Unforgettable Memory (3)
Unforgettable Memory (3)
After Bruel, who had been controlled by the black mage suspected in the Solar Fire Carp inner core incident, was restrained.
I grinned confidently and started to taunt her—no, the her inside him.
"Checkmate. Lo~ser♡"
Bruel's face flushed red at my provocation. Even his hands trembled; he seemed thoroughly furious.
But.
"Pfft. Are you mad? What can you do about it? You can't get out. You're sealed with top-tier holy magic, after all. Right, Chief Priest?"
"Huh? Ah, yes... From the way she speaks, it seems the caster's own soul has directly possessed the body, rather than remote control. Unless the Demon King comes back to life, the soul won't be able to escape from there."
"You heard that? You're finished."
At the Chief Priest's words, Bruel's face went pale. ...She really wears her emotions on her sleeve, that one.
Having lost interest in her, I walked up to the barrier confining Bruel and, for the last time, stuck my tongue out.
"Bleh. Bye-bye, lo~ser♡"
* * * * * *
Afterward, Bruel was taken away by the Chief Priest and the servants, still trapped inside the barrier.
Of course, even if the one inside was a black mage, the Bruel she possessed was still the young lord of a viscount family in the empire.
The Chief Priest showed reluctance at having to detain a noble, but—
"I will help you in the name of Nordkirchen. I guarantee that no diplomatic issue will arise between the Empire and the Church of the Chief Goddess over this matter."
"Th-that... At least I must report to Her Majesty the Empress..."
"I'll do it. Since Yune says he recorded it, Her Majesty will understand."
"Even so."
"I'll double the donation this year. And I'll add that I was moved by your dedication, Chief Priest."
"...Leave it to me!"
Once Mom took full responsibility and showed a taste of capitalism, the Chief Priest quickly agreed.
The Chief Priest explained that forcibly separating the possessed soul could affect Bruel's original soul, so she would head to the Grand Temple to conduct a large-scale holy ritual and separate the souls as safely as possible.
"Hehe. Thank you, Chief Priest sis!"
"S-Sis? Do I look that young to you? ...Even if you're just flattering me, thank you, Young Master Yunes. If you ever visit the Vanberg branch of the Church of the Chief Goddess, please look for me. I owe a great deal to the Grand Duchess, so I'll welcome you personally, even if it's not much."
"Yes! Thank you, pretty Chief Priest sis!"
"...Chief Goddess. How could you give birth to such an adorable creature? The grace of the Chief Goddess is boundless as the sky."
I treated the hardworking Chief Priest to a brief display of cuteness, and her face broke into a beaming smile.
* * * * * *
The commotion concluded with the Chief Priest taking Bruel away.
But as soon as the Chief Priest left, Mom frowned.
"...Yune."
"Yes?"
"Come here."
After dismissing those around us, Mom drew me into a corner. Then she began to scold me.
"I didn't know the situation, so I brought the most capable priest I know as you requested, but you confronted a black mage all by yourself? Are you out of your mind, Yune?"
"If I brought Charl with me, she would have run away..."
"It would have been better to let her run away than to have you take risks. Looking at that stupid display, she wouldn't have been a threat if you'd just left her alone."
Mom knelt to meet my eyes and scolded me for a good while longer.
Only when tears finally began to well up in my eyes did she stop being angry.
"...Hmph. Hmph. You don't need to cry, do you?"
"B-but... I thought you'd praise me for doing well..."
"...Ahem. You did do well. You and your fiancée were unharmed, and you even captured the assassin's soul. My only point was that you took a risk in the process."
"So... I did good...?"
"Yes. There have been many suspicious points lately, and interrogating her soul once it's confined in the Grand Temple will yield a great deal of information. It's thanks to you, Yune. Well done."
With that, Mom hastily started praising me. But I could clearly sense she was forcing herself, so I wiped my tears with my sleeve and turned my head away sharply.
"...Hmph."
"Yune? Did you really get upset just because I scolded you a little?"
"Why would I be upset? It's the Founding Festival and the day of my debutante ball. Being scolded on such a wonderful day. Even though I did a good thing, you scolded me out of concern for me, so no matter how hurt I feel, I should bear it. ...Hmph."
My voice still held a watery note. Mom's eyes trembled when she heard it.
"I was wrong. Truly, on a day like today, I shouldn't have scolded you for something like this. I made a mistake, thinking you might have been in danger."
"...Wrong? You didn't do anything wrong, Mom."
"No. I was wrong. The moment a lady makes a gentleman cry, no excuse stands as a woman's fault. I only made excuses. I'm sorry."
"..."
Then Mom began to soothe me.
...It's not that I was angry or upset with Mom. I'd just been a little hurt and got prickly. Now that she's acting this way, I feel a bit awkward.
But I could feel that Mom's heart was for my sake, so the hurt I'd felt from being scolded melted away gently.
"What can I do to earn your forgiveness? I'll do anything. ...Now that I think of it, Yune, you liked the cookies at the venue. If you wish, I'll press the imperial head chef to get the recipe."
When Mom asked if there was anything I wanted, I asked about something that had been on my mind.
"Then please explain things well to Her Majesty the Empress. Tell her that Bruel did nothing wrong."
"You mean the young lord of the Kirchhof family? Why him?"
"Because if things stay like this, he'll probably be scolded badly, as if being possessed were his fault. Think of it as saving a person."
"...Goodness. You're clever yet have such a kind side that I simply cannot hate you. Very well. I'll go report to Her Majesty at once."
"Huh? Right now?"
"Yes. ...Charlotte! I shall return to the venue first; guard Yune!"
But Mom, eager to go explain to the Empress, wore an enthusiastic expression.
