Shiro no Koukoku Monogatari Chapter 6

Last Edit: 19 Aug 16.

The awakened Lectival felt the existence of the which had a.s.similated with his body, and held a trace of anxiety towards his future.

For Lectival who didn’t possess the common knowledge and experience of the successive Emperors, while the was his body’s mysterious other half, it might also be a fragment which cannot be relinquished for a second time.

Whether it was to live or to die, depend on the and him. Now that he was attached to this world, there wasn’t the option of withdrawing.

The story of the young man called Lectival Ruitsu=Rorudo Eruvihhi (レクティファール・ルイツ＝ロルド・エルヴィッヒ) began here.

◊◊◊

While Lectival was groaning ‘un un’ at his future, a trifling incident occurred at the corridor that was slightly away from the room where Lectival was put to sleep.

The two parties involved were mutually called hime.

On one end was the daughter of the White Dragon duke who seemed to be enduring something, and her eyebrows trembled at the outset. She stared at the other party fixedly, and was filled with the spirit of not overlooking a single action.

「–Your Grace, you may be the Four Worlds temple’s Miko-hime but such rash acts are troubling.」

Directly opposite was the Four Worlds temple’s Miko-hime, Riris.h.i.+a, who received her unfriendly look and then refused expressionlessly with her emotions subdued. It was a confrontation between two people who mutually recognized one another as a rival that they cannot be negligent of.

「I’m not being rash. I’m acting in accordance to the duty of the Miko-hime, which is to support the Emperor.」

After the inheritance ritual of the , Riris.h.i.+a regained her voice and eyesight upon completing her role safely, and rather than her previous neat impression, she expressed vigour befitting of her age.

With the grudge of being forced to live in the midst of darkness until now dispelled, she ran around the great temple’s interior every day; an activity which surprised her elder sister, Mireideia.

Her garments also changed to match the change in behaviour, where the recent guise of Riris.h.i.+a within the temple consisted of undergarment which exposed her shoulders and a short kasahakama (傘袴).

Although she had spent most of her life in the great temple, it was similar to visiting a place for the first time for Riris.h.i.+a of the present. Certainly, there were large differences in these cases where the surrounding’s situation was directly sent to her brain as information as well as obtaining vision. Perhaps these differences woke up her hidden true nature.

Riris.h.i.+a, whose tomboy talent was blooming, was doing her daily routine for these several days, but was now on a visit, which Meriela found faults with, to Lectival’s bedroom.

Riris.h.i.+a was at an overwhelming advantageous position if limited to within the great temple. As Lectival’s mediator (世話役), Meriela was in his bedroom for most of the day but even so, while waiting for him to awaken, there was the job of being an a.s.sistant to her father Carl who was attending to official business inside the temple. At that time, Vilia who was helping Meriela accompanied her too, hence only the great temple’s s.h.i.+nto priest remained behind in Lectival’s bedroom.

Riris.h.i.+a who kept aiming for the time when Meriela was absent, repeatedly trespa.s.sed unlawfully into Lectival’s bedroom. If it was a staff member of the great temple, it was a given to prioritize the Miko-hime’s convenience over the White Dragon’s hime. They’d chaperoned her intrusion and furthermore, concealed that fact from Meriela.

Until now, time of the sky (天の時), locational advantage and harmony of people (人の和) were completely Riris.h.i.+a’s allies.

However, she was unfortunate on this day.

She was discovered by Meriela, who had unexpectedly finished her work early, at the place where she exited from the bedroom. Thus, she was being preached in the middle of the corridor.

Yet Riris.h.i.+a didn’t have a fragment of reflecting.

「The Miko-himes of the Four Worlds temple are the greatest sympathizers of the Emperors and they received teachings to become their support. Naturally, that includes me too.」

「Lectival has yet to officially ascend as the crown prince. Therefore, he’s still a guest of the Lindovorum Duke House.」

The candidate would be officially recognized as the crown prince once he awaken after the ritual.

Hence Meriela who still treated Lectival as a guest of the White Dragon said so.

She rounded off her words in a manner that wasn't impolite, but her look was sharp to the extent that even men of the same dragon tribe would run away barefooted.

「Regarding Lectival-sama, even if he’s a guest of the Lindovorum House, Meriela-dono who isn’t the Head of the Duke house doesn’t have the right to choose his guest right?」

Perhaps Riris.h.i.+a who received that look without feeling it amounting to even a gentle breeze, possessed courage that was above the dragon tribe’s in a certain sense.

Pointing out Meriela’s vague official position, Riris.h.i.+a destroyed the validity of her action and strengthened her a.s.sault.

「Lectival-sama’s body is important to the Empire. I think it’s questionable for a duke’s daughter to decide.」

「U…」

Meriela was at a loss for words from being pointed out by the sharp-tongue Riris.h.i.+a.

With the closure of the ritual, rumours began spreading about the birth of a crown prince in the Holy City. This was a rumour spread intentionally by Carl, and it might take several days for the information to be disseminated throughout the whole of the Empire from the Holy City. It might even restraint the alliance or Imperial’s activities if used skilfully.

However, once Lectival’s existence becomes extensively evident, Meriela’s role as a guardian would naturally be terminated. Even if Meriela cannot protect him, the Empire as a country will safeguard him; since there wasn’t a reason to not protect a candidate who had appeared in the temple and their place.

Thus, when his existence is publicly known, Meriela wouldn’t be able to decide matters concerning Lectival personally.

Although it has yet to be formally dealt with, the position of candidacy was already publicized; in comparison to Meriela who didn’t have a personal relations.h.i.+p with Lectival or an official privilege to him, it was apparent that the Miko-hime’s opinion took precedence since it was a similar existence (to the Emperor) and was also clearly established as the temple’s doctrine.

「I shall take over the role of a.s.sisting Lectival’s sama. Meriela-dono just has to support Lectival-sama as the White Dragon’s adviser; can you focus on that task? 」

‘This girl is considerably wicked,’ thought Meriela.

She was such a neat and lovely Miko-hime that it was unthinkable for her to be dyed pitch black in several days.

In reality, it was a common knowledge which the Miko-hime, who had become the Emperor’s support, ought to know; a result from receiving training inside the temple. However, it had the feeling of getting entangled in a nasty fraud for the ignorant Meriela.

