The Royal Banquet #5
She's crazy. This woman is well and truly insane.
Agnes thought as much even as she trembled in terror.
The very idea of declaring a territorial war against a duke over a single man was a conclusion no one in their right mind could possibly reach.
Of course, she understood that once a noble's honor had been wounded, a corresponding price had to be paid. That much was common sense even to Agnes.
Even so, Helena's words had clearly crossed a line.
"You look like you've got something to say… Fine. It'll be noisy, but I've said my piece. I'll hear you out now."
My business is finished. So let's hear what this woman has to say.
With a head that had cooled just a little, Helena made her decision and removed the hand covering Agnes's mouth.
Just as Helena had expected, Agnes raised her voice at once. It was a noise that stabbed at the ears.
"You—you're insane! You've lost your mind! You're thinking of going as far as a territorial war over a single man?!"
"And if I don't, then what? Don't tell me you're suggesting a duel with me, a Master? You're not that stupid."
"Th-that is…!"
When a knight was insulted, or when someone had been wrongfully accused, there was a means of appeal through a duel. That much was true.
It was not, however, a matter of the winner being automatically in the right.
The duel was held only after both sides agreed upon terms in the presence of someone of higher rank than the parties involved.
The reason a person of higher rank attended was none other than to guarantee the fairness of those terms.
There was always the concern that the guarantor might be bought off by one side, but the moment such a thing was discovered, it meant death without exception.
The rule was so strict that even the king of this nation was not exempt. Therefore, it was safe to assume no notary would risk that kind of corruption.
But if the opponent was a Sword Master, accepting the duel became impossible.
To face one of the few people on the entire continent who could be counted on one hand in a direct confrontation was no different from declaring defeat of one's own free will.
Suggesting a proxy fight, on the other hand, was something Helena would never accept.
Failing to step forward for something she had started herself would look terrible, and more than anything, she would never welcome a situation in which she could not use her own power.
Knowing all of that, Helena had played the extremely sharp card of a territorial war.
Even if it meant staking the lives of her domain's soldiers and knights, she intended to make the other side pay the price for their insolence.
The slap had been one thing, but above all, the fact that Agnes had tried to lay a hand on Zion had struck Helena's reverse scale with devastating force.
To a Helena whose heart was still sick, Zion Altram was that kind of existence.
"Right. You've got at least that much sense. So it's a territorial war. Insulting Zion is a heavier crime than insulting me, and because of that, not even a ducal house will escape my wrath."
"U-ugh…!"
Agnes's lips trembled, yet she forced them shut with all her strength.
That madwoman intended to settle this matter with war, and as her terms she would take the heads of Agnes herself and Albus Kilinaire.
Of course Helena would also have to put forth terms of her own that went even further, but she showed no sign of caring much about that.
Still, fighting a territorial war was a heavy burden in its own right.
If Helena stood at the vanguard, the situation would become little different from a duel.
Yet for the Kilinaire side to refuse to the very end was also a problem.
Do that, and a Helena steeped in even deeper madness might simply lead her army and invade without authorization. The possibility of a surprise attack also had to be kept in mind.
That was a threat that would drain both mental strength and the power of the domain.
And so Agnes gave up on thinking.
Already half-paralyzed by terror, she was in no state to handle a matter of this gravity on her own whim.
"Right. This isn't something a bitch like you can settle. So deliver the message to your father. Then a more plausible negotiation might come out of it."
Helena snorted as if she could see straight through Agnes's mind and stepped down from the bed.
If the girl simply played puppet and relayed exactly what she had been told, that would be enough.
"You declared war and came back…?"
"Mm. Of course. Even if she didn't know, she insulted the man who stands beside me. That's no different from insulting me. Even a duke has to pay the proper price if he insults another duke. Don't you think?"
After breakfast, I received the shocking news in Helena's room. Through Agnes, she had declared a territorial war against Kilinaire.
