An Unstrung Pearl
Karman's words shook the very premise of everything I had said. At the same time, they forced me to reexamine my own vague, unexamined optimism.
Why on earth had I assumed His Majesty would grant Prince Cassion a fair chance?
Karman was a man who prized royal authority above nearly all else. In other words, he was the sort who would cast aside anything personal for the good of the kingdom. His approach to raising his children was survival of the fittest—drive them into a corner and acknowledge only the one who crawled out alive. That was Karman's method of parenting.
He could watch Cassion struggle desperately to survive, and might even be glad if the boy eventually clawed his way up to become Dayson's rival—but first, Cassion had to survive on his own. I believed in Cassion because I had seen the man he would grow into, but from where Karman stood, there was no reason to provoke Dayson and Julia by backing a son who looked like a lost cause.
Which meant I would have to negotiate with Karman, armed with what he stood to gain from my marriage to Cassion. The only chip I held was my family.
"Has House Ehrenberg lost its appeal for you, Your Majesty?"
"House Ehrenberg is indispensable to Petrora. But an Ehrenberg with no head at its helm—surely that is a house I could claim whenever I pleased, is it not?"
My jaw clenched before I could stop it. His confident air, as though the rise and fall of my entire family swung on his whim, made my blood hot.
Merely because the seat is empty, he'd go that far... No. Surely not.
Karman was not the sort of man to reverse his stance toward House Ehrenberg over something so simple. It was because the future he had charted for my family was dark. It was true that Karman could make or break House Ehrenberg at a stroke, and there was a fair chance that the grim future he envisioned for us would come to pass as well.
If I hadn't come back, that is.
The head of House Ehrenberg was a power who could stand against even Karman—but a headless Ehrenberg was a pearl off its string.
But there is a thread to string that pearl. Me.
And Karman would never be so reckless as to covet Ehrenberg outright.
"You wouldn't go out of your way to claim it, would you?"
An odd light flickered in Karman's eyes.
"What makes you think so?"
Before answering, I studied him closely. Could he ever stand on my side? If not, was he at least a man who would watch me from neutral ground? I concluded it was the latter. The reason was simple.
"I imagine Your Majesty knows full well whose man Count Kolkos is—the very one being put forward as my guardian."
The indulgent gaze he had worn, like one watching a darling child, sharpened in an instant. Karman straightened in his seat.
Karman was wary of Julia. Julia's faction was swelling by the day. She had not yet held a knife to his throat, but her power had grown large enough to casually overturn a policy or two that he meant to push through. That was precisely why Karman worked so hard not to provoke her—he had no wish to stir needless strife.
Karman wanted to be a good king, and so he labored to preserve the stable realm his ancestors had handed down. At the very least, he would want to keep his own reign from being swept into chaos by conflict between the king and his queen. And so he had left House Ehrenberg alone, though it was obvious Julia had her eye on it. Rather than fight for power, he would simply hand it over. As long as the throne itself remained his, that was enough for Karman.
Cowardly and weak-willed. Anger surged up in my chest. While Karman dodged every conflict to protect his seat, Julia gnawed away at the kingdom. And Cassion was left to rot.
His way might look reasonable at a glance, but I knew he was wrong. The kingdom might lurch along for the rest of Karman's life—but if Dayson wore the crown...
The nation would collapse in an instant.
It wasn't as though I could recite the future I knew, point by point, to persuade him. But this wouldn't be hard. All I had to do was prove my usefulness to Karman.
"What a tremendous idea you've had, Dayson. Well done—you have become a talent Petrora cannot do without."
I remembered the praise Karman had once bestowed, back when Dayson solved one of Petrora's thorniest problems with my idea. I could never forget it—Karman, so stingy with praise, had beamed from ear to ear as he said it.
Dayson had preened over it noisily, too.
Karman favored anyone who proved useful to Petrora. So I would simply become that person. I had done it any number of times in my past life.
One of these days, you'll be begging me for your help.
Forget 'one of these days.' I'd make it happen now.
But everything takes time, and there is such a thing as proper timing. Today, I decided to settle for buying time and withdraw.
"I imagine an Ehrenberg led by Count Kolkos—or by me—holds little appeal for you just yet. But I give you my word, Your Majesty: I will turn that opinion of yours around."
It might have sounded like a child's reckless boast, but I was a child—and precisely because of that, the words would score points with Karman.
Petrora's royal house was born of warriors' blood, but Karman had come into the world after the realm had settled into peace. With no need for a warrior's temperament, he had suppressed that nature all his life. Perhaps in reaction, he liked combative people. Once a man holds power, his circle overflows with flatterers, so he naturally warms to the rare soul who dares to speak bitter truths and challenge him.