Meriela thought that Riris.h.i.+a’s elder sister would lament if she knew, but since it was that person, Meriela felt that Mireideia would immediately conclude it with a laugh. While thinking so, a part of those sisters’ true nature might be identical.

Meriela raised her vigilance against Riris.h.i.+a inside her mind, yet for what it’s worth, she wasn’t the type of woman to admit her defeat here. Although it had yet to be officially announced, she definitely had a reason to a.s.sist the crown prince.

Breathing deeply, she commenced her a.s.sault on the huge wall that was the Four Worlds temple’s Miko-hime who was standing tall before her.

「–Your Grace’s view is extremely plausible; but similarly, I too have a reason to protect him.. 」

「Hime-sama!!」

However that a.s.sault was interrupted by an ally.

Like a spoiled child, Meriela turned teary-eyed towards the maid who interrupted her speech. She thought to keep the fact that she was reflexively bracing herself for a reb.u.t.tal at the moment when her speech was interrupted as a secret.

Even so, Vilia who normally ought to have noticed such significance behind her mistress’s look wasn’t showing the att.i.tude of even being slightly aware of it at that time and raised a large voice before Meriela and Riris.h.i.+a. Meriela recalled that such a similar situation happened before.

If she wasn’t mistaken, at that time—

「That dying person (行き倒れ)… not that, Lectival-denka has awakened!!」

The two of them exchanged looks at those words. An unconcealed wariness could be  mutually and clearly seen in their looks. *Jirijiri*, once their exchange of looks ended, both of them started running along the corridor.

It was a truly neck to neck run, with one side leading ahead and ebbing behind alternatively. Vilia who was left behind began chasing after them hurriedly, and the pair started their second match of war of words prior to now while running.

The s.h.i.+nto priests and nuns fled away from their route with great haste.

「Meriela-dono! How about stopping this improper conduct of running in the corridor!?」

「Speak for yourself, Your Grace. As the Miko-hime, you’re a lady who gathers the citizens’ reverence. You shouldn’t be running noisily with your footsteps going ‘dosun dosun dokan dokan’.」

「My future husband, the soon-to-be crown prince-denka, has awakened; to not be the first and foremost person to give her greeting is the shame of a Miko-hime! Nay, the shame of a woman.」

「There isn’t such a theory right!? Leave this to me; and isn’t it fine to greet him at your leisure later!?」

「Saying such thing! You plan to give Lectival-sama a wake-up kiss right!?」

「Haa!?」

It was a harsh false accusation.

Meriela felt indignant at the words of Riris.h.i.+a who was in a state of excitement. She persuaded herself that she never had such intention.

In the first place, there wasn’t the feeling of a man and woman during the time with him; and their relations.h.i.+p of a guardian and the one under guardians.h.i.+p had yet to end.

Therefore, Riris.h.i.+a’s words were a false accusation.

「Your Grace! That vulgar manner of speaking is unbecoming of a Miko-hime! 」

「Aren’t you misunderstanding?!」

「Ee that’s right!」

Meriela strengthened her tone and a.s.serted, turning her face that had become a deep red due to anger and bashfulness towards Riris.h.i.+a.

However, it was obvious that the Miko-hime seemed to be further excited by those words.

「Isn’t it indecent of you to remain in a gentleman’s room every day until the early morning?」

「Na!」

The redness of Meriela’s face became even more p.r.o.nounced than before.

Moreover, her mouth *pakupaku* opened and closed; and surprise was expressed with her whole body.

「That isn’t all! Aren’t you was.h.i.+ng Lectival-sama’s clothing?!」

「How did you know that!?」

Riris.h.i.+a pursued further.

Meriela’s speed had noticeably decreased.

「I was informed by the court ladies! ‘The White Dragon’s hime-sama and crown prince-denka relations.h.i.+p is good right?’ they said. Even I want to get along well with Lectival-sama! 」

Riris.h.i.+a cried, even abandoning her first person「I」 which she had kept up at great pain.

(TN: Riris.h.i.+a was using わたくし until now to address herself, but used わたし in her previous statement.)

「Guu…」

Meriela barely let out a ‘guu’ sound in response, but the blush on her face was perilously increasing further.

Wherever it might be, women had a fondness for this sort of gossip, and it seemed that the great temple wasn’t an exception.

In reality, Lectival’s clothes was washed by Meriela on numerous occasions, more so when compared to Vilia. Although she personally did it with the feelings of simply being an older sister that was too helpful to her younger brother—even in public gaze, she made such an excuse—it seemed that the surroundings viewed it with a different perspective.

And the match was decided when Lectival’s living room came into view.

「I shall not ask what kind of relations.h.i.+p Lectival-sama and Meriela-done have! However, I’ll emerge victorious here! 」

「Ah!」

Seizing that one instant of opportunity when Meriela’s speed dropped, Riris.h.i.+a sped up greatly. She separated from Meriela in one breath and burst into Lectival’s living room.

Thus while gasping; she raised her face to give her wake-up greetings.

「Iyaa, I thought to pay you a visit since I was freed from my job but I never thought you’d wake up. My luck is very good.」

「I’m not sure if it’s a question of luck but I’m grateful to you for coming to visit.」

The sight of her elder sister chatting congenially with Lectival left her dumbfounded.

The two of them didn’t notice Riris.h.i.+a’s presence and continued their talk as it.

The neglected Riris.h.i.+a *pokanto* opened her mouth and stiffened up.

「Aren’t you being too stiff? Rather, you’re the crown prince so it’d be awkward if you use honorifics towards me.」

「Is that how it is?」

「Tentatively our ranks are the same within the temple…maa, since you’ve yet to receive the official appointment of regent formally, it’s fine as I’m your senior. Hora, since you inherit the without ascending to the throne, you aren’t a half-Emperor (半皇). By the way, have you heard of regency and so forth? 」

「If I remember correctly, it’s the only position which can perform national affairs and politics excluding the Emperor; fundamentally an Emperor, it’s a position appointed to the crown prince by the present Emperor in general. It’s when accession to the throne cannot be carried out legally during the Emperor’s absence right? Maa, I’ve an excellent teacher within arm’s reach in the White Dragon palace, so I can remember at least this much.」

「If the accession can be done, though it still differs from the norm. Depending on the legal interpretation, the accession is possible even outside of the empire royal a.s.sembly but officially it’s part of the enthronement ceremony. Doing it while the mourning has yet to end is a little you know…there might be huge opposition even if it’s made to be a special case. Ah, by the way, half-Emperor is—」

In the empire law, as a general rule, the crown prince carry out the accession in the Emperor’s presence —legally succeeding the throne—and he can only call himself the Emperor after the Emperor’s death, can. Thus when the mourning for the previous Emperor of one year ended, the accession to the throne will be notified overseas and the matter for holding a ceremony for the enthronement will be decided.

