Please, Stop It!
Of the three gathered here, the tallest of them was, of course, the Crown Princess.
But even she was, when it came down to it, nothing more than a guest.
Which meant, apparently, that the duty of steering the conversation here fell to me, the host.
I'm losing my mind here.
Yes. Which was precisely why I was losing my mind. There had been something strange about this before, hadn't there?
I'd gotten the distinct sense that the Crown Princess was covertly wary of Charlois.
She was probably uneasy about me growing too close to a high-ranking figure from Novogord.
Relations between the two nations were, at this point, ambiguous at best.
She was clearly worried that I'd find myself caught up in needless controversy.
First things first — I should put that anxiety of hers to rest, shouldn't I?
For all I knew, the Emperor hadn't told her anything yet.
Which would make sense — the fewer people who knew about this, the better.
He might well intend to tell her the truth only once things were firmly underway.
"Miss Charlois."
And so I addressed Charlois first.
"Yes, Lord Kael."
"What does the Chairman of the Novogord Council intend to do?"
"He has accepted my proposal in full. Once the preparations are complete and we stage a proper little drama, both nations will get exactly the picture they want."
At that, the Crown Princess began staring intently at Charlois and me.
She must be wondering what on earth this conversation was about. Curiosity and questions would naturally arise.
I turned to her at once and decided to explain the situation.
"The truth is, Your Highness..."
Artria — or rather, Dedorant — was quietly courting Novogord.
The moderates were holding firm, but a few among the hardliners were wavering.
We planned to exploit this in reverse, provoking conflict between Artria and Novogord.
That way, the two could never, ever join hands.
"...I see."
Something was odd. This was the Crown Princess whose eyes would normally have sparkled at such news.
Yet this time, without so much as a flicker of surprise, she merely nodded along.
Did she already know? Had the Emperor given her a hint beforehand?
"Um, Kael?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"This may sound strange coming from me right now, but I am a little worried."
"About what, may I ask?"
At my question, the Crown Princess stole a glance at Charlois, seated across from her, before continuing.
"If word ever got out that you meddled in another nation's affairs — and with a scheme like this, no less — it would do you no good at all. The Empire would ultimately have no choice but to insist that it was entirely your personal undertaking."
"I did what I did knowing full well the risks."
"Should things go wrong, even everything you've built until now could be cast into shadow."
"But in the end, this too is for the Empire."
Really, though. If the north were to erupt into chaos, it would be a genuine catastrophe.
The Empire hadn't aided the east and shown mercy to the south for nothing.
It was all preparation for projecting military force across the western border.
And in the middle of all that, war with the demons of Novogord suddenly reigniting? Nothing could be more of a headache, more of a nightmare.
They'd use me in the west too, without a doubt.
I knew myself better than anyone. My exploits had only ever been possible with our side holding the advantage.
If I had to contend with both Dedorant and Novogord at once, that advantage would vanish.
And if that happened, my true colors might be exposed before long — which was absolutely to be avoided.
"You really are..."
The Crown Princess let her words trail off with a small sigh.
Then she turned her head toward Charlois and went on.
"We meet again, I see. Miss Charlois."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"So you've decided to proceed according to Kael's counsel?"
"That is correct."
Was it because the Crown Princess was present? Charlois, too, seemed a bit different from usual.
How should I put it — strangely stiff?
"I doubt it will come to that, seeing as this is advice from none other than Kael himself. But should things somehow go awry, your side will have to bear the consequences. You can promise me that, can't you?"
"Of course, Your Highness. I have no intention whatsoever of shifting responsibility onto the one who helped me simply because things went wrong."
Hm. Fortunately, both the Crown Princess and Charlois were maintaining a proper distance rather than lapsing into excessive wariness.
Truly befitting the Crown Princess of the Empire and the daughter of the Council Chairman. Nothing to worry about here!
Her worry had been considerable. Meddling in another country's affairs this deeply brought nothing good.
Even if something did go wrong, the Empire would deny any connection outright for the sake of appearances.
In which case, the odds were very high that all the blame would land squarely on Kael.
However deep his devotion to the Empire, anyone would hesitate in his position.
His sincerity and his efforts might well go unrewarded.
Worse, the whole thing could become a trap that snagged him by his own ankles.
"I did what I did knowing full well the risks."
Yet Kael's face was resolute. He answered in a voice that did not waver in the slightest.
"But in the end, this too is for the Empire."
A good man. But, once in a great while, an exasperating one.
There was nothing of himself in him. Nothing at all — only something entirely given over to others.
It would be fine for him to think and act for his own sake, just a little.
And if this weighed on him, she wanted nothing more than to help him bear it with all her strength.
"..."
Isabel slowly turned her head toward Charlois.
Kael hadn't noticed it, but a very faint chill had settled in her gaze.
And Charlois, catching it in an instant, tensed ever so slightly.
"I doubt it will come to that, seeing as this is advice from none other than Kael himself. But should things somehow go awry, your side will have to bear the consequences. You can promise me that, can't you?"
