Before Summer Comes
Before Summer Comes
While Selvia's misunderstanding deepened, Daniel was anxiously waiting outside the Grand Conference Hall, his heart pounding with worry.
'......Judging by the atmosphere, she definitely wasn't trying to have an ordinary conversation.'
Because the same murderous tension from the Christmas banquet had carried over intact.
Anyone who wasn't an idiot could tell that the two women were engaged in a war of nerves, each harboring ill feelings toward the other.
'If Selvia knows about Lucy's true identity, what happens to me? Is there a chance she'll mobilize the Security Bureau to punish Lucy? And if, in the process, it gets exposed that I've been hiding an Allied spy.......'
In the worst case, he could end up walking the same path as Duke Belvar.
Of course, he didn't think Selvia would act that ruthlessly, but the fact that even a sliver of possibility existed made Daniel uneasy.
He wanted to press his ear to the door and listen to what the two of them were talking about, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Though the hallway was empty now, palace staff or officials residing in the palace could pass by and see him doing that.
'Is there anything I can do? No choice but to pray it's nothing serious.......'
Letting out a low sigh, Daniel leaned his back against the hallway wall and stared blankly ahead.
Beyond the hallway window, the front garden of the Imperial Palace stretched out before him.
In the symmetrically structured front garden, likely designed to display the Emperor's majesty, several gardeners were busily working.
A few birds could be seen freely flying among them.
One bird, tired from playing, perched on a branch to rest, causing a lustrous leaf to tremble gently.
'The traces of spring have mostly disappeared.'
Thinking that summer would be here soon, a wave of exhaustion seemed to wash over him.
'Because summer is the season of war.'
As far as Daniel knew, summer was precisely when the Federal State and the Republic would join the war in earnest.
'I heard the Republic has already deployed troops to the border.'
They hadn't issued a formal declaration of war, but it was practically the same as steadily preparing for war.
Because of this, the Empire, sensing that the Republic's movements were unusual, was in the process of repositioning its forces.
'They'll have to pull personnel from the Eastern Front and deploy them to the north.......'
Then the Empire would inevitably be weakened on the Eastern Front.
It meant that even with the strongest army in the world, they would be forced to scramble just to block enemy attacks.
Still, one fortunate thing was that the Federal State hadn't yet shown any notable movements.
'Originally, this is when the Federal State should also be coordinating with the Republic to prepare for war.......'
With history having changed in ways both large and small, the Federal State was currently hesitating to enter the war.
Just as Daniel thought of this as a welcome piece of good news and felt a bit of relief, the door to the Grand Conference Hall opened.
The person who emerged through the open door was Lucy, with her snow-white silver hair.
After closing the door behind her, Lucy met Daniel's eyes and spoke naturally.
"Colonel Daniel. Her Majesty the Emperor says her business is finished, so it is fine to leave the palace now."
A brief silence hung between the two of them.
Daniel, flustered in many ways, broke the silence and spoke.
"......Nothing happened? I mean, between Her Majesty the Emperor and you."
"Yes. We merely shared some personal conversation."
Quite a few words had been exchanged, but Lucy dismissed it all as just personal conversation.
With the matter already resolved, she didn't want to cause Daniel to worry by telling him about what had happened inside.
Daniel knew Lucy's words weren't true, but he decided to let it pass.
Seeing her so composed, he trusted that she had handled it well on her own.
But there was one thing he couldn't simply let pass.
Stepping forward, Daniel stopped right in front of Lucy.
"Adjutant. Why did you display such insolent behavior toward Her Majesty the Emperor?"
At Daniel's question, Lucy's expressionless eyes wavered, however slightly.
Because even she couldn't precisely grasp why she had been so angry back then.
She simply hadn't wanted to see Daniel embracing Selvia.
As Lucy remained silent, unable to voice such foolish feelings outright, Daniel continued.
"Adjutant. You must understand that Her Majesty the Emperor addressing us with respect and listening to our opinions is merely a courtesy descending from a high place. We are not on the same level as Her Majesty the Emperor. Nor can we ever be. Her Majesty is the sun of the Empire, and we are those who live beneath it."
