The King's Return (7)
Under Mets's direction, Gail arrived at the audience chamber with his hands bound—only to find—
"General...!"
"You've come, General Gail..."
"Seria...? Even Lord Mügeldorf...?"
Every general who had marched with him knelt there in their nightclothes, wrists bound. Gail instinctively understood that the empty space among them was meant for him. He moved to it, sat, and turned his head toward Mets.
"What the hell is going on, Mets?"
"Look around you. That should make the situation clear enough."
Only then did Gail take in the chamber. Armed officers of Teppelo Castle stood watching them, eyes sharp and unyielding. That atmosphere. Those stares.
Don't tell me...!
Just as the realization began to dawn on him—
From the far end of the hall, Castle Lord Lunarien walked slowly toward them.
"Everyone is here, I see."
"...Lady Luna! What is the meaning of this?!"
Luna looked down at them with an expression of ice.
"General Gail. General Seria. And General Mügeldorf. I am sorry to say this to the three of you, but you will need to remain quiet for a while. Cooperate, and your lives will not be touched. I would ask that you set aside your anger."
"You bind us without warning and now demand our cooperation—!"
Then something clicked. Gail's voice shook as he stared into Luna's face.
"Lady Luna... do you mean to commit treason?"
"..."
"Answer me! Our lord trusted you without reservation, even though you came from outside her ranks—and you mean to drive a knife into her back?! Anyone else, perhaps—but not you, Lady Luna! You of all people cannot do this to her!"
Luna gave him no answer. Her ruby-red eyes were colder today than he had ever seen them.
"Our lord, Lady Karelia... Macana Karelia is not suited to bring this age of chaos to an end. To plant true peace, her methods will not suffice. That is all. Nothing more."
"How can you say that...!! From your mouth, of all people...!"
Gail roared, his voice thick with fury.
"The strategist was right... Lady Vanessa was right! You were never someone we could trust!"
"Watch your tongue, General Gail! Vanessa—that woman planned to—!"
"Mets."
At Luna's single word, Mets closed his mouth at once. He understood without difficulty: she did not want him speaking of how he himself had nearly been her victim.
"Francis. Assist Mets and confine them in the underground dungeon until the situation is settled."
"Yes!"
"You can't do this! Lady Luna! You'll regret it! This rebellion will never—"
Thud!
Mets struck the base of Gail's neck hard. The general, who had been shouting without pause, fell silent at once.
Mets let out a short breath and looked at Seria and Mügeldorf on either side.
"I only knocked him out. If you cooperate, I have no intention of treating you roughly. Once things are settled, you will be released. Please remain quiet for the time being."
"..."
Seria and Mügeldorf said nothing. In this situation, there was nothing they could do.
And so the three generals who had commanded the troops were led away by Mets to the underground dungeon.
Alone with Francis, Luna stepped closer and asked in a grave tone,
"What of the officers who came with the generals?"
"I've already ordered them all brought in under restraint... but among them, surely there are some we could persuade to join us?"
Luna shook her head firmly.
"No. Those who already served inside Teppelo Castle are one matter. Officers who came from outside must all be imprisoned. As General Gail said, a rebellion has little chance of success—so the only correct course is to trust only those we can trust completely."
She could deliberate before a decision. Once the decision was made, she had to be colder than anyone.
Francis was moved once more by the sight of her and bowed his head.
"...Understood. My thinking was shortsighted."
Looking at the bowed Francis, Luna finally softened her face and offered a bitter smile.
"Not at all. The rest... I'll leave to you, Francis. Can you manage it?"
A faint flush rose in Francis's cheeks. Then he answered in a clear, vigorous voice.
"Yes! I will bind them all and cast them into the cells. Leave the matter to me—you need not worry."
Once Francis, too, had departed with his men, the audience chamber fell quiet. Only then did Luna release a long, heavy breath.
Her body had been trembling without cease. Even now, she felt as though her legs might give out and drop her to the floor.
When Gail had looked at her as if he meant to devour her, she had not known how to answer him. Because he had been right. Even if Vanessa had plotted such a thing, it had remained only a plan—and what Luna was doing now, with nothing yet having happened, was, to any third party, a profound moral betrayal.
Luna was not a bold person. She was closer to timid. She was not cunning, either; if anything, she was the sort who would be eaten by the cunning—a herbivore among humans, one might say.
