Standing Out (6)
In the Imperial Palace, in one of the few spaces reserved exclusively for the imperial bloodline, Cartesia sat sorting and processing a stack of documents with a bored expression on her face.
To anyone looking in, it would have seemed like meaningless work. But Dane, her guardian knight, knew better than anyone else just how many times the history of the Empire had already been rewritten by the papers that passed through Cartesia’s hands.
And he knew something else, too: that the history of the Empire would continue to be rewritten by her hands in the days to come.
“How did you handle that matter with Count Asted, that pig?”
Cartesia asked in the same flat tone someone might use to ask what she had eaten for breakfast.
But just because Cartesia could ask such a question as if it meant nothing did not mean Dane could afford to answer as if it meant nothing. He understood that very well himself.
“Count Asted was executed on the spot for consorting with black mages. As Your Highness instructed, we searched the hidden chambers in his manor, and the altars used for various dark rituals provided decisive proof.”
“Is that so? If that disgusting pig had been left alive, he would only have caused trouble in the future, so it was probably wiser to kill him early. Good work.”
Cartesia was telling Dane that he had done well, but from Dane’s perspective, he had done nothing at all.
It was Cartesia who had uncovered Count Asted’s connection to the black mages, and it was also Cartesia who had planned and directed the operation that exposed all the evidence on site.
And every instruction Cartesia gave had landed with perfect accuracy, without a single deviation.
It was impossible not to think of it as work done by someone who had already seen everything that would happen in the future—precise, thorough, and utterly without waste.
To Dane, all he had done was serve as Cartesia’s obedient hands and feet and move exactly as she commanded, nothing more and nothing less.
Incredible. As expected, she truly is my lord.
With a swelling sense of pride, Dane looked at Cartesia with admiration in his eyes, but Cartesia had no interest in what he thought of her, or in anyone else’s thoughts for that matter.
Because at present, there was only one person in this world she cared about.
“Then that seems to be settled for now… Have you heard what Arieta is doing at the moment?”
“Well… I heard she’s preparing to go out to celebrate that her condition has improved. There’s also a rumor that she’s out buying a gift for someone…”
At Dane’s words, Cartesia let out a dry laugh, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“That little alley cat. She may be my younger sister, but she’s an infuriatingly sly woman. Trying to steal what belongs to others like this. If she’d just stayed still, I would’ve taken care of her share myself.”
She clicked her tongue, then suddenly looked as if something had occurred to her and turned back to Dane.
“By the way… how is the progress on that matter I told you to handle separately?”
“Yes, Your Highness. We were able to confirm that the item you mentioned is currently located in an auction house in the capital. I’ve already given the owner a separate warning, so it won’t be put up for auction before Your Highness arrives.”
“I see. Heh. Good. I’ve been bothered by the fact that I haven’t been able to give Sian even a proper little gift, so this means I can finally give him something fitting.”
The moment Cartesia spoke the name “Sian,” the air inside the office seemed to soften.
The reason was obvious. As soon as the conversation turned toward something related to Sian, a bright smile bloomed on Cartesia’s face.
When she accomplished great feats as the imperial princess—purging the filth that gnawed at the nation from within—she wore only a bored expression. Yet when it came to choosing a mere gift for Sian, she became so lively, so passionate, that it was as if she were glowing from within.
Needless to say, for Dane, who had appointed himself Cartesia’s loyal servant, that was intolerable.
In the end, unable to suppress the impulse rising in his chest, Dane forced himself to keep his expression as calm as possible and spoke to Cartesia.
“Your Highness, forgive my presumption, but may I say something to you?”
“…You have something you want to tell me?”
Cartesia showed a flicker of curiosity at his words, then gave a small nod.
It was permission.
“It may sound insolent of me to say this, but… no matter how I think about it, that student named Sian does not seem fit for Your Highness. You, Your Highness, are surely deserving of a much better man.”
It was advice spoken with death already accepted. From simply watching her from the side, Dane could tell exactly how deep Cartesia’s feelings for Sian ran.
“…Not fit? Me, and him?”
And yet, unexpectedly, Cartesia was quiet. On the surface, she even seemed to be agreeing with him to some extent.
Buoyed by that response, Dane was just about to offer another word of caution when—
Plop.
“…Huh?”
No sound came from his mouth. It was as though his voice had simply vanished.
No, that wasn’t it. His voice hadn’t disappeared. He simply could not make one.
Because his body was now frozen in place by the killing intent filling the room around him—Cartesia’s killing intent.
“Ghk—!”
His whole body began to tremble. He could no longer control himself. It was a horrifying sensation, as though something invisible had wrapped around his heart and was squeezing it without mercy.
Dane had felt that sensation once before, a very long time ago.
The same feeling he’d experienced when facing Duke Orphega alone, a Master who stood at the peak of martial might. Cartesia was reproducing that sensation effortlessly.
“Ha—ngh!”
Air. He couldn’t get enough air. He couldn’t breathe. But he wasn’t permitted to scream.
As he thrashed in agony, silently begging for the mercy of unconsciousness, the killing intent that had filled the room vanished all at once, as if it had never been there.
Then Cartesia, who had been looking at Dane with quiet eyes, opened her mouth toward him, his whole body slick with sweat and his breathing ragged.
“You’re being insolent. You are my subject, and at the same time the knight who protects me. That means you have the right to offer me counsel. But I don’t think that means you’re allowed to cross the line.”
In other words, did that mean Sian was someone Cartesia considered untouchable to anyone else?
“He is the man I love, and the man who will become my husband. Which means he will also become your future lord. And I find it deeply unpleasant when my subjects dare not bow their heads before him. Even if that subject is you, who has served me for a very long time.”
Cartesia’s tone was even, but the feeling inside it was chilling.
As someone who had served her for so long, Dane understood it well.
This was a final warning.
If Dane crossed the line once more, then things would not end so cleanly next time.
“I’m sorry, but there is no man in this world better than him for me. Status? That kind of thing means nothing to me. If rank ever became an obstacle to me being with him, I’d have no hesitation about giving up this title of imperial princess.”
Of course, the reverse was true as well.
If Sian wanted it, Cartesia would even be willing to give him the Empire.
If she could win him by merely presenting him with something as trivial as an Empire, then it would be the best bargain imaginable.
But if that was how it was, Dane had something to say as well.
“Your Highness… Your Highness is the shining star of this entire Empire! You are far more deserving of ascending the throne than some foolish crown prince like that! But if you show those feelings so openly this early, they may become a weakness for you!”
“So? What are you trying to say?”
“I understand perfectly that Your Highness cherishes him. Then… if I may be so bold, perhaps once Your Highness ascends the throne, taking him as a consort would remove the noise around you—”
At that moment, laughter burst from Cartesia’s lips.
“Ahaha! Make him my consort… what an amusing thought. Making him wholly mine is certainly tempting, but unfortunately, I don’t think I can do that. No, I can’t.”
“…Why not?”
“Because your premise is wrong from the start. He is not mine. More precisely, he is a man who cannot become mine. Because—”
“…Because I am the one who belongs to Sian. It isn’t that I possess Sian. Sian is the one who possesses me.”
Yes, that was how it was. No matter what anyone said, Cartesia would never yield on that point.
Especially not to some absurd suggestion that she should make him her own. She had no intention of accepting anything so ridiculous.
Because from very long ago, she had already been decided as something that belonged to Sian alone.