Lana Frost Is Dead
Beating around the bush had never suited her temperament. Political maneuvering, especially the kind laced with passive probing, was the type of thing she hated most. She preferred to let her skills speak for themselves. That had been her motto in both her past life and this one, and it remained unchanged.
Wolfgang mixed in no pretense this time either. She asked her question cleanly and directly. But words are one thing and interpretation is another. Or perhaps it was simply a case of seeing only what one wanted to see. Theodore, who had survived every political battle imaginable as the heir to the Grand Duchy, took her question in an entirely different light.
There is a saying that ten years can change even the mountains and rivers. It means that a decade is no short time even by the standards of nature, and for humans with their finite lives, it is even more true. And yet.
He was not mistaken. This was no delusion. Every memory Theodore had accumulated, every recollection, even the hateful blood that flowed through his veins, all of it confirmed the truth. Though her appearance had changed greatly, she was unmistakably Lana Frost.
And yet you ask me about Lana Frost.
Her firm tone, which sounded as if she were speaking of a stranger, drew a clear line that said: I am not Lana Frost.
The brief elation he had felt at the knowledge that his younger sister was alive cooled rapidly as he faced this cold reality. Perhaps he had wanted to look away from it. But no matter how much he wished to deny it, he had no choice but to accept the truth.
She was no longer Lana Frost.
Of course she wasn’t. After suffering something so horrific, she would want to forget it all. The betrayal of the partner she had thought she would spend her life with. The malice of countless people who had even tried to use that pain against her. No matter how strong a person’s mind, it would not have been strange for her spirit to have shattered long ago.
And yet, shameless as it was, he had once again appeared before her after all of that.
Theodore was only human, so the greed that bloomed within him could not be helped. At first he had simply thought that as long as she was alive, that was enough. But now that he saw her moving and breathing before him, a different desire began to flower like blossoms in spring. The wish that, if possible, they could return to the way things used to be.
Her question, however, turned that greed into a flower that meets autumn in an instant. One that, after its brief beauty and fragrance, burns away its entire life to face the coming winter.
But even that fleeting moment. Because I truly love you.
My dear younger sister. If that is what you wish, I will gladly play along.
Theodore twisted his lips into a smile.
“You asked about Lana Frost?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“She was a truly kind and considerate child.”
“…That’s rather different from the rumors circulating in society?”
“This much I can say with absolute certainty. They are baseless rumors.”
The smile he had forced by twisting his lips looked sadder than any expression he had ever worn.
Of course, he had come here carrying a mission for the kingdom. But he could not help but wonder. Was it truly right to drag her back into that hell?
When you were suffering alone, what did I do?
I could do nothing. No, I didn’t even know it was happening. Only after you had endured beyond your limits and collapsed did I finally face the severity of reality. Even after that, I did everything I could to protect you, but in the end I could not keep you safe.
That you resent me, that you draw a line between us, I understand it all.
A person’s heart is so delicate and painful that time does not heal every wound. It only dulls them. Otherwise, no one could go on living.
“She must have been a very beloved family member.”
“Yes, she was.”
“Then the current whereabouts of Lana Frost…”
“She passed away ten years ago.”
He forced his unwilling lips to move and drew the line. For the answer she wanted. Thoroughly excluding his own emotions.
Wolfgang had clearly drawn a line between them. If so, there could be only one thing she desired.
I was too selfish.
He had arbitrarily decided to devote the rest of his life to her. But it was already far too late. Spilled water could not be gathered again. In the end, it had all been his own delusion, the belief that they could return to those days.
Still, it was all right. Because the sister he had thought dead was actually alive. That single fact alone gave Theodore a reason to keep living.
It did not mean he felt no pain. Even now, it felt as though his chest were being torn to shreds. Nevertheless, he turned away from the agony and forced himself to smile. Because he knew that someday even this pain would grow dull.
“Commander, His Majesty is calling for you.”
“But we still have an honored guest…”
“It’s quite all right.”
Theodore rose from his seat without hesitation. There were so many things he wanted to ask his younger sister after their long-awaited reunion, but he clenched his teeth and endured. For the sake of what she wanted. It hurt terribly, but for her sake he could endure anything. After all, these wounds would surely dull with time.
What the hell? Fuck, am I not Lana Frost?
The meeting with Theodore had thrown her into complete chaos. In truth, until she met him, she had been faintly suspicious that she might not actually be Lana Frost. For all her current appearance, she had read her share of web novels in her previous life. Not to mention the sudden ridiculous rumors about Lana Frost, and the fact that a public hearing had even been held. The circumstances had made it impossible not to suspect that this body might not truly belong to Lana Frost.
But then Theodore, who could not possibly be unrelated to Lana Frost, had come here? So she hadn’t been able to hold back and asked directly.
“She passed away ten years ago.”
???
What is this? Am I not Lana Frost? Was I just deluding myself this whole time?
No, she still could not say for certain. Lana Frost’s banishment had happened ten years ago, and her own rise to prominence in the Empire had also begun exactly ten years ago. It was entirely possible he simply hadn’t recognized her after so much time.
Ten years was long enough to change even the mountains and rivers. Besides, she had spent those ten years at war. It wasn’t so strange that Theodore would fail to recognize her former appearance.
Of course, there was also the pure possibility that she truly wasn’t Lana Frost. But she had wanted to ask a few more questions at a leisurely pace. Instead, not even thirty minutes had passed before the Emperor summoned her. The timing could not have been worse.
Still, she could not ignore it. Her fundamentally diligent civil servant mindset strictly separated personal and official matters. Though they might be close friends privately, she had never once seen personal feelings brought into official business end well. Understanding this clearly, she stood before the Emperor as a subject.
“Loyalty! You summoned me, Your Majesty?”
“Yes. How was your meeting with Sir Protus?”
“There were no particular issues.”
“…There is no falsehood in those words, is there?”
“That is correct, Your Majesty.”
Though she maintained a solemn expression, her true feelings trembled somewhere with unease. As a comrade who had spent the last ten years with him, she could not possibly miss it.
What’s with him? Why is he acting like this?
“Is something wrong, Your Majesty?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“It doesn’t seem like nothing at all.”
You’re the one who has already been taken from me, aren’t you?
The Emperor forcibly swallowed the words he wanted to spit out. Jealousy was an emotion he himself found utterly pathetic. He suppressed his feelings as much as possible.
Did I not swear to hide this heart forever?
That oath had been sworn with his soul, an unbreakable vow he had pledged never to violate. The endless cold. People dying day after day. In that pit of despair where nothing could be seen ahead, he remembered how she had reached out her hand to him.
That was why he was afraid. If she were to leave his side like this, it felt as though he would fall back into the despair of that day. That fear still remained. That was why he had sworn not to convey these feelings. He did not want to destroy even this relationship of friendship with unnecessary words.
Yet because of the vermin who had come from the kingdom this time, that oath had nearly been shaken to its core.
“…In truth, I managed to secure a rather favorable deal this time.”
“A deal, Your Majesty?”
“Yes. It seems I will require your strength.”
“Please give me your command, Your Majesty.”
It was a lie. This matter could have been handled perfectly well by the Empire without needing to use Wolfgang Leonhardt’s military power. Nevertheless, the reason the Emperor had deliberately chosen Wolfgang was—
“I hear the kingdom’s Saintess has moved to form an alliance with the Blood Alliance that rules the west as its overlord.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I would like you to clearly show those ignorant barbarians of the Blood Alliance the power of the Empire.”
Even if only for a little while. The ugly jealousy that wanted to keep her far away from the kingdom. The Emperor refused to acknowledge it until the very end.