories from your childhood days that you have kept without forgetting?”

Merche stumbled backward.

Memories from childhood? Moments that are not forgotten even if they are just fleeting?

A stone was thrown into a tranquil lake. Even though it was just a single stone causing ripples, it eventually shook the entire lake and stirred up fierce waves.

If she were an adopted child, there should have been at least a fragment of memory remaining from before the adoption.

Perhaps she grew up in an orphanage, or was abandoned by some heartless parents, or wandered the alleys as a beggar.

However, none of those cases applied to Merche.

Merche’s oldest memory. The time when she was youngest. ……Such a thing, even I have such memories.

“Answer me. I asked if any memories come to mind, milady.”

The tips of her toes feel distant. It felt like standing on a collapsing rope bridge.

In the unfathomable fear, a hollow laughter burst out instead.

“So what? Just based on that, you are convinced that I will become the protagonist of the prophecy? It is presumptuous to speculate solely on the absence of childhood memories.”

“Is that so. …Then what about the incident where you suppressed my divine beast and Lord Lupinus’s divine beast?”

Once again, Merche was at a loss for words.

“That…, it must be a kind of authority I possess.”

Even as she answered, she lowered her head, lacking confidence in her own words.

Yes, that must be it. Whoever they are, she has biological parents, and the authority she inherited from them would be of that nature.

A power that is not so remarkable, merely able to temporarily suppress or compel the divine beasts of others.

“Milady, if that is an authority as you say, it can only be stated that you have inherited the royal blood.”

Having finally elicited the words he so desperately wanted to hear, Fabio’s eyes gleamed with pleasure.

“Originally, the royal bloodline is managed to ensure it does not go to waste even if it is an illegitimate child, but even a tight net can develop holes. For whatever reason, a direct royal lineage has leaked out without anyone’s knowledge.”

Without the twin gods favoring Ardor, such fortune would not have rolled in on its own.

From the beginning, the royals after King Iker had weak authorities, but in recent times, it has become even more faint.

Even the current king is barely able to wield that absolute dominance, so the value of royal blood is increasingly diminishing.

Amidst that, the woman who turned his pegasus, which even his mother, the current head of Ardor, could not easily handle, into a docile lamb appeared.

Undoubtedly a direct royal lineage. The appearance that is a spitting image of King Iker proves it, so there is no need for further hesitation.

This is truly the will of the gods and the will of the sea.

“Lady Merche. The basilisk that has appeared now is a monster that even the current head of Ardor would have difficulty confronting.”

Fabio narrowed the distance between them, suppressing his surging impulse. Her dazed blue eyes, seemingly out of focus, trembled.

……Merche.

If the woman before him is truly of direct royal blood, and if she is destined to become the protagonist of the prophecy.

Then he will not hesitate. He will be the first to kneel at her feet and pledge unwavering loyalty.

However, in the end, a test was needed to accurately gauge Merche’s abilities.

“As of now, no one can come to the aid of Benenum. Rather than denying and running away, someone is needed to confront and fight. Do you intend to helplessly watch even with such an authority?”

Merche, driven to the edge of a cliff, fell silent. But she could not endure for long. Acknowledging Fabio’s words, she clenched her fists until her hands ached and raised her head.

“…Rude.”

A groaning sound escaped through his clenched teeth.

Even in the midst of his consciousness wavering from the fever, his bloodshot eyes never left Merche.

The hastily summoned physician poured medicine into his open mouth. The taste must have been terrible, for his sweat-drenched forehead immediately contorted.

“Where… are you…”

“I have something I must do.”

“……Don’t.”

Don’t go.

His fingers tightened, grasping Merche’s wrist and clinging to it.

Merche quietly looked down at him for a moment, then resolutely removed his hand.

−It’s strange. There are no visible external injuries, but he has a severe fever as if he’s dying.

The physician said his condition was peculiar.

Despite no signs of injury, it was as if his insides were festering, and he kept groaning like that. Merche now understood the reason.

It was because she was his companion.

Rude took on the wounds Merche had suffered from the basilisk.

As if to prove it, Merche was now perfectly fine, as if she had never been injured. Not even a scar remained on her skin.

“Take a nap. I will return before long.”

Although her mind was in turmoil upon learning that he had imprinted on her, she brushed off the dust from her clothing and pushed aside the distracting thoughts as well.

Complicated stories could wait until later. Now was the time to prepare for battle.

Merche left Rude behind and crossed the threshold.