Only in This Moment, for the First Time
I led the hesitant Reika to Serpina's bedside.
"Ah— I, um, th-that is— A-a-ah, hello…!"
The moment she came face-to-face with Serpina at the bed, Reika broke into a cold sweat, flustered beyond measure. Depending on the circumstances, her behavior might well have been taken as a breach of etiquette—
But Serpina seemed not to care in the slightest. She asked, as though nothing were amiss:
"…It has been some time. Have you been well?"
"Ah— I… Y-you remember… me…!"
"Of course. You leave rather a difficult impression to forget."
With that rare pink hair of hers, she did tend to leave a striking first impression. Serpina was not wrong.
"Th-that… is so… I'm somehow sorry… I'm sorry I was born…."
"No, Reika. Please calm down."
I soothed her as she stood completely frozen before Serpina, blurting out whatever came to mind.
"So then— what brings you here?"
"Well… I, um, I heard Lady Serpina was badly hurt…."
"…Yes."
"Lady Irene said that Lady Serpina was injured while protecting her…."
"…."
The moment Irene's name was mentioned, Serpina averted her gaze with a complicated expression. I set that aside and pressed on.
"Yes. And?"
"And so… I… thought there might be something I could do to help…!"
"…?"
"Um… Lord Swen, do you remember? What I said about having something I wanted to show you."
She had said something like that, yes.
"I thought… maybe I could show it now…!"
"…???"
Wait a moment.
If Reika had something she wanted to show me— could it be…?
"Have you… learned something new?"
She nodded vigorously.
Of course. As a mage, the only thing she would want to show her teacher was a new spell.
But—
"My lord is currently resting and recovering…."
I tried to deflect, choosing my words carefully.
Serpina still did not know that Reika was a mage. She seemed to harbor plenty of suspicions and was fairly certain of them—but she had never seen it with her own eyes.
I was curious what Reika had learned that made her so eager, but I could not simply play along with her now.
She's quick on the uptake, I thought. She'll understand if I put it this way.
That was the moment she spoke.
"Ah— I know…!"
"…?"
"Because Lady Serpina is hurt… that's why I can show it…!"
…???
"With this… I might be able to heal Lady Serpina…! No— I'm sure I can!"
I looked into Reika's shining eyes and thought.
What she wanted to show was a new spell.
And she could show it because Serpina was injured?
With this, she could heal her??
…Healing?
That was the first thing that came to mind—but had such magic even existed in this game?
…No.
Even the green rapier I always wore at my hip whenever I went out—the mana amplifier—had been, as far as I knew, nothing more than an ordinary decorative treasure.
No matter that I had poured ten thousand hours into the game, there were clearly things I still did not know.
In that case…
I turned my head and looked at Serpina.
Her life was not in danger, but wounds of that severity would keep her from properly attending to state affairs for weeks.
Since her life was not at risk, the chaos would eventually subside—but it was clearly better for everyone if she returned to the throne as soon as possible.
Unintentional though it may have been, the fact that Irene and I were once again entangled in this incident also weighed on me—how it would look to others.
This is not the time to keep secrets.
I slowly nodded.
"All right."
The moment she heard me, she nodded again, vigorously.
Leaving the obedient, small-animal-like girl behind me, I turned back to Serpina.
"My lord. …There is something I would like to show you. Would you bare your wound for a moment?"
She might well have asked what it was.
Instead, Serpina simply nodded—slowly—and said:
"I trust you, Swen."
She returned to me the very words I had spoken only moments before.
"Then… I'll begin."
Reika murmured a few times in a small voice, then closed her eyes.
"Hah…!"
Just as she always did, she began gathering a sphere at her fingertips.
The difference this time was the color—something like pure white light.
"…!!!"
Serpina's eyes went wide, the whites showing.
She had accumulated more than enough suspicions about the existence of mages, but this was likely the first time she had ever witnessed one in action. Her shock was only natural.
An ordinary person might have shoved Reika away in panic at this point… but she did not. She remained still, just as I had asked.
Because she trusted me, perhaps.
"Haaah…!!"
The sphere gathered in Reika's hands gradually enveloped Serpina's body.
Around her pale skin, a white aura rose like a shimmer of light.
Several minutes passed.
"…Ah…."
She crumpled.
"Reika!"
I hurried to her as she slumped against the bed.
"Are you all right?"
Reika was panting, clearly exhausted—
But fortunately, she did not look as though her life were in any danger.
This was how she always looked after completely draining her mana. Lately her mana reserves seemed to have increased dramatically, so she had been less drained than before—but in the early days after we met, I had often had to care for her when she collapsed from overexertion during training.
"Lord… Swen… D-did it… work… properly…?"
At those words I turned to look at Serpina—
And found her sitting upright in startled amazement, probing the site of her wound with her fingers.
"…This cannot be."
She fumbled at the bandages several times, then spoke in a trembling voice, as though she could scarcely believe it.
"The wound… has faded."
"I'm… so… glad…."
Reika forced the words out—and then lost consciousness entirely.