She vanished as swiftly as she had appeared, before I could even say, 'Can't we just go together?'
I felt a bit flustered. And Charl, who had come when called but had no idea what was happening, looked bewildered.
"Uh... Yune. Shall we go back, then?"
—Brrr.
"Ah. Sis, wait for me just a moment."
* * * * * *
Yune's fiancée, Kir, stood blankly in a corner of the garden.
The Grand Duchess had pulled Yune—the only person here Kir felt truly comfortable with—aside to a corner of the garden.
As she stood awkwardly, wondering whether she should head back first, a sigh-laden voice came from beside her.
"Sure enough, Yune is getting scolded. I'll secretly hug him later."
"Um... Sister-in-law?"
It was Charl.
Kir hesitated before speaking. Charl's expression crumpled slightly.
"Kirschblüte. You had such little presence that I forgot you were here. ...And don't call me sister-in-law. You aren't married to Yune yet. Tsk."
"Yes, Lady Charlotte."
"You don't need to call me Lady... You can just call me Charlotte. Are you not the heir to a ducal house as well? We share the same standing. Speak comfortably."
"...Yes, Charlotte."
After Charl sorted out the address issue that had been making her grimace, Kir asked about something that had been on her mind.
"Why is Yune being scolded right now...? To me, he was incredibly cool. Is he being scolded for saving me...?"
"Saving you itself was a great deed. But... Yunes is a treasure whom no other noble young lord in the entire empire can even come close to. And someone like that confronted a black mage. It's hardly strange for the Head of House to be angry."
After briefly explaining to Kir why Yune was being scolded, Charl quietly muttered, "Still, Yune must have been scared too. The Head of House is too much."
And then, Erengard's voice rang out.
—...Charlotte! I shall return to the venue first; guard Yune!
"Yes!"
Charl dashed off at the cry to guard Yune.
Thus Kir was left alone in the garden. A faint disappointment spread across her face.
'Will Yune go back with Charlotte? I wanted to go back with him. Too bad. I should go back too....'
She had been hoping to escort Yune, who had so gallantly saved her, back to the venue. So she felt a little disappointed and was about to head back on her own.
But Kir had barely taken a few steps when she stopped again.
It was because Charl, whom she'd thought would be guarding Yune and returning to the venue, was approaching her again.
Charl stood before the garden wall, arms folded.
"...? Charlotte. Aren't you supposed to be guarding Yune? Where is Yune, and why did you come back alone?"
As Kir approached Charl, puzzled, Charl's ears flushed and she glared at Kir.
"...I am guarding right now, so mind your own business and go away. You're distracting me."
"Huh? But where is Yune..."
"Quiet."
Charl told Kir to be quiet. When Kir shut her mouth, as if by magic, silence fell over the garden.
And then...
—Trickle, trickle, trickle.
'The sound of water...?'
The sound of water coming from somewhere. It came from beyond the wall Charl was staring so fixedly at.
Kir wondered if there was some watering device hidden in the garden, and bewilderment spread across her face. She began looking around hurriedly.
Only then did Kir notice a very faint, whitish something flickering in the garden.
Something spreading like a transparent fog. Kir realized it was the 'ki sense' she had read about in books. She also grasped that Charl must be the one casting it.
A martial artist's technique that disperses mana into the surroundings, instantly detecting anyone entering that space: ki sense.
The stronger the caster, the more transparent the dispersed mana becomes, so it was only natural that Kir had only just noticed it.
'...Ki sense? Why all of a sudden?'
But she still didn't know why Charl had suddenly used ki sense. She looked ahead with a puzzled expression, toward the wall Charl was staring so intently at—the wall from which the sound of water was beginning to fade.
Only then did Charl finally let out a sigh. Feeling her relief, Kir relaxed as well.
The incident happened then.
—Srrrk.
The wall that had stood solidly just moments before suddenly began sliding down.
This happened because the imperial palace garden was originally a maze built for guests to enjoy, and the walls rose and lowered periodically to change the maze's layout.
Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—neither Charl, Kir, nor Yune knew this fact at all.
The wall descended in an instant, leaving no time to react. The sight beyond filled the two women's eyes.
"...!!!?"
"Eh, ehh?!"
Beyond the wall stood Yune. He was in the middle of pulling up his pants.
Panicking at the suddenly vanished wall, Yune hurriedly pulled up his pants.
But Kir and Charl had already glimpsed something briefly visible before Yune could adjust his clothes. Unable even to turn their heads away, they stood dumbstruck, staring.
As if the shock had knocked the souls right out of them.
"...What are you staring at like that?"
"S-Sorry!!"
Only after Yune finally straightened his clothes and looked at them sullenly did they manage to turn their heads and shout an apology at the same time.
'S-So that sound of water... it was Yune relieving himself beyond the wall... That's why Charlotte was spreading her ki sense beyond the wall instead of guarding him directly.'
Kir blushed as she pieced together the situation. And,
'I offered to carry him on my back and get him there quickly, but he refused and threw a tantrum, saying he absolutely had to go right here and now. This happened because he wouldn't listen to his big sister! I'm not at fault! I didn't mean to see it!'
Charl crafted a spectacularly ugly excuse in her mind.
They quickly followed Yune's suggestion of "Mom will get angry if she finds out, so let's pretend this never happened," and agreed to treat it as though it had never occurred.
Of course, for the two women besides Yune, it wasn't something they could simply pretend hadn't happened.
For the two of them, the scene they saw that day, combined with the special significance of the Founding Festival, became an unforgettable memory in many ways...
Yune himself didn't mind much. And it was never a bad memory for the two of them, either. Ultimately, it was a happy accident.
'Showing them my underwear doesn't matter. ...It was only my underwear they saw, right? Yeah, I'm sure.'