A Child Who Must Die
Why were Sophia, Charles, and Olivia being pursued? It was a simple, almost one-dimensional question — and at the same time, the one that cut straight to the heart of the matter.
"Who's being pursued? Please don't jump to conclusions."
Olivia answered first. In a situation where no one could be trusted, even letting it slip that they were being chased was a risk in itself.
"You don't have to tell me if it's difficult."
Everyone had their circumstances. Once they got off the train they would all go their separate ways anyway. He had no intention of prying any further.
"There were six people who boarded this train to follow you. You saw one of them earlier, didn't you? The one who walked past."
Charles and Olivia's eyes went wide. They had known they had enemies — but they hadn't known the exact number. As the two of them tensed, ready to go on high alert again, Jinhyuk went on.
"They're gone now."
"Gone...?"
"They got off."
The question marks in their eyes only grew larger.
The Tristar, bound for northwestern Wales, had not stopped once since departing Cardiff Station. Getting off the train was, by all rights, impossible.
"Who the hell are you, really? And how did you even notice they were there?"
Olivia fired off the questions, but Jinhyuk didn't answer. He merely shrugged, playing it off with a shameless little grin.
"Q and A is give-and-take. You didn't tell me anything, so I'm not answering either."
Olivia's face twisted into a grimace.
Perhaps she found their back-and-forth amusing. Sophia, who had been listening quietly, let out a little laugh.
"You personally saw our pursuers off the train, so I suppose that means we owe you a debt, doesn't it?"
A faint smile tugged at Jinhyuk's lips. Sophia had grasped in an instant why he'd gone to the trouble of telling them all that. She seemed to consider something for a moment, then spoke.
"If we've received a kindness, we ought to repay it, at least in part. It's only decent. You're right — we are being pursued. More precisely, I am."
"My lady!"
Olivia tried to stop her, but Sophia raised a hand as if to say it was all right. Olivia shrank back at once, as if the outburst had never happened, and retreated to her seat.
"I can't tell you why. I'm not trying to hide it from you. I'm doing this for your sake. The moment you hear it, you become someone who has to disappear."
"Oh... then you don't have to tell me."
Jinhyuk nodded with a bright, untroubled smile. There were truths in this world it was better not to know.
"You really are an interesting person. You said you were going as far as Snowdonia Park, didn't you? We'll be getting off before that."
"Is it safe there?"
"Yes. Once we make it that far, we'll be safe. There are people coming to meet us."
"That's a relief."
Sophia smiled, then looked at Olivia.
"Would you mind switching seats with Jinhyuk for a moment? He's sitting diagonally, so it's a bit far."
Charles nodded, and Olivia swapped seats with a look that said she had no choice. She stared at Jinhyuk with her eyes wide and fierce. She didn't say a word, but the message came through loud and clear: Don't you dare try anything with Sophia.
She's a suspicious one, all right.
Sophia leaned back against the window. Jinhyuk followed suit, resting his head against the glass as well.
Oh, this is nice.
The view outside the train was perfect, too. Romance, fully charged.
"We'll just stand for a bit."
Charles and Olivia rose and took up positions in the corridor. Given the situation they couldn't go far, but they wanted to give the two of them the respect of a private conversation.
"I have a question. You boarded this train to travel, Jinhyuk. You're an ordinary... no, I suppose you're not ordinary, but still. Why did you help us? It could have been dangerous. We're complete strangers."
"There's a saying in Korea that even brushing sleeves is fate. We made eye contact and said hello, so if that's a connection, then it's a connection, right?"
"Pfft."
Sophia let out a laugh.
"You're awfully good with words. I thought you'd be boring, but you're actually fun."
He wasn't entirely sure whether that was a compliment.
"When I said I envied you earlier — I meant it."
"Traveling alone?"
"Yes. I can't do that."
Jinhyuk fell silent for a moment. Was she ill, somehow?
"You don't have to look at me like that. I'm perfectly healthy. I just... I'm not in a position to do anything on my own. From the time I was little, all the way until now."
Sophia turned her gaze to the window.
"It's not just travel. Not even once. I've never chosen anything of my own will. I'm just being swept along, carried wherever the current takes me."
The atmosphere grew strangely solemn. Quick to notice, Sophia sensed it and offered a sheepish smile.
"You're wondering why I'm suddenly telling you all this, aren't you? Think of it as a little sister throwing a tantrum and go easy on me. They say a complete stranger with no connection to you is the perfect person to talk to."
Sophia glanced toward Charles and Olivia standing in the corridor.
"I can't tell those two. They're already suffering enough because of me. And as you saw earlier, it's dangerous enough as it is."
"Talk as much as you like. I have a little sister in Korea, so I'm used to indulging that kind of thing."
Jinhyuk's thoughts ran along similar lines. There was no better person to pour your heart out to than a complete stranger. Once Sophia got off at the next station, that would be the end of it. They would never meet again.
Sophia rested her chin in her hand and let out a small sigh. Then she began to talk — a rough sketch of her life, from childhood to the present.
Oh, man. So she's some kind of aristocratic heir.
