6. Much Ado About Nothing - 01
6. Much Ado About Nothing - 01
In the deepest chamber of the Imperial Palace, Iris El Debhart leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.
The "Bianca del Castana" in her mind was not the Bianca of this timeline. She was remembering the Bianca from before time rewound—the woman with whom she had shared every hardship and triumph in the Expedition Force. A woman celebrated not merely as the daughter of House Castana but as one of the Empire's five greatest archmages and a peerless genius. Eccentric, as mages tend to be, yet at the same time a fragile woman who struggled to bare her true feelings to others. ...And the only woman in the Expedition Force who had treated him without reservation.
The Bianca del Castana that Iris knew was a truly contradictory being. On the surface, she seemed utterly unshakable, projecting a calm, consistent confidence to the world. But beneath that, she was little more than a pitiable woman with an unbearably fragile core.
She always bluffed and postured, pretending the opinions of others meant nothing. To Iris, however, Bianca's behavior was nothing short of a compulsion. She thought of her as a hedgehog, bristling with thorns to hide its weakness. In that sense, Bianca del Castana was a deeply tragic woman.
The fact that she couldn't be honest even with herself, which forced her to keep spitting sharp, cutting words at others. The fact that she couldn't cherish herself yet still craved affection. The fact that, while craving affection, she feared contact with others like a frightened child. All of it.
But Iris could understand. The world was busy admiring the dazzling surface of the peerless genius "Bianca del Castana," but Iris knew that wasn't the whole truth. Standing at the pinnacle of the Empire, second only to the Emperor himself, Iris was privy to a few secrets that ordinary people could never know.
...For example, precisely how Bianca del Castana had come into being. How House Castana had used her. What kind of treatment she had received within House Castana.
It was an inappropriate sentiment, but for a fleeting moment, Iris had felt pity for Bianca as she looked back on her life. No, in a sense, she was a woman who deserved pity. A truly wretched girl. A woman who had lived a life despised, rejected, and shunned by everything that made up her existence. A pitiful woman who had never received a single moment of affection from her family. That was the past of the Bianca del Castana Iris knew.
And then one day, Bianca del Castana encountered him. A thoroughly ordinary boy named Kain von Estel. Even Iris did not know what transpired in that insignificant little meeting. But she felt she knew one thing for certain. For Bianca del Castana, at least, that encounter with Kain von Estel was anything but trivial.
To be honest, Iris found Bianca's attitude toward him quite grating. While she maintained a strict distance and rigid formality with everyone else, the way she let her guard down around him in particular irritated Iris. The way Bianca constantly picked petty fights with him looked to Iris like nothing more than an act of childish dependence—of pestering him for attention.
...But because of that, Iris could actually rest easy. Bianca was a woman so incapable of being honest with herself that she couldn't recognize her own desires. An immature woman who, swept up by her emotions, had no idea what she was meant to do. Against a rival like that—a mere child—Iris thought there was no way she could lose. Yes, just until yesterday, she had believed that.
"...Hmm."
But it seemed she would have to revise that opinion. Bianca del Castana was not an opponent to be underestimated. As Iris studied documents secretly retrieved from the Black Tower, the heart of black magic, that thought took firm hold.
"...Human memory, is it..."
Bianca del Castana hadn't even bothered to conceal her activities, so Iris easily grasped the purpose behind her visit to the Black Tower. The central theme of Bianca's current research was "memory." Iris had never imagined Bianca would reveal her trump card so brazenly—even more so than Saintess Ariel Tiere had—and that only made Bianca's sudden strike feel all the more devastating.
"...What on earth is she plotting?"
What exactly was Bianca del Castana aiming for? Why was she conducting research related to memory? She didn't know. The reason was that too many possibilities existed to easily pin down her intent.
The simplest guess was that Bianca del Castana was trying to recover her "memories" from before time rewound. But was such a thing even feasible? Though Iris was no expert in magic, she at least knew that no spell in the world could perform the miracle of rewinding the entire world's timeline. Even if the legendary dragons, long lost to the ages, were to be resurrected, such a feat would be impossible.
Thus, she could state with certainty: such an act was effectively impossible for a mere human.
Still, no matter how much she agonized, an answer wouldn't come. She could hardly share the issue of "regression" with anyone else, which only redoubled her frustration. Iris was clutching her head, wracked with anguish, when it happened.
Knock, knock—
"Who is it?"
In answer to the Imperial Princess's question, a familiar voice came from beyond the door.
"Your Highness. It is I, Chris. I judged there was urgent news to report to Your Highness, which is why I have come to your chambers at this late hour."
"...Enter."
Only after Iris granted permission did the door open and a knight in light full-body armor step into the room. It was her guardian knight, Chris.