As a newly learned spell, it seemed the mana consumption had not yet been optimized.
That aside… to think a spell so close to Heal actually existed…
I had no idea by what mechanism she had learned it, but Reika was an even more extraordinary woman than I had imagined.
With every ounce of strength I possessed, I managed to lift the exhausted Reika onto the empty bed beside us. Then I returned to Serpina and asked, still catching my breath:
"Hah— hahh… My lord, how do you feel?"
"My body truly… seems better. The pain has almost vanished, and the wound has closed considerably. I can scarcely believe it…."
Even after hearing that I had dropped a meteor.
Even after confirming the evidence of it.
Even after watching the castle walls collapse with her own eyes—
There were few moments when one could feel true conviction about something until the experience became one's own.
"Mages… truly exist."
"…They do. Though I myself am not one."
"…."
Her expression was clouded with confusion.
It was not an easy thing to believe upon first seeing it.
No matter how sharp and brilliant she was, being overwhelmed by a supernatural power was only human.
But—
It seemed the true source of her astonishment was not the existence of mages at all.
"…Why?"
"Pardon?"
"Why… did you reveal this to me?"
Serpina looked at me with a trembling voice.
Her golden eyes were shaking just as much as her words.
"…Swen. May I speak honestly?"
"Please do."
"If I were you, I would have kept that girl's identity as a mage hidden until the very end. …Since you intend to leave eventually, revealing such an enormous secret to a lord you will serve only briefly is, by any measure, an unwise decision. And I do not believe you would have overlooked that."
At the words since you intend to leave eventually, I could not even manage a word of protest.
I simply froze… and quietly listened to what she had to say.
"And yet you revealed her true nature to me. That fact… confuses me greatly. Truly. You have a remarkable talent for throwing me into confusion, Swen."
"…My lord. That is—"
Before I could offer any excuse, her pale hand closed around my wrist once more.
"No. It is all right. I was not asking you for an answer. So please—say nothing."
Then, stroking my wrist, she continued:
"Even the smallest hope will do. I… still cannot give up on you, Swen. Only allow me to keep striving until the very last moment."
"…."
False hope was not a kind thing.
I thought it would be better to say something firm here—
But her eyes looked so terribly sad.
They held the same look Irene's eyes once had, back when I had wanted so desperately to protect her.
I could not shake off her hand.
No—I would not.
Serpina released my hand and slowly rose from the bed.
Her sheer white negligee left her violently feminine figure half-visible, and I hastily turned my head away in flustered embarrassment.
"In any case, I shall never forget this debt. Swen."
"…Nor shall I ever forget that you protected Lady Irene."
I meant every word.
I did not want to abandon a lonely sovereign who had thrown her own body into harm's way because she feared I would be hurt—because she did not want me to hate her.
Even if the time came for me to leave, I fully intended to repay this debt.
"I have recovered more quickly than expected. Now I must attend to what needs to be done."
"What needs to be done…?"
At those words, Serpina curved her lips into a smile.
Once again, it was that familiar expression of hers—the smile that looked down from above.
The confident face that only an absolute ruler could wear.
"Is it not necessary to demonstrate once more what becomes of those who dare oppose House Aingart?"
Seeing her regain her spirit, I found myself oddly relieved.
In any case… I now owed her an enormous debt.
I slowly closed my eyes.
Someday, the crossroads of choice would inevitably arrive.
And if the moment ever came when I chose Lady Serpina—
Then I would decide of my own free will, and bear every consequence that followed.
Even if the whole world pointed fingers at me, I would repay the value of Irene's life—
That was the vow I made.
Yes.
I would deny it no longer.
Only in this moment, for the first time—
I found myself thinking that I might not choose the option of immediately returning to the Lunarien Army.
Aingart Royal Castle.
Once word of what had happened that night began to spread, the duty of managing the situation in Serpina's absence should have fallen to Jena, the State Strategist—
But she was currently away from Aingart Castle, inspecting various regions across the continent.
In her place, temporary administration had been entrusted to Irene.
She was, after all, the one who knew the events in the greatest detail, and for that reason Serpina had temporarily delegated full authority to her.
Fortunately, Irene's standing among the castle's generals had improved considerably.
"General. We have safely imprisoned Leni."
"You have done well. What is Leni's current condition?"
"He still lives, but his wounds are severe. He may die soon… Is that acceptable?"
Hmm…
Serpina's life was not in danger, but she had been told she would need absolute rest for several weeks.
If Leni died in the meantime, they would never learn who stood behind him.
In that case, it might be better to take the initiative and extract information through interrogation…
She was deliberating whether it was proper to seek counsel from her resting lord, or whether she should simply handle what she could on her own, when—
"What troubles you so?"
A voice Irene had grown quite familiar with by now—the empress's confident tone—reached her ears.
And when she turned toward the sound—
"…My lord?"
Serpina, who had clearly suffered grave wounds, was walking toward the throne as though nothing were wrong.
"Well done, Irene. Leave the rest to me."
And with those words, she heralded the bloodshed yet to come.