Chapter 456. A Bedtime Story (1)

Translator: Aura / Editor: Tiny Zebra

Where is the lovely little blue bird he talks about? I was so stunned that I couldn’t answer right away.

Of course, McKenna is a blue bird, but how…

‘Oh, my.’

I shouldn’t have thought about that while in the presence of Grand Duke Kapmen.

However, it wasn’t easy to control thoughts. Now that the thought that McKenna is a blue bird crossed my mind, it was harder to shake it off.

I hastily looked over at Grand Duke Kapmen, but he only stared at Dolshi, as if he had not paid attention to my thoughts at all.

I was a little relieved. Anyway, on second thought, I realized that he must certainly already know about this.

Except for Dolshi, whose thoughts he couldn’t read, was there anyone else in this world whose secrets he didn’t know?

In any case, what was important now were Dolshi’s strange words. Without hesitation, and without even batting an eye, I said,

“A blue bird? I don’t see any blue birds here.”

McKenna was still frozen by the door. I could almost hear his heartbeat.

Dolshi’s eyebrows rose as he stared at McKenna. He then turned back to me.

“Right there. A lovely little blue bird. Oh my! So lovely how it flapped its wings.”

I looked at Grand Duke Kapmen and wondered in my mind,

‘Dolshi has repeated ‘blue bird, blue bird’ several times. Does he really see him as a blue bird, or is he saying that because of his blue hair?’

Grand Duke Kapmen didn’t look at me, but he shook his head slightly. He didn’t seem to know either.

He had said that he couldn’t hear Dolshi’s thoughts after all.

Meanwhile, Dolshi approached McKenna, who turned and fled in a hurry.

Dolshi ran after him.

***

Fortunately, Dolshi seemed to come to his senses a few hours later.

I didn’t witness it myself. I heard from McKenna that Dolshi stopped the pursuit suddenly, looked around,and walked off somewhere.

But he didn’t return to the room where he taught me to use my magic, so Grand Duke Kapmen also left. He promised to return at a later date.

“What the hell was that?”

Once he determined it was completely safe to come to my office, McKenna came in with a pale face.

“… He may be a dragon.”

When I told him about Dolshi, McKenna’s face turned even paler.

“But… but why did the dragon call me a blue bird?”

“Maybe he was hallucinating.”

“How could it be?”

Since I couldn’t talk about the love potion, I just shook my head. McKenna shuddered with fright as he rubbed his forearms.

“He called me ‘blue bird’ with his eyes fixed on me! Gosh, for a moment I felt like my heart would jump out of my chest.”

Was there anything I could say to calm him down? I only smiled awkwardly while McKenna continued to grumble, until his expression suddenly became serious after a few minutes.

“Oh, no. That strange dragon made me forget all about the urgent matter I had to tell you. Your Majesty, I need your opinion about a religious ceremony.”

“Religious ceremony?”

“Yes, a renowned priestess who left on pilgrimage will pass through our Empire. A neighboring country recently held a grand ceremony to welcome her. The priestess blessed them and said that the country will be reinvigorated by the royal family’s next generation.”

McKenna paused and spoke quietly.

“It’s only a blessing, but some interpreted her words as a prophecy.”

Then, he continued speaking normally.

“I heard that she usually says positive things. I thought it would be a good idea to welcome her and invite her to stay at the Imperial Palace.”

Certainly, if the priestess says nice things about the Western Empire’s future, people will be happy.

These were troubled times, so perhaps a blessing for our future would sow the seeds of hope in the people’s hearts. However…

“Shouldn’t you ask Heinley?”

It should be Heinley who decides whether to hold the ceremony. If he agreed to welcome the priestess, I would take care of the rest.

“Well…”

McKenna sighed with a gloomy face.

“I think she’ll arrive before His Majesty Heinley returns.”

Heinley had left only this morning and would return soon, but McKenna didn’t ask for his opinion before he left? If a neighboring country had held a grand welcoming ceremony for her, how did we lose track of her whereabouts until she was so close to arriving?

“How is that possible?”

“The priestess concealed her whereabouts after the last ceremony. She may have been overwhelmed. It’s even possible that she intended to pass incognito across the Western Empire; members of our tribe discovered her on the way back from a mission to retrieve a mana stone.”

“I see. It’s not an easy decision to make.”

“That’s right, Your Majesty.”

In this case, it was not a question of whether I should welcome her or hold a ceremony on Heinley’s behalf. It was a question of whether I should receive her with a lavish ceremony when the priestess might want to pass through discreetly.

If we were to hold a grand welcoming ceremony, the priestess might become offended and curse us. This would greatly hurt the public opinion about the Imperial Family.

But if we pretended not to know that she would be passing through and she left without a welcome, if the people find out they might complain that we were too impolite.

Since Heinley was absent, I would become the target of any discontent.

McKenna anxiously asked,

“What shall we do, Your Majesty?”