Iris looked at him with a questioning gaze. Unless the matter was exceptionally urgent, Chris would never come to her chambers so late at night.
"What brings you here at this hour, Chris?"
"...Well, that is..."
Chris hesitated—a demeanor far removed from his usual self. At his strange response, Iris felt an inexplicable chill of foreboding wash over her whole body.
"...It is news concerning Kain von Estel. No, concerning Lord Kain."
"...Concerning Kain?"
"...Yes."
At Chris's reply, the anxiety Iris had just felt swelled tenfold. What in the world had happened that made Chris so reluctant to speak, so full of hemming and hawing?
"Well, between Lord Kain and Bianca del Castana of House Castana, the two of them..."
Today Chris's words felt excruciatingly slow. Iris found herself pressing him before she realized it.
"...Between them, what has happened?"
Unable to withstand Iris's urging, Chris spat out the rest of his unfinished sentence.
"An engagement ceremony is scheduled to be held. In one week's time, at that."
Cr-rack!
The chair Iris was sitting in shattered into pieces. But Iris paid no attention to that trivial detail as she stepped toward Chris, her voice laced with unmistakable menace.
"...Chris, elaborate on what you just said. In greater detail. Without omitting a single thing. Every last detail. Right now."
****
"...Young Duke, I have something I'd like to ask you."
"What is it? As long as it's something I can answer, I'll give you one."
At my reply, Old Karl gazed at Aria, who was immersed in meditation far off in the distance, and quietly posed his question.
"Aria—what do you think of that child?"
"What do I think?"
"Yes."
What kind of random question was this? But the expression on Old Karl's face was terribly serious, so I answered him without hesitation.
"A cute girl, like the mascot of the Estel Duchy. And she happens to have a genius-level talent in magic—so much so that you, old man, came begging on your hands and knees for me to take her as your disciple."
I delivered the half-joking answer with a smirk, but Old Karl shook his head as if to deny my words.
"...That's not it. Aria does not merely possess a genius talent for magic."
"What do you mean by that? That day, you were rambling on excitedly. You insisted Aria was a peerless genius, the kind that comes along maybe once a century."
"...Yes, I certainly did. Back then, I thought Aria was a tremendous genius who would leave a definitive mark on the history of Magic Studies. I believed she was the only talent who could inherit all my research and ultimately reveal the truth that lies beyond. I was being arrogant."
As he spoke, a bitter smile touched Old Karl's lips.
"But I was wrong. I was mistaken. That child, Aria, is not a simple existence that can be defined by the mere word 'genius.' She is an existence that someone like me cannot measure or pass judgment upon."
"..."
"Young Duke, are you aware? Those commonly called geniuses are people who, when taught one thing, can readily glean ten from it. Yet even such geniuses still require the process of being taught that one thing by someone else. For a mere human who lives at most a hundred-odd years, to create something from nothing unaided is an impossibility."
"...But Aria is not like that. Though I have only taught her one thing, that child already knows a hundred. She is awakening to a thousand, and applying ten thousand. It was only then that I realized. Before she left for the Imperial Capital, Aria had no interest whatsoever in magic and had been listening to my words half-heartedly. And yet, to these old, failing eyes of mine, that child had still appeared a genius."
Old Karl shuddered as though unable to suppress a chill.
"It is truly terrifying—how far that child will progress, and where she will ultimately arrive. This old man, even at this very moment, cannot stifle his fear."
...I felt I somehow understood the nature of Old Karl's worries. What concerned him must be that Aria would become like the witch ten years from now. Even if his own realm is only third-rate, that he could accurately sense the future Aria might reach... just goes to show—worthless as he may be, he's still a mage, I suppose.
"...So?"
"Pardon?"
"So, do you regret taking Aria as your disciple? Do you wish you hadn't taken her in?"
At my question, Old Karl closed his eyes gently.
"...No. I do not regret taking that child as my disciple, not even for a single moment. However, there is something I wish to ask of you, Young Duke."
"A request?"
"Yes."
As he spoke, Old Karl looked at Aria in the distance—still immersed in her meditation—with a warm gaze, then turned his eyes back to me.
"If that child should ever go astray, I hope you will be the one to stop her, Young Duke. Though I cannot explain why, I have a strong feeling that you are the only person capable of fulfilling that role."
...Indeed, it was just as the old man said. Perhaps ten years from now, Aria might once again become the witch who brings winter upon the world. And I was the one who had decided to save Aria—who could potentially turn into a colossal cataclysm. In that case, it was only natural that I should shoulder all the responsibility.
"...I'll do that. I'll take full responsibility for Aria to the very end."
How had he interpreted my words? At my answer, Old Karl showed a quiet smile.
"...That puts my mind at ease. Thank you, Young Duke."