The Flower of the Engagement Tournament: The Audience Ceremony (E)
"It's been a while. I can scarcely believe how many years have passed since we graduated from the Royal Academy. I'm so glad to see you've put that valedictorian diploma you stole from me to such excellent use."
That was the greeting she offered Deron.
In the next instant, the color drained from his face.
It was the face he had so desperately longed to see, the face he had dreamed of for so long.
It felt glorious.
"I was worried you might not recognize me with the change in my hair color. Thankfully you remembered me? I'm honored."
That was the greeting she offered Blund.
In the next instant, a look of utter despair settled over his features.
It was the face he had waited for so long, the face he had yearned for with every fiber of his being.
It felt liberating.
"I'm glad we can meet again like this. Everyone says white hair suits me far better than red—don't you agree? Does Young Master Kyle think so as well?"
That was the greeting she offered Kyle.
In the next instant, a hell nearly identical to the one she had endured that day unfolded across his face.
A hell so dense and deep that no bottom could be seen.
Kyle's eyes rolled back and he fainted on the spot.
She was delighted.
"…."
And so, at last, she stood before Elden.
The vow she had made the moment their eyes met on the platform—that she would not let herself be seized by resentment—melted away.
Just as Sir Gelwood had said of Elden after he declared his withdrawal, that he seemed to have become like the northern territories in May, the instant she looked at him the resolve that had frozen solid like a northern snow peak in May simply melted.
That must have been why.
"Even so… will you truly reject my confession?"
It was with that truly clumsy, foolish question that she ruined the moment she had awaited for so long.
That was how her plan to stand above him with perfect composure and cold detachment crumbled, and how she ended up tossing out a petulant tantrum disguised as a question.
That she had cast a coquettish line no mature woman ought ever to utter—one she was ashamed of the moment it left her lips—was entirely because of Elden Raphelion.
Why was it that nothing ever went as planned the moment she stood before him?
Why did she keep watching his reactions so carefully?
Why did everything tangle into knots whenever she got involved with him?
When she thought about it, she now had one more reason for him to refuse that confession.
The moment he learned she was Erincia, he would only feel even prouder of having rejected the Grand Duchess's secret confession.
Had her clumsy confidence simply turned into arrogance?
If so, it was nothing short of laughable.
That the victim who ought to stand tall before her perpetrator should instead have to reproach herself for her own pride.
This isn't how it's supposed to go.
That innocent face of his should have been twisting in shock and terror, yet the feeling that her own insides were rotting away was, no matter how many hundreds of times she turned it over, obviously absurd.
Deron.
Blund.
Kyle.
The composure and cold detachment she had tempered while dealing with those three had vanished without a trace, and the exhilaration, the release, the joy she had felt while passing through them had disappeared as if the long wait had meant nothing at all.
From the moment she faced Elden, her tangled heart was filled only with anxiety and worry, and his bold crimson eyes seemed to be pointing out every flaw in her, which only irritated her more.
Please.
Just give me one chance.
Just once—please give me a chance for revenge.
She prayed.
The situation in which the victim had to beg was ridiculous and revolting, yet she had no choice.
His stubborn attitude and unyielding gaze were so steadfast that she had to resort to mere prayer.
Even with her standing right in front of him, he showed not the slightest hesitation, and it felt as though he might slip from her grasp at any moment.
The summit was right before her eyes now.
Deron, Blund, and Kyle had already climbed it and been shoved down the slope.
Elden had to roll down with them as they fell endlessly along that slope.
He had to tumble all the way to the ground and walk the path of repentance while shedding tears.
But then—
When he answered with a faint smile, Lumiang felt her heart plummet.
It was the first time in her life that a polite smile had ever frightened her.
"I am grateful for your feelings, but meeting you like this only makes me more certain."
What…?
Certain of what?
"What… do you mean by that?"
"That I am a man far too lacking to even reach the tips of the Third Grand Duchess's toes."
Stop saying that kind of nonsense.
How many times is this now?
"Don't tell me you're doing this because you still don't know who I am?"
"To be honest I find it hard to believe… but now that I do know, I feel even less able to accept Your Highness's heart. I am sorry."
Even facing me, those words still come out of your mouth?
If you've only just realized I was Erincia, then you should have made a face like those three.
No.
At the very least you should have looked like you were about to cry.
Isn't that the bare minimum of courtesy toward a victim?
You said you'd change, even now?
You said you were withdrawing because you were too worthless—so why are you holding your head up so shamelessly?
"Why? Why—just why can't you accept it?"
I know.
I know.
I know you're saying you can't accept it because you know I'm Erincia.
But take back your withdrawal and do your damnedest to crawl your way to victory in the engagement tournament.
Just like I did!
"As I have said, it is because I have realized I am not worthy of being loved by anyone. I intend to return to where I belong and humbly reflect upon myself. For the days past, I offer my deepest apologies."
