The banquet hall was extremely noisy.

That was only natural.

The people attending the proclamation ceremony of Marquis Palatio at this point in time were the core figures of the Allied Kingdoms.

And there were a great many of them.

Yet despite how packed the banquet hall was, and despite the noise never stopping, all the sound around Alon mysteriously dropped off in a clear way.

Ryang-a and Historia, who had been quietly trying to bring food to Alon, froze with their plates still in hand.

Magrina, the elf queen, who had been receiving greetings from the dignitaries of each country until just moments ago, perked up her distinctly elven ears.

Evan and Penia looked at Alon with expressions that clearly said, Huh!?

Among them, Penia looked even more surprised and curious than Evan.

And Yutia and Rine, who had each been speaking with different people, somehow grasped the entire situation in an instant and turned to look at Alon.

All of that happened within the span of only a few seconds.

But Alon himself failed to realize it.

Partly because, even if the area around him had gone quieter, the banquet hall itself was still so noisy.

But also because—

“Would it be all right if I asked who it is you hold in your heart?”

—the queen asked him that before Alon could notice anything else.

Gasp—

At once, the sound of someone sucking in their breath came from somewhere to Alon’s right.

Among the people maintaining their silence, tension began to bloom.

Deus and Radan looked at Alon with expressions of faint interest.

Nangwon and Nangyeon, disguised as ordinary humans and hiding their inverse eyes in case they caused trouble, looked at him with curiosity shining in their eyes.

And—

‘...My knees are going weak.’

On the ceiling of the banquet hall, Hidan, who was silently standing guard just in case, was looking down with a face full of tension.

[Because Hidan had seen something like this before.]

And Alon, who was knowingly and unknowingly receiving all those stares—

“...That might be rude to reveal, so I would rather not say...”

—gave that answer back to the queen.

“Oh my, that was a rather impertinent question, wasn’t it? I must be getting old and embarrassingly nosy.”

Even though she had not gotten the information she wanted, the queen lowered herself and smiled, and Alon shook his head.

“It’s all right.”

At those words, the atmosphere loosened in an instant.

The gazes aimed at Alon naturally turned back to the people they had been speaking to.

Ryang-a and Historia, who had been in the middle of doing something, started moving again.

And at the very moment Hidan secretly let out a sigh of relief—

“Then, though it may still be nosy of me, may I ask just ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) one more thing?”

“...What exactly?”

“To tell the truth, I’m curious what kind of person someone as indifferent as you could come to care for. Could you perhaps at least briefly tell me their traits?”

With those added words from the queen,

the tension that had been easing tightened once more.

The gazes that had begun to disperse naturally gathered back on Alon.

Hidan, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, held it again.

And Alon—

‘No, why is she pressing this hard?’

—was a little flustered by Torimavia.

But after thinking it over, Alon soon realized why she was being so desperate.

‘It must be that the princesses are starting to reach a dangerous point in their marriageable age.’

Of course, as far as Alon knew, most of the princesses were not actually that old.

But in a fantasy world like this, marriageable age came very quickly.

In other words, even though the princesses were still young, they were apparently already starting to slip past the proper age.

‘Of course, I passed that point a very, very long time ago...’

Naturally, Alon himself had already passed it by quite a while ago.

Even so, the reason she kept pressing him like this was probably because he was no longer merely a marquis, but a king.

However, understanding why the queen was questioning him so persistently was separate from the matter itself.

Alon still had no desire to get married, so he began to think.

And after finishing his thoughts, he answered,

“Her smile is beautiful.”

“I see.”

“And she’s cute.”

“Cute...?”

“Yes.”

“......”

“......”

“......Do you not have any other traits to mention?”

“Mm... she’s thoughtful. She always thinks of the other person.”

When Alon said that much, the queen made a somewhat strange expression.

‘If I were hearing this, I think I’d make that face too.’

Naturally, Alon was not saying any of this while thinking of a particular person.

In the first place, he did not currently have anyone he liked.

So he had only said whatever came to mind.

“I hope that answered your question.”

“...Yes, thank you for indulging my nosiness.”

“You need not think of it that way.”

With that answer, Alon managed to shake the queen off.

And by the time he confirmed that she had melted away toward one side of the banquet hall and let out a sigh of relief—

“......”

—Hidan, who had been silently observing the entire situation from the ceiling, could see it.

The people around the Great Moon were wearing incredibly complicated, ambiguous expressions—

the kind that made it impossible to tell whether they were supposed to be happy about this or sad about it.

People who kept trying to put on triumphant smiles, only to suddenly seem to think, Huh? Maybe not? and change their expressions again.

Hidan watched them for quite a while with mixed feelings.

####

Exactly one day later.

The territory, which had been holding a noisy festival for nearly a full week, was finally beginning to settle down.

And around the time even the banquets in the territory, which had seemed like they would never quiet down, were slowly calming—

“Haa...”

Alon was letting out a deep sigh in his office.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just a little tired.”

At those words, Evan nodded.

“That’s understandable.”

“Right?”

“Yes.”

Alon thought back to yesterday.

He had thought that once the queen of Raksas left, he would be able to watch the banquet in peace, but unfortunately, he had gotten no rest at all.

Because after that, he had fallen into a hell of endless greetings.

‘At least the important people I’d already greeted in advance had the sense not to come over again.’

While preparing for the proclamation ceremony, he had not greeted every important figure who had come.

Partly because there had been too much to do, but also simply because there had been too many people coming specifically to see him.

