First Encounter (2)
Luna could not bring herself to answer the old man who had introduced himself as Zinor.
More precisely, she stood frozen in place, unable to understand why the person who had come seeking her was not Swen.
"……Why……?"
"?"
Zinor studied the strange look in Luna's eyes.
He had made an unexpected request to enter her service, yet her reaction felt as though she had just come face-to-face with someone she had never expected to see at all.
For now, it would be best to mention the name of the man who had pointed him here—Swen.
After gauging her expression for a moment, Zinor cleared his throat a few times and spoke.
"I have heard a great deal about Lady Lunarien from Lord Swen."
"!!!!"
Luna, who had been standing rigid and murmuring something under her breath, finally turned her full attention to the old man before her.
"Lord Swen?! Sir, are you… acquainted with Lord Swen?!"
"L-Lady Luna, please calm yourself first."
Violet tried to restrain her from the side, but there was no way a girl who had merely read a few books could hold back Luna's strength.
Zinor might well have been flustered by the way Luna planted both hands on his shoulders and stared at him with desperate urgency—yet he explained the situation in a surprisingly composed tone.
"We once served under the same lord. There were quite a few… complications along the way. If I were to tell you everything in detail, the story might run rather long."
"That doesn't matter. If you would be so kind as to tell me what happened…!"
"Before that, I would be grateful if you would first answer the proposal I made. This is hardly the place to explain every last detail."
Only then did Luna realize what she had been doing. Her face flushed red as she bowed at the waist.
Having waited so long for Swen, she could not help feeling disappointed—yet an offer of service was still something to be deeply grateful for.
"Ah… forgive me. That is… um… Lord Zinor, was it?"
"It is."
"You say you wish to aid me, so I have no reason to refuse. However… we are only a fledgling nation that has just begun, and frankly our situation is far from ideal. I am truly thankful that you would join us, yet I may not be able to offer treatment befitting a man who once rose as high as Imperial Prime Minister… Will that be acceptable?"
"I did not come seeking comfort in the present. I came looking toward the future. It is of no concern."
"……."
Luna nodded and held out her hand to him.
"You may rise, Lord Zinor. I am still lacking in many ways, but I look forward to working with you."
"The honor is mine, my lord."
Zinor offered her a formal bow—then spoke the words she most longed to hear.
"Then, if I may be so bold… would you care to hear an old man's tale for a little while, my lord?"
"……Please."
And so Luna left Violet's worried gaze behind and walked on with Zinor.
They moved to a small room near the audience chamber.
Seated at a table in the multipurpose space, Luna asked the question that burned most fiercely in her mind.
"Lord Zinor—"
"You may speak freely, my lord."
"……Lord Zinor, did you come to me after hearing of me from Lord Swen?"
Zinor slowly nodded.
"I did."
"May I ask what sort of relationship you share with Lord Swen?"
"Of course. For a time we served the same sovereign."
"The same sovereign…?"
"You are familiar with the Asius Army, are you not, my lord?"
……Just as I thought.
So the rumors were true—he had been with the Asius Army, not the Brans Army.
Once she knew that much, there was something she could not leave unasked.
"From what you say, Lord Zinor, it seems Lord Swen told you about me… Is that correct?"
"It is. I came here because of his recommendation."
The moment she heard those words, her heart ached again.
Even after being sold away alone, Lord Swen had still been thinking of them—of their army's future.
Yes. Of course Lord Swen intended to keep his promise. The very fact that this man named Zinor now stood before her was the finest proof of that.
And yet Luna could not simply continue feeling grateful.
A far more important question still remained.
"But… why did you not come together with Lord Swen? Why did you arrive alone?"
"……."
If he had been recommended by Lord Swen and had once served under the same banner, should they not have come together?
Yet Zinor had come alone.
Unable to hide the strange anxiety rising within her, Luna pressed him. Across the table, Zinor fell silent for a moment as though organizing his thoughts, then slowly parted his heavy lips.
"A great many things happened… but."
"You may take your time."
"To put it simply, I could not travel with him."
"……?"
"Because he is no longer a member of the Asius Army."
"……Pardon? That alone doesn't make much sense—"
And then Zinor, his expression heavy with concern, explained "what had happened to him" in a dry, almost emotionless tone.
"Their lord, Lady Yuuri, sold Swen to the Serpina Army."
"!!!"
Luna shot to her feet without thinking. Watching her, Zinor once more sank into thought.
"Ah… f-forgive me. That is… I… I don't quite understand what you just said."
