The Emperor's Sincerity
It had been a worry from the very beginning. What, exactly, should be given to that child. Ever since he had appeared out of nowhere like a comet and drawn the Elf Queen's attention, I had begun keeping watch on his every move—yet I had never imagined it would amount to this much.
After all, he was still an Academy cadet. Far younger than the other knights. A boy once so pitiable that he had been called the stain of his ducal house.
'...How amusing. Truly.'
But what on earth kind of wind had blown to bring this about? No—a change like this could not be explained by any mere wind. And what amused me even more was that despite all the deeds he had accomplished, not a trace of self-satisfaction showed in him. Any other boy his age, having done what he had done, could scarcely have kept himself from swelling with pride and arrogance.
"Tell me—is there any reward you particularly desire?"
"...A reward, you say?"
"That's right. In my name, I will make anything come true. Speak—tell me what it is you want."
"...."
Jenison said nothing at all. He simply held his silence. Perhaps he was weighing which answer would serve him best, or perhaps he truly desired nothing—or, failing either of those, perhaps he simply would not open his mouth carelessly. The Emperor judged that even such caution was no bad thing.
'Just as well there are no other ministers present.'
However it was framed, to meet the Emperor's question with nothing but silence was a grave discourtesy. Had even a handful of ministers been in the room, shouts of outrage would have erupted from every side.
'But this is no time to be thinking of such things.'
What answer would he give? What was it he wanted? Just as my attention had narrowed entirely onto that one point, someone came walking in—from the far end of the long corridor.
"Your Majesty."
"Hmm? Luindel, why have you returned so soon?"
The one who had broken that long silence was neither Jenison nor myself—it was Luindel. At some point he must have handed Roden over to someone, for he had come back empty-handed. The massive sword strapped across his back rattled and clanked as he approached me slowly, as though he had something to say.
"Luindel—where did you leave the boy Roden?"
"I met the priests along the way and left him in their care before returning, Your Majesty."
"Oh my... you didn't even stay at his side until he woke. What a heartless master you are."
He gave no reaction to the Emperor's playful tone. Instead, in a very small voice—soft enough that only the Emperor could possibly hear—he began to speak.
"Your Majesty, ■■■ ■■..."
"...What?!"
The Emperor's face, which until moments ago had known no shortage of smiles, stiffened slightly. It was only a very little—but it was clear, and it was certain.
"...Hmm. Then this is no time for us to be lingering here."
"...."
"My apologies, but we shall have to resume this another time."
"...I shall carry out your command, Your Majesty."
"Well now, don't be too downcast. I did prepare something separate for you, after all."
The moment those words ended, he snapped his fingers with a sharp crack, and in the same instant two figures appeared at Jenison's side.
"We greet the Sun of the Empire."
"Ah—I would have you two guide that boy to the place I commanded earlier."
"Your command shall be obeyed."
"...Hmm, and one thing more. If the boy should want for anything, see that it is granted, within reason."
Had someone truly appeared at one's side out of nowhere, it would have been only natural to startle. Yet there was not so much as a flicker of movement in Jenison's expression. He simply gazed straight ahead in silence. However he looked at it, the boy was utterly mismatched with his age.
'...Hahaha.'
It was amusing—that expression of his, still impossible to read. And at the same time, curiosity stirred. Just how long could he keep that face up?
'Well, that would be its own kind of fun, wouldn't it.'
"Your Majesty, you must be going."
"Ah, yes. I shall be on my way now."
Already he was beginning to look forward to what sort of reaction the boy would show when he later received the news.
'...Why is he smiling?'
"This way, please."
"Ah... yes."
Leaving behind the Emperor's smile, which felt somehow off-putting for reasons I couldn't name, I slowly followed the backs of the two who had appeared so abruptly at my side.
Their faces were hidden behind masks pierced with not a single hole, and their bodies were draped head to toe in black cloth, fluttering cloaks catching my eye. Black bandages wound tight around every inch of them, as though the exposure of so much as a sliver of skin would never be permitted. Dressed like that, anywhere else they would have been reported to the authorities on sight—and here they were, walking right before my eyes.
'...No, actually—it wasn't really sudden, was it?'
"This way now."
"...."
"Is something the matter? Are you unwell somewhere?"
"No."
A deep, weighty voice from behind the black mask asked after my condition, but I did not answer. I simply kept my senses fixed on what lay behind me.
