The Black Knight
The fruit of the Patience Winter Silver Moon Herb that Brunea had given her — the Silver Moon Bell — proved its efficacy beyond doubt.
After drinking the restorative tonic brewed from it along with various other medicinal herbs, vitality visibly returned to Seriel's body.
"……I feel much better."
"It seems even more effective because it was a gift from your daughter."
"Nonsense."
Even as she said that, Seriel gulped down the remaining tonic.
Having drained it clean, Seriel licked her lips with her tongue — a gesture unbefitting the dignity of an Empress.
Fortunately, only I was in the room, so no one else saw it. Well, of course — this is my room!
"Why leave a fine room unused and insist on coming to mine……"
"If I drink it in my bedchamber, the smell will linger, will it not?"
"Then why not drink it in the dining hall……"
"Too much trouble. Stop your prattling."
I'm the one who has to escort her back anyway. So it's fine if the smell clings to my room?
The tonic had clearly worked — Seriel wasn't coughing at all. She sprang up to leave, then sat right back down.
"……?"
"I should be going back."
"Yes, please do."
"……I should be going back."
"Yes. I said you should go back??"
Can't she just walk out and go back? She was striding around just fine a moment ago.
Seriel glared at me with thoroughly dissatisfied eyes. The life in that gaze made me feel as though I'd gone back ten years. A chill ran down my spine.
"I. Should. Be. Going. Back."
Ah. Don't tell me. She wants me to carry her?
"I-I'll escort you, Your Majesty."
"Hmph."
I scooped up Seriel, who sat there with her arms crossed, and headed upstairs. She kept her face turned away from me the whole time — until we encountered the attendants and servants.
"Your Majesty, did you rest well last night?"
The moment they appeared, she burrowed into my arms and pretended to be asleep. Somehow the older she gets, the more she acts like a spoiled child.
I set her down on the bed. And she immediately got right back off it.
"……Is something the matter?"
What is it this time.
"The weather is fine today, so I shall go view the flowers."
"All of a sudden?"
"Do you object?"
"No, Your Majesty."
"Make ready."
Even after sixteen years at her side, she's a difficult woman.
Eris made her way to the training grounds with light steps. But Ricarton wasn't there.
"Where is Teacher?"
"We're not sure ourselves…… We'll go check right away."
An Imperial Guard knight dashed off. A few minutes later, the news she brought back left Eris with a pouty face.
"……He just left on an outing with Her Majesty a short while ago."
"Agaaaain!? Why on earth—!!"
The top-class carriage carrying Seriel and me rolled along without a single jolt.
Our destination was the Four Seasons Garden, located a fair distance south of Adelin. Also known as the Spirit King's Garden, it was said to hold the mana of all four seasons, so flowers bloomed in full splendor year-round.
This is the first time Seriel has come this far out on her own initiative.
Since her ascension, this was the first time she'd left Adelin under her own power. I'd always carried her to the Ten Thousand Year Ice Cave, after all.
She never showed much interest whenever I suggested going somewhere. Why suddenly seek out the Four Seasons Garden?
Ever since the curse, Seriel had become a sharp-tempered creature of whims, and her thoughts had grown even harder to read. Though I'd gotten better at reading her moods, of course.
Still, she looks to be in good spirits.
Seriel gazed out the window in silence for a long while before suddenly speaking.
"Ricarton."
"Yes."
"You've reached marriageable age. You ought to take a wife."
"……Pardon?"
For a moment, I doubted my ears. Seriel kept her gaze fixed on the window, continuing in a blank profile. Out of nowhere?
"Even if I wished to bestow a title upon you, the other nobles would fiercely oppose it. Marrying into the nobility would be the swiftest path for you to obtain a noble rank."
"I refuse."
"I-I'll select only the clever and beautiful young ladies of ducal and marquis houses……"
"I refuse."
"You dare interrupt Us."