Legally speaking, the crown prince ascends to the throne when the Emperor dies after the accession; but from the standpoint of the official stance, succeeding the throne can be considered by means of both the accession and enthronement ceremonies. On that occasion, the Emperor that performed only the accession is called 『half-Emperor』.

「That being the case, you’ve yet to be a half-Emperor. Ma, since the accession and enthronement will be done simultaneously; you probably will not be called half-Emperor.」

「Haa…」

As their conversation progressed until there, Riris.h.i.+a’s consciousness began to show signs of recovery. There might also be the fact that signs of Meriela and Vilia were drawing closer from behind.

However, with that sluggish movement, there was the danger of wind in some respects.

「Ne…nee-san—tte, kyaa!」

As Riris.h.i.+a was in such a condition, she twisted her feet; it became a difficult situation where she faced and threw herself onto the carpet which was spread across the floor.

Riris.h.i.+a was unable to perform an ukemi and fell directly face-first onto the carpet magnificently.

(TN: Ukemi is the technique of falling safely, like a break-fall.)

*Betan*, a sound of fine quality spread out across Lectival’s living room, and the kasahakama which wasn’t long swayed gently, exposing the cloth beneath. It used an abundance of decoration cloth and was a light blue article of the highest grade.

「—」

Both Lectival and Mireideia were bereft of speech at the tragedy of the sudden intruder.

They gazed on like fools at the concerned party of the tragedy, and the silence continued.

「Please wait up, Your Grace! tte…ara…?」

「Hime-sama, please avoid…eh, Your Grace…?」

Meriela who flew into the room moments later was dumbstruck at the sight of the Miko-hime’s whole body lying stretched out on the floor.

Moreover, Vilia who appeared from the rear of Meriela noticed the disastrous scene within the room and sank into silence.

A time of heavy emptiness enveloped the five people.

◊◊◊

It was peaceful every day.

Looking from Lectival’s point of view in life afterwards, it was fine to say that the time frame of several days from his invest.i.ture of crown prince to heading towards the capital were his last peaceful days in life.

Hereafter, he always existed as the regent or the Emperor, and lost the peace from the bottom of his heart due to this responsibility.

He was certainly comforted by the time spent with his Empress and children, but that was only from his standpoint as the Emperor. It was the last time when that way of thinking that was Lectival's individuality remained in his and the surrounding people’s minds; thereafter, it became where the thought of 『I who exist for the people (公あっての私) 』 occupied their minds.

In addition, only the people who knew the Lectival of the White Dragon palace and those that were in the temple at this time, remembered the young man called 『Lectival』 as an individual; hence they were few in numbers.

And now, the three dragons of blue, black and red.

No matter how many times the three people appeared in the spun legend of the hero named Lectival, they’d occasionally carried out their brilliant (華) roles.

It was one turning point of the era when they met Lectival. The fact that the encounter was written down as『turning point of the era』in the three people’s memoirs alike was evidence itself.

The setting of the legend changed from a country to a continent, and then from a continent to the world. The period where the three of them lived was such an era.

◊◊◊

When Lectival entered the square gazebo, there were three men and women seated around a round table.

The first person was a small young lady with long and straight black hair. Her short stature was wrapped in numerous garments of ornamental cloth. She turned her narrowed eyes sleepily towards Lectival, seemingly searching for something with a gaze that felt vast.

The second person was a good looking man who had his short and deep crimson hair cut evenly. His large build which was covered by slender and firm muscles was dressed in clothing similar to Carl’s. His att.i.tude of closing his eyes without even sparing a glance upon perceiving Lectival’s arrival, might possibly be proof of his rejection.

With loosely braided hair that imitated the colour of the blue sky and spilled across her back, the third person was a woman. She seemed to possess a relatively gentle ambience, but in fact it was also plausible that she had hint of unknown depth.

When Lectival finished his short observation of the three people, Carl lined up next to him and began the introductions while pointing out to them respectively.

「Black Dragon d.u.c.h.ess, Anasutas.h.i.+ya fuon Nizuheggu (アナスターシャ・フォン・ニーズヘッグ).」

「Red Dragon Duke, Furuderikku baruga Suvuarogu (フレデリック・バルガ・スヴァローグ).」

「Blue Dragon d.u.c.h.ess, Maria vivi fuon Ruviatan (マリア・ヴィヴィ・フォン・レヴィアタン).」

Originally, it was etiquette to personally stand up and give one’s name, but those three people had no reason to show expression of grat.i.tude (礼) towards Lectival.

As they had declared independence from the Empire’s royal family in opposition to the behaviour of the present Emperor, they weren’t affiliated to any kind of public office, hence there wasn’t a need to show courtesy to Lectival who was merely a crown prince.

Iya, it might be a form of courtesy itself for the three people to even appear before n.o.bles from counties besides the Empire, .

However, this place was the Empire and they were descendants of the four dragons that were ordered by the founding Emperor to safeguard it.

They had a pretext to even cut down the Emperor if he was to throw the Empire into chaos.

However, they didn’t eliminate Lectival this time.

Just that—

「–Carl…this obligation, I’ve fulfilled it.」

The Black Dragon d.u.c.h.ess Anasutas.h.i.+ya stood up gently, faced towards Carl and Lectival and declared so. The shaking of Carl’s trembling shoulders was also transmitted to Lectival.

Proceeding on, the Red Dragon Duke Furederikku uncrossed his arms and stood up from his seat. He was taller than Lectival upon standing up, and scowled at him as if despising him.

「Certainly, I’ve already compromised whilst being on time-constraint. You’ve no complaints right? 」

Lectival couldn’t conceal his surprise at their behaviour.

