The Blue Dream Crumbles Away (3)
One day, while Parfalle was managing the overall affairs of state in place of Lin—who had lost all capacity for sound judgment—an urgent summons from Castle Lord Rem sent her hurrying to the royal palace of Jeiland Castle.
"What's the matter?"
"Well… Strategist. Just now, a letter like this…!"
"What? …A letter?"
The throne was currently vacant. Who would send a letter?
The moment that thought crossed Parfalle's mind, her heart plummeted.
It can't be…!!!
"I-I don't really understand what's going on either, but for now—this…!"
Parfalle took the paper Rem handed her.
Stripped of every superfluous flourish and reduced to its essential content, it read roughly as follows:
Lin Brans can no longer be entrusted with the future of the Brans Army.
Not only has her reckless rule cost us the greater part of our Central Continent territories—she has even joined hands with that demon Serpina, our sworn enemy. Can such a thing be tolerated?
Therefore I, Kalintz Brans, hereby proclaim that I have ascended to the seat of lord of the Brans Army, that I may carry forward the glory of our house as it has been handed down from our forebears.
Castle lords who would follow me are to reply with all haste.
Any territory whose castle lord fails to reply shall be deemed an enemy state. I declare that I will not shrink from war to reclaim such lands.
Kalintz's rebellion.
Having read the letter, Parfalle was stunned for an entirely different reason.
What? Kalintz Brans did this…?
Kalintz was currently serving as acting castle lord of Anel Castle. He did not know the full details of Lin's condition, but he at least knew she required convalescence.
There had been only one reason Parfalle had chosen Kalintz as castle lord instead of Chel: he was not a man whose ambition ran deep enough to plot something like treason.
Chel, mad for battle and laden with military merit, had no shortage of followers. Kalintz, by contrast, had achieved no particular distinction and commanded no real popularity. Even with Brans blood in his veins, how many would join a rebellion behind a man of so little renown?
In other words, she had entrusted Anel Castle to him—rather than Chel—precisely because she had been certain he would not do anything foolish.
And yet… rebellion?
That Kalintz Brans?
She pressed a hand to her aching head at the incomprehensible situation—when Rem carefully asked again:
"Well… what should we do?"
"What should we do? This is treason! Of course we must not reply. While our lord still lives and breathes, to countenance something like this is unthinkable."
"…But…"
Rem, who knew how poor Lin's condition truly was, bowed his head with a deeply worried expression. Parfalle could not bring herself to snap at him. She rubbed her throbbing forehead and thought.
Why now, of all times?
She had been certain the information about Lin's mental state was locked away tight. Had it leaked after all?
If a man as timid as Kalintz had chosen the card of rebellion, it was only rational to conclude that the secret had gotten out. Once a secret left the mouth, it was no longer a secret.
She could only curse the heavens. Why did one disaster after another keep befalling their army?
No—
Come to think of it, something else bothered her more.
That prideful Chel… he submitted to Kalintz, a man of far less consequence than himself?
Chel's loyalty to Lin had been simple. In politics, Lin far outstripped him. Outside the realm of combat, Chel knew his place extremely well. His younger sister had been a lord worth serving, and so he had followed her without particular complaint.
But Kalintz was different. In battle or in politics—in every respect—he was a man of less consequence than Chel. Kalintz was not incompetent, but set beside Chel he was an ordinary man with no superior quality whatsoever.
And Chel had simply watched Kalintz take the throne?
Given that the letter had reached Jeiland Castle, the chance that Chel—stationed near the capital—had remained ignorant of the news was virtually zero.
A maddening sense of wrongness settled over her, and she sank into thought for a moment—
"C-Castle Lord!"
A soldier burst into the audience chamber at a run.
"What is it?"
"Th-that is… at Heisel Castle, r-rebels…!!"
"!!!"
"If this is about the rebels, I have already heard. Our castle will not join them."
Rem answered as if it were nothing. Parfalle, however, froze solid the instant she heard the soldier's words.
Heisel Castle.
A fortress near Anel Castle, and a critically important military stronghold.
And the place where Kalintz—the sender of this letter—currently was… was not Heisel Castle.
"W-wait… did you just say Heisel Castle?"
"Yes, that's right…!"
At Parfalle's question, the soldier answered in a voice squeezed thin with helplessness.
"At Heisel Castle… General Chel has raised a rebellion…!!"
"Ah…!!"
She crumpled.
"S-Strategist…!!"
Rem caught Parfalle as she sank to the floor where she stood.
At the most critical moment—when they had only just managed, through humiliation, to plug the northern front and somehow had to reclaim the glory of the past—everything began to collapse.
