One thing was certain.
House Lillis would pay for what they’d done — one way or another, I’d make sure of it.
The simplest solution would be to tell the Duke about my conversation with Lucas. That alone would probably settle everything.
The problem is that Lucas still isn’t ready to talk.
“Hmm. What do I do.”
I had promised to keep it secret — he had trusted me and me alone with it. I couldn’t go blabbing it to everyone else.
But if this stayed unresolved, Lucas wasn’t going to show up for the succession trial. I was almost certain of it.
Maybe if I pushed a little harder, Lucas would agree to participate?
I shook my head.
Pressuring someone who had only just worked up the courage to confess their wounds wasn’t right.
I rolled over onto my side, and something drifted through my mind.
Wait.
All that needs to happen is for the succession trial to be postponed until Lucas has had time to sort himself out, right?
That wasn’t a bad idea at all.
________________________________________
The next morning.
“Uncle.”
“What.”
“Please put me in the running for the succession trial.”
A perfectly peaceful study.
I gazed up at him with eyes that trembled just slightly, as if I had been wounded.
“…I’m a direct heir too. Why am I being left out of the succession candidates?”
“Well — the succession trial requires an Affinity, so…”
“Is it because I’m adopted?”
“Pfff —”
Calypse spat out the coffee he’d been drinking.
I’m sorry, Father.
It seems I’ll need to play the role of a slightly difficult daughter today.
________________________________________
That afternoon.
Aisha’s declaration prompted House Krost to quietly convene a small emergency meeting.
Wh — what on earth could have happened…
My thoughts exactly.
The vassals who arrived one by one took one look at Calypse’s face and immediately averted their eyes.
Their lord looked as though he were about to declare war.
Tap. Tap. Each time those long, straight fingers struck the table, the hearts of the assembled men sank a little further.
Once everyone had taken their seats —
“I’d like to ask all of you something.”
Calypse spoke, his voice heavy.
“If a five-year-old child came to you and said she wanted to sit for House Krost’s succession trial — what would you think?”
“……?”
The assembled men fell silent for a long moment, exchanging sidelong glances.
“Well… if it meant another Affinity user had appeared beyond Lord Tex, we’d welcome it with open arms, but…”
“That’s not the case.”
The Duke said it plainly.
“A child without an Affinity — a tiny little girl — is saying she wants to contribute to House Krost and asking to be included as a candidate. What do you all make of that?”
One of the more perceptive vassals cautiously ventured an answer.
“Well, naturally, without an Affinity, it would be difficult to stand as a succession candidate…”
“I’ve been thinking too narrowly.”
“Pardon?”
The men stared in surprise at the sudden admission.
Calypse, seemingly indifferent to their reaction, let out a long sigh and pressed a hand to his forehead.
“I thought I was treating her equally. But that child still thinks of herself as an adopted outsider.”
Wait. Is this —
The vassals’ eyes slid toward each other.
In so many words, Young Lord Lucas needs time to open up, and she’s trying to buy it for him.
“She phrases it the way she does, but it seems fairly clear to me that she’s trying to stall for time until Lucas is ready.”
…So this isn’t really a formal meeting. This is His Grace…
“Technically, the succession has always been limited to Affinity users among the direct and collateral lines. But Krost has never had a non-Affinity direct heir before. If we exclude the girl from candidacy, I’m worried she’ll be hurt.”
…venting.
He’s just venting.
“I don’t want her to feel like she doesn’t truly belong. Like she isn’t real family.”
He’s already made up his mind. This is just for show.
‘Five years old’ — that must mean Young Lady Aisha.
I believe so.
The vassals exchanged meerkat-like glances in every direction.
A non-Affinity direct heir standing as a succession candidate — it was unprecedented, no question.
But so was a collateral member standing as a candidate. And so was the formal adoption of a common-born child into a ducal bloodline.
Given all that, the idea of Aisha buying time for the emotionally wounded Lucas —
Not a bad play, actually.
If Lucas was ultimately going to become the head of House Krost regardless, having a direct blood heir beside him rather than a collateral branch member wasn’t the worst arrangement.
But could a common-born young lady honestly beat an Affinity user?
You tell him.
Tap.
No, you tell him.
Tap.
I was the one who brought up the last Creature suppression. It’s your turn.
Everyone wanted to ask — what happens if Young Lady Aisha loses? — but every time they looked up and met those blazing eyes, their mouths sealed themselves shut.
