Inevitability (4)
Teppelo Castle, under the Carelia Army.
"Hah... huff... Just a little—just a little more rest time..."
Francis, the eldest of the children Cain had entrusted to Luna and a youth of exceptional talent with the spear, planted his spear in the ground and panted as he pleaded with his master—
"Hey. You're still a kid and you're already collapsing? What, you think you've done enough?"
His red-haired master, her hair roughly tied back, looked down at her disciple with pure disdain.
"We've been training since sunrise until the sun is just about to set... except for lunch, it's been nonstop."
"So what? Planning to play house once night falls? At your age? If you've decided you want to get stronger, you train until you drop. Obviously."
"Um... Lady Tifa. Even so, all day long is a bit..."
Tifa stepped closer to Francis and spoke in a tone of deadly seriousness.
"Hey. You said you wanted to make a name for yourself, right? You wanted to look good in front of Luna, didn't you?"
"N-no, that's... I mean..."
Francis flushed and ducked his head.
"It's not so much about looking good as... I just need to produce outstanding results somehow, so I don't bring shame to my uncle's name..."
"Old man Cain? What the hell kind of face does that gloomy geezer need to save?!"
Tifa threw her head back and laughed uproariously.
Depending on the situation, the remark could have been wildly disrespectful, but Francis had lived here long enough to feel the bond between Tifa, Cain, and their lord Luna. He didn't take offense.
"Listen, Francis. You're way better than that old coot Cain. Talent's one thing, but looks-wise? You're a real catch. That old man looks kinda shifty, you know? I don't know exactly whose blood you've got, but you've got this noble-prince vibe going for you. And for someone who works his body all day, your skin's pretty decent too."
"..."
Francis kept his head down and said nothing.
Honestly, at his age he was well aware that his appearance stood out among his peers. It fed a certain adolescent pride in him. Of course, in an age of chaos, how much did a man's good looks really matter?
"Among all the guys I've seen, you're second. So take some pride, you idiot! What's this about saving Cain's face? Forget that old man. Sweat so that the name Francis thunders across the continent, you little bastard."
It was Tifa's idea of encouragement—but one word in her sentence snagged in young Francis's ears and refused to let go.
"...Second?"
An ordinary person might have realized their slip and looked awkward. Tifa, however, was a pure muscle-brain who neither liked lying nor knew how. She answered with complete honesty.
"Huh? Yeah. You're second. There's a guy way better-looking than you."
For Francis, who had grown up hearing people say how handsome he was, this was no small matter.
"Really? Who is it?"
"Swen."
"Swen...?"
"Never heard of him? He used to serve as our army's strategist, and—oh?"
Just then, Tifa spotted Luna approaching from afar and raised a hand in greeting.
"Hey, Luna? Done with work already?"
"Mm. Until orders come down from above, there's nothing particular for me to do."
The southern continent, with the Hesna Army at its center, was more thick with the scent of war than ever before. The reason Tifa was drilling Francis so relentlessly was simple: talent of his caliber could be thrown straight into real combat. For a general who lived on the battlefield, actual fighting experience mattered more than any amount of training—that was her firm belief.
"That so? What about the thing I asked for?"
"That's actually why I came. Ah, just a moment."
Luna turned her head toward Francis, smiled gently, and asked,
"Francis, you always work so hard. Training diligently again today?"
"Ah... y-yes, ma'am!"
Francis, who had been sitting on the ground, shot to his feet and answered her with crisp energy.
"I've been pushing myself so I can be of some use to you somehow, Lady Luna."
"Is that so? Hehe. That makes me feel secure."
She smiled then—a smile like starlight—and Francis found he could not meet her eyes. He quickly turned his face away to cool the heat rising in his cheeks.
This desire to be of help to Lady Luna somehow... does she understand it too?
"What were you two talking about? Training?"
"About Swen."
"...Huh?"
The moment she heard the name "Swen," Luna's face flushed in a way that was impossible to miss.
"Lord Swen...? Th-that, all of a sudden...?"
To the flustered Luna, Tifa tossed out casually,
"Yeah. I was telling Francis about him. The kid's going to be a general under us someday. Figured he ought to know about the strategist we absolutely can't do without, right?"
"Ah... so that's what you meant..."
Luna let out a short, soft sigh—then her face lit with a smile so radiant it was almost dazzling, the smile of someone happy both as a sovereign and as a woman.
It was a smile that went beyond mere beauty or purity or warmth. Most importantly, it was a smile she had never once shown Francis.
She had always treated him kindly, gently, speaking to him with soft laughter—but never with a smile like that.
"That's right. Our army's only strategist is Lord Swen. No one else... can ever take his place."
"..."
"...I hope he's well."
The way she smiled—hehe—was exactly that of a girl in love.
