The Fateful Night (1)
I returned to the manor earlier than usual, and Reika was waiting at the door to greet me.
"Swen…! W-welcome home…!"
"Is something the matter?"
"N-no, it's just…"
She fidgeted for a moment, then crept closer on careful little steps and whispered,
"Since you're home early today, I was wondering if… if it's all right with you, Swen… maybe we could go for a walk together? It's been a while…"
The way she squirmed, not knowing what to do with herself, was so endearing that I found myself resting a hand on her head before I even thought about it.
"…!!!"
Reika looked startled for a second, but she didn't pull away. She simply entrusted her head to my hand.
Reika, Irene… when they get like this, they're both genuinely adorable.
A walk, huh.
Come to think of it, the last time I'd gone out with her was that trip to the library. It had been quite a while.
Today, I decided, I'd spend some time with Reika.
"Is there anywhere in particular you'd like to go?"
"Huh? N-no, I… as long as I'm with you, Swen, anywhere is fine…!"
Something about the way she said it made her look as if she'd steeled herself for some great resolve, which left me faintly puzzled. But it didn't seem like something worth pressing her about, so I simply left the manor with her.
The moment we stepped outside, Reika seemed to remember something and turned to me.
"Ah— um, Swen! There's something I want to show you."
"What is it?"
"Well… I've learned a new spell."
She pressed two fingers together, hesitating a little.
"When the chance comes to show you… soon…!"
"All right."
She'd been spending a lot of time alone lately, so she probably just wanted to report all sorts of little things to me. Listening wasn't hard, and if it was enough to keep her this motivated, I was only grateful.
Leaving her alone because I was busy had been weighing on me, too.
"G-great…! Hehe… for now, let's just go for our walk."
And so, for the first time in a long while, Reika and I wandered through the streets inside Aingart Castle.
For me, it was as good as a rare stretch of rest.
We wandered here and there through the castle grounds. There seemed to be some kind of small festival going on; more street stalls than usual lined the roads, and browsing them one by one—picking up decent tea leaves and cooking tools—turned out to be surprisingly pleasant.
"You bought quite a lot."
"Ehehe… I think I just got excited, being out with you, Swen…"
Watching Reika smile so brightly, I could really feel how much she'd changed since we first met.
She still fidgeted and didn't quite know what to do with herself, but the darkness that used to hang over her face like a shadow was completely gone. She'd grown so much brighter, and she smiled so much more often now, that I found myself quietly relieved.
"Shall we head back soon?"
"Yes…!"
And just as we were about to return to the manor—
"…Hm?"
In the distance, a familiar figure of a woman came running toward us.
Red hair. A silver circlet. Clothes torn in places…
Irene?
Irene was racing this way with an expression of pure urgency.
And that wasn't all.
She was… carrying someone on her back.
That person was—
Huh?
Rewinding the clock just a little—
Serpina had been making an unusual number of inspection tours through her territory lately.
Looking after one's people was only natural for a ruler, of course—but for Serpina, sovereign of the former empire, a power far beyond some minor vassal state, to go out and do it in person was, by any measure, an extraordinary act.
Lately, Serpina had been driving herself to the bone.
The fate Swen had revealed to her. The cold reality that she could never become the unifier of the continent.
But Swen had been clear: that prediction was based on the present moment. If her own efforts could change it, then what reason was there not to try?
And in fact, the people's regard for Serpina had improved considerably.
When she'd first taken the throne, the citizens of the old imperial capital hadn't been particularly fond of her. The leading candidates for emperor—Algot, Sidmid, and the rest—had all died, and a woman with almost no foundation of her own had risen to power and proceeded to purge after purge. Even if affairs of state were the business of those who ruled, it hadn't sat well with them.
But she had crushed every rebellion that followed, and her governance of Aingart Castle itself had been more than competent. Many had begun to open their hearts to her.
And honestly—
The mere fact that someone who might once have become emperor was coming out on inspection was, to the common folk beneath her, an impressive sight in its own right.
People were simpler creatures than they liked to admit. One look at a golden-haired empress of such sculpted beauty, and the thought that she was a figure heaven itself had sent down came naturally.
At this point, the work of her bodyguards was no different from usual.
Shadow her. Protect her.
Leni, a veteran of her guard. Shura, a woman of exceptional skill. And Irene, whose military merit in suppressing the rebels had earned her recognition.
Naturally, today should have been another day when nothing happened.
But—
Irene alone never let her guard down.
She kept the worst possibility always in mind: that something might happen to Serpina.
Whatever Serpina did, Irene never took her eyes off her.
And that was why—
"We should be heading back soon."
—she caught that moment the instant it came.
In that moment, Leni—who had guarded Serpina longer than anyone—drew close to her—
"…My lord!!!"
Raised as a faithful knight of House Brans, and never once relaxing her vigilance because of Swen's warning, Irene lunged at Leni on pure instinct.
