Chapter 17: Debut
Part 02
Adonis: Eternal Bliss
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Year 1492, April: Arhad is born.
Year 1497, February: Ianna is born.
Ages 9 and 4.
Arhad holds a sword for the first time and sobs his eyes out.
Ianna chases Lebony around.
Ages 13 and 8.
Arhad redoubles his efforts in sword training.
Ianna poisons Sarachè to death.
Ages 16 and 11.
Arhad enrolls in the Valgenta Institution.
Ianna is persecuted by her household.
Ages 18 and 13.
Arhad founds Camastros.
Ianna craves for affection.
Ages 20 and 15.
Arhad gains influence in the underworld and his influence starts reaching normal society.
Ianna murders Horby while unconscious.
Ages 21 and 16.
Arhad joins hands with Schneider to confront the Black Fox.
Ianna debuts in high society and enrolls in the Theodore Academy.
Ages 22 and 17.
Arhad sees Ianna for the first time.
Ianna drops out of the Theodore Academy.
Ages 23 and 18.
Arhad annihilates the Black Fox.
Ianna gives up on being loved and focuses only on the sword.
Ages 24 and 19.
They meet at the Youths’ Swordsmanship Tournament that was held to commemorate the founding of Roanne.
Arhad feels a possessive desire for Ianna.
Ianna’s competitive spirit flares.
Ages 25 and 20.
Arhad begins attacking the Bahamut Empire from the Kingdom of Woodruff.
Ianna spends all her time training with the sword.
Ages 27 and 22.
Arhad succeeds in gathering nobles to his cause and winning the public sentiment.
Ianna wins the Continental Swordsmanship Tournament but feels dejected.
She becomes Prince Schneider’s subordinate.
Ages 28 and 23.
Arhad obtains his first heart.
Ianna rages at Arhad for not seeking her out.
Ages 29 and 24.
Arhad eliminates the Bahamut imperial family and usurps the throne.
Ianna purges House Roberstein and becomes a duchess of the Kingdom of Roanne in her own right.
They meet again.
Ages 30 and 25.
Arhad tries to appease Ianna.
Ianna is hostile to Arhad.
Ages 32 and 27.
There is a civil war in the Kingdom of Roanne and Prince Schneider emerges as king.
The Bahamut Empire wages war.
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Ages 39 and 34.
Arhad kills Ianna.
Ianna is killed by Arhad.
~~*~~
He was the Demon, and he was not the Demon.
He was not the Demon, but he was Arhad.
He was the Demon, and he was Arhad.
The Demon’s heart was imprisoned in Pandemonium, pierced through by a certain god’s sword. The Demon’s soul, containing his memories, was ripped to pieces and scattered across the world, and all that remained in the little fragment that was left inside his heart was the memory of being stabbed and locked away by a crimson god whose face he could not remember, the dreadful memories of being locked away for what seemed like an eternity, and a very faint sliver of his ego.
“Sniff, sob. What do I do, Lord Heinrich?”
By a stroke of luck, a woman carrying a fetus that did not yet have a soul of its own had arrived near a rift in the earth that had opened up into Pandemonium. The Demon felt his soul from the other side of the rift.
The Demon’s sliver of a soul broke free from his heart, which could not budge, and crawled up from the rift. He split open the woman’s womb and buried his soul into the fetus’ heart, which was unblemished and held only pure divine power within. He imprinted on the fetus’ heart and made it his second.
The fetus created for himself the best body he could have ever wanted, and the instinct to seek out his fragments and heart was carved into his soul.
And so, Arhad had been born. And the Demon’s second life had begun.
“I’ve wet-nursed many children, Lord Heinrich, but I’ve never seen a child who neither cries nor laughs and just stares blankly like this one before. Shouldn’t he be taken to see a doctor?”
“Perhaps……. But in any event, thank you for your work today.”
Arhad had endlessly wandered the boundary between dreams and reality when he was young. The boy had always been drifting through the darkness, like he was floating on a cloud, regardless of whether he was asleep or awake. Sometimes, he would find a crimson light in a corner of the darkness and thirst for it as he tried to get closer, but the crimson light always only grew farther and farther away until it vanished entirely. And then, the boy would roam the darkness yet again.
“Teacher, please just ignore that moron and teach me more magic.”
Arhad remained in this state until he was nine, and Lalatua El Mardial, who was two years his elder, was always jealous at how devoted Heinrich was to him.
Lalatua was a peculiar princess who had broken completely free of the harsh struggle for the throne taking place in Mardial, and Heinrich had taken her in upon noticing her talent for the magical arts. Lalatua had regarded Heinrich as her father and her teacher —as the only member of her family— ever since. Which was why she despised Arhad, who took up much of Heinrich’s attention, and had frequently bullied him with magic.
“Lalatua!”
“Waah, Lord Heinrich! Arhad, he…!”
“Haven’t I told you not to lay a hand against Arhad?!”
But even when Lalatua had attacked Arhad with spells, the magic would either fade away before reaching him or be flung aside entirely. Lalatua had frequently been tormented by the spells that she herself had cast. Heinrich had grown warier of Arhad every time he saw it happen. Arhad was not just simply retarded. He had considered simply writing Arhad off as being dull, but doing so and neglecting the child would pose a problem in and of itself because the Bahamut imperial family was spiteful.
Heinrich brought Arhad all sorts of things. Teddy bears, wooden blocks, toys……and one day, when Heinrich had brought Arhad a real sword, Arhad’s entire world had suddenly been dyed with color.
A sword. The memory of someone’s sword piercing through his heart had devoured his mind whole. The boy, who had always been in a blank daze until then, could not withstand the sudden surge of his own emotions.
“Sob, sob! Sob!”
Arhad had bawled his eyes out. Why, he did not know —was it because of the pain or the betrayal he had felt? All the young boy could do was clutch the sword and sob. He had cried ever so sorrowfully. His entire world had been colored by such sadness that he had finally started crying like the child he was.
It was only then that Arhad’s life had truly begun.
He had not been able to do anything for what was practically an eternity, and his greed was as vast as the limitless expanse of space itself.
He wanted knowledge. He had been imprisoned and unable to do anything for nearly an eternity, and he was thirsting for new knowledge. He learned all sorts of things from his private tutors, including kingship. There had been times when, using Herinrich’s permit, he holed himself inside the royal library for days just to read. His exceptional brain soaked in knowledge like a dry sponge absorbing water.
He wanted money. His sense of lacking, which he had known since times immemorial, was never satiated and always whispered to him, telling him to seize whatever it was that he wanted. And, as a rule, one needed money in order to get their hands on something in this era. Arhad could cast spells freely so long as he knew how the mana was supposed to be arranged, and he had called forth the subspace that his soul remembered. The subspace was packed tightly with the gold he had gathered during the Holy Age. He had a repository of high-purity gold, made from divine power instead of mana, large enough to fill an entire castle to the brim. Man coveted gold just as the gods once had, and Arhad’s gold, which was incredibly valuable in the Age of Magic, funded everything that he had wanted to do.
Arhad had begun investing into various companies ever since he was young, had tried starting his own businesses, had learned about the value of goods and how to grow money even as some of his investments had failed, and had gained an outstanding sense for investing in the process. His wealth had grown exponentially.
He wanted to try becoming the most prestigious person in the world. The Demon had once been treated as a parasite for being the lowliest being in existence and his soul coveted the power of prestige —and Arhad had inherited that desire. At first, he had only wanted to usurp the imperial throne because he needed to gather the Demon’s fragments and the imperial family was his biggest threat, but he grew more ambitious as time passed and started wanting to look down on everyone else from a high and lofty seat.
He began interfering, either directly or indirectly, or either actively or passively, in the struggles for succession taking place in smaller kingdoms, and he polished his political prowess for the day he would one day become the one and only emperor in the world. He recruited individuals of talent with his vast wealth and fostered them, and he spread his influence all across the world using a colorful assortment of means.
But he could not satisfy the feeling of lacking no matter what he tried. He received love and attention from the people, and he had countless subordinates following him……but there was no wave that could satisfy him as he lived in a sea of emotion and greed. He could not satisfy his sense of lacking and emptiness no matter how hard he tried to fill himself up, and this rendered him constantly emotionless.
Which was why he devoted himself to training with the sword. There was something about the sword that irritated his heart whenever he held it. He hated that feeling, and yet, he also coveted it like a moth taking to flame.
Until he was twenty-three, that is.
Arhad had enrolled into the Valgenta Institution, where Heinrich was the dean, when he was sixteen. He had met countless people there, had gained countless followers, had taken countless classes, and had dealt with countless different people. And he had met Rikijen, who had been wronged by House Owen, completely by chance and had saved him on a whim. The boy, who was burning in his hatred of the nobility, had no one to rely on, and Arhad had noticed his talent and had begun sponsoring him upon seeing the difficult books that had been crammed inside the boy’s room.
Eiji had come looking for him, blazing with his hatred of the Bahamut imperial family, when he was eighteen. Eiji was a young Roygen boy who had risen to his position of being the boss of the Black Fox’s intelligence operations at his young age thanks to his exceptional brains.
Together, Arhad, Heinrich, and Eiji had gathered those of exceptional talent who raged against the Bahamut imperial family, loathed the Black Fox with every fiber of their being, or had other special ambitions and had founded ‘Camastros’.
The gold Arhad possessed and the money he had gained by investing in companies or starting his own businesses was more than enough to fund Camastros’ activities. And they had begun confronting the Black Fox as soon as they had gathered enough people.
By the time he was twenty, Arhad’s forces were some of the greatest in the world, and his influence was vast enough that he could puppeteer the entire world if he so wanted. But no one was aware of his existence, and even the executives of Camastros, who assisted him, did not know exactly how far his influence reached.
Arhad detested the Black Fox by the time he was twenty-one, and he had joined forces with Schneider, who wanted to win the Roanne throne and public sentiment, to begin confronting the Black Fox directly.
“There is an interesting girl attending the Theodore Academy.”
Arhad had been gathering more talent under his banner when he was twenty-two, and Eiji had given him a certain report.
“She’s a swordswoman. She’s known to most of the world as a reserved and passive girl, but there are rumors circulating between the swordsmanship instructors at the Academy about how amazingly skilled she is. Her reputation is abysmal, but it is only based on rumors and I found that she’s actually quite a great girl once I looked into her. I think it might be worth scouting her out —will you take a look yourself?”
Eiji had pushed a rolled-up piece of paper at him. Arhad unfurled it and began reading its contents without much interest. The girl had crimson hair as beautiful as a blaze and crimson eyes, but her lips were tightly pursed and he could tell at even just a first glance that the light of depression dwelt in her eyes.
Arhad was intrigued by her crimson appearance.
He liked the yellowy light of gold. But, while he favored the color gold and liked it well enough, there was something about the color crimson that stirred his heart and strangely seemed to bring about a kind of madness in him. As if he was a bull that grew agitated at the color red.
He always welcomed more talent. Eiji had been at the peak of his recruitment process for those of talent who shared similar goals, and he had chased after every rumor about any individual of talent with great haste. And everyone he reported back to Arhad had been hand-picked by him and were all remarkable individuals whom he only awaited Arhad’s approval to begin scouting. She must have been pretty good if even Eiji was singing her praises. But that was all. Arhad had only been interested in her talent. He had thought that the girl was quite pretty when he saw her portait, but he had only been intrigued by her crimson looks —his heart had not skipped a beat for her or anything of the sort.
Arhad had taken interest in the girl, and he had ordered Eiji to conduct a thorough investigation into her past. And Eiji had brought back his report shortly thereafter.
<Ianna Roberstein, age 17>
Age 8: poisoned the countess to death.
Age 15: her grandfather passed away and she first took to the sword.
Age 16: enrolled into the Theodore Academy.
Age 17: debuted into high society.
She is currently still attending the Theodore Academy, but rumors say that she is planning to drop out soon. Her reputation in high society is terrible. She is being severely ostracized. She is scorned by commoners because her mother used dirty means and money to buy her way into being the count’s mistress, and she is called a monster for murdering the countess. It appears that she poisoned the countess on her mother’s orders without knowing any better when she was young. There are several high-ranking members of the nobility who have learned about her skill with the sword and have taken an interest in her.
Arhad had broken out laughing after reading Eiji’s report. It would be easy to recruit her if she was being treated this poorly despite her outstanding talent. He didn’t know if her talent was the real deal or not, but even Arhad approved of those individuals whom Eiji reported to him. Arhad had grown curious, and he had decided to confirm her talent with his own eyes as he usually did.
The Theodore Academy was close in proximity to the Institution, so Arhad had set apart some time to sneak in. And then, after taking great pains to figure out her whereabouts, he had found her sitting in a corner of the library while studying.
Arhad had hidden himself and had scrutinized her up and down. That had been their very first encounter, though Ianna had never known about it. The girl was expressionless and her crimson light was somber. And Arhad’s heart was as calm as it always was.
“Why, would you look at that? It’s that wench. Why is she always in the library like an eyesore?”
“Shall we tease her a bit?”
Just then, a few girls had started whispering amongst each other in Arhad’s vicinity and had elegantly walked up to Ianna with sneers plastered on their faces.
“Goodness, isn’t that the book I was just looking for?”
Ianna, whose pen had been scribbling furiously across the page as she studied, carefully looked up when she heard someone speaking loudly from right next to her.
“Do you require it? I’m done with it, so you may have it if you wish.”
“Oh, who’s this now? If it isn’t the young lady of House Roberstein?”
Ianna had extended her kind goodwill to them. But the other girls had never been after the book to begin with.
“Are you out of your mind? Are you telling me to take a book that your filthy hands have touched all over?”
“Hey, that’s enough. You never know if you might find something weird in your tea later today.”
The girl who had readily exposed Ianna’s past picked up a book from Ianna’s pile with only her fingers, as if she had handling something dirty, and began flipping through the pages.
“What’s even the point of studying so hard? Don’t you only rank in the middle of your class all the time no matter how hard you study because you’re stupid? You’re just wasting your time. Wouldn’t it be a better use of your time brushing up on your looks instead?”
The girl tapped at Ianna’s cheek with a gloved hand.
“Your skin’s a right mess. No gentleman will want to touch skin as coarse as yours. And look at how many blisters you have on your lips. And goodness, your hair reminds me of a pig’s bristles…….”
“You’ll never have to worry about bettering your station no matter how hard you study, nor will you have to worry about marriage because no gentleman will ever ask for your hand no matter how much you adorn yourself. How nice your life must be.”
“I hear that you’ve been training in the sword with the men? And you’ve been secretly showing off your body while being drenched in sweat too…… I doubt that you’re training because you actually like it —so you must be doing such unsightly things because you’re trying to seduce the men like the cheeky thing you are.”
“She’s just like her mother. She’s probably lost her virginity ages ago.”
“She’s pretending to be so pure, but who knows how many men she’s seduced with that nauseating face of hers?”
Then, one of the girls stooped over to whisper in Ianna’s ear.
“Stop coming out in public —no one wants to see you.”
“You murdered the kindhearted countess when you were just a child —we’re all terrified of you.”
“It’s unpleasant just looking at you.”
The girls who had just finished insulting her then hit her on purpose as they walked away while laughing amongst themselves.
“…….”
Ianna kept her head low for a moment before she resumed studying, as if she was used to it all. A fat and bulging man approached her not too long afterward.
“Have you reconsidered my proposal, Lady Ianna? You don’t need to keep rejecting me like that…….”
The man touched Ianna’s shoulder. Ianna clenched her hands into tight fists. Her fists quivered for a moment before she fiercely shook the man off. She glared at the shocked man.
“I’ve been rejecting you in a roundabout manner all this time, but allow me to be direct. I said no. Please stop this. Don’t bring this up ever again. And, I’ve never given you permission to call me by my given name. So please stop calling it as you please.”
Ianna rejected the man’s offensive proposal sharply, unlike the gentler ways she had turned him down previously, because she was already hurting from what the girls from earlier had said to her. Her face was pallid as she tried to reign in her disgust.
The man took that as an insult. He grumbled to himself, ashamed that the likes of Ianna had insulted him, and shoved her hard. Ianna nearly fell over but just barely managed to keep herself upright by holding onto the table. The man’s pride was wounded further still because Ianna had not made a fool out of herself by falling over like he had thought she would, and he yelled,
“Look at you acting so prude. Just how many men do you think there are out there who’ll offer a deal to a wench as hair-raisingly nasty as you? What’s so bad about opening your legs for me when you’ve probably done it dozens of times already? Ugh!”
The man had left after treating her like she was cheap.
“…….”
The girl had righted herself and gripped her skirt in an effort to keep from crying, but her eyes, which were already flushing crimson, had not obeyed her will.
Drip. Drop.
She had done well to endure it until now, but tears were falling from her eyes. Her eyes were moist with tears. Her face contorted heavily and she trembled as she bit down hard at her lip, but her tears only kept falling.
She finally bent over the table, unable to endure it any longer. Her body heaved several times. But her cries were not audible. Ianna cried silently for a moment before she stood back up with a gloomy look on her face. She had only shed tears for but a short while. She organized her books with her eyes still red and she left the library. Arhad had simply watched over her without doing anything.
‘I’m sure she must be disillusioned by the nobility if it’s this bad —there’s no way she’d harbor any pleasant fantasies about them.’
High society was heartless. Nobles hid daggers and poison in their elegant words and they attacked each other with them for profit. And Ianna was among the weakest members of high society, so the other nobles vented their pent-up stress by abusing her.
‘But she’s still lacking.’
She was still kind to even those who showered her with spite, and Arhad had no use for a girl who could only shed tears, unable to punish those who insulted her, in a revolution. Not until she learned how to suppress others, even those of higher standing than herself, with the prominence of her spirit alone.
Every member of Camastros had that characteristic. They were all heartless and had killed at least one or two people prior to joining, and they were all venomous individuals who carried a powerful hatred inside themselves. Arhad had not had the chance to see Ianna’s swordplay, but he had decided that it would be impossible to recruit her until she gained that characteristic.
He could have helped her in her time of need and fostered her goodwill……but it wouldn’t have much of an effect because he would not be able to help her on a continued basis. Arhad was busy, and more importantly, he did not feel as though she warranted spending so much of his time on.
Arhad watched her return listlessly to the female dormitories before he departed from the Theodore Academy. He did not have the time to waste on a feeble girl. And just then, he happened across the man who had insulted Ianna chattering loudly with his friends.
He was vulgar. He was also disgraceful and crude. Those who held anyone in a lower station than they in contempt on the basis of their alleged prestige alone were vile. It was unseemly, the way they put up airs and acted so high and mighty when they were so worthless.
How did they not know? There was always someone higher up on the food chain, and if they could prey upon their inferiors, then others, too, could prey upon them. A cold air hung about Arhad as he barred his sharp fangs.
The man’s household had been torn apart by Arhad’s claws and fell to ruin not too long thereafter. The houses of the wenches who had insulted Ianna, too, had fallen one after another due to financial troubles or political schemes. But he hadn’t done it to take vengeance for Ianna —he had simply taken offense as a top predator.
Then, Ianna had dropped out of school and had returned to the Roberstein lands.
At twenty-three, the Institution made Arhad go to a noble’s household for practical experience. Arhad was known as a student who was promising but unable to control mana. He was regarded as being in the mid-upper ranks of the Swordsmanship Department by the merit of his outstanding sword skills alone, however, so he could still choose where he wanted to go for practical experience to an extent.
Arhad spotted the Roberstein lands on his list as he read through it apathetically. He naturally recalled Ianna, and he decided to take the opportunity to see how she was doing by choosing to go there. He was curious to see if anything had changed in the past year, and he wondered if he would have the chance to see her swordsmanship, which Eiji had praised so highly. The Roberstein lands also branched off from the center of the Lotso Mountains, so he decided to travel to the Lotso Mountains and search for a rift into Pandemonium while he was at it.
The people of the manor had greeted the Institution students warmly when they arrived. Arhad had been walking through the gardens with the knights after learning about what the students would be doing for practice and about the household’s circumstances when he had spotted a crimson light passing by. It was Ianna, who had started to mature into a woman. The expression on her face had looked completely dead.
Arhad quite liked that look on her face. Hers was the face of someone who was either emotionally dead or someone who held a bitter grudge deep within their bones. It was easy to successfully recruit someone in either of those states.
Arhad looked to her hands.
‘She’s still training in the sword, I take it?’
Her hands were hard and calloused where she gripped the sword. Arhad was satisfied. The problem, was what had come next.
Arhad had seen Ianna climb up a mountain behind the manor with her sword in hand not too long after he had begun his stay at the Roberstein lands for practical experience. He had completely concealed his presence. There was a huge gap in skill between Arhad, who had both enormous talent and had been training for over a decade, and the girl, who had only been training for three years or so no matter how amazingly talented she was. It was only natural that the girl hadn’t known that he was tailing her.
Shhhh…….
The girl had only stilled her quick pace when she had arrived at a windy hill. There was a large tree trunk at the center of the place, and it was encircled by a ring of tall trees. Arhad had surveyed his surroundings before looking to the large tree trunk the girl was sitting on. He had felt a strange sense of déjà vu as soon as he had laid his eyes upon it. His heart, which had always been still, was thumping so furiously it hurt.
‘What a strange place.’
And then, he saw Ianna wielding her sword.
His breath was stolen away.
She was not the gloomy girl he had seen in her portraits. Nor was she the wounded girl he had seen at the Academy.
She was smiling. She was not laughing out loud because she was having fun, nor was she smiling coyly in an attempt to entice. She was simply smiling brightly, as though she was enjoying life more so than any other.
How could anyone smile with such joy? She was overflowing with vitality as she smiled with delight, unlike the deadened expression she had worn earlier, and she seemed to be emitting a fiery energy.
Arhad had thought she was so beautiful in that moment.
His grip on the tree he was holding had tightened.
Her smile was so explosively beautiful, as though it had gathered every positive emotion that existed in the world in one place. He liked her so much that he thought he might lose his mind, and the way her face was absolutely oozing with delight and pleasure was more than exhilarating.
The maximum fondness directed to only one being. The scorching vigor and the blindingly positive feelings that stemmed from it. His heart, which was always cold and had never experienced anything close to what he was feeling now in the entirety of his life, had felt all this indirectly through Ianna’s smile.
The shock he had felt was intense. He felt as if he had smashed his head against a tree. Her smile pounded against his heart, and the feelings that had surged from within had conquered everything else and had filled his entire mind so quickly that he thought his rationality and consciousness might leave him.
Arhad, who was always composed in his decisions and was cool, level-headed, and emotionless toward everything, had never experienced such heated emotions before.
This had been the first and only time in his life that he had ever thought something was beautiful.
And the very first thing of beauty he had ever witnessed was imprinted in his soul.
His heart, which had always maintained a steady beat until then, stretched and contracted to its very limits like a rubber band. His blood was boiling like burning lava.
I’m parched.
The heat had made Arhad scowl and touch his throat. Beads of sweat rolled down his face, and he experienced such horrid thirst that he felt like he was standing in the middle of a scorching hot desert where he could see nothing but the sun and the sand.
I want it.
He was struck by an unfamiliar possessive desire.
I want to make that smile mine. Her goodwill, her vigor, her feelings —I want them all to be directed at me. I want to take her beautiful figure and keep it by my side for all eternity.
‘But why?’
Arhad, who was very dull to his own feelings, could not know what this emotion was. He was bewildered, as this was the first time in his life that he had ever experienced this.
The girl looked like she was having so much fun as she finished her training and laid down on the ground while trying to collect her breath. Arhad simply watched her with a shaking gaze because he did not know what else to do with himself.
The expression vanished from the girl’s face as soon as she stood back up. Her visage turned cold, as if her smile had only been an illusion. And then, she began descending the mountain.
“…….”
Arhad, who had been watching everything, had been struck by a sudden blaze of greed in his heart that told him to take her away from this place at once. He did not want to let this girl, who had made his heart skip a beat, slip through his fingers. Only she seemed to glow bright in his otherwise cold and monochromic world. The girl had cast him into a sea of turbulent emotion, like the crimson light of his dreams had when he was younger, like the delight he had felt when he had first held a sword, and he did not want to let her slip away.
But why was that? Was it because she was a rare example of a girl who had taken up the sword? He had seen other girls who were prettier when they smiled, had seen so many other girls who were more elegant and lovelier when they smiled that he was almost sick of them, and one could even say that Ianna was unattractive when she was covered from head to toe with dust and dirt, and yet…….
You’re more beautiful than any other. Your vitality —you shine brighter than any other.
Arhad was dizzy.
He had observed Ianna throughout the entirety of his stay, and he had returned to the Institution when his stay was over. And then he had begun receiving reports about her each and every move.
Arhad had not reached out to Ianna to recruit her into his fold. The girl was still young. Much too young. She was still growing, she was intoxicated in her sword as she wielded it alone, and she was still at a stage where she improved faster by polishing her skills alone rather than by doing actual battle against others.
More importantly, however, Arhad’s situation was dangerous. There had been countless deaths within Camastros. He was assaulted by anxiety as he wondered what he would do if he obeyed the greed growing in his heart and brought her to his side when there was so much death around him only for her to end up dying too. There would be even more bloodshed in the place where he was planning to go to in a year from now —would she be able to survive it?
Arhad had decided that she wouldn’t. His circumstances were not something that a swordswoman who hadn’t even fought her first proper battle yet could withstand. His enemies were extremely dangerous monsters —the Bahamut imperial family.
Arhad had finished annihilating the Black Fox. He had killed off the other two Black Fox bosses —the bosses of the drug and slave trade operations respectively. And yet, he had never once taken an eye off of Ianna. He wanted to treasure her. She had made him overflow with emotion, and she was precious to him.
I will come to find you after I take the imperial throne and things have settled down, he decided. He had been twenty-three at the time.
~~*~~
Theodore, the capital of the Kingdom of Roanne, had been hectic as of late.
Yellow-gold decorations were being put up around the royal palace, the epitome of extravagant luxury. The palace’s white walls had been polished so fastidiously by the servants that it almost seemed to glow, unblemished by even a single speck of dust.
Countryside nobles who had come to the capital to participate in the Institution’s school festival had stayed behind in the manors of nobles whom they were friendly with. Nobles from the countryside and capital alike had been busy having tea and chattering away amongst themselves or walking up and down the bourgeoisie streets as they went shopping.
The ministers had been busy bowing endlessly to foreign envoys in the royal castle, and the knights were working up a sweat as they regulated the flow of traffic at the castle gates. Roanne’s flag fluttered in the wind from every tree, and the people were singing and dancing in good cheer.
On December 31st, the people looked to each other as they greeted the last day of the year.
“Whooooo!”
And Theodore, the normally quiet capital, was enveloped in a loud cheer as soon as the clock struck midnight on January 1st. People ran out to the streets and began singing and dancing in good fun.
Founding Day, the grandest event in the Kingdom of Roanne, had opened in Theodore, her capital.
“It’s impossible to do any more than this, Miss.”
“No, squeeze it tighter! Sir Calix will be there. I have to make sure I stand out more than the other bitches.”
“I understand. Please let me know at once if it’s too much for you to bear.”
“Cough!”
The nobles had been busy dolling themselves up all day. A florid party would be hosted in the royal castle at five in the afternoon as the sun was beginning to set. They were preparing for a battle of sorts, so that they wouldn’t get buried in the crowd.
And it was the young noble girls debuting at the party who were doing the most to doll themselves up. Noble girls debuted when they came of age, and it signified the first time they presented themselves in high society as their own person. A noble girl’s social rank was determined by how she debuted, so they always dreamed of holding grandiose parties on their birthday when they came of age and of being congratulated by countless nobles during their debut.
But it was difficult for the dreams of noble girls from lower-ranking houses to come true. It was one thing that their household lacked the finances to host such a grand party, but the bigger problem was that lower-ranking houses did not have many connections. Any party not attended by more well-known nobles were shameful and were treated as a waste of money.
There was an extremely uneven distribution of power amongst the Roanne nobility. There were only a few higher-ranking nobles, but there was a plethora of lower-ranking nobles because the royal family could grant anyone the title of baronet so long as they accomplished some sort of great merit or displayed outstanding skills, though baronets were not granted any territory of their own. It was only natural that there were so many lower-ranking nobles.
The state had designated Founding Day as a day when such lower-ranking nobles could debut. Thus, girls from lower-ranking noble families dreamt of debuting on Founding Day. They received less attention individually because they debuted as a group, but debuting on Founding Day, which was special in that countless nobles attended it, meant that they could greet more people.
White dresses symbolized a noble girl making her debut, so no other nobles were allowed to wear white on that day. They were also given a basket of red roses, which were meant to symbolize how they were to act as the flowers of high society from thenceforth.
Naturally, the entire kingdom participated in the celebrations —not just the nobility. Only the Institution and a portion of the capital had been festive during the Institution’s school festival, but the entire kingdom was covered in a festive mood on Founding Day.
The people were in a busy thrill, as if it was their own birthdays, as they celebrated the founding of the kingdom they were so proud of. It was a day that people saved up money for so they could celebrate lavishly by spending it on Founding Day. Merchants were busy transporting all sorts of foodstuffs, souvenirs, and lovely flowers and accessories favored by women during this time.
Founding Day was the day when the founding queen, Roanne de Roanne, blessed the nation!
The queen had once been one of the Five Apostles who had followed Laos ardently ages ago. Was it because she had received Laos’ divine blessings? She had lived for as long as the elves did while she had been walking alongside the god, and she had only aged and died after the god had hidden himself.
The queen was said to have been very beautiful. She had lorded over countless men, and she had loved many of them. The legendary Queen Roanne de Roanne was their founding queen, but the people also revered her as a goddess of love of sorts. This was why Founding Day was also sometimes called Queen’s Day. The legends stated that your love would come true if you confessed to someone with a rose on Founding Day.
It was the one day of the year that boasted the most confessions. A day of romance where those who dreamt of love tasted sweet fantasies. A day where everyone carried around at least one rose with them. A day where there were couples everywhere. Such was Founding Day!
“Why are roses so expensive? This is more than the price of gold.”
“Well, it is Founding Day, isn’t it? They’re expensive because there’s a high demand.”
“You think I don’t know that? But they’re way too expensive even for Founding Day. They weren’t this expensive even when the harvest was bad.”
“There just isn’t enough to go around. I looked around, and all the other merchants were in the same pickle. Apparently, the rose farms were monopolized a while ago, and the merchants were hard-pressed to get them from elsewhere.”
“Is someone stockpiling them? No, I’m pretty sure they are. Just which bastard decided to hoard up all the roses? I need to win Jessie’s heart this year!”
