Chapter 22: Beyond being impressive, it’s admirable.

Thump, thump.

A heartbeat, out of place for such a late hour, had found its way to Esil.

She sniffed, wiping away the tears as she entered her room, wiping her nose on the way.

Once inside, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it.

“Master… you’re truly amazing…”

The sight of her master, effortlessly bringing to his knees someone like Sregon, who was a finger of Brikal, seemed so reliable and impressive.

As a s*ave, she found herself thinking in a way that felt almost out of place.

But even though she knew it was out of line, her heart kept racing, hoping this fluttering feeling would continue.

Esil looked around her room, dimly lit by the moonlight hidden behind clouds.

Tonight, it felt strangely cozy.

Was it because of the forgiveness?

For some reason, Esil’s expression seemed lighter.

Of course, the resentment she felt toward her party members and Brikal hadn’t been resolved, but she no longer felt like she had to suffer through nightmares of torture.

It wasn’t exactly happiness or joy.

She had only received the apology she deserved, and escaping from the hell of 65 days wasn’t something to rejoice about.

A sense of numbness seemed to be more fitting.

Still, thanks to her master’s efforts, the scattered shards of her broken heart were beginning to come together.

She wasn’t able to fully reassemble it yet, but it felt as though she was gathering the scattered pieces that had been left abandoned.

One by one.

If she continued like this, she could become whole again. The reconstruction of her heart—something she never dreamed of, as a traitorous s*ave—was slowly beginning.

All of it was thanks to her master, Rosel.

“I misunderstood… I’m sorry…”

When she had first seen Rosel bid a large sum of 500 gold to buy her freedom, she had thought him a duke driven by lust.

At the time, her mind was too frail to consider any other possibility.

The eyes of the auction crowd, scanning her with lecherous intent, had seemed full of desire.

“Now that I think about it, only Rosel’s eyes were different…”

She had once glanced at Rosel during his visit to the auction, where he was known for not taking slaves. At the time, she had been curious about his gaze.

But back then, such thoughts had seemed irrelevant, so she had let them pass.

Looking back, she now remembered that his eyes alone had been different.

She was grateful—for the way he bought her, for his comforting words of healing, for his encouragement, and even for planning a revolution to save the kingdom. Everything.

That was why Esil now decided to live only for Rosel. And if he needed help for the revolution, she vowed to accomplish it, too.

Because it was the only way she could repay all this gratitude.

“…So, in the end, is the Saint’s prophecy coming true?”

With Rosel’s influence, history would record a revolution, but for now, it was still considered ‘rebellion.’

In the end, the Saint’s prophecy seemed to be coming true.

Though this revolution was born from a false accusation, she couldn’t shake the strange feeling. Prophecies, after all, spoke of the end result, not the process.

“Come to think of it… the Saint never said anything about defeating the Demon King. She always spoke of a hero to save the kingdom.”

Yes.

Saint Yuria had never spoken of defeating the Demon King after her descent.

She always talked about a hero who would save the kingdom.

“Hmm… Does the Saint know that the revolution will succeed…?”

As the wounds began to heal in Esil’s mind, her past faded and the future began to fill her thoughts.

The one who had always run away, always looking back, was now beginning to look forward and chase after something.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Celia said she was going to show a comic tomorrow…”

Lost in thought, Esil suddenly realized and hurriedly sat down at the table.

She lit an oil lamp.

She didn’t need to hide, as this was the task given to her as a s*ave.

Scritch, scritch, scritch.

Starting with the comic that Celia had sparked, the one about her own story, Esil began drawing fervently, even forgoing sleep.

Just minutes ago, the revolution had begun, and she had received an apology from Sregon for the past.

And she had cried while forgiving him.

But Esil, as if nothing had happened, focused entirely on drawing her comic.

It was something she hadn’t dared attempt while in such mental turmoil.

She had realized that escaping the fragments of that intense fear was not as difficult as she had thought.

Now, Esil was no longer afraid of the night sky. She worked diligently on her drawing.

