Only one day remained before the return to the imperial capital, and Isierd found it strange how utterly unbothered he felt.
He was neither excited nor worried. Not anxious, either.
If anything, the closer the time came to leave, the calmer he grew.
“Is this all of your luggage, Your Highness? Nothing else you’d like to bring?”
“Nothing.”
Isierd glanced back over his shoulder as he answered.
It was so little that the servant felt compelled to ask twice. But then, nothing in this place had ever truly been Isierd’s to begin with. Naturally, there wasn’t much to pack.
Inside the box sat the picture books Riersha had given him over the months, along with a handful of odds and ends. That was all.
“Understood. Please rest, then.”
The servant shot him a brief sideways look — the kind that said what on earth is he keeping all this for? — before quickly getting back to work.
Left alone in the room, Isierd turned to gaze out the window.
Once he returned to the imperial palace…
What comes next?
Become the Crown Prince as a puppet of House Arachrene. Then become Emperor after that.
And after that?
He had never given much thought to the future. In a life where surviving the Empress had been his only goal, thinking about the future had been a luxury he couldn’t afford.
“This is the only thing I’m actually taking with me.”
The necklace Riersha had given him the day he was first brought to the Arachrene estate — kidnapped, in truth.
To anyone else it would look like a ridiculous toy. But to Isierd, it was the first gift he had ever received in his life.
Even if Riersha had given it without any particular meaning in mind.
Squeeze.
He tightened his grip around the toy necklace in his palm, and his gaze drifted toward the door.
A moment later — bang — the door flew open.
“Isierd!”
“…How did you get here? I thought you’d be busy getting ready to leave for the capital tomorrow.”
“Today’s the last day. I figured once tomorrow comes, things’ll be all over the place.”
“…”
“So I came to see you early.”
The last day. At those words, something in Isierd’s expression stiffened — just slightly. Riersha didn’t notice.
She stepped into the room and looked around carefully.
“Can I sit?”
“Go ahead.”
“…Oh, is that—”
Making her way toward the sofa, Riersha caught sight of the toy necklace in Isierd’s hand and paused, looking briefly startled.
She hadn’t expected him to still have it.
Isierd shrugged.
“Just. It’s the only thing here that’s entirely mine, so I kept it.”
“…”
“It’s the first present I’ve ever gotten from anyone.”
“I see.”
Riersha felt something heavy settle in her chest.
The first gift he’d ever received, and it was a toy necklace like that.
“Here, Isierd. This is a gift.”
“…A Serinel?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s red. Is this your magic inside it?”
Riersha nodded.
“Does it hold your ability?”
“Yep. If you’re ever in danger, use this and a shield will appear around you.”
“…”
“Because Isierd is my friend.”
What she couldn’t bring herself to say was how worried she was — that he would be alone in the imperial palace from now on. She was afraid that saying it out loud would make it sound like she was predicting his life there would be hard.
Instead, she gave him a Serinel containing her ability — something that could protect Isierd from external threats, whatever they might be.
Isierd understood. He stared down at the red Serinel in silence for a moment, then spoke.
“Thank you, Riersha.”
“It’s nothing.”
“…”
“Actually. …What I wanted to say was — about later, when Isierd goes back to the imperial palace, and we eventually meet again, each of us in our own different positions.”
Riersha hesitated, her lips moving carefully.
Even if some situation arose later that drove them apart, she wanted to be sure of this much, right now.
There was no guarantee that even after Isierd became Crown Prince and then Emperor, he would remain on good terms with House Arachrene.
And on top of that, Riersha sensed it instinctively.
If Isierd returned to the imperial palace…
He would prove his worth to everyone around him, and he would earn a great deal of support.
“We’ll still be friends then, right?”
“…”
“…Right? Friends?”
Isierd said nothing. He simply looked at Riersha.
Friends.
There was no better word to describe the two of them. Nothing else fit quite as well.
And yet, Isierd felt a vague, nameless resistance.
Wasn’t what existed between them something a little weightier than that word suggested?
But perhaps not, for Riersha.
Just as she had handed him that toy necklace without attaching any particular meaning to it.