“It’s probably some merchant who wants to sell the roses back at high prices to people like you. But even then. There should still be roses on the market, even if at more expensive prices, if someone’s been stockpiling them. There are two rumors going around, and one of them is that some rich guy was turned down and he bought up all the roses and had them burnt because he didn’t want to see other people be happy.”
“That just sounds like the work of a psychopath. It’s too unrealistic.”
“Which is why the second rumor’s more plausible. You know how the king’s favorite daughter, Princess Angelina, is debuting this year? The royal family might have bought up all the roses.”
“That’s got to be 100% true. Founding Day is the Princess’ day this year.”
A flash of crimson swept by, leaving behind the gossiping florist and the man who had come to buy roses in its wake. And a tiny girl was left out of breath as she hurriedly chased after the crimson.
“Little Iaaaaaaaaanna.”
“Please don’t address me like that.”
“Aww, don’t be like that. I finished preparing a dress for your debut ages ago.”
“Ages ago?”
“I started working on it in secret ever since I heard that you hadn’t debuted yet.”
“You’ve wasted your time, I see.”
Priscilla pulled Ianna into a hug from behind. The tiny girl wailed as she was dragged along when Ianna ignored her and kept pushing forward.
“It’s not that flashy, I promise. I know that you don’t like wearing flashy things, Little Ianna, so I made it simple with only a few beads and jewels!”
Ianna stopped walking and turned to Priscilla with exasperation in her eyes. Priscilla hugged her tight.
“I’ve already prepared myself a pre-made dress, Priscilla. And I’m on my way to retrieve it. Please stop wasting your money on me. Why don’t you try selling your dress to another?”
“No way! No one else can satisfy my desires! Please just accept it as my gift to you. Just get a refund on that other dress —no, I’ll buy it off you, so please wear the one I made!”
“Why are you so desperate just to give me something? You want to give me a dress even if it means taking financial losses…… It’s just too strange, Priscilla.”
“You’re mine, Little Ianna!”
Priscilla’s eyes grew bloodshot as she hugged Ianna tight.
“You don’t know how desperately designers look for a muse, do you, Little Ianna? You probably don’t know how obsessive we can get, right? We might not care that our muse wears someone else’s clothes on a normal day, but we’ll fall into despair if it happens on a special day. You’re my muse, Little Ianna. I’ve been so excited for your debut.”
Ianna sighed when she felt something moisten her back. Priscilla continued,
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. But, do you not like my clothes, Little Ianna? They’re not so weird that they disgust you, are they? I don’t know if it’s because my tastes are unique, but people usually make a fuss about buying my clothes. I’ll fix it if you don’t like it, Little Ianna. Okay? So please just wear my dress.”
It wasn’t something that Priscilla should feel sorry about. Ianna knew that Priscilla was only doing this because debuts were important to noble girls. But Ianna didn’t care about high society because she planned to leave the kingdom in a few years anyway. She was only debuting because she had promised that she would, and she didn’t want to dress up for it in particular.
“I’ve already bought myself another dress. And besides, shouldn’t you be enjoying Founding Day too?”
“Founding Day comes every year —what do I care? And besides, I broke up with my boyfriend a while back.”
It made Ianna reluctant to go and retrieve the dress she had already bought when Priscilla said this. She felt like she was trampling over Priscilla. Priscilla had grown so pale when Ianna had told her about the ready-made dress she had bought a few days ago.
“Oh my…….”
Sarachè, who had walked up to them after catching sight of Ianna from afar, faltered for a moment in surprise upon seeing Priscilla hugging her from behind. Ianna bowed to Sarachè.
“It’s been a while, my Lady.”
“It has. Have you been well?”
Sarachè had promised to have lunch with Ianna. She would not interfere with whatever happened at the party, as she had promised, but Ianna had consented to being together with her until the party started. Ianna was still reluctant to spend time with her family, but she didn’t hate it as much as she had before.
Perhaps it was because she had accepted their apology, or perhaps it was because she had someone who wanted her madly now. Ianna did not know.
Priscilla’s head shot up as she looked to Sarachè.
“My Lady? Countess Roberstein?”
“You must be the young lady who made Ianna’s costume for the fashion show during the school festival. What’s your name?”
“It’s Priscilla, my Lady.”
“I see, Little Priscilla. But what brings you here?”
Priscilla clasped her hands together and pleaded.
“Can’t Little Ianna please wear the dress I made her, my Lady? I’m begging you. I worked really hard on it. I’m sure you’ll love it.”
Sarachè looked awkward as she shook her head no.
“You have my full faith in your skills, Little Priscilla. I myself asked Ianna if she might ask you to make her a dress because the dress you made for the fashion show left such a deep impression on me. But Ianna wanted to buy a ready-made dress. And I can’t force her into doing something against her will.”
“Little Ianna…….”
Priscilla tore her gaze away from Sarachè and brought her imploring eyes back to Ianna. Ianna sighed. Priscilla’s tenacious attack had lasted several days now, and Ianna finally brought her hands up in surrender. Priscilla laughed like a wilting flower who had finally regained its vitality upon being watered.
But she was crying her eyes out again just a few hours later.
“Sniff, sniffle, sob, sob sob.”
“Sigh…….”
How could a fully grown woman cry so easily? Priscilla continued crying as she brushed Ianna’s charmingly crimson hair. It was difficult to guess what she was thinking, and she had been all smiles and joy earlier and yet was suddenly crying again. Disconcerted, Ianna asked,
“Why are you crying?”
“Little Ianna…”
Priscilla sounded very uncharacteristically depressed.
“Do you hate me?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Did I get you in a lot of trouble by any chance? Am I bothering you? More importantly, do you hate my clothes? Please be honest with me.”
Priscilla was standing limp. She was glad that Ianna had agreed to wear her dress after she had lamented and clung to her, but it had taken a war of attrition to make it happen.
“I’m sorry…….”
Priscilla was human too. She pretended not to be affected, but the way that Ianna only ever agreed to wear her clothes as if she had been forced into them chipped away at her self-confidence and nerves little by little. Simultaneously, she had begun wondering if her clothes weren’t to Ianna’s tastes, if she was annoying Ianna by clinging to her the way she did, and if Ianna was started to hate her, and her worries had only been piling up.
And they had finally hit the ceiling today.
‘What will I do if she actually says she hates me……? What will I do if she says that it took me long enough to figure it out, that she was only putting up with me because we’re roommates, and if she asked me to ignore her moving forward?’
Roommates were reassigned every year. Roommates could opt to stay together if they liked each other, but Priscilla was sure that Ianna would choose otherwise. She had been bothering Ianna so much, after all.
The memories she shared with Ianna flashed across her head as she wondered if today might be their last day together. Priscilla could not hold back her tears.
Ianna was alarmed.
“That’s not it at all.”
“I like you, Little Ianna. I really do. I like you as a model, of course, but I really like you as a person too. I’m a huge fan of yours.”
Ianna stiffened up. She could never grow accustomed to people saying things like this to her. After all, she was more used to people slandering her and cursing at her for her faults. She was no longer shaken by the lowly insults, but she did not know how to deal with people who showered her with their sincere goodwill.
She returned spite with spite, and all she had to do was coldly brush away those she didn’t like. But Ianna didn’t know how to act when it was someone whom she didn’t dislike……no, when it was someone she was actually fond of who was showering her with their sincere goodwill, and she was always confused. Priscilla continued,
“Maybe that’s why I kept clinging to you. I’m sorry. I’ll stop forcing you into my clothes after your debut if you really don’t like them that much. So please just keep being friends with me.”
Priscilla continued to shed sorrowful tears even as she continued brushing away at Ianna’s hair. It was only then that Ianna realized that she had never once complimented Priscilla out loud.
Priscilla had always been the first to bring Ianna her clothes, her each and every design was filled with her sincerity, and they also suited Ianna’s tastes because they were always sophisticated and neat. Ianna always turned them down because she was afraid that she would get Priscilla’s beloved clothes dirty or ruin them, but she would always consent to wearing them in bewilderment when Priscilla started crying. And then Priscilla would start beaming in gratitude. Ianna had always lost the chance to thank her because Priscilla would always thank her first even though Ianna was the one receiving her clothes as a gift. And so, Ianna had always naturally lost the chance to compliment her.
She did not dislike Priscilla’s clothes. Nor did she dislike Priscilla. Actually, it wasn’t exactly correct to say that she didn’t dislike either. She was rather fond of both.
Priscilla had only focused on Ianna as a person and had ignored the bad rumors about her from the very beginning. And she always smiled sweetly as she held up her clothes against Ianna’s frame. She was always openly fond of Ianna.
Ianna had long since thought that Priscilla was quite cute, though she felt a little apologetic about seeing her almost like she was some kind of pet.
All of Priscilla’s actions toward her had stemmed only from her goodwill. Apparently, she had grown too accustomed to Priscilla’s goodwill that she had started to take it for granted. Ianna reflected over her actions.
‘Have I hurt her?’
She didn’t want for Priscilla to be hurt. Would it help if she was honest? She didn’t think that Priscilla would dislike it. Ianna hesitated for a moment before saying,
“……It’s because your clothes are lovely.”
“Huh?”
“It’s because I don’t wish to stand out, but I feel like I’ll attract more attention because your clothes are lovely……. I don’t dislike you or your clothes. I actually quite like you. And, though I know I don’t speak up about it, I think your skills in making clothes are amazing. I don’t feel like I deserve to be wearing your clothes. And I am always grateful for them.”
Priscilla didn’t reply. Ianna grew a little embarrassed and she brought a hand up to her forehead as she snuck a glance at Priscilla. And she was alarmed. Priscilla was overflowing with more tears and snot than she had been before.
“Little Iaaaannaaaaaa!”
Priscilla’s eyes sparkled as she hugged Ianna tight.
“Ahhh, I’m gonna make you mine forever!”
‘Pervert……,’
Ianna thought. But she also smiled in resignation upon seeing Priscilla be so happy she didn’t know what to do with herself.
Afterward, Priscilla stuck to Ianna and wrestled with her for a while.
Priscilla’s dress was reminiscent of the snow as it fell down from the heavens. The dress’ neckline was made of a translucent cloth covered with embroidered snowflakes. Shining jewels of cubic zirconium adorned the top of the translucent cloth and they scattered and became sparse as they came down. The arms and back of the dress were covered with cloth because it was winter, which hid the scars on Ianna’s skin nicely. Ianna looked no different from any other girl when she was covered up.
Priscilla braided Ianna’s hair neatly and put it up with a hairpiece made of cubic zirconium and white pearls arranged in a floral design. She powdered Ianna’s face so it glowed with a subtle light, and she drew wings at the edges of Ianna’s sharp eyes. Was it because the eyeliner had been drawn to point downward? It made Ianna look like any docile girl her age.
She used a gradient of white and pink for eyeshadow and touched up Ianna’s cheeks with a peach-colored blush. Priscilla’s lips were curled up in fierce satisfaction as she grabbed Ianna by the chin and applied a lovely translucent crimson gloss on Ianna’s lips.
Ianna seemed to glow gently, but the impression she gave off was not intense. She would still look pleasantly simple in comparison to those girls who would be giving their all in dolling themselves up today. She would be buried under the crowd of showier nobles unless people looked to her on purpose.
And yet, she was still lovely. She would be a hidden treasure, and anyone who laid their eyes on her would never be able to look away.
“And I’m done!”
Priscilla felt that it had been worth chasing Ianna around all this time. A dizzying ecstasy, like a cataract beating upon her heart, overcame her whenever her muse was turned into a masterpiece by the works of her hands. It was a striking sense of satisfaction that she had learned only after meeting Ianna.
“Hmmm.”
Ianna opened her eyes and looked at her reflection in the mirror from all sorts of different angles. It was so strange to her —she had transformed so completely.
Sarachè, who had been watching from the side, applauded in admiration.
“You’re incredible, Little Priscilla.”
“Hoho. This is what I do, my Lady.”
Priscilla sighed and used the back of her hand to wipe away the beads of sweat on her forehead. Then, she clenched her hands into tight fists.
“Little Arhad will be floored when he sees how different you look!”
“That’s enough.”
Ianna looked exasperated as Priscilla began stomping on the ground, lost in her fantasies. Still, she did not refute Priscilla sharply with stark rejection like she had before, but rather seemed to be persuading the other girl out of her delusions. Ianna was much more relaxed about the matter now that Arhad had given her his answer. She continued,
“He only sees me as a companion.”
“Ack, is that what Little Arhad told you?”
“Yes. I asked him directly. I asked him if he loved me. He told me that he only saw me as a companion whom he wanted to walk with. And that is how I, too, see him. So please stop saying things like that.”
“That’s so cruel…….”
Priscilla’s, who had been listening quietly to Ianna’s explanation, slender frame quivered. Her trembling was so intense that she would have dropped all her leaves had she been a tree.
“You’re like a piece of hard bread, Little Ianna, so you probably looked really displeased when you asked him. You probably looked like you were so displeased that you’d rather die than be in love, like how you were with me.”
“I admit that I was displeased, but what does that have to do with anything? I was simply expressing my thoughts on the matter.”
Ianna had not hidden how much she had loathed the idea. She had no reason to hide before Arhad. Rather, she actually wanted to be more open when she was with him. Besides, there was no reason why he would love her……and that was as far as Ianna’s thoughts went before she shook her head clear.
“Do you really think Little Arhad would be able to be honest with you if you were acting like that?”
“My attitude has no relation to his answer. In any case, please stop acting as if he and I are in some kind of romantic relationship. It’s unpleasant.”
“Waaah!”
Priscilla ultimately ended up collapsing against the vanity, unable to say any more.
Priscilla had been compensated generously. She had initially tried to refuse getting paid, but she had accepted the money with bashful joy when Ianna had said that the dress wasn’t something that she could simply accept for free and would have definitely bought it with good money had the dress been out on the market.
Clatter clatter.
Ianna was currently riding in the Roberstein’s carriage. Cherno, Sarachè, Harchen, Ianna. There was a slightly awkward silence inside the carriage.
Ianna was looking out the window. They had apologized, and Ianna no longer held anything against them, but there was nothing that could be done about the fact that their hearts had grown distant and that Ianna had no intention of growing closer to them. She rather liked where they were right now —they could share important conversations without feeling worse afterword, and that was it.
The streets were vivid with the excitement of Founding Day and a banquet of roses, but the air was frozen and blue. Ianna figured that the commoners’ events that would be carried out in the evening would end in a success as she watched the kingdom’s flags and the rose decorations flutter in the winter breeze.
It was tradition to send up lanterns up into the sky at night on Founding Day to wish for good fortune and peace in the kingdom. The colorful lanterns would light up the sky like brilliant stars, and it was a spectacle that could only be seen once a year.
“You look lovely, Ianna.”
Harchen broke the ice with a compliment. Ianna, who had been thinking about a myriad of things as she stared out into the winter scenery outside the window, flinched.
Harchen, who had been studying at the Theodore Academy, was attending the party as well. It was better to attend the party on Founding Day if one didn’t have other pressing matters to attend to. Almost every noble in the kingdom attended the event, so it was a good way for nobles to greet one another.
Thank you, Ianna replied. She had no reason to reject him now. Harchen had done her absolutely no wrong in this life where she hadn’t poisoned Sarachè to death.
‘No, he never did anything wrong in my last life either.’
Rather, it was she who needed to apologize to him.
Harchen was not that old. He was barely four years her elder. He had been just twelve when his mother had been poisoned to death. He had lost his beloved mother at such a young age, and he had not had any choice but to hate Ianna for her part in his mother’s death. It had only been natural that he, the legitimate heir to the household, had been hostile to the daughter of the mistress who was trying to devour his household whole.
And he had died at Ianna’s hands at the end of his misfortunes.
Ianna had been living while being trapped in her own misfortunes, and it was only now, after she had finally grown past them, that she could look back and see that the pile of this family’s corpses, once strewn about like a pile of debris atop a ruin, had been caused by an immature child who had only wanted for love.
“Congratulations for debuting. This is for you.”
Ianna stared down at the single rose that Harhad was holding out to her.
Sarachè hadn’t died, and Harchen was acting as kindly to her as a real brother would. It had been Ianna who had unilaterally rejected him because she had not been able to break free of her past. He had not known how he was supposed to approach the younger girl who always coldly turned him down, so he had simply continued to simply give her flowers in silence.
But now that Ianna had torn down the high and sturdy walls around her heart, she was filled with not her selfish awkwardness nor her staunch refusal to even look at Harchen, whom she had personally murdered in the past, but with a stinging sense of guilt and a desire to apologize that roamed her heart like the fragrance of the tea Arhad brewed for her.
Our relationship probably would have been different if Lebony had given up on her love earlier, if I hadn’t clung so vehemently to vain love and ended up poisoning Sarachè to death because of it. At the very least, our relationship would not have taken a turn for the absolute worst.
The crimson rose that Harchen held out to her filled her vision vividly. She continued to stare at it as she thought,
‘As I’d thought —love is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.’
Ianna quickly shook her head after determining that she had ruminated over something senseless. The past was the past, and there was no use in imagining what could have happened.
Slowly, Ianna reached out.
“……Thank you.”
She accepted his flower for the first time ever. Harchen looked shocked for a moment before nodding back with a gentle smile on his face. Ianna placed the rose in her lap. Then, she returned her gaze to the world outside the window. Sarachè and Cherno’s countenances brightened as they watched the siblings interact.
Ianna had changed. She no longer rejected them like a sharpened blade, as if she had absolutely no intention of ever letting them in. Was it the people who had given her flowers on the last day of the fashion show and the handsome young man they had met during her break that had brought about the change? The young man had seemed to treasure Ianna dearly.
Sarachè smiled bitterly.
Ianna was a good child, and Sarachè had never really done anything for her because she had trusted that people would come to accept Ianna naturally with enough time. She had never in her wildest dreams thought that people were insulting Ianna so horribly. She would have definitely done something about it had she known.
She knew that it sounded like an excuse, but the servants had hushed things up and she truly hadn’t known about it because she was always left in her own little world as their Lady. Sarachè had known that the servants despised Ianna and that the people of her lands were reluctant to interact with Ianna, but she had simply opted to watch over the situation because she had never seen the insults being hurled at Ianna firsthand.
Those horrid insults had fallen upon Ianna like the blades of a guillotine during the fashion show. Sarachè had been so shocked as she watched it happen with her own eyes. Her mind would have gone blank, and Sarachè probably would have fled the scene had she been in Ianna’s place that day. But Ianna had simply stood there as if she was accustomed to the treatment. Which meant that she had always been enduring it. And it was only then that Sarachè had realized that something had long since gone horribly wrong.
She had entrusted everything to time, and she had believed that things would change naturally on their own. And Sarachè now knew just how irresponsible she had been. The opinions of others might someday change, but Ianna, the person at the center of the storm, had already been hurt. If she had truly meant to act in Ianna’s best interests, then she should have been strict about regulating the servants and the people and made them mind their words from the very beginning. Ianna had only been a child. At least one person should have acted as her shield and protected her, but no one had.
Sarachè was embarrassed. She had spoken about how she wanted to act in Ianna’s best interests, but she had ultimately done nothing.
‘So I at least have to do what I still can.’
Ianna had said with a clear light in her eyes that she would no longer harbor any lingering feelings in her heart about the matter when they had apologized. Which meant that there was no longer a point in apologizing to her with their words.
‘In that case, we’ll have to apologize with our actions instead.’
They had to apologize and ensure that no one could blame Ianna for their —the adults’— mistakes any longer. As a household, they would have to support Ianna in whatever it was that she wanted to do. And……they would have to disown her from the household, just as Ianna herself wanted.
Their relationship had already gone so wrong that there was no fixing it. Their relationship with Ianna had gone wrong since the very beginning, with their relationship with Lebony, Ianna’s mother, like a shirt that was buttoned wrong from the very first button, and it was not possible to rectify things without undoing everything first.
Perhaps undoing the buttons that had been fastened incorrectly also meant having to take the shirt off, but it was also the only way to put the shirt back on properly. The apology they had given Ianna was only the first button. They had to apologize for and remedy every wrong they had done to her, and the only way they could truly undo all the incorrectly fastened buttons was to let her go in the end.
Everything stemmed back to the beginning. Quiet peace would return to House Roberstein’s blues when the crimson that had been overshadowing it disappeared, and Ianna would shine brightly and take to the skies with newfound freedom when she was finally liberated from the blues that choked her. It was only right that their current relationship should end if Sarachè considered their respective identities and values.
‘How wonderful it would be if we could re-forge a new and better relationship afterward.’
The carriage arrived in front of the castle. The lazily setting sun was hanging over the castle’s peak. The stop in front of the castle gates were already littered with sparkling carriages even though they had not arrived late. The stablehands and servants were busily managing the carriages.
Ianna looked to the endless gardens and the colossal palace that stretched out before her on the other side of the window. The white palace walls were beautifully adorned with roses, decorations, and illuminated artefacts for Founding Day.
She had lived inside the palace like it was her own home in the past, but she felt a little awkward now because she hadn’t seen it in such a long while.
Cherno climbed down from the carriage first and escorted Sarachè out, and Harchen, too, extended his hand out toward Ianna after climbing out behind his parents. Ianna let out a soft sigh. And then, she took Harchen’s hand as she stepped down from the carriage.
The Founding Day party was to take place both indoors and outdoors. The party hall was built upon a foundation of white marble. There was a throne sitting at the very back of the hall with a large tapestry displaying the crest of Roanne hanging behind it, and the floor was covered by a harmony of geometrical tiles.
On the high ceiling and walls were murals and elegant sculptures, which blended in stylishly with the gold and silver, and the hall was lit up by crystal chandeliers hanging down from the ceiling.
The walls were lined with glass windows that could be opened if needed, each of which connected to a small terrace outside. The terrace was divided up by walls, and no one section of it could be seen from another.
The terrace offered a private space for nobles who had grown weary of the party. They could draw the curtains as they stepped inside if they wished not to be disturbed. The curtains were also drawn when lovers wanted to spend romantic times with each other. It was a tacit rule that others did not intrude when the curtains were drawn. On the other hand, stepping into the terrace without drawing the curtains was basically an open invitation saying, “I’m lonely, so please come and talk to me.” Seeing someone through the terrace windows and going to chat with them if they happened to catch the eye was one of the many pleasures that the nobility enjoyed at parties. There were even nobles who met each other for the first time in the terrace and drew the curtains to share their passionate love.
Though, there were still a few bold nobles who would knock on the door if someone whom they had been keeping an eye on entered the terrace and drew the curtains. It was the height of disgrace to ignore others, and the nobles on the terrace usually turned the intruder down courteously or even let them enter graciously because it required earnest sincerity to rudely break the tacitly understood rule.
The garden in front of the ornate hall was filled with roses that had been cultivated especially for Founding Day along with an assortment of other decorative plants, and it was beautiful.
The hall was more than large enough to receive all the nobles who would be attending the party, but it would be a shame not to enjoy the party outside as well, so the outdoors had also been equipped with tables covered with white tablecloth and chairs so that the scenic beauty could be enjoyed to the heart’s content. Parties that extended into outdoor gardens were welcomed by the nobility, as they could begin by enjoying the party indoors before moving outside to enjoy expensive wines poured out to them by the servants or delicious dishes cooked up by the royal chefs, exchange pleasant conversations with other nobles, and even dance to the atmospheric music that leaked out from inside the hall if they so wished.
Ianna walked on top of the long red carpet as she headed toward the brightly lit hall. Servants were busily confirming the nobles’ identities and checking off a list of names at the entrance to the hall. They bowed to the Robersteins from the waist in greeting.
“Welcome. Could you please identify yourselves?”
The servants gasped when Cherno pulled out his invitation and his house crest from his pocket. He was a big shot.
The Kingdom of Roanne had a lot of nobles, but that only held true for lower-ranking nobles like barons and viscounts —there was only a fixed number of high-ranking nobles ranked count and above. Aside from the reigning king’s brothers or the reigning’s queen’s husband consort, who received special status, there were only about fifty houses in Roanne that counted among the higher-ranking nobility.
The duchies of House Tarwitt, which had shared a long history with Roanne since times immemorial, House Winifried, and the more recently elevated House Solsavier held extensive territories within the kingdom.
Roanne’s marches included Houses Owen and Claude, two of the Five Founding Houses, Houses Tacitus and Menistry, which had become marches for the merits they had achieved during the war against Bahamut, and House Chaipan, which had been recently elevated from a county on account of the head of the household, Gellonian Chaipan, being known as the king’s sword.
Next, there were about thirty counties. Among them, House Roberstein was renown for having turned away from the prospect of wealth and honor by taking up roots in the countryside far away from the capital despite being one of the Five Founding Houses. It was the only county among the Five Founding Houses, but it boasted equal influence to any of the marches.
The other three-thousand or so nobles were either viscounts, barons, or baronets. All they could do was to stare at the high-ranking nobles in admiration because it was nigh impossible for them to elevate their station.
“Congratulations for debuting, dear lady dressed in white.”
Every young lady debuting at the Founding Day party was given a basket of roses cut straight from the royal gardens. The roses had been cultivated by the royal gardeners with great care, and the baskets, adorned with ribbons, were beautiful and in no way inferior to any other gift the young ladies might receive for their debut. Ianna placed the rose she had received from Harchen inside her basket.
“Presenting Count Roberstein and his family!”
There were a lot of nobles present, so the servants called out loudly using megaphone artefacts to announce each new arrival. The nobles in the hall turned to the entrance whenever the names of nobles they were interested in was called. And House Roberstein, which did not frequent the capital, was at the center of a lot of attention. The lion’s share of the nobles’ gazes fell on Ianna, who had never stepped into high society before.
“That young lady…….”
“Ianna Roberstein…….”
Ianna had been singled out as the symbol of House Roberstein’s immorality and disgrace from the very beginning. And the fact that she had personally murdered her own grandfather worsened her reputation even though Horby had been a commoner and had tried to kill her first.
She had become a topic for conversation for being admitted into the Institution’s Swordsmanship Department last year, and there had even been rumors circulating that she had been sold as a slave at one of the Black Fox’s slave auctions.
Then, she had become the star of the Institution’s school festival. It was surprising enough that she had won both the fashion show and the swordsmanship tournament, but more surprising was the fact that Schneider Lezè Roanne, one of the most powerful members of the royal family and an idol to the nobility, had eagerly tried to win her at the Swordsmanship Department auction. The fact that someone had out-bid Schneider and won her for 500,000 gold had been the talk of town for a while.
There were still a few people who stared at her with nasty gazes, but just the fact that Schneider had taken an interest in her alone had been more than enough to melt away most of the bad rumors surrounding her. Moreover, the head of House Roberstein had publicly acknowledged her as his daughter and had threatened any who would dare be rude to her, so Ianna had gained more than enough worth in the eyes of the nobility. Some nobles had begun cooking up political schemes to use her in, and others had begun considering marriages of convenience.
“They say her mother was beautiful enough to seduce any man, and her daughter’s no worse on the eyes…….”
Setting other rumors aside, Ianna Roberstein was just as lovely as the rumors painted her to be. Any young man who laid his eyes upon her could not tear his gaze away. She only appeared lovelier in their eyes as she kept her eyes down and gently walked along. If she had been an animal, then she surely would have been a coy and proud noble cat.
But those nobles who had seen her at the school festival could not help but take a second look. Was that girl really the same beautiful yet high-handed girl from the fashion show? Was she really the same swordswoman who had fought like a demon and had singlehandedly crushed all those powerful swordsmen?
She was still pretty, but she looked different from the beauty she had possessed at the school festival. Her eyes were still as red as rubies and her hair was still the same vivid crimson, but Ianna looked like any other noble girl when she wasn’t holding a sword.
The fact that the girl whom they had scorned for over a decade, the swordswoman who had shocked them with her outstanding skills at the school festival, was just a young lady who was only now coming of age hit them anew. Freed from scandal and with her sword down, Ianna was just another ordinary person.
What kind of person was she?
It was only then that people began to wonder who she was beneath the rumors and her skills.
The nobles who were on good terms with House Roberstein approached them when the Robersteins settled into the party.
“It’s been a while, Cherno.”
A middle-aged man with fine blond hair stepped forward and greeted Cherno with good cheer while the latter was exchanging greetings with other nobles.
“Mernov. It’s nice to see you so early into the party. I meant to visit you after the school festival, but you weren’t home?”
“I had to go east on urgent business.”
The man was Count Mernov Monovican, the head of House Monovican. He was Cherno’s good friend from their days in the Theodore Academy, and, unlike Cherno, he was a nobleman who engaged in politics in the capital while leaving his aides to manage his territory.
Mernov bowed his head to Sarachè.
“It’s been too long, my Lady. How have you been faring?”
“I am well enough to be outside all day. Thank you for worrying after me.”
Sarachè pulled up the edges of her skirt as she curtsied back. Mernov looked to Harchen for a moment when the latter greeted him before turning his eyes to Ianna, who was standing quietly behind her half-brother.
“I’ve seen Harchen quite often in the capital. And this child…….”
“Is my daughter, Ianna.”
Ianna flinched, still unaccustomed to hearing Cherno call her his daughter, but she curtsied quickly enough.
“I see. This is the first time I’ve seen you since you were just a babe.”
“……It’s an honor to meet you, Count Monovican.”
Ianna looked away immediately after extending her greetings because she felt uneasy.
Mernov Monovican.
He had despised Ianna after she slaughtered House Roberstein and succeeded the name, and he had died at her hands when Schneider usurped the throne because he had sided with Fernando out of his hatred for her.
Mernov had cursed her viciously until the moment he had died. But now, he was smiling fondly at her, unable to remember any of the past.
“She seems quite shy —contrary to what the rumors say?”
“Not at all. She’s probably a little awkward because your face is so oily.”
“What was that? How could you say that about a face as handsome as mine —are you trying to challenge me to a duel, you bookworm?”
Mernov pretended to be angry for a moment before he smiled again and turned to Ianna.
“I’ve heard much about her. Why didn’t you send her to the Theodore Academy?”
“My daughter insisted on going to Valgenta. And I’m sure you already know how well she’s doing there, considering that you live here in the capital.”
“She’s a unique little girl. No, I should call her a young lady now.”
Mernov gestured to his servant, who had been roaming the area while holding onto a rose, and took it from him. Then, he held it out to Ianna. He continued,
“You’ve grown up to be beautiful. Congratulations for debuting into high society. I’ve prepared a rose to congratulate you with.”
Ianna stared holes into the rose that Mernov was holding.