The Brans Army, once Serpina's most dangerous rival, was splitting into three. Their most threatening competitor was walking the path of self-destruction.
All of it was the butterfly effect set in motion by the alliance with Serpina's forces.
An efficient alliance that will prove a great opportunity for our side.
Once again, the prediction of Intelligence 100 had proven true—but there was no way for Parfalle, a strategist of a foreign power, to know that.
"H-how can this be…"
Unable to offer any countermeasure at all, Parfalle was finally forced to admit it.
There was no way to set the listing Brans Army back on its original course.
No—even if such a way existed, it was beyond her power.
Before this "infallible logic," there was nothing she could do.
Is this… is this how it ends?
In peacetime it might have been different, but with the nation torn into three pieces, the motive force with which she could lead the state was bound to drain away. And if, even in a crisis this dire, it was Parfalle rather than Lin running the government, the subordinate generals would inevitably grow suspicious. What, exactly, was their lord doing?
Then she would have no choice but to reveal the lord's condition—and if that happened…
No… O gods…!!
Just as Parfalle was sinking into a bottomless pit of despair—
"Parfalle!"
"…?"
She lifted her head toward the voice that had called her name.
That voice… was her lord's. Lin Brans's voice.
"My lord…?"
"I'm sorry. …It seems I've put you through a great deal."
Parfalle looked up at her lord. Lin should still have been unhinged by trauma—and yet the color of her face now was unmistakably different from before.
"My lord, can it be…?"
"Yes. I remembered. …Everything."
"My lord…!!!"
Still on her knees, Parfalle broke into sobs before her.
At the very last moment—when they were no better than a candle flame that a single breath of wind might snuff out—Lin Brans had dramatically recovered her senses.
Parfalle did not believe in gods, but had the heavens truly answered her prayers?
Whatever the case, from her position it was nothing short of a miracle.
"Thank goodness. Truly, truly thank goodness…!"
"Ah… my lord, have you come back to yourself?"
At Rem's careful question from beside them, Lin nodded.
"Yes. I owe you as well, Rem. I'm sorry."
"Not at all. I am truly glad."
Lin spoke in a calm tone.
"Anyway… I heard the rough outline on my way here. It seems a rebellion has broken out—is that right?"
"My lord, that is…"
"It's fine. …Half of it is my fault anyway. Who is it? Brother Chel? Or someone else?"
"…Both General Chel and General Kalintz are rebels."
"What? So the two of them joined forces?"
"No… it seems each of them raised a rebellion separately."
"…I see."
Lin let out a long breath, then bent and helped Parfalle to her feet.
"The best move we can make right now is defense. Who holds Anel Castle?"
"General Kalintz."
"Then the capital garrison is probably already under Brother Kalintz's control. If the two of them have split their forces, every general of any conviction will have gone under Brother Chel. From our position—having already lost the bulk of our troops and armed officers—retaking Anel Castle at this point is impossible."
"My lord…!"
In the calm way Lin assessed the situation, Parfalle saw again the Lin of the days when her brilliance still burned bright.
"For now, I think we should inform the castle lords that I am still standing, gather the factions that refuse to join the rebels, and build the strongest defensive line we can. What do you think?"
"I also believe that is the best course. In any case, seeing that General Chel and General Kalintz have split from each other, they are unlikely to form a coalition—so we may even be able to profit from their mutual destruction. Watching the situation for a time may also be acceptable."
"…Understood. From today on, things are going to get busy. I'm sorry for everything I've put you through, Parfalle."
"Not at all, my lord. I, Parfalle… will remain at your side and assist you until the very end."
Without answering, Lin gave Rem a few rough instructions, then slowly left the audience chamber.
Listening to Parfalle's footsteps following behind her, she sank into calm thought.
Coldly speaking, even if we somehow weather this crisis, the chance that our Brans Army becomes a unified empire is gone. The nation has been split three ways. But we cannot simply collapse like this. If we must fall, let it not be this kind of self-destruction—let us end as a nation that fought to the last. If we don't…
Lin forced back the tears that threatened to spill again.
I would have no face left to show Irene, who risked her life trying to protect our Brans Army…
So she could not fall like this.
She knew it was far too late… but she no longer wanted to do anything that would make her feel ashamed before Irene.
Even if Irene never forgives me, I will fight to the end for the name of Brans that Irene tried to protect. I will not perish in vain without lifting a hand.
The blue dream Lin had always carried had crumbled away meaninglessly under the weight of her own successive foolish choices—
and yet Lin Brans, the human being freed at last from the curse of continental unification, was shining more brightly than at any moment before.
It was the very potential that only her father, Orlando Brans, had once perceived in her.