In the Bonds of the Past
"The head of House Rivelt is still one of the Empire's lords. He has no intention of watching the Empire fall, and he proved as much by sending his magi-cavalry during the Human-Demon War. More than anything, you know full well that Lord Rivelt is a man who keeps his word."
"Mm. That one is a handful, true enough — but he does keep his promises. If the Taesa says so, then I can trust it."
However little he might like a task, once the head of the house accepted it, Rivelt would see it through without fail. For a family renowned for its martial strength, a heavy tongue was as much a requirement of the lordship as a heavy hand.
And that same Rivelt had given me his word that he would send reinforcements.
As a lord of the Empire, he could hardly sit this out. When you got right down to it, the only question was when the support would arrive. Even without a firm commitment from me, he would field an army eventually.
The only real danger was failing to arrive in time — and that could turn into the worst possible outcome.
"And don't forget the Hero Party, or the Kingdom's reinforcements. Under the mutual defense treaty, if war breaks out in the Empire, the Kingdom is obligated to dispatch troops. Even in the old days, when kings tried to raid the Empire and the Kingdom itself was in a bad way, they still sent priests. The current Kingdom army may be small in number, but every last one of them is a battle-hardened veteran who survived the Human-Demon War."
In the war against the Demon King's forces, the weak had all died. Only the strong remained — that was the Kingdom army of today.
Even if their numbers were few, they would make reliable reinforcements.
As for the Hero Party, the core of them was pathetic, but they might have changed by now. I was still concealing the truth, and that Hero brat, unwilling to see his own reputation collapse into the dirt, was doing everything he could to preserve the Hero Party's name.
The Hero Party aiding the Empire, the Kingdom sending support, and the Holy Kingdom backing the Empire.
On the surface, the international balance of power would tilt in the Empire's favor.
"We've got the Hero Party, too, then."
"We mustn't grow careless — but if we grow too wary, they'll notice. And with the Demon King gone, if we can just weather this crisis, we might even be able to scrap the Caern Treaty. Tear it up before the war and only the Merchant Coalition profits — but after the war, we can dictate terms unilaterally."
If we could just win this war, we could sever the Caern Treaty at once. Do that, and the southern petty kingdoms would no longer be free to attack us as they had before — and we could finally smash the Merchant Coalition for its open treaty violations.
Of course, that all assumed an after the war. First we had to win it.
"Fair enough. That makes sense."
"Unlike in the past, we no longer need to maintain trade with the Merchant Coalition, and there are other nations beyond the continent as well."
"Yes. Retribution can wait until then."
And with that, it seemed the meeting was about to wrap up.
Until these damned humans rounded their eyes at me again.
I had no idea what these idiots were thinking now, but they were studying me with thorough, deliberate care.
"Remarkable. The speech is unmistakably refined and polite, and yet…"
"You keep thinking of someone, don't you?"
Who was I supposed to be reminding them of now? No — I knew who. But these fools couldn't possibly be sharp enough to put that together.
At least, that was what I told myself.
The face was different, and if you looked closely, even the temperament was somewhat changed from back then.
I was no longer the reckless ruin-born from the Ruined Land. There was no way these idiots could figure me out.
"Right, right. Even those eyes — the way she talks as if everything is a bother — they're exactly the same."
"And no one else could stand in the same room as the Seven Stars and speak so boldly."
"If that bastard had thrown on a woman's body, wouldn't he look just like this?"
"The looks are hard to even imagine, though."
Were these people insulting me, or what?
Ugh. Of course it came to this.
Just what part of me was supposed to scream Noah?
On the surface I was nothing more than a pretty-faced noble young lady whose actual capabilities no one could verify.
"All right, all right, that's enough. I don't know who she's supposed to resemble, but Olivia is a Saint and the Empire's Taesa — and she's still a student of Atlina."
"Ah, right. The blood on her head hasn't even dried yet."
Were they looking down on me for being young?
"Besides, unlike that fraud of a mage, word is she displayed powerful magic at Crad Castle."
"True. That self-proclaimed mage was more gifted at other things than magic."
"Hahahaha! Right, right! Didn't he copy my weapons and help produce entirely new armaments?"
"His knowledge was extraordinary, too. If he hadn't died, he might have given up magic altogether and become a magitech scholar."
Snap.
Something inside me broke.
Ah, for fuck's sake. This was actually pissing me off.
I should have held it in — but my mouth opened first.
"Excuse me? How can you judge whether someone's magic is good or bad when you never even saw it?"
"Hm? Why are you saying that? It has nothing to do with you."
"He could have been excellent at magic. You can't just trash someone behind their back like that."
"What, were you that mage's woman or something? Why get so worked up?"
"Ugh."
"She's right. It's not even your business."
In an instant the atmosphere in the room turned ice-cold.
Ah. I'd gotten emotional after all. Hearing things I hadn't heard in so long made them hard to swallow down.
After a brief, heavy silence, it was the headmaster who spoke.
He clapped his hands lightly and opened his mouth with careful deliberation.
"Truly befitting the Empire's Taesa."
"Isn't it stranger that no one else thought of that?"