“Your father is a good friend of mine, so feel free to ask for my assistance should you ever find yourself in trouble.”
Mernov showed no signs of being repulsed by Ianna. He actually seemed rather fond of her. After all, his good friend did not detest her, Ianna was a top student at the Institution, and Prince Schneider himself had taken an interest in her.
“Thank you.”
Ianna accepted Mernov’s rose. She realized that she, too, must surely only be human. The past had been erased and she had resolved not to let herself be tied down to it, and yet she was still letting herself be bogged down. How nice would it be if hearts could be moved on command?
Now that she thought about it, there was no reason for her to feel so uneasy —she may have slit his throat in her last life, but he alive and well in this one.
Ianna braced herself as she recalled her resolve and she relaxed her shoulders as she turned to Mernov. Mernov’s eyes took on a color of intrigue as he saw her take on a bolder attitude.
“It’s been a while, Lord Harchen.”
“You’re as beautiful as ever, Lady Sarachè. How are you faring?”
“Is the lovely lady standing beside you your much-rumored younger sister?”
“Congratulations for debuting, Lady Roberstein.”
“Won’t you please tell me more about the Institution?”
“How did you come to wield the sword?”
Other nobles began striking conversations with Sarachè, Harchen, and Ianna as Cherno conversed with Mernov. They were mainly interested in Ianna. Sarachè and Harchen stayed next to her, worried that she might feel burdened because she had never had to deal with so many other nobles before.
But their worries were entirely unfounded. Ianna had been harassed dreadfully by these very same nobles in the past, and she had grown deft at dealing with them. The only difference was that they were now treating her with intrigue instead of contempt.
‘They’re treating me so differently than they did in the past.’
Ianna scoffed internally as she watched the young noblemen treat her in a completely different manner than they had in her past. She saw several other young ladies wearing white here and there. Their faces were filled with envy and jealousy, as everyone wanted to be at the center of attention when they debuted.
Ianna wished for the royal family and Princess Angelina to hurry up and make their appearance already so the party could finally begin. Angelina would become the center of everyone’s attention when she appeared, which meant that Ianna could finally stop dealing with this tedious chore.
Ianna was planning to dance with the people whom she had already promised to dance with and entertain a few additional requests before using the excuse that she was tired to retire to the garden and spend the rest of her time at the party there. She would participate in parties because she had promised to, but she had no intention of getting to know any of the nobles too well.
“Little Ianna!”
she heard a familiar voice call out to her. Ianna, who had been hard at work hiding how bored she was while brusquely participating in conversation, quickly turned around. She saw Herrace coming over to her while holding a rose. He beamed, unable to hide how happy he was to see her.
“Wow, you look lovely. You’re blinding. Congratulations on debuting!”
Then, a man walked over and scolded Herrace something fierce. He had a respectable mustache, a sturdy nose, stark eyebrows, and an overall stern air about him, and his brown eyes left an impression on Ianna.
“Your tone is one thing, but have you forgotten that you’re supposed to greet the Count first? It looks like attending the Institution has caused you to forget how to act like a proper noble.”
“I’m sorry, Father.”
The man was Herrace’s father, Viscount Torque Bendham.
House Bendham had no territory of their own, but the house was not one to be made light of. They were a house of royalists to the core who had sworn fealty to the royal family for generations, and the current head of the house, Torque, was a trusted knight to the reigning king, Harios Maxium Roanne. They were famous for the style of swordplay named after the house, and the Knights of Bendham was among the best knight orders in the kingdom and was swarmed by hopeful knights and soldiers every recruitment season.
Torque turned to Cherno and Mernov and bowed his head.
“It’s been a while, Lord Cherno. I trust you’ve been well?”
“But of course, Torque. And I see that you’re the same as ever. Is your son friends with Ianna?”
“I hear that they are classmates in the Institution. I am glad to finally meet you, Lady Roberstein. My name is Torque Bendham, and I am father to both Herrace and Travis.”
Ianna curtsied back when Torque bowed to Ianna in greeting.
“May the bright light of Laos be with you. I am greatly indebted to Sir Herrace for being my friend.”
“Please forgive my discourtesy for not greeting you first, Count Roberstein —I was too glad to see Lady Ianna here that I forgot myself.”
Cherno slowly shook his head no as he accepted Herrace’s apology. Herrace smiled as he gave Ianna a rose.
“Congratulations again for debuting, Lady Ianna. You’re as beautiful today as you always are.”
Ianna accepted the flower with a word of thanks. Then, another familiar face walked up to her from behind Torque. He was accompanied by a middle-aged woman in a fancy dress, and they both stopped next to Torque and bowed to Cherno from their waists.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Count Roberstein.”
“And you are?”
“I am a son of House Bendham, and my name is Travis. I am also a student at the Institution, and I am greatly indebted to Lady Roberstein’s kindness. It has been a while, my Lady.”
Ianna returned Travis’ poised greeting with one of her own. Torque looked between both of his sons before intoning and nodding in apparent satisfaction.
“Travis, is this the young lady you mentioned before?”
“Yes, Mother.”
The middle-aged woman, who had been watching over them from behind, stepped forward.
“My name is Ceciliss Bendham, and I have been tasked with managing our household.”
Ceciliss stared at Ianna with open displeasure. Travis had praised Ianna, but she did not like the girl for having covered her precious son in wounds and forcing him to lock himself up in his room for months. She did her best not to let her emotions show, but she could not help that words were a little thorny.
“Oh, this is where you were.”
Filliger Ashltondt and Gellonian Chaipan came up to them and greeted Ianna warmly next. Other nobles froze up stiff as influential figures took to the stage. They were the king’s sword and shield. The former head of House Ashltondt, who was also the former general of the royal guard, and Marquis Chaipan, who had been elevated to the position from the station of a count, were two of Roanne’s strongest swordsmen.
“Good evening, Marquis Chaipan, Professor Filliger. May the bright light of Laos be with you.”
“Congratulations for debuting, Lady Ianna. There’s a slightly different air about you today than when I last saw you in the Institution. You’re very lovely.”
Gellonian Chaipan looked content as he kissed Ianna on the back of her hand after she had straightened herself out from her curtsy. Other nobles held their breaths as they watched him treat Ianna with such respect.
Gellonian presented her a rose.
“Congratulations for debuting into high society. I’m told that you’re very free-spirited in nature —you must find all this pomp rather stifling.”
She was being treated as somewhat of a tomboy, but Ianna simply accepted his rose and smiled because there was no malice in his words.
“I most certainly do. I truly wasn’t made for events like this, so I might make myself scarce partway through the party.”
“I see, I see. But do make sure you only run away after sharing a dance with me. I’m very much looking forward to dancing with a young and beautiful lady like yourself!”
“You’ve grown foolish with age……. I pray that you don’t mind him, Miss Ianna. Gellonian is a devoted husband who’s wrapped around his wife’s little finger when he’s back at home. Oh, I should be addressing you as Lady Ianna while we’re here. Congratulations for debuting.”
Filliger chided Gellonian a little before gifting Ianna a rose as well.
“I didn’t mind at all. Thank you, Professor.”
“Oh, I’ve finally found you.”
The nobles at the party began talking amongst themselves when they saw an elderly man with a long white beard, a middle-aged man, and a man wearing a robe approach Ianna’s group.
The first of the three was Heinrich, the dean of the Valgenta Institution and one of the Ten Archmages, whom any citizen of Roanne could identify at a first glance.
He had cast aside his previous title —he was from a minor noble house in the countryside— to freely travel the world and research magic, and he had come back to the kingdom as the Institution’s dean only after his entire family had died untimely deaths and several years had passed. The Kingdom of Roanne had tried to reinstate him as a noble, but he had refused. Which was why his authority could not be ignored despite his commoner status.
“Lord Heinrich.”
“It’s been a while, Torque. I’ve been too busy to visit your home.”
Torque bowed to Heinrich politely. Heinrich was his late father-in-law’s elder brother, but he regarded Heinrich as his father-in-law because his late wife had regarded Heinrich as her father. Moreover, he was one of the Ten Archmages of the continent. And he was House Bendham’s steadfast ally.
“Oho, Little Ianna. You’re a snow fairy today, I see! It’s a very different look from the last time I saw you, when you were more reminiscent of hot magma, but this new looks suits you just as well!”
said the flippant middle-aged man standing next to Heinrich with his blond and grey hair swept back neatly. He was wearing a tidy scarlet robe and looked different from the last time Ianna had seen him —he had been more disheveled then— but his attitude hadn’t changed at all.
“Lord Maimayè. Have you been well?”
People had been staring closely, wondering who it was that was being so rude to Ianna, and they tilted their heads to the side in confusion when they heard his familiar yet unfamiliar name —only to realize who he was upon seeing that Heinrich was standing next to him. And they were astonished.
He was Maimayè Leviagè, the master of the Magic Tower of Fire in the Kingdom of Vampirka and Heinrich’s fellow archmage!
“The king of Roanne even extended me an invitation because his daughter was debuting today. I was going to ignore it since it was too much of a bother, but I changed my mind when I heard that you’d be debuting as well, Little Ianna. Here you go —it’s a gift from me.”
Pop.
Something popped out from Maimayè’s hands. He was holding a crooked green stick. It almost looked like a green stem that had lost its flower. Maimayè held it out toward Ianna.
“What is this?”
Ianna stared at it without accepting it, unsure of what it was, when Maimayè smirked.
“Bloom,”
he whispered, and a small pinch of mana gathered at the end of the stick and blossomed into a flame. The flame grew in size, like a bunch of fireflies gathering together, until it grew into a large blaze. The shimmering blaze took on the shape of a rose.
“It’s a flamerose, made especially for you. I’m a very romantic old man, you see.”
Maimayè offered it to Ianna. Ianna studied the flamerose in her hand with great curiosity. Maimayè continued,
“Hanidelf and I worked hard to make it. You just need to say, “Bloom,” if you want to see the rose, and you only need say “Wilt,” if you want to turn it off.”
“Wilt,” Ianna muttered. And the flames vanished into smoke and only the stem was left behind.
“Isn’t it cool?”
“It’s perfect for a torch,”
said Heinrich drearily as he watched over them from the side. Maimayè began grumbling with indignation.
“Goodness, Mr. Heinrich! How could you call this amazing work of art a mere torch?!”
“Thank you, Lord Maimayè. I’ll be sure to treasure it.”
“A-ahem. I’m glad you like it, Little Ianna.”
Ianna studied the green stick with interest for a moment longer before putting into her basket with the rest of the flowers.
Every noble in her immediate surroundings was staring at her. They all wondered who she was and how she knew such important figures so well. The king’s sword and shield, as well as two archmages…
Swish…….
Then, the nobles gasped as the man standing behind Heinrich and Maimayè pulled back his hood.
Ianna, who had been organizing her basket, looked up. She was alarmed upon seeing the man, who was staring openly back at her with his turbid eyes.
His eyelashes lowered and his sharp eyes narrowed as he smiled charmingly as soon as their eyes had met. All the other women, who had not been able to take their eyes off him ever since he had taken off his hood, immediately blushed. But Ianna, who received the full brunt of his smile from up close, stiffened up instead.
Why are you here?
Ianna asked with only her lips, hiding her sudden uneasiness, prompting Arhad to shrug and turn away. Ianna glared at him as he avoided her censure. He had no reason to be here —in fact, he couldn’t be here.
Most of the people present were nobles, and only powerful commoners who were either famous merchants or high-ranking mages —both were practically treated as nobles— could be invited here.
Those attending the Founding Day party would have their identities checked, and they could not wear masks inside the venue. Which meant that Arhad had exposed his eye-catching appearance to be here. He was supposed to be in hiding —so why was he showing off his good looks, the likes of which was difficult to find even amongst the nobility?
‘He’s not here because of me, is he?’
A part of her wondered if she was being narcissistic, but Arhad’s previous actions also told her that her hypothesis was well-founded. She planned to give him a piece of her mind if he truly had come here just for her. Just how brazen did he have to be to mingle with the nobles of a kingdom that would one day be his enemy? Nothing good would come of his gaining the nobles’ attention.
“Little Arhad?”
Filliger was a little surprised to see Arhad, a commoner, at the party, but then he remembered that Arhad seemed to have deep ties with Heinrich. Heinrich had asked Filliger to excuse Arhad’s absences in class on multiple occasions. It was probably Heinrich who had brought him here.
Arhad gave Filliger a brief greeting, to which Filliger nodded back.
Cherno and Sarachè, who had already met Arhad once after the Institution’s closing ceremony, was curious as to his social status because he was attending the party, but they decided not to pay him any mind because they recalled how thorny Ianna had been as she warned them not to ask about him or take an interest in him.
Just then, the trumpets sounded.
“Presenting His Royal Majesty the King!”
Out came an imposing man with jewels embedded into his long mantle. Every nobleman in the hall placed a hand on the left side of their chests while the noblewomen curtsied, and everyone bowed from the waist.
“We greet the sun of Roanne.”
Harios Maxium Roanne.
He was the reigning king of Roanne. The king, dressed extravagantly in jewels, walked across the luxurious red carpet that had been laid out for him as though it was parting the seas as he made his way over to where the tapestry was.
Ianna observed him with her head down. His beard, which came down to his chest, indicated his age, and no amount of glamor could hide the deep wrinkles of his skin. The dark color of his lips, the beads of sweat forming on his forehead even though it was winter, and his large belly, fat with all the greasy foods he ate, showed how poor his health was.
Harios would pass away from his chronic illness in five years. Ianna thought he had done well to even last that long, considering how he was looking now.
Behind him was the queen, Muziniel Roanne, hand in hand with the eight-year-old prince, Linus Muziniel Roanne.
The powerful Queen Roanne de Roanne had been born with beautiful silver hair and silver eyes, and with her dying breath she had declared that her kingdom would be led by those who shared her likeliness. Accordingly, only those members of the royal family with silver hair and silver eyes had the right to succeed the throne.
The people had no complaints regarding the matter. They had loved their queen and had loved and taken great pride in her silvery appearance, and so the rare silver colors had become as a distinct feature of the Roanne royal family.
Moreover, those who had inherited a lot of Queen Roanne de Roanne’s blood were born with an innate talent in controlling mana, so the people of Roanne, which had been at war until only twenty years ago, welcomed their rulers’ silvery colors.
Muziniel Roanne had nearly been deposed for not being able to carry out her duties as queen and giving birth to an heir because she had only two daughters who were not silver in appearance despite her longstanding relationship with the king.
The title of crown prince had been passed over to the first prince, Fernando, because no one had thought the queen could give birth to a son at her age. And so, Fernando and Schneider had begun their war of succession.
But the queen’s forces had joined the fight when Muziniel had given birth to Linus, a prince with radiant silver hair and eyes, eight years ago. The forces within Roanne had split into three.
Fernando Luria Roanne, who was guarding his seat as the crown prince, Schneider Lezè Roanne, who had the support of much of the people and the nobility, and Linus Muziniel Roanne, who was young but had the most legitimacy.
The royal court was being filled with the bleak greed of those who lusted for power as the wrinkles on the king’s face only deepened.
Behind the queen was the younger and more beautiful first royal concubine, Luria Roanne, who looked like a man-eating snake who could devour any man and then some, and the second royal concubine, Lezè Roanne, who was just as beautiful as Luria and appeared strong-willed.
Following them was the crown prince, Fernando Luria Roanne, the second prince, Schneider Lezè Roanne, and the third prince, Saiwè Luria Roanne. Then came Lyxillia Muziniel Roanne, whose glowing blond hair was adorned with jewels, and the beautiful Angelina Muziniel Roanne, whose silver hair was done in a braid.
The king sat down with grandeur when he reached the throne.
“Today is Founding Day, the very day that our first ruler, Roanne de Roanne, founded the Kingdom of Roanne. Dashnit, speak.”
The king’s aide, Viscount Dashnit, who had his mustache styled fashionably on both sides, began reciting the royal family’s history. He recited every important event in the Kingdom of Roanne’s thousand-year history like he was reading aloud an epic.
“The wicked Bahamut Empire’s invasion ended after His Royal Majesty Harios Maxium Roanne ascended the throne.”
It had been a long and cruel war. And it had been almost a millennium since the first battle had broken out between the two nations.
Barbarians from the North had invaded the South, jealous of the South’s warm sun and fertile lands, ever since the dawn of the Age of Magic when the founding queen had first come to power. But they had been repelled mercilessly and had failed to win a single thing. And yet, they had not been the Bahamut Empire.
It had only been after, when borders had been established between the kingdoms and the madness of war had begun fading away from the continent, that Bahamut had raised her flag, calling herself the empire of the North, and declared that she would subjugate the South —the lands overflowing with milk and honey. It was then that the Bahamut Empire, which had taken in the barbarians and minority peoples of the North and devoured her neighboring kingdoms, had begun the ages-long war.
The war had paused during rainy seasons or harvest seasons, but the peace had only been temporary. The Bahamut Empire reorganized her forces and invaded the South several times a year.
The past twenty years, during which Bahamut hadn’t initiated even the smallest of disputes, were a first. And awkward but warm breeze had blown over the Kingdom of Roanne, which had never known the stench of blood to stop or the cries of those who had lost loved ones quiet until then. And along with it had come the winds of luxury.
“This is proof that the God Laos is watching over His Royal Majesty Harios Maxium Roanne. The people have danced and sung with joy ever since His Majesty ascended the throne, and our kingdom has prospered and flourished to the point that we cannot even begin to be compared with our neighbors. All of this was made possible only because of His Majesty’s grace.”
The speech ended as Harios stood up. The praises were showered upon him on Founding Day every year, but Harios still looked rather pleased with himself nonetheless.
“May Roanne last for all eternity!”
“Long live the king!”
The nobles cheered as they broke into applause, drunk on the atmosphere. The commotion fell into silence once the king had clapped twice.
“Today is Founding Day, but it is also the day that my beautiful daughter Angelina makes her debut into high society.”
Angelina walked elegantly up to her father as Harios gestured to her. She was so beautiful that no one would object if she was called an angel who had descended from the heavens. Her face was pale and petite, and her features were delicate. Her slender lines were so seemingly fragile that she looked like she would break if she was hit. Her sapphire eyes swayed like the sea beneath her long lashes. Blue eyes were not a characteristic of the royal family, but they suited her noble silver hair very well. Her hair was done in a loose braid, and her dress had translucent diamonds on it that looked like droplets of water —she was as lovely and as beautiful as a fairy.
“You will spare not your laughter and devotion as you celebrate my daughter this day.”
The king extended a hand out to his daughter, who was a pure as a lily of the valley, and she bashfully placed her hand on top of his.
“May the Queen bless my daughter and all the other noble ladies making their debut! Let the party begin!”
The entire dance hall breathed in anticipation as the king proclaimed, and the orchestra, which had been ready to display their abilities, began playing a beautiful tune.
“Have your first dance with me, Angelina.”
“Yes, Lord Father.”
Today was Princess Angelina’s day. Young men flocked to her eagerly to dance with her after the king. The lovely Angelina was on the passive side, but even she could not hide how excited she was.
The people forgot that they too were supposed to be dancing as they watched her dance circles with the king. There was a reason why Angelina was called the most beautiful girl in the world. There was no flaw in her background, and she deserved to be called the flower of Roanne alongside Lilith Tarwitt, the daughter of Duke Tarwitt.
Oh, I’ll be blessed for the rest of the year if I could only place my lips on her dainty hand. The lovely princess is the star of today’s party!
Ianna was not called a flower of society because of the unusual rumors surroundings her, her peculiar views on femininity, and her flawed background. House Roberstein was a renowned house, but Ianna’s position in it was too delicate for high society to warmly welcome her as a flower.
Ianna would have been the star of the party regardless of her reputation if it wasn’t for Angelina, but the nobles chose to pay more attention to the debut of the beautiful princess of honorable blood.
But Angelina was only a princess and a flower. The trees surrounding her would revere her and praise her for her beauty, but the more realistic young men with a good sense for aesthetics would focus on Ianna instead.
Such young men had already long since scrutinized Ianna from head to toe. If the princess was a white doe, then Ianna was a white cat. Ianna looked coy at even a first glance, unlike the more docile princess, and she was so captivating that the young men could not help but imagine her in their beds.
Yes. Indeed. Ianna was a proud and noble cat when she was being gentle, but…….
The young men gulped. There was an intense pressure coming off from Ianna as she glared daggers at a man so attractive that the other men couldn’t even find it in themselves to be envious. It was like the cat had disappeared and transformed into a lithe white tiger. She was a dangerous woman who would rip out their throats and fling them aside if they should ever dare throw her on their beds.
But she was charming even still, and some men grew competitive and began wanting to try to break her with their military might.
“…….”
Ianna was not happy about how their gazes had fallen away from her like wilting leaves. It had happened only because Arhad had walked up to her as soon as the orchestra had begun playing before any other man could even take their first step toward her.
“Why are you here?”
“Because I wanted to dance with you.”
“Sigh…….”
Arhad had replied as if he was only repeating the obvious. Ianna had thought that she was being narcissistic, but he had actually come here because of her. She did not hide how absurd she thought he was being.
“Only nobles and those who were specially invited otherwise can attend this party. So how did you, a commoner, get inside?”
Quietly, Arhad whispered,
“I came here as the adopted son of Viscount Callisto, a minor noble from the countryside. My current set-up is that I was a commoner all my life and was only recently adopted into a noble house. A spectacular lie that anyone would fall for.”
He wouldn’t have set all this up just to be here today, right……? Ianna thought, but then she realized that Arhad was prone to breaking her expectations. And she was certain he had done it again. Ianna sighed yet once more.
“Don’t you need to stay in hiding?”
“I won’t stand out when there are so many people around.”
“With your looks? There are so many people staring at you even as we speak.”
Arhad, who had taken Ianna’s thorny words as a gentle compliment, reached out to her. She stared down at his white glove, which was waiting only for her hand to rest on his, before tearing him apart thoroughly with her eyes. His suit, while tidy, would have made any other nobleman a laughingstock for dressing too simply had they been wearing it, but all those flaws seemed to disappear because it was Arhad. His fine black hair fell over his forehead, there was a weight to his subdued golden eyes, his brows were thick, and the corners of his eyes looked a little bored.
The bold lines that formed his figure gave Arhad the impression of a proud aristocrat.
‘Oh.’
Ianna realized it anew now that she saw him not in casual clothes or the Institution uniform but looking more aristocratic than any other in the midst of high society.
Indeed, he was always lax when he was alone together with her, but he was also the emperor of the North who was nobler and prouder than any other.
“Ianna.”
The enemy ruler who had called her name so ardently. There had once been a black-colored man who had called her name with such yearning. And he had tried to coax her so desperately into coming to his side with a face that looked exactly like the face of the man standing before her now.
He had tried to appease her for three years, and then Bahamut had waged war soon after Schneider had usurped the throne. And then, seven years had passed…….
“Ianna, you…”
The battlefield reeked of blood. And on the other side of a soldier who had been mercilessly cut down had stood that man.
That man, who had stood within a sea of blood. That man, who had been as black as dried blood yet also as conspicuous as the golden full moon.
His emotions had seemed to wax and wane.
“What are you, Ianna?”
That man, who had jumped down from his panting steed and made his way to her as she glared daggers at him, who had carried a madness inside him that was more frightening than the madness of war, had reached out to her.
“Ianna, what are you to me that I……?!”
Why were you so……?
“My Lady, won’t you grant me the honor of your first dance instead of staring down at my glove so?”
Ianna, who had been staring at his hand, snapped back to her senses.
It wasn’t crimson. It was white.
Fool. Who am I trying to recall when the real man is standing before me? Ianna shook her head to clear her thoughts, and it was only then that she realized that Arhad was still holding his hand out to her.
“……Are you seriously here only to dance with me?”
“To be exact, I am here to ask for your first dance.”
Ianna’s ears flushed slightly red. She thought he was being foolish, but she didn’t dislike the fact that Arhad had wanted to ask for her first dance even if it meant making an unreasonable decision and putting up with the fact he would have to appear before the nobles.
“Pft.”
She laughed. She figured that she had no choice but to dance with him. Putting aside the fact that she wanted to chide him for his sudden actions, she had realized that there was a part of her that was happy he had declared he was here just to have her first dance.
Now that she thought about it, she should be honored to share her first dance with the man who was to be the emperor of the Bahamut Empire one day regardless of whether she was being forced into it or otherwise.
Ianna slowly reached out to him. She touched his hand gently, like a butterfly landing on a flower. Arhad stared at Ianna’s hand in his with ecstasy in his eyes. He squeezed her hand for a moment before pulling her close.
Ianna’s heels clicked loudly against the floor when Arhad pulled her close as they stood in the middle of the hall with other nobles dancing around them. He squeezed her hand tight in his left and placed his right hand gracefully behind her left shoulder blade. Their bodies entwinned together as if in an embrace.
Ianna looked past Arhad’s shoulder. She was tall for a girl and she was wearing heels as high as two of her fingers together were wide, and yet she still had to look up at him.
Ianna placed her free hand above Arhad’s elbow and under his deltoids. She felt his sturdy frame, hidden by his clothes, beneath her fingers.
“I might step on you. I’m not used to dancing,”
Ianna whispered and she wrapped herself gently around his arm. It had been a truly long time since she had last danced in high society instead of dancing like the way she had learned as an elective when she had been younger. She decided to put her worries behind her and concentrate on dancing.
“Step as much as you’d like.”
Ianna smiled a little when Arhad replied generously. Her smile lingered in his eyes.
“Idiot. I might accidentally dig into your foot with my heels.”
Ianna turned her head slightly to the side as she posed herself in a typical waltz. Arhad, who was still looking forward, stole a glance at how her crimson hair, which had been done up, was starting to get a little messy.
His gaze brushed over the lines of her chin, up to the crimson lines of her lips, and up to the bridge of her nose as if he was stroking her with his fingers.
Ianna still had her head turned slightly to the side when her gaze fell upon him like falling rubies. Arhad’s golden eyes, filled with a melancholy obsession, and Ianna’s red ones, filled with a drowsy smile, tangled into each other to the tune of the waltz they were dancing.
“Look over there.”
Those nobles who weren’t dancing were observing those who were and they gossiped about the people who stood out to them. Ianna and Arhad were a couple who stood out for obvious reasons on that front.
“Who is that young man? There’s no way his looks would have escaped my notice. This is my first time seeing him.”
“He was accompanied here by Lords Maimayè and Heinrich. Perhaps he’s affiliated with House Bendham?”
“But Viscount Bendham doesn’t seem to know him either.”
“It looks like he’s close with the young lady of House Roberstein.”
Many young women had flushed as soon as they had laid their eyes on Arhad, much like how the men had greedily wanted to make a move on Ianna.
He looked like a character from a romance novel. The way that the aristocratic yet stoic man looked feverishly only at the one girl currently in his arms, the way he seemed to look to her as if she was the most beautiful thing in the world, and the way he was subtly sensual despite the fact that he seemed to have no lewd intentions at all made their legs go weak.
The young women might have fainted in his arms, unable to endure his passion, had they been the girl he was dancing with. Their bodies shivered in delight just by imagining his gaze pouring over their face and figures, just by fantasying the touch of his rough hands.
But, how on earth was that girl able to withstand his gaze as if it was nothing? She was no ordinary girl.
‘One, two.’
Ianna stepped calmly in only the directions that Arhad led her because she wasn’t accustomed to dancing. She focused hard as her feet threatened to tangle up, but she still ended up stepping on Arhad anyway.
“……!”
Ianna lost her balance because she had moved her foot off of him too quickly in her alarm. But she avoided making a fool of herself because Arhad grabbed her tightly. Her ears flushed red in embarrassment.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s really rare to see you slip up like this. It’s all right —I don’t mind if you step on me again.”
Arhad was smiling leisurely even though it had most definitely hurt because Ianna had put her weight into that step. Her eyes grew only redder. Is this man some kind of pervert who enjoys pain, or is he just teasing me? It’s probably the latter. Her chagrin showed a little on her face.
“Are you teasing me right now? I dislike making mistakes,”
Ianna said before she redoubled her concentration on her footwork. Arhad lowered his gaze and looked into her face.
“I’ve been thinking this for a while now, but you dislike making mistakes to the point it even seems obsessive. You’re trying too hard to be perfect. Isn’t it exhausting?”
Ianna pondered for a moment before replying,
“I’m all right, as I dislike making mistakes more than the exhaustion. I don’t know about anything else, but I would like to execute the tasks entrusted to me with nothing short of perfection.”
She didn’t know when it was that she had stared hating making mistakes. Her mind swam through her past as they danced in circles.
Her teachers had whipped her fiercely whenever she had made a mistake when she was young. Back in those days, she had tried to be perfect so that no one could criticize her flaws, so that people would acknowledge her.
Ianna had never forgiven herself for making mistakes ever since she was young. She had focused only on tempering and polishing herself after she had given up on love. Every mistake she made caused her to be disappointed in herself. And Ianna hated feeling that way. She had to be strong, and those feelings were too difficult for her to bear.
“I suppose I’m like this because I’ve always been this way since I was younger.”
Arhad listened quietly as Ianna mixed together parts of her childhood from both her past and current lives as she spoke.
“I am satisfied with the person I am today. I’m not too bad the way I am now, wouldn’t you agree? If I’m perfect, then I won’t bring needless trouble onto others.”
She particularly didn’t want to make any mistakes in front of Arhad. Ianna had become much more reluctant to make mistakes after the Keigus incident a few months ago where she had realized just how much she wanted to look good in front of Arhad.
She wanted be of assistance to him. She would serve him as her king, and she would be as his capable hands and feet. She wanted to be someone worthy of Arhad’s sincerity. She wanted to be someone outstanding enough to satisfy his standards and then some. She wanted to grow more perfect so that he would want her more.
Do you know how I feel right now?
“And so, I dislike making mistakes.”
Ianna stepped on Arhad’s foot yet again. Her expression crumbled. Arhad broke out in laughter as she stepped on him. Ianna continued,
“It looks like I’ll have to practice dancing. It’s one thing that I’ll lose face if I keep stepping on my partner like this, but their feet won’t last for long if this keeps up. I don’t exactly enjoy dancing, but I’ll probably have more reason to have to dance going forward.”
“Would you like to practice with me? I’d like to be the only one to see your mistakes.”
Ianna pursed her lips. Did Arhad like seeing her all shabby and mortified? It was embarrassing. Ianna turned her head to look at Arhad in discontent.
“You look like you’re having so much fun. It’s quite mean of you.”
“I won’t deny it. But do you know why I enjoy watching you slip up?”
