Chapter 99: Decrypting

༺ Decrypting ༻

“Clana, wait...”

“Hurry, they’re going to close soon.”

Despite my best efforts, I was unable to stop as Clana urged me forward with palpable frustration

Although I initially thought to simply go along with her whims,I didn’t know that the dessert café would have such a romantic atmosphere to it.

“Clana, there’s this other place I know instead...”

“Are you saying we should go somewhere else after coming all the way here? I’m not wasting that much of my time for you.”

I expressed my reluctance and tried to avoid entering the café, but Clana obstinately persisted.

How could a person have changed so much after recalling a single covenant?

“Welco—”

Clana grabbed my hand and dragged me into the store. The clerk initially welcomed us with a cheerful expression but stiffened on the spot when she recognized us.

Indeed, it was quite reasonable to be shocked in such a situation.

After all, the Empire’s Third Imperial Princess and the firstborn son of a Duchy had stormed into their establishment in the middle of the night.

“Take us to your best seats and bring the most expensive items on the menu.”

“Y-Ye-Yes!”

The clerk stood there with her mouth open, staring at us in disbelief,, but swiftly regained her composure and left to prepare Clana’s order.

“Seeing how shocked she was, it doesn’t seem like you’ve been here before.”

“That’s none of your business.”

I had merely asked her out of pure curiosity, but only a brusque response came back.

“...I have visited a few times, a long time ago.”

She eventually ended up answering my question.

‘Long ago... is she talking about the previous timeline?’

I quietly entered the room when I noticed some bitterness in her words.

“You, come over for a moment.”

“Huh? Ah... yes.”

The room was intimately designed with an abundance of romantic decorations that just a glimpse of it could bring a blush to one’s face. As I gawked at the room, Clana summoned a waitress and whispered something into her ears.

“Understood. Then I’ll get it ready with that in mind...”

“Please and thank you.”

After expressing her gratitude and sending the waitress away, Clana turned to look at me.

“By any chance, were you connected to tonight’s incident as well?”

“Mm...”

I pondered for a while at her sudden question before snickering.

“And if I was?”

“Ha...”

I responded with a question to gauge her reaction, and Clana heaved a heavy sigh.

“Are you going to continue being so uncooperative even though we made a covenant with each other?

“A covenant you say...”

“That’s right. By constantly betraying me like this... you’re only providing me with a reason to turn my back on you.

Clana harshly scolded me, her voice tinged with noticeable irritation as she continued.

“And didn’t you swear that if you couldn’t make me into the Empress...”

“That I’d give you my everything?”

“Yes.”

Clana nodded as I recited the line that I heard in her subconsciousness along with Kania.

“If you keep interfering with my ascension to the throne...”

“Then I guess I’ll just have to offer myself up to you.”

Her face flushed red when I said that with a smile.

“Enough with your jokes.”

“Joke?”

“There’s no way you would just offer yourself to me. You wouldn’t have even bothered to cooperate with me if it weren’t for the covenant.”

Clana looked away as she retorted, and I asked her in a low voice.

“What if I’m not joking?”

“...Stop it.”

Clana gave me a cold glare as she released her solar mana.

I guess it was time I stopped teasing her.

“Hey, how much do you remember regarding what happened today?”

“Yes? Well, obviously...”

She appeared ready to reply immediately, but then she began hesitating.

“Huh? Uh? Hm...”

“Oh, the dessert’s here.”

“...Oh.”

I was able to get a rough grasp of her condition from her reactions. I quickly pointed and directed her attention to the dessert and she took a slice, still appearing troubled..

“Hm.....?”

However, the cake seemed familiar as if I had seen it many times before.

“A silver cat?”

It was identical to the one from my dreams and the custom order cake Kania had brought.

Now that I think about it, even in my dreams, it was always Clana who prepared the cake.

What a coincidence.

“Oh my, what are you two doing here?”

“...It’s you?”

A familiar voice suddenly echoed from behind Clana.

“Why did you suddenly have a change of heart?”

Serena clearly remembered how Clana had consulted her for Frey’s assassination. Clana solemnly closed her eyes.

