A Chance Encounter with Luan (4)
King Erehon, it is time for His Majesty the King to summon you.
Understood. I will leave shortly.
It had come.
The day I would be judged whether I was worthy of becoming king.
As I walked down the corridor, I reflected on the days ahead.
This life, where a new beginning had been granted.
Just what choices should I make here to secure a better future?
I already knew quite well what kind of question Father would pose this time.
The role of a king.
That which was most important to a king.
And, finally, the future our knight kingdom of Solea must forge.
Father must have wanted to see the ideal future each of us—Lua and I—drew for Solea.
Yet the future of Solea was bleak.
Three years later, Solea would be forcibly annexed by the Reichland Empire.
Our father and mother would face execution, while I, the heir to the throne, would be exiled.
Our younger sister, Lua, would be demoted to noble rank and consigned to the imperial school of the Reichland Empire, becoming a hostage.
Even if I returned with memories from my previous life and possessed the knowledge to become a virtuous ruler, could I truly change this future?
"Big brother, your steps are too fast."
"W-woah!"
"Kyaah!"
I halted in surprise, having failed to notice Lua walking beside me while lost in thought.
"I was startled by your sudden shout, Big brother."
"I was startled too, because of you, Lua."
"Weren't you summoned by Father as well, Big brother?"
"Indeed. He called for both of us."
"That's why I came along when I saw you heading out. This path is already mine."
"Very well. Let us walk together."
"Yes!"
Lua answered and extended her hand to mine.
An unspoken request to hold on.
I had no reason to refuse.
Yet as my hand reached out, a fleeting image of the moment I would meet my end crossed my mind once more.
"Big brother, why are you acting this way?"
My hesitation caused Lua's expression to darken.
"Ah, it's nothing."
Taking Lua's hand, we continued walking together.
However, after a few steps, she spoke.
"Wait a moment."
Lua stopped and released my hand.
'What did I do wrong?'
While I pondered, Lua drew something from her pocket.
A small handkerchief.
"The doctor said you're fine, but your body looks quite unwell to me, Big brother."
As she spoke, Lua carefully wiped my palm with the handkerchief.
Then she showed me the slightly damp cloth.
"Look. You're sweating like this. We should call another physician. I'll tell Father to wrap up the schedule early."
"Lua, I'm really fine."
"I can't stand it. Let's go back. Now!"
Lua placed the handkerchief back in her pocket and reached her hand out again.
"Big brother, won't you take my hand?"
"It'll be sweaty again."
"It's all right. I've already wiped it once. And since it's your hand, it won't bother me."
I hesitated before grasping her hand once more.
How much affection this is.
Even though she's only five years younger than me.
Even though, in my previous life, I'd lived past thirty and still couldn't match an eleven-year-old sister in caring for others.
While walking hand in hand with Lua, I resumed the thoughts I'd been following.
How should I answer Father's three questions?
"Big brother, what are you worrying about?"
"How to answer the questions His Majesty the King will ask today... Ah."
"Oh no. Big brother, do you already know what questions Father will ask?"
I closed my mouth in a hurry, but Lua had already heard.
"Where did you hear something like that?"
"I didn't hear anything from anyone. It was only a guess."
"A guess? You're amazing, Big brother! What do you think he'll ask?"
Lua's eyes sparkled.
Lua, too, already knew what questions Father would pose.
Yet she was playing dumb and acting as if she didn't.
There was a complex reason behind Lua's actions.
We were siblings born four years apart.
Yet the four-year gap had been due to my mother's trauma.
Because giving birth to me had been incredibly difficult and painful.
The trauma ran deep; she had feared even holding a newborn like me.
Because of that, pregnancy had been terrifying, and she'd used magic to maintain contraception.
Deciding to have another child had taken an extraordinarily long time.
Even then, it had been less out of desire for a child and more due to the advisors' counsel that it was for the sake of the kingdom.
The issue was that Lua had come into the world far too easily.
While giving birth to Lua, Mother had taken less time, and above all, less pain.
At that moment, Mother had been consumed by a single thought.
I had caused her immense pain and hardship in being born, making me the bad child, while Lua was the perfect child.
I had never been one of the children she loved, but after Lua's birth, Mother prioritized Lua in everything concerning us.