Arhad asked as he pulled her in closer. He continued,
“It’s because it means there are cracks in your armor when you make mistakes, and it gives me the chance to help you.”
Ianna made a strange face.
“I don’t understand. Wouldn’t it be better if I was more competent? You need me, and I want to support you. Which means that I must not slip up and accidentally bring you trouble. Why are you happy to have the chance to help me?”
“I like to give. But there’s little that I can do for you if you’re too perfect. To be honest, I’d like it if you needed me more……whether it be in the form of money, things, or cleaning up after you. What I’m trying to say is that you needn’t drive yourself so hard just to aid me. You can just be at ease.”
Ianna’s facial expression grew stranger still, but Arhad didn’t notice. He continued,
“I invited you into my fold because I like talking with you, because I wanted to watch you enjoy yourself as you trained with your sword. You don’t need to be capable or perfect when you’re with me. I…….”
Arhad whispered to her,
“What I want, is you yourself.”
“……!”
Ianna’s heart skipped a beat.
“I fell for the sword you are.”
The sincerity in his whispers was not unlike the sincere confession he had given her the day after she had injured herself while trying to control divine power. Why was it? She found it difficult to breathe, as if she had been hit in the stomach with an iron rod. Something wriggled unpleasantly in the corner of her heart. It surged up to her throat and choked her.
‘I don’t need to be capable? Is he trying to say that I don’t need to wield the sword?’
But unlike the thrill and joy she had felt back then, what Ianna felt now was incredible unease. For some reason, Arhad’s heart, which had seemed like it would want her eternally when he wanted her sword, now felt as fickle as a scrap of paper that could blow away readily with the slightest breeze.
‘What worth do I have if not for my sword?’
Ianna lost her confidence for the first time in her life when her sword was separated from her ego.
She wasn’t able to respond, and Ianna had the chance to reflect on herself as she was assaulted by strange sense of stubbornness and revulsion. The thoughts that had been filling her head without her notice had started flowing violently in one direction.
No, you have to want me because I’m capable. Or else a small fault will appear in the perfect relationship we share now. You cherish me almost recklessly for now, but you might change your mind.
No, you must never change.
I don’t even want to give you the option to change.
Something that had been hiding as if it had never been there to begin with pushed out from her heart and gushed with anxiety. The blood drained from Ianna’s face as something unknown to her made her nervous. She didn’t want to learn what that something was, so she turned away from her heart as she said,
“Didn’t you want to keep me as your retainer? Was it not my sword that you needed?”
Arhad, who had been about to refute her, stiffened up when he saw how strangely she was acting. Ianna continued,
“I want to be someone you need for my strength.”
Ianna returned to standard pose she was supposed to be in for the waltz. She avoided Arhad’s gaze as she gracefully turned her head to look over his shoulder.
“If it’s not because I wield my sword well that you need me, if you’re only trying to keep my at your side because you simply liked me as a person, then what will you do if you suddenly tire of my sword or my personality one day?”
“…….”
“If that happens, and you don’t need my sword anymore, then will you simply let me go even if I find myself a new liege to serve……?”
Arhad’s grip on her hand tightened harshly just then. Ianna scowled and stopped talking for a moment because he had gripped her hand so tight she thought he might crush her bones, and he only relaxed his grip after their feet had stopped moving.
“Look at me.”
Ianna’s thoughts stopped processing because it had all happened so suddenly, and he abruptly grabbed her by the chin and pulled as she looked to him. Ianna looked back at him in the heat of the moment, alarmed, and flinched. There was an incredible amount of rage in his frozen gaze.
“Why are you saying that?”
Bewildered, Ianna thought back on what she had said and tried to figure out what exactly it was that had infuriated him so. Was he angry that she had suggested that he might change his mind? Was that really something he needed to be so angry over?
It wasn’t as if she had ignored his sincerity. All she was trying to ask was that he need her sword and maintain the perfect relationship they shared now, because she couldn’t know if and when his sincerity would extinguish.
“Do you want me to let you go? Are you regretting the fact that you swore your oath to me? Are you already dreaming of a different future?”
“No, that’s not what I meant, I just…….”
Ianna was bewildered and tried to justify herself. But she trailed off because she did not know how to put her anxiety into words.
She felt as though she must never say it out loud. She felt as though she would be forced to confront something inside herself that she didn’t want to face the moment she put it to words.
She felt an ill premonition, as if everything she had stacked up neatly until now would come crashing down.
Arhad’s face grew only colder.
“Keep your mouth shut if you’re trying to say that you want to go to someone else.”
Ianna was confused and looked away again as she tried to push Arhad away. Arhad’s eyes flashed ferociously.
The hand he had placed behind her shoulder blade coiled around her body and held her in place like a vice. He used his other hand, still on her chin, to grab her by the head and pull her into him as hard as he could.
“Ugh.”
Ianna broke free from her thoughts as his tightening grip around her made it difficult for her to breathe. Gloomily, Arhad whispered,
“You were the one who swore an oath to me first.”
Arhad was normally forever kind and careful with her, but he would act unusually, as if he had gone half-mad, whenever he thought she was rejecting him. The madness leaking out from his voice right now was no different.
“You swore an oath to me first, so you have no choice but to stay by my side until I let you go. And I haven’t the slightest intention of ever doing so. If you leave me…”
Arhad held her tighter and in a quiet and suppressed voice continued,
“Don’t even consider leaving me, because if you do, I will rip out the throats and tear off the limbs of anyone who walks the new path you choose and feed them to monsters.”
It was quite the cruel warning.
‘Oh.’
Ianna groaned to herself as she faced the man who had barred his true feelings, unable to hold himself back. He had wanted her right until the day she had died in the past, and he was still the same ruthless and reckless savage beast even now after that time had been erased.
How had she forgotten? This was the kind of man Arhad was. She could not even imagine an Arhad who did not want her.
‘Yes. He will want me no matter what and no matter how.’
An eternal constant. There was no way that such a thing could ever exist, and yet Arhad was peculiar enough that Ianna believed that it could.
“…….”
Her anxiety subsided and her heart bubbled over. An unprecedented joy brightened Ianna’s countenance. She had never before been seized by such delight while she wasn’t holding a sword. And yet, she was overcome by a mysterious sense that something she was lacking inside was being filled —a feeling that she had never experienced before.
Ianna reached out with her hand, which she hadn’t known what to do with, and grabbed tightly to Arhad’s clothes. She felt a shiver run up her spine, and she didn’t know what to do with herself because she felt like her heart might explode with every beat. Arhad had failed to notice how her emotions were making her lose her mind. His breathing was uneven, and Ianna’s, too, was growing rough.
“I will never let you go. So don’t even think about leaving me.”
The waltz ended while they were bickering. Arhad let go of Ianna as people started to noisily scatter away. Ianna stepped away from him and massaged her tingling arm as blood began circulating through it again.
Arhad bit down hard at his lip.
“I want to apologize, but I won’t. I would have normally apologized, but things weren’t normal just now. I wish you could be more understanding of where I’m coming from.”
Ianna stared back at him without another word. Her gaze seemed to pierce deep into his heart, and Arhad looked away. He continued,
“I never wanted you to see me act the way I did just now. But I lose my ability to reason when you say things like that.”
Arhad clenched and unclenched his fists repetitively before reaching up to the front of his shirt and grabbed it over and over again in frustration. His entire being was reflected in Ianna’s eyes.
“I couldn’t say that I’d let you go or that I didn’t need you even as a joke. You might actually leave me.”
“…….”
“I’m always anxious because you might just up and leave me one day without warning regardless of the nice things that you say to me now. And I only grow more anxious the longer you stay with me.”
Arhad pressed at the corners of his eyes as if he was tired. He continued,
“That’s why I said that I enjoy it when you make mistakes, cause trouble, and need my help. It makes you rely on me. I frequently entertain crazy thoughts like how nice it would be if you were so weak that you couldn’t live without another’s help and needed to rely on me.”
Arhad let out a long sigh as he lowered his eyes.
“……Why do I always make a fool of myself when I’m with you?”
Ianna simply stared back at him with a peculiar light in her eyes without a word. Arhad’s expression darkened as he wondered if she was uncomfortable by how bizarre he was.
“Do you find me disagreeable?”
His straight brows drooped and his eyes crumpled. He didn’t look like he would cry, but the area around his eyes was beginning to turn red. His composure had long since shattered, and his breathing was slightly quicker than normal.
“But this is who I am.”
Ianna wasn’t uncomfortable in the slightest. She felt a little weird about it herself. She even found herself strange. She wasn’t uncomfortable when Arhad acted like a madman in his obsession for her……rather, it relieved her and she quite liked it.
Her anxiety had evaporated, and her mind was filled only with the thought that this man would keep her firmly by his side and never let her go.
“That’s not what I meant,”
Ianna said while shaking her head as Arhad began to hang his head a little with his mouth pursed shut. His eyes flickered to her at her unexpected words.
The orchestra began playing another piece. Ianna reached out to him.
“Shall we dance another song?”
“…….”
Arhad hesitated for a moment before he took her hand. Ianna chose her words carefully as she danced slowly.
“I don’t find you disagreeable —rather, I’m happy that you’re so adamant to keep me by your side.”
Ianna spoke her thoughts with candor, and Arhad’s gaze changed ever so subtly. Ianna opened her mouth to continue as she accepted his gaze head on.
“Please always want me the way you do now. I will stay by your side forever, for as long as you keep wanting me. And…….”
Ianna pondered over whether she should say it or not before she finally reached a decision. Arhad would feel better if she opened her heart to him. Cautiously, she continued,
“You needn’t worry, because I like you and I haven’t the slightest intentions of ever leaving you. I am not careless about the oaths I swear. I want to stay by your side, just as you want to keep me with you.”
‘And…….’
Ianna grew restless as she saw how restless Arhad was as he looked down at her.
‘Should I tell him?’
That which had coiled up in the depths of her heart at some point.
It really wasn’t anything that important when she thought about it. All she had to do was say it out loud with nonchalance, so why was it so hard to put to words that it made her heart beat so?
Ianna made an effort to act at ease. But her grip tightened, and she squeezed Arhad’s arm tightly. Shake, shake. Arhad seemed to shake in her vision. It was her eyes that were wavering, not Arhad himself, but Ianna did not have the leisure to distinguish that.
‘Should I tell him why I said that?’
He would never cast her aside if he needed her. Arhad was someone important in her heart, and Ianna wanted to stay at his side because he always cared for her.
She had never once thought that Arhad might change until now. But she had been shocked and frightened today when he had disregarded her sword and had said that he wanted only ‘Ianna.’
Ianna’s eyelashes fluttered. She felt like she knew why she had been so frightened, but she had wanted to turn away from it. She did not have the confidence to endure the ripples that would result if she was made to confront it.
But, she also felt as if it would be all right to be a little more honest when she was with Arhad.
“You too…”
Her eyes, which were usually upturned with pride, were drooping like the eyes of a child in search of her guardian. Arhad was listening to her every word with his ears perked so that he wouldn’t miss a thing, and his golden eyes, which were focused solely on her, grew wide as he saw the change in her attitude.
She did not want to acknowledge it, but she acknowledged it. The fact that she had grown afraid that the man who always cared for her might suddenly change his mind and leave her…….
And the fact that……there was ‘something’ still alive and breathing inside her even though she had thought it had long since died and disappeared.
Ianna knew and wanted to deny it, and she wanted to brush it aside and turn away from it —and with her feelings contradicting themselves in her heart, she uttered a little of what was teeming inside her.
“……Please don’t cast me aside.”
Ever.
“……!”
Arhad gasped and drew in a sharp breath as he wrenched his head to the side. Ianna stared up at him. Arhad usually only blushed at his cheeks, but his entire face was glowing scarlet. Even Ianna could hear that his heart was hammering away furiously, as if it had lost its mind.
“That’s, of course……. Why would I ever……?”
The violent beating of his heart, his tightening grip as he seemed to lose control, and the stuttered but satisfactory answer he had given. Ianna blushed a little and smiled, like a crimson flower bud blooming to the morning sun, as Arhad responded honestly and very satisfyingly to the anxious feelings she had laid bare before him.
Arhad, who hadn’t known what to do with himself as he looked over to the side, cast his eyes down, as if he was sneaking a glance at her, and he gasped and looked away as Ianna’s lovely smile hit him directly.
Arhad’s breathing grew ragged. His lips felt dry as he bit down at them. His hand squirmed in want of covering his mouth, but he couldn’t because he was holding Ianna’s hand as they danced.
“I-I’m happy to hear you say that. Very happy. Truly.”
The edges of his lips curled up against his will no matter how hard he tried to bring them down. The redness refused to leave his face. Ianna watched in good cheer as Arhad didn’t seem to know what on earth to do with himself.
Arhad tried to control his expression and collect his breathing for a while before his features relaxed as if the invisible string holding them together had snapped.
“Haha.”
His lips curled into a smile, and Arhad ended up chuckling out loud, unable to help himself.
“You really…….”
Once he had regained some of his rationality and returned to normal somewhat, Arhad cheerfully said,
“I never said that I didn’t need your sword. What kind of idiot would let someone as talented as you go when you came to me of your own accord? Especially at a time like now when I’m frantically searching for more talent. Rather, I should be the one chasing desperately after you.”
“…….”
“I only meant that what I ultimately want is for us to be emotional companions who can share our hearts with each other. You are the sole person who is able to understand me. That’s all I want from you.”
Ianna rather liked it. Her cheeks flushed a little. Arhad continued,
“I don’t know how this happened……but in any case, it’s fine if you want to be perfect. It’s fine if you don’t want to make any mistakes. I just don’t want you to push yourself too hard because of it. And I want you to trust me and rely on me more if you’re having a difficult time. Don’t try to shoulder everything or solve everything on your own. And don’t blame yourself even if you do make a mistake.”
“…….”
“If I had it my way, I wish you’d slip up constantly and have to rely on me to solve things for you, but…….”
Ianna frowned.
“That sounds horrible. Just what do you see me as? Are you this generous to your other subordinates too?”
“Of course not,”
Arhad said decisively. He continued,
“This only applies to you. I’d penalize the others as they should be if they slipped up and made a mess of things.”
“I never wanted special treatment.”
Ianna stared up at Arhad for a moment before lowering her gaze. Emotional companions……. She thought that it wouldn’t be a horrible idea to loosen up a bit in front of Arhad if he was willing to go so far.
This man was perfect even at dancing. Perhaps it would be all right to make a few mistakes and cause a bit of trouble when it came to trivial matters like dancing. He seemed to like it when she did, after all.
“Whew.”
Ianna had been stiff as she focused on dancing, but she decided to loosen up and entrust herself to Arhad’s rhythm. He squeezed her hand when he felt the change.
“Nice attitude.”
See that? Look at how happy he is. What a strange man.
“Pft…….”
Ianna chuckled quietly in good cheer.
It had become much easier to dance once she entrusted herself to Arhad’s rhythm. She did not have to be so mindful of how to take her next step, and all she had to do was move her feet in accordance to Arhad’s lead. She grew more accustomed to dancing as she broke free from her fixation on not stepping on Arhad’s feet and began enjoying herself. The waltz’s tune began sounding softer on her ears, and her muscles relaxed.
It was only then that Ianna stopped stepping on Arhad’s feet. They had almost reached the climax of the orchestra’s second song.
“What will you do after this? Are you planning to stay in the hall?”
“I’ll be here as long as you are. Why?”
“You should head back now if you were only here for me since you’d had your dance.”
Arhad didn’t reply, but the expression on his face asked her to explain herself. Ianna looked over his shoulder to where Schneider had been seated earlier, but he wasn’t there anymore. He was probably dancing with people in the hall. If possible, she wanted to escape to the garden before he found her…… Ianna shook her head once the idea had crossed her mind.
“What will you do if you happen to catch Prince Schneider’s attention? It’ll spell trouble if he finds out that you’re the man who bid 500,000 gold.”
Schneider was very quick on the uptake. The man who had spent 500,000 gold just to spend an evening with her, and the man who had spent eighty-nine gold just to buy her a bouquet of flowers. There were more than enough similarities between the two to arouse Schneider’s suspicions.
Arhad had made an enemy of Schneider during the auction, and no one knew what would happen if Schneider found him out. It was unlikely that Arhad’s real identity and wealth would be disclosed, of course. But it would still end with Schneider’s overwhelming victory when considering the fact that Arhad was supposed to be in hiding.
“…….”
Arhad looked off to somewhere before he pulled Ianna, who was still looking up at him, deeper into his arms. Ianna found herself stuck as close to him as if they were sharing an embrace. His shoulder was so close to her face that she could no longer see past it. Then, he abruptly said,
“No.”
Ianna’s eyes grew sharp. Arhad had started to be rather stubborn as of late. He continued,
“It’ll be fine. Being the adopted son of Viscount Callisto is actually a pretty good station. And he doesn’t know what I look like because I was wearing robes and a mask during the auction. I had my voice altered too.”
“The flowers.”
Ianna’s voice was cold. She continued,
“Anyone paying even the slightest attention to the rumors going around in the Institution will know that you’re on good terms with me and that you bought me a bouquet worth eighty-nine gold for the fashion show. You went out of your way to spend eighty-nine gold on just a bunch of flowers……. That’s not very different from spending 500,000 gold just to spend an evening with me, no? On top of that, you’re now a commoner who’s recently become the adopted son of a viscount. It’s suspicious. I would have my misgivings about you, had I been in his shoes.”
Arhad smirked after hearing Ianna’s sharply spoken argument.
“Who could say? The set-up is that Viscount Callisto, a noveau riche, is extremely proud of his son and supports me in whatever I want to do. The viscount himself spends money like it’s free, so it shouldn’t draw much attention just because his son’s spent a mere eighty-nine gold.”
“Did you buy your way into the station? Is everything all right with Viscount Callisto? What if he stabs you in the back……?”
“He’s one of mine. Only a few of my people know what I really look like, since I normally wear a mask, and the viscount isn’t one of them. He only knows ‘Arhad’ as someone who serves the same master as him and has been ordered to play the role of his adopted son.”
Ianna forgot what she was about to say. It truly was remarkable. Had all of this really been set up just so he could dance with her? Still, she found it hard to breathe because Arhad was so close.
“Please relax your grip.”
“……Don’t look anywhere else —look only at me.”
“And stop saying nonsense.”
Arhad slowly relaxed his grip, and Ianna, who had been practically stuck to him until then, was able to gain some distance again.
Ianna swiftly looked up at him.
“I’ve been meaning to ask —did you really do all that just to dance with me on my debut?”
“Of course not.”
“I see. Then, what are you planning now?”
Ianna asked in all seriousness. She did not know how the Arhad of the past had taken a foothold toward the imperial throne. She had devoted herself solely to her swordplay until she had become Schneider’s subordinate at twenty-two, so she only knew of the results of Roanne’s history until then.
She had thought that nothing much had happened until she had turned twenty-three, when things had happened so quickly it was like the world had been gripped by a storm. Had Arhad used the royal family during his stay in Roanne?
Arhad responded seriously in kind.
“I plan on attending all the same parties as you going forward so that no one can keep their eyes on you.”
Ianna lost her balance for a moment and ended up stepping on Arhad yet again. Veins bulged out from her hand, still holding to Arhad’s arm, and temple.
“Are you joking right now?”
“I am not.”
The expression on Arhad’s face was the epitome of seriousness. This man is so… Ianna hung her head in shame.
“And here I thought that you were planning to upturn the political scene or something…….”
“I can use others to do the political maneuvering. I don’t need to step forward and do everything myself. Don’t worry. I don’t let my personal affairs ruin my public ones. Though……there could still be exceptions to that rule, of course.”
Ianna let out a sigh and turned her focus to his peculiar reply. She dearly hoped that it had only been in jest.
“You’ll be attending other parties as well?”
“Yes. I’m going to stand by your side and prevent anyone else from coming near. I dislike it when others take an interest in you.”
“But Prince Schneider might take an interest in you if you stay by my side like this…….”
“You’ve been repeating Schneider’s name over and over again for a while now —stop it. And stop associating with him too,”
Arhad muttered with a bit of bloodlust leaking into his voice. Schneider —Ianna realized that the prince’s name made Arhad extremely sensitive. It was almost to the point that she wondered if it was because of Schneider that Arhad was even attending the party in the first place.
“I am your sword.”
Arhad’s cheeks flushed red. He always seemed to loosen up and blush when she said things like this, no matter how frigid he was being. Ianna thought she might get addicted to it, since she found the change both curious and fun. But that was that, and this was separate matter entirely.
“It was my mistake that I told Prince Schneider of my plans —I had thought he would stop paying interest to me if I told him. He might continue having an interest in me moving forward. I might have to dance with him a couple of times. But please know that my heart and my desire to walk into the future at your side will never change.”
The hand Arhad had against her back tensed, and Ianna shook her head no —this wasn’t what she wanted. It would be fortunate if Arhad, who was currently pretending to be the adopted son of a mere viscount, didn’t make his displeasure of Schneider obvious. She continued,
“There’s no reason for you to be so wary of him just because of me. So please, enough of this. Weren’t you working together with the prince?”
“I don’t need that much of his support. All I need is for him to be my shield. I could have chosen a royal from any kingdom to play the role, and I only chose Roanne to make our mutual enemies hate Roanne more.”
“In any event, I am against you acting like this.”
“……Sigh. Fine. If you don’t like me being here today, then why don’t you make me leave by stepping on my foot as hard as you can?”
Ianna furrowed her brows.
“What kind of nonsense is this supposed to be?”
“It’s not nonsense.”
“Then you’re being serious?”
“But of course.”
Ianna shot Arhad a look, finding him ridiculous, and Arhad stiffly continued,
“But you need to leave with me under the pretext of helping me. Come on now —step on me.”
She had thought he was only being ridiculous, but he was apparently entirely serious. He continued still,
“We should spend some time together outside of the palace. I’ll pay for everything.”
“You do know that there’s a custom for all the girls debuting on Founding Day to leave the hall together at midnight, yes?”
“Who cares? —just break tradition.”
“I don’t wish to be blamed for failing to do a task so simple.”
“All right. Then we’ll slip out of the party, and I’ll find a way to bring you back here just before midnight. So, does that solve everything? Let me have at least this much if you truly think of me as your liege.”
Ianna fell into contemplation. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t really listened to what Arhad asked of her very often. She had chased him around and ultimately became his sparring partner when he said that he didn’t want to spar, and she had stubbornly stayed behind and rescued Chendelf when he had told her to go home because she was getting in his way at the slave auction. She had injured herself seriously while trying to control divine power when he had explicitly told her not to, and she still intended to call on the spirits even though he had told her to stop.
“Hmmm…….”
Ianna groaned as even she found herself a little too much. It was so bad that she almost wanted to pat Arhad on the back and ask how on earth he had managed to deal with someone as headstrong as her all this time. He always caved first, and he was compromising even now and begging her to let him at least have this little.
‘All he wants to do is spend more time with me…’
Ianna looked up apologetically at the sullen look on Arhad’s face as she made her decision.
“Actually, I was planning to escape to the gardens and spend the rest of my time there after dancing with the people I’d promised to dance with. I’ll go with you if you can wait until I’m done.”
“Fine.”
Arhad was satisfied by her answer.
The music stopped. The nobles who had been dancing around them bowed elegantly to their partners. Ianna tried to slip out of Arhad’s hand and follow suit.
But Arhad pulled her in instead. She found her face buried against his chest. She was used to it now, since they had hugged several times already, but, that aside, she was curious as to the reason why he was hugging her.
Badump……badump…….
Just then, she heard an irregular beat by her ear. It was only then that she realized that Arhad was acting strange.
‘Why is he like this?’
His heartbeat never grew irregular, except for when he was reacting violently to her words. And he wasn’t the kind of person to find himself out of breath just from dancing either. Arhad’s heart condition flashed across her mind.
“Arhad, your heart…….”
“I trust you.”
“Pardon?”
“You said that you would never change —don’t you ever forget that,”
he whispered to her before pulling away. He placed his right hand over his heart and his left at his waist as he bowed to her courteously. Ianna lifted the hems of her dress and curtsied back, perplexed.
She looked to him in bewilderment. But he wasn’t looking back at her. His frigid gaze was looking to something behind her. Ianna turned around, wondering what he was looking at, only for silver colors to fill her vision.
“May I have your next dance?”
It was Schneider.
Ianna was baffled as she was caught in between Schneider and Arhad and looked between the two of them in turns. The other nobles turned in interest to observe the situation they were creating while the music was stopped. Schneider’s silver eyes looked to Arhad, standing behind Ianna, in inquiry.
“And this is?”
A frigid wind seemed to be blowing around Arhad, as if the fever he had been showing Ianna just earlier had been but a lie. Slowly, Arhad bowed. His black hair scattered down, and a brusque voice escaped his lips.
“My name is Arhad Callisto, the adopted son of Viscount Callisto.”
Ianna’s countenance twisted when she heard Arhad speaking courteously to the prince. Why was it? It twisted her insides to see the crown of his head, which she normally could not see unless he was sitting because he usually carried himself upright. It was all good and well that he hadn’t been rude to Schneider, but…….
“And how are you related to Lady Ianna?”
“He is my senior at the Institution and a good friend of mine.”
“You seemed a little too close to only be good friends……. Everyone thought you were lovers. Is that not the case?”
Schneider had only spoken the truth. Arhad’s eyes had held a certain recklessness to them and his touch had been careful, as if the woman in his arms was the most precious jewel in the world.
It looked like they had been arguing about something at one point, but the man had flushed red and looked delighted after the girl had whispered something to him. Those who had been sneaking glances at them had decided that they must surely be in an ardent relationship.
And the warm look on Arhad’s face had instantly cooled as soon as Schneider had walked up to them and their eyes had met. He was openly wary of Schneider, like a hungry beast facing down his nemesis as he guarded the most delectable delicacy in the world. He had pulled the girl into a tight embrace in front of all to see, as if he was marking his territory. As if he was openly declaring that he would not allow anyone to dare covet what was his and invade.
And his visage had been frozen as he stepped away from her. The frigid look on his face made him seem like a completely different person from the man who had been showering his feverish feelings upon the girl just earlier.
Schneider could feel that Arhad was being wary of him.
‘Is he being wary of me? But why?’
Schneider absolutely wanted to keep Ianna by his side. As for why? It was because she was a diamond in the rough. Once carefully cut, polished, and adorned beautifully by a craftsman, she was a jewel who would be worth more than any other in the world. Winning the swordsmanship tournament had only been a taste of what she could truly achieve.
Schneider’s, a prince who coveted the throne and was incredibly greedy for talent, heart palpitated with the desire to temper her with his own hands. His intuition told him that he would regret it in the future if he let that girl slip through his fingers.
Perhaps that was why. His mood had soured considerably as he watched the tight embrace between the two of them. His were not the romantic feelings a man had for a woman. After all, he already had a political lover and fiancé in the wonderful Lilith Tarwitt.
The image of Ianna from the fashion show, who had been more beautiful than any other, flashed across Schneider’s mind. She had seemed so sturdy as she wielded her sword fiercely during the swordsmanship tournament. But her sturdy foundation had been shaken as her father’s sudden apology exposed the wounds she had been hiding. Her shaking eyes had seemed like they would grow moist with tears, and yet she had not shed a single tear, as if her tears had already long since dried. She had exercised rigid control over her heart as she expressed her gratitude and picked up a single flower.
A piercing affection had stabbed Schneider’s heart as he watched it all happen.
But that had simply been something he had felt for her as a fellow human being. Schneider shook his head.
Just then, Ianna stepped forward in rage.
“Your Highness, please don’t assume that Sir Arhad and I are in a romantic relationship.”
“Hmm?”
“With all due respect, I would ask that you don’t say things that might disrupt the bond that exists between us currently.”
Ianna looked genuinely displeased even at a first glance. Schneider turned back to Arhad, bewildered. Arhad had simply stood there without particularly reacting despite the coldhearted things Ianna had said. Surprisingly, it looked like she was telling the truth. But men always understood other men better. It was obvious to Schneider that Arhad was ardently in love with the girl.
And he had thought that Ianna had loved Arhad as well, but Schneider was apparently wrong on that count, considering how displeased she was right now. Then perhaps Arhad was simply being possessive and jealous in his desire to not let his unrequited love be stolen from him. Schneider’s teeth peeked out from behind his lips as he laughed.
‘I had not planned on seeing Lady Ianna in a romantic light, but now I’m all impatient because it feels like he’s picking a fight with me.’
But was Arhad really just the adopted son of a viscount? He was bowing, but it didn’t feel like he had submitted himself at all.
“Raise your head.”
Arhad slowly looked up and straightened himself out, and Schneider scrutinized him up and down. He had sensed as much just by looking at Arhad from afar, but his body truly was the perfect sculpture of musculature. His proportions were so perfectly balanced that it would be difficult to find someone with a figure as good as his even among the royal knights.
“You have quite the figure. I suppose you must have trained hard?”
“I am still lacking, but I am giving it my best effort.”
Schneider smiled insistently.
“Then how about it? Why don’t you and Lady Ianna both join me as my knights?”
Arhad looked like he had heard something truly preposterous for a moment before he started emitting a fierce bloodlust that seemed to ask how Schneider dare propose such nonsense. It was only Ianna who noticed.
“A thousand pardons, but I don’t believe I will be able to serve Your Highness as a knight because I am not able to control mana. But thank you for looking upon me favorably.”
“Can’t you just learn how to do it?”
“I can perceive mana, but I have a genetic condition that precludes me from controlling it.”
“That’s a shame. Can your condition not be fixed with medicine?”
“Unfortunately, even the best healers have not been able to cure my condition as of yet. Lord Heinrich is helping me greatly, and I am eagerly awaiting a cure.”
Arhad, who should be looking down on the entire world from up high, was bowing before the prince and speaking up to him. Ianna’s insides churned as she watched how Schneider looked back at him in pity.
“I see. In any event, may I have this dance, Lady Ianna? I would like to get to know you better. Oh, but before that. I almost forgot because I was so eager to share a dance with you.”
Schneider asked Ianna to dance with him yet again as he gestured to his servant who had been lingering around him. The servant ran off to somewhere in a great hurry before returning with a long rectangular box. Schneider took it had presented it to Ianna.
He undid the latch on the box and opened it when Ianna stared at it without accepting it from him. Ianna stiffened up when she saw what was inside, and the other nobles around her who had been watching all gasped.
“Congratulations on debuting into Roanne’s noble society, Lady Ianna. This is a token of my goodwill that I grant to you purely as a means to forge a good relationship with you.”
