Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi Volume 7 Prologue

Continues on to Chapter 1 – Eco’s Bright Dragon Crystal

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Part 1. Part 2.
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Prologue

The continent of Ark Strada.
Looking down towards it from the sky;
It was shaped like a dragon spreading its wings;
On it were five forces that were kept in balance.

I               The dragon’s wing           Holy Espada Agency.
II             The dragon’s body          Chevron Kingdom.
III            The dragon’s jaw             Zepharos Empire.
IV            The dragon’s tail               Labrock Trade Union.
And—
V             The dragon’s heart          Lautreamont Knight Country

Part 1

Dinner time was about to begin in an hour; everyone working in the kitchen of the castle had a tense expression and seemed to be emitting a vicious pressure. However, as if to break apart this atmosphere as if it were as thin as ice—

—Clang!

A booming voice reverberated throughout the kitchen.

“What are you doing!? Celestina! How many pieces have you broken now!?”

The chef immediately shouted.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

The seven year old maid desperately apologised, and crouched down on the spot to clean it up. Small fragments of the shattered dish were all over the floor. The cost of one of these dishes might have been enough to pay for one’s living expenses for several months…for the lowest ranking maid who was still only capable of washing the dishes, this was an astronomical figure. After she slowly cleaned up the debris of the dish, she suddenly felt a painful prick at her fingertips.

“What are you doing so slowly!? You useless trash!”

The chef revealed a terrifying face as he roared at her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Guu…”

Celestina began to sob and cry. Because she had been born with an ‘abnormal’ left eye, tears only flowed out from her right eye. After she stretched out her dirty cuffs and wiped her tears away, she ran to pick up a broom.

“Kyah!”

The result of her running caused her to crash into the maid who was carrying the dishes of food. Celestina’s eye clearly captured the scene of the extravagant palace cuisine being knocked to the ground. What had fallen onto the floor was a stew of Chevron beef leg braised with red wine.

“*Gulp*…”

Sitting on the floor, Celestina almost subconsciously reached out her hand for the piece of meat which lay on the floor. Although it had fallen onto the floor, she usually did not ever have an opportunity to eat such high-grade beef…

“Oh my, look at this child’s greedy face! How shameful!”

The stern scolding drew Celestina’s mind back to reality.

The older maids surrounded Celestina on all sides as they watched her with surprise and contempt. All of them were adopted daughters of the Lafon family. To Celestina, they were equivalent to being her older sisters.

“How can such incompetent trash like you become a daughter of the Lafon family?”

“Because the Royal Family endorsed her.”

“Oh that’s right, I heard that Prince Uriel retrieved her from somewhere as a gift to His Majesty.”

“A whim of His Majesty the Prince has really brought us a lot of trouble. Why did he have to pick this child—”

“That’s enough, you guys!”

At that time, a maid with a livid expression suddenly shouted. It was as if they were looking at the face of death as they all stared towards the doorway. Her frightening presence suddenly spread fear to all of the maids who were present. Everyone stopped what they were doing, and looked towards the door. Even that fearsome chef was kneeling on the ground.

“—Sorry for disturbing everyone’s work.”

An extravagantly dressed noble appeared in the doorway. To hamper one’s progress, that was exactly what had just happened. The valiant and heroic figure who stood in the messy doorway — was the Third Prince, Uriel. —Uriel Alfred Seevers de la Rosa Chevron. He was the man who changed Celestina’s life. A few years ago, Uriel heard about the rumours of Celestina, and travelled a long distance to reach a remote village. Hailed as a ‘rare species’ Celestina was taken away from the village and was given to Zacharias III. The memory of when she first saw Zacharias III abruptly flashed across Celestina’s mind. After the majestic Chevron King gazed at Celestina’s left eye with concentration, he said to Uriel

—That left eye…is the same as what was written in the ancient literature records. This should be proof of the <Pluto Children>

—So you also knew this, father?

