Sorting the Hierarchy
While Kail was once again enjoying some time alone, Adelin Aynis, Selina, and Raysilla—invited to the crown princess's dinner—were experiencing a suffocating moment of a slightly different kind.
"From the moment I first heard the news, I thought you all had no shame whatsoever. Of course, excluding Miss Raysilla."
The two women, pierced to the core by Heria Isis Failer's words as she elegantly sliced her steak, turned to stare at her simultaneously. And the first to retort was Adelin.
"...Doesn't the crown princess lack the qualifications to criticize us either?"
She continued softly slicing her chicken steak.
"Certainly, the nature of our sins differs from yours, but in the end, on the day Kail was exiled to the Tarnas Ice Plains, the Failer Empire, the emperor, and the crown princess all turned a blind eye to him, didn't they?"
"That's an indisputable fact. I know it well."
Heria conceded readily. She slipped a small piece of steak into her mouth, closing her eyes briefly as if savoring the taste. Then, as if displeased, she incinerated all the food on her plate with her aura.
"But the difference in the quality of our sins means the possibility of receiving forgiveness differs as well. Moreover, I've already grasped the reasons why you betrayed him and why you've clung back to his side."
"...You're admitting to background checks so boldly?"
"Of course. If the next emperor of the Failer Empire—who will soon destroy Harennes and become the continent's sole ruler—can't even manage that, I should step down from my position as crown princess."
As the crown princess grew ever more brazen, Adelin found herself at a loss for words. Selina, unable to muster an even remotely plausible counterargument, kept her mouth firmly shut, slicing her fish and focusing intently on the two women's conversation.
And the crown princess's gaze, having lightly crushed Adelin, now turned—as if it were the most natural thing—to Selina, who had been quietly observing.
"Miss Selina, the thief of Talia, why are you so silent? Do you usually leave your conscience in some back alley?"
"...Y-Yes?"
Selina's silver cat ears shot straight up at the sudden splash of fire.
"I'm asking how you have the gall to stick to him like a leech now, after driving your comrade—a hero who saved the continent—into the jaws of death to lift the curse of Species Creation Fall..."
Her elegant smile belied the merciless barrage of sharp words. Selina's lips trembled as she gripped her fork tightly.
"Th-That was... because the Holy Kingdom took our tribe hostage and deceived us... I had no choice..."
"Even if it was a choice you couldn't avoid, does that change the fact that it was betrayal?"
"..."
"What a flimsy excuse. It would be less pathetic if you just admitted—like Miss Adelin—that you were faithful to your own desires. With the empire's capabilities, it took a week to uncover the tales of Talia and the Holy Kingdom's dealings. For you, Selina, it probably took two days? Silver, maybe?"
Heria's venomous words offered no room to breathe. Selina's lips twitched as if to retort a few more times, but in the end, she couldn't spit out any further excuses.
It was a sin she knew all too well in her bones. Her spirit utterly broken, she flattened her silver ears against her head and hung her head low. Even the slight tremble of her crown betrayed her desire to crawl into a hole or flee the scene right then.
"Hoo..."
Only then, as if she had said all she needed to, did Heria's expression lighten with a hint of satisfaction. She dabbed her mouth lightly with a napkin and rose from her seat.
She gazed down at the two women, who had shrunk back across the table, and left a final warning.
"We're all figures whose names alone are known across the continent, aren't we? Before I have to exert myself further, mind yourselves properly."
"..."
"I won't bother asking why Kail keeps two traitors like you around. If he fully opens his side to me, I'll learn naturally anyway."
Heria's gaze brushed past Raysilla, who sat quietly at one end of the table, focused solely on her meal.
"Well, it's obvious enough that he's dragging you along due to unavoidable circumstances involving his little sister."
With leisurely footsteps, accompanied by the escorts of her attendants, Heria exited the lavish banquet hall without a backward glance.
Kkiiik, clack.
After the dining hall's doors closed, only the clinking of Raysilla's utensils echoed inside. Adelin and Selina set down their own utensils in unison, as if by prior agreement. Having been thoroughly skewered by the crown princess's barbs, their appetite had long vanished.
Drag.
Just as the two women, unable to hide their dejected faces, rose to flee like cornered animals—
"Sit."
Raysilla uttered the word indifferently, seizing both their ankles. Startled, Adelin and Selina whipped their heads around to find her spearing fruit with her fork, her eyes gazing at them with an inscrutable expression.