The eyes Seriel turned on me as she said that were cold. The light in them held none of her usual anger. Instead, they were filled with a loneliness I couldn't quite place.
"Why do you refuse?"
"Your Majesty is still unmarried. How could a mere servant like me take a wife first?"
"Tsk. Countless men in the Empire are married. Give Us a proper excuse."
"……If I start a household of my own, won't I have less time to attend to Your Majesty?"
"We created the Imperial Guard precisely so that your absence would not hinder escort duties."
"Regardless, I refuse. I'll find my own match."
"Hmph. You've just squandered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Seriel looked out the window again. In the old days, from this angle her cute chubby cheeks would puff out — but now that adorable curve was nowhere to be found.
All the way until the carriage stopped, I never took my eyes off her, and she never took hers off the window.
"We've arrived."
I got out first and offered my hand, but Seriel took an Imperial Guard knight's hand instead of mine. She was making her sulking extremely obvious.
I said I'd handle my own marriage. What's her problem?
I don't want to leave something as important as marriage to someone else. And if that someone is Seriel — even less so.
She led a retinue of over a hundred people up a hill overlooking the Four Seasons Garden at a glance — an imperial secret garden tended for generations by a spirit mage family officially recognized by the Empire. At the foot of the hill, flowers of every color were embroidered across the landscape in breathtaking beauty.
Whoosh—
A sudden breeze set the flower fields rippling like waves. Perhaps that was how the Earth Goddess's skirts would flutter. Men and women alike among those attending the Empress drew a sharp breath at the sight. The swaying flowers looked as though the Four Seasons Garden itself were welcoming Seriel's visit.
"This spot will do."
Servants and maids bustled about setting up a table and parasol. Seated in a comfortable chair, Seriel didn't even touch the black tea her lady-in-waiting poured for her. She simply gazed down at the garden in silence.
What was she feeling among those swaying flowers? Why had she suddenly brought up marriage? Were we looking at the same scenery while thinking entirely different thoughts?
My head was a tangle of complications, while the ladies-in-waiting beside us chattered about nothing of consequence.
"So, do you know what Young Master Escalon said then?"
"What did he say?"
"Do tell us!"
"'Unhand her. Even a maid is a woman. How can a man born as such raise his hand against a lady!' — he scolded him so!"
"Kyaa—!"
"How dashing can one man be!"
The ladies-in-waiting continued their giggling conversation undeterred by Seriel's lack of response. Naturally. That was their job, after all.
Whoosh—!
A sudden gust of wind snatched away one lady-in-waiting's wide-brimmed hat. Someone caught it and brought it back — and his appearance startled everyone present.
A knight none of us had ever seen, clad head to toe in jet-black armor.
How?
I'd been extending my mana to monitor a range of several hundred meters ever since we left the Imperial Palace, yet I hadn't noticed him until the very moment he caught the hat.
"Wh-Who goes there!"
"Step away from Her Majesty!"
The knights drew their swords belatedly, but the Black Knight paid them no mind and approached Seriel. Unable to stand by, the knights thrust their blades —
"Eh…!?"
Their swords passed straight through the Black Knight's body. Leaving the flustered knights behind, the Black Knight placed the hat back on the lady-in-waiting's head.
"It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Your Imperial Majesty."
The Black Knight bowed with utmost courtesy. A neutral, machine-modulated voice resonated from within the armor.
I stood beside Seriel and placed a hand on her back — ready to teleport at any moment.
"What an insolent creature you are."
Seriel didn't so much as glance at him as she brought the long-cold tea to her lips.
"Have you found our gifts to your liking?"
"Gifts?"
"You look rather healthy today."
"……!!"
Not a single fool present failed to grasp his meaning.
"So it was you……!"
My sixth Core and sixth-class dantian unleashed their presence simultaneously. Depending on my will, I could obliterate everyone here in an instant — but the killing intent was aimed at this one alone.
"I came today merely to pay my respects."
