An Unwelcome Guest
Everything was a mess.
The day before, Edward Frigid — second son of the Frigid family — had laughed in mad, convulsing fits until he collapsed from sheer exhaustion.
Many had fretted that he might remain unconscious for a long stretch again, but this time he did not take long to rise. He regained consciousness in the early hours of the morning.
The problem was that he woke screaming as if from a nightmare, and nearly slipped into another fit.
Lirith, Charlotte, Grace, and Emma, who had been keeping watch at his side, did everything in their power to calm him. Camilla and his father, hearing the screams, rushed into the room and struggled to soothe their son as well.
After more than an hour of wrestling with him, Edward finally settled.
However—
"I'm sorry… I'm fine now. I'd like to be alone."
"Ed!"
"Please — just leave me alone… I won't run away or do anything strange like last time…"
He begged with such a pitiful expression that, though everyone was sick with worry, they had no choice but to leave him by himself.
But even so—
Since collapsing at the debutante ball the previous afternoon, even with the sun high overhead, he had eaten nothing. He simply sat there, staring blankly into space. His mother Camilla had managed to coax a few sips of water into him — that was all.
Because of one suffering Edward, the entire Frigid Grand Ducal Castle had sunk into a deeply somber mood. Most of the many visitors had already departed, leaving the place feeling desolate and hollow.
The church priests who had stayed overnight to handle the previous night's crisis had all left. Empress Elizabeth had also departed in the early morning for affairs of state.
Princess Charlotte should have left with her, but she could not bring herself to go — not while she was so worried about Edward. Elizabeth understood her daughter and permitted her to remain at the Frigid Grand Ducal Castle. Camilla, knowing Charlotte harbored feelings for Edward, did not object either.
Only one person refused to tolerate it.
"Your Highness! How dare you shamelessly stay behind?"
"Obviously because I'm worried about Ed!"
"Ha!"
"Are you laughing at me right now, Lady Lirith?"
In a guest room, Lirith and Charlotte were raising their voices at each other. The attendants of both the princess and the young lady had stepped outside to wait, terrified of catching any stray sparks from the clash.
This was no simple quarrel.
First, there was Lirith — eldest daughter of the Frigid family and its next head. Before her younger brother she always showed a gentle, caring face. Edward probably had no idea how cold she truly was. The Grand Ducal House of the North. The Frigid family was not famous for being cold-blooded without reason. She was relatively generous with her own people, but merciless toward anyone who crossed her master.
That was why, even though Lirith was currently arguing with the Imperial Princess, no one dared intervene. In this grand ducal castle, no one could interfere with her except Camilla, the head of the family. But this time Camilla's grief over Edward's collapse ran too deep, and she understood why Lirith was furious — so she pretended not to notice.
Next was Princess Charlotte. The imperial personnel remaining for her escort were in the same position as the Frigid servants. Who would dare interfere with the princess's actions? Charlotte was highly anticipated as an outstanding future empress, so many people approached her to curry favor — but the attendants who served at her side knew the truth. She was more terrifying than anyone. The moment she ascended the throne, more than half of those who had come to flatter her would likely be killed or banished. Knowing Charlotte's true nature, her attendants simply waited quietly outside the door until called, to keep their heads on their shoulders.
No matter how heated the argument grew, there was not a single person nearby who could stop them.
"Then how am I supposed to not laugh?"
"Lady Lirith! I've been putting up with you because you're Ed's sister, but isn't this going too far?"
Charlotte knew Lirith disliked her, but because she was Edward's sister, she had tolerated Lirith crossing the line to some degree in order to get along. But this was no longer a matter of crossing a line — she had no choice but to get angry.
However—
"Too far? I'll show you what 'too far' really looks like, you bitch!"
"Hey! You want to go all out!?"
When Lirith not only dropped all formality but started cursing and yelling, Charlotte could no longer hold back either and was ready to fight.
