Meeting With Her Highness Siesta (3)

The study room was a quiet(er) place for the older children attending school to really get some work done. But in the case of the arrival of a guest, it would become a drawing room.

The living room is in the open so it wasn't suitable for private conversations-- idle talks aside.

Entering, the first thing I paid notice to the bookshelves along the walls. A number of low colourful wooden tables on the floor, and in the centre of each table was a basket filled with stationery.

Siesta herself sat on the couch, Nataline sat beside her on the same couch, talking about their recent life affairs.

The four of us took a different couch. There was also a bean bag-- I didn't expect that to exist-- but nobody chose that seat.

You know what? I should probably also mention the two guards and the assassin maid in the room that sorta ruined this supposed lighthearted ambience.

I have no idea why I agreed to this in the first place. Maybe Liliath knows the specifics but.. what does it mean to 'build connections' again? This is nerve wracking..

Chuckling a little, the two girls finally turned to us.

"My apologies for the small incident prior."

"You need not to concern yourself with that, Your Highness, this invitation to speak with you is alone a great grace you've granted us."

"What's with that speech? That's really noble-like you know.. or could it be that you're a noble too? Relax, relax," Nataline laughed.

Yeah.. relax huh..

The pressuring gaze from the two knights and the maid doesn't help a bit. I could feel a tinge of bloodlust.

Something is missing.. oh yeah. Tea. Maybe it's conversation over no tea this time around?

"Um.." Prune voiced.

'Hey, what should we do anyways.. I'm very unfamiliar with this..' was a message that popped up in the chat.

"I see.. then how about we start off by getting to know each other better, I am open to questions," ending the sentence with an amiable smile, I could feel the skepticism of the knight grow even deeper.

'Siesta, you're trying to convince them that we're not from this world?' I typed.

"It's alright to talk casually.. right? I'm sorry but I'm not good with polite language," Prune said.

"Just speak as you are comfortable."

"Then if it's alright.. can I ask what you meant by an emergency last time? It's about losing.. no. Did the God of Fate disappear just like that?" Nine said, asked-- stuttered midway to choose his words properly and continued.

"Yes, and that has unfortunately ended my duty as a saint. What a coincidence don't you agree?"

'Yes, that is the case. Those closest to me believe that I've become hysterical due to the loss of my position as a saint. They are unable to see the UI.'

"It's my lack of prudence that led to this situation.." Siesta said with a sigh.

Wow.. she talked and typed? Double meaning there. I'm confused. What is this princess planning?

"So we're going to go round and talk about the latest worst things that happened recently?" Nataline asked, totally oblivious to the secret conversation happening while stroking her bulging stomach.

"I don't know what story I could share if the topic were that unfortunately," Liliath directed the conversation elsewhere.

"Eh.. nothing bad happened to you the past few days?"

"If anything.. the worst thing that had happened.. was that I had killed someone.." Liliath said in wonder and her gaze met mine.

I sent her a dumb smile and rolled my eyes.

Nataline looked at us as if she didn't understand.

'Am I not allowed to reveal your identities?' was the message Siesta sent.

'I thought that's what we agreed on...' I replied-- the chat sure is busy today.

'We actually know where the God of Fate is.' Nine sent this message.

Across the table Siesta showed a stunned expression but soon regained herself.

"Richared Versberg, could you give us a few minutes to ourselves. And sorry Nataline but I will have to ask you to leave."

'Is it alright if my maid stays?'

I don't know where this is going..

'Yeah sure. If she can keep secrets then it's alright.. should be.'

"But Your Highness.. you are at risk of..."

"Please, pardon us. Pardon my request. I have Miss El here to defend me, you need not to worry."

"..by your will Your Highness," you could hear Richard gnashing away at his teeth as he bowed. Together with the other knight, they left the room.

"Do I really have to leave?" Nataline pointed at herself.

Siesta nodded with a difficult smile.

"What secret conspiracy is this.. I want to get in the fun too-- ah, until this thing is born I can't join can I," Nataline rubbed her stomach while pouting.

I'm curious what she means by that but.. I guess it's not the time to ask about it.

By the way, Nataline's stats averaged around 150. It's rather high compared to normal people.

"Sorry Nataline-san," Siesta apologized.

"Nay, nay. I'm just saying, anyways, I'll leave now," Nataline stood up and tottered over to the door, loneliness could be heard from her voice.

With a click, the door shut. The study room was now quiet. I mean… the study room is quiet but you could hear the children shouting and running amok the place through the wall.

"Liliath," I said.

"Yes, by your will."

"You didn't need to be so formal.."

All sound disappeared.

The maid, El, narrowed her eyes.

"Haah.. okay. My apologies Your Highness, it's quite scary to be on the receiving end of bloodlust. So.. let's determine our agendas first, um.. can we know what is it that you want..?" I asked.

"Isn't this a meeting to get to know each other?" Nine asked.

"In a sense yes but.. I think we should be on the same page here."

"Then to bring up what you have said before, what did you mean by knowing the location of The God of Fate?"

"She's with Park Jiwon-sama," Liliath replied. "She descended from the higher domain above to aid in his cause would be my guess."

It's not a guess, rather, we asked Bleu about it a few nights ago.

"Is that so.." Siesta showed a funky expression with a brow raised.