To Riersha, perhaps these things had always been nothing more than small, passing kindnesses.
“Yeah. Even if we meet later on different sides, we’re still friends.”
“…Hehe. That’s a relief.”
Riersha visibly relaxed, the tension leaving her shoulders in a long exhale.
Then she looked at Isierd and spoke with quiet seriousness.
“I know there’s nothing precious to you in this estate.”
“…”
“When you go back to the imperial palace.”
“…”
“Fill it up there. Fill it with things that are precious to you, and show me someday.”
“Is that why you came? Because it was bothering you?”
“…Huh?”
“You’ve been thinking about it — that I spent nearly a year here and there’s still nothing I’d call precious. That’s what’s been on your mind.”
And even if something precious did form deep in his heart, it could never truly belong to Isierd.
“…I know you kept yourself from making things precious on purpose.”
“There is something.”
“…What?”
“There is. I’m just leaving it here for a little while, Riersha.”
“…”
“I’ll come back for it eventually, so don’t worry too much. And whatever worst-case scenario you’re imagining between us…”
For the first time, Isierd let what was inside him surface — openly, honestly.
It was different from how he had kept himself guarded all this time. In this one moment, he knew he was speaking nothing but the truth.
Riersha stared at his face — at him smiling softly, slightly dazed herself.
But wait — he said there was something precious?
What was it?
She looked around the room again.
“But why leave it behind? You could just take it with you. Where is it? If that’s the case, then I could—”
She was about to say she would find a way to help him take it along.
Isierd cut her off and said her name.
“Riersha.”
“Yeah?”
“Even after I go back to the imperial palace — we’ll stay in touch, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then that’s enough.”
He answered cleanly, with a finality that left no room for longing. As though nothing else mattered anymore.
Riersha blinked slowly, then nodded.
⁂
『We would like to extend an invitation to His Highness the Crown Prince for the temple’s annual ceremony.』
Karla read through the contents again, once, twice, satisfied.
“Mother, the Pope touched my hand. Do you think he… suspects something? That I might be—”
“Calm yourself, Your Highness. If he knew, do you think he would have simply stood there and said nothing?”
“But—!”
“The Pope knows nothing. And even if he did find out — what could he do?”
No matter who he was, the Pope would not easily make a choice that turned the imperial palace upside down. The weight of responsibility that would follow such a decision was too immense.
The Pope Christia that Karla knew was not a man who sought to put himself forward.
He’s only uncomfortable because of the pressure.
A man who, had he not possessed divine power, would certainly have refused a position of such gravity. That was how Karla saw him.
Shortly after, a handmaiden entered and poured tea into the empty cup, then asked, “My lady, Duke Willias wishes to inquire whether you intend to attend the trial tomorrow.”
“…Duke Willias? No, never mind. What would I accomplish by going there in person?”
The outcome was as good as decided already. The Duke had promised to handle things, and even House Arachrene would be powerless against that.
Still — why was Duke Willias suddenly asking whether she would attend?
“Wait.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“…No. Go on.”
He was almost certainly planning to make a show of the favor he’d done and bring up the matter of the Crown Princess position again. If that was all it was, she was well and truly tired of it.
As the handmaiden left the room, the corners of Karla’s mouth curved upward.
“Once tomorrow is over.”
Everything would be finished.
Once tomorrow passed, the Kadimo Troupe would be forced to close its doors, and…
Every reason for Adrian’s dark magic to unravel will disappear along with it.
But before that, she needed to find that man again and have the dark magic reinforced.
“The more he learns the truth about himself, the more he will return to who he really is. If you wish to prevent that…”
Karla’s eyes narrowed.
“Simply make the dark magic strong enough that it cannot be broken. It will be a little hard on him, but…”
“Then why not simply make it unbreakable now?”
“I don’t currently have the staff that would allow me to do that. I lost it somewhere — and unfortunately, the area nearby is difficult to access.”
That was what the man had told her.
There was almost no chance Adrian’s dark magic would actually unravel. But there was no harm in preparing in advance.
Karla closed her fingers around the Pope’s letter in her hand.
“That’s right. Nothing is going to change.”
And then the next day arrived — the day of the trial.