“...It’s nothing you need to know.”

“Hm...”

Having already heard the truth from Kania, Serena looked at Clana with a mysterious glint in her eyes before turning to Ferloche.

“Lady Ferloche, what about...”

“This tastes so good...!”

“...I see.”

Ferloche was like hamster, stuffing both her cheeks with the cake... Serena let out a sigh and averted her gaze.

“Serena, what have you been looking at so attentively?”

Clana tilted her head in confusion. She found it odd that Serena, who was typically infatuated with sweets, didn’t even glance at her cake, and was instead, staring at something else.

“I’m trying to solve a riddle.”

“There’s a riddle that not even you can solve?”

Serena’s serious answer piqued Clana’s curiosity.

Despite her earlier dislike for Serena, Clana was surprised to find that there was a riddle that Serena could not solve.

“It could be that there’s not enough information... or maybe I’m just overanalyzing it... It appears that I still have much to learn.”

Serena smiled bitterly. At that moment, Ferloche, who had been wolfing down the cake, opened her mouth.

“That riddle! I’ll solve it!”

“Yes?”

“I’m confident in solving riddles!”

Serena looked bemused as she gazed upon Ferloche’s sparkling eyes. She soon smiled and responded.

“Well, just like how there’s the proverb ‘Two heads are better than one,’ in the Eastern continent... Perhaps a fresh, unique perspective different from mine will help.”

“W-What does that mean?”

“...I’ll share the riddle with you, so mull over it. Of course, I’d greatly appreciate Miss Clana’s help as well.”

Ferloche’s face lit up in excitement while Clana nodded skeptically.

“‘One coincidence’, ‘Five enlightenments.’ And a... ‘Boomerang that passes between the half moon and the crescent moon.’”

““......?””

Both Clana and Ferloche wore puzzled expressions as soon as they heard the riddle.

“I think I roughly understand the first two... but I don’t have a clue for the last one.”

“What kind of...”

“Something feels off even when I compare it to a solar eclipse... and no related legends come to my mind either... Maybe it’s a metaphor? No. No matter how I look at it, I think I’m overthinking it...”

“Serena?”

“I even cross-checked with Frey by pretending that I couldn’t read it. I suspected there might have been a magic symbol that was only visible to the Starlight family, but he saw the same thing I did. So why...”

Clana scowled as Serena became lost in her thoughts while in the midst of her explanation.

“Hello? You should at least give us more information. What are we supposed to do if you only give us the riddle without the context...”

“We need to uncover the cryptic message behind the riddle. Solving it will reveal a new path.”

“...Hm.”

As soon as Serena finished explaining, a long silence ensued.

“A half-moon and crescent moon... Wouldn’t it be related to the moon’s cycle? Or it could represent a solar eclipse...”

“I’ve already considered these possibilities.”

“Then it might be a metaphor.”

“...It might be.”

Ferloche, who had previously been confident, was now quiet. Instead, Clana was the one to break the silence as she curiously started exchanging ideas with Serena.

“Isn’t a boomerang... something that comes back? Maybe the boomerang passing through a half-moon and crescent moon represents something...”

“Hm...”

“Is there a term for the phase between a half-moon and a crescent moon? If it’s referring to that...”

“...There’s no such thing.”

Clana, who had been diligently offering her thoughts, slightly frowned at Serena’s quick rebuttal.

“As expected, I dislike the moon.”

“............”

Serena briefly glared at Clana.

At that moment...

“Please get me a pen and paper!”

““What!?””

Ferloche looked proud of herself.

“If the text is insufficient, we can just try drawing it!”

.

.

.

.

.

At the same time.

“...Alright, this should be good enough.”

The Demon King had been running around for a while under the guise of a hero.

After finally distancing herself from places that were crowded by people, the Demon King’s lips lifted to form a smile.

“Now, it’ll finally start in full swing.”

“Start...?”

A girl clad in a black robe was following closely behind the Demon King.

“...What exactly will be starting?”

The girl’s left ring finger was shining bright.