"You're the one going all out! If you hadn't forced the imperial debutante to be held here, none of this would have happened!"
"Th-that's…"
At Lirith's words, Charlotte could not find a reply. If you got down to it, the reason Edward was in this state was because the imperial debutante had been held at the Frigid Grand Ducal Castle. Had it simply been held at the imperial palace, Edward and the Hero would never have met, and none of these disasters would have occurred.
"Did Ed ever say he wanted a debutante!?"
"Well, of course…"
Charlotte had assumed Edward wanted it too, so she tried to make an excuse — but Lirith, anticipating this, shouted first and pressed her. Before Charlotte could even properly agree—
"What bullshit! You did all of this because you wanted to chase after Ed!"
Lirith continued raging, cursing at Charlotte.
"You're the one who kept restraining Ed, which is why the debutante was held here!"
But from Charlotte's perspective she felt wronged too, so she shot back. If Edward had attended the imperial debutante at fifteen — or at the latest last year — there would have been no need for a debutante this year. But Lirith had kept stopping him, which was why Charlotte had forced this year's debutante to be held at the Frigid Grand Ducal Castle. That was her position.
"What bullshit! Ed never said he wanted to do it!"
"That's just the delusion of a brother-complex freak like you!"
"What did you say!?"
"What do you mean what — you started this shit with me, an Imperial Princess!"
Setting the truth aside… their argument grew increasingly heated. No — it had gone beyond a mere argument.
"Hey!!!"
"What, you bitch!!"
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!!
CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!!
They were on the verge of actual combat. Lirith unleashed a powerful white Aura so cold it seemed it would freeze anything it touched. Charlotte unleashed a powerful crimson Aura so hot it seemed it would melt anything it touched. Every piece of furniture in the room was destroyed and scattered in chaos.
"Fine. I've never liked you from the start."
"Hoho… Planning a rebellion, Lady Lirith?"
"That wouldn't be so ba—… Huh?"
Just as the two were about to clash—
Knock knock…
A knock came from outside the door.
"The servants sure have no sense of timing. Who do they take after, barging in now when they don't know they'll die for it?"
"Whoever they belong to — the ones with no sense who want to die are probably yours!"
Who could it be? Anyone who knew their personalities would know that intervening in this situation meant their life could not be guaranteed.
"Come in!"
"Enter!"
Whether they got along well or poorly, both simultaneously told the person who had so tactlessly knocked outside to come in.
A moment later—
Creeeak…
The door opened and a man entered.
"Oh dear, oh dear… Lirith! Your big brother is so saddened. To think you'd raise a banner of rebellion against the imperial family…"
The man who entered, long silver hair — proof of Frigid blood — fluttering behind him, was unmistakably handsome by anyone's standards. But the two women's reactions upon seeing him:
"Ugh!"
"Urgh…"
Expressions of having seen something truly revolting. More precisely, expressions of being on the verge of throwing up.
"Greetings, Your Highness. Lirith is one thing, but even Your Highness…"
The man greeted them with a look of shock. But the two did not even properly return the greeting, talking among themselves instead.
"Wasn't this guy disowned from the family?"
"Mother left him alone for now because he's still her child, but…"
"Hello~ everyone?"
Not only did they not return his greeting — they continued their private conversation.
"He really must want to die, walking in like this. Let's kill him first and then continue our discussion, Your Highness."
"I agree, my lady."
As if they had never been fighting, the two immediately decided to cooperate right then and there.
GOOOOOOOOH—
Their fierce Aura surged toward the man.
"Aaaah! Wait, wait! Both of you — you're doing this because of Ed, right? I came here for the same reason!"
The man shouted urgently, stating his purpose to calm them down.
"Is that so, Allen Fri.gid. Your younger brother's condition is currently very poor!"
"Yes, yes, I know! So could you maybe tone down the killing intent, Lirith?"