And so yesterday, Alon had ended up having to greet every important person he had not yet spoken to.

For so long that the sun hanging high overhead vanished behind the mountains.

...To be honest, if he had been free to do what he wanted, he would have liked to stop greeting people halfway through and run away.

Alon was a king now, after all.

But being a king did not mean he could truly do whatever he pleased.

So Alon let out another deep sigh.

“Still, don’t worry too much. The greetings are all finished now anyway, and all that’s left is for you to enjoy the rest of the banquet, right?”

“Well, that’s true.”

“And people will start leaving soon too.”

Alon nodded.

The banquet was certainly loudest on the first day, and after that it gradually thinned out.

‘...Still, starting today or tomorrow, even I should be able to have a more relaxed schedule.’

While Alon was thinking that, someone opened the office door.

“Penia.”

“Hello, Marquis— no, should I be calling you Your Majesty now?”

It was Penia.

“Mm. That feels a bit cumbersome.”

“Then should I keep calling you Marquis?”

“...That feels a little strange in its own way too.”

Alon thought for a moment.

To be honest, if he could have his way, he wanted to tell her to just keep calling him Marquis, but that might look odd in its own way.

“...Just add the honorific part to my name.”

“Alon-nim, like that?”

“Yes.”

“All right, got it.”

Penia nodded with a smile.

As Alon looked at her, he suddenly tilted his head.

Something about Penia felt different.

After wondering for a moment, Alon soon realized what it was.

“Penia.”

“Yes?”

“Did you change your hairstyle?”

At Alon’s question, Penia’s eyes widened slightly, and then a soft smile bloomed at the corner of her lips.

“Yes, ahem— so you noticed?”

“You’re around often enough. But... did something happen?”

Alon asked because he knew Penia always insisted on keeping the same hairstyle.

But Penia only said,

“No, nothing really... I just felt like a change of pace.”

As she spoke, she twirled her blue hair around her finger.

At that, Alon tilted his head.

‘...Didn’t Penia always like her usual hairstyle a lot?’

For whatever reason, in the story Penia had always been extremely stubborn about keeping her basic hairstyle.

So he did find it strange, but Alon soon shrugged.

“Ah, and Sili said she’s about to start moving now.”

“All of a sudden?”

“You know, that thing you mentioned before? About bringing people over to the Divine Land.”

At those words, Alon let out an unconscious little sound.

Then he suddenly grew curious.

“...Penia, let me ask just in case— what exactly is Sili doing?”

“Sili? I don’t know the details, but for this Divine Land matter, I heard she gathered some of the money she needed and handled some things... and then, apparently, she’s going out to preach?”

“...Gathered money? No, more importantly, preach?”

“Yes.”

“...She’s planning to draw people in with preaching?”

“Uh... that’s what she said.”

Alon looked baffled.

No matter how extraordinary Sili might be, it did not seem possible to draw nearly half the population along just by preaching.

So—

“...Evan.”

“Yes.”

“Keep an eye on what Sili is doing.”

“...Understood.”

With equal parts curiosity and concern, Alon gave Evan the order.

####

Around the time Alon was attending the banquet following the proclamation ceremony of the Kingdom of Palantia, in an underground cavern in the Kingdom of Caliban—

[Hmm—?]

The One Who Soars High, who had been sitting on a massive stone seat with its eyes closed, opened its eyes in the darkness.

The first thing it saw upon opening them was a black hole rippling before it.

Even though it was an irrational sight that should never have existed in reality, the One Who Soars High merely looked at the black hole calmly.

[It’s been a while, the One Who Spits Arms.]

It spoke. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

At that moment, the hole, which had been small, spread wide and turned enormous.

And black tentacles began bursting out from within it.

Pitch-black tentacles that looked as though each one would drain the life from anything it touched.

And in the very center of the abyss those tentacles emerged from, a pure white eye formed.

[It has been a while.]

The One Who Spits Arms said.

[You always make quite the entrance.]

[I have not made an entrance. I merely opened a ‘hole’ for communication.]

[That’s exactly what makes it dramatic.]

The One Who Soars High shrugged and continued.

[More importantly, I heard about it. You saved Raksasi... was it Raksas?]

[Well— that worm was drunk on its moderate strength, so I figured it would be easier to devour later if I helped, and I had also received that One’s command. But—]

“But?”

At the One Who Soars High’s question, the One Who Spits Arms moved its tentacles in silence for a moment.

[...To be honest, I did not particularly want to help. It would have benefited me much more to devour the result after that creature had gone to all the trouble of remodeling the tools exactly to its taste.]

[Ah— honestly, I agree with that too.]

A conversation only Divine blood could understand.

[But let me tell you one thing first. Later on, you will think your choice was the right one.]

[...This choice?]

[Yes.]

[Why?]

[Because by helping Raksas, you’ve gotten yourself onto the Star Eater’s side.]

[Onto the Star Eater’s side? Even so, what meaning does that have?]

The One Who Spits Arms asked as if it did not understand the meaning of the One Who Soars High’s words.

[It obviously has meaning.]

The One Who Soars High answered.

[...What do you mean?]

At the next question, the One Who Soars High grinned.

[Because the Star Eater can naturally absorb the power of Divine blood and hand it out however the Star Eater pleases.]

[What... did you say???]

That was its answer.

The kind of statement that, if Alon heard it, would make him react with, ‘What? What kind of nonsense is that?’

[Is that... really true?]

[Yes.]

At the One Who Soars High’s nod, the One Who Spits Arms’ grotesque white eye widened to the limit.