He had yet to introduce himself.

His existence might indeed be worthless to them, but to make light of a person who was to become the head of state even for an instance, he couldn’t understand that reasoning.

It might be the case of choosing whether to like or dislike a person. However, they shouldn’t choose a ruler based on likes or dislikes. If they were truly thinking of the country, weren’t there things they ought to prioritize more than their personal feelings?

「Carl-chan, I’ll leave the rest to you.」

Following them was the Blue Dragon d.u.c.h.ess Maria who rose up while floating a sweet and warm smile. She was smiling at Carl that was standing besides Lectival and at that time, she never looked at Lectival.

Lectival was astonished at this situation and couldn’t think properly, but Carl was in a similar state too. He obstructed their way with a flushed face.

「Yo, you…what’re you thinking!?」

He glared at them with quivering lips. It was a serious matter of the Empire, yet for them to not take the crown prince that was the strongest hand into consideration, what were they planning?

However, they didn’t even wavered a little when receiving that look.

They were dragon tribes of similar rank to Carl, thus that look didn’t hold any significant meaning to them. In fact, Furederikku shaking his head as if amazed informed Lectival and Carl.

「Isn’t it obvious? We’ve declared independence from the royal family, and although we’ll defend the Empire, we won’t serve as its (royal family) subordinates.」

「Preposterous! The contract with the founding Emperor…」

「About that, Carl-chan」

Maria directed a troubled smile towards Carl, but her golden eyes weren’t smiling the slightest.

「The founding Emperor’s will was to protect the Empire. It’s true that we swore fealty to the royal family, but we don’t hold loyalty towards a crown prince who doesn’t know the good and evil for the country. Besides, there isn’t any definite proof that he can bring this chaos to a close is there? I don’t hate gambling but we also plan to discern the place and time for it.」

Rather than taking part in a gamble that was full of uncertain factors, they ought to choose a method which could reliably bring the status quo to a conclusion; that was what Maria said.

「—」

Whilst being speechless, Carl looked at the last remaining person, the Black Dragon d.u.c.h.ess, Anasutas.h.i.+ya.

His gaze was inquiring if her thoughts were the same.

Both of their gazes intertwined and as expected, Anasutas.h.i.+ya gave s small nod.

「–Un…bye Carl, let’s play again sometime.」

Saying so, she spun her body around. There wasn’t a sign of hesitation seen from that action.

Maria followed her, and Furederikku also turned towards Carl’s rear.

「Wait! If you said that you’ll protect the Empire, you don’t mean…」

Only Furederikku looked back upon Carl’s voice.

「–It has been decided. We’ll spearhead our armies and devote ourselves to crus.h.i.+ng (喰らい) the alliance. There won’t be a need for the Empire army or the n.o.bles who promised their cooperation. We’ll also repel the barbarians of the Imperial as it is.」

「Na…ku!」

At Furederikku’s words, Carl was feeling dizzy from the remnants of surprise.

He knew of the crisis-like situation at the capital war front, but it was beyond his expectations that his three companions would use a strong measure abruptly. In that case, wouldn’t it just induce unneeded enmity in countries from both the alliance and the vicinity?

Certainly, if they were to resort to such strong measure, the alliance’s main force would be annihilated in a short time and dampened their intent of invading.

However, what awaits before them will be a war with the alliance which they cannot extricate themselves from. The surrounding countries might also view the Empire as a dangerous country.

He must prevent that alone whatever the cost may be.

Carl opened his mouth to stop the three people.

However, he was interrupted by a stiff metallic-like voice which reverberated within the square gazebo.

「—It’d be troubling if you’re to mess around, you inflexible people. Did your thoughts fossilize after such a long life? 」

The young man standing next to him murmured without facing the three people who were leaving.

Even Carl who lived more than a thousand years felt his emotions swayed, thus the other three people should have also felt something.

「–What?」

Being denounced by Lectival on their first meeting, they came to a halt completely and simultaneously turned around.

In general, their facial expressions were stiff; though in Furederikku’s case, his pupils were split sharply due to excessive anger.

One trait of the dragon clans was their dragon eyes, though they’d never appear if they live their daily lives in human forms. It’s just that when their feelings become worked up, in the process of returning back to their dragon forms to control the overflowing magic, their pupils split apart hence becoming dragon eyes.

In short, the extent of their anger can be judged by looking at their eyes.

Recently, the dragon tribe developed a technique to control their magic efficiently so it can’t be said for certain; but nevertheless regardless of officially or privately, people with connections to them placed strong belief in this evaluation standard and made sure to act accordingly.

In addition to the imperial wrath of the notorious dragon tribe that wasn't influenced by the inside and outside of the Empire, the existence of them showing their dragon eyes in human forms were also objects of fear to each and every person.

However, Lectival's expression didn't even flinch when Furederikku showed his dragon eyes.

The possessed an ability that constantly preserved its user in his best condition. Due to one of its abilities, his anger was removed from his thoughts, hence he spoke with indifference.

「I said don't mess around, or is it that your old ears aren't working too? 」

「—!」

From those words, the response was diverged among the three people.

Both Anasutas.h.i.+a and Maria clearly understood that it was a provocation, and held a compelling doubt rather than impulsive anger towards Lectival's words. The women didn't show any movements but Furederikku who was taken in by that taunt, widened his dragon eyes at once and upon refining the enormous amount of magic within his body, produced a magic square of summoning magic in the empty s.p.a.ce in an instant.

A single handle protruded from the magic square.

It wasn't wrapped with leather straps but scale-like metal, and it being wide and long indicated the hugeness of the sword's edge that would come after it.

Furederikku gripped the handle and exhaling a short breath, swung it in Lectival's direction.

Lectival too didn't intend to receive that strike in silence.

He simultaneously revealed his silver dragon eye in his right eye with a blink while composing a magic square which was different from Furederikku's almost unconsciously, and gripped a slender handle that had similarly appeared from the magic square. Its handle was wrapped with s.h.i.+ny platinum threads; a 『white sword』 that was the closest to him.

「—ku!」

Facing the great sword directed towards him, Lectival strike it with that thin sword—a katana.