The man's identity was Allen Frigid, eldest son of the Frigid Grand Ducal House. Even meeting her older brother Allen — four years her senior — after so long, Lirith's attitude was like this because she did not particularly like him. Lirith had found Allen's behavior detestable since childhood, so she simply could not like him. Charlotte, who had briefly interacted with him as a child, was likely the same.
"You just ran away on your own, didn't send a single letter, didn't even show up for the debutante — so why have you suddenly appeared today?"
The biggest reason she could not help but hate him was that he had left home on his own. He had not even held his debutante yet, and was only thirteen years old.
I've found my true love.
Everyone stay healthy! Adios!
He had simply left a note like that and suddenly vanished. Naturally, the Frigid Grand Ducal House had been thrown into complete uproar. At the time, their father had collapsed from the shock, and Camilla had grabbed him by the scruff of the neck trying to find her runaway eldest son — but she simply could not locate him. Lirith had not been particularly close with him either, but she was dumbfounded that her older brother had suddenly disappeared.
And Edward…
"I kind of figured Brother would do something like this someday…"
Perhaps there had been some conversation between the men. He had not seemed particularly surprised.
At any rate, Lirith had no choice but to ask why Allen — who had not contacted them even once since leaving home — had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"Haha… Actually, I did attend… It's just that the situation…"
"Come to think of it, I'm not curious and I don't need to know… Get lost before I kill you."
Seeing him start with excuses, Lirith changed her mind and simply ordered him out.
"How cruel! You're so gentle with little brother Ed!"
Allen put on a wounded expression and posture.
"Hey!!"
Squeeze!
Lirith knew his act was pure performance, so she shouted and clenched her fist.
"A-ah, Lirith! Calm down. Can't you leave Ed to me?"
"Leave Ed to you?…"
At the mention of Edward's name, Lirith stopped her attack for the moment.
"My lady, is there anything this man can actually do?"
Charlotte also asked Lirith, upon hearing that Allen intended to do something for Edward.
"Hmm… Probably not, but… First, Brother? Does Mother at least know you've arrived?"
What mattered most to Lirith was whether Camilla knew about this. Allen had suddenly appeared before them without any notice of his return. As far as she knew, if Camilla learned that Allen had returned to the grand ducal castle…
"No, if I went to Mother first I'd get chopped up on the spot, so I came to see my relatively gentle little sister first, hahaha!"
As expected, he had just snuck here first. It was absurd how he was laughing by himself — what was so enjoyable about this?
"…My lady, this seems pointless. Execute him."
"For once, Your Highness and I are of the same mind."
Indeed, Allen's behavior was so detestable that the two decided to just kill him.
"As a fellow man, I can solve Ed's problems! And Your Highness!?"
"Ah, I don't want to hear it. What are you even going on about."
Allen urgently called out to Charlotte, who was about to throw a punch at him first.
"This is also for Ed and Your Highness's future!!"
"Pardon? What do you mean by… Would you care to elaborate?…"
Hearing that reason, Charlotte's momentum suddenly diminished.
For Ed and my future…? Could it be?
"Hey! You bastard!!"
Lirith could already guess what Allen was about to say, so she shouted—
"Your Highness, please restrain my little sister for now~!"
To escape, Allen hid behind Charlotte.
"My lady, please calm down for a moment…?"
Charlotte also tried to stop her for now, wanting to hear Allen out to the end—
"Don't you dare switch sides, you bitch!!"
Lirith did not calm down — instead she raged even harder, unleashing her Aura more fiercely, and chaos erupted.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!!
After that, Lirith grabbed Allen and—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
—beat him without any mercy whatsoever.
"AAAAAARGH!!"
Seeing this, Charlotte…
"…"
…simply thought that she hoped Lirith would at least go easy on his mouth so he could still talk.
"Lirith! What is this commotion!?"
"Another intruder!?"
"Has the Hero returned!?"
Amid all this, Camilla and others' voices began to be heard. Because of the sudden guest who had visited the Frigid family, the mansion was bound to grow noisy once again.