It was one of the greatest treasures among treasures that he had once gifted to Ianna in the past when she had been a duchess. It was something that every knight coveted, as Schneider had long since declared that he would gift it only to the knight whom he trusted most.
“This is the greatest sword in the royal family’s possession, crafted by only the best dwarven craftsmen.”
It was a dwarven sword that he had once granted to Ianna only after she had been elevated as a duchess in her own right. And it was the sword she had wielded until the day she had died. Ianna’s face froze stiff. Why was he giving this to her, who was still just a young girl, when she wasn’t even his?
“This sword is worth at least 500,000 gold, you know?”
“I cannot accept this. Why are you giving this to me? You are going much too far for a mere jest.”
“But I’m quite serious, you know?”
Schneider clicked his tongue as Ianna looked so resistant to the idea of accepting it that it looked like she might actually flee the scene even if it meant being discourteous if he pushed her, and he gestured at his servant once again.
“All right. Let us put this matter aside if it’s too much of a burden for you to accept.”
The servant took the sword away, and in another servant slipped past the whispering nobles with a smaller box. Schneider opened it to reveal a crystal bottle filled with a light pink liquid sloshing inside.
“I am told that young ladies who come of age and make their debuts have a custom of buying perfume, yes? This perfume was made by Versatica, the best perfumier in Roanne.”
The nobles, who had stirred up a fuss upon seeing the dwarven sword, looked to the bottle in surprise next. Versatica was famous for only making five bottles of perfume a year. Versatica’s perfumes weren’t something that one could easily get their hands on even if they wanted to.
“Why……? Please take this back, Your Highness. I am not worthy of receiving such valuable gifts from you.”
“You seem to reject me at every turn, my Lady.”
“I’ve said this to you before, Your Highness. I…….”
“I will hear no more of it. Very well, in that case, I pray that you will at least be satisfied with this.”
The servant took the perfume back, and yet another servant came with a large bouquet of roses.
“I tried preparing all sorts of things, but I suppose nothing will best a rose. These are some of the most precious roses in the world, which grow only in the deepest parts of the Roanne royal family’s gardens —the royal rose.”
They were legendary roses that symbolized Queen Roanne de Roanne. The crimson roses glowed gently at night, as if they had been brushed by a silvery powder, and it was illegal to take them out of the kingdom.
Those ladies who had never seen royal roses before looked ecstatic. They were sparkling silver even in the brightly lit hall, as if by magic. The bouquet was wrapped with expensive lace and only the highest-grade pearls, and it looked so expensive that several people had gasped.
“You will wound my pride if you refuse even this. I am not trying to woo you —I simply wish to congratulate you, so I pray that you’ll accept.”
“…….”
It was still cumbersome, but this was at least better than the two gifts he had tried to give her earlier. And, like he said himself, there wasn’t much more meaning to the roses because this was Ianna’s debut.
Ianna stole a glance at Arhad. His face was still stiff, but at least he wasn’t emitting bloodlust. He had simply frozen in place while observing the gifts that Schneider was trying to give her.
The prince was both sly and generous, but he was also very prideful, and he always extracted vengeance from those who had wounded his pride. Ianna, who had served him at his side for over a decade, knew that best.
The prince would be incredibly displeased if she refused even this in front of all the other nobles, and she didn’t know how disadvantageous things might become for her if she refused. It would be no different from making herself a powerful enemy.
“I trust you.”
‘He said he trusted me, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.’
Ianna accepted Schneider’s roses with an awkward look on her face. Schneider smiled deeply.
Just then, a certain young woman quickly ran up to him.
“My Lord Brother Schneider!”
“Oh, Angelina.”
“I was just telling the other ladies that you promised to dance with me, but then you disappeared…….”
Princess Angelina ran up to Schneider before she suddenly stopped in her tracks upon seeing Arhad. Arhad took one glance at her before turning away in disinterest and looking to Ianna and the roses she was holding, but Angelina could not tear her eyes off him.
“Lord Brother, who is this?”
she asked Schneider with her gaze glued persistently on Arhad. Schneider took an interest in her change in attitude and happily introduced them.
Angelina Muziniel Roanne was the star of the Founding Day party. And she didn’t leave even after learning who Arhad was. Ianna was starting to feel incredibly burdened to keep standing there. She had planned to dance with those she had promised dances to and leave, but things were growing bigger because of the prince.
“Your Highness.”
“Oh, Lilith.”
Then, even Lilith Tarwitt approached them with a saccharine smile on her lips.
The young woman with platinum blonde hair and clear green eyes certainly deserved to be called the flower of high society. She had the support of countless noblewomen, and the dresses and hairstyles she wore to a party became the fashion trend for the rest of the month.
House Tarwitt had close ties with House Claude, the house Prince Schneider’s mother had belonged to back when she had still been Lezè Claude before her marriage into the royal family, and they had made great contributions in supporting Schneider as he usurped the throne.
Lilith was twenty, the same age as Schneider, to whom she was engaged to be wed next year, and she smiled quaintly at the precious royal roses Ianna was holding.
“Are you already taking interest in women younger than I?”
“Not at all —Lady Ianna is simply someone of incredible talent. I trust you are aware that it is in my nature not to be picky of my means or methods in trying to win the favor of someone talented, no?”
“You don’t gift someone roses simply because they’re talented. And these are royal roses at that…….”
Lilith looked slightly disgruntled as she studied Ianna.
Lilith and Schneider may not have been passionately in love with each other, but Lilith had been chosen to be Schneider’s betrothed as soon as she was born and the two of them trusted each other greatly. Schneider coveted the throne and his greed for latent talent boiled like volcanic lava, and he had never been tempted by another woman and had never once shown absolutely any interest in any other women once their engagement had been finalized.
Lilith was a woman who loved Schneider deeply. There were as many young men in high society who cast their passionate gazes upon her as there were stars in the night sky. But she had ignored all of them and looked only to Schneider.
She was a tad unhappy about the fact that the prince did not love her back as passionately as she loved him, but she was to be queen one day and her role was to support him, so she could not do anything that might hold him back.
But the fact that her noble fiancé had tried to bid almost 500,000 gold for Ianna Roberstein, the Swordsmanship Department’s champion, had spread around scandalous rumors that suggested the prince might have fallen head over heels for her at first sight. And today she had personally witnessed him shower his attention on Ianna, who looked beautiful today. She might have said, “Goodness, His Highness must truly covet her talent,” out in public, but it didn’t change the fact that her mood was sour.
‘Is she being wary of me?’
Ianna strongly wished to give back the burdensome roses in her arms as she received the full brunt of Lilith’s coy gaze. She had been baffled by Lilith’s hysteria more than a few times in the past.
‘She was like this back then too. I see. Is she being jealous again? Schneider cared more about talent and politics than women, after all. It was only natural that she was wary of me, as I was both a talented woman and his most treasured knight. And now he’s even given me such grand roses…….’
Lilith, who had been eyeing Ianna carefully, suddenly expressed her astonishment and clapped her hands together.
“Oh, from the streets back then…… Are you the young lady who jumped in front of our carriage to rescue a child?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Oh my. I can see how you had the courage to jump in front of a moving carriage to save the child, since you were skilled enough to win the swordsmanship tournament.”
Ianna wasn’t going to mention it if Lilith didn’t remember, but she would have to respond appropriately now that Lilith did. Ianna lifted the hem of her skirt with one hand as she lowered her head.
“Please allow me to introduce myself formally. I am Ianna Roberstein. And if it pleases you, I would return these roses to His Highness at once.”
Lilith’s visage relaxed a little when she heard the sense of burden and rejection in Ianna’s words.
“Not at all. I was only teasing. I couldn’t possibly ask you to return the roses when His Highness gave them to you personally. Congratulations for debuting, Lady Ianna. I had thought you were a commoner back then, but it appears I was mistaken. Would you please find it in your heart to forgive me my discourtesy? My name is Lilith Tarwitt,”
Lilith said eloquently. Just as she had been in the past, she was a refined lady with no faults that could be criticized.
Ianna pondered for a moment. A noble’s words were generally indirect and figurative. It was different from the Valgenta Institution, where everyone was straightforward. And she wasn’t currently a duchess who could speak her mind as she pleased. Did that mean that she had to soften her tone?
No. Why would she, when she had no intention of living in high society to begin with? Who cared if she sounded coarse? She was only Arhad’s knight.
She would be just courteous enough and just honest enough to avoid needless clashes. But she ultimately would not concede.
“But of course, Lady Tarwitt. Rather, it is I who should be asking you to forgive me for jumping in front of your carriage. I pray that I haven’t caused you to be late to your appointment.”
“Not at all. We were not late. Still, while I hadn’t had the chance to say this back then, shouldn’t you have valued yourself a little more?”
‘Is she trying to put me in my place?’
Ianna did not feel the need to display the extent of her skills as she had with Rikijen. And so, she simply nodded and said,
“I will take your words to heart.”
“I’ve noticed that you speak like a staunch knight. Another lady might mistake you for an amazing warrior and develop a crush on you.”
Lilith was chiding her for not speaking as a lady should, but Ianna replied as if she couldn’t have cared any less.
“I have simply developed the habit of speaking this way. Still, I will not be at risk of bending the rules of high society, as I will not be sitting at the tea table. I ask for your understanding.”
Lilith took an interest in Ianna, who was so starkly different from her.
“Then where do you mean to go, if not to the tea table?”
“To wherever my liege will go.”
“Your liege……. That’s what His Highness desires to be,”
Lilith muttered quietly, but Ianna pretended not to hear.
“I do not feel the need to correct my speaking habits. Would you please be understanding of this, Lady Tarwitt?”
“Why of course. In any event, may I ask you just one last question?”
“So long as it is something I can answer.”
“Is it not difficult to train in the sword with a woman’s body? Have you never wanted to quit?”
“It would be a lie to say that it’s not difficult, but I feel so accomplished after training that my fatigue is simply but another of my pleasures. It would be nice if more women could enjoy the charms of the sword, but I am sorry to say that social norms must dictate otherwise.”
Lilith’s smile grew deeper.
“Mm, it’s not a terrible idea for everyone to play the roles they’re most suited for. There must surely be things that only you can accomplish, my Lady. Things that no other man can do.”
“I must concur, to an extent.”
The first ruler of the kingdom had been a queen, Roanne de Roanne, and wives had equal status to their husbands in the Kingdom of Roanne.
But men were to work outside the home, and women were to work inside. Men must be strong and protect their family, and women must be gentle and raise children. Gender roles were heavily divided in Roanne, and adhering to them was tacitly considered a virtue.
Ianna believed that the traditional gender norms of Roanne for women were important, as she believed that there was worth in every type of work. She simply thought it was unfortunate that it was so difficult to break tradition and venture out into the other gender’s roles.
But Lilith’s point of view was important as well, as everyone had their own opinions on the matter and it wasn’t that serious a flaw when considering the efficiency of the nation as a whole. Ianna did not feel the need to go out of her way to single out her personal merits.
“Lilith. I’m afraid that may have been rude to Lady Ianna.”
Lilith gasped and placed a hand at her lips when Schneider discretely called her out.
“I never meant for it to be an insult.”
She had been a little too direct for that to not have been an insult. Her words could have been taken to mean, “You will not be treated as a sword-wielding woman, but the same as any other man.” Ianna maneuvered gently over Lilith’s thorns.
“I did not take it as such.”
“Lady Roberstein may be as dashing as any gentleman, but she is also as refined as any elegant lady should be. And your dress today is especially beautiful, my Lady. An incredibly skilled tailor must have labored hard in making it.”
Lilith paid a closer look at Ianna’s dress. It had caught her attention even from afar, and she was even more amazed after seeing it from up close.
The delicate embroidery and lace on the white dress was so refined that it could probably fetch a hefty price if Ianna chose to sell it later. The dress was perfectly wrinkle-free, and the cubic zirconia adorning it, though it was cheaper than precious jewels, looked much nicer than those dresses that were laden with jewels just for the sake of extravagance.
“May I ask which madame you had it tailored by?”
“A friend of mine from the Institution’s Fashion Department, who plans to open her own boutique one day, tailored it for me out of her goodwill. Priscilla is a very delightful individual.”
“Now, now.”
Schneider, one of the people listening in on Ianna’s and Lilith’s conversation, stepped forward. He gestured to the orchestra, which was hesitating over whether they should begin playing or not. Schneider continued,
“Play the next song.”
The conductor waved the long baton in his right hand upon receiving the prince’s order. The other nobles began dancing as the orchestra began playing an exquisite tune.
“May I please have this dance, Lady Ianna? Please do forgive me just today, Lilith.”
“……Very well.”
Schneider extended a hand to Ianna as Lilith gave him her permission. A servant politely collected the flowers Ianna was holding, and Ianna turned to glance at Arhad. He looked dreadfully sour, considering the deep trenches in his brow. Angelina was staring at Arhad in a blank daze. Schneider guessed what she was feeling and tapped his fist against the palm of his other hand.
“I see. Good Sir, why don’t you share a dance with Angelina?”
Angelina looked back at Schneider in alarm.
“L-Lord Brother…”
“And Lady Ianna, will you dance with me in the meanwhile?”
“My ap…….”
Ianna elbowed Arhad in the side just as he was about to resolutely decline. He could not be allowed to refuse. He was only pretending to be the adopted son of a viscount, so there was no way he could be allowed to refuse a princess’ request for a dance. He must not do anything that might invite more suspicion upon him.
“…….”
A bluish vein popped out of Arhad’s temple. He stared back at Ianna in extreme discontent. Still, he sighed and extended a hand to Angelina when Ianna began glaring at him. Angeline wriggled her fingers around for a bit before placing her trembling hand on top of his while blushing furiously.
Ianna stared at their touching hands with an odd feeling in her heart. Perhaps it was because this was her first time seeing someone else’s hand in Arhad’s, but it felt incredibly awkward to her.
But there was nothing she could do about it. She put the strange feeling aside and looked to Schneider. Lilith had already left to dance with a young nobleman whom she was on amicable terms with, so only she and Schneider remained.
Ianna had no choice to place her hand on Schneider’s when he gestured with it. He gently put his hand on Ianna’s waist and began moving his feet to the music.
Waltzes were known as playful dances because they naturally required a lot of skin contact. Lovers could draw close to each other and whisper sweet nothings to each other during a waltz, and men could sneak a feel on their partner’s backs or pull them in from the waist. Partners could also choose to kiss, if they were unable to ignore the pull of love —they were thoroughly wonderful dances.
Moreover, waltzes also presented a great opportunity to talk in secret. Partners could share a conversation only between the two of them while they danced to the music. Schneider looked like he was at a loss as he smiled.
“Everyone usually follows me with great gratitude when I say I want them as mine. This is the first time I’ve ever had to go so far.”
“Your Highness, I…”
“Ah, enough. If you’re about to refuse me like you’re cutting me off like a blade again, then stop. Why don’t you hear me out while we’re here?”
Schneider pulled Ianna closer by the waist. He smiled wryly upon seeing the awkward look that crossed her face.
“I, too, am more than capable of fulfilling any of your wishes. What is it that the bastard promised you? I can promise you anything you wish for. Do you want your independence? Do you want territory? A peerage of your own? Or perhaps an amazing sword?”
“…….”
“A sword forged by a dwarven craftsman, perfume from Roanne’s best perfumier, royal roses……. The reason why I suddenly presented to you these treasures that could never be bought by gold before the nobility was to make my will official. I wanted to express just how badly I want for you to come under my banner.”
The music, which had been as subtle as a cat’s footsteps, gradually grew more intense. Ianna spun around as Schneider led her.
“I can do for you everything that the bastard who offered 500,000 gold for you can. I can even do things for you that cannot be done with money. To be honest, my real gift to you were the roses, but there was still a reason why I presented you the other gifts as well despite knowing that you would refuse them because of your personality. I may have lost at the auction, but I wanted you to know that I do not fall behind that bastard in any way.”
Schneider’s eyes were glistening in the humiliation and hostility he felt toward the man who had bid 500,000 gold for Ianna that day.
Schneider had been enraged as he bid against the man that day, and he had thought that the damned bastard had lost his mind and was just calling numbers when the bid reached 500,000 gold. And that was why he had given up. He had been certain that the man would not be able to pay the sum, and he had meant to execute the man for insulting him.
But then, the man had looked ever so satisfied as he pulled out a blank check, wrote 500,000 gold on it, flung it away like it was some piece of trash, and dragged Ianna outside. When added together with the other 500,000 gold check that Ianna had ripped to shreds, the man had spent 1 million gold as if it was nothing!
Infuriated, Schneider had ordered for the authenticity of the check to be confirmed at once, but the bank representative had simply bowed to him and confirmed that it was real.
That damned bastard of a man, who had used a check from the Suranat Bank, a bank managed directly by the Roanne royal family, and taken away what Schneider had wanted as if he was showing off.
It had clearly been Schneider’s loss.
This was the first time in Schneider’s life that he had tasted such defeat. He thought that just looking at the 5 in 500,000 would make him neurotic.
“I will make my offer again. Follow me, Lady Ianna Roberstein. I can give to you everything that I presented to you before.”
“What is it that you see in me that you are acting like this, Your Highness? All you did was see me win the swordsmanship tournament.”
“I confirmed your talent at the tournament,”
Schneider said in earnest. He continued,
“And I instinctively knew that I must not allow you to slip through my fingers.”
Ianna recalled the Schneider of her past as she stared at his face from up close.
Five years later, when she was twenty-two, she had met Schneider after winning the Continental Swordsmanship Tournament and he had said that he needed her as seriously as he was speaking to her now. The king had already been sick in his deathbed by then, and a dreadful strife had been rippling through the royal family.
Ianna had readily accepted Schneider’s proposal that day so she could beat back the emptiness she felt in her victory, the rage she felt at Arhad, whom she hadn’t seen even a trace of for the past three years, and the sense of defeat that kept gnawing away at her heart.
But things were different now. And so, Ianna calmly said,
“I have already sworn my knight’s oath to that person, Your Highness.”
Schneider scowled. Ianna continued,
“As I said to you before, I will follow him and leave Roanne upon my graduation from the Institution. So please give up on having me.”
The way she calmly yet strongly asserted her opinions would have scored her points with Schneider had it been any other time, but he disliked it at the moment.
“You already possess everything, Your Highness. There is no reason for you to be so greedy just for me.”
“……I am stubborn, and I am the type of man who gets what I want even if it kills me in the process.”
Schneider organized his emotions for a moment and beamed. He continued,
“They say that little strokes fell great oaks, so I shall keep hacking away at the great tree before me for the time being. Is it not still possible that you’ll have a change of heart one day and come to me, my Lady, or that you’ll grow sick of my persistence and give up on refusing me?”
Ianna thought that there was no idiom more ill-befitting of her than that. After all, she had refused Arhad throughout her entire past life until the day she had died.
But then again, perhaps it was true of her to at least some extent, since Arhad had hacked away hundreds of times and she did in fact concede in this life…….
Arhad lowered his eyes so he wouldn’t have to look at Schneider. Schneider’s hand was touching Ianna’s waist, and he wanted to saw it off bones and all. Schneider was looking at Ianna, and he wanted to rip out the prince’s eyes and crush them. Schneider was whispering something to Ianna, and he wanted to grab his chin and break it. He wanted to cover the dance hall’s colorful floor with a sea of Schneider’s blood.
His malice toward the general population, and his avarice toward life. The bloodlust borne from those impulses had vanished by now……but the people’s sticky gazes as they looked to Ianna registered to him as if they meant to steal her away, and it brought back his greed and bloodlust and churned it all into one great mire.
The pitch-black Demon he had chained up in his heart so he could maintain a peaceful relationship with Ianna was screaming.
Kill them, kill them, kill them all.
But he had to restrain himself because Ianna did not know this about him.
Arhad, who looked more rational and aristocratic than any other but was actually fantasizing something insane, closed his eyes as he suppressed his emotions. The lovely princess in his arms didn’t even register to him anymore. His body was moving to the music, but the entirety of his mind had long since been centered only on Ianna. There was nothing he could have said in his own defense if the princess called him out for being discourteous.
“Excuse me.”
Arhad’s golden eyes fell on Angelina when she called out to him quietly. Angelina’s face flushed red.
“Did you call for me?”
‘Oh, his voice is really nice too.’
It was emotionless, but his voice was masculine and wonderful. Angelina’s sapphire eyes took in his face. His hair was pitch-black and his features were aristocratic and cut like a beautiful sculpture. Angelina thought that the man before her eyes was the most attractive man she had ever seen in her life.
He also had a masculine air about him that bewitched women. The man standing before her was so tall and sturdy that he was large enough to wrap around her and then some, and his hand was so large that hers fit completely inside his.
His eyes were calm and did not appear greedy, as other men’s eyes had. She felt as if she was standing before a heartless savage beast that no man could possibly tame.
She had heard that he had been a commoner, but she felt like she was dancing with an heir to a large and great kingdom. The acetic looks on his face, as if he had cut away his greed like monk, and his sharp attitude made her want to try and shake him.
“You said your name was Arhad?”
There was an unsurpassable gap in status between herself and the adopted son of a viscount, but Angelina still found it difficult to talk down to him.
“Yes.”
“How old are you?”
“…….”
Arhad stared down at the girl who had taken an interest in him without replying, and it was only when she began blushing red in embarrassment that he spat out,
“I’ve just turned twenty-two.”
“Ah, I see. I hear that you’re in your fifth year at the Institution. What will you do after you graduate?”
“Nothing in particular…….”
There were actually plenty of things he had to do, but none that he needed to tell the princess about. Arhad trailed off as his gaze returned to Ianna. Ianna was in the middle of a conversation with Schneider.
‘Why the hell am I dancing with this girl right now? This isn’t what I planned for.’
He frowned, finding his current situation extremely unpleasant. Angelina thought hard about something for a while before she gathered up her courage and said,
“What do you say about becoming a knight of the kingdom, Sir Arhad? I can recommend you personally. All royal knights must be able to control mana, but I’m sure something can be done about your illness if we all try to cure it together.”
Arhad looked expressionlessly down at the sparkles in Angelina’s eyes. It only lasted for an instant, and his eyes twisted and the edges of his lips warped into a splendid smile. Angelina fell into a blank daze as she stared up at him.
Arhad smiled as he looked down at her. The blushing princess in his arms was a young girl who was completely ignorant of the ways of the world.
‘Should I just kill her?’
It nauseated him to see the bastards who had won nothing for themselves and simply basking in the underserved happiness they had been born into. Flowers who grew up in sheltered gardens and talked as if they could bestow him with everything when they didn’t know a thing made him impulsively want to trample over them so hard that they began oozing of pus.
The sea of emotions born from his near-eternal life was deep and dark. Pandemonium had been filled with strong negative emotions. Any beast exposed to even the weakest malice that leaked out from the rifts into Pandemonium was transformed into a monster. The tidal wave of violent emotions tore apart the beast’s soul and drove it completely insane.
Arhad’s ego had been trapped alone in that very same darkness for eons and was now tougher than mithril armor, so the violent emotions could not devour him. He actually enjoyed controlling them, in fact. In turn, this made the emotions of man seem trivial to him. They were vain, futile, and so incredibly bland……like he had been suddenly made to chew on unseasoned grass when he had been ripping into thick slabs of meat flavored amply with rich gravy just earlier.
This was why Arhad was generally so emotionless. The pointless and trivial emotions of mankind utterly failed to move him.
This puppy before his eyes who was too ignorant to fear the tiger was no different. He could crush her skinny bones just by squeezing them. She might even shrivel up and die on her own if he shot his bloodlust at her.
Arhad wasn’t fond of young flowers. They were so trivial to him that he might accidentally trample them to death before he even noticed.
The sole being in the world who could move him with even the smallest action was none other than Ianna. His twisted nature made him want to snap the necks of all the women who were thrilled to see him and stared at him to no end, but the beast inside quieted like the gentlest lamb only when he was with Ianna. The monster living inside of Arhad reacted ardently only to Ianna.
‘……I’m quite the clown.’
Arhad looked away from Angelina and turned forward. He could always spot Ianna, who alone was radiant in the midst of all those other colorless lifeforms, no matter where she was.
Ianna, Ianna.
Her name excited him more with each recitation. It resounded oddly even in his agitation. The name of the cruel woman who had seized his soul and refused to let him go.
His every emotion, which were nearly driving him insane, was pointed only toward Ianna. And they disappeared and disappeared and disappeared every time she smiled. All that remained……was his pure and reckless ardor, which had thought had long since stopped existing within him.
Just what are you? What are you to me that I……?
His eyes grew murkier under his lids as he continued to look to Ianna. Arhad closed his eyes in an attempt to subdue his feelings.
Angelina, who had been sneaking glances at the profile of the rude man who was ignoring her, caught a glimpse of the rabid emotions swaying behind his eyes by chance and recoiled.
The waltz was almost over. Arhad opened his eyes again. He was looking down at Angelina, but his eyes were no longer filled to the brim with the inner emotions that had made it difficult for her to breathe. His eyes were so much incomparably colder and more emotionless than before, to the point that it was frightening. Angelina’s eyes shook.
“Thank you for your kind offer……,”
Arhad whispered frigidly. He let out just enough bloodlust that she didn’t pass out but still started to wrap around her throat. Just enough so that she didn’t choke but still enough to make it difficult for her to breathe.
The blood drained from Angelina’s face and she began to tremble. The look on Arhad’s face was no different from earlier, when he had tempted her heart, but now he seemed like a monster who was drooling as he barred his fangs at her.
Her vision grew dark. His golden eyes shined with a queer light in the darkness. Angelina’s lips quivered. His golden eyes terrified her as they seemed to approach her like a deadly and venomous serpent. He seemed like a giant monster who would rend her flesh apart any moment now.
Arhad gently held her up as her legs started to give out from under her, and he whispered,
“But I’m not interested.”
So stop trying to flirt with me unless you want to die.
Arhad didn’t say the latter part out loud, but Angelina felt as though the words had reached her ears regardless. Arhad gently let go of her and bowed to her courteously. And then, he immediately exited the dance hall.
The music stopped. Schneider tried to keep Ianna with him, suggesting they could talk a while longer, but Ianna refused by saying that she had promised others she would dance with them, and he readily let her go after promising that they would speak again. The fact that other nobles were approaching him because they wanted to speak with him probably factored into his decision.
“Where did that man go?”
“Where is he?”
There were many women in search of Arhad because they wanted to dance with him. Ianna and Arhad had looked close enough to be lovers, but those women who still wanted to touch him just once did not let that stop them.
The men of the royal family were all handsome as well, but they were already betrothed and it was difficult to approach them, whereas the handsome man named Arhad had vividly caught their eye. He was apparently only adopted into nobility, but he must surely be amazing person if he had Viscount Callisto’s, who was currently on a roll as his businesses took off, full trust.
Ianna was also looking for Arhad as well. But she could not find even a single strand of his hair no matter how hard she looked. The princess, whom she had thought he would be with, was surrounded by a throng of other men, and Ianna had looked all over the dance hall, wondering if he had been caught by some other woman, only to learn for certain that he was no longer there. He was taller than most and was always at the center of attention, so there was no way that her eyes would miss him.
‘Did he get annoyed and leave?’
But there was no way that the man who had persistently begged to her spend more time with him, who had begged her to listen to him just this once, would simply leave her behind like this.
‘Perhaps he’s out on a walk, since he seemed like he was in a bad mood. But still, he left without a word…….’
Ianna was a little disconcerted as she observed Angelina, who had parted with Arhad just moments ago.
“Are you feeling ill, Your Highness?”
“Shall we call a royal doctor?”
“No, not at all. I’m quite all right.”
Angelina was pallid and trembling. Ianna watched the princess from afar and wondered if Arhad had done something to her, since the princess was trembling as if in abject terror.
In any case, she would have to find Arhad first. Who knew what sort of mishaps he would cause while walking around with that face of his……. Ianna’s eyes met Angelina’s just as she was about to turn around and head for the exit.
“E-excuse me. Please wait, Lady Roberstein!”
Angelina pushed through the crowd of young men with her slender arms and walked up to Ianna. She tried to placate her furiously beating heart as she gingerly continued,
“May I ask you something?”
She was so small and white and slender, like a lovable little rabbit. The princess had given off this image in Ianna’s past as well. She drew the attention and envy of all the young men at every party she attended, and she had never once spoken to Ianna.
The princess was of prestigious birth, and she was always loved by all. Whereas Ianna was of dirty origins and had been scorned all her life for the innocent mistake she had committed as a young child.
Ianna had always felt deprived when in the princess’ presence. She hadn’t dared hate her, however. She had simply been envious of her and had felt wretched in comparison. Those adolescent feelings had chilled her to the bone.
‘But she just seems immature now that I’ve met her again.’
Ianna gave thanks to her sword for freeing her quickly from such pointless emotions. She wouldn’t have wasted so much of her time or her emotions if only she had taken up the sword even a day earlier, if she had learned sooner that it was more enjoyable to polish herself and shine rather than put in all her effort trying to win the love of others……she was a little wistful on that count.
But Angelina had never spoken to her in the past, so what was it that drove her to pose Ianna a question now?
“But of course.”
“You were with Sir Arhad earlier —would you be able to tell me what kind of person he is by any chance?”
Her question put Ianna on edge. She would not allow anything to bring Arhad trouble. Ianna already disliked the idea that the nobles might take an interest in Arhad, but now Angelina of all people was after him? The light in Ianna’s eyes grew wintry.
“I am not certain what it is about him that you are asking about.”
“Just his personality, I suppose. Like if he’s a generally scary person…….”
Had Arhad intimidated her? Ianna suddenly wondered if Arhad was angry, since he had left without telling her despite that he wasn’t generally so rude.
“Did he say something to you, Princess? I hope he hasn’t shown you any discourtesy…”
“No, not at all. He was very polite, but he was giving off this feeling…….”
Ianna figured that Arhad had pressured with his aura rather than with words as she watched the princess shake her head. The princess would not have been asking after him like this if he had told her to shut up and get lost or to stop taking an interest in him unless she wished to die.
‘What kind of person Arhad is…….’
Ianna thought about him. He laughed often and was rather insecure and anxious when he was with her, but he was always at leisure and enshrouded in a tight layer of endlessly cold rationality in front of others.
“He’s very cool and composed, but he’s not a scary person. He is liked by many in the Institution.”
“Truly? Then perhaps I was mistaken because of my nerves?”
“May I ask what it is that you feel that you were mistaken about?”
“Hmm……. I simply felt a chill while we were dancing, but I suppose it was just my imagination. I was probably mistaken. In any case, my Lady. Could you please share it with me if there’s anything more you know about him?”
