After stuffing little Beth until she burped, everyone headed up, fetched Farah and Schwarz, and then made a beeline to the Grandis palace. A party that size, however, was a bit eyecatching; Dia could tell that the norm for groups was probably around three to four people.

Doubling the lower limit was a bit odd, especially since there was a kid sitting on her shoulders.

“She’s not drooling on my head, right?” Dia asked, before reaching up to squish Beth’s cheeks.

“Nope, why?”

“Just checking, that’s all.” Dia chuckled. “Anyway, I wonder how one books an appointment with the Emperor of the Grandis Empire.”

“Normally,” Farah replied. “Just send in a letter and everything to the Grandis Court of Noble Law and request that the Emperor be present for arbitration.”

“Wouldn’t Emperor Grandis be a bit peeved, though?” Dia wondered out loud. “After all, you did tell him to show up for a family dispute of sorts.”

“That’s his own fault,” Farah replied. “I mean, why did he have to stipulate such a law?”

“A law?” Schwarz asked.

“Any familial disputes that involves nobles from the rank of count and above must be presided over by the Emperor himself,” Farah replied. “He can change it, but…eh. Not many such cases anyway, so the Emperor doesn’t really care much. After all, I am one of the few exceptions that would actively bring up such a case in front of the Emperor himself.”

“You sound quite pleased about that.”

“Any occasion to shame my…parents is a good occasion,” Farah replied happily. “Best if the Emperor strips them of all their privileges, but that’s nowhere enough to compensate the people who died during their shitty rule.”

Her eyes flickered once, and Farah turned away. Dia looked at her silhouette in silence, and then wondered about the life of the people in Farah County thirty years ago, when none of them were born yet. What sort of life did these people lead, and how did the rulers of Farah County back then squander all their money?

Did they even care that people died?

Dia let out a sad sigh, and then lifted Beth from her head. Holding the toddler close to her chest, Dia looked at the confused kid, and then nuzzled her neck.

Beth giggled in response, and Nero glanced over.

“What are you looking at?” Dia asked, poking Beth’s cheek with a free finger.

“Nothing much. Uh, aren’t your shoulders tired?” Nero asked.

“Your hands must be tired too,” Kemata added.

“And your feet!”

Dia glared at the stupid couple, and then shooed them away with her hands. “Get away from my kid.”

“Dada!”

“See?” Dia snorted. “That’s my Beth.”

“Oh, come on. We never really got the chance to hug Moon babies, alright?” Nero blinked at her innocently. “You must be tired now. You’ve been carrying Beth for two hours.”

“That’s true, but you two are going to start spoiling her again. Or slobbering over her.” Dia paused. “Not sure if I like the sound of that, really.”

After a little more coddling, Beth couldn’t bear their pitiful sides, so she made little sounds and got Dia to hand her over to them instead. It was a request that made Dia proud, since her little baby girl was expressing empathy consciously, so she — albeit reluctantly — passed Beth to Nero.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“You two better not drop her, or I’ll drop kick you,” Dia muttered.

Farah laughed. “You sound like her real father now.”

“You’re even specifying the gender now?” Dia asked, watching on as Beth made vroom-vroom noises — whatever these noises were, anyway — on Kemata’s shoulders. To be honest, she was quite amazed at the fact that the quiet, chilling Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny had such a side to her…

“Well, I don’t think a mother would say something like dropkicking,” Farah replied, unaware of her other thoughts. “Anyhow, I think we should let the three of them freely wander around the city later. I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring in people who are not from the Grandis Empire. Also, there’s a baby…”

“I was thinking that too,” Schwarz chimed in. “After all, one could construe the whole thing as airing a nation’s dirty laundry in front of foreign dignitaries.”

“Foreign dignitaries…” Dia looked at the funny trio and felt her mouth twitch.

“I know they don’t look like that at all,” Schwarz replied, “but they are indeed dignitaries.”

