Each to Their Own Mission
Each to Their Own Mission
The Duke's party was waiting for us in an open clearing a few kilometers from the capital's outer wall.
Carriages from the Duke's estate and mounted knights.
The Duke had evidently prepared thoroughly; the knights were the elite members of the Gracia Order of Knights.
Knight Commander Alonso, Senior Knight Hugo, and even Senior Knight Angel.
It had been a long time since I'd seen them, and it was good to see familiar faces.
The Duke and my two brothers, Simon and Manuel, had stepped down from the carriage and were waiting for the Princess.
"Welcome, Princess Aisha. We will escort you safely to the Duchy."
As the Princess stepped down from the carriage, the Duke bowed politely.
It wasn't the sort of attitude one would show toward a young girl or a noble lady.
It was a greeting fit for royalty—and specifically for royalty in a position like that of the Crown Prince.
The Duke was treating Princess Aisha entirely as the next successor to the throne.
Bringing the elite knights must have been for that very reason.
But the Princess wasn't especially impressed by the Duke's polite greeting.
She responded to the Duke clearly and articulately.
"I am not going to the Duchy simply to keep myself safe."
Although everyone's eyes were on her, the Princess didn't stop speaking.
"I am going to the Duchy to work with you, Duke, and the other nobles to properly restore this country's royal authority."
They were political words, unbefitting someone her age.
Though they didn't match her youthful appearance, no one could laugh at them.
The Duke stared at the Princess for a moment, then bowed his head again.
"Pardon my poor choice of words. Let us go together. I shall guide you to the Duchy."
Only then did the Princess's tense posture visibly relax.
"I offer my greetings to the Princess. I am Simon De Gracia."
"I am Manuel De Gracia."
After greeting the Duke, the Princess exchanged greetings with his two sons as well.
While the Princess exchanged greetings, I stood silently behind her.
Simon and Manuel acknowledged me when they saw me, but I remained faithful to my duty of guarding the Princess.
While the Princess exchanged greetings, Balea was already chatting merrily with the others.
She was chatting not only with Manuel and Simon but even with the knights, faithfully playing the role of a lively noble girl.
After the greetings were over, just as we were about to set off again, two knights came riding from the direction of the capital.
They wore polished plate armor, perhaps because their crests had been hastily erased.
Miro and Axel. They were the Princess's escort knights and former academy knights.
"Apologies for the delay!"
Knight Axel arrived first, dismounted, and greeted the Princess.
Soon after, Knight Miro arrived, and without even catching their breath, the two of them took their places behind the Princess.
With the two of them standing behind her, the entourage finally felt complete, even if it couldn't compare to the Duke's order of knights.
Once the two knights had arrived and everyone was about to set off again, I bid farewell to the Princess.
"I will carry out the orders you gave me and head to the Duchy without delay."
The others found my words puzzling, but the Princess, Balea, and her two knights already knew what I meant.
That was also why Knights Axel and Miro had ridden so hard to get here.
A few days earlier, after the funeral had concluded with the final entombment, the Princess, Katrin, the Queen, and I had gathered in the Queen's drawing room.
It was the very same group that had gathered when I first met the Queen and the Princess.
Only a year and a half had passed, but each of our positions had changed drastically.
Aisha had gone from a pre-awakened princess to a royal embroiled in a succession war, while I had gone from a bastard son who had just arrived in the capital to the Princess's escort knight, rumored to be highly skilled.
Katrin hadn't changed much, but the Queen was now a widow who had to guard the royal palace alone.
"Can't you come with us?"
Though she had boldly argued with the two princes outside, the Princess couldn't stop worrying about the Queen, who would be left behind alone.
Despite the Princess's pleas, the Queen shook her head.
The Queen looked exhausted from the long funeral, but neither her words nor her actions faltered.
"Whether we fight a succession war or a civil war, someone must remain in the royal palace to let everyone know that the royal family of this nation is still standing."
The Queen was right.
To negotiate with foreign nations and keep the Kingdom's people from scattering, there had to be a focal point.
"I don't understand why you have to be the one to do that, Mother."
Shedding the tears she had hidden from the outside world, the Princess clutched the hem of the Queen's dress.
"Because I am the only one who can do it."
If the first king founded the country, the first king's queen made it a proper nation.
She shaped everything from the nation's structure and laws to its tax and administrative systems.
It was not for nothing that the first king's queen was called the Mother of the Nation.
Perhaps because of that, the Queen's authority in this country was by no means small.
She had almost no practical power, and if there were a king, even that authority would belong to him. But in times like these, the Queen was the only person who could protect the Kingdom.
The Princess begged her several more times, but the Queen didn't budge.
Instead, the Queen looked at me and smiled.
"Then, shall we consider our future plans and how best to utilize our greatest weapon, Young Lord Alex, whom we can only use for a year and a half?"
At the Queen's words, both the Princess's and Katrin's expressions changed.
The Queen, the Princess, and Katrin all knew.
The handful of nobles who had joined hands with the Princess had done so only out of their own greed.
Neither the Gracia Dukedom nor the Queen's maternal family, the Rattenhamar Count Family, could be considered true allies.
Only the four people gathered in this room could be called the Princess's true allies.
As the Queen had said, I was merely a temporary companion for a year and a half, of course.
Still, they couldn't afford to exclude me. Even if only for a year and a half, there was no one else they could trust.
Once the Queen finished speaking, the room became a meeting to establish the strategy for Princess Aisha's faction.
We came to the conclusion that it would be a waste to use me solely as an escort knight.
So I decided to move freely while the Princess gathered her forces in the Duchy.