"!!!!"
While everyone else froze in shock, Irene struck Leni's wrist hard and fast.
Clang!
A small concealed blade tumbled from his hand.
The moment Serpina grasped what that meant, the color drained from her face as she stared at Leni.
"Th-this is…!!"
Leaving the stunned Serpina behind her, Irene wasted no words. She drove her sword straight into Leni's ankle.
A principle drilled into her since childhood: never, under any circumstances, negotiate with an assassin.
"GAAAAAHHH!!!"
Assassination.
And from a man who had served as her bodyguard for years?
Her thoughts were a tangle, but at least she'd neutralized him enough that he couldn't act properly. She could question him about who was behind this.
But… wasn't she missing something?
Irene's mind began to race faster than it ever had.
Even granting that Leni would attempt an assassination today—he was doing it with Shura and me right here? Alone, against those odds?
One of the usual guards was absent, yes, but two against one should still have been a problem for him.
Wait.
Two against one?
…Huh?
In that instant—
A black shadow fell across Irene's back.
The one who was outnumbered two to one… wasn't Leni. It might have been—!!!
"HAAAAAH!!!!"
Damn it!
If Irene hadn't thrown herself forward on pure deduction before any real sign appeared, it would have been over. No one attempted an assassination alone under such unfavorable conditions.
If the absence of one guard from a riding accident was the opportunity they'd been waiting for, then of course—
Irene whipped her head around at the sound of Shura's scream, but—
She already knew.
She was too late.
I should have dealt with Shura first, while she was right beside me… damn it…!
She knew it, too.
To foresee and act that far ahead was the domain of gods, not humans.
And yet—
Swen had warned her she might face an assassination attempt.
She had sworn she would never push herself alone.
If she got hurt here—if she died—she couldn't keep the promise she'd made him. The promise not to get hurt.
Why hadn't she suspected the bodyguards who were already here?
Fine.
At the very least, she would save Lady Serpina.
Swen had entrusted her with this guard duty. Keeping Serpina alive mattered to him, too—and Irene owed this woman a debt of her own.
With that resolve, she tightened her grip on her sword and turned her head, ready to fight what was coming—
"…Huh?"
Instead of Shura standing before her, she saw someone else.
Long, straight golden hair.
The person she was supposed to protect… was standing squarely in front of the one who had lunged at her.
"You foolish woman."
Thud!
"Gh… ah…"
"I will grant you this much respect: you spent all that time at my side for this single moment. Shura. But whatever you imagined, you were wrong. In the next world, rest easy—and stop chasing phantoms."
With those words, Serpina drew the blade free from Shura's body.
Shhk!
Watching the red blood spray out, Irene knew at once.
She was dead.
She'd seen it enough times on the battlefield. A person who bled that much was dead. The flame of life snuffed out before they could even leave a final cry.
No—more importantly—
"My lord! Are you all right?"
"…Leni?"
Irene glanced back. Leni was still pinned under her knee, groaning uselessly, unable to do a thing.
"He's still breathing."
"Don't kill him… leave him. This… doesn't look like… the work of a lone actor… We need to know… who was behind it…"
"Yes, understood…"
She answered at once—but something about Serpina was wrong.
She was gasping for breath… and the light in her eyes was fading.
Sensing that something was badly amiss, Irene's gaze caught—
Drip.
—blood falling to the ground.
"My lord…?"
Only then did she notice the blood flowing from Serpina's side.
A veteran of countless battlefields, Irene understood the situation in an instant.
The blow Shura had aimed at her… Serpina had taken in her place.
"…What are you doing, Irene…? Take Leni… to the castle… We need… the one behind this…"
"My lord…! The blood—you're bleeding…!"
"This much… is fine. Once we reach the castle… treatment…"
Why?
A bodyguard throwing herself in front of her charge was one thing.
But the charge throwing herself in front of a mere bodyguard?!
…No!
There was no time to whine about how this had happened or whose fault it was, no time for empty back-and-forth. What she had to do right now was keep her charge alive.
The wound in her side was deep, but not instantly fatal.
Irene raised her sword and drove it into Leni's other thigh.
"GGAAAAAHHH!!!!"
"You won't die from that—but if you try anything stupid, you really will be in danger. I'd advise you to behave."
Then she tore a strip from her outer garment and bound it tight around Serpina's waist.
"My lord. Don't speak. I'll get you somewhere you can be treated immediately."
Once the emergency dressing was done, she bent and hoisted Serpina onto her back.
"Please bear with it a little, even if it's uncomfortable."
"…I'm sorry, Irene…"
"…"
The moment she heard that apology, tears nearly welled up—but if she wasted time on sentiment now, she really might miss the golden hour.
And so Irene ran, Serpina on her back, toward anywhere she could receive treatment.
And then…
The person Irene was carrying as she raced toward us from the distance—
was Lady Serpina.