Angelina blushed bashfully. The princess was the picture of a young girl in love as she wriggled her fingers in embarrassment. Ianna understood what it meant when a girl acted like this. And the princess was especially obvious about her feelings.
‘She didn’t fall in love with Arhad, did she?’
The princess would one day be courted arduously by the king of Killiko, and she would eventually become Killiko’s queen. Ianna recalled that she had been loved dearly by the king, and she remembered how feeble Angelina had looked as she appealed to Schneider for help because she was terrified about the large civil war that had broken out in Killiko.
The princess was a lovable flower who could only survive under another’s protection. She was not suited for Arhad, who had once been called the Demon of War. Ianna would not tolerate this girl bothering Arhad and getting in the way of his work.
It was one thing if it had been Arhad who liked her first, but Ianna had no desire whatsoever of introducing her to Arhad at her request.
And so, Ianna decisively said,
“A thousand pardons. I find it difficult to speak about another behind his back. Please tell him directly if there is something you wish to relay, and please ask him directly if there is something you wish to know. I regret to inform you that I am not able to give you the answer you seek.”
“Oh, not at all.”
Ianna had been courteous, but Angelina shook her head in bewilderment because Ianna’s answer had been so cold and curt. The noblewomen who had been eavesdropping on their conversation unfolded their fans and said things like, “My my. How pert,” and “Do you think she’s trying to keep our beautiful princess in check? Earlier……,” but Ianna ignored them completely.
“May I ask if you know where he went?”
“Oh……he went outside as soon as the music stopped.”
And so, their business was over. Ianna bowed to Angelina in farewell and slipped past her.
She pushed aside the nobles who were trying to approach her and went to the gardens.
It was already dark because it was the middle of winter and it was cloudy today. Ianna lingered in the garden, lit up by the glow of magical artefacts, as the cold night breeze teased her hair and dress, but she could not find Arhad anywhere. She tried leaving the gardens and walking through the trail as well, but she was only hit on by other nobles —she did not find Arhad.
Eventually, Ianna had no choice but to return to the hall. She moistened her throat with wine and waited for Arhad to return to the party, but he did not.
‘What on earth is he doing? It’s already been long enough for him to finish taking a walk.’
She could not waste any more time than this. Ianna danced with Gellonian and Filliger, with whom she had promised a dance, and also with Maimayè and Heinrich, though she hadn’t initially planned to dance with them. They gave her their sincere congratulations for debuting, and they elevated her endlessly in the eyes of their onlookers.
Cherno, Sarachè, and Harchen, too, only spoke good things about Ianna when other nobles asked after her. They expressed their anger when sycophants tried to insult her on the sly, and they rebuked those who made sarcastic remarks about their house.
Ianna gradually became as someone whom the nobility could not dare insult not only because House Roberstein took her side but also because she had a peculiar but powerful list of ties to important people.
“You look really different today.”
Herrace was the last person Ianna danced with.
“How so?”
“You’re as lovely and as cool as ever, but you also look like an ordinary person today. Maybe it’s because you aren’t holding a sword?”
Her heels clicked against the floor. Ianna could dance without stepping on her partner’s feet now, perhaps because she had gotten the hang of it after dancing with Arhad.
“Nothing has changed about me. The only difference is my clothes.”
“Then perhaps it’s because of your clothes? I don’t know how exactly to put it, but you usually give off the professional air of an ‘outstanding swordswoman,’ Little Ianna, but today you feel more personal, like a ‘normal woman.’ You feel more like a person than a swordswoman, and you seem more effeminate than the people around you.”
Herrace smiled and continued,
“Like the way you feel when you’re with Sir Arhad.”
A curious look spread across Ianna’s face.
“Am I different when I’m with Sir Arhad?”
Herrace’s eyes sparkled, as if he had been waiting for her to ask.
“Hmmm. Sir Arhad really likes you and treasures you a lot, Little Ianna. And you accept his goodwill, and only his, without hesitation.”
Ianna was a highly independent individual who generally refused the goodwill and consideration of others like she was cutting them away with a blade. She was confident enough that others relied on her, but she herself never treated others emotionally —she was like an upright tree that stood alone and was green all throughout the year.
But she was so different when she was with Arhad. She hardly ever refused Arhad’s goodwill. Rather, she had been the one to chase him around first, cling to him, and pour out her emotions to him unsparingly. The smile on her lips as she sparred with Arhad was so captivating that it made Herrace’s heart skip a beat.
Ianna had always been hard and stern, but she was visibly beginning to loosen up a little. Herrace had a good eye for these things because he was sensitive to how others were feeling, and he looked up to Ianna as his idol and had observed her as a friend for a year now, so he understood this best.
“Maybe that’s why —you’re normally like a sturdy tree, but you seem like a rose when you’re with Sir Arhad. Would that make Sir Arhad a gardener? I’m a poor speaker, so I don’t think I can express it properly.”
Ianna was a flower only when she was with Arhad. She was a sturdy bud whom no one had ever seen bloom. And Arhad was the gardener who tended to her with sincere devotion.
Herrace had come up with this image during the fashion show.
Arhad had pushed aside the girls who were insulting Ianna without any hesitation whatsoever, and he had given her his bouquet that overflowed with his affections for her, as if he was trying to convey how beautiful and dear she was to him. And Ianna, who usually detested being called beautiful, had thanked him upon receiving the unprecedently luxurious bouquet.
The flower and the gardener.
A woman and a man.
“From time to time, the two of you seem more like just a man and a woman rather than a senior and a junior competing against each other in school. Just like when the two of you were dancing today.”
Ianna had looked like a flower just about to blossom while she had been dancing with Arhad today. Herrace’s heart had fluttered even though he had only been observing them.
“We’re not in a relationship.”
“Ack, my apologies.”
Herrace came back to his senses and paled when Ianna coolly reproached him. His pinkish imaginations shattered.
“We’re a man and a woman biologically speaking, but we’re not in the kind of relationship that you’re implying. Understand?”
“Yes, my apologies. I was simply imagining things. Perhaps I’ve crossed a line.”
Ianna, who wasn’t too happy with the subject, brought up another.
“Enough of that —we’ll be starting your training next week, so come out at six in the morning. You’re going to be joining me in my training.”
“……In your training, Little Ianna?”
The blood drained from Herrace’s face. He knew just how notorious Ianna’s training was. Ianna could normally only be found in the library, the training grounds, or her dormitory, and her schedule was jam-packed with only training and studying.
“Yes. We’ll also be going to the mountains to hunt monsters, so make sure you repeat to yourself that you’re dead if you don’t perform.”
“M-monsters?”
Herrace gulped. He had never seen a monster before, as he’d never stepped foot outside the capital. He had only ever trained alone or under his father’s guidance because he was frail. Forget monsters —he had never even experienced even the faintest bloodlust outside of sparring.
“You’ve never been in battle or exterminated monsters before, right?”
“No.”
“You’ve been spoiled. People start thinking about pointless things if they’re too comfortable. There’s a huge difference between sparring and real fights. You’ll be able to feel yourself change after you’ve experienced a few real fights.”
“B-but. If we see a monster……we’ll have to kill it.”
“Are you afraid of taking life? But a swordsman is fundamentally someone who takes lives. The swordplay we’ve been learning exists to kill others with. A swordsman’s job isn’t to spar. It’s to fight in actual battle and kill.”
Herrace felt like he’d been smacked on the back of his head when he heard what she had said. The fundamentals of a swordsman. The reasons why a sword was sharp. Putting all else aside, the first and foremost reason that the sword was created was to kill. If you took away everything that was superfluous and only considered the essentials, the end goal of everyone who trained with the sword was to take lives.
Ianna looked Herrace directly in the eyes.
“Why is it that you want to control mana?”
“……I want to be a real swordsman. If I can’t control mana, I won’t be able to wield by sword because it’ll be broken as soon as my opponent wraps their own sword in mana. I’m nothing but a deadweight swordsman as I am now.”
“A real swordsman and a deadweight swordsman…….”
Ianna smiled. She continued,
“Then why do you wield your sword?”
Herrace fell into thought as he contemplated her question.
He had always wanted to be a swordsman, but he had never considered why it was that he wielded his sword. House Bendham was a military house, and it was only natural for him to train in the sword. Herrace had liked sword training ever since he was young, and he also liked sparring with other martial artists. More importantly, swordplay was his life, and it was his sole means of being acknowledged. Herrace grew a bit embarrassed, and he replied with little confidence.
“Because……I want to be acknowledged, I suppose?”
“That’s not a bad reason. To get stronger, for wealth and honor, for glory, to get ahead in life, for recognition, to protect something, to survive……there are many reasons why people wield the sword, and yours —to be acknowledged by your household— is a ubiquitous one that many others share. But. How much murder are you willing to commit to achieve your goal of being acknowledged?”
Herrace did not know how to answer.
“Killing is something that every swordsman must one day overcome. You classified swordsmen based on the ability to control mana, but I would say otherwise. I say that you become a deadweight swordsman only when your reason for wielding the sword crumbles beneath the weight of killing. At that point, you’ve lost sight of your goal and you’re simply swinging around a blade.”
Calmly, she continued,
“But your sword will only grow sturdier if you can bear the weight of karma and carve out your own path in life even still. Your sword will become unique to you, and it will become as your life itself. I say that someone like this is a real swordsman.”
Herrace carved Ianna’s each and every word deep inside his heart. They were dancing lightly, and Ianna’s theory about the sword was confusing and difficult to comprehend, but Herrace had a hunch that it would help him break through one day when life presented him with an obstacle in his path.
Ianna beamed.
“You said you wanted to be a swordsman, but you aren’t desperate enough. You lack the enmity and spite to kill. You need to experience a lot of real battles. It’ll give you the opportunity to think more seriously about yourself and your sword, and it’ll help you find your real goals.”
“……I see. I understand. I’ll take that to heart. But, why do you wield the sword, Little Ianna?”
Ianna fell into silence. Herrace tilted his head to the side in bafflement, as, considering her personality, he had thought she would reply promptly. But it only lasted for a moment as her firm and decisive words began flowing from her lips.
“Because I love the sword. And because I can do anything with the sword.”
She had given up on people and had loved the sword instead. She enjoyed wielding the sword because it made her feel alive, and she had indulged herself in the sword ever since she had first learned of her talent with it. She relied on the sword because it shut people’s mouths when they insulted her, and she loved the sword for protecting her against all threats and persecution.
The sword was her everything.
“I wield the sword to feel alive, to prove my worth, to protect myself, and lastly, to eliminate my enemies.”
“…….”
“Which is why I don’t find any worth in those whom I decide to sacrifice to my sword. I don’t bother myself with pointless feelings like guilt. I can cut down anyone and anything, especially my enemies, without hesitation. It doesn’t matter who or what they are.”
Ianna’s unemotional words were frightening as she suggested that murder was no big deal to her. She continued,
“My resolve is the first thing that changes when I wield the sword with the intent to kill, as opposed to when I’m simply sparring at the Institution.”
Herrace had never seen Ianna truly cut something down. The closest he had gotten was when she had cruelly turned the four pieces of trash from the Swordsmanship Department into eunuchs. She had been terrifying even then, so how much scarier would she be when she truly intended to kill?
Herrace imagined what Ianna would look like if she was coming to kill him. The earth would split open as she kicked off against it, her sword would fall upon him like a ray of light, her face would be dark as she had her back against the sun, and her crimson eyes would be surging with bloodlust.
What was scarier still was that the image suited Ianna well. Herrace felt a chill run down his back just from imagining it.
“……But I have a slightly different reason now……,”
Ianna muttered quietly to herself and stepped away from Herrace as he started trembling.
“In any event, I’ll see you in a week. I might add that you need to be more spiteful if you want to learn how to control mana properly.”
“I’ll keep that in mind!”
Ianna lifted up the hem of her skirt as she curtsied to him, and she made to leave the hall now that she had danced with everyone she had promised to dance with. But an uninvited guest stopped her before she could.
“May I ask you for a dance as well, Lady Roberstein?”
Ianna opened her eyes wide in surprise when she saw who it was. And she immediately lowered her head.
“I am humbled by your presence, Your Royal Highness Prince Saiwè Luria Roanne.”
It was Prince Saiwè, the third prince. Ianna was a bit bewildered, as his request had been so truly unexpected.
He had taken after his mother and had chocolate-colored hair and amethyst-colored eyes. He was the younger brother of Fernando Luria Roanne, and he was a prince who, like the princesses, had no right to vie for the throne because he had not been born with silver hair and silver eyes, and he had lived his life while mostly being ignored until he had suddenly disappeared a few years before the king had passed away. He had been declared dead only a few years later, and a national funeral had been held in his honor. And he had never crossed paths with Ianna in the past.
‘So why is he approaching me now?’
Ianna was bewildered because he was asking her for a dance out of absolutely nowhere. But she simply accepted it —the future had already begun changing, so what difference did one more change make? She carefully placed her hand on top of Saiwè’s.
“It is truly an honor.”
Saiwè took her hand and place his other hand against her back. Ianna put her other hand on his arm and looked him in the eyes.
“I was rather surprised that you asked me for a dance, Your Highness.”
Ianna wanted to know why Saiwè had approached her. Schneider alone was already giving her so much trouble, so she was incredibly reluctant to have ties with any of the other members of the royal family. He smiled an alluring smile.
“My Lord Brother Schneider has taken an interest in you, and I’ve also taken a personal interest in you myself.”
Schneider was on horrible terms with Fernando, but he was on relatively good terms with Saiwè. Their mothers, Luria and Lezè, fought like cats and dogs, as they were on opposing factions of the nobility in the game of thrones, and, though they were not openly hostile to one another, they were still wary around each other.
Saiwè’s first reason made sense if you considered that he and Schneider were political enemies. His second reason, however, caught Ianna’s attention.
“A personal interest?”
“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. You’re beautiful, my Lady, but I am not interested in you as a woman. I wish to live a long life, after all.”
“Have I done something to cause you trouble, Your Highness?”
“Haha. That isn’t what I meant at all —I prefer more docile women.”
“Is that so? But, why are you being so courteous to me? Please speak at ease.”
“I pray you don’t let my manner of speech bother you —I’m simply more accustomed to speaking like this. More importantly, I hear that you are training in the sword? They say you even won the swordsmanship tournament.”
“It’s nothing much to brag about, but yes.”
“That’s remarkable. I know they do exist, but it’s rare to find a swordswoman with such skill. To seize victory after beating back all the men……it’s astonishing. A little late, but allow me to offer you my congratulations for your victory.”
It looked like it was her victory that had caught his interest. Then again, swordswomen were rare in Roanne to begin with, especially when they were from noble origins. Perhaps he had simply been intrigued by her as a peculiar noble girl.
“Are you interested in the sword?”
“Ah, I prefer the bow over the sword. I have a taste for shooting through my targets as they flee, you see. And I dislike getting blood on my hands.”
Saiwè’s dark mauve eyes glistened as he bowed to Ianna after the music had stopped.
“It was wonderful meeting you, my Lady. I’ll be in your care from now on.”
Saiwè smirked at Ianna before making his leave.
‘In my care? Is he suggesting we get along in future social gatherings?’
Saiwè was a peculiar prince. Ianna tilted her head to the side before she spotted a terrace without its curtains drawn yet and moved toward it.
“How curious —His Highness Prince Saiwè doesn’t normally dance with women at parties.”
“Perhaps Lady Roberstein……is simply remarkable in more ways than one…….”
Ianna’s excellent hearing caught the whispers behind her back as she passed them by. Several young men tried to ask her for a dance, but Ianna coldly but politely turned them down by saying she was tired. There wasn’t much they could say or do to press the issue. She had already danced with eight different people, which was more than enough dances to tire anybody out.
In truth, Ianna was not physically tired at all. But she was still emotionally fatigued because there had been a lot she had to pay attention to. She ignored the glances that were being cast on her as she entered a terrace on the second floor and sharply drew the curtains.
“Sighhh.”
Ianna walked up to the terrace’s marble bannister, undid the hairpiece that was pulling at her hair, and draped herself over the railing. Her crimson hair fluttered in the cold winter wind. It was still only waving smoothly for now because it had been tended to before the party, but she would have to comb it down again when the strands, now flowing down like Western silk, inevitably became tangled.
Ianna let her hair be even though she could be criticized for being unrefined if she went back to the hall with her hair in a mess. She simply leaned against the banister and looked up at the night sky with nary a thought in her mind.
She heard someone knocking on the door not too long afterward. Some of the nobles she had not been able to dance with her were trying to at least sneak in a conversation with her. Ianna had only been scorned by the nobility in the past, but she found that it was actually more cumbersome and exhausting when they were actively hitting on her like this.
Ianna ignored the sounds she was hearing from the doors and looked out at the scenery stretched out before her. She heard the tune of music and the sounds of laughter leaking through to her, and she looked to the trees and tender grasses that remained green all year long. The outdoor garden was decorated beautifully with roses, and magical crystal artifacts were illuminating the darkness.
It was lovely, but she was getting tired of it because she had seen it so many times in her past. She pushed the boring scenery out of her mind and quietly fell into thought as she leaned against the banister.
Arhad had been thorny before the prince. It was obvious that he was upset, seeing that he had left without telling her. ……But she didn’t think she had done anything wrong. She had dealt with the situation appropriately, and she had acted in accordance to her convictions. And yet…….
“Arhad.”
“You called?”
Ianna had simply muttered his name for no real reason in particular, and she looked up from the banister in alarm when she was returned a reply. Arhad jumped up to the banister like a black bird before she could even look down. He looked nonchalant as his feet hit the floor even as Ianna stared openly back at him.
“I was just taking a walk.”
“Ha……haha.”
Ianna could not help but laugh in resignation because Arhad had shamelessly jumped up the bannister even though this was the second story and had started talking to her.
“Where have you been? I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“Were you looking for me? I’m sorry. I thought I might show you something you wouldn’t want to see if I stayed there.”
Arhad straightened himself next to her, and Ianna kept one hand on the banister as she looked up at him and slowly asked,
“Were you angry?”
“Not angry, per se. Just a little annoyed that the prince was getting so fresh with you. And I was irritated about the fact that he danced with you as well.”
Arhad looked a little embarrassed as he stroked his chin.
“It was quite childish of me……. But in any event, I wasn’t angry with you.”
Ianna, who had been staring at him, turned back around and rested her arms against the bannister as she looked off into the distance.
“I’ll keeping attending parties, but I don’t intend on giving my heart out to anyone. Even today, I was only planning to show up and leave. Though I never expected for things to end up like this.”
“Yeah.”
“It might ruin your plans if you accidentally wound the prince’s pride.”
“I know.”
“Should I still have been colder to the prince for your sake anyway?”
Arhad, who had been tidying up his clothes, looked up and watched as Ianna still kept her gaze out to the distance.
“……Why should you have done that? Of course not. I would have felt better, admittedly, but it would have brought you trouble. It wouldn’t make sense for you to be disrespectful to the prince of your own country. If the prince told you to play dead like some street performer, then it’s only right that you comply. I know that, and that’s why I had to dance with the princess, and it’s also why I tried to bring you outside before he could come and talk to you. If it were possible, I would have liked to stop you from attending any parties at all, but…….”
“I want to keep the promises that I myself made. It’s the only way I’ll be able to feel like I’ve completely stopped being Ianna Roberstein. I made a resolve when I made my promise to the countess, and everything will be over only after I’ve attended all six parties. I would feel uncomfortable, like nothing was truly finished, if I ended things before then. Am I strange for thinking this way?”
“No, you’re not. That’s just who you are.”
“After all, I believe in keeping my promises unless something happens that makes it absolutely impossible.”
Ianna continued to uncharacteristically lay excuse after excuse for herself. But she still wanted to give Arhad these excuses.
“Yes, and that’s why I’ve kept close to you all this time.”
Arhad walked up to her, plopped his hand on her head, and began stroking her hair. Ianna looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. He looked rather happy. He continued,
“You must have been concerned about me, seeing how you keeping going on about that. It’s all right. I was annoyed with the prince, but I understood why you acted the way you did. It makes me happy to see how hard you’re trying to make me feel better. All the unpleasantness just washed away.”
Ianna lowered her eyes as Arhad’s hand was still on her head. Arhad’s path to the imperial throne had been smooth back when he hadn’t been involved with her. He had never once attended any of Roanne’s social parties, never mind a debutante ball. And he had maintained a cooperative relationship with the prince as the leader of Camastros.
Which only bothered her all the more, and it also made it difficult for her to be stern with the aforementioned prince.
“Then please stop attending any more parties from now on.”
It would be better for Arhad to stop attending the parties altogether if his mood would only be soured by seeing her there. Especially if he was only attending to keep others from approaching her.
But Arhad took his hand off Ianna’s head and shook his head.
“I already said no.”
“I’d……rather give up.”
“On what?”
Ianna looked quietly down at the scenery before her.
“If you’re only attending these parties because of me, then I’d rather stop attending myself.”
Arhad did not hide his surprise. This was the first time Ianna had ever yielded to his will first.
“Why? I thought you believed in keeping your promises. Didn’t you say that this was the only way you could feel like things had ended completely?”
“I don’t want you to be exposed to the world because of me when you’re hiding in the Institution to plan for your rebellion. So please make a choice. Either you should stop coming out to these parties, or I’ll stop attending them myself.”
“……I’m not inclined to either of those choices. I’m overjoyed that you’re even willing to bend your values for me, but I’d prefer it if you were able to completely end your life in Roanne with your own hands. I don’t want to interfere with that. You might feel uncomfortable later if I do. And besides, I’m attending these parties because I want to. If you’re really trying to act in my best interest, then don’t stop me.”
Ianna straightened herself out and stared at Arhad.
“Very well. I’m sure you’ll manage your identity perfectly well on your own. But, above all else, I’d like it if you stayed in high spirits. You were angry that I danced with the prince, were you not? I will never be persuaded into joining the prince, but he will keep approaching me until he finally gives up. Can you remain in high spirits even as you watch this unfold? You can’t, so why are you so insistent about attending these parties?”
“……The truth…”
Arhad nodded toward the brightly lit hall that he could peer through from the small crack in between the curtains. He continued,
“Is that I simply wanted to dance with you in the light where everyone else was watching.”
“Please stop saying such nonsense,”
Ianna retorted coldly. Arhad looked like a great injustice had been done to him.
“It’s the truth.”
“You can’t, even if it’s the truth. Please stop coming to these parties.”
Arhad wilted a little when Ianna firmly told him no. Anyone else would have thought that he was still standing just as upright as ever, but Ianna, who had watched him for a long time now, knew that he was heavily disappointed. She stole a glance at him now that he was no longer being stubborn.
Was it just her delusion that he reminded her of a downcast wolf hanging his tail down low? The man before her was an elegant savage beast, so why did he always act like an abandoned puppy in front of her? She almost felt like she had mistreated him.
Ianna held her tongue and pondered for a bit. She recalled how Priscilla had jumped for joy and how Arhad had been so happy he hadn’t known what to do with himself when she had been honest with them. She wondered if she should do it again.
“You’re the man who will be the emperor of the Bahamut Empire one day, so you mustn’t dance with the nobles of Roanne in a mere ballroom on the Kingdom of Roanne’s Founding Day.”
Ianna stroked the gentle glow of the bannister as she spoke. She continued,
“Don’t come out to places like this just to be treated poorly. You are to be my master one day, and I dislike watching you bow your head and speak up to others even if it’s just a pretense. You are not someone who should be treated this way.”
The displeasure that had filled her chest when she saw him bow to Schneider had made her all the more reluctant to see him come to a party ever again.
“You can dance as much as you want in the ballroom of the nation that is to be yours one day. I can simply dance with you when I debut as a real noble, no? I will think of that as my true introduction to high society.”
Something white dropped down on the banister. Ianna looked up at the skies. Pure-white snowflakes were falling down to earth like white flower petals riding the wind. It was the first snow on the first night of the new year. Ianna continued to look up at the sky without a word for a moment before another snowflake landed on her nose. Ianna closed her eyes and continued,
“I am looking forward to having my first dance when that day comes. And I will be sharing it with none other than you, naturally. I had fun dancing with you today. So I am sure I will have just as much fun then.”
“…….”
“This will only be possible if you ascend to the throne, of course, but I have never considered that you wouldn’t be able to do it.”
My master is the best, so I don’t want to see him be treated poorly by others even if it’s only fake……. Ianna grew a little perplexed when Arhad didn’t respond even after she had grumbled like a young child. It didn’t show on her face, but her ears were flushing red.
Ianna touched at her ears and snuck a glace to her side, and her hands left her ears when she found that Arhad was staring openly back at her.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“You…….”
Knock knock.
Just then, someone knocked on the terrace doors and broke the silence. Ianna narrowed her eyes and glared at the doors.
“How annoying……. They’ve been so noisy since even before you arrived.”
“If it’s all right with you, shall I chase them away? I’ll make it so that no one will bother you anymore, so long as you agree to it.”
Ianna grew intrigued by the composure in his words.
“And how will you do that?”
“Ask who it is, and let them in when they reply.”
“You want me to let them in?”
“Just do as I say.”
Ianna hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to comply. The man outside gasped and called himself Viscount Shon when Ianna asked who it was. His speech was slurred by wine, and he tripped over his tongue because he hadn’t imagined that she would actually answer. Ianna scowled, reluctant to have to confront him, but she had no choice but to let him in nevertheless.
“……!”
The door was wrenched open as soon as she had begun opening it. Ianna didn’t even have the time to react to the unexpected force before she found her face buried in Arhad’s chest. Arhad kept his back to the door as he wrapped his arm against Ianna’s waist and leaned her against the terrace banister before grabbing onto the bannister with his free hand. And he held Ianna tight, as though she was the woman he loved most in the entire world. Ianna opened her eyes wide.
The door opened all the way and light poured into the terrace, but Ianna couldn’t see anything because Arhad was blocking her view. Arhad’s chin was on her head, and the man behind him gasped and stepped right back out.
“You’ve been knocking for a while now —could you please stop bothering us?”
“M-my apologies!”
The man closed the terrace doors and immediately made himself scarce. Ianna kept her face against Arhad’s chest for a short while before looking up a little. He had embraced her so many times now that she no longer found it awkward or wanted to push him away. She wondered if she was growing used to it.
“What are you doing?”
“I chased him away. And now the number of men approaching you will drastically decrease. He’s bound to spread rumors, after all.”
“People will misunderstand.”
“Does it matter? There’s no need for them to know about our actual relationship.”
Arhad smirked as he let her go. But just then.
“Ahhh.”
A lewd noise sounded from beyond the banister. Arhad’s and Ianna’s gazes turned to the dark garden below them.
“Ahh, Lord Baron, you mustn’t…….”
“Tut tut. There’s no need to make such a fuss.”
A man was lifting up a woman’s dress as he bit into her nape like she was a fruit dribbling in sweet juices. The woman kept moaning as she pulled the man in closer by the neck. And the two of them disappeared off into the dark grasses.
“…….”
But they couldn’t avoid Arhad’s and Ianna’s gaze because they had good vision. Ianna propped her elbows up against the banister and observed their graphic act.
“I can’t help but think that they’re just animals when they act all posh but still do things like that outside,”
Ianna judged them apathetically. Arhad placed his hand over her eyes.
“You shouldn’t be watching something like that yet. You’re too young.”
“What are you talking about? I’m old enough to get married. And you weren’t any better yourself just earlier.”
Ianna removed Arhad’s hand. She continued,
“Why do you keep treating me like I’m a young child? Is the age of maturity different in the Bahamut Empire?”
Ianna felt strange because Arhad kept treating her like a child. Arhad pat her on the head with his large hand as if he found her cute.
Seventeen and twenty-two.1 Ianna was still technically young enough to be treated like a child, but she felt somewhat awkward because no one else had ever really treated her as one. She touched at her head where Arhad had pat her earlier.
A smile alighted Arhad’s face as he watched over her antics.
“It’s getting a little awkward to stay here —shall we leave?”
“And how would we do that?”
Arhad reached out a hand toward her.
“I’ll be using magic, so grab on. I’m going to cast Teleport.”
“Teleport?”
It was a spell that even archmages found difficult to cast. And it had been regarded as one of the most dangerous spells in existence after the mage who had used it to escape Kandemayon, the Chaos Dragon, and gone insane.
“Yes. It’s difficult to use over long distances, but shorter distances are easy enough.”
Ianna realized that Arhad was skilled at magic as well. Ianna was doubtful, but she cautiously took his hand anyway because he was an owner of a Demon’s fragment, which was the mana’s master, and because he looked incredibly confident in himself.
“There’s an anti-magic barrier surrounding the royal palace.”
“That doesn’t matter. Stick close to me. I might accidentally teleport only half your body if things go wrong.”
Ianna stuck close to Arhad with nervousness all over her face, and mana began fluctuating at their feet.
Buzzzzz—
And black magic circle expanded across the terrace with Arhad at its center. The magic circle, covered with geometrical patterns and teeming with intricate formulas and letters, began rotating ever so slowly. A breeze of mana blew and disheveled their hair. Ianna squinted as the magic circle began emitting a bright light.
“We’ll be moving soon.”
This was her first time teleporting. Ianna grabbed Arhad’s arm tight in anxiety and stuck even closer to him.
Swoop!
The magic circle shrank instantaneously and intensively absorbed mana as their figures vanished.
“Where are we?”
Ianna whipped her head around as she surveyed her surroundings, unable to hide her astonishment. The scenery around her had changed completely. She was in a tidy room with a sofa made from water buffalo leather, a mahogany table, and a warm, velvet carpet.
And elderly woman who had already been standing there in wait bowed deeply to the two of them.
“This is one of my manors. I’ve prepared a set of comfortable clothes for you, so let’s head outside as soon as you’ve gotten changed.”
Arhad pointed to the knee-length winter dress and a jacket thick enough to stave off the cold laying out on the sofa as he walked out the door. Underneath the chairs were a pair of ankle boots lined with thick soft fur.
“Please hand me your dress once you’ve finished changing.”
The woman bowed courteously and took the dress that Priscilla had made for Ianna after Ianna had finished changing.
Ianna walked over to the mirror in the corner of the room and studied the dress that Arhad had prepared for her. It was similar to what the commoners wore in design, but its make was luxurious beyond compare.
Arhad had already finished changing and was waiting for her by the time Ianna opened the door and stepped out. He was wearing a simple but luxurious swallow-tail coat, a thick white shirt and black overcoat, and black pants.
