10. What Happened One Night - 09
'...I think we've got a bit of a problem.'
A fact Sarah had not realized until now—and would never know for the rest of her life—was that until a moment ago, she and the middle-aged man had not been the only two people in this room. And in this very instant, now that the middle-aged man had left, Sarah was not alone in the room, silently shedding tears.
Because present in her room was not only Sarah, but also Aria, who had concealed her own form with magic and was secretly watching over her.
Astonishingly, Aria had succeeded in perfect concealment that no one could see through—not only removing herself from the visual fields of others by refracting and distorting the atmosphere around her with magic, but also masking all traces of her existence, including body heat and presence. This was an independent spell Aria had developed after drawing inspiration from watching Kain use 'Flowing Star' to erase his own appearance and presence.
Its efficacy was truly remarkable, enough that even the middle-aged man, a swordsman who had reached the Realm of the Zenith, had not noticed in the slightest that someone other than himself and Sarah existed in the room. Of course, it was a method with little effect against absolute powerhouses like Bianca or the Imperial Princess—the ones Aria truly wished to deceive.
'...If it can't deceive the eyes of those things, it's nothing but a failed spell anyway.'
Setting aside the Imperial Princess and the Saintess, Aria frowned without realizing it as Bianca's face came to mind—Bianca, who was now practically a permanent resident of House Estel. She was a bitch Aria disliked enough to secretly want to kill, chop into small pieces, and bury in a sunny spot in the back mountain. But since Kain himself had ordered her not to quarrel with Bianca, there was nothing to be done.
For Aria, refusing Kain's words was an impossibility.
So what could she do? If she couldn't physically kill those things, there was only one path left. It turned her stomach just thinking about it, but she had no choice but to somehow coexist with them. More precisely, it was a method to monopolize Kain without those things catching on.
'Originally it was a spell I developed to secretly go out and play alone with Lord Kain.'
Receiving all that advice from Kain while he used 'Flowing Star' in order to develop this magic—that was undoubtedly the greatest blunder. Because once Kain recalled that she had developed a spell enabling concealment perfect enough to slap the face of any decent assassin, he had asked her to secretly watch over and guard Sarah from the shadows, just in case some unforeseen incident occurred.
From Kain's perspective, worrying about Sarah's safety and asking Aria for such a thing was only natural. After all, the very first scene he had witnessed after arriving at the Dekaraznan Ducal House was that bastard of an uncle treating her in that manner.
Their relationship might have become awkward beyond measure now, but still, she was a woman he had once loved, and his former betrothed. If he hadn't known, he might not have cared—but now that he did know, how could Kain possibly leave Sarah alone without devising any countermeasures?
...There was just one thing he hadn't quite factored in, though: the fact that Aria, the very person currently tasked with Sarah's covert protection, felt not an iota of interest in Sarah's well-being in the first place. She had nodded reluctantly only because Kain had 'asked' her to. From the very beginning, Aria couldn't have cared less what happened to Sarah.
No, to put it more precisely, she didn't want to feel any interest at all. A wench like Sarah Sernad was disgusting and irritating just to look at.
'...Lord Kain is too kind-hearted. To not only personally embrace a filthy woman like that who betrayed him, but to even step forward and try to look after her himself.'
Aria could accept, understand, and be considerate of any aspect of Kain. But she harbored an enormous dissatisfaction with the way he became exceptionally indecisive and overflowing with sentiment whenever he got entangled with a woman from his past. This time, he had taken her in when she had lost her memories, even making her his personal maid and keeping her close. Shouldn't he therefore love her the most? She truly couldn't understand why he kept trying to keep strange wenches by his side.
Among them, a wench like Sarah Sernad could only be called the worst of the worst. Although it was now an event that had never happened, wasn't she a wench who had already once lain with Lucian von Turnizen?
Aria frowned without realizing it as the stupid face of Lucian von Turnizen, who was residing at House Estel, surfaced in her mind. Aria truly, truly disliked Lucian. He was a human who had not only dared to pick a fight with Kain but had even wounded him. In that sense, Aria couldn't help but think Lucian and Sarah were a match made in heaven.
'...Still, at least she properly knows her place.'
Perhaps that was Sarah Sernad's sole merit. While Bianca went without saying, and all sorts of riffraff threw themselves at Kain like dogs with their eyes rolled back over a bone, Sarah Sernad was the only woman who didn't wag her tail at him. Without even that merit, Aria would have absolutely never accepted the task of guarding Sarah.
...And now, Aria found herself indifferently watching the sight of Sarah killing her own breath and dripping tears, thinking to herself.
'What's so hard about spreading her legs once that she makes such a fuss. She's already done it once, so the second time shouldn't be a big deal.'
Ah, now that she thought about it, this time she probably didn't have the experience of spreading her legs. Actually, whether Sarah had experience or not wasn't the important issue. Because.
- ...Sarah.
Because Kain had also heard the entire conversation Sarah and her uncle had just had.