As expected, my read was right. The corner of Karman's mouth lifted.
"You have surprised me several times today."
The first shock had been the gift Cassion demanded. The second, presumably, was me.
"Very well. I know not what the Lady Ehrenberg will bring me, but once she brings it, we may discuss the matter of your gift. Now then, Cassion—I have a question for you."
Karman turned his gaze upon Cassion. Two pairs of golden eyes met across the room.
"Have you no thought of asking a different gift of me than marriage to Lady Diana?"
"None, Your Majesty."
At the reply, delivered without a heartbeat's hesitation, Karman laughed as if taken aback.
"No regrets? I could give you something tremendous."
Then, abruptly, Karman's face went grave. He was asking whether Cassion had counted the cost properly.
Cassion needs to answer this one right.
So the easy promise of any gift he wished had been a test all along—a probe to measure just how great Karman's capacity truly was.
"Whatever you might give me, I lack the strength to keep it. That is why I have no need of gold, silver, jewels, or land. What I wish to receive from Your Majesty is power. And that power is Ehrenberg."
Syllable by syllable, with deliberate weight, Cassion made it plain that he had no intention of trading his gift for anything else. The correct answer. Since he was demanding marriage to me, no better reply existed.
Clever boy.
When had the Cassion who once keeled over coughing up blood grown into someone capable of thinking like this? He was admirable beyond measure.
Now it was Karman's turn to answer, the questioner at last questioned. I found myself curious what he would say.
"Understood."
The answer that finally emerged after a long, silent pause drained the strength right out of me. Not one of Karman's replies was ever satisfying; they all left me stifled.
"I suppose it is truly time to see you out."
Karman rose, bracing a hand on his knee. The second dismissal. We stood without delay and bowed. Half-receiving, half-ignoring our greetings, Karman settled behind his desk.
We had talked for a long while. Though I had not obtained the outcome I wanted, the gains were hardly bad. And there was one more thing to make certain of.
"We will meet again, Your Majesty."
When I said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world—as though a meeting had already been promised—Karman lifted his head from his papers. I met his gaze squarely. Whether he read the resolve in my eyes, that I would not leave until I heard an answer, Karman looked between Cassion and me, then set down his pen. And he spoke.
"Lady Diana. I will await the proof you spoke of."
It was a deeply satisfying answer.
On the road back to Cassion's castle, we rode in silence, each sunk in our own thoughts. The premise that we might marry right away had crumbled.
He's in no mood to grant the marriage easily. The vassals will kick up a storm demanding a guardian be appointed.
I tried to gauge how much time remained to me. There wasn't long before the automatic appointment of a guardian.
I have to persuade His Majesty. I need to drive it into him that my becoming head of House Ehrenberg serves the crown.
And the very first thing to do upon returning would be to empty my mother's vault and my own private funds and acquire Phoenix Bank.
And here I'd planned to buy it with the family's money after receiving His Majesty's blessing on the marriage.
Nothing ever went smoothly. All the more reason for my fighting spirit to surge.
Money shouldn't run short.
Large transactions usually came with provisions for splitting the payment into parts. Phoenix Bank was no exception: half the acquisition sum would be posted as a deposit, with the other half paid in installments. Besides, I had money stacked away in the Deposit Guild. Since I had no intention of stealing it, I could set it circulating for a while.
Fine—douse the immediate fire that way. But the real solution is persuading His Majesty Karman. How?
One thing that would benefit the kingdom and me alike—what could it be? If I combed through the future I knew, something was bound to turn up.
"So much for quietly wrapping up the day, Diana."
I was still turning thoughts over when Cassion, who had been staring out the window, raked a hand through his neatly combed hair and spoke. What had he seen to make his mood sink so low? I stretched my whole body out to see where his gaze had landed.
"Hey!"
Having quite unintentionally wedged myself across his thighs, I was treated to the sight of Cassion jolting upright in alarm. I twisted around with one hand braced on the carriage's window frame and found his face flushed scarlet.
"I was curious what was out there."
"Th-then look from your own seat!"
"But from my seat, I can't see what Your Highness is looking at."
Cassion covered his eyes with one hand and heaved a sigh.
"Look quickly, then move."
Even if he'd ordered me to stay put, I'd have moved anyway. That posture was murder on my spine. Stretching my neck as far as it would go, I peered out the window. Far in the distance, a figure hovered where the road bent toward Cassion's palace.
Rare silver hair. Dayson.
There would be no quiet end to this day. I agreed with Cassion's sentiment a hundred times over.