Reunion
Reunion
The following day.
When Daniel arrived for duty at General Headquarters and stopped by the operations staff office to report on his mission, he was taken aback.
"We have been waiting, Operations Staff Officer!"
"Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Steiner! Congratulations on your survival!"
"We heard the results of the talks! As expected of Lieutenant Colonel Daniel!"
The staff officers who spotted Daniel stopped their work and showered him with applause and praise.
The incongruous praise seemed to contain more flattery than sincerity.
'This feels like everyone is lining up to curry favor with a future power-holder...'
Thinking about it from their perspective, that wasn't far from the truth.
A war hero they had presumed dead had not only survived but had also successfully concluded talks with the Bellanos Cabinet Minister.
And on top of that, he had a private audience with His Majesty the Emperor immediately upon his return. It was only natural to regard him as a rising star of the Empire now entering a transitional period of power.
Daniel himself had barely escaped that private audience with the Emperor with his life, but he could hardly say so aloud, so he simply gave a vague nod.
Just as they were exchanging pleasantries, the door to the Deputy Chief of Operations Staff Office opened.
Ernst, emerging from the office, beamed broadly when he saw Daniel.
"Daniel Steiner!"
Ernst called his name and approached him.
"Welcome back! Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? I'm truly grateful you returned in one piece!"
"Ah. Deputy Chief of the Operations Staff."
Daniel moved to salute, but Ernst waved him off.
"What nonsense is a salute between us! Enough of that, you should head back."
"...Head back, sir?"
"Orders came down from above that you are to be granted rest immediately upon completing your mission report and returning to duty. So, take the day to get some proper rest."
He couldn't be certain whether this was the Emperor's doing or Selvia's, but the intent to extend him some consideration was palpable.
Being dismissed the moment he arrived for duty felt a bit strange, but if the higher-ups ordered him to rest, he couldn't refuse—nor was there any need to.
Just as Daniel was about to nod, Ernst added one more remark.
"Ah. And tomorrow, you are to report to the Imperial Palace, not General Headquarters."
"The Imperial Palace? Surely His Majesty the Emperor hasn't summoned me again?"
"Hmm? No. Her Imperial Highness the Princess wishes to see you this time. It seems she has some questions regarding the Bellanos talks."
That it was the Princess and not the Emperor was welcome news amidst all this.
'Compared to the Emperor who unilaterally suspects me, seeing Selvia, who's at least somewhat favorable toward me, is far better...'
Of course, given their social standing, the truth was that facing either of them was burdensome.
Still, meeting Princess Selvia was several times preferable to meeting Emperor Bertram.
"I will keep that in mind. However..."
Daniel looked around and asked, puzzled.
"I don't see my adjutant. Is she perhaps handling duties in my private office?"
"Your adjutant? Ah..."
Ernst hesitated briefly as if he had forgotten something, then gave a dry cough.
"Truth be told, your adjutant is currently on leave."
"On leave, sir?"
"Yes. Following the ship sinking incident, she seemed quite severely shaken, so I recommended she apply for long-term leave. I judged she needed rest, given that her direct superior had perished. Though of course, here you are, alive and well!"
Ernst playfully tapped Daniel on the waist to brush the matter off.
However, Daniel's expression remained entirely serious, so Ernst continued in a more subdued tone.
"Well... she's most likely resting in her quarters at the moment. Which is why I would suggest it's best if you checked on your adjutant's condition yourself."
At Ernst's subtly delivered suggestion, Daniel frowned.
'He wants me to visit the quarters of the woman who tried to assassinate me?'
It was an act as perilous as sticking his head into an alligator's jaws.
Daniel, who absolutely did not want to do it, hesitated just as he was about to voice his refusal.
'...There are too many eyes watching.'
If his adjutant was so traumatized she'd holed up in her quarters, not showing a hint of concern would surely send his reputation plummeting.
With the Emperor glaring daggers, actively searching for any flaw, he couldn't afford to provide this kind of gossip fodder.
In the end, Daniel clenched his teeth and forced a twisted smile.
"Thank you truly for the advice. I shall accept the Deputy Chief of Operations Staff's opinion and pay a visit to my adjutant's quarters."
Having no choice, he found, was more painful than he'd thought.
"As expected! Lieutenant Colonel Daniel, the hero of our Empire, is generous even in heart! What are you all doing? Cheer for him!"
Having a tactless superior was equally painful.
*
Meanwhile, Lucy Emilia's quarters.
"......"
Inside the room where blackout curtains blocked the light, Lucy was curled up on the bed, staring blankly downward.
Her hair was lank from going days without washing, her eyes held no life, and dried tear tracks remained starkly visible on her cheeks.
She had shut herself in here after her leave was approved and hadn't taken a single step outside, leaving her a pitiful wreck.
But Lucy could pay none of that any mind.
Her head was entirely filled with guilt and regret.
'Because of me...'
Lucy's consciousness was adrift in the distant past.
To be precise, in terrible memories from the past.
─ What's your name? Mine is Experiment Subject 96. That's what the people here call me.
For Lucy, her first memory was always Experiment Subject 96.
That girl was the sole being that emitted color in the monochrome of Lucy's childhood.
The sociable child managed to grow close to the coldly distant Lucy, and Lucy, gradually opening her heart, was finally able to become friends with her.
The girl used to say that if they ever succeeded in escaping this place, they absolutely had to go eat delicious food together.
In a research facility devoid of dreams or hope, Lucy slowly grew to like that child.