Lucy's gaze gently lowered.
She had indeed committed a fault by forgetting her station, so she couldn't refute it.
"So from now on, if you ever have occasion to speak with Her Majesty the Emperor, bow your head and listen attentively. Even if you have something to rebut, do not voice it directly; convey it through me. This is advice I give for your sake, not anyone else's. Do you understand?"
Lucy lowered her head humbly.
"I was certainly rash. I will take your words to heart."
Since she immediately admitted her fault and said she would accept the advice, he couldn't scold her further.
Thinking he should end it here, Daniel looked down at Lucy somewhat coldly.
"......Honestly, I'm disappointed in you. Make sure this never happens again. I have no need for an incompetent adjutant, after all."
Having said that, Daniel turned and walked away.
After a brief pause, Lucy followed after Daniel.
Maintaining a distance of about two steps behind him.
Walking silently through the vast corridor of the Imperial Palace, Lucy caught a faint cherry fragrance.
'This is.......'
It was similar to the scent of the perfume Selvia had worn today.
'No. Not similar.......'
It was exactly Selvia's perfume scent.
Wondering why that scent was still lingering in her nostrils, Lucy soon realized.
That the perfume scent was coming from Daniel.
When Selvia had embraced Daniel tightly, a trace amount of perfume had transferred onto Daniel's officer's coat.
It was a scent so faint that others would have a hard time noticing it, but Lucy, who had been a subject of the experiments and possessed heightened senses, could easily detect it.
That, for some reason, displeased her.
And that wasn't the only thing that displeased her.
'......That woman knew about Kelly too.'
She had thought it was a secret shared only between her and Daniel, but that wasn't the case at all.
That fact shook Lucy's feelings for Daniel.
'I thought I knew a lot about Daniel. But.......'
That had only been her own one-sided delusion.
Daniel had never properly told Lucy about himself.
Lucy wanted to know.
About what Daniel liked besides dessert, what kind of past he had, what made him happy, what scenery he liked, what he disliked, exactly what his ideal type was, and what hobbies he enjoyed when he was alone.
She wanted to find out not through guesswork, but through Daniel's own lips.
But Daniel, knowingly or unknowingly, kept himself hidden.
As if there was nothing more to tell her.
Just as Lucy, in the midst of her troubled heart, was opening her eyes, Daniel, who had been walking ahead, stopped in place.
"Adjutant."
Turning around, Daniel looked at Lucy.
"Don't take to heart those last words I said in front of the Grand Conference Hall just now."
Now that he had calmed down, he felt he had said something harsh to Lucy, and a strange sense of guilt had crept in.
Also, from Daniel's position, knowing that Lucy was an Allied spy, he had to maintain a good relationship with her no matter what.
"I don't think you're incompetent. If anything, you're so competent it's a problem. Just, a little caution when speaking with Her Majesty the Emperor......."
Daniel was rambling on, but nothing reached Lucy's ears.
Because Lucy was focusing her attention on her sense of smell right now.
'The scent.......'
It felt as though the cherry fragrance wafting from Daniel's officer's coat was only growing deeper.
"......I heard you've been working hard with overtime lately. Not just me, but you also have responsibilities......."
Taking in the perfume's aroma, it felt as if Selvia was claiming Daniel as her own, which stirred a feeling of disgust.
The disgust bred jealousy, and the jealousy made her think thoughts she normally wouldn't.
'That scent.......'
She wanted to cover it with her own scent.
The thought filled her head so completely that she couldn't even register it as unseemly.
"......So if there's something you want, I'd like to grant it. What do you think?"
When Daniel finished speaking, Lucy slowly raised her head.
In her blood-red eyes, the trembling of a belated spring day had settled.
"There is one thing I want."
She knew she shouldn't do this.
She knew full well that making things difficult for Daniel disqualified her as an adjutant.
But today, just for today, she wanted to be selfish.
"Colonel Daniel."
She wanted to act spoiled.
"If it is all right with you......."
She put a little more strength into her trembling voice.
"Me......."
Taking a deep breath from nervousness, Lucy mustered her courage and parted her lips.
"Please hold me, like you did for Her Majesty the Emperor."