"He'll be fine. Looking back, even the crazy things he said always turned out to be right, didn't they?"
"I suppose so...?"
Reading the fierce longing in Luna's eyes was not difficult at all.
In that instant, Francis—who had sworn to take up the spear for her sake—felt a wall he could never cross.
What kind of man is Swen?
What kind of man could make Lady Luna look like that?
Francis quietly hid the complicated feeling he was experiencing for the first time in his life, a feeling he could not yet put into words, and thought to himself:
Just what sort of person is he?
"Serpina... my lady...?"
"..."
Only after hearing her one-sided "verdict" did I manage to force her name past my lips, half out of my mind.
Serpina looked at me... then slowly placed her hand beneath my chin and tilted my face upward.
"You did this last time as well. At the decisive moment, you call me 'Lady Serpina.'"
"No, th-this is... my lord."
"It's fine. I don't mind the small things. Did I not just tell you clearly? Whoever is inside you, it makes no difference to me. Yes. For now, you need not serve me."
"...I am... already a member of the Serpina Army."
I tried to express the idea of serving her in a roundabout way. The corner of her mouth curved upward.
I still could not believe that those glistening, moist lips that had just smiled so alluringly had been pressed against my own.
"Swen. You lie so freely to me. No one else would dare stand before me and speak falsehoods with a completely unchanged expression. Hehehe..."
"...!"
She knows it's a lie...
How can she be so certain?
Had she obtained some source of information I didn't know about?
She was a sovereign, and my movements could be investigated thoroughly if she wished. Finding the connection between me and the lord I truly served—Lunarien—might not have been all that difficult for her.
It was a little unsettling, but there was still a chance it was pure guesswork. I clenched my teeth and put on a look of confusion.
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean."
"Swen. Whether the true lord you hold in your heart is Lin Brans, or Yuuri Asius, or someone else entirely... there is no way for me to discover that. You are not so careless as to let it slip."
I was actually quite careless in more ways than I cared to admit, but there was no need to remind her of that.
"But I have no intention of giving you up. Those who carry the blood of Aingart never abandon something once they decide to possess it. Whether that something is this continent... or you, Swen—a human being."
As she spoke, Serpina looked straight into my eyes.
The fragrant scent of yuzu that had lingered in my mouth a moment ago drifted up again as her face drew near, tickling my nose.
"When I was still young, in the days when everyone believed the empire would prosper forever, countless men approached me. They worked tirelessly to catch the eye of one who carried imperial blood. Like peacocks spreading their feathers, they would deliver long speeches about how their house, their rank, their talents were worthy of my noble blood, and how they would bring glory to the imperial family."
"Not a single one of them captured my heart. They were all so transparent. I could see exactly what they were thinking, what they were after as they wagged their pathetic little tails at me. Every last one of them was predictable. Without exception."
Her eyes shone as she said "not a single one."
Beautiful.
"After I became a sovereign, they could not even bring themselves to wag their tails. I was a tyrant who had washed blood with blood. Only after I became someone the small fry feared to approach did I finally gain freedom. Is it not amusing? That this body of mine, far more valuable now than the ignorant girl I once was, is the very reason they keep their distance out of fear?"
Serpina laughed as she spoke.
The tone was similar to Lin Brans's, but where Lin's had been steeped in arrogance, Serpina's was purely playful—the laugh of a mischievous child.
"But you, Swen, are different. Of all the men I have met, you are the only one whose depths I cannot read. This is a first for me. No man has ever made this heart of mine race the way you do. If your talent were mixed with the noble blood of Aingart... what do you suppose would be born? Hehehe...♥"
Having finished speaking, Serpina looked at me with a deeply flushed face and a voice thick with honeyed desire.
"I will say it once more. Those of the Aingart line never let go of what they yearn for with all their heart. And—"
—This body wants you.
Only after hearing her words did I realize it.
In this world, the woman I would become most deeply entangled with might not be Lady Luna... but her.
And for me—who had to stay glued to Serpina's side and somehow keep her alive—that was no different from having a time bomb strapped to my chest that I could never defuse.
"Thank you...!"
In the market alleys of Aingart Castle, Reika—now free to go outside without the slightest hesitation—was buying various things she needed for daily life.
Thanks to Lady Airen, I'll be able to leave the lodging soon... Once that happens, I can start cooking properly, right?
Meals were already fully managed by her personal maids, but Reika wanted to spend time in the kitchen herself. Even if it wasn't sweets or cakes or bread, there were so many dishes she wanted to try.
For a girl who had spent her days locked in a mansion like a caged bird, repeating only magical training, the simple act of planning and doing things on her own carried a strange, thrilling sense of rebellion.
All right, next I'll stop by that place over there and—huh?
In that moment, something distinctly unusual entered Reika's field of vision.