6. Much Ado About Nothing - 13
6. Much Ado About Nothing - 13
A thousand years ago, by decree of the First Emperor, the Four Great Ducal Houses were stationed in the four cardinal directions. Since then, they had ruled as the undisputed hegemons of their respective regions.
It was inevitable. After all, the history of how meritorious subjects of such caliber came to be stationed at the borders was essentially that they had been dispatched with full authority delegated by the First Emperor to quell the empire's unending border conflicts.
Estel in the North, Turnizen in the West, Dekaraznan in the East, Crussel in the South.
They were, without a doubt, the supreme champions and hegemons of a region. To the minor lords of the area, they were more absolute in their authority than the Emperor far away in the Imperial Capital. From the nobles' perspective, a ducal house that projected its influence across the region to solidify its power was far more terrifying than the Emperor, a being so high in the clouds that they might never meet him in their lifetime.
However, around eight hundred years after the empire's founding, cracks began to form in this system in the North. House Estel, which should have led the North as its central pillar, was slowly walking the path of decline. The reason didn't even need to be stated. The farmland had dried up, the soil had weakened, and the mines that once endlessly poured out gold and silver were closing one by one. The Estel Duchy had fallen to a state worse than any minor territory.
As a rule, the authority of a noble house does not derive merely from status or titles. Those who cannot even safeguard their own well-being have no right to stand above others and rule. In that sense, the House Estel of the present, having fallen and decayed until only crumbs of its golden age remained, had effectively lost its right to reign over all as the hegemon of the North.
So two hundred years passed. After House Estel stepped down from its position as the representative champion of the North, the one that newly claimed that seat was none other than House Castana. In the minds of everyone in the North, House Castana possessed more than enough qualifications to succeed House Estel and reign as the new hegemon.
House Castana was a prestigious family that had existed since the empire's founding, had produced powerful Archmages generation after generation, and possessed economic power rivaling the top in the empire by earning immense profits from selling Artifacts. It was, without a doubt, a flawless and highly prestigious house.
Thus, everyone concluded that the Estel Duchy could never regain the momentum it had two hundred years ago. The northern nobles turned their backs on House Estel and resolved to follow House Castana. No matter how one looked at it, the tide had already been decided.
... Yes, right until the news that Kain von Estel, the Young Duke of House Estel, and Bianca del Castana, the eldest legitimate daughter of House Castana, were getting engaged struck the entire North like a thunderbolt.
To the northern nobles, it was truly a bolt from the blue. The moment they heard it, they couldn't believe their ears. To their common sense, the descendants of Estel and Castana falling in love was utter nonsense, no different from hearing that a dog and a cat fell in love at first sight and lived happily ever after!
Ridiculous. Not only did the young people of two houses that had been growling as soon as they saw each other for a thousand years fall in love, but they even confessed that love in a place where all the family members were gathered! It was an absurd development that not even the cheapest marketplace melodrama would dare to pull off.
But their shock, which nearly stopped their brains, was brief. The northern nobles could not merely be appalled by what had already happened; they had to ponder just what would happen after the engagement.
Because if—and this was purely hypothetical for now—the engagement between the Young Duke of Estel and the daughter of House Castana succeeded and a child were born between them, the landscape of the North would undoubtedly become incredibly complicated afterward.
Since Kain von Estel was the Young Duke of House Estel, the child born between them would inherit the surname of the father, Estel. However, at the same time, since the child would inherit half of the Castana bloodline from the mother, it also meant the child could become a legitimate heir capable of inheriting everything of House Castana.
Considering that Bianca del Castana was currently the only legitimate grandchild of House Castana, the possibility that Estel and Castana could merge into a single house through a child born between them could not be dismissed. In other words, the balance of the entire North, which everyone thought had barely stabilized, might be turned upside down once more due to this engagement!
Therefore, every noble of the North began making their way toward House Castana, where the engagement ceremony was to be held. They wanted to see with their own eyes what consequences this small breeze blowing between Estel and Castana would bring in the future.
****
I don't remember exactly when, but back when I was part of the Expedition Force, I once had this conversation with Kirie.
'Hmm, Kain. If it's not rude of me, may I ask you something?'
Kirie posed her question with an exceedingly polite attitude. I nodded in response. Seeing the usually annoying elf finally starting to grasp some of the etiquette of human society filled me with an odd sense of pride.
'Yes, what is it you're curious about, Kirie?'
'Hmm, it's nothing major. It's just that I happened to overhear a conversation you had with Bianca del Castana the other day. Listening to it, I found myself wondering about something concerning you.'
'...Pardon?'
Watching Kirie so brazenly admit to eavesdropping on someone else's conversation, I felt completely flabbergasted. Why had no other woman ever told this elf that listening in on other people's talks is considered a crime?
'Ah, was it a secret conversation? I see. I didn't consider that, given the difference in auditory levels between humans and my kind.'
Saying, "It was never my intention," Kirie tapped her long ear. Looking at her like that, I fell deep into thought about whether this could be considered a form of racial discrimination.