Should you do anything foolish. Should some other feeling take root in your heart along the way.
If harm came to Kael. If that man found himself in any kind of predicament.
She would unleash this fury with everything she had.
It was her true heart, spilling out in a burst before Isabel herself even realized it.
"Of course, Your Highness. I have no intention whatsoever of shifting responsibility onto the one who helped me simply because things went wrong."
Charlois clearly could not fathom the full depths of what lay behind those words.
But sensing something, however dimly, she answered at once, just so.
Just as the Crown Princess had said — if she could not repay the debt of the one who had helped her, the least she could do was bring him no harm.
"...That is a relief."
Isabel answered in a voice a shade softer than before.
Of course, only the voice had softened. Her heart remained in turmoil.
To put it more precisely, she couldn't quite understand why she was acting this way.
For mere worry over Kael, she was being emotional to a degree that felt almost excessive.
Those two had surely exchanged promises of one kind or another.
There must have been some groundwork of mutual trust laid between them beforehand.
And yet here she was, issuing a warning so bluntly, so directly.
"...Miss Charlois."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Then was your visit to see Kael today also part of this business?"
"Ah — yes. I reported it to my father, that is, the Chairman, and preparations are apparently underway now. If all goes well, Novogord will be at odds with Artria — or rather, with Dedorant."
It was not a fight over territory. It would be nothing more than posturing in defense of pride.
But in relations between nations, that pride was the one thing that could never be conceded.
Once ties soured, repairing them was, more often than not, simply impossible.
"Quite the clever scheme, I must say."
"You think so? I worked out the details, but the one who proposed it in the first place was Lord Kael. I'm certain my father was deeply impressed when he heard it as well."
"Surprising. Isn't the Council Chairman a seasoned veteran of many years?"
"He is, but a flash of inspiration like this is beyond most people. And to produce it without a moment's hesitation, as if he'd already been considering it — that's rarer still."
Charlois's face was brimming with pure, unfeigned admiration as she spoke.
And Isabel, for some reason she couldn't name, felt as though she were the one being praised.
She didn't know why. It was just that, whenever Charlois praised Kael, the corners of her own mouth twitched of their own accord.
"So it seems both the Chairman and you, Miss Charlois, were impressed by Kael's strategy?"
"Not just me, Your Highness. In fact, there are people in Novogord who study Lord Kael's tactics and strategy. Oh — please don't misunderstand. It's purely out of curiosity about the man Kael Klaubitz, and a kind of respect."
Respect? A word she'd never expected came flying out of nowhere.
At that, both Isabel and Kael found themselves wearing identical expressions of huh?
"It may sound strange to hear. But precisely because we are of the demon race, we cannot help but feel it all the more. The one who performs brilliantly on the battlefield. The one who wins wars for his allies before a single blade is drawn. The one who forges new victories wherever he goes, rewriting history as he does. How could anyone not respect such a man?!"
She had worked herself up so thoroughly that Charlois's face flushed a deep red.
Just as a flustered Kael moved to calm her down—
"The demons have fine taste indeed. And so do you, Miss Charlois."
Isabel continued, her face now even more satisfied than before, wearing a beaming smile.
"Do those who admire Kael gather together, in the form of some sort of academic society?"
"Yes. It began with the psychological warfare he waged against Novogord using the fog. From there, it followed his campaign of deception upon deception in the eastern theater — and then, in the south, the way he drew the enemy into his net so completely!"
"I was there in the east myself, you know. So I can understand why you'd be in awe. Honestly, even now, whenever I think back on Kael's schemes from those days, my heart still races."
"So Your Highness feels it too! I'm so jealous! To have been able to witness it all from right beside him!"
Um, excuse me? Excuse me? Kael, thoroughly flustered, tried to interject himself into the two women's conversation.
But their excitement meters had long since soared far past their peaks.
"The truth is, I'm the one who chairs that gathering. Heh heh heh. I could tell from the very first time we met, during our clash with the Empire, that he was no ordinary man."
"Miss Charlois?"
"Your eye for people is remarkably keen, Miss Charlois. To be honest, I've been half tempted to try it myself lately. Why, just the other day Kael seemed to read the very will of heaven itself—"
"Your Highness?"
Kael, pathetically wedging himself between the two women yet again.
But this time too, his interference was brushed aside with ease.
"He read the will of heaven, you say?"
"Yes! You're aware that something enormous happened in the east recently, aren't you?"
"Of course I am."
"Well, before any of that happened, Kael prophesied it. He said something would occur!"
"Goodness! Is that true?!"
"It was something he wanted to have happen! It is not a prophecy!!"
Kael should have thanked the heavens that Kaya was not present at this very moment.
Had his little sister not gone out to train with the knights of their house, she would have been sitting right here.
And she would almost certainly have shown the most passionate — no, fanatical — enthusiasm for this conversation of anyone in the room.
"Who knows? Someday he might change the direction of the wind itself — or conjure up a whole new wind from nothing at all!"
"For all we know, he might drive off his enemies just by strumming a lute!"