It didn't break; it was because he essentially understood that it was impossible for it to break that he was able to perform an absurd interception which didn't give the feeling of having a fragment of martial arts. The metallic clas.h.i.+ng and fricative sounds resounded until his brain, and in the mere moments when they dissolved and vanished into the skies, Furederikku guessed the true ident.i.ty of that sword.

The sword that Lectival had summoned was the one and only conceptual weapon in this world.

「– ku!」

There was a meaning behind Furederikku's shriek-like shout.

At the time when the previous crown princes inherited the , just how much time was needed until its power can be mastered.

However, the rude man before him should have only just inherited the merely several days ago. Even if this man wished for the 's power, if the didn't approve of its user, he shouldn't have been able to wield this power. That being said, the cause for it was due to the safety mechanism endowed in the which restricted its ability for an inexperienced user to protect himself, and could be said that it was because the user was simply inexperienced and didn't understand the ability of the . However it was a fact, for the 's inheritor to use the as a crown prince in such a short time was impossible until now.

However, only the man standing before Furederikku showed that he endured his hard (剛) sword using the .

Since the fact that the wasn’t scratched was due to its ability, Furederikku’s pride wasn’t wounded but, he felt shaken by the reality that the young man who was just inaugurated as the crown prince received his sword strike.

That unrest was also transmitted to Lectival and he slipped words in between the gap created.

「–The exerts its power to protect this country. For this reason, it bestows its power onto me now. You should be able to understand this significance, Red Dragon Duke.」

Furederikku groaned a single word and fell into silence at the words of Lectival, who though quelled his anger like a machine; hidden fury was seething behind that dragon eye.

Even he understood now.

Until now, the crown prince didn’t wield the as Emperor immediately was simply because the situation didn’t call for it.

They were protected by guards until the previous Emperor’s mourning ended and received the enthronement’s ceremony; hence the reason and intent to wield the didn’t exist since they were never exposed to danger. That was why the ’s power didn’t manifest; hence it became common knowledge that the new Emperor who had just finished the accession couldn’t use the before the enthronement.

However, the young man who had become the crown prince was holding onto it presently.

Repelling foreign enemies, destroying domestic troubles, and protecting the important people residing in this country.

Hence, the granted the user’s wish to protect the Empire.

「a.s.suming that I was in your position, I also wouldn’t consider to pledge loyalty to a crown prince who appeared suddenly and had yet to receive the accession. However, loyalty and such can be postponed; at worst, even if you still don’t have it, I also wouldn’t mind.」

Lectival addressed the three people while remaining in the posture of stopping Furederikku’s sword.

What was needed now was not sword, but determination.

Nay, the present him had only determination. He who possessed neither personal connections nor fortune nor even experience, had only the will of behaving as the crown prince.

「You should have been ordered to protect the Empire since the founding Emperor. And that shouldn’t have changed even in the present era.」

The matter about the three people choosing to dispatch troops here could probably be inferred as the collapse of the capital’s front-line.

The capital wasn’t just merely the capital city of the Empire.

The history of the Empire that began from the first Emperor’s declaration of founding a nation was packed into the capital .

Allowing foreign countries to trample down on it was akin to wounding the Empire’s existence, hence they chose to fight. In all certainty, it was probably a path that could resolve things in a short time.

However Lectival said that was being impatient.

「I shall apologize for the present Emperor’s barbarism in his place. Therefore, I wish for my opinion to be taken into consideration for just this battle. Besides, if you judge me to have cause harm on this country, I wouldn’t mind if you cut me down at that time. I shall promise not to resist.」

Lectival’s dragon eye watched the three people intently.

It was impossible for the powerful dragon tribe to have dragon eyes of other colours beside gold.

However this crown prince’s eye was a silver dragon eye type which couldn’t be seen in others.

The Emperors until now also possessed similar dragon eyes but their original eye colour remained distinctively in their dragon eyes. Even among them, the thin dragon eye of silver colouring was non-existent until now.

It wasn’t particularly considered special, but just slightly, interest welled up regarding that silver. With eyes that differed from the dragon tribe, what was he seeing now?

「—」

「tas.h.i.+ya!?」

Anasutas.h.i.+ya eluded Furederikku’s surprise with a composed blank face, returned to the round table quietly and sat down.

At her sworn friend’s action, Maria shrugged her shoulders in a manner to say it couldn’t be helped anyway and followed.

Carl once again leaked out a sigh of relief secretly and arrived at the round table, leaving Furederikku alone.

「—」

The two people’s eyes entwined silently. The intersection of their gazes which couldn’t be said to be glaring at each other; they mutually dispelled doubts in their minds and exchanged looks.

Silver and gold clashed and then separated.

So did their swords.

「–Just this time, I’ll listen to your talk in deference to the . Whether I choose to follow or not comes later. You got no complaint right? 」

「You’ve my grat.i.tude.」

Snorting his nose in displeasure, Furederikku returned to the round table; at that time, that place became the a.s.sembly hall where the next Emperor of the Empire and his authorities congregated.

It went down in history as the unfolding of the 『Holy City Conference』 in all the books that recorded this battle.

◊◊◊

『Holy City Conference』.

Be it elementary, middle or high school, this conference would appear without fail upon opening the Empire history textbooks, and was used to earn marks as an a.s.sured question in examinations.

However, since its detailed contents weren’t revealed contrary to its high popularity, researchers came together to research and a.n.a.lyse them. It was to the point where a large scale investigation debate was held to elucidate just one question, making it a theme which always fuelled people’s interest.

A certain researcher once said that the foundation of the group of retainers which supported Emperor Lectival was completed by the end of that conference. Another researcher a.n.a.lyzed that it might have been a business-like exchange from the start to the end.

For the former’s view, it was something like the four Dukes showing great abilities as the royal family’s retainers after the conference, hence putting an end to the series of disturbances. Since a big job of that extent was done, and just from Lectival making it possible, they who ought to have a.s.sessed Lectival as having the ability advocated it.

Contrary, based on the latter, the Lectival of that time had an overwhelming deficiency of experience, hence it was difficult to bring together the four Dragon Dukes. Therefore it was claimed that the three Dragon Dukes used the crown prince as a leader to get a just cause; Lectival only joined in the plan, and the contents of the conference were merely devoted to confirming it.

Both sides’ differences came to an end (尽きる) at how they view the hero of the latter world that was Lectival.

