LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 31
‘……No, it’s not completely the same. At first glance, you might mistake them for sisters or mother and daughter.’
I initially thought she looked exactly like Aurora, but there were indeed differences.
The woman who just walked out of the beam of light had sharper eyes, longer hair, a colder impression, a taller stature, and a more superior figure.
Yes, she looked exactly like an adult version of Aurora.
‘For now, since they are relatives… it wouldn’t be a problem if they looked alike.’
Considering that they both emanated from an NPC appearance retouch mod, it’s very likely that the modeling was based on the Empress, slightly adjusted to appear immature, and then made to resemble Aurora.
It’s not that they looked similar because they are relatives; they are designed to look alike because they are relatives. Although they seemed similar at first glance, they were indeed different.
“I greet the Sun of the Empire.”
“I greet the Sun of the Empire.”
I subtly mimicked Aurora’s words and actions. In the game, when a conversation starts, the protagonist naturally takes a posture or smoothly shifts through it, but this wasn’t the case here.
“Lift your head.”
Sounds like shuffling feet
‘Her voice is similar too.’
She resembled Aurora even in voice, but again, there was a feeling that this one was more mature.
I lifted my head. It wasn’t until I looked at her directly that I could truly absorb her appearance.
Her pitch-black hair, long enough to reach below her waist, exuded an aura that felt as if it could swallow even the light itself.
The bangs were neatly arranged, revealing a part of her forehead above her left eye. Her golden eyes, closer to gold than actual gold, held no emotion.
Her entirely black uniform bore the insignia of the Empress and had a deep neckline that revealed her ample bosom. Lingerie peeked out between the uniform and bare skin.
The underwear was also black.
Although the collar and material of the uniform were stiff, the thighs wrapped in a black garter belt and the tightly fitted skirt hugged her contours perfectly.
The skirt of the uniform was incredibly short. Not only did it cling to her thighs and hips, revealing her body’s lines, but just a slight angle change might expose her underwear.
Or perhaps she was already showing the black lingerie beneath, and I just didn’t recognize it due to the angle.
The emotionless golden eyes turned toward Aurora. The identical golden eyes also gazed toward the Empress.
“It seems you have not been well, suffering under my late brother.”
“Yes, you understand well, Aunt Kaikiliana.”
“I recall you had aspirations to claim that position someday. It looks like you’ve succeeded.”
“It was not by my own strength. If I were alone, I would surely have succumbed to him. It was the strength of one person from start to finish, and I merely stood by with my mouth open, waiting to receive.”
For a moment, a conversation that made me doubt my ears took place, but I decided to let it slide. Regardless of the content, it’s a bit inappropriate for an outsider to intervene in relatives exchanging pleasantries.
Even so, commenting on how I must not have been well while being tormented by the lord was quite something. Did she know and still leave it be?
“I received a letter. That fool tried to summon a demon, and so he was killed?”
“He was not killed. You need a divine spell or weapon to slay a demon, and we lack both.”
“Well, regardless, he is destined to die soon, so whether he lives or dies now makes no difference. Is the account of the incident as stated in the letter?”
“Yes. There is no difference.”
“Hmmm, so you say there is no difference…”
Kaikiliana crossed her arms beneath her bosom, accentuating it, and tapped her arm with her fingers, lost in thought.
Perhaps due to the mod, every time she crossed her arms, it showcased her chest. Certainly Lize, with her ample curves, and even Erica, who was far less endowed, had the same effect.
Suddenly, her face turned toward me.
As the emotionless golden eyes met mine, a chill ran down my spine. Cold sweat beaded on my forehead, causing my whole body to feel frigid.
Wow, this is no joke.
In the game, NPCs said that facing the Empress made one feel as if they were stripped completely naked, with their innermost thoughts exposed.
I accepted that the player couldn’t experience that feeling, but facing it in reality made it painfully clear it wasn’t an exaggeration or a lie.
It genuinely felt like all my thoughts were laid bare. An unidentifiable chill and unease crept up my spine.
“You are the new knight, yes?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“It was you who aided Aurora in ascending to the lordship.”
“Even if I kicked and flailed beside her, if her capabilities weren’t exceptional, could she have succeeded?”
Kaikiliana again fell silent, staring me down. Sweat beaded down my back. I wasn’t sure if I could react properly to events unfolding this way.
“Did you also discover the Book Inhabited by a Demon?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“The letter stated that after capturing the armored horse and its rider, a book inhabited by a demon appeared. Is that also true?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, as you said, that is true.”
Couldn’t really dispute that.