"You and I have the duty to lead the Solea Kingdom. So she might ask how to proceed?"
I had simply played along with the pretense.
However...
"That's exactly what she called us for."
"What?"
I doubted my ears.
"Today Father will ask three things. The role of a king. The most important thing to a king. And the future our knight kingdom of Solea must forge."
"Lua, how do you know that?"
"Mother told me. Thinking about it, Mother is truly cruel."
"So the queen has already told you what to expect before Father asks?"
Lua nodded proudly.
"I thought Mother had told you the same way she told me. It's only natural, isn't it? The questions are difficult for our age. That's why."
In my previous life, I had learned much later that Lua had known what questions Father would ask me.
When Solea was annexed, I was exiled, and we said our farewells.
It had been an incredibly important secret.
That Mother had deliberately made Father favor Lua over me.
Yet Lua had revealed the fact far earlier than I expected, without the slightest hesitation.
"Big brother, shall we walk a little slower?"
Lua pulled my hand lightly and slowed her pace.
"Father summoned us."
"We need to think. It's unfair for only me to ponder first. Think slowly. When you've decided on the answer in your mind, we'll walk again."
Lua had stopped almost completely, then smiled at me with reassurance.
Was this truly the behavior of an eleven-year-old child?
It was extraordinary.
Ah, it was understandable.
Because Lua...
...was, in my previous life, the most powerful ruler of all.
An emotion I couldn't control suddenly struck me.
The female sovereign, Lua von Reichland, who had ruled with neither heart nor mercy.
Were her circumstances not due to the cruel fate she endured after Solea was annexed?
What if Lua had been noticed much earlier?
"Welcome."
The king of the knight kingdom of Solea, Ehur von Soleil, greeted us with a stern expression.
At the same time, one of the ten strongest knights on the continent.
He had grown through harsh battlefields, following his grandfather when the latter was a general of the Reichland Empire.
The stern expression on his face was undoubtedly due to the weight of the questions he would ask today.
I, too, bowed in accordance with etiquette.
"I pay my respects to Your Majesty the King."
"Father~!"
"Eh? Eh, whoa!"
In contrast to my formal bow, Lua ran straight into Father's arms.
"Father, I missed you so much."
"My pretty princess, I missed you too."
Father's stern face instantly softened.
"What did you call me and Big brother for today?"
"As I said earlier, I called you to have an important conversation with both of you."
"Ah, an important conversation? Then I'll have to hug Father without you."
Lua, still wrapped around Father, pouted and released her arms.
Father, watching her, also wore an expression of regret.
He finally turned his gaze to me.
"By the way, what brings you here?"
"Have I caused you any concern?"
"It's been ages since you've been on time. I remember you always arriving late."
I felt a chill in my heart.
One of the reasons I wanted to strike my past self.
I had only been obsessed with swordsmanship and had neglected everything else.
Even when it was the call of the king, my father.
In my previous life, I had arrived late to this very place as well.
"If I were to arrive late to the meeting His Majesty the King arranged for an important conversation, it would be improper."
"Strange. The person I know would never have been this polite until yesterday. You said you were called because you were ill. Where exactly does it hurt?"
'What kind of miserable life have I lived!'
I bit my lip hard, disgusted with myself.
Even the change in my attitude was because I had yet to fully adapt to returning to the past.
But I had no intention of reverting to my former miserable self.
"Well, it's a good change. If you feel better after falling ill, you can afford to fall ill more often. Sit. Let's begin the conversation."
As Lua and I took our seats before Father, he began to speak with a grave expression.
"To the two of you who hold the right to succeed the throne of our knight kingdom of Solea, I ask. What do you think the role of a king is?"
The time had come.
The answer to this question would completely change the starting point from my previous life.
As I had already decided how to answer during our slow walk with Lua, I was ready.
Father and Lua might be surprised by my sudden change, but...
"Your Majesty the King, I am..."
"Whoa. Father really is asking that?"
Lua cut me off before I could finish.
"Lu, Lua? What do you mean by that?"
"Mother has already told you everything, hasn't she? The problem is she told me but not Big brother. Really, it's too cruel to do that."
Lua pouted her lips.