9. Spilt Water Never Returns (覆水不返) - 03
9. Spilt Water Never Returns (覆水不返) - 03
"...I'd rather we left my illustrious romantic history right there."
Aria's blank stare was boring into me from the side, and it seemed wise to stop before those eyes sharpened further. Besides, I hadn't set everything aside to visit my father the moment I returned just to listen to lectures.
"Hm. In any case, your resolve seems firm, so I have little to say on that matter. If it is to be Bianca, then I also approve. That being so, what do you intend to do about the ceremony? I hear the engagement ceremony at House Castana fizzled out halfway. If you truly mean to marry the girl, should you not hold a proper one?"
I shook my head gently at my father's point.
"I am sorry toward Bianca, but I intend to hold no ceremony of any kind for the time being."
"...And why is that? If you are taking her as your companion regardless, wouldn't it be better to hold the ceremony sooner than later? It's not as though Bianca will ask to break things off the way Sarah did."
My father added the unnecessary remark that Bianca had witnessed every unsightly thing about me since childhood and still, commendably, came after me saying she liked me.
The reason I was set against holding a ceremony with Bianca was simple. So long as the other women connected to me watched with glaring eyes, holding a ceremony with Bianca would be no different from a declaration of war against them. Consider: if you traced back the reason the imperial princess and Ariel were currently residing in House Estel, did its origin not lie in my false engagement to Bianca?
Bianca, the imperial princess, and Ariel were staying at House Estel not to quietly consume our stores but because they could barely contain their "joy" each time they saw one another's faces. If I were to so much as hint that I was holding a formal ceremony with Bianca, their reactions would be all too easy to foresee. No matter how I thought about it, I could only imagine a grim future in which the entire Estel Duchy collapsed into a pile of ashes, just like ten years later.
But I couldn't very well bare all those circumstances to my father. I decided to reuse the excuse I had employed not long ago to shake off Bianca when she had clung to me insisting we continue the false engagement.
"Well, it does not seem that very many people would rejoice to see Bianca and me joined. At the very least, I suspect the northern nobles do not look kindly upon our relationship."
Setting aside the hostile relationship between House Estel and House Castana, centuries had passed since Estel's decline in the north and Castana's complete ascendance. Now, a union between Bianca and me risked upsetting the balance of the north. After all, officially speaking, House Castana currently has no direct line other than Bianca.
"Well, putting aside why you trouble yourself with such things, you seem to be under a rather large misconception. As far as I know, among the nobles dwelling in the north, those who oppose your union are exceedingly rare."
"...Pardon? Why is that?"
What possible reason could those greedy pigs who care only for their own profit have to support a marriage between Bianca and me?
"...Truly unbelievable. Did you not already prove your worth before an assembly of greedy bastards who care only for their own safety? If those men possess any pride in their own blue blood, they had no choice but to acknowledge you. That you, as a person, possess the qualifications to reign over them."
".....?"
I couldn't understand what my father meant at all, but since it wasn't terribly important right now, I decided to let it slide. I had come to see my father not to trade such vague, insubstantial talk, but to discuss a solution that could break through the utterly bleak situation I currently faced.
"...Well, let us leave that incomprehensible talk for now. However, before I can hold a ceremony with Bianca as you wish, Father, a few issues must be resolved first."
For example, the imperial princess, a dangerous element currently prowling the interior of House Estel without a care, or the various troubles I was tangled in with women like Ariel. Unless I resolved them somehow, a happy future would never come to me. And if possible, this time I very much wanted to avoid the situation spiraling into utter chaos the way it had with Bianca.
Kidnapping, imprisonment, amnesia—such rare experiences were more than enough to last a lifetime. To endure them twice was something I firmly declined. No matter how rare a beauty the perpetrator was, being toyed with at someone else's whim was absolutely not to my taste.
...In that case, what I needed to do was simple. Whatever tricks other women tried to pull on me, I would cultivate the power to break through them head-on. Once I possessed the strength to face them directly, at the very least, I would not simply be swept along by circumstances the way I had been with Bianca.
"In that sense, once my strength has recovered somewhat, I would like to visit the Dekaraznan Ducal House."
This was the conclusion I had reached after deep deliberation.
"....."
My somewhat abrupt statement left my father visibly deep in thought, as if he were weighing something in his mind. Meanwhile, Lucian, who had been standing beside me in silence all the while, merely looked at me with a mildly surprised gaze.
"Kain von Estel. Do you believe the final key lies with the Dekaraznan Ducal House? Then, have you already concluded that the Crussel Ducal House is out of the question?"
At Lucian's question, I readily nodded and spoke.
"Crussel is famously known for producing civil officials for generations. Decisively, I've heard the Dekaraznan Ducal House possesses a hereditary swordsmanship passed down through their line. If we're weighing possibilities, wouldn't you say Dekaraznan is far more likely?"
"Indeed, that is a reasonable judgment."
Lucian nodded quietly, as if convinced by my words.
"...It is a matter that must be settled someday, but there must be a reason you show such haste. Very well, do as you will. As head of House Estel, I grant you full authority to negotiate with the Dekaraznan Ducal House."
Since my father and I had already discussed the matter, everything proceeded smoothly without needing to explain the circumstances.
