An Unexpected Reunion (4)
Having sent Lin in alone, Parfalle recovered her composure and began to reconstruct the absurd situation that had just unfolded.
Why is Airen Juliette here…?
How could a woman who had gone so far as to defect to the Asius Army now be serving under Serpina?
Having witnessed something she could scarcely believe, Parfalle had fallen into a brief panic—and through that haze, a strange rumor she had heard not long ago drifted back to her.
There was a rumor that Baranga Yuuri Asius, in exchange for the return of her own prisoners of war, handed over the white-haired mage who had once been her subordinate—body and all—straight to Serpina.
It was true that a figure presumed to be the white-haired mage had been with the Asius Army. Of course he had—he was almost certainly the same man who had once belonged to their own forces.
But the idea that a sovereign would trade away one of her own retainers as a condition of a prisoner exchange was so preposterous that no ruler would ever conceive of it. Naturally, Parfalle had assumed Serpina's side had spread the false rumor to damage Yuuri's reputation and shake the loyalty of the generals within her ranks.
If anything, she had found it odd that Serpina—known for her shrewdness—would bother exploiting a rumor so ridiculous.
But then—
Thinking back on it, Airen had not crossed over alone.
She had taken with her the white-haired mage, the man who had worked miracles at the northern fortress—Swen.
Given that the two of them had already moved as one, the fact that Airen was here now, and under Serpina's banner no less…
Don't tell me… that rumor was true?
A sovereign selling off her own retainer as the price of a prisoner exchange?
What kind of utterly senseless story was that—one that gained nothing and should never have been allowed to happen?
But if it were true?
Parfalle had no difficulty imagining the worst possible outcome for Lin.
In truth, what had tormented Lin most was not the loss of Airen.
It was the loss of Swen that had broken her most deeply.
Losing Airen had, in the end, amounted to losing Swen—and that was the only reason Airen's name kept coming up. Having stayed at Lin's side ever since her release from prison, Parfalle had seen that clearly enough.
When Lin had faced Airen, she had somehow managed to hold herself together.
But if she were to come face-to-face with Swen…?
My lady Lin…!
Please.
If a god truly exists… and if that god still holds any pity for the Brans Army…
—Do not lay any further trials upon my lord.
Beyond clinging to a faith that had long since lost all authority in this age of chaos, there was nothing Parfalle could do.
"From this day forward, I will work for you, my lady Lin."
"My talents are meager, but it was because you valued them so highly that I was able to join the Brans Army. I believe this is an excellent stage on which to pursue my ambitions. My dream is not to seize the world with my own hands. My dream is to serve the one who will."
"My purpose is advancement. I ask for nothing special. Give me what I desire, and I will give you what you desire."
"Please—give me wings, my lord."
Those moments were still vivid in Lin's mind.
The man she had believed would remain at her side no matter what she did.
After the crushing defeat against the Asius Army—
As Serpina's forces continued to strip away her territories—
As she locked Parfalle in prison for acting on her own without carrying out her orders, and sat alone, fretting helplessly, unable to take any measures at all—the person Lin thought of most was none other than Swen.
From their very first meeting, he had been extraordinary.
In a private audience, though he was nothing more than an envoy from a minor state, the sheer force of his presence had, for a single instant, crushed her own aura—and that had sparked her interest.
For the sole purpose of obtaining him, Lin had risen from her seat, taken personal command of a battle, and destroyed an entire nation.
After that, he had never been stingy with his counsel.
He had told her the time was right to advance into the northern continent.
He had known with absolute clarity which battles could be won and which could not.
He had communed with the heavens and wrought miracles that defied belief.
Why.
Why had she let him slip away?
Even if he had been deceived by Airen… if she herself had not treated Airen the way she had, he would still be at her side now. That much was certain.
If she had not cast Airen aside—
Then Airen would have protected her.
Lin knew that now. Even if she had pressed a blade to that woman's throat with her own hands, Airen would never have betrayed her.
If Airen had remained her shield—Swen would have stood beside her, watching over her.
If she had not clung to that worthless pride.
If, in that final moment, she had simply followed Swen's advice and not sent Airen off to the eastern fortress…
—She had spent her days lost in thoughts like these, letting the time slip away.
During that period, with Chel wounded and the army effectively without a commander, the soldiers had fallen into disarray.
But she had not even had the strength to do anything about it. After losing the compass she had personally unearthed from a minor state—the one that had always pointed her in the right direction—she could no longer trust her own decisions.
It had taken a very long time before she even arrived at the thought that she should have listened to Parfalle.
The moment that thought struck her, she had reinstated Parfalle and somehow managed to hold things together until today… but she had wasted far too much time before reaching that realization on her own.