The corners of his lips curled up in apparent satisfaction as he saw how Ianna was dressed head to toe in clothes that he had prepared for her.
“Shall we?”
Ianna looked around at her surroundings as she followed Arhad to the front entrance of the manor. They were in an area of the capital that was densely populated with noble manors. Ianna had lived here herself in her past. Only nobles had the right to buy property in this area, and even then, only the wealthiest nobles lived here because the property value was so expensive. Just how wealthy was Arhad?
But more importantly, her initial excitement about teleporting had worn off and her mind started being filled with worry in its place.
“Who was the woman in the room? She saw us teleporting in…….”
“She’s a servant who obeys me completely. There’s no need to worry about her.”
“Wouldn’t the royal knights have felt the wave of mana you created?”
“I made sure to freeze all the mana around us that we weren’t using, so no one will be the wiser.”
Ianna raised her hands in surrender.
“You truly are remarkable.”
How long had it been since they had exited the nobles’ residential district, which was dark and silent because most nobles were attending the Founding Day party? They were greeted with bright scenery and boisterous noises even though it was nighttime. Unlike the party, which had been illuminated by extravagant and luxurious crystal artefacts, the streets were lit up with simple lanterns shaped like animals and other aspects of nature that were hung up on every statue.
The roads were lined with stalls selling things like flowers, accessories, and souvenirs. After walking a bit farther, they found an open square where a play was being enacted on a stage, and there was even a drinking contest being held in a corner.
There were drunkards singing to themselves in their drunken stupor, tourists looking around at everything as they traveled in groups, and flocks of women walking around comfortably as they stuck with each other.
Ianna watched the people laughing and going about with curiosity in her eyes. They were both festive events, but Founding Day was different from the school festival. It was a special day meant for seeing the old year out and ushering the new year in, and the streets were filled with joy.
Ianna had never been able to see the world properly because she had always been living in the cage of thorns that the nobility had created for her. She had run straight to the sword after nearly suffocating to death in the luxury and vanity of the nobility, and she had never once had the leisure to take in her surroundings. This was Ianna’s first time seeing something like this despite the fact that she had once lived in the capital for over a decade —and it made her feel so strange.
The streets were filled with such interesting things. And everyone looked so free, right down to the very last person. Ianna bitterly realized that she had been a frog who stubbornly refused to leave the well she lived in. Ianna blinked.
“What will we be doing here?”
“Anything that you want to try.”
“……?”
Ianna looked to Arhad with a strange look on her face and he pushed the decision on her.
“There’s nothing that I want to try in particular. And besides, weren’t you the one who brought me here? We should do what you want.”
“Is that how it is? Then we’ll just walk around, and you can let me know if there’s anything you want or want to eat. And tell me if there’s something you want to try doing, too,”
Arhad said cheerfully as he explained that Founding Day was larger in scale than the school festival was, had more activities, and had fewer people paying attention to them. Most of the people attending the school festival had been students, so they were always recognized easily and attracted a lot of attention. There were still a few people sneaking glances at them here and there because they stood out, but there were certainly fewer eyes on them then there had been during the school festival.
Then, Arhad had said that he wanted to let Ianna do what she wanted to do since he had dragged her outside against her will. Ianna waved her hands.
“It wasn’t against my will. I would much rather walk around somewhere else with you than stay at the suffocating party. Thank you for bringing me here. I have the chance to see more of the festivities thanks to you.”
Ianna looked around with open curiosity. She continued,
“You should do what you want instead of catering to me. It’s more than enough for me to simply follow you around and see what’s going on. I’m having a lot of fun even now.”
“…….”
“So please just do as you’d like. You always adhere to my stubbornness, so for today we should do what you want to do —I won’t stop you.”
Ianna decided that she would do as Arhad wanted. She felt as if it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to put aside her obstinacy for just a day and let him do as he pleased. Arhad was staring down at her as she busily looked around, and a slight fever flushed across his face.
“……I’m delighted. Then, shall we be off?”
There was just enough snow falling from the heavens that it excited people rather than ruin their fun. The children were running around in excitement, as snow was a rare sight in the otherwise warm and affluent Theodore. The women huddled even closer together to keep each other warm.
Ianna was busy looking around as she walked alongside Arhad. There were all sorts of activities taking place in the square. People had gathered together and were dancing to the merry music, and lovers were playing couples’ games to celebrate the holiday. People were ice fishing along the frozen river. There was a reason Founding Day was the biggest holiday of the year in Roanne.
Ianna’s eyes stopped at a booth for darts that people were gathering around. To be more precise, she was not looking at the game but at the stuffed animals that were set aside as prizes for winning it. Among them was a stuffed animal of an adorable puppy with round eyes.
She didn’t usually let it show, but Ianna had a soft spot for cute things and she rather liked them a lot subconsciously. This was the underlying reason as to why she was so weak against young people or animals who looked weak to her. She didn’t buy a lot of cutesy things because she disliked spending money on unnecessary things or decorating her room, but her preference for them was strong enough to pull her gaze.
Arhad saw that Ianna’s eyes had stopped there for longer than usual and led her there. Ianna was a little perplexed, as she had been too busy looking around to notice that Arhad was paying attention to her each and every move.
“Here.”
The doll Ianna had been looking at was one of the bigger prizes. The first-place prize was a breed of horse with a luster to its mane. Everyone else was eager to win the horse as they played darts, but Arhad missed his target on purpose even though he was more than capable of winning the game easily if he had so chosen.
He looked extremely pleased with himself as he won the prize he was aiming for and pushed the stuffed puppy that Ianna had been looking at into her arms. It was like he was offering his game to a lady after a hunt.
This was the first time Ianna had ever received a stuffed animal after growing up. She pouted, feeling like she had actually become a child again, but she still thanked him and hugged the soft and fluffy pillow-sized stuffed animal to her chest. It felt good to hug.
Arhad grinned before walking off again, and Ianna trailed behind him.
“Whoaaa!”
“Kill him! Stab him!”
“Finish him! Cut off his arm!”
A lot of martial arts tournaments, like the Youths Swordsmanship Tournament that Ianna had once participated in, took place on Founding Day. Competitors were brandishing their weapons more fiercely today than usual, likely because of the holiday, and spectators were crying out as they lost themselves in the madness of battle.
“The man wielding a greatsword over there is rather skilled. He might even be able to take down a royal knight in just one blow.”
“He’s the ace of the battle arena. And he’s a talented individual that the people call the King of the Arena. He’s turned down several offers from the nobility to work for them, as he prefers to live a bloody life here in the arena.”
A bunch of good-for-nothings walked up to them while they were talking.
“Hey, Miss. Aren’t you a pretty thing?”
The thugs liked to pick on targets like Ianna and Arhad for a variety of reasons. Not only had they not brought their swords with them because of the party, but Ianna was so lovely with her sharp eyes mellowed by makeup that it made them drool. They paid absolutely no attention to the cute stuffed animal she was holding.
And the sleek young man standing next to her was so good-looking that it made them want to pick a fight with him all the more. Putting aside the fact that they disliked how handsome his face was, they were certain that he was a well-off commoner because his clothes, which looked like they could belong to any ordinary commoner at a first glance, were of extremely good make.
One of the thugs began whispering to Arhad.
“Why don’t you tag along quietly before we make a fool out of you in front of everyone here?”
The man stuck close to Arhad and pressed a dagger against his stomach. The light in Arhad’s eyes grew significantly colder as he looked back at the thugs. Alcohol had negatively influenced their ability to make sound decisions, and they grinned toothily —with a few teeth missing— because they thought that Arhad’s golden eyes were laced with fright.
Ianna looked to Arhad in worry. All they needed to do was to beat them up a bit —he wasn’t going to kill them, was he?
Then, the thugs proceeded to cross a line they should have never crossed because they had mistakenly judged that the look in Ianna’s eyes was also terror.
“Hey, Little Missy. Don’t be scared. We’re real nice, you know?”
“We’ll let you taste something real fun between your legs tonight. Hehe.”
Arhad waited for them to finished before he obediently got up from his seat and followed after them. Ianna sighed and tagged behind Arhad while still holding her stuffed puppy in her arms, surrounded by the throng of thugs. And the thugs were turned into a bloody pulp after they had led the two into a back alley.
Craaash!
“Ack!”
Dirty hair was tangled between his fingers. The thug, whose head was caught tight in Arhad’s hand, had his face smashed violently against the cold wall. Then, Arhad pressed his head against the coarse wall as if he meant to crush it.
Riiiip—
The thug screamed in agony as his flesh tore.
“Please……s-spare me…….”
Arhad let go of the man whose face was being torn apart when he fainted, and then he kicked the man who was struggling at his feet while begging for his life in the stomach. The man vomited out the contents of his stomach.
“Eek. Ugh.”
“Aaack.”
The thugs only survived because some passersby had reported them. Arhad had been merciless, and no one knew if they were dead or alive as they were carried away. The scene of the incident was covered with blood and scattered pieces of broken teeth, and Arhad and Ianna had to explain the situation at a police station before they were free to leave.
Ianna sighed as she watched Arhad wash his hands clean and dry them with a handkerchief.
“Wasn’t that bit excessive?”
“I was planning to kill them, but I held back. The bastards should consider themselves lucky.”
They had begun browsing through the stalls selling things like glistening weapons, smelted ores, and cloth sheaths upon leaving the police station. Still, today was Founding Day. There were more street vendors selling decorations, clothing, flowers, souvenirs, and food than street vendors selling weapons.
“Do you like this, Seri? Want me to buy it for you?”
“Really? You’re the best!”
Men were flaunting their wealth in front of the women they wanted to gain favor from the way a male animal offered a female their prey to show off how strong they were. Ianna had no interest in accessories. She was more interested in stores that sold alcoholic beverages, like cocktails with a bit of alcohol in them.
They weren’t as luxurious as the drinks that nobles enjoyed at parties, but the people rather liked the sweet fruit juices made by aging fresh fruit, and the piquant alcohol was a hit with the adults because they helped set the festive mood.
“Bleeeech.”
There were a few people who were being unsightly after having a bit too much to drink, but Ianna and Arhad were not among their number. They were a cut more excited than they had been earlier as they walked around with a glass in their hands each before they suddenly came across people they hadn’t expected to meet.
“Oh my.”
“Hey! Ain’t that Lil’ Ianna?”
It was Lalatua and Taro.
Lalatua drew a lot of attention to herself as she walked around in a fluffy fur jacket and a fancy dress that reached down to her ankles. Taro did not hide how excited he was to see Ianna, but Lalatua scowled as soon as she saw Arhad and sarcastically quipped,
“What’s this now? Aren’t you usually holed up in your stuffy tower like you don’t have any friends?”
“You gave me quite the surprise too, Princess —you’re usually slovenly and reeking of chemicals. And you’re even holding a rose —it doesn’t suit you at all.”
Arhad quipped right back at her. Sparks of animosity ignited between them. Lalatua laughed daintily as she covered her arching smile with her hand.
“I’m only here because Taro implored me to spend Founding Day with him. Goodness, it’s hard being so popular.”
Ianna tried to recall what Lalatua’s relationship with Arhad had been like in the past.
The continent had been divided in three between the Bahamut army, the Allied Forces, and a third party —and, while she hadn’t been completely hostile to Bahamut, Lalatua had cooperated with the Allied Forces in stopping the Bahamut army as a member of the third party.
“You are the only one who can stop Arhad, who is slowly going mad, the war, and the ravaging of the whole continent.”
“My beautiful duchess. It is highly likely that Arhad will abandon everything and withdraw the very moment he gets his hands on you. He would rather conquer you, rather than any other country.”
“I see you really know nothing about him.”
Ianna had thought that Lalatua was an insane woman who liked to prattle nonsense. But now that she thought about it, Lalatua had said nothing wrong. Ianna had known nothing about Arhad prior to her rebirth. She had known nothing —not about the Demon’s fragments, not about his past, and not about his heart. She had simply been in a blind fury because of her inferiority complex……. Ianna snuck a glance at Arhad, who was holding a glaring contest against Lalatua.
Lalatua was Heinrich’s disciple who had lived in the magic tower with him ever since she was young. And Heinrich had been the very person who had helped create the circumstances behind Arhad’s birth even though the Bahamut imperial family did not tolerate any impurities in their bloodline.
Ianna hadn’t cared much about the relationship between Lalatua and Arhad in the past, but they had apparently been surprisingly deeply connected. Lalatua had bullied Arhad spitefully when they were children because she was jealous of the attention that Heinrich paid to him, and they didn’t exactly seem to be on good terms even now……but in any event, she knew more about Arhad than Ianna did. This had been true in the past as well.
‘Does that mean that Arhad would have really stopped the war if only I had bowed out and gone to him?’
The Bahamut Empire’s war of conquest. The Allied Force’s defeat was apparent for all to see several years after the war had broken out, and the allied kingdoms were scrambling to get Arhad to accept their surrender, but Arhad had trampled over them all like he was a madman crazy for blood. He had wielded his sword mercilessly, as if he had meant to kill off everyone in the South. The war of conquest had been prolonged, and it had been coming to a close by the time Ianna had died.
‘But all that was just because of me?’
“Goodness……,”
Lalatua exclaimed with great pleasure after looking at Arhad’s arms and then at Taro’s. Taro was carrying multiple shopping bags with both arms. Lalatua snorted and sneered as she looked to Arhad’s arms, which were rather empty in comparison. She continued,
“Are you a man who can only buy a pretty girl like Little Ianna one mere stuffed puppy? How pathetic.”
“…….”
“Taro’s bought me everything I wanted. But you haven’t even given Little Ianna a single rose? What a lousy excuse of a man.”
Lalatua lifted her chin victoriously as she looked down haughtily at Arhad. Then, she narrowed her eyes like a vixen and giggled when Arhad’s face grew stiff and frigid. She pulled at Taro’s arm like she was having great fun when Arhad finally started emitting a little bit of bloodlust. Finally, she winked at Ianna.
“Enjoy Founding Day, Little Ianna. Let’s go, Taro.”
Ianna was a bit nervous and she looked to Arhad as Lalatua pressed all of his buttons before leaving with Taro. She hoped that Lalatua hadn’t irritated him too much. Ianna wouldn’t be able to deal with it if Arhad really decided to start spending money. Gingerly, Ianna said,
“There’s no need for you to heed what the Princess said. I don’t care for things like that.”
“Let’s go.”
The mood was serious. Lalatua had set Arhad’s rationality on fire —and it wasn’t any ordinary fire, but a full-blown mountain fire. Arhad started buying anything that he deemed suitable for Ianna that he could get his hands on.
Ianna did not like dressing herself up. Accessories like bracelets or necklaces only got in the way of training. Neither did she care much for clothes. They’d all get soaked in sweat anyway, so they really didn’t matter to her. But Ianna still had her preferences, and the things that suited her tastes tended to draw her eyes even if only momentarily. And Arhad bought her anything that her eyes landed on. The bags filled with random trinkets began increasing exponentially in size.
“That’s enough now…….”
“No.”
Ianna couldn’t tell Arhad to stop because she was the one who had initially told Arhad to do as he pleased, and, more importantly, Ianna could only poke at her stuffed puppy without a word because he seemed like he was having great fun. Ultimately, she decided to give up on thinking about Arhad’s insane expenditure altogether.
Arhad, who was apparently spending the money that he had missed out on spending during the school festival, was only satisfied and stopped his indiscriminate buying when his arms were heavy with the bags he was holding. Ianna glanced at the ridiculous number of bags he had on him.
“What are you even going to with all of these? Are you going to keep carrying them with you?”
“Of course not. Wait here for a moment.”
He left Ianna behind and vanished off into a back alley somewhere, and his arms were empty upon his return. He had apparently teleported everything back to his manor.
“Feel free to come over anytime if you need any of that.”
“That was a pointless waste of money. I don’t particularly like dressing myself up like that.”
“I’m fully aware that I was wasting money……. I lost my mind for a moment because the Princess pissed me off. I should have bought something more expensive if I was going to go on a shopping spree anyway.”
Ianna held out the stuffed puppy in her arms and shook it gently in front of Arhad.
“I am perfectly content with just this stuffed puppy. Anything else I buy would only take up space. But if you still insist on buying me something…”
“Is there something you want?”
Ianna pointed Arhad to a stall selling hair accessories as he rejoiced.
“I go through a lot of hair ties while training.”
Ianna picked out a black ribbon hair tie that suited her tastes. But Arhad asked if she really only needed one and picked out a few more that looked good on her before purchasing them.
“You’ve got yourself a great boyfriend, Miss!”
The storekeeper made a fuss as she handed Ianna the bag of hair ties. Ianna simply accepted it quietly, as she was too exhausted by now to refute her and because she felt no need to correct someone whom she would likely never meet again.
“Thank you. I’ll be sure to use these well.”
Arhad was thoroughly pleased with Ianna’s words of gratitude.
They started walking again. Then, Ianna realized something strange as she walked along the streets while looking around. There were hardly any women on the streets who had roses on them. Founding Day was a day for red roses. But the women were holding flowers that were not red roses.
“I’m so disappointed in you! How could you do this to me?”
Ianna watched as one woman began grumbling and quarrelling. The woman was upset that the flower she had received wasn’t a red rose.
“Roses are worth more than gold right now —gold, I tell you. My word, I can get my head around the fact that they might be a little expensive because it’s hard to grow roses in the middle of winter. But why in the world would a single rose be worth one whole gold? That’s a hundred times the usual price. Have the merchants lost their minds?”
“But the merchants looked pretty deadbeat too. One gold is actually on the cheaper side, or so I hear. They apparently have to sell for more than that to actually make a profit.”
“I’ve heard that the royal palace hasn’t ordered that many roses either, I think? And that the palace ministers were hassling the merchants that normally deliver them roses.”
“What the hell? Did all the roses get diseased or something?”
Those women who had received red roses where practically singing to themselves with their chests puffed out as they garnered the envy of those women who had not. And Ianna realized that there was something strange about the situation.
‘Why hasn’t Arhad given me a rose?’
He would have been more than happy to gift her a rose, especially considering how freely he had been spending his money, and yet he didn’t seem to be interested in any flowers at all. Ianna was perplexed as she looked up to his profile.
‘Are flowers too ordinary for his tastes? How strange……oh.’
Ianna burst out in laughter. She had started taking him for granted because he was so good to her. She should be grateful that he gave her anything at all —it wasn’t right to question why he wasn’t giving her more.
And Arhad had already given her plenty. It wasn’t her right to receive his goodwill, and it was wrong of her to take it for granted. Ianna shook her head clear of her thoughts.
There was an event with lanterns scheduled for nine in the evening. It was an event where people sent off red and yellow lanterns into the skies as they made their wishes for the new year.
A lot of people had already bought their lanterns and were sending them aloft by the time Arhad and Ianna visited the event. There was a gentle breeze in the air, as if it was blessing the event. It was snowing a little, but it didn’t pose a problem. Rather, the harmony between the falling snow and the rising lanterns created for a beautiful scene.
Arhad bought two lanterns and gave one to Ianna. Ianna looked up at the sky. Dozens, no, hundreds of lanterns were already glowing as they embroidered the heavens.
The area became crowded as more and more people joined the event. There were so many people present that Ianna felt like there would ultimately be thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands, of lanterns lighting up the sky like the sun.
This was the first time ever that Ianna had enjoyed Founding Day or had participated in the lantern event. Watching people as they enjoyed the beautiful sky made her realize that she had truly been living while looking only at her sword.
Ianna and Arhad sent their lanterns up. They rose well and they joined everyone else’s as they floated into the sky. People were making wishes as their lanterns rose.
Ianna didn’t really have anything she wanted to wish for because she was of the belief that it was better to accomplish what you wanted through your own efforts rather than to trust blindly in superstition. But when she stole a glance at Arhad, she found that he was muttering something to himself as he watched the lanterns rise.
‘May his wish come true.’
More people joined the event. Arhad grabbed onto Ianna’s wrist, afraid that he might lose her in the ever-growing crowd.
“We’ve done everything we came here to do, so let’s go.”
“To where? Are we returning to the party?”
“No —just come.”
Arhad led Ianna somewhere secluded. Where would they go if not to the party or to the rest of the festivities? Ianna was curious, but she followed after Arhad without asking. He reached out to her when they had finally arrived somewhere where they couldn’t feel the presence of other people.
“Hold on tight.”
He was apparently planning to teleport them again. Ianna took his hand gently, having learned after her first time that teleporting with him wasn’t actually that big of a deal. But Arhad squeezed her hand tight instead.
Bang!
She felt a sudden wave of mana near her face. Ianna was perplexed, as she had felt a spell go off but nothing seemed different.
“……Did you cast a spell on me? What kind of spell was it?”
“A spell that’s essential for where we’re about to go.”
A magic circle rose up from below. It began spinning. Then, it sucked their feet inside. It swallowed their legs, waists, torsos, and finally their heads.
Hummmm!
A black magic circle appeared somewhere. Ianna and Arhad appeared from the center of the circle, and around them was a completely different scenery than before.
“……!”
Ianna froze in place as soon as she realized what she was looking at. A cold wind was blowing up from below. The buildings looked as small as her fingernails. She could not see any people. There was no ground at her feet.
They were standing in the middle of the sky. And they were so high up that the royal palace of Roanne looked tiny.
“What in the world……?!”
Ianna used her free hand to block the wind. The wind coming up from below was rather strong. This was why people sometimes died while teleporting. They would end up somewhere completely unexpected if they made even one small miscalculation while casting the spell.
Had Arhad miscalculated? Clearly, he must have. There was no reason why he would teleport them in the middle of the sky when there was nothing wrong about the ground. Actually, Ianna should be relieved that they were at least in mid-air. They would have perished for sure had they teleported in the deep sea or underground.
Ianna grew nervous as they began falling faster. They would need to time their landing perfectly. Ianna clamped down at her skirt as it fluttered in the wind.
‘It’s hard to keep my balance because I’m wearing a dress.’
Just then, Arhad pulled Ianna closer by the hand.
“I’ll hold you up, so you don’t need to be so nervous. Just enjoy the scenery.”
It was only then that Ianna realized that he had teleported them to the sky on purpose.
And she could understand the gist of what kind of spell he had cast on her before because she could still breathe just fine and blink her eyes without any trouble even though they were so high up that the clouds were below them. It was probably a type of spell that shielded any impacts to her face.
“You should have warned me earlier!”
Ianna chided as a scene she hadn’t seen earlier entered her gaze from across the rushing winds.
It truly was a novel sight to see everything while falling from the skies. It was beautiful in a slightly different way than seeing everything from a tall hill was. The lanterns rising up from the city were spread out against the dark sky like fireflies, and the city itself, which she couldn’t cover fully even if she walked through it all day long, was small enough that she could hide it from view with just one hand and was sparkling all over.
The lights grew larger as time passed, and the buildings, once as small as her fingernails, began gaining definition. It was a curious sensation to feel her field of vision seemingly expand as they plummeted.
‘But where are we falling to?’
She could finally see the ground again after falling for some time. It came closer surprisingly quickly. Something crimson fluttered up from the ground with the wind, but Ianna did not have the time to figure out what it was.
Ianna stiffened up, but Arhad pulled at her and secured her in his arms while carrying her like she was a princess. Ianna was no longer able to brace herself for landing because of this, and she had no choice but to rely on Arhad to land them safely. She shut her eyes tight as she braced herself for impact.
But they were gradually losing speed. The cold wind rushing up from below halted a moment later, and her hair, which had been floating above her head, settled down as the heavy weight pulling them down lifted.
“Here.”
Arhad landed lightly without any impact whatsoever before he put Ianna down, and she blinked dizzily a few times as she straightened herself out. Her brain felt numb, and her vision went white, as if she was a hospital patient with low blood pressure trying to get up. She kept her eyes closed as she brushed down at the mess that was her hair, and she curtly quipped,
“Any other woman would have slapped you in the face for doing what you just did. That, or she would have died from a heart attack.”
“I only did it because it was you. So how was it —wasn’t it fun?”
“It was certainly curious. You always managed to surprise me, in more ways than one.”
Something fragile brushed past her cheek when the wind blew. It was soft, and it rested on her cheek and her hair for a moment before readily falling away.
‘What is that?’
Ianna brushed away the hair that the wind had tossed over her face as she felt her body return to normal and slowly opened her eyes. She was immediately met with a light so crimson that her eyes hurt. She was so surprised that she dropped her hand as she was brushing down her hair.
The area had surely once been empty, but it was now covered in crimson roses that stretched as far as the eye could see. The things that had been tickling her earlier were rose petals that had been carried away by the wind. There were petals dancing away in the wind even still. The roses wavered in the wind.
“Congratulations for turning seventeen and for debuting.”
Ianna stared wide-eyed at the banquet of roses for a moment before she laughed out heartily —she had finally found her answer as to why Arhad hadn’t given her any roses.
“I keep telling you to stop wasting money for no reason, and then you go and do this.”
“And I keep telling you that it isn’t a waste.”
“I’ve been hearing that roses were short in supply this year —was it because of you?”
“Probably, considering that I paid at a premium to gather them like hell.”
White snowflakes, frozen from the cold air, airily floated down. It wasn’t snowing that much, but it was still enough to make the day feel cold. Ianna extended her hands. Small flakes fell on her hands and melted away.
The snow that had been falling a little at the party was falling here as well. It had begun piling up on the ground too, so perhaps it had been snowing for a while now. Some of the white snow moistened the crimson rose petals as they landed, while some of it began piling up on the flowers instead.
Ianna sat on her knees and touched the roses. And she realized that the flowers had no thorns. And…….
“I thought roses grew on bushes?”
“I had them all picked and replanted to look like a field of flowers after having their thorns removed, leaving only the flowers and leaves behind.”
It was difficult for Ianna to imagine what the roses must have cost with the additional labor costs. Rather, she didn’t even want to imagine it, because she was sure she would develop a headache if she tried. It was difficult to keep up with Arhad’s financial sensibilities. And so, she decided to focus only on the picturesque scenery before her eyes that Arhad had prepared for her.
Ianna looked around at her surroundings. This man really didn’t pull any punches when it came to the scale of his actions. She spread out her arms and closed them again, and there was a heap of roses in her arms. She threw the roses in her arms up in the air. The floating roses fluttered back down to the earth in the snowy night sky.
Ianna breathed out as she lowered her eyes. Her breath froze white from the cold. Arhad looked extremely expectant as he asked,
“Do you like it?”
“You really…….”
Ianna laughed as if there was no helping it before she laid back against the mound of roses. It was cushiony, as all the thorns had been removed, leaving only the flowers and leaves behind, and there were so many of them. The roses dyed her clothes red, but Ianna paid it no heed.
The roses enveloped her body, and there were so many of them that she couldn’t touch all of them even if she rolled around in them all day long. The man had prepared so many roses for her, so it would be a waste if she didn’t accept his sincerity with her entire being. Her crimson hair scattered over the flowers. Ianna closed her eyes and brought a rose up to the tip of her nose.
“I prefer the fragrance of real roses to the pungent smell of perfume. And I like this even more because the scent of wind has been mixed into it.”
She felt like she had received enough flowers today for both her lifetimes combined.
Arhad looked down at Ianna with wavering eyes as she buried herself in the roses and lied there comfortably. Ianna remained where she was and toyed with the roses caught in her fingers before she looked back up at him.
“Thank you. I find myself receiving so much when I’m with you. But I still think this is too much. How many times must I tell you this?”
“You are worth it. This isn’t excessive. How many times must I tell you this?”
“…….”
“I still don’t think this is enough. It’ll never be enough no matter how much I give you. It wouldn’t be enough even if I picked every rose in the world and gave it to you.”
Ianna looked away and steadied her breathing when Arhad refuted from the bottom of his heart. His concerns, his words, and his actions toward her were always so excessive. Her hearted ached so much she imagined it might stop.
“……I…”
Ianna hugged more roses to herself and buried her face in the pile.
“What must I do for you when you see so much worth in me? Should I offer you my life?”
My power might be useless to you, since you were able to usurp the imperial throne even without me, since you were able to overthrow the entire world even without me —no, even when I opposed you. Even my life might not be enough.
The more she thought about it and set aside her arrogance and pride, the more she started to think that she didn’t deserve him. Why did he want her so much that he obsessed over a stubborn girl who could only see her sword and had even ruined himself once because he couldn’t have her? Ianna hugged the roses tighter.
He was the high and mighty emperor of a vast empire, while she was just the lowly illegitimate daughter of a count. He was so wealthy that he had more gold than could ever possibly be counted, while she had only her sword. Countless people followed him, while countless people had scorned her. He was strong enough that he had defeated her every time, and she had yet to beat him even once.
That was the kind of man Arhad was. That was the kind of woman Ianna was. And Arhad had wanted her ever since he had first laid his eyes on her. No, perhaps he had started wanting her so long ago that she didn’t even know…….
But why?
Ianna wielded her sword to prove her worth. She wielded her sword because her sword was her life itself. And Arhad had said that he had fallen for the sword that she was. He was strong enough to protect not only himself but also those around him, and yet he desired someone as single-minded as herself.
And so, Ianna had gained yet another reason for wielding her sword. She wielded it so she could stay by Arhad’s side because he desired her when she wielded her sword, and she wielded it so she could perhaps stop anything that might pose a danger to him. Those were her goals.
“Enough with that nonsense about offering your life,”
Arhad coldly cut her off. He continued,
“And I’ve told you before. Don’t go anywhere, don’t look anywhere else, stay by my side with that sword of yours that you love so much, and see the same things as I do. That’s all I need.”
His words were kind yet earnest. Ianna squeezed the roses tighter.
You look at me and you see me for who I am……. And I don’t want you to change. Ever.
Ianna’s eyes grew murky as they took in the roses’ crimson light.
My king.
Even if I must offer you my life, I want to stay by your side with my sword in hand forever. The relationship we share now is ideal and amazing as it is —it doesn’t need to change. Yes, you have no reason to love me…….
Ianna breathed out steadily.
So don’t fall in love with me.
“And…”
Arhad reached out to her.
“All you need to do is dance with me one more time.”
Ianna looked from the flowers and at his hand. He continued,
“Like you said back at the terrace —it’s fine if we dance here since no one’s watching, right?”
“…….”
“It’ll be a while yet before we conquer Bahamut. I don’t know how long it’ll be until the day you mentioned comes. It might come in five years, or it might come in ten. But it’s only now that you can debut while you’re seventeen, no?”
In conclusion, didn’t it simply mean that he just really wanted to dance right now? Arhad brought his hand closer to her, slightly anxious, when she stared back at him blankly.
“May I have just this one dance, my Lady? ……Please.”