"One of our generals was taken hostage by the Serpina Army. In the course of negotiations… instead of the hostage, the envoy—Swen—was handed over to them."
"What……?"
Then…
That absurd rumor… had been true?
Selling off an envoy—it hadn't been some baseless smear spread by the Serpina Army… it had actually happened?
Luna clenched her fists tightly.
It would be more accurate to say that strength flooded into her hands of its own accord.
Rage.
An overwhelming rage beyond any words began to swallow her whole.
It was so fierce she could not recall ever feeling such fury toward another human being in her entire life.
How… how could she do such a thing… sell her own nation's envoy just to free a hostage…
And of all people…
My Lord Swen……!!!!!!!
She wanted to vent the storm of resentment right then and there—but first there was something she had to know.
"……Lord Zinor, I would like to ask one question."
"Please do, my lord."
"Why… why on earth… did Yuuri… sell Lord Swen?"
By Luna's common sense it was utterly incomprehensible.
That was why she had refused to believe it. Unless she saw it with her own eyes, putting full faith in a rumor was foolish.
But if it were true, there had to be a reason, did there not?
Perhaps Serpina had threatened her. That vicious witch was capable of any scheme imaginable.
Even so, selling Swen could never be forgiven.
Zinor nodded slowly with a grave expression, as though he understood her feelings perfectly.
"To Lady Yuuri, the hostage who had been taken was more precious than anything else in the world."
"What? Then… she wasn't threatened or anything—"
He nodded.
"Lady Yuuri handed Lord Swen over to Serpina of her own free will. Though the proposal itself came from the Serpina Army…"
"……A precious person……"
All strength left her body. Luna sank heavily back into her seat.
She sold him for the sake of someone precious to her?
For a reason like that… she treated Lord Swen—
My own strategist, more precious to me than anyone else… she treated him like that?
The blood in her veins turned ice-cold.
Her mind became clearer than it had ever been.
This sensation… she had felt it only once before—after losing her only blood relative, her elder sister, to Serpina.
Until now, she had had only one true enemy in her life.
Serpina von Aingart.
The worst tyrant on the continent, who deserved to be driven from it entirely.
The witch who, driven solely by her desire to become emperor, had slaughtered her entire imperial family with her own hands.
Luna's sister had died a miserable death at that woman's hands merely for being connected to the imperial house. They had never even recovered a body.
It was precisely because she could never allow such a cruel woman to claim the world that she had raised her banner—even with nothing in her hands!
But from this moment on, her enemy was no longer Serpina alone.
Lord Swen… my Lord Swen… she dared… without even knowing the gratitude of having him at her side… I… I——
——I wanted him by my side more than anything… yet I could never have him……!!!!!!
Baranga Yuuri Asius.
The outstanding female lord who led the Asius Army and loved her companions—no. That no longer mattered in the slightest.
She was the one who had sold Swen to the witch Serpina.
Luna repeated the name more than three times in her mind.
She would never forget it for the rest of her life.
More than Lin, who had once tried to take Lord Swen from her—she hated this woman far more for daring to hand him over to Serpina for the sake of a mere hostage.
Whoever that hostage had been was of no importance to Luna.
To her, Swen was more important than anyone else.
Never.
She would never forgive her……!!!!
In that instant, another name was carved deep into Luna's heart.
One more woman whose name must be washed away in blood.
It seems I've poked a hornet's nest.
Zinor wondered whether he should have brought the matter up at all, yet he knew full well he had no choice but to tell her.
All he could do was wait until she calmed down.
This was the lord Swen himself had recommended to him. He was certain she would return to rational judgment soon enough.
And just as he expected—
Luna regained a measure of composure, rose from her seat, and bowed to Zinor.
"I am… sorry."
At once Zinor stood and returned the bow.
"Not at all. There is nothing for you to apologize for, my lord. A sovereign need not bow before her own retainer."
"……."
After that brief storm had passed—
"I do not know the full circumstances, but it seems a great deal has happened to you."
Zinor spoke with quiet understanding. Luna lowered her head.
"……Yes."
"Well, every lord has their own circumstances. Just as I came here with my own reasons to serve you. There is no need for you to tell me everything."
At those words Luna finally managed to rein in her emotions.
She wanted to remain calm… yet whenever talk of Swen arose, she always lost that composure so easily.
She had never once forgotten the grace of the man who had thrown his own body into the fire to save them from the boots of the Brans Army.
In any case—
Right now she needed to hear more of this man's story.
—Even if the truth that reached her ears proved shocking.
"Then… where is Lord Swen now……?"