Chapter 40 · Imperfect Happiness (2)

Ollentia Palace.

“So, even if you say you wish to end our relationship, I have nothing to say.”

Alter bowed his head. His voice was dry as a dead branch. Aquila gave no answer for a long while. Standing motionless in the room where the fire crackled and blazed, she looked like a woman turned to stone from some myth. Just when Alter felt he might get a cramp in his legs, she slowly raised her hand.

Smack!

The sharp sound of flesh striking flesh rang out. Alter, who had been waiting for reproach or condemnation, opened his eyes wide as something beyond his expectations came flying at him. A burning pain spread across his cheek. Having never been struck by anyone, he felt a momentary flash of humiliation and his fist twitched.

“Was that the kind of resolve with which you asked to be betrothed to me?”

She said coldly.

“I made a promise with my life on the line, and you used me as a card to throw down and discard if it didn’t work out?”

“…It was not a lighthearted matter. I believed I would certainly succeed… It was only that unexpected things happened.”

“What infuriates me ten times more than your failure to achieve your goal is how easily you bring up breaking off the engagement.”

“…I naturally assumed you would wish to break it off.”

“If we break off the engagement now!”

She glared at him with fierce eyes.

“Father will marry me off to another country. He’s mad over that bastard girl.”

“…”

“You may have nothing to lose, but I lose everything!”

“I apologize. I did not think it through.”

“Don’t even think about running away alone like this. My goal is different from your petty desires.”

Only then did Alter realize he had become entangled with no easy opponent. She intended to go to the very end.

“Because of the things you’ve done, we won’t be able to make a move for the time being.”

“Will that be all right? Even if you sit idle like this…”

“That bastard child is destined to destroy herself.”

Aquila said, gazing at the flickering flames.

“The limits of lowly blood can never, ever be overcome.”

◇ ◆ ◇

Before I knew it, the day of Freesia’s dormitory move-in had arrived. Freesia, who had stayed with me in my bedroom for several days, was very sad to part with me.

“It felt exactly like having a little sister, and I loved it so much. Ah, was that an impertinent thing to say to the princess?”

“Of couwse not!”

I felt the same way. What I had learned about Freesia over the past few days was that she was very calm, patient, and the type to keep pushing through difficulties to the very end. The complete opposite of Ark.

To fatten her up, I had spent entire days feeding her and helping her study basic magic, and this personality of hers helped her learn many things quickly. Since the average age for academy entrance was twelve, she wouldn’t fall far behind. No—she might even stand out.

“Those cwiminals must be beating theiw chests in wegwet. To have missed a talent wike Fwee.”

“Goodness… Just thinking about how she would have spent her whole life doing nothing but mental binding there is horrifying. When there’s so much wonderful magic in the world.”

“Does Fwee not know much about the people thewe eithew?”

“No. If I had known even a little, it would have helped the investigation… They don’t even carelessly mention the organization’s name to each other.”

I hadn’t known the place where I was caught was such an organized criminal group. And they even used magic stones that absorb others’ mana… It seemed incomplete, but it was far too dangerous an object for them to possess.

“You don’t even know who the boss is? Ah! You don’t have to say! Fwee might die!”

I startled myself after saying it and waved my hands frantically, and Freesia smiled bitterly.

“I was too young, so they didn’t put such a curse on me. I wouldn’t have had any information to tell them anyway. That person spent most of his time on another continent.”

“Then you never saw him even once?”

“I saw only his back, exactly once. He was a man wrapped entirely in a black robe. While everyone was distracted by his arrival, my brother and I tried to run… but…”

She couldn’t finish and bowed her head. So that was the day Freesia’s brother died.

“I’m going to find that f*cker… and crush him, no matter what. Even if it costs me everything.”

She muttered with blazing eyes. Coming from someone whose appearance was now far more refined than before, it sounded even more chilling.

“Fwee is bwave.”

“What? The princess is a billion times braver.”

“Asha is?”

“Of course. Have you already forgotten how you escaped through that whole group? No one else could have done that.”

No, Freesia. I’m not as righteous or brave as you. I have plenty of wicked people I ought to take revenge on, but I’m trying to run away because my own life is more precious.

As we talked, we arrived at the academy. The academy was located to the northwest, not far from the royal palace. Surrounded by dense forest, it was filled with the fresh scent of grass and the clear songs of birds.

Freesia stood blankly for a long while, overwhelmed by the grand and splendid scale of the buildings.

“Welcome, Princess.”

The short, round Dean Roktania greeted us.

“So you are Freesia Ishtar? You look clever. I hope you will study hard from now on and raise Santra’s standing.”

It was unprecedented for the dean herself to personally guide someone to the dormitory. All the way down the corridor, many academy students and researchers gaped at us. I could hear them murmuring.

“Is that ‘that’ princess?”

“Yes, Princess Beatrice’s…”

“They say she can use magic.”

“At that age? Then will she be coming to the academy?”

“A bastard, and a commoner who was locked up in Yuditium! What is the academy coming to!”

That sharp, prickly voice was… Stella. Stella had entered about a year ago and was taking special lessons with Dean Roktania. I had planned to return once my mana stabilized, but I hadn’t expected to run into her here.

