Hunting Dog
Hearing those words, I asked Serpina again and again whether she was serious.
I had thought it possible, but now that it had actually happened, I could scarcely believe it.
"What would I stand to gain by lying to you?"
Serpina said this with another smile.
There was no sense that she was testing my reaction with a falsehood.
"You wear the face of a cast-off hunting dog."
"A hunting dog…"
Hearing that only made me sigh all the harder.
"I was never even Lady Yuuri's hunting dog to begin with."
She had never used me at all.
I hadn't been with her long, but I'd spent more time teaching Reika than carrying out any real duties. Looking back, I had probably lived more leisurely under her than I ever had under Lin.
Leaving the silent Serpina behind me, I sorted through the situation.
So Yuuri had chosen Anima over me after all.
She might not have known that Reika had attached herself to me—but she would have known Irene was accompanying me as my escort. And still she had made that choice.
Which meant that to her, both Irene and I… had simply never measured up to Anima.
It wasn't entirely beyond understanding.
The bond among the Five of Asius was strong enough that no one could break it—Yuuri, Anima, Emma, Epinel, Ernandof. The Asius Army itself was a nation whose every decision was made by those five.
And while I was at it, I might as well be honest with myself.
I had no intention of carrying on about how deeply shocked I was, or how my lord could do such a thing to me. I myself had never truly served her as my sovereign. She had only ever been a waystation. My heart had always remained at Lunarien's side.
I had no desire to play the tragic victim now. Acting that shamelessly would surely break something inside me.
Irene was in the same position, so she would feel no great regret either. She had earned enough military merit during her service that she owed Yuuri nothing of the heart.
The only one I was truly worried about was Reika.
Unlike Irene and me, she was no warrior—just an ordinary girl who happened to know magic. Calling her ordinary was a stretch given that she could use magic at all, but she drew no state salary, and there was no reason for her to remain captive here with me. If she wished it… it would be best to send her home safely. As Zinor's adopted daughter, no one on that side would dare touch her either.
As I was still piecing the situation together, Serpina's voice reached my ears once more.
"Well then. What will you do?"
"What do you mean by that, my lady?"
"Exactly what I said."
Did she want a direct declaration of defeat from me?
It was a rather nasty hobby, but absolute rulers like Serpina often fixated on such trifles. Still, I had managed well enough under Lin—I could manage under her too.
"I already told you. I lost the wager I myself proposed. As promised, from this day forward I shall be Lady Serpina's loyal servant."
That ought to be enough of an answer.
I was just wondering whether "loyal servant" was a bit over the top when an unexpected reply came back.
"That is not what I asked you."
"…?"
"Swen. I am asking for your own will."
My will? When I asked whether she meant my will regarding entering her service, she answered:
"Did you not tell me yourself? That if I wished to have you, I must not force you by such means."
"That is true, but…"
"I have said it more than once. I want you. I want you to give me your deep loyalty—to regard me as a sovereign worth serving with all your heart. What meaning would there be in winning a wager and forcing you beneath my feet?"
As for how that made me feel—
I was simply, cleanly astonished.
For someone rumored to be a tyrant, her manner toward a subordinate was remarkably straightforward. At her station, she could have done as she pleased without consequence.
A question rose in me, and I voiced it as it was.
"And if I were to change my mind here and refuse to serve you, Lady Serpina—what would you do?"
"I would send you back to Valharat Castle."
"And what of Lady Anima in that case?"
"I would release her. I said I would, should I win the wager."
"Then you would gain nothing at all from the prisoners you went to such lengths to take?"
At that, Serpina drew close to me once more.
The scent of her perfume stabbed fiercely at my nose again. I understood it now. Yuzu. That was the smell.
"What foolishness. Have you not already learned this truth?"
Whatever amused her so, she wore that alluring smile again.
"You watched with your own two eyes every decision I made in this wager. What remains with me… is your gaze, Swen. The way you look at me."
"!!!"
"That gaze will be branded with the afterimage of today's contest. Even after you leave my side, you will recall this moment again and again. I consider that more than enough of a prize, don't you?"
…Wow.
That was dizzying.
For a moment I genuinely thought, Someone of Serpina's caliber might well be worth serving.
Her refined and beautiful features, the Aingart blood in her veins, the weight of her background, the epithet of "tyrant"… Setting all of that aside, the title that suited her best in this moment was—absolute ruler.
I had no choice but to admit it.
Of every sovereign I had ever met, the one closest to being an absolute ruler was the woman standing before me.
Not even Lin Brans, with her charisma and madness that bent a room to her will, could approach it. Not even Baranga Yuuri Asius, who would cast everything aside for the sworn brothers of her blood, could reach it.
The only one who could bear the weight of an absolute ruler's crown was Serpina—who could toss out words like that as if they were nothing.
In the span of a single breath, she had made me think such things. A truly astonishing woman.
An ordinary person might have fallen for her right then and sworn their loyalty—
But I thought I understood why she could afford to be so composed.
"You are remarkable, Lady Serpina. If this is how you treat the talent you mean to claim, anyone would want to give you their wholehearted service."
"'Would want to,' you say?"
"Well—strictly speaking, I have no real choice at the moment."