She had resolved to rebel, yet she had no idea how. She had lived her whole life as a straightforward person who had never once considered treason.
And yet—she had a guide. Someone who, for however brief a time, had stood beside her; someone who had always kept his composure; someone who stood at the opposite pole from herself.
If it were Lord Swen... he would have said this.
She had a true compass—Swen.
When she had decided not to rebel, and when she had decided again that she would, had she not followed, again and again, the answer drawn from the question: What would Lord Swen have done?
Even the judgment that it was safer to lock away every outsider and raise the rebellion with only those from within—she had made that choice because she believed Swen would have said the same.
Of course, the time she had employed him as her strategist had not been long, and he was still another person; reading his mind perfectly was nearly impossible. But simply thinking that way, and acting that way, made nothing feel frightening.
His body was not at her side—but his heart seemed always to be with her.
With Lord Swen here, I'm not afraid.
With Lord Swen here, I can do anything.
The existence called Swen was what allowed the timid Luna to command this situation with cold, thorough clarity—more than anything else.
...I can do this. I must. I... must not let this chance slip away.
And so Luna cast herself into the torrent of a chaotic age, willingly plunging her pure white hands into waves thick with filthy mire.
All of it, to keep her promise to Swen.
At this moment, the presence of Swen occupied a corner of her heart more powerfully, more vastly, than he ever had when he stood beside her.
Once the situation had settled to a degree, late that night, every person who could be called a member of the "Lunarien faction" gathered without exception in the audience chamber, taking their places on either side of Luna, who sat in the lord's seat.
Before long, two men entered, knelt, and spoke.
"We have returned, Lady Luna."
"Not a single one was missed. All of them are in the dungeon."
Luna bowed her head to Mets and Francis, who had acted first on her behalf.
"Both of you—you've worked so hard. Truly."
Then Violet, who had been listening quietly at her side, spoke with careful precision.
"Lady Luna. You have forgotten to issue an important order."
"An order?"
"Regarding the treatment of those in the dungeon, should it become clear that their defiance will not subside and that they intend to overturn the situation."
"..."
Grasping the true meaning of Violet's words, Luna lowered her head deeply. She knew that once the deed was done, there was no turning back... and yet facing the responsibility she would have to carry on her shoulders was still a hard thing.
"Make the decision, Lady Luna."
Yes. What was there left to hesitate over now?
If only to stand without shame before Lord Swen, she had to take full responsibility here.
"Lord Mets. You are in charge of the underground dungeon, are you not?"
"I am."
"If the prisoners show suspicious behavior while confined, or if there is no sign that their defiance can be broken... I grant you the authority to execute them on the spot. I will bear full responsibility for everything."
Mets bowed his head low and answered in a ringing voice.
"Yes, my lady!"
Having chosen to strike from behind, she could not afford to show softness in any respect. If she wavered on this or that, she would simply be the one who was eaten.
Having at last made her decision, Luna rose slowly from the lord's seat.
And in that moment, she looked at the people who had chosen to follow her.
Tifa, her childhood friend who had always been at her side.
And Kyle, who had come to her nation at some point and given her so much aid.
The three young lives Kyle had taken in and raised—Francis, Charlotte, and Violet.
And the officers who had come to the Karelia Army and chosen to follow her, Mets among them.
"Everyone."
Luna carved each of their faces into her heart. And though he was not present in this place—she called up once more the face of the man who would one day become her strategist.
"From this moment, I intend to leave the Karelia Army and found a new nation at Teppelo Castle. Will you leave Karelia's side and follow me now as your sovereign?"
"Yes!"
She held their resolute voices deep within her once more—then drew the sword at her hip and held it out before her.
She could not entrust the realm to Serpina. Nor to Lin.
And... she could not entrust the realm to Karelia, either.
Holding that conviction still—
she carefully parted her lips.
"I, Lunarien Iniang, hereby declare that from this day the newborn Lunarien Army is founded! Our capital is this place—Teppelo Castle. Aid me. For the countless people drowning in misery, I promise to end this age of chaos and open an era of peace!"
Once, at Jeiland Castle, the Lunarien Army had raised its banner—only to exit the stage of history in the most hollow fashion imaginable.
And now, after long years, it revealed itself once more upon the southern continent.