5. A Conflict Named Desire - 01
5. A Conflict Named Desire - 01
Dusk had already settled in every direction. The sun was slipping lower beyond the horizon, the sky steadily blanketing itself in crimson acacia petals. It was a beautiful spectacle, as if the Goddess of Night had trailed her red skirt across the heavens. Against that sunset backdrop, a line of carriages drew visibly farther and farther from the imperial capital.
"...Kain."
Atop the ramparts encircling Lumentium, Ariel stood watching the carriages fade into the sunset.
Rustle—
She stepped forward, the soft sound of her garments brushing together reaching her ears. Before she realized it, she had taken yet another step. She longed for even the smallest glimpse more of his retreating figure. She knew that once he left like this, she would not see him again for a long while, and so she sought to ease the ache of parting however she could.
"....."
Time passed. The carriages became a single dot, then vanished completely beyond the horizon. By now the sunset had faded entirely, and a quiet stillness filled the space around her. Pitch-black darkness closed in, yet Ariel's gaze remained fixed on the northern sky where the carriages had disappeared.
"...Ah."
Ariel closed her eyes. Even now, a scene rose vividly behind her lids. A meadow fragrant with the scent of grass. A small valley where a stream curled and meandered. Fields overflowing with nameless blossoms in full bloom. And a little flower crown woven from those very blossoms, made just for her. The tender press of loving lips against her cheek.
She remembered. No, she could not help but remember. The time she had spent with him in that small, charming cabin upon the meadow was the happiest of Ariel's life.
Yes. She had been happy. So very happy. She had cast aside her sense of duty as the goddess's foremost servant, her responsibilities as the Saintess who led the Church, and the reverence of countless people, to pursue only him. She had no regrets. There was nothing left at her side anymore, but he had been there for her instead. He had filled the emptiness. He had loved her. And that had been enough. Because to the woman called Ariel, he was as good as the whole world.
"...I miss you."
She still remembered it all—the scent of his skin when she was held in his arms, the touch of his hand as he stroked her hair and whispered his love for her.
Ah, now that she thought of it, he had loved to stroke and comb her hair. Even when Ariel told him it tickled and asked him to stop, he would only smile without a word and keep combing, praising its beauty. She had loved that, simply and wholly. It allowed her to know with certainty that she was loved, and that she loved him.
But at the same time, it had all been no more than a single dream. A daydream. It had become as fleeting as foam on the water. It had turned into a fantasy that could never happen in reality. If only she could go back, return to that time and those days, she would cleave open her own heart to return. Even then, she would still dream of a reunion. She wanted to see his face again as he smiled just for her.
...Yet it was impossible. Everything had been buried in the sands of time. And so she realized: even if she stretched out her hand to its utmost, it would not reach. Everything was receding far away from her. Far, like those carriages now so distant the eye could no longer confirm them.
"...Ah, hnk."
Ariel wrapped her arms around herself, the piercing loneliness welling up from her chest. Her legs lost their strength. The truth was, she did not want to be here. She wanted to go north this very moment. She wanted to go to him—rush to him, whisper her love, beg him to look back at her, plead for his love. But she could not. There was no meaning in it. She was not yet prepared for any of it. The time to be with him was not now. So she had to endure.
Desperately she called up other thoughts. She pictured how he had looked at the banquet several days ago. Only then did a smile return to her lips. She remembered the very first time she had met him. The dumbstruck look on his face as he had stared at her and made the slip of calling her "Saintess"—it had been truly precious. So precious that if she could have, she would have wanted to capture that look just as it was upon a canvas.
Yet her smile was brief. Ariel recalled the events that had followed, and her eyes sank coldly.
"Iris El Debhart."
Ariel pictured that woman as she had appeared at the banquet and let out a scornful laugh. It was laughable. Seeing the tramp who had behaved like a maiden who knew no man during the expedition show up at the banquet dressed like a whore from the red-light district had nearly made her burst out laughing. Truly, should she call it blatant? The woman's intentions in wearing such a dress were plain. She could not feign ignorance even if she wanted to. From the moment she had entered the banquet hall, that tramp's eyes had been fixed on only one man.
That was why she had not bowed. She could bend her waist to the Empire's Imperial Princess, but not to a mere whore—especially not when that whore was a revolting creature wagging her tail at her man.
Now that she thought of the banquet, the white-haired girl who had trailed after him like a puppy came to mind. She had said her name was Aria, hadn't she?
"...Ah, Kain. Truly, you are so tender-hearted."
To give even a name to that thing. The moment she saw it, a killing impulse had risen in her, but since it seemed to be a toy he was rather fond of, she had let it be. More precisely, she had merely deemed it not worth the effort and left it alone. That did not mean she was pleased with it, however. With all manner of trash already overflowing in every direction, she had no desire to add yet another pointless obstacle.
"No, that's not right."
If they were to live together just the two of them, the house might be rather lonely. Perhaps keeping a pet for once would not be so bad. Though the girl was one Ariel found most disagreeable, she decided she would endure it this time. For all her appearance now, Ariel was a woman the world called Saintess. She could afford that much mercy.
Above all, it was a decision he had made. She was extremely reluctant to interfere carelessly in what he had decided. She thought it best not to meddle excessively. A dignified and demure demeanor—that was the ideal partner Ariel aspired to be.
