IYTTEPAAK Chapter 30

A young man with the same black hair as Nadia's could be seen approaching the greenhouse pavilion.

I gestured to the guards with my chin, granting him entry.

"Nadia!"

"B-brother? Why are you—"

The young man, dressed as elaborately as if for a banquet, feigned delight at the sight of Nadia. Then, affecting urgency, he greeted me.

"Laval of House Gawain offers his greetings to Her Highness the Silver Bird. A grave matter has arisen at home, and I must take my sister away at once—forgive the discourtesy of my sudden arrival."

"Ah. The Earl of Gawain."

A glance sideways showed Nadia's eyes, fixed on her brother and head of house, were anything but warm.

What are you playing at, why are you interrupting—the meaning was plain as print.

"A family matter—nothing to be done, then. Go on, Earl."

"I shall make amends for today's discourtesy by having the house send a formal invitation, Your Highness."

"There's no need to trouble yourself."

Rebuffed, Laval Gawain, mid-way through an overwrought bow, straightened his head awkwardly.

He'd used his sister as a pretext to try to forge a connection with me, and now that it hadn't gone as planned, he looked thoroughly at a loss.

Thanks to her useless excuse of a brother, Nadia alone ended up excused from the middle of the tea party.

I could see Nadia trembling with fury, and Annemarie quietly delighted. I decided to make use of this too.

"A pity Nadia has to leave so early. Let's end today's tea party here."

I'd elevated Nadia's standing with that.

Mebril Osbond, thoughtless as ever, simply said "yes" and rose. Annemarie of Arondight, however, stiffened, evidently sensing a threat to her own rank.

"Safe travels to you all."

Even after issuing that gentle dismissal, I sat alone at the table a while longer, drinking my tea.

Then, at some point, I spoke.

"You can come out now."

A woman with hair as red as camellia blossoms stepped forward before me.

My new lady-in-waiting, Sione Belpha. She settled her dress with a bow, and I asked her:

"How is it? How does it feel, hearing the voices of the ones who destroyed your house, after all this time?"

"I'm glad. A will to live has risen in me."

Her green eyes shone. Eyes filled not only with the will to live but with killing intent besides—and they were beautiful.

"Doesn't it sicken you, Your Highness? How do you stomach sharing a table with beasts like that?"

"I bear the blood running through my own body. What are they, by comparison?"

"Your Highness is nothing like the Mad Emperor."

"I thank you for saying so."

When I extended my right hand, Regen was there at once, supporting my palm from below to escort me.

Even I have a limit to what my stomach can bear, and I needed something to settle it.

"See to the cleanup for me, Sione. I think I'll get some air."

I walked the path lined with camellia trees, where green, red, and white mingled together. The snow along the path had all been swept clean, so there was nothing to hinder the walking.

Camellias have no scent. What filled my lungs was nothing but the clean, cold smell of winter. My soured stomach settled quickly enough for it.

By the time we'd reached a stretch with no one else around, Regen—walking half a step behind me—spoke.

"I've heard you hold gatherings like this regularly. What's your reason for meeting the daughters of these collaborating, sycophant houses?"

"It's less that I want to meet them, and more that I want them to meet each other."

"What do you mean?"

"Bad natures, thrown together—trouble follows on its own."

Arondight, Osbond, Gawain. If even one small spark of discord grew between the three houses, all the better. If not, no great loss either.

"Being introduced to House Gawain today was a real gain. Truly, you could call them beasts wearing human faces."

"I understand they're butchers who condemn the innocent as traitors. And House Belpha was one of their victims."

"That's right. It's quite personal, from Sione's perspective. Nadia was Sione's close friend, and Laval was Sione's fiancé. The engagement was even Nadia's own doing—so a friend's betrayal must sting all the more bitterly."

"A friend's betrayal..."

Regen's voice, repeating the words, had gone low. I couldn't help but ask.

"Has that happened to you, by any chance?"

"Yes."

A plain answer. But his eyes were cold beyond measure.

