Chapter 101. The Play (2)
Chapter 101. The Play (2)
2
Sand had settled on the moon, tinting it slightly red.
When dust hangs in the sky, it turns red, and when a person bleeds, that too is red—and that coincidence of color unsettled me.
'It's as if the moon is bleeding.'
I walked on, dragging my unease behind me like a shadow.
From a distance, I could hear servants chattering and murmuring.
"You mustn't do this here, my lady!"
"This is the residence of the Ivansia Ducal House!"
"No matter how much favor you enjoy from His Highness the Crown Prince, at this hour......."
Lady Silver Lily, walking beside me, muttered under her breath.
"An uninvited guest if ever there was one."
Her tone betrayed contempt for the Heretic Questioner—no, for Lady Golden Thread Plum.
"Given that she's barged in at this hour, I doubt she's come to have tea with me. Butler, was this visit arranged in advance?"
"No, my lady."
I was flustered too. It was already past midnight, wasn't it? There was no reason for the Heretic Questioner to need to see Lady Silver Lily right now.
The day before yesterday, we had talked.
[I'll be working as Lady Silver Lily's exclusive butler for the time being,] I had said. [Both to gather information about her, and to clear this stage,] I had added.
「Hmm.」
The Heretic Questioner had worn a subtle expression, if only for a moment.
But then he had smiled brightly, just as he always did.
「Yes! If it's for the mission, it can't be helped.」
「I'm fine with it. Take care, Death King!」
That was what we had agreed on.
Or so I had thought.
"Bring me my butler!"
The voice drew closer with every step we took.
"Butler! I know you're here—I came knowing everything!"
The garden of the residence.
Even the dark night sky could not fully hide the spring that lingered in the flower beds. The white magnolias in full bloom hung their heads low, straining under the weight of the spring that clung to them. The moon was red. Where moonlight fell upon the magnolia leaves, it was tinged crimson. And so the garden seemed to be in full bloom with purple magnolias.
"Ah!"
A single magnolia petal fell.
"There you are! Butler!"
The Heretic Questioner shoved past the guards at the gate. The guards hesitated, unable to lay rough hands on a baron's daughter.
While they hesitated, the Heretic Questioner strode into the garden, skirts gathered up in her hands. Crunch. The purple magnolia petal that had fallen moments ago was crushed beneath the Heretic Questioner's shoe.
"I was worried because you never came back, even at this late hour."
"......."
"Honestly. Making your master worry so much that she ends up coming to fetch you herself—isn't that a failure as a servant?"
The moment I saw the Heretic Questioner, my unease peaked.
The hair.
The Heretic Questioner's golden hair, shining in the moonlight, had grown longer than it had been yesterday.
"My lady......."
"You are my one and only butler, and my childhood friend. You mean more to me than an ordinary servant. Would it be too shameless of me to ask you to understand that?"
It wasn't just the hair. The face, the appearance. Even though traces of the Heretic Questioner still remained, there was something strangely unfamiliar about him.
'Did he use Divine Art to change his appearance?'
Why?
"Anyway, you can't stay in a place like this. Even the flower beds in this garden seem to be steeped in poison. Come now! Butler, let's go back together."
"How rude."
As the Heretic Questioner tried to approach me, Lady Silver Lily stepped in the way.
"To raise a commotion in the dead of night is alone a grave offense punishable by flogging. Do you even know where you are, that you dare raise your voice? Kneel at once and confess your wrongdoing."
"Oh? Are you planning to strike my calves with a switch?"
The Heretic Questioner smiled brightly.
"If you're going to strike me, then do it properly—strike hard, my lady. I'm curious to see what would happen if I showed His Highness the Crown Prince the marks left on my calves. It would be one more memory for His Highness and me to share."
"H-how shameless......!"
The ducal household's attendants trembled. Officially, the Crown Prince's fiancée was Lady Silver Lily. And here this woman was, speaking of calves and memories in front of the fiancée. The servants glared at the Heretic Questioner, faces reddening.
Lady Silver Lily murmured in a low voice.
"Is that so?"
They flinched. At the sound of her voice, the servants froze.
I felt a chill run through my chest as well.
"I see."
Lady Silver Lily's voice was that cold.
"How sweet of you, wanting to build memories during your school days. After all, at a baron's daughter's age, even rolling in a dung heap can be romanticized as a memory. If you wish to build sweet memories, then as a noble of the Empire, I shall help you."