I knew nobles treasured their honor, but this was an extremely drastic measure.
"Haa…"
I could understand why she hadn't tried to settle it with a duel.
From Helena's perspective, the other side had no reason to accept one.
Even if it meant being called cowards, they clearly would not take it.
No—it would only look as if Helena were using the fact that she was a Master to pressure them.
It was on the level of pure, unreasonable violence.
And in that case, Helena's rampage would only grow fiercer, raising the likelihood of direct military action.
If that happened, there was a very real chance of lighting a new fuse in an otherwise extremely peaceful era—setting aside the civil war in the Bluenail Kingdom.
For example, the Empire, which had been living quietly enough, suddenly getting other ideas.
"I would have been fine without going that far. As long as you're unharmed, Helena, I'm satisfied."
"I can't let it go. And a filthy bitch like that laying a hand on you is absolutely out of the question."
Helena showed not the slightest sign of backing down.
It had been the same after the poisoning incident—she overreacted the moment any harm came to me.
And this time as well, it was clear she would not step back until she had dealt with the culprit.
Just as she had personally taken Cain Krauser's head.
"I'm glad you were worried about me, but… the response was a bit extreme. You'll admit that much, won't you?"
"No. It wasn't extreme."
"Helena."
"It wasn't! If anything it wasn't enough! Severing the tendons in all four limbs right then and there and stabbing her so she rolled across the floor still wouldn't have been enough!"
I tried to soothe her gently, but she showed no sign of listening.
Even Helena, who normally hung on my every word, seemed utterly unable to forgive this one.
Besides, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that even if I persuaded her, it wouldn't mean much.
Agnes had already been thoroughly tormented, and the reason that had frozen in terror would have fully returned by now—filled with rage.
She would be angry enough not to care that Helena was a Master.
And Duke Kilinaire, who had raised Agnes that way, was known to have an arrogant disposition similar to his daughter's.
He would almost certainly take some kind of measure after hearing the news from her.
Even so, he ought to have enough sense not to act recklessly out of fear of Helena's martial power, so the possibility that the whole affair might still be smoothed over was not zero.
Of course, if he was the type who valued pride over his life, that was another story…
At any rate, it was true that the matter had grown too large for me to put my hands on.
Therefore, the best I could do was cool Helena's temper enough that she could respond to the other side's negotiations.
And then the day of the banquet arrived.
All I had done in the meantime was coax and soothe Helena.
It had been my job from the beginning, so I had no real complaints, yet the endless repair work left me with a strangely complicated feeling.
The moment things seemed stable, something would happen that sent her mood crashing into the dirt.
Truly, the cycle of life was like the curve of a roller coaster.
"Welcome, one and all! Once more I express my gratitude for the trouble you have taken in coming from afar to celebrate Our birthday…"
With the booming greeting of the current king of the Soter Kingdom, Elvin Sotern, the banquet began.
The banquet, which would continue today and tomorrow without pause, ran day and night without distinction.
Of course, the daytime hours were when exhausted nobles rested after the night, so in practice the day was the tacit period of rest.
"Ohhh! What a truly beautiful lady."
"So that young lady is the one famed as the kingdom's greatest sword, Lady Helena? She truly has not a single flaw."
"Heh heh. From what I hear she is no longer a mere young lady—she has already formally become a duke. Haven't you heard the rumors?"
Many nobles stole glances at Helena and murmured among themselves.
Through Is's letters and the circulating rumors, the fact that Helena had become a duke was already widely known.
So it was only natural that they regarded her not as a simple young lady but as a duke.
And there were also those who approached wanting to form ties with the newly minted duke. That, too, was only natural.
"A pleasure to meet you. I am…"
While countless nobles requested endless handshakes and offered smiles, Helena faced them and handled each one with practiced skill.
Had it been yesterday, when she was still seething with rage, she would not even have put on her public mask—but this was the result of some rather rough physical therapy.