"A bit late for introductions, don't you think?"
He ignored my words and bowed politely to Seriel.
"I suppose I should be glad you appear healthier than expected. I already look forward to our next meeting."
"Silence."
CRACK—!
Massive ice spikes erupted from beneath his feet, encasing him. Trapped within the ice spears, the knight calmly — walked right out of them. The sheer nonchalance of it sent a chill down my spine for the first time in a while.
"Well then, I shall call upon you again, Your Majesty."
He bowed once more and vanished as though being sucked into the ground.
"……Ricarton."
"……Yes."
"I believe I understand now why you have failed to capture him all this time."
"I apologize. The failure of the escort just now is entirely my fault. There is no excuse."
I knelt before her. Even if my head were to roll, I'd have nothing to say for myself. But instead of reprimanding me, Seriel gazed quietly down at the garden and spoke.
"I felt nothing at all."
"……Indeed."
"No mana, no emotion…… nothing whatsoever."
Even the grass at his feet where he'd walked and stood bore not a single footprint.
"Punishment for today's events shall be decided upon our return."
After returning to the Imperial Palace, Seriel ordered me to purify myself and then come to her.
Is she actually going to kill me? Failure to protect a member of the Imperial Family is punishable by extreme measures. And I'm the Commander of the Imperial Guard. The responsibility for failing to stop an enemy's intrusion is enormous.
I don't want to die, though.
I already got shot and died on Earth to end up in this world. Dying again?
Haa……
I agonized hundreds of times before knocking on her door.
Should I run or not…… Coca-Cola tastes good…… ding-dong-dang-dong……
I concluded I should at least hear what punishment she was handing down before bolting.
"It is Ricarton."
"Enter."
Seriel was leaning against the bed in a pale pink slip that matched her hair color. After I quietly knelt before her —
"Ricarton."
"Yes."
"What is your crime?"
Here it comes. Seriel's classic "confess your crimes yourself!" It's a Q&A designed to turn even things you didn't do wrong into wrongdoing — but what if you actually did something wrong? And what if that crime is ridiculously huge? What awaits at the end of this interrogation is painfully obvious.
I've decided. Today, I become a runaway ninja.
"Failing in my duty as Guard Commander to provide proper escort."
"And?"
"……Failing to eliminate the one who targeted Your Majesty."
"And further?"
"……."
I thought I'd covered everything. What else is there? While I sat thinking in silence, Seriel glared at me with irritation settling into her eyes.
"We ask again. What is your crime?"
"I believe I've stated them all."
"All? And if We were to point out further crimes of yours?"
"……."
Then just point them out from the start.
"Haa. Listen well, you foolish criminal Ricarton."
"Yes."
"Your remaining crimes are these: that you demonstrated your incompetence before countless nobles;"
"……."
"That you thereby provided other nobles with pretext to tear into Us and you;"
"……!"
"And furthermore, that you failed to uncover even a single clue as to the enemy's identity."
"……Yes."
"In accordance with the weight of your crimes, We shall pass sentence."
Seriel pulled back one corner of the blanket. Is she coming down to thrash me? I wondered —
"Get up here."
"……Pardon??"
"Did We not say get up here. Do not make Us repeat Ourselves."
"Ah, yes."
I hurriedly climbed onto the bed and knelt —
"Lie down."
"……Yes?"
"Guard Our side until daybreak."
"Is that…… the punishment?"
"It is the punishment."
Even if I did a hundred backflips listening to that, it'd still be a reward.
"If you fall asleep, your head will hang in Adelin Square tomorrow."
"……Yes."
So it really was capital-punishment-worthy, and she let me off. I was flooding my heart with overwhelming gratitude when I soon heard even breathing beside me.
"Hnn……"
The sleeping profile of thirty-one-year-old Seriel, breathing softly next to me, was endlessly adorable.
"Rest well, Your Majesty."
Today, another frame was hung in the gallery of my heart.