“Even before this conflict over succession, the kingdom of Fairytrof had been plagued with disasters like bad crops and lightning strikes. This situation continued for a while after Alice was taken to the great temple as the miko, even after you left, Lan.
Fairytrof had its hands full dealing with this, and then the king died.”
Mister Sadda says the kingdom of Fairytrof had to deal with disasters happening in the country, and then the king passed away.
“The kingdom of Fairytrof had three princes and five princesses. The first prince was the crown prince, and if the king didn’t die under these circumstances, he would have succeeded his father without a civil war. But the timing of the king’s death led the third prince to secure the miko and proclaim her to be a fake. He also said that promoting a false miko is what led to his father’s death, and was the cause of all the disasters happening in their country.”
“Oh my, he said that? Ah, don’t make that face Lerunda, none of this is your fault. The country’s crops are poor at least in part because you left, but everything surrounding the civil war is just an excuse for the third prince to sabotage the crown prince.”
Miss Lan notices that I’m thinking that maybe the civil war was my fault, and reassures me that it wasn’t. But even if I didn’t cause it directly, it still happened because of the being known as the miko.
I decided to live my life as the miko, so I have to be careful not to let myself be the reason for things like this to happen.
There are people out there who would use the miko as an excuse to do things like this, even if they don’t have anything against me personally.
“Don’t worry about it Lerunda, the king’s death had nothing to do with the miko. And then, the third prince proclaimed that the king had been colluding with the temple to knowingly promote a false miko. We are not sure whether the third prince didn’t know where the real miko was, or if he simply didn’t care and was just after the throne, but he proclaimed that all the misfortune befalling his country, including the king’s death were, caused by the wrath of god. He also said that both the crown prince and the second prince knew all about it, but kept quiet out of greed. The third prince called them unfit to be king, and said he should be king instead.”
“…So in the end, he just wanted the throne for himself, and it didn’t matter if the miko was false or not. Still, even if his goal was to be king, I wish he didn’t use Lerunda as a pretext…”
“…What happened to my sister and the others?”
I ask out of curiosity.
I don’t call them my family. To me, they’re not my family even if we’re connected by blood, but they’re also not complete strangers. They’re not important to me like other people, but I also can’t say I don’t care at all what happens to them.
“Unfortunately, I can’t say where your parents are. It seems they ran away during the confusion, but it’s likely that they passed away somewhere. Your mother collapsed due to illness at some point.”
“Really?”
“Yes. This is part of the reason why rumors started within the temple that Alice was not actually the real miko. That was why the third prince proclaimed she wasn’t the real miko in the first place, because people in the temple also had their doubts.”
“So… What happened to her?”
“Alice is safe with the fifth princess of Fairytrof, Princess Ninaev.”
“Princess?”
“Yes. After Lan left, she reprimanded the miko and was sent away to a remote region. We, Vene also wanted to do something about the kingdom of Fairytrof, which was on the verge of collapse, so we contacted Princess Ninaev. She realized Alice was not the real miko, but she took action during the civil war because she didn’t think it was right to push the blame onto a young girl.”
I don’t know about my parents, but my sister is alive.
I don’t feel sad about my parents. I feel like we’re completely separated.
But I feel a little relieved about my sister. To be honest, I don’t really care about whether or not I’ll see her again. Even if she’s my sister, she’s not really my family, but I do think of her as a little special.
In the village where I was born, I wasn’t special, but everything about her looked and felt special. I guess a little bit of those feelings are still left in my heart.
“I thought Ninaev would be a great fit for the throne, and we even proposed this to her, but she rejected it.”
“…Sadda, what have you been doing?”
“Don’t look at me like that Lan. Princess Ninaev saw Alice for what she was, a young girl being made into the miko by the country, thought she didn’t deserve to have all the blame pushed onto her, and took action to save her. I simply thought someone like her was fit to take the throne.”
“I guess I see your point… So where is Alice now?”
“Princess Ninaev backed the crown prince, and returned to the remote region after the civil war died down. Alice went with her, and during this confusion realized she isn’t special. Members of my company informed me she is trying to change. Still, I’ve never actually talked to either of them directly, and everything I know has been told to me.”
Mister Sadda says this princess saved my sister and kept her safe.
—Girl and merchant’s story – Part two
(The miko hears about the civil war in Fairytrof, and is relieved to hear her sister is safe.)
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