Lady Silver Lily raised her left hand.
"Bring me a switch."
The attendants trembled.
"Y-Young Duchess......."
"I commanded you not to address me so in this place."
"If His Highness the Crown Prince were to learn of this......."
"Shall I send her off gently after she has raised a commotion in the ducal residence? If I send her off gently, it will become gossip and stain the family name. The law takes precedence over all things, and His Highness the Crown Prince is the very person who must uphold the law."
The servants swallowed their breath. Their faces showed no agreement. 'But still.......' they protested silently. 'But His Highness the Crown Prince is not that kind of person.'
No one voiced the protest aloud.
"My left hand is still empty."
Lady Silver Lily's voice flowed on.
"Bring me a switch. I will not repeat the same command twice."
The servants' shoes hurried over the path strewn with fallen purple magnolias, off to fetch a switch from the residence.
The servants all hung their heads, as if afraid even to let the moonlight touch their faces. Only two people here held their heads upright—Lady Silver Lily and the Heretic Questioner.
"My lady."
In the end, I had no choice but to approach the Heretic Questioner.
"What is the matter? Why have you come at this hour?"
"I came to take back what's mine. You're making me state the obvious."
The Heretic Questioner beamed.
"No matter how long I waited from this morning, my butler never came back. At first I let it pass, thinking something urgent must have come up—but then I happened to hear that my butler was at the duke's daughter's side."
The Heretic Questioner rested a hand on her cheek.
"I realized at once. Obviously the duke's daughter must have grabbed hold of my butler's weakness and threatened him, right? That's her specialty, after all. My poor butler. Getting tossed around like this because of His Highness the Crown Prince and me......."
"......."
I didn't understand.
What was he talking about?
"Don't worry."
The Heretic Questioner's smile was still radiant.
"I won't let the duke's daughter take anything from me anymore. Whether it's His Highness the Crown Prince's favor, or my butler's loyalty. A switch? Let her strike as much as she likes. I'll rescue my butler. The more she strikes, the more she'll be the one who ends up hurt."
"No... I'm sorry. One moment, if you'll excuse me."
I moved a little closer to the Heretic Questioner, so that no one around us could hear what we said. Fortunately, no one stopped me.
"My lady."
"Yes."
I swallowed and whispered to the Heretic Questioner.
"Heretic Questioner."
Silence.
"Yes?"
My heart was pounding.
My lips were dry. My tongue wouldn't move. Had it always been this hard to twist words one by one and weave them into a single sentence? I slowly began to speak.
"When spring comes."
"Yes?"
My heart—
"Heretic Questioner......."
"What are you trying to say, butler?"
"If you're joking around like last time, I'll really be angry. I mean it. I'm asking you in earnest right now. So answer me properly. Your Immersion Rate—how high has it risen?"
The Heretic Questioner blinked.
"Hmm? You're the one who seems to be joking, butler. Are you reminiscing about old times? Or did spending a day with the duke's daughter scramble your head a little? Honestly, butler. I'll understand with my generous heart."
"When spring comes......."
"It already has."
The Heretic Questioner smiled.
"Spring is already here, butler."
No.
"Isn't it a beautiful season?"
Lady Golden Thread Plum smiled.
"W-we have brought the item you commanded......."
The servants who had scattered to the residence returned. Heads bowed, they presented a switch to Lady Silver Lily.
It was thin.
I guessed that they must have rushed about searching for the most slender switch in the mansion. Was that the loyalty that attendants could offer their mistress?
"Go and find another."
But Lady Silver Lily was merciless. The servants flinched and moved their feet.
"Go and find another."
The command was repeated four times. Each time it was repeated, the switch grew thicker and rougher. The fourth switch, brought by a servant biting his lip hard, was gripped in Lady Silver Lily's left hand.
"Lady Golden Thread Plum, the baron's daughter."
"Won't you call me by my name, my lady?"
"Sylvia Evanail."
"Yes, Lady Raviel Ivansia."
The moon and the sun faced each other.
"You have privately trespassed upon the ducal domain and raised a commotion. You have offered not a single word of apology. The Empire has its proper order, high and low, and your insolence is deplorable. In the name bestowed by His Majesty, I shall punish you."
"My sin? No one knows my sins better than I do."
Lady Golden Thread Plum smiled brightly.
"My sin is that I, born of a backwater barony, have received the deepest favor from the heir to the throne."
That was not something one should say to the Crown Prince's fiancée.