“Wow… This… is a comic?”

“Really… it’s so fun!”

“Give me more!!”

“It’s so easy to read, and the art style is so realistic… It’s addictive!”

The second day of the banquet began, as King Brikal lay unconscious from a terrible hangover.

He would probably never know.

That, due to his severe hangover, he had unwittingly played into the scheme designed by Rosel to get through the second day of the banquet safely.

Thus, under the unusually warm autumn sunlight, in the peaceful grounds of Rosel’s mansion, the young lords and ladies were seated around a round table set in the corner of the garden.

The white tablecloth, adorned with lace at the edges, gave it an elegant, vintage touch, and on top of it, snacks and drinks were prepared for them to enjoy after their lunch.

The macarons, a local specialty of Rosel’s territory, were the main treat of the day.

However, right now,

The young lords and ladies had no intention of touching the macarons at all.

It was all due to the comic that Celia had proudly presented.

“Hehe, I knew you’d enjoy it.”

As expected, the response was overwhelmingly positive.

Though it had just begun, the three pages of sketches were enough to pique the immense interest of the young lords and ladies, with the charming illustrations and dialogue in the small panels.

Moreover, the theme was “Heroes and Adventure.”

There was no way the young lords and ladies wouldn’t love it.

The words were fewer than in a boring novel with dense text, and the visual storytelling was far more intuitive, so it captured the eyes of the children effortlessly.

Of course, some of them hesitated because the art style resembled their own faces.

Esil had drawn it in a “modern” style, which unfortunately looked exactly like the artwork from her own world.

Because of this, Esil’s art style appeared very “realistic” to the people of this world.

It was akin to a comic with dialogue over a photograph of a person.

Despite that, this innovative “book” was enough to captivate their interest, and the response was explosive.

Celia decided she would later give Esil some “feedback” about it.

“The art style seems a bit old-fashioned… but it’s really fun!”

“When will more come out?”

“Me too! Show us more!”

The enthusiastic reactions made Celia scratch her cheek, looking a bit awkward.

“Well… that’s all for now… it takes a bit of time to draw.”

“What? I feel like I’m going to faint! Who’s drawing it?”

“The… oh, no. It’s one of the servants at the mansion.”

“Wow, that’s amazing! So you get to see the next chapters? I’m so jealous!”

The young lords and ladies sighed in envy.

The fun that had come so unexpectedly would be gone by tomorrow.

Celia’s shoulders puffed up with pride.

“Hehe, if you really want to see it, just come over anytime, right?”

“Oh! That’s true! I can come since I’m close!”

Celoron, the son of the Count of Slan, who lived closest to Rosel’s territory, shouted in delight.

On the other hand, the distant young lords and ladies looked glum.

“Hmph… I want to see more…”

“Or… could you ask the servant to tell us some spoilers?”

“Yeah! We’re so curious!”

The young lords and ladies begged desperately, but Celia shook her head firmly.

She didn’t want them to know that Esil was the one who had drawn it. She knew that Esil had put her heart into the comic, and she was being cautious about it.

“Ugh, then could you at least ask for one more page by tomorrow?”

“Well, I’ll see what I can do.”

At that moment, in the northern part of Rosel’s territory,

Glon, the second son of the ‘Ro’ family, who was a day’s journey away by carriage, looked at the butler standing behind him and spoke.

Glon was, in fact, the younger brother of Gleon, one of Esil’s former party members who had betrayed her.

“Trun, the butler…?”

Glon’s large eyes were filled with sorrow.

The butler, however, looked troubled.

What Glon’s gaze was suggesting was whether Trun could make a round trip in two days to get that comic book.

“Ah, well, that’s a bit…”

“Ugh…”

But in the end, Trun, being a butler who truly lived for Glon, couldn’t refuse.

“Hmm… In that case, I’ll speak to the Count and see what I can do.”

“Yay~! I knew Trun, the butler, was the best!”

Glon cheered like a child, and Trun smiled warmly at him.

Of course, this request set off a chain of events, causing other butlers to face difficulties as well.