The silent war of gestures was still being fought when —
“Is this a protest? Are you all unhappy about an adopted direct heir?”
Calypse badly misread the situation, and his eyes began to widen with mounting fury.
“N-no, not at all! We were just marveling at Young Lady Aisha’s generosity and magnanimity!”
“Absolutely! We were so moved we were practically flopping around like fish!”
“Ah. You were flopping because you were happy.”
Calypse was satisfied at last and allowed himself a small smile.
After the meeting concluded and the last of the servants had cleared out, only Calypse and Knox remained in the conference room.
Knox organized his reports without any particular consternation and asked:
“But will Young Lady Aisha be able to manage? Her opponent will be an Affinity user.”
One worry always leads to another.
Even if Aisha entered the succession trial, the underlying problem hadn’t been solved.
“…The odds aren’t in her favor.”
Calypse rubbed a hand down his tired face, and his gaze was beginning to go flat —
“I’m absolutely going to win —!”
Cheep, cheep.
A voice piped from somewhere directly above their heads, high and bright as a baby chick.
“……?”
“?”
The two men looked at each other in mutual apprehension and tilted their faces toward the ceiling.
“Former spy, currently direct heir of House Krost! You won’t find credentials like mine anywhere else, Father!”
Aisha dangled from the grand chandelier overhead, fingers forming a V.
Calypse nearly leaped out of his skin.
“You — what are you doing up there?! That’s dangerous!”
“Father, if you’re going to raise a golden seed, you have to let it grow strong.”
“Father, golden seed — get down from there this instant!”
“So you’ll put me in as a succession candidate?”
“Come down first.”
“You’ll put me in?”
“Yes. I’ll put you in. Now come down.”
“Heave-ho —!”
The small body landed lightly on the floor.
“Eeek!”
“Got you.”
A large hand snatched Aisha up before she could bolt.
“Why do you keep sneaking around when you don’t need to? Did Lucas say something to you?”
“N-no, he didn’t say anything — ack!”
Meanwhile, at the back door — Lucas, who had been watching the whole terrible spectacle through a crack — quietly pulled the door shut and fled.
He leaned against the inside of his bedroom door and waited for his heartbeat to settle.
“…Aisha. Were you really entering the trial because of me?”
He burrowed into his blankets and stared up at the ceiling with a pensive expression.
And she didn’t even tell anyone what I said. She kept the promise.
As a direct heir of House Krost, he vowed to repay this debt someday.
Hmph.
But even as Lucas tightened his fist with fierce determination, his expression darkened.
What was going to happen with the succession trial?
The truth was, he had always intended to stand for it eventually. Everything felt strange and raw right now, but given a little time — a little breathing room — he would have faced it with his head up.
And yet.
“…I never intended for Dandelion to be put through hardship on my behalf.”
The words came out thick with regret.
Want to sleep together tonight?
He had thought her easy to talk to. Someone uncomplicated, who listened well.
But while he had been lying in bed beside her, falling into the first dreamless sleep he’d had in years —
Aisha, you were lying awake the whole time, worrying about whether to enter the succession trial in my place.
“…I’m three whole years older than her.”
He glared at the floorboards as though they had personally wronged him and kicked a nearby cushion across the room.
“I’m the worst big brother in history.”
If he didn’t participate in the succession trial — what would happen to Dandelion?
Dandelion was strong.
She was tiny, but she had risked her life to rescue him.
She had hands the size of maple leaves and knew how to take down a grown man with a poison dart.
But still.
Her opponent will be an Affinity user.
Knox’s calm observation refused to leave his ears.
Lucas stared down at his own palm.
He had only to think about it, and white frost gathered at his fingertips, sharp icicles blooming outward.
He knew better than most the gap between an Affinity user and an ordinary person.
The proof was his own escape — five years of being unable to so much as extend a hand through iron bars, and the moment the restraint cuffs were removed, he’d been able to break free in minutes.
“…If Dandelion were to get hurt…”
Crack —
His body reacted before his mind could finish the thought.
The ice crystals forming in his palm shattered.
Then, after a long silence, Lucas reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and withdrew something.
It was a slave trafficking contract.
________________________________________
Several days later.
A carriage bearing the emblem of a mountain goat glided to a smooth stop before the gates of Krost estate.
“Tex. Just do what you always do.”
“Yes, Father.”
Today was the day.
The succession trial was finally here.
________________________________________