Thanks to that, Helena dealt with her counterparts with composure and perfect etiquette. There would be nothing for anyone to criticize.
From the Kilinaire perspective it might look like an act so polished it gave them chills, but Helena was treating these people sincerely. She was by no means deceiving them.
The only reason Helena ever wore a mask was to hide her own timid nature.
Tastes good.
Keeping a little distance from Helena, I quietly followed behind her and from time to time helped myself to small bites of the lavish banquet spread across the tables.
One needed food for strength, and knowing how to manage a proper evening meal was an essential virtue of a servant.
While I sampled the dishes and held my place as quiet as a dead mouse, a man walked toward us.
It was around the time when the people requesting handshakes from Helena had withdrawn and the area had grown reasonably quiet.
"Hmm. First time meeting, is it? A pleasure. I am Albus Kilinaire. I hear it has not been long since you became a duke?"
Hair neatly swept back. Eyes that went beyond confidence into arrogance, and clothing so opulent it was obvious at a glance.
Looking every inch the high noble, Duke Kilinaire offered his greeting to Helena.
"Yes. A pleasure. Helena Krauser."
Setting aside the speech style itself, the voice that clearly looked down on the other party made Helena abandon respect as well and reply in a half-formal register.
It was a markedly different reaction from the way she politely addressed even those of lower rank than herself.
Albus seemed to notice; his brow furrowed, yet his lips still curved in a smile.
He could not have failed to expect Helena to come out this way, yet the sight was somehow hard to put into words.
"Well then. Congratulations on becoming a duke. I knew the Krausers chose their heirs without regard to age, but this time is still quite the surprise."
"And what am I to do about that when it is our family tradition? Just as I cannot understand you, you will find it difficult to understand me."
The two of them probed and provoked each other as if they had been waiting for the chance.
They might have used more roundabout expressions to scrape at each other's nerves, but both already knew they had become bitter enemies.
Perhaps they had decided there was no longer any need to observe fresh courtesies.
"Indeed. I hear my daughter has incurred a rather large debt… This is quite troublesome. Inheriting a title at such a young age is a troublesome business in itself, is it not? Unable even to distinguish courage from recklessness."
On top of that, a more direct insult came flying in. Helena answered with lightless eyes and a twisted smile at the corner of her mouth.
"You, on the other hand, seem not to have raised your child properly. Casting eyes at a servant in broad daylight, then immediately laying hands on her for not listening—and with threats, no less. I found it unimaginably lewd. Ah, could it be that Your Grace yourself used to chase after girls' skirts in your younger days, and the habit has simply been passed down to your child?"
"…Insolent bitch. Becoming a duke has made you thoroughly full of yourself. Has Is's eyesight completely rotted? Otherwise he would never have handed the title to a girl who cannot tell front from back."
"At least more so than you, Duke Kilinaire. Leave a filthy rag's stench lingering in the house no matter how much you scrub, and judgment itself seems to fail… no? When the stench of a rag is too strong, the head does tend to spin. I understand."
The years spent as a duke, and the seasoning and atmosphere that came with them, were clearly above Helena's.
No matter that she was a duke herself, being so thoroughly outmatched in that regard might normally leave one somewhat cowed. That was the usual way of things.
But Helena possessed a power that man could never obtain even if he died and came back to life.
Namely, the ability and presence of a Sword Master.
On top of that, although her anger had subsided, it had not been completely resolved, and rage still pushed her from behind.
Thanks to that—or because of it—the Kilinaire side had been the first to stick out a tongue like a viper's.
Even so, the creases between his brows remained tightly furrowed.
"…A bitch who cannot tell heaven from earth. How utterly foolish."
Still unable to let go of his lingering attachment, he seemed to toss out one last feeble provocation, yet it was far too weak.
"It's the privilege of youth. At any rate, that stinking rag you keep in your house has whispered all sorts of things into your ear… Shouldn't we settle that matter soon?"
See that? Lost again in the war of words.