Counting the two before me, there were roughly five in all. Even while I had been inside the hall, the stirrings of their presence had never once left my back. When I first walked into the main hall behind Roden. As I sat before the Emperor afterward, listening attentively to his words. When I crossed blades with Roden. And when Luindel departed with him, and I followed the Emperor out when he returned—not a single moment had passed without it.
And theirs was concealment of such a high order that no one short of a seasoned master could ever have detected it. Every one of them wielded stealth of that caliber as a matter of course. These were movements that could never have been executed without years of training drilled in from long ago. I didn't know who they were, but every last one of them was plainly a formidable operative.
'...The Emperor's personal guard... perhaps?'
"This is the room. Go in and rest as comfortably as you like."
The footsteps of my guides, who had been walking ahead of me, came to a stop—before a smooth, reddish-brown door of fine hardwood, beautifully wrought down to the last detail.
"...Was I not to be sent back?"
"No, sir. The order assigned to us was to see our guest to a room."
"...."
"If that is somehow inconvenient..."
"...And the attendant who came with me—what of..."
"One of our own is escorting the companion who arrived with you here as we speak."
"...."
"Please, don't worry—rest at your ease. Should you want for anything, you need only ring this bell."
As he finished speaking, he rummaged inside his cloak. A soft jingling followed each movement of his hand, until at last a small bell emerged—a tiny yellow bell hanging from the end of a loop that looked for all the world like a chain.
"Here you are."
"...Is there truly no way I could return?"
"If this troubles you, we are sincerely sorry... but it is His Majesty's sincerity, and so we must earnestly beg you to stay at least this one night."
When he put it that way and even bowed his head, there was no longer any ground left for me to retreat from. One can hardly disregard "the sincerity of His Majesty the Emperor," after all. In the end, all I could do was silently take the bell from his hand. No matter how much I disliked it.
"...."
"Thank you. And..."
"...Now what."
Perhaps my mood, which had begun to sour just a little, was showing plainly in my face and my voice—his head dipped a touch lower still.
"His Majesty has a message he bade me deliver—"
"Hold it, mister."
"...?"
His words, on the verge of conveying something important, were cut off clean.
It was the other mask—the one who had walked beside me in total silence, never having uttered a single word until now. Compared with the deep-voiced mask, this one had a far slighter frame, and its voice was androgynous and strange, impossible to place as either man's or woman's. That voice had cut the other off.
"I'll take it from here, so you can be on your way, mister."
"But..."
"Ah, it's fine! I'm really not going to do anything—just trust me this once!"
"...Very well. Then... I shall take my leave first."
They seemed to exchange a few words between themselves, and then the masked man withdrew first. Shff— with a single soft sound, his figure vanished before my eyes.
"...?"
"Ah, don't worry about that. It's one of the secrets only we use."
For a moment my eyes stayed locked on the spot where he had vanished, but the remaining mask soon took me by the wrist and began pulling me into the room.
"...."
"Hehe~"
A playful lilt, rising and falling, blended—rather alarmingly—with that androgynous, otherworldly voice. I followed along into the room, and the spectacle began to unfold before my eyes.
"...."
"Wow, this is a really lovely room, isn't it?"
A grand, beautiful bed that looked as though it could sleep four or five at a glance; a small chandelier hanging from the ceiling, flooding the room with light; a table and chairs and other furnishings, each displaying its own charm. In the wardrobe built into the room, beautiful garments hung in perfect order. And the terrace beside the bed—walled entirely in glass—boasted a view that was quite lovely in its own right.
"Hmm... this is a room they really don't hand out except on very special occasions, you know."
"...So. Who are you?"
"Hm? Me?"
"...."
"Teehee—it hasn't been all that long since you saw me. How can you not remember my voice?"
"...."
"Or was my voice really so ordinary, so easily forgotten?"
"I'm sorry, but I have never heard your voice. Not once."
"...Huh?"
That's impossible...—so the figure muttered, fidgeting with its mask this way and that. Then, as though something had finally dawned, it swiftly pulled the mask off.
"Ta-da!"
"...?"
The instant the mask came away, beautiful pink hair bounced free from beneath it. And the voice was now unmistakably feminine. Her red eyes fixed on me, and I stared back at her—her eyes brimming with delight, mine clouded with confusion.
"You...why are you here...?"
"It's been a while!"
Shino Charlotte—daughter of the head of House Charlotte, one of the Four Great Families of the Empire. She was smiling there before me. A smile clear as day, without a cloud in it.