The former a.s.sumed Lectival as a natural hero and considered that part of him to exist since those days; the latter in contrast, thought Lectival as a character that only became a hero ultimately, and that process was the acc.u.mulation of his honest behaviour and results.

Nevertheless, there were similarities between both sides. It was the point where the person called Lectival became the leader and triumphed in the battle that happened after the conference.

While it was written down as the『Mira Plains suppression battle』in official doc.u.ments, people named the first battle where the world learned of Lectival’s reputation as a hero as the『capital recovery battle』.

Era 2000 of the Empire calendar, nicknamed 『Era of the heroes』/ Feirudo Igisu (フェイルド・イギス); it was an era where heroes were born and disappeared.

On Almada continent alone, there were the Sun Tiger Hime of , Red-haired Oni of , Magic Bullet Queen of , Iron Blood Prince of and Star Dragon King of

If seen on a global scale, heroes numbering several times appeared.

Hereafter, one disappeared silently, another died a brilliant n.o.ble death, the other returned to his/her original life while the last lived as a hero until dying of old age.

Which way of living was the correct one was something that they didn’t know.

However, what can be said for sure was that one person among them changed the mindset of a country’s people.

◊◊◊

Once the conference had ended, Lectival bid farewell to Carl and while giving words of thanks to the occasionally pa.s.sing-by knights on patrol, he returned to his room.

However, dragging his mind and body that were fatigued from the conference that had continued endlessly, his mental weariness acc.u.mulated further upon returning to his room.

「—」

「Mu~~Lectival-sama…」

「Lect…idiot…I don’t care…」

Unbeknownst to him, Riris.h.i.+a and Meriela were sleeping pleasantly on the the excessively vast bed.

For a moment, he wondered what the knights in charge of security were doing, but upon reflecting back, a mere knight couldn’t have stopped these two people.

「-Even for me, it’s not like I don’t feel anything but」

When he caught a glimpse of the pair who was in delicate transparent sleep-wear appearances that made him troubled on where to look, he felt overwhelmed instantly. Wasn’t their relations.h.i.+p bad, such a doubt surfaced in his mind. Naturally, his doubt had to wait until the next morning to be clarified.

However both were maidens of lovely looks. Based on various things such as this was Lectival’s bedroom etc., there shouldn’t be any complaints even if he attacked them as they were.

Nevertheless, his iron wall of reasoning was brought into question when he seriously thought about young unmarried women being in a man’s room without putting on clothes.

There was a reason to back away from that excessive scene which was beyond the scope of common knowledge, but that was better left unsaid. Moreover, it wasn’t certain that his reasoning could continue being an iron wall. Even a refined iron would deteriorate.

「Ah, mou」

Late at night, he was at a loss in the great temple’s living room.

Since he ended up being timid, he wasn’t able to choose the option of having someone to prepare a new room; and naturally, he couldn’t climb onto the bed where those two were sleeping. Iya, truthfully there wasn’t a problem if he did that, but he was inexperienced and somehow lack the decisive courage to do it.

Eventually, he borrowed only a sheet of covering cloth from the bed and laid down on a long leather chair placed in the room’s centre.

Hereupon, the tiredness until now closed in at once, and he entered the dream world in less than several minutes. To maintain and optimize its ability, the seemed to demand rest from the user.

「Kuka-…」

And thus the Empire’s crown prince Lectival Ruitsu=Rorudo Eruvihhi’s first day of living as the crown prince reached its closure.

Although he made a grand yell during the next morning, at the very least he raised a carefree sleeper’s breathing during this point of time.

「—hekus.h.i.+」 (TN: onomatopoeia for sneezing)

And an idiotic sneeze too.

◊◊◊

(TN: Vilia’s PoV)

「As I thought, Vilia-chan’s muscles are superb, is it from your Tou-sama’s blood I wonder?」

「Thank you very much!」

I loved that smile which praised me when I was receiving sword practices in the castle’s garden.

「Our child doesn’t seem to like swordsmans.h.i.+p very much…since this’s a rare opportunity, I’ll teach Vilia-chan all of my swordsmans.h.i.+p. Arufuodo (アルフォード) swordsmans.h.i.+p is a swordsmans.h.i.+p of great physical power, so it’s better to memorize a little of light and fast swordsmans.h.i.+p like mine right? 」

「Hai, I’ll do my best!」

I loved the palm of that person who taught me swordsmans.h.i.+p and etiquette besides official business.

「Ah mou, though it’s fine to be mischievous, what will you do if a scar remain on your face? It can’t always be cured completely like out child’s you know? 」

「Gomennasai…」

I loved the fingers of that person who caressed my face while looking troubled.

「Hora kawaii! It was worthwhile to request Ruiizu and Rushetto’s baked sweets emptied the purse (財布に響い) considerably but 」

「Oku-sama…It's difficult to move about.」

I loved the elated smile shown by that person who used me as a dress-up doll.

I admired that person. ‘I want to be like her,’ I thought.

That was why I gave my all in practising swordsmans.h.i.+p, etiquette and dancing.

‘I want to become a beautiful, strong and kind person like her,’ I thought.

And yet-

「This child, please look after Meriela.」

It became a separation with such a really sorrowful face.

If I were stronger, more prudent and had the courage to stop the young mistress, that tragedy could have been avoided.

「—Vilia-chan」

Whenever I thought so, I would see such nightmares.

The person whom I admired would stare at me with a resentful look.

With half of her body lost and her remaining half hideously burnt, she had a pale face.

「—Vilia-chan, that child」

I understood. It was obvious.

My raison d’etre was to protect that child. There wasn’t any other way of living. It wasn’t worthwhile to live on.

If I don’t think that way, I’ll be crushed by the guilt.

「—Vilia-chan」

I loved her very much. I thought of her as a real elder sister.

There wasn’t anyone that was stronger or prettier than her. I had always thought so.

「—Vilia-chan」

I, who had killed such a person, cannot allow myself to live for my own sake.

(TN:Back to 3rd PoV)

She lived only to protect that child.

「That’s why, please forgive me.」

Therefore, she shed tears alone today once more.

◊◊◊

Consort knight Vilia.

In the life to come, she was a character that didn’t remain on most of the doc.u.ments, as if erased by somebody. However, there were several materials where her deep relation with Lectival could be conjectured from.

