Interlude
Interlude
She was a strange child.
That was Alice's thought when she first saw Sylvia.
In truth, from the outside, there was no telling what made her strange. When she sat still with her mouth shut, Sylvia was simply a quiet, pretty girl who liked to read books.
Even in a brief conversation, one might not notice anything particularly odd. Her speech was a little stiff, but she used impeccably polite speech, and she knew her place and how to bow her head to those above her.
But the longer the conversation went on, and the more one watched her from the side, the more the strangeness began to creep into view, bit by bit.
Sylvia had grown up with Alice from a very young age. Their first meeting was so early that Alice could not remember exactly how it had gone. Sylvia had simply appeared amid those hazy childhood memories, and before Alice knew it, she was talking to her.
No, to be precise, the pattern was that Alice would unilaterally address her, and Sylvia would answer.
According to Lucas, Alice had been afraid of Sylvia, whose expression would not change no matter how much anyone spoke to her. She would hide behind the surrounding adults when she ran into Sylvia, and whenever Sylvia was nearby, she would run far away as if terrified that she might actually have to speak to her.
Afraid of Sylvia? Me?
When she first heard that, she hadn't really believed it.
But when she took the time to think it over quietly, she could not help feeling that it might not have been entirely wrong.
After all, even now, Alice was still a little afraid of Sylvia.
Alice was the sole legitimate child of the Emperor. She was the one who had properly inherited the blood of the Fangriffon dynasty, with no full brothers, no full sisters, not even half-siblings, and it was right that she should succeed. That might truly have been the case had the current Emperor, Arthur III, not possessed the hobby of taking in orphans and making them his closest aides.
Even without shared blood, Fangriffon was still Fangriffon.
In that ancient time, when everything in the world was collapsing and all Order was being rebuilt, a child abandoned on a cliff for the crime of deformity had survived among all manner of twisted beasts. With a human body, that child had subdued a pride of Gryphons, and the child who rode upon the back of the largest Gryphon later became the Empire's first Emperor. Filled with awe, the people called him 'the head of the Gryphons.'
The name that captured that meaning was Fangriffon.
She knew perfectly well that it was a myth, of course. Gryphons still existed in the modern day, but no one had ever been seen to successfully tame one. One might capture a Gryphon alive or hunt one. One might even ride upon its back, but a Gryphon would resist to the very end. That was why the story of a human taming a Gryphon was accepted as myth.
In the first place, a sacred beast like the Gryphon did not even live in packs.
But because the Empire bore such a founding myth, the name Fangriffon carried a special weight.
What the Imperial Assembly or the people thought, she could not know.
But at least from the perspective of the Fangriffons themselves, the name Fangriffon also signified the capacity to rule as Emperor.
Even if the bloodline did not continue, as long as someone possessed the ability to inherit the name Fangriffon, the Emperor would willingly hand over his throne to that person.
That was why Sylvia frightened her. She did not carry the same aura as the terrifying First Emperor of myth, but Sylvia would handle the matters before her in an instant, as casually as if she already knew everything that was going to happen.
Though it was hard to imagine Sylvia climbing onto the back of a Gryphon.
And that was why Sylvia was a strange child.
Despite possessing such tremendous ability, and despite bearing the name Fangriffon, she acted as if she would never ascend to the Imperial throne. She said over and over that Alice was the true Imperial Princess, and that she herself was merely there to assist Alice from the side.
At first, Alice had wondered whether she was hiding her true feelings, but... well. At the very least, Sylvia had never once revealed a true heart that contradicted her words.
There is no greater mistake in politics than judging an opponent's intentions by appearances alone.
Nevertheless, from what Alice could see, Sylvia seemed to relax when she was near Alice. Her face remained expressionless, but while Sylvia often simply ignored or gave monosyllabic answers to the other foster siblings, in front of Alice she would proactively strike up conversation.
She cheered Alice on whenever she was anxious, and comforted her when she was sad. It was all delivered in that flat, emotionless tone without much variation, but every time Alice heard those words, her heart was set at ease.
Was all of that an act, too?
Was she merely behaving like a machine in front of Alice because Alice was the imperial princess?
Was Alice being deceived by a performance that meant nothing at all?
If that were so—
—Well, if even all of that was an act, then Sylvia must have been destined material for an Emperor from the start.
