Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Nera’s speech

Nera just left with her father to gather the city's official so that they can announce my 'surrender'. It would be nice if they could just explain that I was never an enemy in the first place, but most people would not believe that right away and they are all already prepared to fight, so the best strategy to avoid things escalating into a battle is 'surrendering' first and explaining later.

That said, I'm feeling very optimistic about this. With the king on my side, I should at the very least be able to stay in the Agua kingdom without having to worry about anyone going after me, that should give me enough time to clear all the misunderstandings about me.

While I wait, Nera left me with a maid of hers, she said her name was Mari, but she seems to be very nervous for some reason and is staring at me without saying anything. This is really awkward, perhaps I should say something to her.

"Hum... hello."

"H-Hi!"

"Is something wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"

"Why? Did you do something wrong?"

"Yes... I mean no! I... I don't know."

She looks like she's about to cry, did I do something wrong?

"Luna!!! Where are those fairies!?"

Oh, Arana is running towards me, she's dragging a large white ball behind her, what's that thing supposed to be?

Wait, now that she's closer I think that's actually Ranna, she's been wrapped in a ball of white strings and only her eyes are visible.

"Please... I promise that I'll be good... please let me go..."

Her face seems a bit pale, she looks like she just went through some traumatic experience.

"Ara... what did you do to your sister?"

"I just punished her a little for all the stuff she did. But more importantly, is what those fairies said true? Is Cureva really here?"

"You were listening to that?"

"Yes, I was, where are the fairies now?"

"They said that waiting is boring so they left. But why do you look so agitated? Is your sister really that bad?"

"She is! She is really REALLY bad! I was not expecting her to be here... I was sure that it would only be Ranna, why didn't you say anything about this?"

"I didn't know that she was here either, actually, she told me that she was not here."

"This is bad, we are not ready to deal with Cureva at the moment... Luna, we need to leave this city right now."

"What!? Leave? But the city is surrounded by soldiers, and they think that I'm holding the city hostage."

"Who cares about that? Let's just jump on Irvan's back and run away as fast as we can, if any soldiers try to get in the way you can easily push them aside. If you're no longer here, it won't matter if they think that you were holding the city hostage or whatever, they'll just claim it back and that will be the end of it."

When she puts it that way, running away really looks like it would not be a difficult thing to do... but from the way she talks it really doesn't sound like Arana thinks that this entire incident is a big deal at all.

However, I'm not willing to abandon the first opportunity to clear my name that I've been given so far.

"I don't want to leave without fixing the misunderstanding like I always do! This time there's a real chance that I can finally make things clear, Nera and her father are going to help me explain everything."

"You don't understand, we're not dealing with the type of villain who is just acting out of self-interest and can be anticipated. Cureva is completely insane, there's no way of knowing what she might do. And the world relic she's in charge of makes her even more dangerous."

"What relic is that?"

"One that influences people's perception, it can be used in many different ways, but the biggest one that you need to be aware of is that it can change her appearance to make herself look like another person."

"Oh, so she's like a shape-shifter?"

"No, her real form does not change, so it's closer to the illusion spells of wind magic. But with a normal illusion, there are many ways to see through it like with 'mana sense' or at least you might be able to notice that something seems strange, the use of her relic cannot be detected or dispelled. Actually, we should all use an appraisal stone just in case."

Does Arana suspect that I'm not really me? Well, it's not like using an appraisal stone is too much trouble... oh! I'm level 513 now, I wonder how high it'll get.

"Cureva's relic cannot deceive an appraisal stone at least, that's why I went and gathered a bunch of them."

"Oh, is that the reason why you have so many of those things? I've been wondering about that dor sometime now."

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I'm starting to think that Arana is a bit too obsessed with that sister of hers.

"There are other limits to that relic, of course, it doesn't allow it's wielder to use skills or spells that they don't know for example, and it cannot give her the memories or personality of someone she's copying. If that relic was in the hands of a normal person it wouldn't be too bad, but Cureva is really good at acting and knows how to use it effectively."

That does sound troublesome, both illusions and shapeshifters have a lot of limitations, but if she can copy any person she wants at any time she wants then anyone I meet could potentially be her...

"Um... excuse me."

Mari the maid taps me on the shoulder.

"Everything is ready in the audience hall, you might want to go there..."

Oh, looks like Nera is finally ready.

"Sorry, Ara! I need to go!"

"Wait a moment! Luna!"

---

I somehow managed to leave Arana behind, I get that she's worried but I cannot let her mess with this announcement.

There's a lot of well-dressed people in this room, I don't want to be seen so I'll just listen while hiding in the corner, Nera and the king are standing on the other side of the room, there are some stairs in front of them so they're higher than everyone else.

"Is it just me or does the king look healthier?"

"Didn't the princess run away from home?"

"I wonder if they're going to say something about the queen of darkness."

Everyone is talking about all kinds of things, it's really noisy in here, but when the king raises his hand the entire room goes silent.

"As you all already know, I've been suffering from a strange illness for some time. None of the healers who came to the castle were able to do anything to help me, until now. It was my daughter who personally found the healer who finally cured me."

Hehe, that's right, I'm glad that I could help. It seems like now it's Nera's turn to talk.

"Recently I ran away from home to get away from my mother, but some of the guards that went with me attempted to kill me, and the one who saved me was no other than the woman you know as the queen of darkness."

"The queen of darkness..."

"Are the rumors true?"

Everyone has started to chatter again, it seems like they have all heard about me... but they should stay quiet and let Nera keep talking.

"Of course, at first I was absolutely terrified, but after spending some time with her I learned to see past my preconceived notions, she taught me a new way to look at things."

I was expecting them to go directly to the part where I announce my surrender, well, it's nice that Nera is praising me like that.

"Luna! Here you are!"

Someone taps me on the back and when I turn around I see Nera behind me... wait, what?

"Nera!? Why are you here!? Or rather, how are you here!?"

"That's my line! You said that you had something to tell me in my room but you didn't go there at all, how long did you want me to wait?"

"I never said that... but more importantly, who is that over there next to your father?"

"Eh!? Why am I over there!?"

She seems even more confused than I am, don't tell me that she is...

"She taught me what true power feels like, that a weak kingdom like this one means nothing next to her."

Oh... OH NO!

"And that is why, to earn my place at her side, I must show the proof of my loyalty to her."

Everyone in the room is left speechless, as they watch their princess take a knife out from her pocket and stab her father in the chest.