Karma
Karma
I thought this was the first time tranquility felt so utterly unwelcome.
What unfolded before me when I returned to the mansion with a heart full of desperation were the guards' serene greetings and the manor's atmosphere, as impossibly quiet as ever.
And all of it was proof that no news whatsoever had reached them about the situation I had just been through.
How wonderful it would have been if I could have simply introduced Asilie, shared some laughs, and ended the day normally—but with everything already so thoroughly fucked, there was no leisure for that. Unable to properly return the warm greetings from those welcoming me back after so long, I practically bolted up to where Lord Ekaf was, and standing before him I had to introduce Asilie as briefly as possible, then deliver the news that Ragnis had been dragged away.
At first, despite his somewhat flustered expression, Lord Ekaf had remained utterly serene, not having noticed anything amiss. But his complexion began to rapidly darken.
"Truly... they're striking from a completely unexpected angle. No matter how much you're caught up in this, for them to dare a move this bold..."
"Do you have any idea what this might be about?"
"Not yet... It's difficult to say. I need to see His Majesty right away and exchange opinions with the others. I'll have the head butler handle matters concerning Sir Renisa."
Even as he spoke, still deep in thought, Ekaf hurriedly grabbed his coat and stood, yet he didn't forget to show courtesy to Asilie.
"I apologize that I cannot offer you a proper reception after you've come all this way, Asilie. I will come see you as soon as matters are settled. I'll arrange a room, so please make yourself comfortable and rest as if it were your own home."
"Thank you for your consideration, Lord Ogatorf."
"It is nothing compared to the help he has given us. Now, Eldmia. Please tell Sheryl about this later as well."
"Isn't she at the academy?"
"You know my daughter's personality. She cannot be kept in the dark, and once she learns of it she'll come rushing right over."
Lord Ekaf understood his daughter as perfectly as he loved her. For me too, imagining Sheryl flying into a rage was not difficult.
At first it felt rather bleak, but as soon as I thought that it might be better than the worst-case scenario of her staying at the academy and laying hands on the noble children involved in this mess, my mind began to ease drastically.
I didn't think Sheryl would be so swayed by a moment's emotion that she couldn't handle herself, but precisely because of that, I couldn't ignore the possibility that she might exploit her equal status as an academy student to a ruthlessly extreme degree. Leaving such a risk factor in play was clearly less advantageous than having her return to the manor in the long run.
While I reached that conclusion, the uncharacteristically flustered Lord Ekaf gave brief instructions to the head butler, then rode out of the manor on his horse. And at the same time, the manor grew so quickly unsettled that the tranquility of just moments ago felt like a lie. Even as I followed the head butler to the room where Asilie would be staying, it was easy to spot people who had already sensed something amiss from Lord Ekaf's frantic state gathering in clusters and sharing their questions.
Some attempted to question me, having picked up on the clue that Ekaf had rushed out the very moment I arrived, but since Asilie was ultimately a guest no matter how close an acquaintance of mine, the etiquette-minded head butler's glare stopped them, and they had no choice but to back off.
"This room will be yours. If you require anything, ring the bell provided and I will attend to you immediately. Eldmia? There is nothing for you to do at the moment, so rest and chat."
With that, the head butler—who had guided us to the very room where I had first met Sheryl when I first came to the manor—closed the door behind him with a final considerate gesture toward me.
"The situation's bad, but they're good people."
"It's the natural outcome of the family head's upright character."
But with the immediate problem at hand, there was no room for such casual conversation. Leaving Asilie to slowly look around the room, I sat down on the sofa and sank deep into thought.
No matter how much I agonized right now, it was impossible to predict what excuse the Noble Council would use. So what I had to think about immediately wasn't that, but rather distinguishing who was enemy and who was ally, along with the circumstances that had led to this action.
First off, the rift between the Royal Faction and the Noble Faction ran deep, so the possibility that the rest of the Royal Faction—excluding Lord Ekaf—had joined hands to turn against Ragnis was infinitely close to zero. If the Royal Faction had foreseen that this problem would arise, then naturally the message should have been conveyed to Lord Ekaf as well.