“……Ahaha!”
Ianna clutched at her forehead and burst out in laughter.
“Haha! Haha!”
Arhad never took back his hand even as Ianna laughed. So instead, Ianna raised up her own as Arhad uneasily looked down at her.
“It would be my pleasure.”
She readily took hold of Arhad’s hand. Arhad was overjoyed, and he pulled her up as soon as she consented and her hand fell on top of his. Ianna used the strength of his pull to stand up. Arhad squeezed Ianna’s hand in his and smiled.
Ianna was more excited to dance a slightly messy dance with Arhad to the tune of the faint music coming from the distance and the song of the bugs in the grasses beneath the gentle glow of the moon than to dance a formal waltz with him beneath the bright lights of the party.
The premonition that doing anything with Arhad, even if they weren’t clashing blades, was fun tickled her.
And Ianna did not think that it was a bad feeling at all.
~~*~~
Arhad had received a report that Ianna was participating in the Youth’s Swordsmanship Tournament that was being held to commemorate the founding of the kingdom when he was twenty-four —after he had graduated from the Institution but before he had traveled to the North.
On a whim, he had decided to participate as well because it would be his last opportunity to see her before he left and because he wanted to test out her sword for himself.
“Ianna Roberstein wins!”
Those who had run their mouths could only shut up, and a hot ecstasy had seeped into her entire being as she took victory after victory. His heart had pounded, like the very first time he had ever held a sword, whenever he watched her enjoy herself as she wielded her sword on the arena grounds.
Obviously, none of the participants had been a match for Arhad. He leisurely received their blows, and it was all over after just one fierce blow back from him. They had understood the difference in skill between them and Arhad, and they had readily accepted their defeat. How would Ianna react?
When he was finally faced against Ianna for the first time during the finals, Arhad had realized something.
‘The beast before my eyes is just like me.’
Everything else aside, Ianna was just as crazy for the sword as he was, and she possessed overflowing talent in it. Their gazes drew a rigid line between them as they squared off against each other. Ianna’s crimson eyes reflected his figure.
‘Oh.’
Arhad clenched his teeth together as he fell into her eyes. He felt like he was burning. He was sweating, as if he was trapped in the blazing fires of hell. He was suffocating, as if someone had seized his heart. Ianna’s ecstasy. Ianna’s joy. Arhad felt his throat grow dry like a drought had taken over him as her feelings were conveyed to him.
It’s hot. I’m parched.
But his thirst was not one that could be satiated with water.
“Hwoo…….”
Arhad had been living unhindered like a still lake, and Ianna had been the first person to set his emotions ablaze. He wanted the crimson woman before his eyes so badly it drove him insane.
His powerful desire to possess, which he was experiencing for the first time in his life and was pointed to only one being, made him smile from the bottom of his heart. How was he to have known that his smile would leave behind a deep wound on her pride?
That was when Arhad had started driving Ianna into a corner. At first, he had simply been toying with her to see how strong she was. Arhad was a man and Ianna was a woman, there was an age gap of five years between them, and Arhad had been wielding a sword for fifteen years while Ianna had only been wielding a sword for four —there was an eleven-year difference in skill between them. Her defeat had only been a matter of course.
Ianna had knelt to pick up her sword after his victory, and Arhad had said to her,
“Ianna Roberstein, was it? You’re a diamond in the rough for now, but you’ll definitely grow to be worthwhile in the future.”
He had truly meant what he had said. The reckless genius before him and only taken up the sword recently, and she was like a baby tiger who had just started growing out her fangs. She was a rookie who would be one of the first to die in a battlefield. She was still lacking a lot, and she needed to train hard. Ianna started burning up in rage.
“Shut it. The next time I see you I’ll be sure to make it so that you’ll never scoff at me with that mouth of yours again.”
Her hands twitched as she grasped her sword, and she glared at Arhad as if he was the greatest enemy of her life. Arhad rather liked her ferocity.
She was much more dashing when she was set ablaze like this, rather than when she was wearing the shell of a delicate girl, or when she was crying after being bullied, or when she was empty after having killed off her emotions. Arhad burst out in laughter.
“Oh dear. I’m starting to look forward to it. I want to have a good relationship with you, but it looks like you don’t share the sentiment.”
“Is Arhad your real name? Where are you from? Are you a noble?”
He looked down at Ianna with swaying eyes as she grumbled in her fury and thought,
I want you.
He didn’t know where this possessive desire had been hiding all his life, but it was peering out from his heart now.
I want you to stay by my side.
Greed and desire sputtered out from the ruined wastelands of his heart.
I want your vitality, your vigor, and your smile in my life.
Arhad reached out, unable to beat back his greed.
His fingers brushed carefully against Ianna’s cheek. He was electrified by the warmth that was conveyed to him through the tips of his fingers. The contact made his heart beat even harder.
“Now’s not the right time, so just call me Arhad Roygen for now.”
His grew greedier, and his fingertips became his fingers, and his fingers became his palm as he slowly caressed her cheek.
“I want a woman like you. All the more so now that we’ve fought each other. So, go ahead and try —try to break my sword the next time we meet.”
Train hard in your desire to break me. Make me your goal and train like hell until I come find you again. Fan your flames until the day we meet once more. You must never forget me —the man who defeated you.
Arhad had thought that his feelings had stemmed from a simple greed for talent. It was too vehement to be a mere greed for talent, but he was dull when it came to his emotions and he could not properly identify the feelings that had suddenly seized his heart. He was only aware of his primitive desire to keep her by his side.
“I will do my best to break this glare of yours,”
Arhad had said as he promised Ianna that they would meet again. She would have grown to be an even better swordswoman by the time he usurped the throne and matters had started to stabilize, and he decided that he would bring her to his side once that happened.
He decided that he absolutely must take the throne now that he had begun wanting to recruit Ianna for her talent.
Arhad overthrew the nobility once he had arrived at the North, and he won over the sentiment of the exhausted people who lived there. He had a peculiar charisma to him, and people were attracted to him like bees to honey.
He busily travelled around the North as he gathered the Demon’s fragments. He hunted down fragment owners one by one and mercilessly burst open their hearts as he robbed them of the fragments they possessed.
He was curious as to what Ianna was doing in the meanwhile, but he didn’t do anything in particular to find out. Her brilliant smile had imprisoned his mind and refused to let him go. He might not be able to stop himself from going to look for her if he learned about what she was up to.
Her radiant smile. He thought about her smile, which had stolen away everything that he was, frequently, but he also didn’t want to expose her to danger. He told himself that his real relationship with Ianna would only begin when he sought her out after everything was over, and he devoted himself into his struggle for the throne.
Arhad had wandered the world in search for a rift into Pandemonium. He had carried the desire to seek out his first heart ever since he had been in his mother’s womb. There were no problems in the way he was living now, but he wasn’t satisfied. He absolutely needed his heart to complete what he lacked.
And finally, he had found a rift that was large enough for a grown man to lie down in. A blackish energy was crawling out from the rift into Pandemonium, which had yet to be closed by a spartoi. His soul —the memories the fragments carried began slowly filling up his head as his first heart exerted its influence over him.
He flew down into the rift.
Pandemonium had been known as the Demon’s den toward the end of the Holy Age, but the name had initially referred to the Great Chaos, the origin of everything. In the current age, Pandemonium was an absolute area under the protection of Laos’ divine power, and teleporting in its vicinity could spell death because it distorted the caster’s calculations. You could only enter Pandemonium through a rift, and you had to protect your body with mana while passing through it.
Moreover, once inside the abyss, you either needed help from the world tree to get out or you needed to scale the walls yourself until you left the area outside of Laos’ influence, and it was a space where time intersected into itself and halted —and Arhad had entered the rift after resolving himself to crawl back out on his own.
He fell and fell and fell deeper underground until he finally arrived at the abyss a long time later.
Thump…… Thump…….
It was there that Arhad found his fragment of chaos, his heart, floating in the abyss, and it shook the entire space around it as it welcomed its master. But he could not retrieve his chaos fragment because a piece of someone’s sword had been thrust deeply through it and held it in place.
Arhad frowned as he observed his first heart. He could probably connect with it through magical means, but it would be impossible to retrieve it completely. And he was presented with a choice. Was he satisfied with the heart he had now, or did he obtain his risky and incomplete heart that could fully awaken his memories as the Demon?
Obviously, he had chosen the former.
Thump…… Thump…….
Arhad closed his eyes. His heart had begun dying the blackness of the space around him in a golden light. It began vibrating from where it was touching it with his hands, and is began resonating with his second heart through the connection of his hands. And so, his first and second hearts had become as one while still being two.
And he began vividly recalling his memories and emotions from the Holy Age…….
He was immediately exposed to the memories of his demise and all the malicious emotions that had been inscribed into his soul. The memories within the fragments that he carried were comprised of his memories of when he was alone in Pandemonium and his memories of killing the gods and coveting divine power in the latter half of the Holy Age.
And the emotions that had been inscribed into his soul alongside his memories were his hatred toward life, the craving, the betrayal, the hatred, the despair, the sorrow…….
And if that hadn’t been enough, Arhad also absorbed the dense emotions that had been saturating Pandemonium as well.
Arhad had tenaciously climbed up the walls once everything was over. He had bled as his fingernails were torn off, and he had nearly lost his grip and fallen on multiple occasions, but he was persistent in his intent and he climbed for a long time before he finally broke free of Laos’ influence and barely managed to teleport himself back to the surface. He had collapsed while clutching at his heart as soon as he escaped, and his breathing was ragged.
His eyes were bloodshot. His golden eyes were glistening like lightning. Why was it? A thirst for blood gripped his entire being. He wanted to brandish his sword and behead his enemies, pierce their hearts, and taste the life that was melted into the blood that sprayed out from them.
These were the instincts and desires that he would have to endure now that he had taken back the Demon’s heart.
And then, he recalled the radiant smile of a certain crimson woman.
Not all of his memories had returned to him. This was because there were still fragments scattered across the world that he had yet to collect. His memories had been fragmented like a puzzle. But among all his memories, it was his memories of that crimson woman that left the greatest impression on him. She had smiled at him, and she had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder.
But who……was she?
Arhad was engulfed by an enormous emotional agitation as soon as he thought about that woman. Affection, hatred, respect, envy. Violent emotions, the likes of which he had never experienced as he lived as Arhad, were showered upon him all at once. Conflicting emotions had clashed viciously within him, and it had nearly caused him to lose his mind.
Arhad clutched against the ground with a trembling hand as he pushed himself up. He grasped at his forehead, which he thought might shatter, and steadied his breathing.
And just then, he recalled Ianna’s smile.
Surprisingly, the emotions that had been tormenting him all died down at once. The turbulent storm of his emotions died down instantly and became as a still lake once more.
Arhad collected the Demon’s fragments one after another.
And gradually, ever so gradually, he began to remember more about a certain woman……of ‘Ro.’ Feelings so ardent that they nearly made him lose control and shed tears strangled his heart. At the same time, however, he was also left with such hatred that he was occasionally seized by bloodlust.
It only grew worse as he retrieved more fragments and recalled more of his memories. His cruel imaginations and desires sharpened their fangs with each additional sacrifice, and the negative emotions began tormenting Arhad even more.
Arhad was lauded by his retainers as a perfect master in every aspect, but he started losing his composure from time to time as the colossal pool of his emotions engulfed him. He found his hands stained red with the blood of his enemies every time it happened. His retainers started to fear him, though they still respected him just as much as ever, as he started occasionally carrying out massacres like he was the Demon itself.
I’m parched. I want more more more.
He only barely managed to stabilize himself whenever it happened by recalling a certain someone’s smile. But it had started happening with increasing frequency, and, when Arhad had started to grow into a demon eviler than the demons of the Bahamut imperial family, Heinrich, once Arhad’s greatest supporter, had tried to assassinate him only to have his Demon’s fragment stolen and was killed at Arhad’s hands. Heinrich’s grandson, Herrace, who had given up on controlling mana and had decided to live a normal life, had also died as a result.
“I’ll kill you!”
Lalatua El Mardial had rushed toward him with her eyes bloodshot with fury. And Taro, who loved her and always protected her from close by, stopped Arhad from taking her head and had died as Arhad pierced him through his heart.
“Taro…….”
Lalatua had stared down at Taro’s corpse with empty eyes. Arhad had looked down at her, who was so devastated that even her rage had evaporated, before he turned around and left. In any event, this had been destined to happen one day.
Heinrich had been fated to die at his hands someday, and his grandson, Herrace, had also been destined to die. It had likewise been fated that Taro would die by his hands while protecting Lalatua, who had rushed at him in her rage.
Arhad had eventually killed off the entire Bahamut imperial family, and he had stolen back the fragments they had possessed. And his second greatest supporter, Eiji, had said that he could finally be at peace now and took his own life after confirming the deaths of the Bahamut imperial family with his own eyes.
Arhad had become the emperor of the Bahamut Empire at twenty-nine.
Arhad Ro Ralzo Bahamut.
‘Ro’ was the name of the woman he had loved and hated like crazy as the Demon, and it was also an abbreviation of Roygen, his name while he had still been the Demon.
He was both Arhad and Roygen, but he didn’t wish to prioritize his life as Roygen while he was living as Arhad. He had taken ‘Ro’ as a middle name in remembrance of times past.
The throne he had finally managed to win was a tomb built of blood, flesh, and bones, but the sacrifices had been stained with glory. There was only one person in Arhad’s mind as he looked down at his people, who cheered as they bowed their heads beneath his feet.
After assigning work to his subordinates, Arhad left the throne behind him as he left for the Kingdom of Roanne in search of Ianna with Rikijen, who had come to him upon graduating from the Institution, in tow.
‘Oh.’
Ianna Roberstein. His heart skipped a beat as he spotted her composed countenance from afar. It had already been five years, but he was still assaulted with the same pure feelings he had experienced when he had spied on her years ago.
Arhad had always yearned for Ianna’s smile even as he recovered his memories. Her smile was his sole means of stabilizing himself.
His clumsy but pure feelings of wanting to see her smile and his warm but unfathomable feelings for her surged up from him yet again. He did not know how to define what he was feeling. But he had his warm memories of Ro from the Demon’s fragments. And Arhad remembered that he had once whispered of his love to Ro.
Love.
Arhad observed Ianna in secret. And her composed gait made her overlap with the Ro of his memories.
You’re rather strange. Are you related to that crimson woman, by any chance? Your surname is Roberstein. But, unlike with Ro, I only feel warm when I think of you. I don’t care even if you’re related to her. The past is the past, and now is now. I want you to stay by my side independent of my feelings toward Ro.
I fell for your sword, your smile —no…… I fell for you…….
Yes. I’m in love with you.
You.
Warmth began seeping out from Arhad’s heart, which had been slowly driving him insane, when he finally realized that the feeling he was experiencing was love.
For the next year, Arhad had tried to appease her by offering her everything he had. He had meant to confess his overflowing feelings for her once their relationship had stabilized somewhat. But Ianna had become the prince of Roanne’s knight during the last five years, and she despised Arhad dreadfully for leaving her to stew in her defeat, envy, and shame. She had stopped smiling because so many people had hurt her, and she was unwilling to have any sort of meaningful relationship with anyone.
Ianna had never once tried to hear Arhad out, and her eyes were filled with only hostility whenever she looked to him. She had only ever put her life on the line and rushed to battle him like she was some kind of evil spirit, and she was never so much as delighted to fight him.
Arhad pined only for her smile, and he began to lose his composure as she kept attacking him. He started to feel anxious as she only ever rejected him.
What did I do wrong? All I wanted was to have you, to watch over you. All I did was to treasure you and your sword.
Rikijen had slipped into Roanne’s power games and had succeeded in avenging his past by thoroughly destroying House Owen, but Arhad had failed to fulfil his longing and had failed to appease Ianna at every turn. Rikijen started to hate Ianna as he watched his liege, who used to be so calm and composed, cling to her so desperately.
At thirty-three, after having failed to appease Ianna even after investing over three years into the endeavor, Arhad returned to the empire and waged the war he had been planning after Prince Schneider succeeded in his revolt and usurped the throne.
The goods for warfare and military might that the Bahamut imperial family had been accumulated had piled up to almost explosive levels, and he needed to direct that energy at something. Additionally, he needed to trample over the entire world and find his fragments, which were colored by madness, and he also needed to gather up more life to sustain his heart. The war had been essential to him.
The war that Arhad had brought with him had caused blood to flow like rivers. The only person who could match his might was Ianna, a duchess of Roanne in her own right.
Ianna had matured strikingly and was able to hold her ground in a battle with Arhad. Her talent was truly surprising, considering that she had caught up to the eleven years of experience they had between them.
But she was always a level beneath him.
Arhad let her go free time and time again in anticipation of their next meeting even as Ianna grew more wicked as the days went by. But it was also true that he himself was growing exhausted.
He had crushed and violated the entire continent as he murdered everyone who owned a Demon’s fragment. His soul grew more complete with each fragment he recovered, and, as the true master of mana and practically the progenitor of the dragons, he grew strong enough to surpass the dragons of the Age of Magic —and he even invaded the Great Forest of Shaob to the East and collected the large fragment of the Demon that the elves had hidden there.
He had seen himself fighting against Ro, whom he had only loved in his memories until then, in the memories that he recovered. Ro’s glare had pierced through him like needles of ice, and he had fallen into rage and despair.
And, when he retrieved his final fragment in the Karankell Rocky Mountains, the southernmost corner of the world……he recovered his first and last memory. The face of the person who had pierced through his heart overlapped perfectly with Ro, the woman he had loved.
A nauseating sense of betrayal and indignation had flared up within him. As did an intense sorrow.
Then, his memories of Ro overlapped with his memories of Ianna. After gathering all of the fragments and becoming the complete Demon again, Arhad had somehow realized that Ianna was Roberstein. Had she been alive all this time?
His morbid possessive desire and love. It was the rebellious but vivid and burning and pure emotion he had felt while he had first looked up at the sun. But his sun had mercilessly pierced through his heart. And his sun was Ianna as she stood before him.
As he recovered more of his memories, Arhad lost the ability to tell whether the emotion he felt for Ianna was love, yearning, or something else entirely. He had thought that he loved Ianna, but he also began hating her and wanting to kill her as she overlapped with Ro.
He did not know if his feelings for her had been born from the Demon’s fragment or from his own emotions. Was it obsession, love, or hatred? —he could not tell.
All he was sure of was that his possessive desire had only grown stronger with each fragment he collected. He wanted to keep her by his side, even if he needed to break her limbs and chain her down to do so.
I love you. But why do you…?
Arhad regretted. He should have never recovered his memories if it was going to come to this. He shouldn’t have recovered his heart either. For the first time ever, Arhad wanted to deny the fact that he was Roygen. But he was Roygen, so he continued to identify Ianna as Ro. The whirlpool of emotions engulfing him was so intense that he almost wanted to strangle himself to death. It was horrible.
What are you? You made me fall in love with you in my last life, and you’re still choking me with my love for you in this one too. What are you to me?
He grew exhausted as Ianna only continued to reject him. He was exhausted by the vigor that surged within him whenever he saw her, and he was exhausted at himself for driving himself insane as he tried to deny it. He was exhausted by the void he could never seem to fill, and he was exhausted by the thirst that seemed to dry up his soul. The whispers of his retainers as they implored him to just kill her was making a mess out of his mind.
Arhad was going insane.
He had finally come to a decision when he was thirty-nine.
He had chosen to live only as the emperor. The sword piercing through his first heart would likely lose its effect if she died, and he would be able to recover it in full. He had already gathered all of the fragments of his soul. He could finally be complete once he took back his heart.
So he would kill her, burn her corpse so he wouldn’t have to look at her, and throw her ashes out to the sea. He would stop longing for her, and he would let go of her completely. Then, the void he felt from never being able to have her would disappear, and his thirst would probably go away as well. He would no longer need her once he was complete.
And so, after deciding to give up on her completely, Arhad killed Ianna while he was out of his right mind.
That woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman!
He had overturned this world that Laos created as he recovered his ripped-up fragments one by one. And slowly, ever so slowly, he had recovered himself piece by piece. With every fragment he found, with every piece that fit back together, as his soul became whole again!
The thirst as he writhed atop the scorching desert heat, the irritated demands of his heart as it burned black, the fiery and persistent possessive desire in want of that crimson glow! The crazy Demon howling in want as he reached out his rake-like claws to grasp the crimson.
And the crimson woman who always coldly rejected him.
The damned woman who always loathed to stay by his side.
Yes, you rejected me. You slipped through my fingers and toyed with me endlessly as I frantically reached out for you, you planted the seeds of hope within me as you told me you would never cast me aside —and yet you always, always rejected me, you betrayed me, you left me, and you killed me. And you rejected me yet again, as if it was only natural, when time passed and our paths crossed again.
And so, that was why I had honestly meant for it to be the end.
The man’s, who had finally given up on everything and had broken apart the chains of his obsession with his own hands so he could finally put everything to rest, vision trembled. All of his senses were jangling. The buzzing around him as people pointed and sneered at a woman who was already dead. The crimson hair that was growing muddied as she sprawled across the ground.
“Hwoo, haaa…….”
The man’s breath caught like he was struggling to breathe as a crimson mixture of blood and sweat dripped down from his drenched forehead. His eyes were so unfocused now that the ferocity in them when he had mercilessly stabbed the woman in the heart seemed almost like it had been a lie. Madness made a mess of his mind and squeezed at his lungs.
The corpse of the woman who had already stopped breathing, whose soul had already left, and who was laying across the ground like a broken doll. The crimson woman who was covered by the dirty mud and had lost her shine.
I had thought that this sorry figure of yours would truly be the last.
“I will cut off the hands of anyone who dares to touch her.”
He furiously brushed aside his loyal subordinates as they tried to collect the woman’s corpse and held her body tighter. Thankfully, the woman in his arms was still warm. But, in accordance to reason, she grew only colder as time passed.
It was only now, after the woman was dead, that she had finally become his as his greatest spoil of war. She only remained in his arms as a doll of clay after the warm breath of her life, which he had so, so coveted, had escaped her. The blue veins in his hands bulged as he held the woman’s corpse tighter.
“This life……is over. But…….”
Roberstein…….
“In the next, I won’t be your enemy……but your……knight…….”
Ianna……!
You would wield your sword, which you always wielded against me, for me?
The words that the damned woman had uttered with her very last breath after her heart had been pierced truly drove the man insane.
You damned, despicable, ruinous woman!
The woman always tempted him, always betrayed him, and always gave him hope again, and as always, the foolish man could do nothing as his heart began to uncharacteristically cling onto hope yet again.
“……Arhad!”
A familiar high-pitched voice.
“What is it that you truly want? Just what is it?!”
He looked up while still hugging the corpse of the woman he was holding close to him. He saw a familiar head of purple hair fluttering in the air as she came toward him. His eyes glistened as he looked to the woman who was trembling as she screamed at him.
“Lalatua El Mardial…….”
“You……you…….”
Tears spilled from Lalatua’s eyes.
“You killed Herrace, you killed Teacher, you killed Taro……! You killed and killed everyone while using this damned war as your excuse!”
Standing expressionlessly beside her was Taro, the strongest and highest-grade chimera of her own creation. He had lost his capacity for thought after death, and he had been degraded into chimera capable of doing only as Lalatua bid him. He still expressed his blind love for Lalatua just as he had back when he had been alive, but he was ultimately a mere doll who could no longer think for himself.
The Kingdom of Mardial, Heinrich, Herrace, Taro.
Lalatua had become the Mad Magician, crazy in her love for only magic, after Arhad had severed all of her personal relationships, and she was a part of the third party who, alongside the other mythical races, worked to stop Arhad and the Bahamut Empire. The Allied Forces had fallen now that Ianna, the only person who could stop Arhad, was dead, and the war had ended with Bahamut’s overwhelming victory.
Lalatua trembled as she laughed like she had lost her mind.
“You slaughtered everyone as you gathered all of the fragments. That’s how you became emperor, and that’s how you completed the Demon inside of you……. But wasn’t that all for her?”
“…….”
“And now you’ve even gone ahead and killed the woman you were so obsessed with.
“You’re crazy!
“What are you going to do now?
“What are you going to do?! Are you satisfied?
“What do you even have left?
“Yeah —you have nothing, right?
“Are you going to destroy the world now?
“Are you going to become a real demon?
“Just die, Demon!
“You’ve gone completely insane!”
Lalatua screamed in a fit of rage.
“Shut up, witch! How dare you?!”
Arhad’s retainers, who were relieved but still felt a bit complicated as the woman their emperor had so desired had become but a corpse, yelled at the witch for her insolence.
“She’s undoubtedly lost her mind. Please give us the order, Your Majesty. We will bring you her head. There is no longer any need to show her mercy.”
“Enough.”
“Why not? Why don’t you just kill me too? Hmm? You killed everyone else, didn’t you? Everyone!”
Lalatua’s normally white and vixen-like visage flushed crimson as she raged. Arhad stared at her in silence before he looked down and touched Ianna’s lips, which still spilled her blood even though she was dead.
Her smile, which had been imprinted on his heart like a brand and messed with his mind all day long like turbulent waves.
He had never once forgotten her smile after seeing it for the first time when he was twenty-two. The fiery ardor and affection that had shattered the mirror-like surface of his heart as if with a rock and had thrown him into a storm…….
But he had killed Ianna in a state of half-madness, perhaps because he was so overcome by his negative emotions that he no longer knew if it still existed inside him anymore.
Arhad was complete now that he had gathered all of his fragments. He was practically a god in the Age of Magic now that he had recovered all of his memories and emotions as the Demon, and he had usurped the imperial throne after eliminating any enemy who could pose as a threat to him. And today, he had even completed his conquest of the continent. Everything had been smoothly concluded, and all he had left was to bask in his days of glory.
But he felt so dreadfully lacking now that he had murdered Ianna.
Why was it? He had gathered every fragment of his soul, and all he had to do to become complete was to return to Pandemonium and collect his heart……but the premonition that he would feel this sense of lacking for eternity tormented him. The bloodied corpse sprawled in his arms made his insides churn.
Oh, I see.
He had only realized it after he had ended her life. He had been supposed to keep Ianna alive and by his side regardless of what he felt about her. Whether that be hate, or love, or something else entirely.
The rough joints of his hands touched her cold corpse. She was no different from a doll of mud now that she had started to decompose. The warmth he had so loved no longer dwelt inside this already-rotting lump of flesh. Arhad hugged the woman’s corpse close as he closed his eyes.
……I can’t be complete without you.
He lowered his head to where the stench of blood was stemming from. And his rough and cold lips buried into the last warmth that lingered on Ianna’s.
I see —you were my final fragment.
And so, while clutching the woman’s stiff and cold corpse close to his chest, the man headed for the Lotso Mountains —the center of the world…….
~~*~~
Arhad and Ianna were leaning against a tree as they gazed out at the field of roses after they had danced. Ianna blinked as her vision grew blurry.
“I’m tired because today was so different from my usual daily routine. Well, maybe it’s also because I drank after having a lot to pay close attention to…….”
Ianna rubbed at her eyes with her palms.
“Do you want to sleep a bit? I’ll wake you up before midnight.”
Ianna looked up at Arhad as he said that and she leaned entirely against the tree.
“I trust you, so maybe just a little…….”
It was ridiculous for her, a knight, to sleep in front of another, but she didn’t mind sleeping in front of Arhad. She had already done it before, after all.
Ianna sighed quietly. The tree at her back was hard, and it wasn’t all that comfortable. But sleep still fell upon her. She pressed against her eyes one more time. She wasn’t the type of person to get sleepy when someone else was with her. She was only ever this defenseless when she was with Arhad.
“Thank you for today.”
Ianna’s head dropped lower after her short few words of gratitude, and she quickly fell into a deep sleep. Arhad stared at Ianna as she slept and carefully brought her head to his shoulder.
“Phew…….”
He felt really good as soon as Ianna’s head touched his shoulder. He sat there for a moment before he closed his eyes, sluggishly savoring the pleasant feeling, before he slowly opened his eyes again. A curious glow was flowing from his golden eyes.
You’re still just a young girl, and you’re only a knight in my grasp. ……And yet…
He touched her, carefully so that she wouldn’t wake. She didn’t. He grew a little greedier and slowly caressed her cheek. He knew that he was being uncouth, but he couldn’t help himself. Arhad kept his hand over the smooth skin of Ianna’s cheek as he looked down at her with a fever in his eyes.
You’re always so warm, and I’ve always wanted you to lean on me. You told me you would protect me. And you couldn’t accept me and betrayed me…….
I fell in love anew after I was born again as a blank page, but you always rejected me. You hated me, and you loathed me.
His love had turned into ambivalence, and his ambivalence had turned into hatred, but he had nearly been driven insane by regret when he had pierced her through the heart —driven by a hatred so great and a bloodlust so dreadful he had wanted to kill her.
And the moment I saw you again after I turned back time, my regret turned into a great obsession, anxiety, hatred, sorrow, rage, desperation……into a myriad of stifling emotions.
But all my wicked feelings hid away with your each and every smile, and your each and every smile made me so uneasy that it nearly drove me mad.
Arhad hesitated before he carefully pressed his lips against Ianna’s forehead. His dry lips were slowly moistened with warmth as they touched her forehead and the crimson strands of hair that covered it.
Ianna was deep asleep and did not wake, and his lips grew bolder when he realized that her breathing had not disturbed. Arhad lifted up Ianna’s head ever so slightly as his own head pulled down. And, like a thief tiptoeing in the night, he pressed his lips against the vitality in Ianna’s as he stole her breath away.
“…….”
The heat he felt from her warm lips and the fragrance that he could smell with his nose slowly tickled his heart. Arhad knew what the feeling that strangled his heart and made the edges of his eyes grow hot was.
He slowly moved his lips away and pulled Ianna tight into his arms. He buried his face against her hair and forced his ragged breathing to steady.
You’re endearing. You’re always……so endearing to me.
It was already far too late to deny it.
No. He had simply thought that it had been hidden by his negative emotions and that it might have vanished, but the feeling had always been breathing quietly in the depths of his heart.
I……love you.
Arhad closed his eyes as he collected his breathing.
I love you so much.
—“Debut” End
↑ Ages in Adonis probably work similarly as they do in Korea, where everybody is considered to have grown a year older as soon as the new year passes regardless of when their actual birthday is. It’s kind of like the pass go and collect money system in Monopoly. Ianna’s and Arhad’s birthdays aren’t until February and April respectively, but they are considered to be a year older because the new year has passed.
ToC Chapter 18