Among them was her grandchild—however, there were various opinions regarding the blood relations.h.i.+p—a relative-written biography, and also depicted stories; though their contents differed greatly from historical facts.

However, to what extend was it created, and from where was it the truth, the answer couldn’t be found beyond the non-existent reliable doc.u.ments, regardless of how different they might be, that recorded her lifetime.

There was a town’s record of her being Lectival’s lover, and because she wasn’t mentioned in the royalty’s registry, she became a consort who had her name changed. Otherwise, she had the position of a lover that wasn’t listed in the royalty registry. There was also an opinion of her name simply being deleted from the royalty registry.

If there was anyone doubting the authenticity of the record of that lover, it was Lectival’s matchless companion. As a matter of fact, there was antagonism concerning consort Meriela. For the sake of becoming a bride to a foreign country because of Lectival, the theory concluded that her name wasn’t left behind in the Empire’s record.

The basis for the last theory was a doc.u.ment saying that Lectival at the time of his regency, married off a Vilia-like woman to the, but that doc.u.ment had many discrepancies with historical facts and the truth couldn’t be explicated.

In stage plays, there were scenes where she loved Lectival more than Meriela and consequently neglected her original mistress, Meriela; as well as losing her life after getting embroiled in the Empresses’ dispute; and also heading to the battlefield where she was killed in action.

As a consort with numerous mysteries—though it was strictly concluded that she wasn’t a consort—she kindled people’s creative urges, but based on the historical doc.u.ments of relatively high credibility which was Empress Meriela’s record that was left behind, it seemed certain that she crossed swords with Lectival every day when young.

◊◊◊

She didn’t want to remember the moment when she entered the room.

However, when she became aware that the person who was more important than her own life was sleeping next to somebody, an unstoppable feeling gushed out from the bottom of her heart.

It was the feeling of having her raison d’etre being s.n.a.t.c.hed away.

「Don’t move from there!」

「I’ve to refuse.」

If there was somebody to protect that person, then wasn’t she unneeded?

(TN: Vilia used あの方 to refer to someone, presumably Meriela but I’ll just leave it as it is unless specified.)

If there was somebody next to that person, then wouldn’t her place be gone?

「Even if you’re engaged, you’ve yet to formally go through a wedding! Do you think you’re permitted to do such thing!?」

「It isn’t of my own volition!」

She unhesitatingly swung her sword at those words but the other party evaded the sword’s trajectory and rose to the ceiling by kicking the wall.

「Such a thing!」

She couldn’t believe it. That person wouldn’t yield her body so easily.

Not everyone can do the training that allowed such rash acts. That person was raised up as a woman who bear the Lindovorum Duke House’s future and was to marry to a suitable gentleman at an appropriate time.

「Why, you…!」

Why? Why is it so?

If it wasn’t someone with stronger power, that person cannot be protected.

That person had waited for a long time. Once Vilia had accomplished her duty, she thought to end herself.

「Can the you who is being protected by hime-sama protect her?!」

This man who didn’t possess any power and even his memories were uncertain, was the weakest man in that castle.

Certainly, she knew that he endeavoured to study frantically to learn about this world, but that was precisely why she couldn’t accept it.

「Hime-sama…doesn’t live just for your sake!」

She reached for the sword belt fixed onto her thigh with her hand and gripped three throwing knives. After throwing them upwards, she followed behind, and she thought so while running.

‘Ah, saying whatever I want for my own’s convenience.’

‘I was the one who made an excuse to s.n.a.t.c.h away that person’s family, so am I even qualified to interfere with that person’s way of living?’

「Don’t run away! Show that you can defeat me without running away!」

In an unstable posture while in mid-air, Lectival caught all the knives thrown towards him, and converting them to light, he transferred them somewhere.

Within the time-span of that series of actions, she shortened the distance at once.

「Lectoooh!」

She unhesitatingly swung down her sword. Raising a metallic shriek, the blade’s edge which should have rotated entwined with a slender sword blade.

(TN: Imagine Vilia’s sword as a chainsaw where the outer edge rotates around the blade)

「You’ve finally called out my name.」

「Don’t screw with me!」

Landing on the floor, they jumped out towards the temple’s courtyard.

There weren’t any figures of s.h.i.+nto priests or knights around.

However, Vilia wasn’t aware of that since she didn’t have any leeway while dealing with Lectival.

As a combat veteran, Vilia’s movements were too fast for Lectival who had just inherited the .

Although he hadn’t received a blow yet due to the ’s reaction speed, he didn’t have the room to be watchful of the surrounding.

Besides, there was something else that caught his attention.

「Even I’d be troubled in how to deal with you if you’re to pursue me while having such a painful expression.」

「I don’t have such a face!」

The ’s (Vilia’s sword) driving force system emitted a warning of overloading. Its edge’s rotation was forcibly suspended and thin white fume arose from its driving force part.

「Let go!」

「Maa, I don’t mind but」

Since Vilia shouted, Lectival readily released the but its driving force part performed an emergency shutdown due to an abnormal overheating.

「Aah」

Even so, Vilia raised the overhead towards Lectival.

It still possessed cutting ability to some degree even without its rotation, and besides, she seriously couldn’t stomach the calm face of the man before her.

Even if the other party is the crown prince, she couldn’t drive it out of her consciousness completely.

Was she that frenzied from having Meriela s.n.a.t.c.hed away and genuinely distancing herself away from Lectival?

She swung the downwards without even trying to find the answer.

「Otto」

The sank into ground while blowing up large amount of earth and as time elapsed, Vilia’s movement became crude.

Lectival saw that perfectly, but regardless of how many times the unified informed him of counterattack chances, he wouldn't raise his hand against Vilia.

Avoiding , he ran across the courtyard towards the artificial woods in the garden.

Vilia’s movement became increasingly dull among the trees.

To avoid contact between the and the trees and shrubs, she was compelled to not do any unnecessary movements.

「Didn’t I tell you not to escape!」

「I’d be hit if I didn’t.」

In that case, Vilia’s heirloom treasure sword would have injured the crown prince.

Even if Lectival didn’t view it as a problem, the surrounding people would probably distanced themselves from Vilia.

That was something that Lectival didn’t wish for.