I did have things I'd planned in advance to take care of, but in effect, I'd temporarily transitioned from an escort knight to a free knight.
I went over to the knights I'd skipped greeting earlier.
By way of greeting and as a request, I asked the knights to look after the Princess.
Commander Alonso, Knight Hugo, Knight Angel, and the other knights.
I was on good terms with some of them, while things were awkward with others, but they were all knights of the Gracia Dukedom.
Since I was now entrusting the Princess's life to them, I could only ask them to do their absolute best.
"You do not need to worry."
"I will protect her, and once we return, Miguel will protect her too. Do not worry."
After the Knight Commander's standard reply and Knight Hugo's reassuring one, Knight Angel made a bit of a fuss.
"I heard you were working as an escort knight, but it seems it wasn't an official position."
He was a knight on the Duchess's side, and perhaps because he had seen me several times while traveling to and from the capital, he looked displeased.
It seemed he didn't like that I had become close to the Princess.
I said nothing in response and simply walked away.
Then came the greetings between brothers.
"Are you not even planning to drop by the estate? Lady Amanda must be waiting for you."
Simon's words sounded as if he cared about me, but, as expected, they only managed to scratch at my heart.
"Well, he must be busy with something. Even at the academy, he was always so busy it was hard to see his face."
Manuel's grumbling words were easier to listen to.
"Then, I shall see you later."
I gave a safe reply and finally stood before the Duke.
The Duke stared at me for a moment, then spoke.
"So, where are you going?"
The moment he finished speaking, the Duke lightly waved his hand.
At that moment.
Whoom.
A wall of mana unfolded around the Duke and me.
At the same time, the surrounding sounds vanished. It was a soundproof barrier.
Had he done it out of consideration, to keep others from hearing my answer?
No, there was no way.
Instead of opening my mouth, I stared at the Duke.
His face was expressionless, as always.
In the past, his face had terrified me, and I had wanted to surpass him. Not anymore.
I could feel people's gazes gathering on us.
They were all skilled knights and inherited ability Users. There was no way they could fail to notice a soundproof barrier unfolding.
Consideration, my ass.
It was the perfect way to invite misunderstanding.
I lifted my foot and slammed it down with all my might.
Thud.
The ground rumbled, and the mana I released clashed against the soundproof barrier.
Rumble.
After a brief struggle of power, the wall of mana shattered.
Crash.
Once again, sound rushed back in.
The chirping of insects in the grass, the sound of the wind, and even the sounds of people flinching in surprise returned.
Listening to those sounds, I replied.
"I am Princess Aisha's escort knight. Since I have orders from the Princess, I cannot tell you."
At my words, the Duke stared at me for a long time.
"...Is that so. Then, I shall leave it at that."
There was a great deal of meaning in both my words and the Duke's reply—and in our expressions, too.
There was, of course, no way to know whether our meanings had been conveyed accurately or properly understood.
But neither of us asked or said anything more.
I turned and headed toward my companions, while the Duke climbed into his carriage.
The Princess looked at me with startled eyes, while Balea gave me a thumbs-up.
I asked the Princess one last time.
"Will you be alright on your own?"
The Princess nodded vigorously.
"Yes, I will be fine. Still, both you and Balea must return quickly."
At the Princess's words, I glared at Balea.
It would have been nice if Balea had stayed with the Princess.
"It's no use looking at me like that. I am going to follow you, Young Lord. The reason I took a leave of absence is because of you, Young Lord."
But there was no overcoming Balea's stubbornness.
And because of the reason she'd given, it was difficult to force her to stay by the Princess's side.
In the end, I threw up my hands in defeat, and she came with me.
Fortunately, Balea was a very helpful companion, but even so, if she was going to travel with me, it seemed we'd have to draw up a new contract.
I was a little worried about the Princess being left alone, but she had the two knights, and my mother was also in the Duchy.
I'd given the Princess a letter to deliver to my mother, so my mother was sure to help her.
In addition, Katrin and Senior Benjamin would also head to the Duchy soon, so I didn't need to worry any further.
After we'd finished our farewells, the carriages and escorting knights left the clearing.
The carriage carrying the Princess receded into the distance along with the Duke's carriages.
Now, they would go to the Gracia Dukedom and begin expanding their influence.
The Princess's faction would take a step back from the initial clash between the two princes and gradually build its power.
Nobles would gather, and by conquering the surrounding territories that refused them, they would gradually expand their reach, eventually engaging in a massive struggle against the other princes for the throne.
But if things continued this way, the Princess would remain a figurehead monarch and a mere focal point within the faction, both now and all the way to the final battle.
Even if she showed bravery herself or demonstrated excellent command, her young age would always hold her back.
In the end, all the practical benefits would inevitably be taken by the Duke of Gracia and the other nobles.
But we—no, I—had no intention of letting that happen.
While the Princess settled in the Duchy as a figurehead and focal point, I planned to grow her forces elsewhere.
In the midst of that, of course, I also had a few things of my own to do.
The carriages and the party were now so far away that they were out of my sight.
"Well, are the two of us going now?"
"No. There is someone else going with us."
The sound of hoofbeats echoed from far behind us.
When I turned, Balea turned as well.
In the distance, a mounted rider leading two riderless horses was coming this way.
"A mercenary? Ah, isn't that the appraiser who went with us to Marquis Pisen's mansion?"
At Balea's words, I nodded.
The person leading the horses was, as Balea had said, Lestiado, the 'Auction House Owner' and 'Former Divine Sword Tracker'.
Now he was, of course, the last priest of the Celine Cult.