"I gave you a choice, did I not?"
"It may look that way. But hear me out."
Looking only at the situation, her words were correct.
But having already been discarded once, I could not choose the path of going back. Even if I returned to the Asius Army alongside a freed Anima—would Yuuri be glad to see me? Could I live out my days there in peace?
As my former lord, Yuuri might sincerely apologize. But she would keep watching me from the corner of her eye. From the moment she had sold me off so publicly, my very existence would become an obstacle to them. My presence alone would keep reminding them of what they had done.
People like Epinel had likely already spun some lie to paper over the mess—claiming I was already dead, or something of the sort. They would have delivered whole speeches justifying the cut. My reappearance would only throw that cleanup into chaos. Of course they would try to deal with me somehow.
So entering Serpina's service was effectively the only option left to me. It was the only path that kept me alive.
Resigning entirely was another possibility, but as a mere envoy I had nothing but the gold I'd brought for diplomatic purposes. I had no living expenses, nowhere to stay. Counting myself, there were three mouths to feed. I was being attacked at a perfect pinpoint.
And—
"I do not believe someone of your stature, Lady Serpina, could possibly be unaware of that."
That wasn't the only reason, either.
I could accurately predict answers to questions put to me—within the scope of nations and war. But as Zinor believed, I could neither use magic nor see the future. Whether I could outmaneuver Epinel's schemes was another matter entirely. Even if Zinor the strategist sheltered me, there was no telling when my life might be in danger.
One way or another, my conclusion was singular.
Of course she couldn't know every detail of my circumstances—but she would have grasped that returning would leave me in a difficult position.
"…That is how I see it. What do you think?"
"So what you are saying is that though I appear to be showing mercy, in the end it is nothing of the sort?"
"Yes."
Hearing my explanation, she lifted the corner of her mouth again, as if amused. Every time she smiled at me, I felt as though her golden eyes were soaking through my entire body.
"I think I understand now why Yuuri never used you as a hunting dog, Swen."
"What do you mean?"
"No master in this world dotes on a dog that might turn and devour its owner rather than serve them. Deep insight has a way of aiming at its master's throat."
She was answering me like that?
Even as she acknowledged my ability, she made plain that I was the one who had not been chosen—and never once let the initiative of the conversation slip into my hands. Having her inner thoughts read completely and remaining utterly unshaken… this time, I could not help but acknowledge her.
If I had not already predicted that Lunarien would be the one to unify the continent—
If I had possessed only prior game knowledge, without the ability to make predictions that always came true—
I would have bet everything on her without a second thought.
"Swen."
With two fingers, she gently lifted my chin.
Depending on the person, the gesture could have felt deeply humiliating… but her beauty, the yuzu scent rising from her, and the aura she carried all soothed my mood so that it never quite soured.
"A woman of Yuuri's measure cannot use you as a hunting dog. I am different. I can hold your talent. I am confident I can. Come under me. I will dye your body and heart in the color of gold. I ask you once more. What will you do? Will you become my hunting dog?"
Truthfully, I had never once considered joining the Serpina Army.
Until the greater trend was set, I had meant to pass the time in the Brans Army. And once I knew Luna was fated to become the unifying sovereign, which nation I currently belonged to had hardly seemed to matter.
But if my Intelligence of 100 had predicted that I would end up in Serpina's army—
"Very well."
I met Serpina's eyes and spoke.
"From this day forward, I, Swen, shall be my lord's faithful hunting dog."
Once recommended to Luna, then enlisted in the Brans Army when her nation fell. After betraying Lin, I had entered the Asius Army—only to be discarded at last and sold to Serpina.
A general who changed masters without pause. Setting every circumstance aside, looking only at the bare sentence of it, my life was a remarkably checkered one.
Leaving the room and walking the corridor of the annex, a question suddenly rose in me that I wanted to put to her.
"My lord."
"Speak."
"This may be an impertinent question… but I ask it just in case."
She had been walking ahead with steady steps; without turning around, she came to a stop. I understood easily enough that it was a signal she would hear me out.
"Have we… met somewhere before?"
No answer came, but I continued.
"Even if we never faced each other in person—perhaps you have simply seen my face. In a dream, for instance… somewhere like that."
To a third party it would have been a thoroughly strange question, but what else could I do? This was the only way I could ask. Just as Serpina had appeared in my dream, I wondered whether I might have appeared in hers—and if so, whether she would show even a flicker of surprise.
At least from behind, she did not appear startled in the slightest.
"I had heard the rumors. That a white-haired man had worked some uncanny miracle against our army. Even I found it hard to believe until I saw it with my own eyes."
So saying, she turned and met my gaze.
"But this is the first time I have seen your face."
"Is that so."
"Does that answer you?"
When I said yes, she walked on again without another word.
So she only ever appeared in my dreams, then?
It was hard to think so, given that she had known my name from the start… but her reaction suggested otherwise. Perhaps my name had simply traveled by rumor.
Of course, the possibility that she was lying was not zero—but if she had no intention of telling me, there was no point pressing further.
If I spend more time at her side, the chance to learn the truth will come naturally enough.
There had to be a reason my prediction had sent me here.
With that thought, I followed my new golden-haired lord down the corridor.