'...So, what is this question you want to ask, Kirie?'
'Well, it's simple. Kain, is it true that you were once engaged in the past?'
'...Yes, well. That is true.'
'But just how did that engagement come to be broken? Did you, Kain, commit some terrible mistake?'
'.....'
...Truly, she was an elf who knew nothing of the human heart, and made no effort to understand it. Did she really have to dig up someone's painful past to feel at ease?
'...Why do you ask that?'
'Well, because I'm curious. We elves choose only a single spouse in our lifetime and vow to stay together until we grow old and die. In that sense, I'm incredibly curious about the heart of that woman, your former fiancée, who so casually threw away a promise of marriage.'
As she spoke, Kirie furrowed her brow as if something truly displeased her. Her long ears fluttered up and down, as if representing her current mood.
'...Hmm...'
To be honest, all my attention was focused on Kirie's ears fluttering up and down. It was a truly fascinating sight. In that instant, I felt a dark impulse wash over me to grab hold of those ears, which were wriggling like live fish. If I could just close my eyes and stroke Kirie's long ear once, I felt like I'd have nothing left to envy in this world—
'...Kain? Are you thinking something rude right now? Your eyes look strange.'
'...Not at all. How could I possibly do that?'
As I immediately stiffened my expression and denied it, Kirie stared at me with suspicious eyes but soon stopped her interrogation and let it slide.
'Well, so, can you answer me? Kain, why did that woman declare she wanted to break off your engagement?'
...Well, it wasn't a particularly difficult question to answer. It was just that reminiscing about that time made me feel like shit, so I was reluctant to bring it up. But since the elf before me couldn't care less about trivial things like my feelings, I soon gave up and was about to open my mouth to answer Kirie's question.
'...Hmm.'
'Oh my? It seems you're discussing something interesting. Do you mind if I join?'
'.....'
That was the moment. The Imperial Princess, who had been absorbed in personal training in the distance, the Saintess, who had been quietly basking by the campfire, and even Bianca, who had been idling around with nothing to do—all of them slyly crept over and plopped themselves down around me as if they had reserved those spots from the very beginning. Looking at it now, it seemed Kirie wasn't the only one in the expedition suffering from eavesdropping tendencies.
'...Everyone, just why are you all gathering around me?'
To my question, asked while harboring the petty hope that they'd all just... disappear, those women answered with completely nonchalant expressions.
'Because I was also curious about the matter.'
'Hmm, actually, it's a question I wanted to ask you too, Kain. I didn't ask because it seemed rude, though.'
'Instead of asking those kinds of questions, why don't you just answer hers? Hmm?'
'.....'
I knew well that women are inherently interested in other people's love lives, but I never imagined they'd show such avid interest in something as trivial as this. I had always thought that to the women of the expedition, I was no better than a weed on the side of the road.
'...It's come to this. Strictly speaking, she and I never even properly held hands, so I can't even call it a proper engagement relationship. Not unless it was a purely political one.'
Muttering this, I was seized by shame and involuntarily hung my head. I was now being forced to confess because I couldn't withstand the violent pressure from these women, but truthfully, this story was utterly humiliating. If a story about being unable to form a half-decent relationship with a woman well into my late twenties isn't shameful, then what is?
'...Kain. You really, really never even held hands with that woman?'
And then Bianca fired the confirmatory shot.
'...Yes. So, please, can we just drop that line of questioning?'
Seemingly satisfied with my expression, which was smeared with humiliation, Bianca nodded with a pleased face. In inverse proportion to her satisfaction, my mood only fell into the abyss.
At me, sitting there with my head hanging low, the Saintess then posed a question.
'...Hmm, Kain. This woman named Sarah, did you love her?'
To the Saintess's question, I gently shook my head from side to side.
'...It would be a lie if I said I didn't like her. But now that I think about it, I can't really call it love.'
Liking Sarah was a story from my immature past when I had simply fallen for her looks. I knew well now. I knew well what an immature expression of affection I had forced upon Sarah.
And watching me, the Imperial Princess furrowed her brows, as if something didn't sit right with her, and asked this.
'...Kain. Were you truly, truly unaffected? To see your fiancée held in another man's arms and still forgive her?'
'...Well, I did like her, after all. And isn't it all over now? Holding onto any lingering feelings for her at this point would just be pathetic.'
Sure, I'm no saint, so it felt fucking awful, but what can I do about it now? Nothing to do but let it go as something in the past.
'.....'
Once I sincerely answered them, as if their curiosity had finally been sated, they all quietly shut their mouths.
Just as I was about to let out a small sigh and get up from my seat, Kirie—the very initiator of today's hearing—called out and stopped me.
'Kain, this is a purely hypothetical question...'
As she said this, Kirie's green eyes, transparent like glass, sparkled.
'If you were to get engaged again, what kind of woman would you want to be engaged to?'
To Kirie's question, I think I answered without much thought.
'This time, I'd like to be engaged to someone I truly love. I've had enough of political marriages.'