「Please calm down.」

「I’m calm…」

Both of them knew that wasn’t the case.

Vilia cried out with tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, and those tears caused Lectival’s chest to creak.

「Please lower that sword.」

When he said that, he received a single strike of that great sword as a reply.

Lectival retreated into the dense and overgrown woods while sidestepping the , and picked out a single tree among them. The tree which he located had a trait unlike others based on the ’s optical information a.n.a.lysis.

「Vilia-san.」

Calling out her name as gently as possible, the frenzied Vilia drew close.

Straightforward, like her conviction and way of life.

「Why, now, you!」

If this person was slightly stronger than her and had mastered the , she might not have made such a face to him.

Even a smiling face, angry face, troubled face or an embarra.s.sed face would be fine.

It was just that she wasn’t very good with a tear-stained face.

「—I don’t understand very well either.」

He couldn’t understand the reason for him to be here or why his future became one where he had to handle the .

「Then…!」

「However, Vilia-san」

There were things that even such a him could understand.

Something beyond reason concluded that the woman before him was important, and this was also affirmed by his feelings.

「It can’t be helped that Vilia-san is important to me.」

「—! Such a thing, such a thing…! 」

「Maa, simply put」

Thus in a word.

「It’s love at first sight.」

「–Eh?」

*Gashan*, the fell onto the ground.

Vilia grasped the handle feebly and looked at Lectival with rounded eyes.

Her eyes swarm around and she opened her mouth partially without meaning to.

That facial expression of that extent was sufficient to be called dumbfounded.

「Therefore—」

I wish it’s about time for you to put down that sword—but those words didn’t reach Vilia.

「fu」

「fu?」

Her face was dyed deep red, her shoulders trembled, and her eyes became watery. She raised the overhead.

Lectival’s complexion turned pale at once.

「Eh」

She concluded with a truly meaningless single word and swung down the .

Coincidentally, a scream of「fujakennya」could be heard at various places of the temple.

◊◊◊

When expressing the man called Lectival, people will unanimously say that women are indispensable.

The numerous women, who were the Empress, consorts, concubines and in a couple relations.h.i.+ps with him, originally had either a friend or rival relations.h.i.+p; naturally, Lectival didn’t lack male friends and rivals, but in the case where his life was depicted as a story, there were many situations where women were emphasised. Hence it wasn’t unthinkable for groundless rumours of「Lectival the woman admirer」to emerge due to that reason.

Compared to foreign countries’ despotic rulers, it was hard to think that Lectival had a history of love affairs with women, yet this kind of reputation was established due to a certain information manipulation; it was an established theory of the present.

Among the women, there were the five princesses of the four dragons including Meriela. It was well-known that they were loved by the people to the extent of being portrayed as protagonists in several stories.

However, if there were Empresses who were out in the sun, there were also Empresses that were in the shadow and didn’t leave their names behind in history.

To say of consort Aria, she might be a person whose name was comparatively known among the latter.

As a result from accepting many n.o.bles’ children for manners apprentices.h.i.+p, she had huge influence over the n.o.bles. She was thereby either called a wicked woman who led the n.o.bles by the nose or a saintess that strive for harmony between the lord and va.s.sal.

It wasn’t wrong to say that her life began from when she was presented to Lectival.

As the mistress of Marie imperial villa, Aria raised seven children with Lectival, but from the note left behind by a woman under her manners apprentices.h.i.+p, the one who initiated their meeting wasn’t Aria. That very woman then married to a neighbouring country’s crown prince with Lectival’s mediation and was loved by the people as a go-between of both countries’ friends.h.i.+p.

◊◊◊

Indeed, she had a figure that was the embodiment of every man’s ideal.

Overall, her body was slender and though was by no means sensual, it didn’t lose its beauty.

As she was to be ‘presented’ to the crown prince, her pale pink hair was close to white. Undulating gently, it danced lightly in Lectival’s vision, and the white strands which stood out among that hair was arranged separately into parts. In terms of pure beauty, she might be more refined than Meriela who was hailed as a beautiful maiden in the Empire’s high society.

However, he felt that something was amiss.

(Ah, such a doll-like beauty…)

To be chosen and brought up to such a figure merely for the sake of pleasing men.

She had good looks for this reason.

It wasn’t in the realm of plastic surgery or body remodelling.

They were raised without being given other alternatives.

They weren’t taught that other paths existed and were only given information which weren’t general knowledge without holding any doubts. They were kept alive to dedicate their all for just a handful of men.

And now, before Lectival was the 『Bud Princess』.

In the event of knowing man and becoming a flower/beauty (花), she was the highest grade『bud』to the point of being called『Queen of Flower』.

She introduced herself as Aria very courteously.

「Has Your Highness already finished bathing?」

Seeing Lectiva’s figure, she said so and hid her slightly troubled face.

From that gesture, he could roughly understood what kind of instruction she had received from Mireideia but, what, it wasn’t strange considering Mereideia’s habitual speech and conduct.

He didn’t want to be too deeply involved with the existence called Aria if possible and chose his words prudently.

「I’m tired so I’ll be retiring early.」

By reducing his words, it became difficult for his feelings to be conveyed to the other party.

Having implicitly conveyed that he would rest after this, she would leave from here before he treats her as his 『hands (手付き) 』.

(TN: 手付き showed result of ‘manner of using one’s hands’. Source: Jisho)

As for him, he thought that at the time of meeting, the obligation to various related places would be fulfilled for the time being.

That being the case, he hoped for her to withdraw quickly.

Lectival was also a man. His heartbeat would quicken if a beautiful woman was before him, but it was easy to understand that the woman called Aria was here with vague feelings that cannot be called her will.

To get involved now, will it not become regrets later as expected? —Lectival ended up thinking so.

「Sou, desuka…」

Yet it didn’t seem like Aria understood his intention, or possibly, she was strongly given detailed instructions from her superior.

She feebly grasped the hem of her dazzling dress that exposed her bare body more than the clothes which Meriela usually wore in terms of shoulders, back and b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She then stole flickering glances towards the door connected to the bedroom. ‘Is this what I think it is?’ she thought and now looked up to Lectival’s face enquiringly.

Perchance, Lectival’s recent words might be interpreted as going along with her a.s.signed tas