“Yuditium? Then she’s a criminal?”

“How can a criminal come to the academy?”

No one knew Freesia had been in prison! My blood boiled at Stella. The murmuring grew louder, and Freesia must have heard it too, because her face went white.

“Fwee is not a cwiminal. She did nothing wong!”

I stopped walking and looked straight at them as I shouted. Dean Roktania also turned around in surprise.

“If you bulwy Fwee about something wike that, Asha won’t stand fow it!”

They glanced at each other and shut their mouths, but Stella did not stop.

“Look at that vulgar short hair. Commoners are the only ones who wear their hair like that.”

“Aunt Stella, don’t be so countwy. In the south, short hair has been fashionable among nobles too since two months ago. I guess you haven’t wead Ladies Nuntia (the magazine Santran nobles read) yet?”

At my words, Stella’s face flushed. Just as she opened her mouth wide to scream, Dean Roktania hurriedly called for dispersal. Everyone scattered, and Stella, after huffing and puffing, eventually turned and walked away.

Freesia looked a little more drained than before, but she gazed at me with affectionate eyes. Hmm, hmm. At this rate, it would be a problem if she fell too deeply for me.

Her room was a wonderful place with a view of the dense forest beyond a wide-open window. It was a small but cozy room. On the bed lay the academy uniform, along with various daily necessities and supplies.

She forgot even to set down her luggage and looked around the room with wide eyes. Even after Dean Roktania encouraged her to do her best and left, she seemed dazed, as if she couldn’t quite believe it.

“Fwee, you wike it that much?”

I smiled because she was cute.

“It’s like a dream… Could it be that I’m having a long, long dream? Ever since I met the princess, everything has been so absurd.”

“But wife hewe won’t be easy. The nobwes of Santwa awe, in a wowd, unappetizing.”

Worried about the contempt she would face, I let out a deep sigh.

“…No matter how hard it is, I’ll endure it thinking of the princess. The princess endured the pain of repeating her life nine times, and yet you’re so brave.”

Come to think of it, Freesia was the only person who knew about my regressions. She was quick-witted, so she had never once mentioned it when others were around.

“When you said I was one of your people… I was so happy. I will serve the princess as my liege for the rest of my life.”

My conscience pricked again. I felt miserable at the thought of the future in which she would be disappointed.

“And I think someone like the princess should be the monarch. Someone who treats even insignificant commoners like me kindly, and who understands the pain of the weak.”

Monarch… Could there be anyone less suited to being a monarch than me? I hated Santra. I was only trying to prevent disasters for my own survival. I had no intention of ruling them. I had neither the love for the people nor the selflessness a monarch ought to have.

“I will work hard so that I can be of help on the path the princess takes.”

Even amid this swirl of ugly thoughts, I could only smile quietly at her.

◇ ◆ ◇

As I came out of the dormitory, Paeon was standing far off near the fountain. He was staring blankly at the fountain, lost in thought, and against the refreshing sound of the water and the gentle breeze, he looked even more like a beautiful youth.

‘He really is irritatingly handsome.’

He, whose only praiseworthy quality was his looks, spotted me and opened his arms out of habit to lift me up.

“Mm, today I’ll just wawk.”

As he awkwardly lowered his arms, I firmly grasped his hand.

“Howding hands with Papa!”

Paeon looked down at me in surprise. Until now, we had never done anything as affectionate as walking hand in hand.

He was so tall and I was so small that our strides didn’t match at all. The way we walked was clumsy and funny. Still, he carefully watched me and matched his pace. Compared to when I first saw him, it was remarkable progress.

His hands were long and shapely, but covered in calluses. When I wriggled the hand I was holding, he flinched.

“Papa’s hand is hawd!”

“…It’s because I’ve held a sword for a long time.”

Walking and talking like this, we looked very much like a father and daughter. Anyone who saw us would surely have thought we were a close father and daughter.

‘But that will never truly be.’

This pseudo father-daughter relationship would end someday. So until then…

“Papa, do you still have the wesignation wettew?”

He flinched and looked at me.

“You do, wight? I know you cawwy it in youw pocket. You can’t fool Asha’s eyes.”

When I held out one hand flat as if demanding it, he hesitated for a moment, then took a white envelope from his pocket. It was terribly crumpled from how long he had been carrying it.

“What’s so pwecious about this that you cawwy it awound?”

I snatched the envelope and recited the activation word loudly.

“Igniárĭus!”

Fwoosh!

“P-Princess!”

He cried out urgently, but he could not stop the envelope from bursting into flame in midair. Paeon stared blankly at the ashes scattering on the wind in the blink of an eye.

“Papa can nevew abandon Asha.”

When I spoke with a mischievous smile, he turned to me with a serious face. He seemed to want to say something, his lips moving slightly. But he said nothing and pressed his mouth firmly shut.

‘Is he angry?’

It was a resignation letter he had cherished and carried until it was worn ragged, so he had every right to be. But until I turn twelve, you must not leave my side.

‘Just you watch. This time, for certain, I will be the one to abandon you first.’

Holding that firm resolve in my heart, I passed two springs, three summers, autumns, and winters.

Before I knew it, I had turned eight years old.