The Eve (1)
The queen is a witch.
And not the kind the Holy See occasionally decides to execute after a conversation that goes something like,
"Isn't the duchess getting a little insufferable these days?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling it. Want to frame her as a witch and have her killed?"
No — she was the real thing. A witch who actually used magic.
How am I supposed to deal with this?
Yesterday, the witch had attacked me using a ghost. Granted, it hadn't been deliberate malice so much as some kind of automated defense, but an attack was still an attack.
She had also tried to erase my memories with magic. And to some extent, it seemed to have worked. My recollection of yesterday was a little hazy.
Though not completely gone.
Why was that? From the way she had spoken, she had clearly intended to wipe everything clean.
Did I have some kind of resistance to magic? Hard to say. The knockout spell had dropped me without my being able to do a thing about it.
I couldn't figure out the reason. Something to mull over later.
Anyway, the important point was that the witch had committed multiple hostile acts against me. Which meant I needed to commit a few of my own in return.
The problem was, the obstacles were endless.
First, the political angle. The queen was still the queen — the head of a nation. What would happen if I simply attacked her out of nowhere?
And even setting politics aside, could I actually beat her one-on-one? Magic — the whole thing was ridiculous.
That spell that had knocked me out yesterday hadn't been visible or even perceptible until it hit me. I only realized what had happened when my stomach flipped and I hit the floor. It was pure bullshit.
If you're a witch, aren't you supposed to throw fireballs or ice spears or something? How the hell was anyone supposed to counter a colorless, odorless, transparent, omnidirectional knockout spray?
So I didn't even know if I could win a fight right now. And even if I somehow managed to kill her — what if, right there at the funeral, she stood up and went,
"This body — revived."
Just imagining it was enough to make my skin crawl.
In the end, until I knew what a witch was capable of, there was nothing I could do. At least, not me personally.
"Butler."
"Yes, my lord."
Right. If I couldn't handle it myself, someone else could do it for me. Meat to the butcher, money to the merchant, and the peeping dens to a tsundere childhood friend.
Everything needed a specialist.
"Contact the Holy See."
By the same logic, witches were the Holy See's specialty, were they not?
At my words, the Butler's expression turned distinctly dubious.
"…The Holy See, my lord?"
"That's right."
"Well, young master."
"Hm?"
"Are you planning to turn yourself in?"
What was he talking about — ah. The god I served was a heretical one, wasn't it.
If I filed a report that said, "There's a suspicious heretic over here," the person far more likely to get arrested than the queen would be a certain Vargas man who spent his days pirating and worshipping a sea serpent.
What am I supposed to do, then.
I was still turning over alternatives when someone knocked on my door.
"Come in."
It was Princess Elizabeth. I dismissed the Butler with a glance.
"Sir Henry. Are you feeling all right?"
She looked genuinely worried. Come to think of it, this was the first time I'd seen her since chasing after that ghost yesterday.
"Yes. I'm fine."
"Phew. That's a relief. I was so afraid you might have been hurt because of me…"
"Not at all. But what brings you here so early in the morning?"
Had she simply come out of concern?
"Ah, Sir Henry. I have important news."
Important news. I listened carefully to her explanation — and was promptly stunned.
"Why on earth…?"
"I don't really know the reason either…"
I decided to put my revenge plans against the queen on hold for the moment. Because she had just announced something that was enormously, enormously advantageous for me.
Out of nowhere, she had started supporting her husband.
All parliaments are equal. But some parliaments are more equal than others.
"What in the world is this supposed to mean?"
"Her Majesty the Queen has apparently launched a new parliament."
An unseasonable political upheaval had struck the Lancart Kingdom. Queen Mary had established the Supreme Committee.
"The Supreme Committee? What the devil is that?"
"Instead of the existing parliament, she means to assemble a small number of people and respond to the present crisis."
"Present crisis? Were we in some kind of crisis?"
"Of course we were. The land is crawling with villains who oppose the current reign. Villains like you."
"What do you mean by that— ghk!"
Another purge. Exhausted by the daily nonsense of the lesser nobles, Mary had finally drawn her sword.
"Whoever said, 'If there's no bread, let them eat cake' — step forward."
— Clank.
"And the one who said nothing is impossible beforehand — you too."
— Clank.
"Shoot that bastard with a cannon."
— BOOM!
The guillotine began its dance, and the cannons spat fire as well. Queen Mary had begun slaughtering her opposition.
"What is the meaning of this! My son was killed in the capital!"
"My husband too!"
"My affair partner as well!"
Naturally, discontent erupted. Of course, they had nitpicked every single thing Mary did — but she was not a legitimate ruler. Elizabeth was the one who ought to be governing.