I had defeated the Headless Armored Cavalier, obtained the key to break the seal it dropped, unsealed the dungeon, and got that book inside. I just skipped a few details in between.
“It stated that you took that book to discuss solutions with my late brother.”
“Yes.”
“Yet, unable to curb your greed, he meddled to summon a demon and caused this trouble.”
“That is correct.”
As this frivolous exchange continued, a slight sense of unease crept in.
She didn’t delve into the content of the letter or interrogate me about the events that transpired. Instead, she seemed to consider the conversation time a waste and headed straight to the basement.
Kaikiliana took a step closer, slowly narrowing the distance between us. With each step she took, the pressure squeezing my heart intensified.
Despite placing my feet down, I felt as though I could hear the sound of thud-thud accompanying her steps.
The distance, which had been narrowing slowly with her steps, finally stopped when it was only a foot apart between us.
“How long have you been with the knight order?”
“About two weeks.”
“Two weeks, two weeks…”
Kaikiliana tapped her arm once more, lost in thought. She then glared at me with an even more mechanical and cold gaze.
“Then, after so much time, you still haven’t realized that my brother was nothing but garbage?”
‘This is insane.’
Seeing Kaikiliana echo what Iris had pointed out, I couldn’t help but silently curse. This was something I had never encountered in the game.
It usually went straight to the basement to handle the demon, quickly interrogating me about what had happened and then initiating an event with the protagonist, before retrieving the lord’s corpse to return to the Imperial Palace.
If I hadn’t prepared for such a situation ahead of time, I surely would have looked taken aback. Whatever happened next was predictable.
I glanced at Aurora. She also looked visibly flustered.
‘Aurora is fine. She can’t see my face since she’s behind me. What matters is me. If I show panic or sway, it’ll be the end.’
The game was already set, and there was no turning back. If that was the case, I had to push through to the end, no matter what.
“I have not realized.”
“You have not realized?”
Her eyes narrowed. My heart raced, feeling as if it might leap out of my mouth.
“Yes. The commanders said that the lord—”
“‘It.’”
“Yes?”
“Refer to it as ‘It.’ That is no longer a being recognized as human according to Imperial law. Why would a being that is no longer human be referred to by a title meant for humans?”
Now that she mentioned it, Kaikiliana consistently referred to the lord as “my brother” too. I quickly bowed my head and corrected myself.
“I apologize, Your Majesty. That was an unintentional slip. I was well aware that the commanders insult it as a worthless being, but rather because of that, I thought it necessary to consult it. Given its nature, if we attempted to resolve matters related to demons within the order without proper communication… it could find a pretense to create issues for us.”
“Hmmm, so you were concerned about what issues it might fabricate…”
Kaikiliana’s trailing words felt vague. She took another step closer. Now the distance had shrunk to less than that of an arm’s length between us.
From the opposite side, I could see Aurora fidgeting as if she didn’t know what to do. Perhaps she never anticipated Kaikiliana would press this deeply.
I felt the same. I had thought she would let it slide, based on what had been shown, while I assumed my gaming knowledge would carry me through.
Both assumptions had some basis in confidence, but by now, it had been proven wrong.
“Is this what you call an issue?”
‘……!’
Seeing the light mass forming in Kaikiliana’s hand, I raised the Blood-Stained Sword. I didn’t even have time to draw it from the sheath. By the time I tried, it was already too late.
In this situation, the key was to react as quickly as possible, no matter the cost. I held the Blood-Stained Sword against my neck, and suddenly, a powerful impact hit me.
SHWACK!!
“Aunt?!”
“Ooh?”
Aurora’s voice was nearly one of horror, and simultaneously, Kaikiliana’s voice expressed a small wonder, as if she couldn’t believe I would react.
My body flew backward.
I drove the sword into the ground to stabilize myself but was still pushed back several steps. After sliding away from my original spot, I finally managed to stop nearly twenty steps from where I was.
Shaking off the tingles in my hands, I relaxed my posture. The trace of my effort to slow down with the sword was etched in a long line through the garden soil. The surrounding grass was completely overturned.
Wow, that was a close call.
Sighing in relief internally, I recognized how Kaikiliana’s unanticipated actions had startled me, nearly resulting in my demise without a proper reaction.
Had I delayed a moment longer in defending, or if I had attempted to draw the sword instead of blocking with the sheath, my head might have been taken clean off—a truly razor-thin margin.
“It seems the achievements you claimed were not mere fabrications.”
Her voice carried an undertone of satisfaction. I lifted my gaze to meet Kaikiliana’s eyes.
Gazing at me with slightly raised lips, Kaikiliana held the Holy Sword, shining with a brightness as holy as the sun in the sky.