Chapter 323: The Snake's Grave (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 323: The Snake's Grave (1)
The night was deep, the sky clear and studded with brilliant stars.
Arianne had gone outside to inspect Marquis Legian Lin’s private soldiers and deliver instructions, with Eila accompanying her as a guard. While part of the reasoning was that Eila, being from Kairis, would cause the least trouble if her involvement in Secritia’s affairs was exposed, the larger reason was that she was the most knowledgeable and capable person present to properly command Secritia’s forces.
Meanwhile, Euria had climbed to the highest roof of the mansion to keep watch. In an emergency, her magic would be far more effective than Arsen’s at protecting the entire estate.
“If you feel uncomfortable, please don’t hesitate to say so. I will have another mage take my place.”
Consequently, the task of personally guarding Louise—who could not be left alone until Arianne and Eila returned—fell to Arsen.
For Louise, who had witnessed everything Arsen had done in her dreams, this was hardly a welcome arrangement. The untouched, long-cold tea on the table spoke volumes about her state of mind.
Sensing this, Arsen, who had been observing the teacup from a short distance away, finally spoke. He used the gentlest, quietest voice he could manage, careful not to startle her or sound threatening. He might be the sort of madman who would pocket a perfectly good spoon at Calian’s table in hopes of one day requesting a complete set, but he was not so reckless as to act without discretion in a situation like this.
Fortunately, Louise, who had been silently gazing at the distant sky through the window, did not seem startled. Keeping her eyes fixed outside, her soft reply echoed in the quiet room.
“Why would I be uncomfortable?”
“Surely it’s impossible for you not to feel some discomfort.”
“What is the point of harboring useless resentment over a few nightmares? I am fine.”
Is that where Calian and Chase get it from? Arsen wondered. That habit of never blaming others?
“The Crown Prince said there must have been a proper reason for it, and Prince Calian promised it would never happen again. Crown Prince Franz seeks to take responsibility, and you are here guarding against it. Why, then, should I shrink away or avoid it now?”
Even if it was just something that happened in a dream. If he were in her place, could he truly say such things to the person who had personally ended the lives of his two sons? Was she incredibly rational or unbelievably foolish?
Recalling his master’s words—that no fool ever properly tends to their own wounds—Arsen held his tongue. Instead, Louise’s calm voice continued.
“In truth, His Majesty is a good king, but he is also a very good husband. Though, of course, not to me.”
“…For a moment, I thought you were speaking in earnest and was startled.”
“I am speaking in earnest. His Majesty never once looked down on me for being a royal concubine. After the Queen passed away, he treated me with the courtesy due a queen and accompanied me everywhere. It was the same not only before our own people, but even when meeting the elves and their Grand Elder. He fooled me more than once, so I can only imagine how wonderful he must seem to others.”
Arsen almost let a dumbfounded expression slip. Fortunately, he quickly realized she was referring to how Devlan appeared in the eyes of others.
“I have lived my entire life beside a man who would fabricate a culprit even as his wife drank poison before his very eyes. How could I bring myself to blame those who carry the burden of sins they did not commit?”
Finding no words to offer, Arsen remained silent.
Louise, who had been staring at the night sky, finally turned her head. She gazed at Arsen with eyes that seemed to hold the color of a clear summer sky.
“They say a mage’s loyalty never wavers. Is that true?”
“It is only difficult for us to decide to trust and truly follow someone. Once a mage commits, they rarely change their minds.”
“Then do you trust and follow Prince Calian?”
“I do.”
To be honest, he was actually quite terrified of the prince, but he did trust and follow him. In fact, he went beyond merely following; he had willingly cast himself as Calian’s lackey. As an unconsciously proud expression formed on his face at the thought, Louise, who had been quietly observing him, nodded.
“I do not know if you are aware, but His Majesty’s current illness is my doing.”
“…Is that so?”
“Though I almost stopped halfway through.”
Neither Calian nor Franz had told Arsen about that. There had been no reason to explain that Louise was the one poisoning the king.
“Before I had those dreams, and shortly before His Majesty solidified his suspicions about myself and the Crown Prince… driven by my own desire for revenge, I had been putting poison into His Majesty’s sleep incense. But then I discovered that I, too, had been poisoned. I began to worry that I might die before him, leaving the Crown Prince all alone by his side. Just as I started to hesitate, paralyzed by that fear, I met the Grand Elder of the elves. It was to discuss matters regarding the elves residing in the Bridget Forest.”
“Yes, I heard about that.”
Arsen nodded, and Louise continued.
“That day, I saw something in a dream. It was a nightmare. I watched my own end—one I had never experienced—as if through someone else’s eyes. I watched the world crumble. I could only see it, no sound reached my ears, but I had never experienced anything more horrific.”
Pausing for a moment to catch her breath, Louise went on. “In the dreams that followed, I faced events that had not yet occurred and a past that had been erased. That is why I continued to poison the sleep incense. I realized that to prevent the nightmare of that day, the king of this country had to change.”
Louise turned her gaze back to the distant sky, her voice sounding as if she were recalling an ancient memory.
“The sinner who committed the wrong is only one person inside that palace: Devlan. The one who must die, the one who must be punished, is only one person: Devlan. Not you. You seemed troubled by it, so I wanted to tell you. My story grew rather long.”
