As she looked at Carissa's attitude, so arrogant that she seemed to hold everything in contempt, Queen Elizard wore a rare expression of gravity.
The Queen of Britain.
Even if there was nothing to fault in Carissa's bloodline, status, or even her power base, claiming that title before her coup was complete inevitably made her seem a little like a self-proclaimed upstart king.
The title of queen was more than simply that of a head of state. It also represented widespread recognition of that identity.
With the Puritan Faction's resistance forces still active, and with her taking the stage as a usurper, saying this before ordinary people would have been one thing. Calling herself that before Elizard, who had ruled Britain for over thirty years, undoubtedly seemed somewhat ridiculous.
Yet neither the Knights beside her nor even Laura questioned those words.
For the longsword Carissa held aloft was already radiating a dazzling light.
It was a typical Western double-edged sword, roughly eighty centimeters long including the hilt.
But its edges were unsharpened, its tip was flat, and its hilt was long, narrow, and rectangular. Rather than a weapon for combat, it seemed better suited to hanging on a wall as a decoration.
Yet anyone who had personally seen this sword raised would have abandoned such a ridiculous notion.
For in Carissa's hands at that moment, before she had even swung it, invisible winds stirred by magical power had already swept through the entire hall, brazenly flaunting that vast, pure power.
"Curtana First. To think I would live to see it again."
Elizard's expression grew complicated as well.
Curtana was a Spirit Garment reserved for the British royal family.
Like the Angel Cross, which had been created through Saint Peter's cross, the concept it drew upon was very pure.
It was