Ah……
So in the end… even knowing I'm Erincia, even while claiming you want to atone for the past, you're still saying you won't crawl for my sake till the very end?
What the hell are you?
Why are you so confident?
Why are you so shameless?
Why are you so completely fine?
How can you apologize so easily?
How can you pour so much sincerity into it so easily?
Do you think I went through all this just to hear one measly apology?
If that was the case you should never have tormented me in the first place!
Tears welled up.
Strangely, tears welled up.
Grief rose and clogged her throat.
With that paltry single apology, grief rose and clogged her throat.
She forced it all back down.
She did not want to show him anything.
Neither weakness nor a face overcome by rage—she wanted to show him none of it.
"And if I forgive you? If I grant you the right? Will you still refuse? If you truly feel sorry toward me, shouldn't you refuse to refuse?"
Yes.
If the apology is sincere, then don't run—face me head-on.
If it isn't a lie, then don't try to dodge with words; prove it with actions.
Go on, answer me.
Go on, prove it.
Whether your apology is sincere or a lie…!
But—
Instead of an answer, Elden threw a sharp question of his own.
It was more than enough to snap Lumiang, who had been seized by rage and resentment, back to her senses.
"And you, Grand Duchess—did you confess because you truly love me?"
"……What?"
In an instant, the moisture that had been dampening her pupils dried up.
She realized that for some time those eyes had been holding nothing but Elden's image.
Only then did the colorful scene of the plaza enter her vision, which had been filled solely with Elden.
Her closed ears opened.
She realized that for some time those ears had been hearing nothing but Elden's voice.
Only then did the bustling noise of the plaza reach the ears that had heard only Elden.
It felt as though her narrowed, sealed senses were expanding.
Faced with that unfamiliar, strange sensation she was experiencing for the first time, Lumiang looked at Elden with bewildered eyes.
She had to answer.
But—
No.
If she answered that way, she felt she would expose the true intention that had led her to weave lies solely to pin him down for revenge, so she could not speak.
Yes.
Answering that way was something she simply could not do.
No.
That above all was something she would rather die than say.
Because it had not been sincere.
It had only ever been a means of holding onto Elden.
"……."
Trapped between a rock and a hard place, all she could do was fall silent and waver, and in the end, without managing to spit out any answer at all, she had no choice but to turn and walk away.
She could not spare much time on greetings with him, after all.
In the end, just as she had at the Academy, Erincia could do nothing but run away once more.
"With that, we shall conclude the first audience ceremony~!"
Lumiang left the plaza together with Grand Duke Logan.
The audience ceremony just now had been a preliminary event.
It had also been a special occasion arranged for the veiled youngest daughter of the Grand Ducal house.
That was close.
I had thrown a somewhat rude question to quiet Lumiang's excessive reaction.
This was not the time to lay down the cards I was holding in reserve, and her overreaction could have ruined everything, so I had no choice but to ask it.
Otherwise I felt certain those trembling hands of hers would have slapped me across the face.
Of course, even if such a catastrophe had struck, the outcome would not have changed—but creating snags in the plan was something to be avoided.
According to the report from that crybaby directionally challenged old butler this morning, once the first audience ceremony ended, Logan Winterfell would leave briefly for the capital city.
And after he departed, the second audience ceremony—the main event—would be held in the evening.
In the great hall where the first tasting banquet had taken place, Lumiang and the final four candidates would gather to hold the main ceremony.
In the original work, the real Hupijip had probably begun in earnest starting from that main ceremony.
All the comment reactions had been looking forward to it as well.
In the original, Elden Raphelion would have joined that Hupijip and put on a tearful groveling spectacle of his own.
I felt sorry for Lumiang.
I had no malice and had not intended it, yet in her eyes I could only look like a slippery loach running away.
That was why she was clinging so obsessively and throwing such a fit.
But feeling sorry was no reason to film a Hupijip myself, was it?
I only hoped she would focus on the Hupijip that had only just begun.
Thinking that, I arrived at the great hall.
It was still not the time to lay down my cards.
No matter how excellent a hand one held, if it could not be played at the right moment it was worse than not holding it at all.
For a good hand, one sometimes also needed the patience to wait for the right moment.
After passing the royal guards' inspection, I stepped into the great hall.
With ten minutes left until the main ceremony began, everyone should already have arrived.
Those three regret characters had always shown up early, after all.
But—
…Hm?
Kyle was nowhere to be seen.
Only Deron and Blund, looking as pale as if they were facing a cup of poison, occupied their seats; Kyle's place was empty.
And he—
"Her Highness Grand Duchess Lumiang is entering."
—still had not appeared by the time the star of the main ceremony arrived.
……
……
Oh?
Young Master Kyle Bellaon?
You…
former runaway ninja Genga?