"This is our chance to drive out that wicked Mary and put Elizabeth on the throne — and in parliament!"
"In parliament!"
Just as the nobles who had escaped the purge were about to rally, the Supreme Committee was announced.
"Ah… I hear she's already in parliament, though?"
Question marks appeared on the faces of every noble present. One of the core members of the Supreme Committee Mary had founded was none other than Elizabeth.
"What do we do?"
"Well, since we're already gathered, maybe we should try a reverse revolution? Seems a waste otherwise…"
"You lunatic. Just disband."
And so the assembled nobles scattered. That had been Mary's aim all along.
Mary had always wanted only two things: opportunities for purges, and a monopoly on power. And the perfect opportunity had arrived — the engagement.
First, she established the Supreme Committee. She selected three key figures, formed a political bloc, and monopolized enormous power. Of course the nobles bristled at the monopoly, but —
Elizabeth is in it too.
In the end, it was obvious. Gather all they liked, their only rallying point was Elizabeth. No noble was going to try to tear down the Supreme Committee she belonged to.
Naturally, the plan had a flaw: she would have to share power with Elizabeth.
Aside from the occasional purge, Mary normally presented herself as a benevolent monarch. But there was one situation that turned her endlessly vicious.
"Mother, those maids over there—"
— Slap!
"Call me Your Majesty, not Mother."
That situation was anything involving Elizabeth. From the day that girl was born, Mary had hated the woman who already possessed everything. She was also an obstacle to power.
That venom was reserved for Elizabeth alone — and yet now Mary was sharing power with her. Or rather, she was pretending to share it.
The Supreme Committee operated with three members: Mary, Elizabeth, and Henry. The highest personages of the royal house.
Decisions were made by majority vote. Suppose a matter came up — for example:
"There's a rebellion in the east because of the failed harvest and lack of food. Do we send food, or do we send the army?"
"Of course we should send food," Elizabeth might say.
But if Mary and Henry replied,
"Shouldn't we send the army?"
"Obviously we send the army."
— then that was the decision. In the end, what mattered was securing two votes.
People liked to say a married couple was of one heart and mind, but in reality that was never true. Henry and Mary might be husband and wife, yet they would still clash over opinions, and Mary would not be able to run the committee exactly as she pleased.
"That's what everyone else will think, at least," Mary murmured softly. Fools.
Her subordinates had all agreed with her idea, and so the committee had been founded. Those idiots simply got excited and panted the moment Elizabeth drew anywhere near power.
They probably think all they need to do is persuade Henry somehow.
Then they could put the country back into Elizabeth's hands. As if she would ever allow that.
Mary examined the deep crimson jewel in her palm — a gem she had forged by grinding down dozens of maids and servants. It held not mere enchantment, but a magic of domination.
If she could just dominate Henry with this…
"Haa."
Mary swallowed a sweet breath.
Truly, genuinely — her era was about to begin. A perfect monopoly of power. No matter what opinion Elizabeth put forward, if she and Henry opposed it, what could the girl do?
Just imagining it was delightful. Should she sit on the ministers? Anyone who said even a slightly irritating word would be executed.
And Henry, too — I'll play with him.
She had never been particularly interested in se— ahem. That was far too blunt. Ordinarily she had little interest in such lewd matters, but Henry was different. His looks were very much her type. And he was her husband anyway. Showing him a disheveled side of herself would be embarrassing, but —
"He's going to be my slave anyway."
A slave bound by her magic. That much was fine. She could just screw him senseless right awa— no. No, that was too far, too fast.
Maybe start by holding hands and strolling through the palace grounds? Pack lunches for each other. Whisper that they loved one another.
Would that make her feel, like other people, that she was experiencing love? Her heart was already racing just from imagining it — but this didn't really feel like love. Right now, this was more like…
The feeling of finding a toy.
A toy that delighted her completely. Well. What did it matter either way?
The wedding was only a little while away. And tonight — the night her magic was complete — she intended to slip into his chambers and place the spell on him.
I want to spend the wedding night with the magic already in place.
Last time, the memory magic had worked well enough. Henry hadn't reacted at all, after all. That image of him lunging at her yesterday — the speed and aggression barely seemed human. She had thought a leopard was charging her.
If the memory magic hadn't taken hold, he would already have come and killed her. But even that aggression would become hers the moment this spell was cast.
What Mary did not know was that the memory magic she had used on Henry last time had not worked at all.
Henry was simply still dazed by the unexpected windfall.
"Is this… a wife's support?"
He had, out of nowhere, become one of the most powerful people in the royal house. He provisionally suspended his plans to assassinate the queen.
And that night, Mary entered Henry's bedchamber.