"I apologize for being loved."
The baron's daughter lightly gathered her skirts in both hands. A single Golden Thread Plum blossom descended into the garden overflowing with magnolias. She bowed her head to the lily before her.
Her etiquette was flawless.
"I apologize for being loved more than Lady Raviel Ivansia."
"......."
"Was that apology enough?"
The wind blew.
"But, Lady Raviel Ivansia, I am curious. Is this truly my sin? Love only has meaning when it is received. Is it truly my responsibility alone that the one who loves and the one who is loved have been divided? Perhaps......."
Perhaps—but Golden Thread Plum did not finish the sentence. Instead, she let out a laugh. A petal hanging from a black branch fell.
Lady Silver Lily quietly raised her left hand.
"Vicious thing."
The night air was torn apart by the switch.
"......."
Lady Golden Thread Plum did not scream. She did not even let out a groan. She held her back straight. Even the smile carved like sculpture into Golden Thread Plum's face—even that did not waver.
He—she—was certain of victory.
[Your immersion in the character deepens.]
And so, to me, the moon seemed to bleed.
[Your current Immersion Rate is 40%.]
That day, sand had settled on the moon, tinting it slightly red.
When the moon was buried in dust in the sky, its color turned red, and when a human bled upon the earth, that color too was red. Hack, hack—the air was acrid, and Lady Silver Lily coughed. It was a dry cough.
No one said a word.
Only the sound of coughing and the sound of the switch echoed through the night garden.
"Sylvia!"
Torchlight wavered.
"Sylvia! Are you there, Sylvia!"
Footsteps shattered the silence. Beyond the gate—the Crown Prince himself came running, torch in hand. His guards scrambled to attend him. With a commotion like this, there was no way the Crown Prince wouldn't know.
"Syl......."
The Crown Prince stopped in front of the gate.
"......."
He looked at the garden and fell silent for a moment.
"Raviel......!"
He called Lady Silver Lily's name in a voice of a different temperature than when he had called for Lady Golden Thread Plum.
"Move aside!"
The Crown Prince shoved past the ducal guards. There was no one here who could block the path of the heir to the throne. The prince ran straight to Lady Golden Thread Plum's side.
"How could—no matter what—how could you......!"
"I'm all right, Your Highness."
"I am not all right! You fool......!"
The Crown Prince looked over Lady Golden Thread Plum.
Then he turned his head and glared at Lady Silver Lily.
"You cruel thing!"
Words become wounds.
"How could you treat Sylvia so harshly!"
Those who wound others without seeing the wounds do not know it.
"It is the law of the Empire, Your Highness."
"Is the law more important than a person?!"
"It is more important than an individual."
"That is exactly why you are cruel! You're like a witch!"
Perhaps the world is divided into those who know that and those who do not—and the Crown Prince was one of those who did not.
Lady Silver Lily let out a cough and drew breath.
"Will you punish me?"
"......."
The Crown Prince's face twisted. It merely twisted. He could not answer Lady Silver Lily's question. He shook his head as if the question weren't even worth answering, but that was nothing more than escape.
The prince had neither the courage to take responsibility for Lady Silver Lily nor the ability to face her.
"Let's go, Sylvia! You can't stay in a place like this."
"Ah."
The Crown Prince lifted Lady Golden Thread Plum into his arms.
As she was held in the prince's embrace, Lady Golden Thread Plum looked at me.
"Butler."
The Heretic Questioner.
"Butler, you're coming too."
"......."
I did not answer.
Gazing at him, I murmured inwardly, as if praying.
'Character window.'
Shing.
Letters bloomed before my eyes.
+
Name: Sylvia Evanail
Favorability: 90
Preferred genres: [Romance]
Disliked genres: [Political]
Preferred characters: [One who loves me], [Crown Prince], [Butler], [Teacher], [Senior], [Junior], [Classmate]
Disliked characters: [Raviel Ivansia]
Preferred plots: [Victory of the strong], [True love]
Disliked plots: [Defeat of the weak], [Backstabbing]
Mental state: 'Raviel Ivansia. I won't give you anything.'
+
The name Heretic Questioner was nowhere to be found there.
The word [Fairy Tale] that had been listed under preferred genres, and the word [Human] that had been listed under preferred characters—they were no longer visible.
"Butler?"
The Heretic Questioner had been devoured by the role of Lady Golden Thread Plum.
"You'll come with me, won't you?"
And I sensed the end of this turn approaching.