I Already Know My Magic Power Is Ridiculously High! Now I Just Need a Cute Wife... - Episode 59

No matter how powerful someone becomes, their decline is inevitable one day.

I had vaguely sensed that Queen Nia’s influence was waning.

“Queen Carlina, huh… She doesn’t seem as forceful as the previous queen.”

The current Queen Carlina had no notable achievements that made her seem strong.
I had heard people say that, compared to the era of the previous queen, the atmosphere in the Ortenos territory was no longer as tense.

Even within Ortenos, the air had become more relaxed over the past six years.

That was why the recent armed conflict with Nia caught us off guard.

“…The previous queen built Nia’s golden age with her overwhelming power. It’s not fair to compare them.”

“Maybe so, but the fact that factions have formed now means something, doesn’t it?”

“…That is…”

The previous queen of Naia, Valeria, was truly a terrifying woman.

Since childhood, I had been constantly warned about the threat of Naia, and I remembered hearing Valeria’s name so often that it was drilled into my ears.

I had never seen her in person, but I heard that much of Ortenos’ damage in the war six years ago was caused by the former queen.

My grandfather fought fiercely and finally defeated the previous queen, forcing the Naia Kingdom to retreat.

After that, Carlina ascended to the throne. Though no official announcement was made, it was assumed that the former queen had died.

“Why has her authority declined so much? Because she gave birth to four sons? Considering Naia’s history, I would have thought a queen’s strong rule could handle that.”

To Ortenos, the Queen of Naia was a symbol of fear.

Even among the commoners, she was spoken of like a demon from fairy tales.

So, the idea that her power had faded was something I found hard to believe.

“…That is part of it, but the real turning point was a major incident that happened the year after Naia’s defeat.”

“A major incident?”

“…It was the assassination of Lady Martina and her daughter.”

“Ah, right. That did happen.”

Martina was the eldest daughter of the former Queen Valeria.

At the time of her assassination, she was the Crown Princess and the rightful heir to the throne.

The news of Martina’s assassination had caused a great stir even in Ortenos.

Moreover, her daughter had also been killed, which meant that Carlina, Valeria’s second daughter and Martina’s younger sister, was suddenly moved up to first in the line of succession.

“…Queen Carlina was never originally meant to inherit the throne. Her coronation was particularly chaotic.”

“I can imagine. …So, was the culprit ever found?”

“…The royal servants and the two attendants were executed as suspects.”

“The servants and attendants? They weren’t Stellar-rank?”

“…No, since poison was used in the assassination.”

So, it was poisoning.

That was unexpected.

With poison, even someone below Stellar rank could carry out the crime.

But a poison strong enough to kill a Stellar-ranked person wouldn’t be easy to obtain.

On top of that, security around the Crown Princess must have been tight. It was hard to imagine an assassin sneaking into Goldasht Castle.

It had to be an inside job.

“Did they investigate any connections?”

“…They tried, but the captured suspects had powerful curse marks placed on them, making interrogation impossible.”

“No one could break the curse?”

“No. It was an ancient technique not found in any records, so dispelling it was impossible.”

“An ancient technique… Does that ring any bells?”

“…No, I have no idea.”

This sounded similar to what Roa had mentioned about an ancient race.

Judging by Nephthys’ reaction, the mastermind behind the poisoning was still unknown.

Honestly, I didn’t know enough about ancient techniques to make any guesses, and speculating about the culprit seemed pointless.

“We got off track. If this poisoning incident happened, then the chaos makes sense. If there were an ‘anti-establishment faction,’ Carlina’s ascension to the throne would have been the perfect excuse for them to act.”

“…That might be true.”

The new queen was never meant to take the throne, and she had four sons.

For Princess Luna to become queen, there were too many obstacles in her way.

For the anti-establishment faction, this situation was too convenient.

“How convenient. For you, who support Albert, the more the anti-establishment faction grows, the better. If someone accused your faction of orchestrating the poisoning, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“…No, Lord Albert would never do such a thing…”

“Oh? But in the end, it was the anti-establishment faction that empowered your First Prince’s group, wasn’t it?”

“…That is true, but…”

Seeing Nephthys hesitate, I was certain—Albert’s supporters were, in essence, the anti-establishment faction.
The Marquis of Hoshiros was definitely involved, but I wanted to know which other forces were backing them.
Regardless, the fact that Nia was not united was good news for Ortenos.