No matter what anyone said, he was the one who had been at the forefront when Ragnis returned to the capital. He was clearly classified as a trusted key figure within the Royal Faction. It was safe to say there was no chance that the other Royal Faction members had discussed this behind his back without any advance notice.
In other words, that meant the Royal Faction would only learn of this matter now.
"I hadn't studied noble law, though..."
If I'd known anything at all, I could have at least puzzled over whether there were any legal flaws, but since I knew jackshit, all I could do right now was piece together inferences based on what I'd picked up.
Ragnis hadn't been able to refute the claims that bastard had made for her arrest. But it was also true that she had mentioned the royal proclamation at the start.
So it was correct to assume that in this country, there were two forms of arresting a noble: one where the royal family issued an official document, and another where the Noble Council issued something akin to an arrest warrant. Today had been more about detaining the suspected party so she couldn't flee before tomorrow's trial, but there was a clear nuance that they could forcibly enforce it if she refused.
On top of that, they possessed the discretionary authority to hold the trial directly.
Looking only at what had unfolded, the conditions were overwhelmingly favorable to the Noble Council. There was no way things would play out like this unless the royal family and the Royal Faction were utter morons. Yet they had moved this far, which meant...
"Either they'd prepared in advance... or they'd rushed like hell."
I knew that for the year and a half since Ragnis had returned to the capital, the Noble Faction had made no special moves. Once she was already in the capital, they couldn't openly lay a hand on her, and Ragnis herself had moved as cautiously as possible to avoid giving cause. It had been obvious it would come to this, which was precisely why the Noble Faction had gone so far as to deploy extreme assets like a wyvern and Delt to secure Ragnis before her official entry to the capital. When that failed, it would have been difficult for them to move unless we gave them a pretext.
The idea that they'd made every preparation on the off-chance some pretext might arise made no sense. They lacked both the manpower and the resources. They had been keeping the Royal Faction in check, not just Ragnis alone.
They had hurried. Immensely so. Why?
When I pieced together the circumstances, the only thing that could have caused them to rush was this recent visit to the Empire. And I was at the center of every single event caused by that imperial visit.
"Shit."
Ragnis had clearly said that while we were staying in the Empire, she had submitted daily reports to the royal family. It must have leaked in that process. That's how intelligence worked.
The one who had defeated the Hero. The one who had killed that Rudra's Dog bastard. The one who had rescued the princess. Not only had she quietly kept such an attendant by her side, but the man had even received a direct invitation from the Empire—and was absolutely on the side of the Royal Faction. How would the Noble Faction have viewed that situation?
A bridgehead who, despite having no prior ties to the Empire, had left enormous traces in just a single visit and given diplomacy between the Kingdom and the Empire a major green light. From a normal perspective, they'd be chanting "we're fucked" and gnawing their nails, but the Noble Faction bastards seemed to have had a change of perspective.
In the form of: if you can't seize the bridge, then blow it to pieces.
On the surface, during this visit, Ragnis had been my liege. If you applied the noble ideology that a vassal's achievements were the lord's great deeds, then naturally, because of me, Ragnis would appear to have forged an enormous bond with the Imperial House.
But if that Ragnis were branded as someone who had been preparing a rebellion within the kingdom, what would happen in a typical case?
Assuming things proceeded as they intended, Ragnis would be utterly ruined, and to avoid any suspicion of complicity in the kingdom's treason, the Empire would have no choice but to distance itself.
As for what would become of me... I didn't know what would happen right away, but later, I'd be suspected due to my connection to her, and the Noble Faction would handle me somehow. Still, thanks to the three great feats I'd shown, they might have planned to set me aside for a while, mindful of the Empire, and then simply gift me to the Empire. And in leading that process, the Noble Faction might aim to reestablish control over relations with the Empire.
That is, if this were a normal case.
Sadly, the relationship between me, Esmue, and Ragnis was anything but normal.
"What are you agonizing over so much?"
"I'm fervently praying that, for once, all the fears I'm anticipating will come true."
"...You want your fears to come true...?"
"This once."
No matter how much they were the Noble Faction, they couldn't have factored my personal romantic relationships into their plans. So even as I answered Asilie, I prayed fervently.
O God, please, just this once, let me coast through one of life's waves the easy way.