More Than the Role Required
Perhaps it had been more of a performance than the moment required. Odelli grew flustered in spite of herself and looked away, and for a moment silence hung between them.
They had only just turned back to face each other through that awkwardness when Castia, glancing from one to the other, murmured as if to herself.
"……When I first heard the rumors, I thought someone had invented a ridiculous novel."
She had seen straight through them. Castia studied the pair with that same cold gaze as ever, then seemed to settle on a conclusion.
"At least the feeling appears to be genuine."
Had it worked? Their acting, at least—the part where they played reckless lovers dying of devotion to each other—seemed to have been convincing enough. The look on Castia's face, a moment ago ready to drive them out of the castle, eased a little. More precisely, it was the expression of a woman whose head had begun to pound. Even so, the eyes she turned on them still held a stubborn judgment.
"Yes. Before words like love and fate, you would like to believe that even the fate of a house means nothing."
Her voice was level. Cynicism lay beneath it.
"Love is an invincible feeling, when it feels good. But when one cannot bear the responsibility that comes with it, there is nothing more powerless. And the North is not a domain that can be governed by sentiment."
She shifted her gaze to Odelli.
"You called yourself strong, did you not? Then prove it. Until you do, I will not acknowledge you as archduchess."
In truth, Odelli had said she was not as weak as she appeared. Castia deliberately twisted that shade of meaning and went on.
"And…… a strong father is no guarantee the child will be healthy. I still believe it would be better to welcome an archduchess without a single flaw."
"……"
Odelli stole a glance at Ludville.
The irritation and annoyance that had filled his eyes were slowly sinking away. The violet of them darkened, like the deep of night.
……This is bad.
Odelli felt cold sweat bead on her brow. Aigoo be damned—the former archduke was, at this very moment, improving her own chances of being shut away. Castia, catching none of the signs, kept talking.
"The North is no place one endures on guesswork. Still less so for the one who would be mistress here."
She spoke like someone quietly driving in the last nail. Keeping her courtesy impeccable to the very end, and addressing Odelli only as the duke's daughter, was Castia's way of drawing a line.
She turned and looked Ludville full in the face.
"Ludville. I took you as my son because I believed you would become a strong shield to guard the North. ……And you know this as well. It was also a decision made so that the name of Exepsion might be carried on more strongly, and more rightly."
"……"
"If you are that man, then you can no longer treat the house's duty, and its rightful cause, as if they belonged to someone else."
And once more, her gaze returned to Odelli.
With that, Castia quietly turned away—clear, to the very end, in leaving behind nothing but her refusal.
……So that is why she was confined.
Odelli could understand well enough now why she had never once laid eyes on the former archduke. That did not mean she thought he had done right. Not in the least.
Given Ludville's temperament……
"I would be grateful if you held back. After the archducal title was set down, she was to live on the western estate—that was what you said. Once the wedding is over, please see her safely returned there."
"……"
"Ludville?"
"……I'll try."
So it was something that required effort. Odelli pressed a hand to her throbbing brow and swallowed a sigh. She had only one wish left. Please—if only until the wedding—let him endure it quietly.
On the day before the wedding, Exepsion Castle opened a grand eve-of-wedding banquet for its honored guests. Wine and music, talk and laughter, carried on late into the night.
At the center of every conversation was Odelli, soon to be archduchess. More precisely, the love story of her and the Archduke of Exepsion, wound together as if by fate.
Nonsense.
The Purifier had never once stepped beyond the underground of House Cardel.
Love?
Gawin Cardel sneered inwardly.
So even the Archduke of Exepsion covets the Purifier.
But the face he showed the world was unfailingly gentle, his gaze soft. Not a word or gesture of his strayed so much as an inch past the line of courtesy.
A mere Purifier, standing at the center of noble society.
Since when had the world grown so disordered?
Wearing a placid smile, Gawin made his way toward the heart of the banquet hall. He raised his glass, exchanged toasts with several nobles, and steered the conversation with practiced ease. Before long, eyes began to gather on him.
He stopped at Odelli's side.
Even under a gaze cold enough to freeze, Gawin smiled with fluid grace.
"You are truly beautiful, Odelli."
"……"
"That I, your brother, may show you off before so many people—I could not be happier. To think such a day would come."
"……"
"Ah, are you hurt that Father did not come? Do not take it so. Father is simply disappointed. The daughter he loved is marrying out of nowhere."
Odelli did not answer. Gawin paid the silence no mind and went on with a light laugh.
"Our Odelli has always done her very best in silence, right where she belonged. It truly pained me, watching you endure it alone in that frail body. There was nothing I could do for you……."
He smiled bitterly, every inch the older brother who cherished his little sister with all his heart.
"At least the Archduke of Exepsion seems to be making you happy."
A host of feelings crossed his face, as if he were shaken by the reckless thing his beloved sister had done, and yet still wished her happiness.
I have to grant him the acting.
He had grown considerably more skilled in the meantime.
A theater troupe would have suited him better.
And yet here he was, straining himself in the role of savior—a part for which he had no talent at all. Odelli thought it without heat, and looked up at him with a blank face.
"But, Odelli."
Gawin went on, his face arranged into regret.
"I heard about your 'new ability.' To manifest a unique power without precedent—truly remarkable, and I am proud of you, but……."
A new ability.
With a single phrase, he ground flat the power of purification that had continued for hundreds of years. As if it had nothing whatsoever to do with ancient magic, he declared it here as though it were established fact.
So that is how he means to play it.
Dressed up as a unique ability, it might almost seem special. But to call it new was also to call it untested. Unstable.
Still watching her with worried eyes, he continued gently.
"Your body is hardly in a normal state, and a new ability must weigh heavily on you. However necessary it may have been, as your brother I cannot help but worry. Whether the power is unstable in your hands. Whether there are side effects……."
He took a step closer and smiled with tender affection.
"I hope you will not push yourself too hard. My little sister, unfinished from the day she was born. Whether this merciless North can protect you……."