"I told you the other day, didn't I...? Don't get swayed by useless noise. Focus on the present."
"..."
"If you lose a hopeless battle of wills... drown in guilt over past sins again... and end up acting like idiots... you'll definitely wound big brother once more."
Raysilla popped the fruit into her mouth and added,
"Don't forget why big brother keeps you around. If you're going to cower and run from something like this... you never should have followed in the first place."
Raysilla's cold, brutally realistic stab hit them to the bone.
A faint spark of life returned to the eyes of the two women, who had stood there dazed.
"Hoo... I see."
Adelin took a long breath first, nodding slightly as if realizing something. Selina perked up her flattened ears and lightly slapped her own cheeks twice to pull herself together.
"...Thanks, Raysilla. For saying that."
Adelin managed a faint smile first, pulling her chair back to sit. Selina, looking sheepish, fiddled with her ears a bit before returning to her seat.
In the opulent imperial banquet hall, now emptied of the crown princess—
The three women picked up their utensils again and silently resumed their cooling meal.
And.
"Well... at least they didn't act more pathetic than expected. That's a relief."
Heria Isis Failer, who had listened to the entire exchange from outside the dining hall, pushed off the door she leaned against and walked away.
Waking to the faint chirping of birds in the distance and the gentle sunlight caressing my face, I washed up as naturally as if rising from my own bed at home. Then, to fill my stomach—empty since yesterday's lunch—I headed down to the palace's first-floor dining hall.
But the moment I opened the door, the scene before me made me pause briefly.
"...Ah, am I a bit late...?"
Raysilla, Adelin, Selina, and Crown Princess Heria had already claimed seats, continuing their meal in a somewhat awkward atmosphere—everyone except me.
Fortunately, or perhaps not, no one seemed overly bothered.
"I was just about to go wake you. Perfect timing."
Heria carefully set down her fork and naturally pointed to the empty chair right beside her.
"Come sit here. It's the hero's seat."
Her suggestion—so natural, brazen, as if asserting ownership—drew immediate reactions from Selina and Adelin across the table.
Selina's cat ears twitched, and faint veins stood out on the back of Adelin's hand gripping her knife. Their body language clearly leaked displeasure.
But the moment my gaze reached them, the two hurriedly smoothed their expressions and resumed slicing meat, feigning as if nothing had happened.
"Th-The steak's softer than yesterday...!! My canines weren't hurting for nothing!"
"Still, as imperial chefs go, they're a cut above the Einiss royal cooks."
'...So, is the food good or bad?'
Without particular suspicion, I sat in the spot Heria indicated and began my late breakfast.
Raysilla, seeming to grasp the situation roughly, glanced lightly at Selina and Adelin while her fork was in her mouth.
But only for a moment. Seeing my sister resume her own meal silently as if it were nothing, I set aside my complicated thoughts.
Afterward, amid the clinking of utensils, trivial conversations floated across the table.
As the meal neared its end, Heria dabbed her mouth neatly with a napkin, shedding the light atmosphere for a somewhat serious tone.
"You seemed to ponder quite a while last night... Have you reached a conclusion?"
"......"
To her direct question, I slowly set down my fork.
Yes, the countless thoughts that kept me up all night staring at the ceiling.
Should I take Heria or not?
Countless variables and tangled emotions had knotted together, but one possibility in particular allowed me to arrive at a conclusion relatively easily.
'It's Ferne that's nagging at me too much.'
My former lover, who hadn't shown her face once since shortly after the Demon King's defeat.
To confront her truth and sever this wretched bond completely, a direct clash with the Holy Kingdom might be inevitable.
Thus, to bolster our forces, I desperately needed the immense power of Heria Isis Failer, a top-tier aura user.
Finishing my thoughts, I slowly turned to meet the gaze of Heria's pale pink eyes, fixed steadfastly on me.
"It won't be a long journey. A month at most... should suffice."
As I began speaking, every gaze in the dining hall focused on me.
"However, depending on circumstances, a direct clash with the Harennes Holy Kingdom is highly likely. When that time comes, the might of Your Highness the crown princess—hailed as the Failer Empire's youngest swordmaster candidate—may be sorely needed."
"Meaning?"
"Yes. Even so... will you join me?"
To the question carrying the main point, Heria smiled radiantly without a hint of hesitation. A face that mysteriously soothed the mind and bolstered resolve just by looking at it.
"I've been fully prepared to accept that much since I first made the proposal."
"...Thank you."