If only she had not hated Airen.
No—even if she had hated her, if she had not made a public display of it and oppressed her, none of this would have happened.
Even after Parfalle's return, forgetting Swen had been all but impossible.
The fact that she had failed to properly make use of a man of such extraordinary talent—a man even Parfalle had acknowledged as remarkable—and had instead let the Asius Army snatch him away, had continued to scrape at some corner of her heart like a fang.
That fang. Constantly.
Raking across her heart.
And yet, to fulfill her responsibilities, she had no choice but to move forward.
She had swallowed the humiliation and played along with Serpina's tune.
Honestly… she could have endured Airen.
That was less a matter of rational thought than something closer to her nature.
She was the one who had pushed Airen away in the first place. Lin did feel guilt toward her, but the grudges a person nurses for more than a decade do not vanish overnight.
Unconsciously, she could let it slide. Airen, she could manage.
But—
The man she had obtained with her own hands.
The man who had said he would work for her if only she granted him advancement—Swen—
Swen…?
With trembling eyes, Lin watched Swen approach carrying documents.
In the place where Swen's gaze fell… Lin herself did not exist.
His eyes held only the golden-haired sovereign standing beside her.
"Regarding the matters we discussed last night?"
At Serpina's words, Swen nodded and replied.
"I have incorporated everything you instructed."
"You truly work so hard. Heh heh…"
Serpina looked at Swen with an expression of pure affection—
And Swen, wearing that same loyal expression he had once shown to her, answered.
"I am glad to be of service to my lord."
To another woman—not to her—
Calling her my lord.
At the sight of him—
Crash!
The sound of the wine glass slipping from Lin's hand and shattering on the floor sent a ripple through the banquet hall that had, until then, seemed so peaceful.
Serpina approached Lin at an unhurried pace and asked, in a thoroughly shameless tone,
"Oh dear, Lady Lin. Are you all right? You there—bring a fresh glass."
After sending a soldier off, she studied Lin with a look of concern.
"Have you taken ill with dizziness, perhaps?"
"Swen…?"
Serpina's voice did not reach Lin's ears.
Only the man whose loss had become her deepest regret could monopolize every scrap of her attention.
"Swen… why… why, why…?"
"…"
Swen did not answer. He merely glanced at Serpina.
As if she understood exactly what he meant, Serpina stepped in front of Lin and spoke.
"Do you have some business with one of my officers?"
"Why… why, why are you here…?"
Lin forced her trembling steps toward him, barely managing to close the distance.
"Why…? You said you'd stay by my side… We… we shared the same dream…!!!"
But her advance was stopped by Airen, who stood at Serpina's side.
"You must not do this, Lady Lin."
Restrained by her former bodyguard—
She cast aside every shred of a sovereign's dignity and cried out to the strategist who had once served her, pleading like a beggar.
"Swen…! Why, why back then… why did you… why did you leave me? I was going to give you wings. I… I…!!!"
None of this made any sense.
Why?
Why were Airen and Swen—the ones who had worked for her—now under that tyrant Serpina, her bitter enemy—
One as her bodyguard, the other called "my Swen" by her?
That truth was simply too heavy.
The reality she had kept fleeing from—the reality she had only just begun to think she might overcome—came crashing down on her skull like a counterweight, and the pain was unbearable…
………Thud.
Lin collapsed where she stood, unconscious, without ever hearing Swen's reply.
Serpina showed no sign of fluster as she addressed one of the soldiers on guard.
"Fetch the Brans Army's envoys. It seems she needs rest. We shall resume the talks once Lady Lin has recovered her senses."
"Ah… y-yes, my lady!"
After the soldier Serpina had ordered dashed out in a flurry—
I looked at the unconscious Lin, and at Serpina gazing down at her with ice-cold eyes.
The look Serpina fixed on the fallen Lin was colder than anything I had ever seen.
If she calculated even this much…
I could not help but think that Serpina was, in more ways than one, an extraordinary woman.
Honestly, I felt a twinge of pity for how thoroughly broken Lin had become—
But she is the woman who tried to kill Lady Airen.
For that reason alone, any sympathy I might have felt for her vanished in an instant.
Sending prostitutes after me, the various insults she had heaped on me—none of that particularly mattered. I held no grudge over her failure to make full use of me, either.
I had never truly served her as my lord, after all.
But she had driven Airen—a woman who had so desperately wanted her recognition—into a death trap.
By deceiving and betraying Lin, I had been able to save Airen's life.
Not once had I regretted deceiving her or her nation.
Even if the same situation found me a hundred times over—
I would betray her again and save Airen just the same.
She reaped what she sowed.
Karma.
There was no more fitting word for the woman Lin had become.