But the day that small dream, sealed with a pinky promise, would come true never arrived.
─ Experiment Subject 96 has been disposed of. If you don't wish to be disposed of as well, do your utmost.
One day, Experiment Subject 96 vanished.
Cleanly, as if she had never existed from the start.
At an age when she couldn't even properly grasp what parting was, Lucy came to understand death.
'And after that...'
Her drifting consciousness flowed a little further into the future.
She saw a mansion.
It was the vast mansion of Count Kaledra.
There, Lucy was able to live a new life.
Everything was plentiful, there was nothing she couldn't have, and everyone treated her kindly.
Living in that dreamlike world, Lucy discovered a handmaiden her own age.
The handmaiden had a bright personality and was a chatterbox, so she quickly grew close to Lucy.
Lucy, who was a girl of few words, could understand through the handmaiden's stories what the outside world was like and could imagine the cozy warmth of wheat fields at sunset and the refreshing breeze blowing from the midday sea.
After a long time, Lucy once again opened her heart and grew close to the handmaiden.
So overjoyed was she to have made a close friend that Lucy acted spoiled toward Count Kaledra.
─ Father! May I go on a trip with my friend? I think just one day would be enough!
Kaledra gave a benevolent smile and asked for the friend's name.
The naive Lucy told him the name exactly, and the handmaiden did not report to the mansion from the following day onward.
According to the rumors going around, she had met with a major accident and died.
From that day forth, Lucy never called Kaledra father again.
"......"
Lucy's eyes gently closed.
And she bit her lip tightly.
It was because emotions with no outlet were festering inside her.
Emotion, overriding reason, was dominating Lucy's heart.
Letting out a dying breath, Lucy thought.
Experiment Subject 96 died because I liked her.
The handmaiden died because I liked her.
'Daniel Steiner... had died...'
Because I liked him.
If coincidence occurs three times in a row, it becomes fate, as the saying went.
Her reason screamed that it wasn't so, but her heart, consumed by emotion, was already staining black.
Because denying herself was more comfortable than affirming herself.
'If everyone I come to like dies like this...'
Why should she continue to live on?
What possible glory could there be in such a life?
She no longer wished to think, nor did she wish to suffer any more.
She was even tired now of suspecting Count Kaledra.
It was at the moment Lucy, wanting to end everything, slowly opened her eyes.
Tok-tok─
A knocking sound came from the front door.
Just as she wondered who it could be, a familiar voice reached her.
"Adjutant! I heard you were here, so I came..."
It was Daniel Steiner's voice.
Lucy's eyes flew wide open in shock, but she soon shook her head.
No. Impossible. Daniel Steiner was dead.
"Adjutant? What are you doing without locking the door? What if a burglar got in?"
The voice she thought was an auditory hallucination grew increasingly louder.
Her breathing was becoming ragged.
Thinking it just might be real, Lucy roused her body.
Her body, stiff from days of inactivity, creaked involuntarily as she tried to move it suddenly.
"Nngh..."
Tinnitus rang in her ears and her vision flickered.
Her breathing grew a little more ragged, and her body refused to obey.
Nevertheless, Lucy slowly brought her body under control and finally succeeded in leaving the bed.
"Adjutant! If you're not in your quarters, I'll be heading back!"
No.
Shaking her head desperately, Lucy approached the door and grabbed the handle.
After a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped out, and there she saw him.
Daniel Steiner.
Her superior officer, that foolish man who liked desserts.
"...Adjutant?"
Daniel looked puzzled as he took in Lucy's haggard state.
Lucy, who had been staring at Daniel for a while, moved her feet.
She wanted to run, but her body wouldn't move properly after days without food.
"Danie..."
Even her voice refused to come out properly.
Her voice, deeply hoarse, cracked in every direction.
Collecting her voice and doggedly carrying herself forward, Lucy looked up at Daniel from close range.
Her disheveled hair flowed down, obstructing her vision, but it didn't significantly hinder her from seeing Daniel's figure.
"Daniel Steiner..."
Having addressed her superior by name without permission, Lucy slowly raised her hand.
The hand, rising as slowly as if caught in a net, touched Daniel's cheek.
Daniel was taken aback but did not flinch away, and thanks to that, Lucy could tell that the sensation on her hand was not a lie.
Daniel Steiner was not dead.
She didn't know how, but at that fact, tears suddenly welled up.
She had thought no more tears could come, having wept so many times already.
Not wanting to show her crying face, Lucy bowed her head.
Her hand, likewise descending along with her head, grasped Daniel's red necktie.
"Lieutenant Colonel... your necktie is improperly positioned..."
Lucy, trying to change the subject as naturally as possible, was ultimately unable to hold back her sobbing.
A moist moan, seeping through her teeth, resonated sorrowfully between them.
Unable to endure any longer, Lucy gently tugged on the necktie and buried her face in Daniel's chest.
Her trembling shoulders, her ragged breathing, her faint sobs—all of it spoke for Lucy's emotions.
Weeping like a fool, Lucy mustered all her strength and opened her mouth.
"Welcome..."
Amidst unprecedented emotion, Lucy revealed her heart with the utmost restraint.
"...welcome back. I... I am... Lieutenant Colonel, I..."
But then, as if white paint had been dropped onto her mind, her thoughts blotted out stark white.
Daniel, who had remained silent, suddenly raised his hand and patted Lucy's back gently.
Because of that, Lucy could hold back no longer and burst into tears.
Just as she had done long ago, as if she had returned to that childhood where she missed the moment she should have cried.