6. Much Ado About Nothing - 03
6. Much Ado About Nothing - 03
"Young Duke Estel—that is, Kain von Estel—has accepted our proposal."
"...Is that so. Well done, Bianca."
Deep within House Castana, in the family head's private office, the head of the house, Sion del Castana, and his daughter Bianca del Castana spoke in hushed tones, even erecting a mana-woven soundproof barrier around them. The conversation was highly confidential—a discussion that absolutely must not leak. Given that rats had already burrowed into House Castana, no amount of caution was excessive.
"In a few days, Young Duke Estel is scheduled to arrive at House Castana. Ostensibly, he will come here as my betrothed. To those lurking in the shadows, the prospect of House Estel and House Castana becoming one is something they cannot afford to ignore."
"No doubt. They are the ones who desire the empire's nobility to remain scattered and divided above all else. I have been discreetly spreading word of your engagement to Young Duke Estel across the empire for the past several days. By now, they are likely scrambling as if their feet were on fire. This is the one and only chance for the rats hiding in the dark to poke their heads into the light. Bianca, do not forget—this opportunity must not, under any circumstances, be missed."
"...I shall bear it in mind, my lord."
Yet the conversation they exchanged was too formal, too stiff to be called a talk between father and daughter. True, it was understandable given the official capacity in which they stood, but even taking that into account, the atmosphere flowing between Marquis Castana and Bianca was awkward beyond words.
And that impression was not mistaken. After all, neither Marquis Castana nor Bianca felt any sentiment whatsoever in the words they exchanged. They directed only dry, impersonal remarks at one another, as if bound by some prior arrangement. No familial affection, no father-daughter intimacy colored their speech—nothing at all.
Of course, both Marquis Castana and Bianca were keenly aware of this fact. Yet neither possessed the slightest will to improve the stifling situation. Because it was already far too late. Nothing could be turned back now. They were already walking parallel lines that would never meet. Everything had ended long, long ago. All of it.
"That aside, there is something I wish to ask you. A question born of personal curiosity regarding Young Duke Estel."
"...Speak, my lord."
"What kind of man is this Young Duke Estel you met in person? Rumor paints him as a good-for-nothing fool with no talent beyond enchanting the opposite sex. Did he truly prove to be such an individual? Or did he seem, as befits a scion of House Estel's bloodline, someone with a hidden talent or two concealed?"
Marquis Castana's question was devoid of malice, stemming from pure curiosity. He, too, had heard the many rumors swirling across the empire of late.
That the Young Duke of House Estel, the fellow called Kain von Estel, had stirred up every sort of scandal over the past several months. And that, however incredible it might seem, he had faced the Young Duke of the Turnizen Ducal House—a swordsman of the Master Realm—head-on at the capital's banquet hall and emerged with a dignified victory.
For Marquis Castana, who had never once met the man in person, grasping the true nature of Young Duke Estel was no simple matter. Was the fellow, as rumor had it, nothing more than a feckless wastrel? Or was he in truth a young tiger carefully concealing his claws?
Thus, Marquis Castana directed the question at Bianca. Setting aside his personal feelings toward her, he privately acknowledged that her eye for appraisal was more than passable. A woman like Bianca, he reckoned, would easily discern the man's true character without being swayed by mere public rumor.
And in that moment, Marquis Castana realized he had committed a blunder.
Guooooong—
".....!"
An immense torrent of Magic Power erupted from Bianca's small frame, becoming a storm that filled the modest office. The power she radiated was honed razor-sharp, as though giving voice to her current mood. Even Marquis Castana, revered across the empire as a great archmage, felt his own body sting under the Magic Power Bianca unleashed. It did not stop there—her power pressed down upon the entire office with palpable weight, as if it possessed mass of its own.
'...Er, hm...'
It was, to put it mildly, preposterous. To be so affected by the Magic Power emanating from a young woman not yet out of her twenties—and not a deliberate working at that, but mere dregs of power, the result of momentarily failing to contain her emotions.
Whether or not she was aware of House Castana's inner thoughts, Bianca's eyes blazed with ghost-fire as she spat her words, as if chewing up her own father.
"...He, Kain von Estel, is my betrothed. Moreover, he is not someone for you to factor into your calculations, my lord. So, please refrain from using expressions that disparage him before me. Ideally, forever."
The determined attitude that would brook no rebuttal forced Marquis Castana to swallow a groan inwardly. He was reminded, belatedly, that the daughter standing before him was a monster. Truly, she was the greatest masterpiece Castana had ever produced.
...Alas, most regrettably, that masterpiece was nothing but a failure. He had exercised caution upon caution to prevent it, yet in the end a mere weapon had acquired a human heart. An outcome he could only call lamentable in the extreme.
That said, there was no reason to antagonize Bianca here. An important undertaking lay just ahead. Rationally speaking, if a few honeyed words could pacify her, the profit would be clear. Disobedient though she might be, she was unquestionably still a useful weapon.
"...Very well, I shall withdraw my earlier remark. Then let me ask you again. The fellow who may become my future son-in-law—what sort of man is he?"