"Then, Lucian, what do you intend to do? Surely you aren't so pitiful a man as to have no voice in this?"
At my slightly provocative question, Lucian let out a low sigh and readily spoke.
"Now that things have reached this point, the Turnizen Ducal House cannot very well back out. As the young duke of the Turnizen Ducal House, I entrust you with full authority. Kain von Estel."
Only after Lucian had given his permission—or rather, a statement that wasn't quite permission—could I breathe a sigh of relief. With this, all the conditions were satisfied. Even if I couldn't know whether things would proceed smoothly, it was no different from having done everything I could in my present position.
...If—and this is strictly the realm of the hypothetical—if things were to proceed smoothly, then perhaps.
This time, just maybe, I could acquire the possibility of defeating my master, the imperial princess.
****
After that, the discussion moved rapidly. Once I finished deliberating various aspects that hadn't occurred to me earlier and stepped out of my father's office into the reception room, a sight I had never once imagined came into view: an unlikely pair, sitting together in apparent harmony.
A gentle-faced woman with lustrous violet hair was stroking the legs of a cute, black-haired girl. The woman's hands bore a soft, sacred luster discernible at a single glance, and each time those hands passed over the girl's legs, the limbs that were innately frail gradually filled out with flesh and knit together with firm muscle.
...Honestly speaking, even to me—who had experienced Ariel's healing several times—the sight was nothing short of a miracle. I had heard long before that when Ariel was very young, she had restored sight to a blind old woman and made a cripple rise to walk, performing miracles, but I had never imagined she possessed a Divine Authority so immense as to change a constitutionally weak body into a healthy one.
"Mm, this seems about right. Elena, would you like to try standing?"
At Ariel's words, Elena rose from her seat, a look of wonder on her face as she moved her body this way and that. A moment later, Elena's expression transformed into one of reverence directed at Ariel.
"...I can move without any trouble. I'm not short of breath, and I don't feel pain anywhere. It's incredible. Lady Ariel, this is truly—like a miracle."
Ariel merely looked at Elena, who did not hesitate to voice her admiration, with an expression of genuine benevolence.
"Elena. As you say, this is a miracle. For this power I wield is a sign that the goddess holds humanity in compassion."
"But I've received healing from other clergy, and none of them ever produced an effect as magnificent as yours, Lady Ariel?"
When Elena blinked and said this to Ariel, Ariel demurely covered her mouth with her hand and let out a soft laugh.
"Regrettably, what I've done for Elena differs little from what they did. I simply possess a slightly stronger Divine Power, so the difference is felt in your body—nothing more. And my healing, too, is only temporary. To see true results, you would need to receive healing from me consistently."
"...Consistent healing?"
Elena's eyes went wide at Ariel's words.
"But Lady Ariel, didn't you say you would be leaving House Estel in the near future? If so, wouldn't it be difficult for you to continue healing me?"
At Elena's somewhat dejected words, Ariel slowly stroked her head and whispered. To my eyes, the scene looked remarkably like a sly serpent whispering temptations to an innocent lamb.
"That's not so. There is one way."
"A way? What is it?"
"If, for instance, I were to become family with Elena, then I would not need to leave House Estel. And then, naturally, would I not also have ample time to spend with you?"
As she spoke, Ariel glanced back at me, who had been staring blankly at the scene. Truly, an astounding woman. To have noticed I'd entered ages ago and yet feign such perfect innocence.
"Don't you agree, Kain?"
"....."
Faced with an Ariel who now no longer even bothered to hide her desires, I couldn't even begin to guess what I was supposed to say.
"Ah, you're here, Brother?"
Only then noticing I had entered, Elena bowed her head toward me. Ariel smiled softly, rose from her seat, and slowly walked toward the doorway.
"It is a conversation between siblings, so it would be tactless of me to linger. I'll take the hint and leave now. Then, until later."
As she spoke, Ariel trotted off into the distance. I could only watch her retreating figure with a somewhat suspicious gaze. I knew all too well that a woman like Ariel would never back away so willingly when prey was right in front of her.
Then Elena, her expression noticeably brighter than usual, approached me as I watched Ariel depart.
"Brother. Did your conversation with Father end well? What did you discuss for it to take so long?"
"Ah, well—since it has been quite a while since my return from the journey, we had much to talk about, so the conversation ran a little long. Elena."
Still, I couldn't very well recount exactly what had happened in the office, so I answered with a vague deflection. Elena looked at me with a faintly coy expression.
"Tch, so you won't tell me in the end. That's too cruel, Brother. Then, in exchange, couldn't you answer just one of my questions?"
"If it's something I can answer, as many as you like."
When I nodded at Elena's words, she tilted her head and posed a question to me.
"The thing is, a rumor has been going around that Lady Bianca might become your future companion, Brother. Is that really true?"
"Well, yes."
Since I had decided to take responsibility for Bianca in one form or another, it wasn't a lie.
...And Elena's questioning wasn't over yet.
"But I've heard that while Lady Bianca may be a fine mage, she's somewhat lacking as the mistress of a house. They say her personality is as eccentric as one would expect of a mage, that she indulges in tremendous luxury, and that she treats her subordinates carelessly?"
"...Who says that?"
Elena glanced at the spot where Ariel had been seated just moments before, then shook her head.
"I'm not telling."
"....."