Aria had been guarding Sarah with her form hidden by magic in case of any possible unforeseen situation, but that was only a precaution, at most. It was a countermeasure assuming the worst-case scenario, a situation where everything would have to be resolved through force.
The place where Kain and Sarah were staying was none other than the Dekaraznan Ducal House, one of the Four Great Ducal Houses of the empire. In a place possessing wealth and prestige counted among the highest in the empire, drawing a sword without the permission of Duke Dekaraznan was nothing less than an act that directly challenged their authority.
The sole purpose of Aria secretly watching Sarah was to grasp the situation as quickly as possible and inform Kain, should an unforeseen incident occur beyond his reach. Her dislike of Sarah was a purely personal sentiment; she could never treat a task Kain had personally 'asked' of her with negligence.
From the moment Sarah had first come face-to-face with her uncle, Aria had activated a Communication Artifact capable of two-way transmission and let Kain hear every conversation occurring in this room—
- .......
And as a result, her one and only master seemed to be angry right now.
A lot, at that. No, an immense amount.
****
Crunch—
Just as Aria had expected, having heard the entire exchange in Sarah's room, Kain could only let out an empty laugh. Having grown angry, having raged so fiercely, all that seemed left was a hollow laugh.
He had clenched his fist so tightly that blood was overflowing. But a fury far greater than any pain had seized him. He wanted to throw away the face of the Dekaraznan Ducal House, of House Estel, everything, and rush to House Sernad this instant to slaughter those things worse than dogs.
Or if not that, he at least wanted to rip that bastard's mouth in half.
He had known. From the very moment Sarah was treated in that manner by the human called her uncle at the Dekaraznan Ducal House, he had known all too well that the hardships she had to suffer behind the scenes were on a level he couldn't even imagine.
He also knew very well that House Sernad treated the woman called Sarah as nothing more than a 'product' to be prettily packaged and foisted onto another family. He knew full well that House Sernad, treating her like that, were sons of bitches.
...But between merely knowing it and actually witnessing the reality of how those people acted, there existed a vast, unbridgeable gulf. He had never even imagined that people who called themselves nobles and claimed blue blood ran in their veins would commit such base acts.
Struggling to forcibly calm his churning insides, Kain called Aria's name with a slightly trembling voice.
"...Aria."
- Yes, Lord Kain.
"I'm sorry, but could I borrow your strength?"
At Kain's words, Aria's reply came back as if it were obvious.
- Everything of mine originates from you, Lord Kain. So I will always be your strength. You don't need to ask such questions....
"No, that's not what I meant just now. Aria."
Kain spoke to her in a low voice, his eyes coldly sunken with a look she would never see.
"Not as Aria, the sole disciple of old Karl. Not as Aria, the exclusive mage of the Estel Duchy."
"I'm asking if you can use your true power as 'Aria'—as the Archmage who has touched and clarified the truth. That's what I'm asking, Aria."
- .......
No answer came back from Aria. In a way, it seemed he had caught her off guard. In another, she seemed flustered. Neither had Kain asked the question expecting an answer.
...He had known. He had known full well that, contrary to her outward appearance, Aria was concealing a considerable portion of her power.
But he had thought there was no need to deliberately point it out. If Aria was hiding her power, there would be a reason for it, and he believed that someday she would explain that reason to him.
...He had no choice but to believe it. Hadn't they promised? Hadn't the woman called Aria, hadn't the 'Aria of that time' promised him that she would always be his strength?
That was why, originally, Kain had no intention of demanding any great strain from Aria. The matter of rescuing Sarah was the same. In the operation Kain had devised to rescue Sarah, there were parts where Aria's help was essential, but fundamentally he hadn't planned on relying on anyone else's aid.
It was not a frontal clash with the Dekaraznan Ducal House and House Sernad; it was merely the act of secretly spiriting away a single powerless woman. Of course, since she was a precious 'product' to them, their hunting dogs would chase desperately. But he had thought it a fight with sufficient odds of victory if he skillfully utilized the swordsmanship he had endlessly honed since his regression, 'Flowing Star,' and the various hidden cards he had kept tightly concealed until now.
...But it wasn't enough. Merely spiriting Sarah away was far from enough. Simply extracting Sarah Sernad from the iron bars that confined her and granting her freedom would not end the nightmare surrounding her. At the very least, the desire to beat that bastard of an uncle to death was far too desperate.
You could call it pity for her, or you could call it simply venting his rage. Kain had simply resolved to no longer exercise patience, that was all.
For that, he needed Aria's help. Aria's magic—the magic that possessed knowledge and wisdom beyond the Mortal World, and skill that lightly transcended common sense—was essential.
- ...Lord Kain, I told you before, didn't I?
After a long silence, the answer that flowed from Aria was.
- That I will always be on your side. This body belongs only to you. So do as you will. For I shall always stand beside you.
It was an unmistakable sign of affirmation.