“Yeah, I know.” Dia shrugged. “And people like us, who have transcended the notions of humanity, find it hard to conceive. Very hard, in fact. I can see why these two dote on my kid greatly.”

“You do know you kinda adopted but not fully adopted Beth, right?” Schwarz asked. “Admittedly, that latter bit is due to your dispute with Farah, but whatever.”

“My county needs an heir, after all, and it’s a place where she’ll grow up with love, care and attention,” Farah replied, a smug look on her face. “Your father, Dia, is going to live for millennia. It’s fine if you don’t give him an heir.”

“Screw off,” Dia replied, making use of vocabulary she had picked up in her post-princess Dia days. “Beth’s my kid. You can just adopt one if you want, you know.”

Her face straightened up. “After all, there are still a lot of kids who don’t have parents.”

“You do know that my county has a—”

“Highly supervised and supported orphanage, I know,” Dia replied. “But don’t you want to raise a kid of your own too? Your handpicked or personally nurtured heir? I know, Beth’s awesome, but with your abilities, you can definitely raise a good kid too.”

“Hmm.”

As Farah mulled with herself, Risti skittled over. “I’m a bit confused. I thought you nobles were all about bloodlines and everything. But you two seem awfully blasé about allowing adopted kids to inherit. Is that how things are like now?”

“The real sticklers to the rules are usually barons or baronets,” Farah replied. “The higher nobles don’t really care, to be honest. They’re more interested in enjoying life or maximising their own lifespan than actually running the territory.”

Their group stopped at the Grandis Palace, and Farah gestured at the grand garden that surrounded the actual palace, which was a black cube. “Which is why we’re here, I suppose.”

Dia looked at the opulent, unguarded entrance to the palace gardens. There was no need for security here; the people in this palace were probably the strongest combatants this continent had to offer. The Palace Grounds were also open to the public on weekends, and was a fairly popular picnicking spot for families, couples and solitary people alike. Dia could vaguely remember having a picnic here as a child, back when her mother…

“…Yeah.” Dia shook her head to clear it. “That’s why.”

She could feel a few eyes on them as they entered the palace grounds, but there was nothing else to it. It was probably the hidden guards, if she didn’t get it wrong, although there was a small possibility that the Emperor had already arrived and was viewing the Seekers of Life from some high point.

“We’ll just hang out around here, then.” Nero pointed at a nice tree.

“Yeah, you three…Beth, be a good girl and play with them, alright?” Dia patted her head. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

Beth nodded seriously, and then pointed at her stomach. “Hungry.”

“Again?” Dia blinked. “Uh, you guys…”

“Don’t worry. We’ll have her eat in moderation,” Kemata replied. “We did bring food too, so don’t worry too much.”

“Yeah.” Nero patted Beth’s head. “You guys go do your nasty stuff. We’ll have a picnic here and wait for you guys…incidentally, are open fires allowed here? I want to have a barbeque.”

“No, it’s not,” Risti replied. “Please don’t. If you want food, there are a bunch of shops outside the Palace Grounds. Go buy some there if you need to.”

“Meh. Fine…”

Dia nodded at the couple. “Thanks.”

“No problem!”

After leaving the three of them at the base of their selected tree, Dia and the others continued towards the palace. The artificially curated garden was breath-taking, to say the least, but there was a sense of falseness in the whole thing. To begin with, the entire garden shouldn’t really be able to grow this well without the sun’s light, but there were always other methods…

“The palace is beautiful, but I’ve always felt that there was something weird about it,” Risti muttered. “Look at how it’s constructed. Like…it’s too symmetrical. Too perfect. Is this really something humans can make? It’s one of the reasons why I do believe that this place was taken from the Celestia Ruins, rather than built…”

“Or stolen from a Divine Kingdom,” Schwarz quipped.

“I doubt that one, though. Really doesn’t seem likely.”

Their little party stopped at the palace entrance, where there were soldiers on duty.

“Well then, it’s time for you to shine, Farah.” Schwarz swallowed once. “Please don’t get us executed.”

“Don’t be silly…”