The words carried a faintly sarcastic ring, hard to believe coming from Marquis Castana, a man of chilly mage's disposition. Yet the instant he spoke them, the Magic Power that had filled the room vanished as if washed away. Startled, Marquis Castana looked at Bianca's face and found her wearing an exceedingly faint smile at the corners of her lips. It was his daughter's smile, one he had not seen in a very long while.
"...He is a good man. I am certain you will come to approve of him as well, my lord."
"....."
Watching Bianca, Marquis Castana could only laugh hollowly to himself. Insensitive to the emotions of others as he might be, at this stage there was no missing the signs.
'...Hah, this is something.'
Other things might be uncertain, but one thing seemed clear enough. The fellow called Kain von Estel was, just as the rumors said, a damn womanizer.
'He's no ordinary man. Or rather, should I call him formidable? I must double the surveillance personnel assigned to House Estel.'
That was the moment the handling of Kain von Estel was decided in Marquis Castana's mind.
****
"...How laughable. Truly."
The instant she left the family head's office and shut herself in her own room, Bianca let out a scornful laugh.
It was absurd. The family head, knowing nothing, seeking to arrange the situation to his own liking—his conduct was the height of ridicule. What gave a fool who couldn't even see his own feet the audacity to judge anyone? The fact that he was her father did not even register as a consideration for Bianca. Had Marquis Castana not been a moderately clever, moderately perceptive, and useful hunting dog, Bianca would never have left him in peace.
To preserve House Castana? To Bianca's ears, his words were nothing but excuses. That man was simply a petty wretch unable to abide letting what he held in his grasp slip away.
In the first place, a fool who didn't even know that his closest blood kin had betrayed him—his pretense of surveying a thousand leagues while seated was nauseating. She almost found it a shame she could not show him the work she was now undertaking.
"O legacy of the dragon racing the firmament, breathe forth a sigh of sorrow."
Crack—
Alongside Bianca's murmured incantation, space split open beside her with a crack. It was Subspace Magic, a spell only a very few among living mages could employ. From the rift in space emerged a middle-aged man whose facial features somehow resembled Bianca's, and a knight bearing a sword.
The middle-aged man was Heron del Castana, the current family head's younger brother and one of House Castana's chief mages. The knight with the sword was a man named Joshua Pendle, captain of the 2nd Division of House Castana's Black Wind Knight Order.
...And, simultaneously, the trash that had sold out House Castana to 'them.' She had no evidence whatsoever, yet Bianca knew full well that they were traitors. After all, it was intelligence she had obtained by tearing through their skulls in the future. More certain information than this could not exist in the world—setting aside the trifling drawback that she could never disclose the source to anyone.
The figures who emerged from Bianca's subspace, however, were in a state that could not be called normal no matter how one looked at them. Their pupils were blank and unfocused, and drool trickled continuously from the corners of their mouths. They looked like witless imbeciles devoid of reason. Needless to say, they were Bianca's handiwork. It was the result of 'persuading' them, since it would be troublesome if they were to rampage inside the subspace.
"...Hmph."
Bianca regarded their state with cold contempt. To her eyes, they were nothing but refuse unworthy of living in the world. In her heart, she wished to turn those vermin to dust in an instant. Regrettably, they were still useful vermin. Therefore, she could not kill them yet. Yes—not yet.
"Look straight into my eyes."
"....."
"....."
At Bianca's command, they stared vacantly into her eyes.
"A few days from now, Bianca del Castana's betrothed, Kain von Estel, will arrive here. Your task is very simple."
Saying this, Bianca whispered softly to them, as if genuinely delighted.
"One week after he arrives, you will ambush him in secret. You will reveal killing intent toward him. But you must not kill him. You must not even wound him. Your sole task is to rush at him like fools and be meekly captured by his hand. Do you understand?"
Nod.
At Bianca's words, they nodded their heads meekly like simpletons. At their response, Bianca smiled with genuine satisfaction. It seemed her 'research' had clearly met with considerable success.
"...Kain."
Bianca's scheme was exceedingly simple. She intended to lay all the credit for capturing the vermin gnawing at House Castana squarely at his feet. If he achieved such a monumental feat, the high-ranking figures of House Castana, beginning with the family head, would have no choice but to acknowledge him. At the very least, even if Kain wished to go beyond a nominal engagement to marry some woman of House Castana, it would be difficult for them to voice easy opposition.
...If they did voice opposition to the bitter end, she would have to 'persuade' them as well, but she sincerely hoped it would not come to that. Tearing through other people's skulls was never a pleasant experience for her.
No matter how she thought about it, this was the best way. A method by which he, she, and everyone could be happy. That was why she had orchestrated this grand theater. She had refrained from rooting out traitors she could dispose of at any time and steered the situation to this point. Did he know, she wondered? That the entirety of House Castana was little more than a stage constructed for his sake.
He might feel resistance at first. But in time, he would come to realize. How deeply she loved him. What sacrifices she had made for him. Once he knew everything, surely he would come to love her too.
With this, all preparations were complete. All that remained was his arrival. Bianca wore a bewitching smile as she contemplated the events to come.
"...Please, don't make me cross the line, Kain."
I beg you.