“Not at all. Thank you for sharing it with me.”
“But since I do not know if I will have the chance to speak with you privately again… may I ask you for one favor?”
“Of course. Anything.”
The sweet scent wafting from the cold tea was thick. In contrast, Louise looked at Arsen with a smile that seemed to carry a bitter fragrance.
“Please, protect my child who has been left all alone in that place. It is something I cannot do in this lifetime.”
Hearing this, Arsen offered a bright smile.
“Without a doubt.”
A blue chill gathered at the tips of his fingers, and a thick Shield formed solidly around Louise.
“Besides, this time, I intend to properly protect the mother of the man who will become my king.”
As if to punctuate his answer, a light that grew brighter as the night deepened illuminated the room before vanishing.
A purple streak of lightning tore through the dark sky.
It was Euria’s magic.
* * *
Only Devlan and Chase heard Calian’s words. None of the bystanders did, and even if they had, they would not have understood their meaning.
Devlan, however, understood the situation with just that brief explanation: “the child who survived.”
“How tragic.”
Calian did not ask what he found so tragic. There was no longer any reason to listen to his sophistry. It could have meant it was tragic that a trace of his “pruning” remained, or that his only son was sincerely trying to cast him out. One thing was certain: he felt no sympathy for the child, even though he surely understood that “the one who survived” meant the child’s entire family was dead.
“Lift this magic and put the child to sleep,” Chase said in a low voice, glancing at Devlan. The moment he finished speaking, the Silent barrier vanished.
Teilan, holding the child who had fallen asleep under Calian’s magic, then spoke to Devlan. “Turning a blind eye does not erase what has happened. Nor does it make the countless lives Your Majesty cut down using my hands disappear.”
Soon, the names of numerous families flowed from Teilan’s mouth. He recited them quietly, but his words went on for a very, very long time.
“Jonathan Keihon.”
The name of the child’s father, Count Keihon, was the last one he spoke.
The child’s relatives lived just over a small hill. He had gone to their house to spend the night for no particular reason, other than wanting to share scary stories and have a pillow fight with his cousins.
But that night, a massive fire broke out at his home.
Everything burned. The house, the wealth, the people—all were consumed by the flames. No one escaped. By a stroke of fortune, or misfortune, only the child survived.
His relatives knew the true cause of the fire. They knew it wasn’t that no one had fled, but that no one could have fled. Nevertheless, they did not turn the child away. The single night they intended to watch him became two days, then three, and before they knew it, six weeks had passed.
Everyone nearby knew that a child’s body had not been found in the fire, and that a new child had appeared in the relatives’ household. What they knew became a rumor, which spread all the way to the Royal Palace in Secreta.
One day, after those six weeks, the child vanished.
His relatives knew exactly what had happened, but they could not speak of it. The price for their silence was the title of Count Keihon; the price for speaking out was their lives.
“You killed my sister, her husband, and all her other children. Then you gave me the title of Count. That is what Your Majesty did to this child—my nephew.”
Half courage, half fear. Half anger, half guilt. The man who had not turned the child away, yet had been unable to speak of Devlan’s crimes, stepped forward. Knowing full well how much courage that took, others began to move.
“I was a close friend of Baron Liberty, who died under mysterious circumstances last year.”
One person stepped forward.
“It is Your Majesty’s fault. I was a servant of Count Rams.”
“I am a baron from the Indar region. I, too, know what Your Majesty has done.”
Remembering those who had been erased and forgotten, the people whom Teilan and Alan had sought out finally stepped forward one by one.
“Thirteen years ago, Your Majesty…”
“Your Majesty…”
Another, and then another. All of them, carrying the same courage and the same guilt, stepped forward to face Devlan.
“How can Your Majesty claim to know nothing of this? I remember everything! Do not all the people gathered here remember it as well?!” the child’s uncle shouted, his voice raw with resentment, as if he were spitting blood. He had just left the continent’s greatest swordsman kneeling at his feet, delivering the news that the child was safe under the protection of the Crown Prince and a marquis’s daughter.
“Your Majesty,” Marquis Legian Lin spoke for the first time, his voice calm.
Devlan looked at him, and Legian continued with an unchanging expression. “I, Legian Lin, will believe the words of the Crown Prince and these people. We will conduct a fair investigation. I ask that Your Majesty please remain in the Royal Palace and wait.”
The smile vanished from Devlan’s face. For the first time, genuine anger settled upon his features.
“To think I kept someone so easily swayed by a few words as a Marquis. Is this your doing, Chase? Were you so greedy for my crown that you would stoop to this?”
“Your Majesty!” Teilan cried out, recognizing the fabricated anger and knowing he could no longer hold back.
Just then, the dark sky in the distance was dyed purple.
Everyone’s eyes turned toward the flash. Seeing his opportunity, Devlan spoke, his eyes holding a crafted sorrow. He let out a long sigh.
“…So. Did you go so far as to drag a prince from another country here to cast me out? I have confirmed indications that a foreign force is attempting to use military power within my kingdom. I wondered what on earth was happening, but it was your doing, Crown Prince.”
As Calian’s gaze shot toward the palace, a sharp killing intent, one that felt like a blade piercing the lungs, erupted from its depths.
Franz’s killing intent.
Calian let out a laugh.
“Devlan… how dare you.”