*
She had somehow ended up following all the way to the Kingdom, but Alice Fangriffon was now fervently regretting the situation.
She knew her father favored Sylvia. That did not mean he did not love Alice, but favoring a person as a talent and loving her as a child were separate matters. Unlike Alice, who had not even been formally designated crown princess, let alone handled state affairs, Sylvia was already competently taking care of the country's most important business.
Sylvia herself always treated Alice as the next Emperor, but... that did not make her impatience disappear. The one who ultimately decided the next Emperor was not Sylvia but Alice's father, the current Emperor.
"I'm going to get scolded again..."
Her father often summoned Sylvia to ask her about matters to come. Each time, Alice would try to slip in and listen, or else make her own clumsy attempts at imitation.
And each time, what came back was her father's stern rebuke.
He did not shout or strike her, but the weight carried in his words was as heavy as befitted an Emperor. Every time Alice heard such words, she shrank into herself.
And the one who always comforted her at those times was Sylvia.
She knew that Sylvia's words were not always sincere. When Alice was disappointed over an exam score lower than Sylvia's, Sylvia would tell her that she had only been lucky and guessed a few more questions correctly... but Alice knew very well that there was no way Sylvia could have done that.
If she needed to, Sylvia could probably achieve a perfect score.
Yet even knowing that fact, Alice's heart would flutter every time she heard Sylvia say such things.
It made her happy that someone so capable called Alice 'the next Emperor.' To Alice, who had no one in the Imperial Palace she could properly call a friend, Sylvia was both a rival and her only friend.
After she got scolded this time, too, Sylvia would surely comfort her.
That thought left a bitter taste in her mouth.
She lay on the bed in the hotel's finest suite, provided by the Kingdom as Sylvia had said, and stared blankly at the ceiling to pass the time. The core of her escort force was Lucas and Jaden, and to be honest, both of them made Alice far more uncomfortable than Sylvia ever did.
If she had any time to spare, maybe she would ask Sylvia to tour the royal capital together.
Right as she was mulling that over—
Knock knock.
The sound of someone cautiously knocking on the door made her start up from the bed.
[Your Highness. Might I intrude for a moment?]
"Huh, huh!?"
At those words, Alice sprang to her feet.
"Wh-what is it!?"
She cried out in a fluster. It was because she had never received anyone in a situation where neither Sylvia nor anyone else was present nearby. There would be Imperial Guards outside the door, but—no, the one who had just knocked would be an Imperial Guard, since they were the troops directly protecting the imperial princess.
But she had never welcomed a visitor while alone like this inside a room. She had recklessly boarded the train just before departure, so even her personal maid had not managed to get on.
[Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte de Belbur requests an audience.]
"Wha, Princess—hngh!"
Alice, who had nearly let out a scream of shock without thinking, clamped her hand over her own mouth just in time to stop it.
In terms of formal rank, a princess of the Kingdom of Belbur was not equal to an imperial princess of the House of Fangriffon. Perhaps that was precisely why she had come in person upon hearing news that the 'true' Imperial Princess of Fangriffon had arrived. Neither an imperial princess nor a royal princess could participate in practical affairs, but they could at least foster friendly relations.
Friendship between nobles could later lead to practical benefit. That was even truer for royal and imperial houses. One could speak more comfortably and more often with someone whose face one at least knew than with a complete stranger.
Though she had no practical experience, Alice had received her share of political tutelage, and she was able to recall the information on the Belbur princess.
Like Alice, an only daughter. Highly likely to inherit the throne in the future. And the same age as Alice and Sylvia.
"... Hoo."
She had no idea why the visit had come. But she could hardly send away a princess who had come all this way in person.
She was terribly nervous, yet this was a moment she had to see through herself.
Alice recalled the conversation she had had with Sylvia earlier.
Always with dignity, as befitted the legitimate heir who would inherit the Imperial throne.
She hurriedly looked down at her clothes. Were there any wrinkles? Any stains anywhere? Fortunately, there were a few slightly crumpled spots, but nothing that stood out greatly.
She straightened her back and squared her chest. Lifting her chin slightly, she mimicked the posture of a ducal lady she had once observed.
And for her expression, just like Sylvia.
After steadying her breath a few more times, Alice opened her mouth.
"Yes, please show her in."
Though her heart was nowhere near as composed as Sylvia's.