Chapter – 33
The Emperor, who had been looking at me with a kind expression, stiffened slightly. Then he spoke as if a bit troubled.
“Thank you for your concern, Princess. But you… um, well…”
After choosing his words carefully, the Emperor let out a faint sigh and added,
“You still haven’t gained Frellai’s special ability, as far as I know.”
It seemed the Emperor didn’t know that Bbi-yak had come to me either. Or even if he did, it wouldn’t change much. After all, Melissa was the one who had originally summoned Bbi-yak. Grandfather and Joshua also couldn’t immediately say something like, “Kiana has a summon.”
Everyone in the capital already knew that Bbi-yak had been Melissa’s summon. Even if I said that I had it now, it would clearly not help my reputation. No one would recognize it as a proper summoning anyway.
I answered politely,
“Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty.”
And that was sincere.
“Con… consideration?”
The Emperor asked carefully, and I continued calmly,
“At least, Your Majesty thought I wasn’t a ‘true Frellai,’ yet you didn’t say, ‘Someone useless like you doesn’t deserve to be here,’ and throw me out.”
The Emperor’s face flushed slightly at my words.
“And even though I’m just a ‘useless, childish princess who takes up space as a Frellai and listens to Your Majesty’s private concerns,’ you still answered my random questions sincerely.”
“C-cough!”
“And lastly, instead of saying, ‘You’re acting up even though you obviously can’t summon,’ you kindly phrased it as, ‘You haven’t gained the ability yet.’”
I bowed my head again deeply, then looked into the Emperor’s blue eyes.
“So I could feel Your Majesty’s consideration and kindness.”
Joshua and Grandfather exchanged glances. Their expressions seemed to say, “She’s handling it herself… but why does it feel like she’s attacking him even though she isn’t?”
“Cough, Princess Kiana? I, um…”
The Emperor struggled to respond to my overly polite attitude and kept clearing his throat. At that moment, Grandfather smiled and stepped in.
“Alright, Kiana. What is your solution?”
“Duke?”
At the Emperor’s doubtful tone, Grandfather spoke with clear satisfaction,
“Your Majesty, I believe you can trust this child.”
“…Did the Duke just praise his descendant?”
The Emperor let out a long sigh and looked at me again. His gaze had already changed. Grandfather’s positive tone clearly carried great weight.
“Princess, what do you need? I’ll prepare it immediately. Will it take long?”
“I can stop by a shop briefly and get everything I need right away.”
I answered calmly.
“So if you head to the Teyliz tree immediately, that will be enough. Ah, and I would like one escort knight who is skilled with a bow. That’s all.”
The Emperor looked slightly confused.
But after glancing at Grandfather’s face, he nodded as if making a decision. Even if he couldn’t trust me, he clearly trusted Grandfather. It made me realize again how much trust Grandfather had as the head of the Frellai family.
“Then let’s go right now.”
The Emperor stood up abruptly.
“As the Princess said, let’s go together. It won’t take long.”
The Teyliz tree stood in the imperial garden, radiating a mysterious presence. It was my first time seeing it this close. Even when I tilted my head back to look up, I couldn’t see the top—it was that tall.
When we arrived at the tree and stood before the stairs, the Emperor asked with an expectant expression,
“So, what should we do?”
“Please wait a moment.”
Before coming here, I had stopped by an item shop. I couldn’t even describe how excited I was while stuffing my bag with items. Sitting in the carriage, I was in such a good mood that I even scribbled a note on a piece of paper saying, “But I’m on the Crown Prince’s side too.”
Anyway, it was clear that the Emperor supported the Crown Prince.
Unlike the Empress, whose position felt ambiguous. She was grieving, of course, but she didn’t seem actively waiting for the Crown Prince’s return. She had shut herself away and wasn’t making any political moves. Because of that, Prince Hiten and his birth mother, the Third Consort, were controlling the political scene.
Soon, the spy maid quickly brought the items we had prepared from the carriage.
“…Princess? What is this? What exactly is this?”
The Emperor approached with curiosity.
“It’s a magic tool that can rapidly increase temperature. It’s called a Port Stone—just think of it as a fire that burns quickly and then goes out.”
“Oh, something like that exists.”
“Yes. It’s too expensive and doesn’t last long, so it was never commercialized.”
In fact, most magic tools were like that. People would rather just light a fire than use a Port Stone.
But this situation was different.
I took out parchment in front of the tree and began calculating.
“Hmm, the weight of the Eli Stone is 44 pelot, so…”
After finishing the calculations, I took out a device that looked like a fairly large balloon.
“And what is that?”
“Now, I’ll attach the Eli Stone here.”
Since it didn’t attach well, I wrapped the Eli Stone in paper and tied it to the device.
“And then…”
I placed the Port Stone inside the device and activated it. At the same time, the device inflated and slowly began floating up into the sky.
“Whoa!”
Everyone watching widened their eyes. As the device floated upward with the Eli Stone attached, I spoke to the escort knight,
“The Port Stone doesn’t last long. When I tell you to shoot, aim for the string and drop it onto a suitable tree branch.”
This was actually one of the projects I had planned at the academy before my regression. In theory, it could even carry people this way. I had even named it a “hot air balloon.”
“How fascinating…”
The Emperor muttered while looking up. Seeing the opportunity, I replied,
“Would you like me to explain the principle?”
“Go ahead.”
At the Emperor’s answer, I smiled brightly. It was rare for me to smile so openly. I was honestly thrilled that he asked for an explanation.
“When air is heated, it expands. That makes it lighter than the surrounding air, so it rises upward.”
“…Hmm?”
For a moment, the Emperor sounded like he regretted asking. But I continued enthusiastically,
“Let me explain in more detail. First, you need to understand a force called buoyancy.”
“Um…”
“If you look at this formula, F = ρgV…”
“….”
As I began explaining seriously, not only the Emperor but even the escort knights’ faces darkened quickly. But they had no choice but to stay near me while the Eli Stone continued rising. And before my regression, my profession had been a professor.
“Surprisingly, the air around us is also a fluid, and it follows the laws of fluid dynamics…”
No matter what my audience thought, as long as they couldn’t escape, I had the mindset to keep talking endlessly about topics I enjoyed. I had always dreamed of this kind of environment—where listeners couldn’t run away.
“Isn’t it fascinating, Your Majesty? That the world operates according to these formulas?”
“Y-yes, indeed.”
“Ah, now is the perfect time. Shoot the arrow.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the dazed escort knight quickly released an arrow. The Port Stone was still active, so the Eli Stone could have risen even higher. But if it went off course and failed to land on the tree, that would be a problem.
The sharp arrow struck the string holding the Eli Stone and cut it cleanly.
The device, now freed, drifted away off course, while the Eli Stone landed securely on a very high branch of the tree.