"There was a friend who betrayed me, once—calling it the best choice."

A conversation we'd once had came back to me unbidden.

'When the only woman I'm sworn to protect is being humiliated while she shields me—what knight would find joy in that?'

'You know the answer. It was the best choice.'

'The best choice.'

His mouth, always so composed, had twisted, just for that moment. The disgust I'd felt hadn't been illusion.

Perhaps sensing he'd brought up something better left alone, he gathered himself and turned the subject back toward me.

"Has Sasha ever been betrayed by a friend?"

"No."

"That's a relief."

"I don't have friends."

"......."

His golden eyes wavered—the look of a gentleman caught off guard by a lady's confession of some private shame. I offered further explanation, quite matter-of-factly.

"To be friends, morals have to match, politics have to match—and loyal subjects are scarce enough in this empire as it is. Besides, if I did make the effort to befriend someone and grew close, and then one of us ended up executed, that would be sad, wouldn't it."

"I see."

"So there's no need to feel sorry for me over my social circle."

"...I had no such improper thought."

I smiled, plainly unconvinced, and Regen's lips parted reflexively as if to explain further—then he pressed them shut again. He seemed to have given up on the attempt.

Whatever gloom might have settled over us had blown away, and that was enough.

A white-eye bird's chirp reached my ears. Wondering if it might be nearby, I went toward a camellia tree to look, but couldn't find it.

Setting aside my disappointment, I admired the camellias instead. I brushed the snow off with my fingertips and cupped a blossom in my hand, as if embracing it.

That was when I heard a small, throat-caught sound of laughter beside me. I glanced over; Regen, catching himself, turned his head away—so I pressed him at once.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Forgive me."

"What were you thinking?"

"......."

"I won't be angry. Tell me."

I was curious what was going on in his head. Perhaps reading that I meant to be relentless about it, he spoke.

"Do you know that camellias are ornithophilous—bird-pollinated?"

"Yes. Since they have no scent, they lure birds with their brilliance instead, offering nectar in exchange for propagation."

"Yes, and so..."

He hesitated again, and I narrowed my eyes at him. He finally seemed to give up and confessed.

"When Sasha touched the camellia blossom just now, I thought—ah. A silver-eye, landing on a camellia."

This time it was my turn to let a thin laugh escape from my throat.

"What were you thinking about?"

"It's a secret."

"......."

Call it unfair if you like—there was nothing to be done about it.

That the flower I most want to land on, right now, is you—that's a confession I can hardly make, can I.

I reached for another subject instead.

"Speaking of which, Sir Regen. How is your eye?"

"Recovering smoothly. At this rate, I should be fully healed within the month."

"That's a relief. Then the remaining problem is your mana core. It feels as though your recovery rate is dropping a little more each day—it worries me."

"You know the recovery rate?"

Regen asked, seeming rather surprised. I nodded.

"The more your mana recovers, the more dominion it takes to maintain the binding. Since the rate of increase in dominion spent on you keeps getting smaller, I judged it from that."

"I see."

"Comparing it to the amount claimed on the first day, I'd guess you're at about fifty percent recovered by now..."

"......."

Regen offered no response either way while I made my estimate, then asked abruptly:

"Does Sasha have dominion to spare?"

"I'm not certain exactly, but even if Sir Regen recovers his core completely, I don't think it would fill me up entirely."

"So you're saying that, at the current rate, there should be some to spare."

"Yes."

"Would there, though."

"...What?"

Regen's manner had been subtly off since a moment ago.

"What happens if a knight's mana surpasses the bloodline's dominion holding it? Does the binding break?"

"Once a binding takes hold, it doesn't break easily. Instead, I understand it places a strain on the one who holds it."

"Is there no way to raise your own dominion?"

"......."

I stopped answering. Because something had just occurred to me, from the conversation so far.

"Regen."

"Yes."

"It wasn't fifty percent recovered, was it."

"No."

That particular, ruthlessly plain answer of his. Like hearing the truth stated outright, my will to deny it collapsed at once.