No wonder she'd said she had no freedom. From the moment her memories began, Sophia had been put through more education than anyone could count. Ordinarily he might have told her to just shout that she didn't want to do it — but listening to her, it was clear she wasn't in an environment where refusing was even possible.
As she went on, Sophia closed her eyes. In her life, there had only ever been things she had to do and things she must not do. The option of something she wanted to do had never existed at all.
When she finished speaking, she opened her eyes.
"Pathetic, isn't it? Living like a marionette, and this is where it's gotten me — not even knowing when I'll die."
A hollow laugh slipped out of her.
"Honestly, I'm not even sure anymore. Whether I want to live badly enough to run like this, or whether I'm just following along because that's what I'm supposed to do. If you were in my situation, Jinhyuk, what would you do? You're an adult who's lived a little longer than I have, after all."
"Hmm."
Jinhyuk rubbed his chin.
"I can't honestly say I fully understand or relate. I've lived far too freely for that."
"I understand. It's impossible to fully empathize with a life that's completely different from your own."
"Even so, if you want my opinion — I'd survive first. And then I'd wait for an opportunity."
"An opportunity?"
"You had no choice but to live as a marionette because of circumstances and an environment you couldn't change, right? An opportunity to change that. To smash it."
"Is something like that even possible?"
"I can't say for certain. But at least in my experience, environments change. Situations change too. And when they do, opportunities that didn't exist before come along. To meet them, you have to be alive first, don't you?"
Sophia stared at him.
"You really are an adult. Such a simple, clear answer compared to all that long-winded complaining."
"You know how it is. Talking is always the easy part."
"Pfft. You really are fun."
Sophia laughed softly once more.
"And..."
The laughter faded as she looked at him.
"You're a kind person. A good person."
Perhaps it was those deep green eyes staring so intently into his. He felt a little embarrassed.
The Tristar will soon be arriving at Roze Station. Passengers wishing to alight, please prepare to disembark.
The station where Sophia had to get off.
"Thank you for listening to my boring story. Maybe it's because my life is hanging by a thread, but that was the first time I've ever talked so openly. I feel much better."
She held out her hand, and they shook.
"And this."
Sophia unclasped the necklace she was wearing and held it out.
"A small token of thanks. It's nowhere near enough to repay what you did for us, but..."
Jinhyuk took the necklace. It was set with a variety of gems along an ornate pattern.
"This looks way too expensive."
"It's not. They're all fake. This is all I have, so please take it anyway."
"Then I'll look at it from time to time and remember our conversation on the train."
"Then it was worth giving."
As the train gradually slowed, Charles and Olivia gathered their belongings. Sophia stood, slipped on her coat, and looked at Jinhyuk.
"Have a wonderful trip."
"Take care."
She smiled, nodded, and started down the corridor. She didn't say Let's meet again someday. She knew perfectly well that they couldn't.
"Oh, right."
As if something had just occurred to her, Sophia looked back.
"I'm Sophia Windsor. Sophia Marcia Windsor. That's my real name."
Before he could even reply, she walked down the corridor and off the train. While he was still sitting there, slightly stunned, the train pulled out again — and Momo manifested beside him.
Momo fiddled with the necklace in Jinhyuk's hand.
"Ooooh! This is super expensive!"
She threw both arms wide in amazement.
"Huh? Expensive?"
"Yeah!! Super super super super expensive!"
Jinhyuk frowned. She'd definitely said it was fake.
He stuck his head out the window. The platform at Roze Station had already receded out of sight.
"Master."
"Oh, crap."
Jinhyuk flinched at Seira's sudden appearance. Kancho and Momo popping out at all hours was a daily occurrence — but this was a first for Seira.
"There is something that concerns me."
Jinhyuk looked at her. Something that concerned her?
An old castle on the outskirts of London.
A light knock sounded at the door of a darkened bedchamber. Though no answer came, the door opened slowly all the same.
The man who entered crossed the room and threw open the tightly drawn curtains. Sunlight spilled in, falling across the bed.
An aged woman lay upon it.
The man approached and brushed the sleeping woman's hair from her face.
"Did you sleep well, Grandmother?"
No answer came. Undeterred, the man went on.
"The child you've spent a lifetime hiding and raising — what was her name again? Ah, Sophia. I found her. She's been struggling desperately to get here, you know."
A thin, venomous smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"To inherit the throne, without even knowing her place."
The sunlight crept across the bed until it lit the woman's face.
Queen Elysia Jerry Windsor. The forty-second monarch of the United Kingdom — the empire on which the sun never sets.
The man at her bedside was Widrik Pallam Windsor. Elysia's eldest grandson, and the man who, by all rights, should have stood first in the line of succession.
Widrik gazed down at Elysia in silence.
"Don't resent me. You're the one who killed that child."
His fingers tightened in her hair. Then, clutching a fistful of it, he glared down at Elysia as if he meant to kill her then and there.
Widrik ground his teeth. First in the line of succession, seized even at the cost of every human bond. He would not let it slip away. He would have it, by any means necessary — even if it meant turning the whole of Britain into a sea of fire.