—You shouldn’t underestimate this King, Uriel. This girl will be handed over to the Lafon family to take care of her education. Be sure to let her become the right-hand of the King in the future, and she will devote her life to the king.

Like that, Celestina became an adopted daughter of the Lafon family. Because her mother was sickly and lived in poverty, Celestina had no other choice. But with the thought of doing this to allow her mother to live a good life at home, the confusion in her heart disappeared. The reason why her biological father abandoned the family was because Celestina’s magic eye made him feel terrified. Her mother was the opposite of her father, and poured her love into her daughter, and endured struggles to raise her single-handedly. As a result, it also caused her body to deteriorate… As long as she endured this suffering, her mother would be able to receive financial assistance. With money, she would be able to afford medicine to recuperate. As soon as she turned things around and thought in this way, she didn’t think that the bitterness that she suffered was significant at all—

Having appeared in the kitchen, the only thing that Uriel saw in his eyes was Celestina sitting on the floor.

Why is someone of such a noble status in the kitchen himself?

But presently, Celestina felt so ashamed that it was as if her entire body was on fire, and she did not care about that issue. She was afraid that her irresistible greed in wanting to pick up the piece of meat from the stew which had fallen onto the ground was seen by Uriel. Uriel walked over to Celestina’s side, and then politely stretched out his hand. The gesture was almost like a gentleman who was inviting a lady to dance.

“Celestina. This place is no longer worthy of your presence.”

“Eh…?”

Celestina tilted her head with a slightly puzzled expression.

“It’s my father’s orders. From today onwards, you are to be my younger brother’s exclusive servant.”

Part 2

A few days after setting out from the capital of Arkham by horse carriage—.

Brailsford was a renowned military family. In terms of their quality of life as aristocrats, their house was quite simple, their decorations were rather minimal, and overall it seemed to be an old-fashioned building. Even the furniture that was placed in the reception room also evoked a thick, rugged, and country-style appearance. Perhaps because the family was interested in hunting, the walls were lined with no small number of bird and animal specimens as decorations. As soon as she was brought to the reception room, Celestina came face to face with a boy who was similar in age to herself. Perhaps because everyone in the family had gone out, there was only an old butler in the room who silently awaited an order like an ever-lingering shadow.

“Hello. My mother is the King’s concubine, moreover, her identity is also that of a commoner. I am sincerely grateful for His Majesty’s love, as he has sent a daughter of the Lafon family to be my personal maid.”

The boy said in a calm and mature manner, whilst he sat atop the black leather sofa, with a tone unfitting of what would be expected from an eight year old child. He had dark black hair, and deep blue eyes. His snow-white skin and beauty could easily be mistaken for the pretty face of a girl, and he also bore a slight resemblance to Uriel. They do indeed possess the same blood within them — Celestina couldn’t help thinking.

“I-I am Celestina Lafon.”

Celestina used both hands to pinch and lift her skirt, as she gave a curtsy with awkward motions to the boy.

“Then I’ll call you Celes.”

A cheerful smile emerged on the boy’s face, and disregarding Celestina’s wishes, he had given her a nickname of his own accord. Celestina felt that it was inconceivable. After Celestina wore an eye patch because she had been born with an abnormal left eye, she was only reluctantly accepted by society. In the past, every time she met someone for the first time, everyone seemed to stare zealously at her eye patch. However, it seemed as if Oscar didn’t hold any interest in her eye patch at all.

“What’s wrong? Are you angry that I’ve made you a nickname on my own?”

“N-No! Just call me Celes!”

Celes returned to her senses, and replied quickly.

“Then, I suppose it’s my turn to introduce myself. My name is—”

“Your name has already been made known to me. Oscar-sama.”