"...Hm?"
It was then. Ariel sensed a glare laced with killing intent directed at her from somewhere. She turned her head. From the highest point of the imperial palace, far from the rampart where she stood, she caught sight of a woman watching her. She did not need to ask why that woman was atop the imperial palace. Likely, the reason was the same as her own for standing up here on the rampart.
The distance between Ariel and Iris was roughly one kilometer. Yet it was not enough to hinder either woman from confirming the other's presence. Across that long distance, the two exchanged gazes brimming with killing intent. Neither Ariel nor Iris had so much as a fingernail's worth of intention to look away.
"...Hmph."
A laugh escaped her. A woman who knew nothing—no, who knew one thing at best and was ignorant of the rest—was brazen enough to act like that. It was simply amusing. No doubt she held her head high, trusting in her precious status, but could she maintain that attitude once she learned the truth? Even the lowest creatures turn their heads toward the burrows where they lived when they die. And that man possessed a kindness that no fox could ever hope to match. The game was already decided. The only one who did not know it was the stupid woman glaring at Ariel from over there.
"....."
Iris was the first to withdraw. She gave a loud click of her tongue in Ariel's direction, then sharply turned her head away. Why that woman of immense pride had taken a step back, she did not know. But one thing had become certain: that woman would cross a line before long. She had already failed to hide her killing intent toward Ariel. Ariel would wager everything she had that the woman would pay her a visit in the near future.
It did not matter. No, she rather hoped it would happen. Because—
That was the very reason Ariel had come to the imperial capital.
"Imperial Princess, your visit is always welcome."
Murmuring those words, Ariel unknowingly allowed a soft smile to bloom—a single smile, so very lovely.
****
To the north of the Empire lay a vast mountain range that stretched east to west across the continent. Its name was the Ibarencia Mountains. This range, high and rugged beyond compare, prided itself on a majesty that veiled even the sky and refused the touch of human hands. From the folded valleys where mountain met mountain, the headwaters of the Kildern River wound their way down to flow into Estel Duchy.
The Kildern River was a small tributary that cut across the center of Estel Duchy. A thousand years ago, fertile plains had spread through the duchy, fed by the river, but now, a thousand years later, not a trace of them remained no matter how hard one looked. All that was left was barren wasteland drained of its vigor. If one excluded the handful of crops hardy enough to grow even in desolate soil, agriculture in Estel Duchy was effectively nonexistent.
The weather was likewise utterly wretched, so much so that snow falling in midsummer or frost forming overnight was hardly uncommon. With farming so crippled, commerce and industry had naturally withered as well, and as they withered, the territory's income inevitably shrank. Over the span of a full thousand years, everything that constituted Estel Duchy had lost its meaning. What remained now was an empty shell, reminiscing over memories of the glory it had known a millennium ago.
"...This is serious."
Lucian groaned at the scenery beyond the window. Though I had kindly explained Estel Duchy's current circumstances throughout the journey, he had struggled to accept it. Now, seeing the reality of the duchy with his own eyes, he could not hide his disquiet.
"There isn't even a specialty product? Or what about developing mines?"
"Look here, do you honestly think Estel Duchy has been sitting around twiddling its thumbs for a thousand years?"
I let out a humorless laugh and very kindly explained it to Lucian.
"Any usable mines nearby have been closed for ages. And even when things were going well a thousand years ago, we never had any specialty products to speak of. There's no way one would suddenly pop up now."
"...That. That is..."
Lucian furrowed his brow, then let out a sigh.
"I cannot understand. A thousand years ago, why did the first Duke Estel wish to settle on such land? Did he think people could survive on soil this barren?"
"I feel like I've said this a hundred times already. You don't even have to go back a thousand years—just two hundred years ago, crops grew passably well in Estel Duchy. And I've heard tell that there was a time when gold and silver poured out of those same closed mines. That old gent probably made what he thought was the best choice for his descendants."
No matter how splendid a man the first Duke Estel was, he could never have imagined that Estel Duchy would end up in this sorry state a thousand years later.
"So if you could please stop looking at it with those eyes. No matter how barren this place is, it's still where people live. We haven't lived a life so wretched that we need your pity."
Though it was a feeling a young lord who had never gone hungry in his life would never understand.
"....."
At my words, Lucian closed his eyes. With his mouth shut, the carriage quieted on its own. Why did he have to go and bring up pointless things to ruin a perfectly decent person's mood? Still, what he said wasn't completely wrong, so I let out a small sigh of my own and closed my eyes as well. I wanted to calm my unsettled heart even a little after listening to him.
How much time passed after that? I felt Aria, who had been sitting quietly beside me, give my arm a gentle shake.
"Kain, a message came from the carriage ahead. They said we're due to arrive at the main estate shortly."
"Oh?"
"Mm... and there was one more message they said to pass to you urgently."
"...Pass on urgently?"
"Yes."
With that, Aria held out a crumpled slip of paper toward me. I quashed the inexplicable unease rising inside me and carefully unfolded the note.
[Emissaries from House Castana have arrived. Do not enter the main estate directly; wait outside first.]
"....."
It seemed something quite out of the ordinary had happened the moment I returned home.