"Your Highness..?" El, the maid looked at Siesta, confused.

"Could I perhaps.. I know I may be overstepping my boundary with this request but as I trust Miss El, I don't wish of her to see me as senile.."

"Your Highness.. that was not what I was trying to imply.."

"So could you use that Unique Skill of yours to allow her to see what it is we see?"

"The UI you mean? Uh.. Noel? You call the shots," Nine said.

"Well.. sure then," I operated my UI and added the messaging widget and dictionary widget to Miss El's system. I also toggled Siesta's widget to be visible to the rest of us [Widget] skill holders.

"Sorry, that's just what it is.."

"This is.." The maid El had her eyes wide at the floating panel.

"Miss El, try to visualize it before your own."

"Visualise it.. huh?"

"Yep. Now we're all senile," Nine laughed.

"This.. can't be.. forgive my ignorance..." The maid quickly lowered her head.

"Eh.. it's alright, it's alright.."

"You may lift your head Miss El," Liliath said.

"Your Highness, I have been wrong. Forgive me," Miss El said after returning to her normal standing posture. Then again.. why that critical face?

"It's alright.."

To shorten the entire discussion, the first topic we touched on was about Siesta's Unique skill [Oracle] and how it tied into The God of Fate, Moirae's descending. Basically, [Oracle] is a skill that has The God of Fate as the intermediary. So with her no longer in the higher domain, it stops functioning.

Because [Oracle] no longer works as intended.. Siesta was stripped of her title as the saint. Well, it hasn't been announced to the public yet and is still in it's preliminary stages-- then again, she's no longer part of the church's main forces because of this.

That sucks. Why did Moirae have to descend from the upper domain though? Bleu said it was part of the plot, whatever that meant.

On the political side, the loss of her saint title is equivalent to losing a part of her power-- rather, it's the only form of power in the political space Siesta had to begin with. The loss of the title would make her no different from a sitting duck. In this case, a candidate for political marriage.

This then ties in with the fact that Siesta wants to marry Sasaki-sama, the light hero and not Liliath's elder brother, Kyoshi-sama that she was 'to-be' engaged to.

Prince Kyoshi is on a round trip, visiting the various other kingdoms. His last stop would be Erudite kingdom. From what Siesta had said, he should arrive in about a month from now-- or the last stretch of winter just before spring.

The fact that it all ties together so well is fishy though… a story world is truly different. I guess this is what you call conspiracies? It eats at a human's basic nature of 'curiosity'. I wonder how this would develop?

"In that case, do you know the location of the Irregular, Jiwon-sama?" Siesta asked, taking a sip of tea.

"He is inside the dungeon where the heroes are at current."

"???" Siesta almost spat her tea.

"Your Highness.."

"Why would he go there? What is his intention.." Siesta placed her teacup down.

"No idea," Nine shrugged.

"We'll notify you when he makes a move. The current him is tailing the heroes from behind."

"Is this the work of another Unique skill that you are able to see the Irregular's whereabouts?" Miss El said.

"Yes. It is in short, an ability that allows me to peer into the lives of anyone-- anywhere," Liliath said with a smile.

"So you have been observing her Highness this while?" The maid replied in a sharp tone.

"S-s-s-s-so you saw!?"

Liliath tilted her head at the flustered Siesta. Honestly, I have no idea what she was talking about, I didn't use [God's Eyes] on anyone except the Regressor to check on his movements.

"Saw, as in?"

"T-Then nevermind," the princess started to stroke her chest, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Do you want more tea, Your Highness?" Prune asked.

"It's sufficient, thank you very much,"

The tea set, including the pot of tea, was something we stole from Bleu's domain. It's free tea.

"How long has it been.. almost an hour," I checked the time.

"Do you think they'd be worried? We should probably let them know you're still alright, right?" Nine said.

"One last question on my end, Liliath-san, who are you exactly?"

"Who I am?"

"Your brother is.. His Highness Kyoshi-sama, is he not?"

Liliath nodded.

'Are you sure you want to talk about this?' Nine sent in the group chat, different from the one Siesta was in.

"Then.. the fact that you came from the world of the heroes.."

"In fact, I was summoned over to their world by accident," Liliath went on, "Then I returned by some chance."

"Does this mean one of you possesses the power to cross over worlds?"

"It happened on a whim, we can't cross over worlds freely. The four of us are stuck here and need to find a way to return.. that's the situation."

"It wasn't a forced summoning then?"

"It was voluntary," I said.

"Huh, it was voluntary?" Nine asked.

"So you told Liliath to kill you!?" Prune added.

"Something like that.."

Liliath lowered her head.

"I'm not understanding the nuances of the situation," Siesta started shaking her head. "To sum it up, your identity is Liliath Toren?"

"Half-correct. I suggest you don't pry any further than this."

"Then I will respect that, Liliath-san."

The discussion came to an end with the removal of the soundproof barrier. The chaos of children's sounds could be heard once again.

"Ah, it has been a one-sided discussion hasn't it? I'll see to it if it's within my authority, the next time there is any situation in need of my assistance."

"Huh? Uh, okay.."

"It's actually kind of weird if it's actually like that.." I mumbled. Honestly, this 'debt' kind of concept in relationships.. not familiar. It's not something that I practice all that much since it's political and schemish.

Siesta merely smiled.