Celes had perused the information that she had received beforehand, so she had already memorised all of Oscar Brailsford’s basic information. —The child born from the King of the nation and a woman of common birth. If it was just this, it wouldn’t be a surprisingly rare thing. The problem was that Oscar seemed to have something different in comparison to ordinary people. According to the information that was provided in the report, Oscar seemed to be a Breeder. Since the founding of the Lautreamont Knight Country that was in charge of the management of dragons, it was the first time for someone in the Chevron Kingdom to appear to have the qualifications of a Breeder. In other words, the embryo of a young dragon was currently hosted within Oscar’s body. That was the reason why Zacharias III sent Celes to this place, her purpose was to monitor Oscar. He was afraid that sooner or later, Oscar would obtain the power of a dragon and attempt to steal the throne.

“Hmm. It seems as though you’ve done your homework on me. However, there is one thing that I have to make clear to you first.”

“What is it…?”

Celes cautiously asked.

His Majesty the King’s plan couldn’t possibly be exposed at once, right…?

…She couldn’t help but feel nervous, and she also kept her guard up.

“Listen to me carefully, Celes. I am the man who will become the future King of Chevron!”

“…What?”

Celes never imagined that Oscar would declare his ambitions to her almost as soon as she stepped through the door.

“To serve me means that you will accompany me on the path that lies ahead. Are you prepared for that?”

“Umm…even in the maid’s circle, I’m trash that can’t do anything, and I probably can’t help you accomplish anything.”

The edges of Celes’ mouth formed a frown as she lowered her head.

Someone like me is nothing more than a pawn to be used by the cunning Chevron King.

Carefully observing Oscar’s actions, and then providing a detailed report of them to the King — this was Celes’ mission.

Even if he asked me to work with him, I wouldn’t know what to do.

“Haha!”

As if to sweep away all of Celes’ melancholy, Oscar suddenly laughed.

“What a coincidence. You should also know that my ranking for the succession to the throne is one hundred and eighth. So you could say that I’m also useless trash. But I won’t give up on the throne just because of this. So you shouldn’t give up without even taking a single step — if you don’t even take that first step, then you’ve already decided that you can’t do it.”

After he finished speaking, Oscar held Celes’ hand.

“I’m counting on you, Celes.”

Since she became a servant, Celes had constantly been living without the warmth of human emotions. There was also a long period of time during which she didn’t see the mother who loved her. Perhaps it was because of this reason. Celes didn’t even know how to use words to express the mellow warmth that was brought forth by Oscar’s body heat. Oscar stared straight at the confused Celes, and an innocent smile appeared on his face.

“It seems like you and I are very similar, so we should get along well.”

“Y-Yes, but did you not hear about my left eye? My left eye is actually cursed, and don’t you feel…that I’m sickening?”

Although she had revealed the doubt that lay deep in her mind, Celes still felt confused. Oscar did not seem to be particularly wary of her, and was highly welcoming of Celes’ arrival. If the calculations of Zacharias III were taken into consideration, then this was spot on.

But, why would I say that out loud?

Oscar wasn’t aware of the inner conflict that was going on within Celes’ mind, and extended his body forward

“Cursed? That sounds cool, doesn’t it!? Could I trouble you to tell me about your cursed left eye — which in other words is a magic eye!? Wow, this is a man’s romance!”

“I-Is that so?”

“To be honest I’m not very clear on it. But, don’t you think that boys will normally feel rather happy when they hear something like this?”

His way of describing it is really strange, Celes thought. Describing it in that manner was almost like looking at men from a third person’s point of view.

“Alright. If you tell me the secret of the magic eye, I’ll tell you an even bigger secret.”

“…Secret?”

“Since you’re going to be my servant, then I’ll have to tell you this secret. In contrast, once you know of this secret, I can no longer let you go free. If you have any trace of hesitation, then don’t listen any further, and turn around to leave immediately.”

Oscar’s expression was absolutely serious. It was difficult to imagine that an eight year old child could actually have such courage.

—Ah…perhaps this person will actually become the Chevron King in the future…

Celes took off her eye patch as such a premonition surfaced within her mind.

“Little Celestina ~A.S.B.1355.7~” is closed.

(Parts 2 of 2) (10/1)