Since all of Celia’s peers didn’t have personal butlers, when they ventured to other territories, they were assigned a butler.

Before their debut in society, when official social gatherings like the one today occurred, a butler would always accompany them, often acting as a social skills instructor.

Therefore, even Celia had her own butler, Damien, standing behind her.

Damien, seeing most of the butlers in a flustered state dealing with the young lords and ladies, couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle.

The impact of the three-page comic that Esil had drawn was immense among the young lords and ladies.

Amid the chaos, Celia quietly smiled to herself, feeling quite pleased.

Because the “true” story of her idol would be widely known to the world.

If that happened, she would be able to fulfill the vengeance of the hero Emilia.

“Hehe.”

Having successfully completed the comic review session, Celia, holding the three pieces of paper, trotted into her father’s office.

“Dad~”

“Did the tea party go well, my daughter?”

Upon Celia’s visit, Rosel smiled and put down his pen.

He had been meticulously reviewing the documents for the western territory development in the capital, but Celia came first, even before the paperwork.

“Yes! It was a huge hit!”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

With her hands behind her back, Celia hid the drawings and giggled.

She had made a promise with Esil for the review session today.

She had decided to keep it a secret from her father.

With an excited expression, Celia placed the three papers on the desk with a thunk!

“This is the ‘comic’ drawn by the hero! We showed it at the tea party today, and the response was amazing!”

“…A comic?”

Rosel picked up the papers with a look of surprise.

The title was [The Hero’s Adventure], a clichéd title, but as Rosel held the paper, his hands began to tremble slightly.

“Esil… drew this?”

“Yes! I asked the hero what was interesting in her world, and she told me about comics, so I asked her to draw one!”

“Ha… I see, a comic…”

A mysterious moisture appeared in Rosel’s dark eyes.

He had briefly forgotten about it.

Her ability, no, rather, he hadn’t thought about how to make use of her abilities.

Rosel smiled, impressed by the thoughtfulness of his adoptive daughter.

“Comics… they are fun.”

“Really? You know about them?”

“By the way, looking at the story… it’s the hero Emilia’s story, isn’t it?”

“Eh? How did you know? Yes, that’s right!”

“Ha, so Esil is drawing a story about the hero… Celia, is this your idea?”

Celia nodded proudly with a bright expression.

“Yes! Oh, I told the young lords and ladies that the mansion servant drew it! I thought it would be better to keep it a secret!”

“Good. There’s no need for them to know. Well done.”

If they knew Esil drew it, the reaction might have been different. But Celia had sensed that, and perfectly kept it a secret by saying it was a servant’s work.

Rosel couldn’t help but smile at the judgment of a 13-year-old child, which was hard to believe.

He knew Celia was close to Esil, but the fact that rumors hadn’t spread among the servants meant they were doing well at keeping it a secret.

Of course, Celia, at 13, couldn’t have deep insights, but she managed to keep everything just within the right boundaries.

And he trusted her.

That, just like now, she wouldn’t cross those boundaries.

“Hehe, they were all clamoring to come back to the territory!”

“…Really?”

For a moment, something flashed in Rosel’s mind.

Perhaps, the small breeze Celia had blown would become a great storm.

A strong tailwind that would push forward his campaign.

The thought that passed quickly didn’t linger long.

Rosel muttered while looking at the drawings.

“…I think the art style needs to change a bit.”

“Ah, I was just about to talk to the hero about that!”

Esil’s art style definitely seemed awkward in Rosel’s eyes.

A comic should have a fantastical, dreamlike art style, after all.

Rosel handed the papers back to Celia, patting her on the head.

“You’re impressive. No, you’re admirable. You’re thinking of things that even I couldn’t, haha.”

“Hehe.”

“Admirable…”

“Yes!”

“By the way, could you call Butler Gellion on the way? It seems like there’s something urgent I need to discuss.”

Rosel knew well that it wasn’t only force and words that moved the world.

He also understood that the power of culture transcended races and ethnicities, achieving unity and harmony.