If they couldn't even manage that much, were they brainless? The thought crossed my mind — and then I reconsidered.
The Seven Stars had risen by pure ability alone, without Atlina diplomas or high academic scores. The headmaster and the professors here were hardly products of elite education either.
Maybe I just looked sophisticated by comparison.
In any case, the meeting wound down without further incident.
I decided to wait and move only after the Seven Stars had left Atlina first.
"Haa. Honestly."
Truly hopeless. A pack of idiots.
"If the Seven Stars are discussing it in earnest, the answer is already clear."
Celia murmured beside me.
"War is drawing very close."
In the end, war would break out. That was what mattered.
Should I sit this war out? The Seven Stars were sharper than I'd expected — if I showed my power carelessly, I would definitely get caught.
It wasn't about racking up achievements. Better to stay out of it entirely.
"Taesa. His Majesty the Emperor requests that you enter the palace at once."
I'd been about to head back when a maid appeared this time.
This was going to be a problem, wasn't it?
"Ah… I've got a bad feeling about this. What if I just don't go?"
"You must go all the same. He said it was extremely urgent."
"Fine."
If that Emperor called something urgent, it was almost certainly useless — but I couldn't simply ignore an imperial summons. I followed the maid to the Imperial Palace.
"I heard you called for me."
"Mm. You came quickly. Were you at Atlina?"
"Yes. The Seven Stars were a real nuisance. They kept insisting I resemble that mage somehow."
I would have preferred they put that kind of attention away.
"And what do you think? Even I find the resemblance unmistakable."
"Who knows. Does it even matter?"
"I believe that someday, you will lift my curse."
Why would I lift your curse? That was something Noah had promised, not me.
"You're saying Mage Noah promised to lift it."
"That's right."
"Let's set that aside for now. I'd like to hear why you summoned me."
That conversation could wait. No matter how freely the Emperor wasted people's time, I didn't think this would be nothing at all.
"The Assembly contacted me. It's about Caern."
"Yes."
"The Kingdom of Atlan wants the Empire to send someone to renew the treaty."
Renew the Caern Treaty?
Of all times — now? Well, the treaty's term was probably due to expire. But why not just sign a permanent agreement instead of reconfirming it every few years?
"If it's about Caern, then it's a matter for the Imperial House to handle. But those people aren't seeking a renewal for no reason."
The Caern Treaty had been driven by the Imperial House, and historically, renewals had long been the Imperial House's responsibility.
This time, though, the White King was involved. He might have some other agenda for the renewal.
The reason the Empire kept renewing a treaty that left it looking like a helpless fool was partly the Merchant Coalition's influence — but also because every southern hegemon who charged in and lost was replaced by some other representative, not the invading king, who then came to renegotiate. The Empire was forever the one being played for a fool.
"You think there's an ulterior motive?"
"Either they're testing us, or they want us to lower our guard before the war begins."
The real question was how much that idiot of a White King actually knew.
He had fought enough wars to be experienced. I couldn't say what he intended to pull at Caern, but he wouldn't make reckless moves — not yet.
It had only been a few months. Even if he had pacified the south, aiming at the Empire was a different matter entirely. He needed more preparation. If he was pushing for a renewal at this particular moment, there could only be one reason.
"That may well be."
"Or he wants to size up whatever high officials or royals attend. He needs to know whether the commanders he'll be fighting are any good. He may simply want to assess that kind of competence."
That was probably closest to the truth.
"Mm. That also makes sense."
"Your Majesty has surely anticipated all of this already."
This Emperor was a sly old fox. He would have seen that far without asking me. So why bring me in at all? That was the strange part.
"Yes."
"Isn't this a matter you should discuss with Prince Aslan or Princess Amelia?"
It was deeply tied to the Imperial family. The Imperial family should step forward. At least, that was how I saw it.
They were already probing the Empire at Caern. To show we were no soft target, the Emperor or his children needed to present a formidable, unbroken front.
"You're right. That would normally be the case."
"Yes. It would normally be the case…?"
"But my children are all a bit… well. And Aslan is already absorbed in some project of his own."
"Ah. So he was."
He was supposedly researching something related to war, though I had no idea what.
Then what kind of scheme was this Emperor cooking up? Tch.
Still, it wasn't a bad thing for me. If that useless prince finally got his head on straight and did something for the Empire, I wouldn't have to resort to violence.
So where was this Emperor's real intent?
When you thought about it carefully, if one of the Emperor's children went to renew the Caern Treaty, that child would gain a measure of legitimacy as the next heir to the throne.
Of course, that was just talk. Unless the person themselves actually wanted the throne, it was nothing more than one more scrap of justification.
And honestly, the Caern Treaty was pure disadvantage for the Empire. Using it as a foundation for legitimacy was… delicate at best.
"The White King will be there on their side. If Aslan can't go, Amelia at least should."
"You're saying that young lady has no interest either?"
Just what were those two children thinking?
"Sending some other royal would only invite the White King's contempt."
"Then what exactly do you have in mind?"
He squinted at me as if inviting the question, so I asked — and he took a leisurely sip of tea.
What was he being so unhurried about? What new way was he planning to screw me over this time?