Duke Roam swallowed a bitter sigh as he gazed at the figure lying on the bed.
"Frizian……."
Having lost all his troops and returned alone, Frizian was in a severe state of poisoning, having apparently endured something terrible.
His body was so ravaged by poison that even the priests' divine power could not fully restore him.
The priests said the toxic energy Frizian had inhaled was not from an ordinary monster.
Whenever Frizian briefly regained consciousness, the duke questioned him about the situation, but there was little useful information.
"It's, it's the little sister! It's definitely her!"
Seiri, with a pale face, kept crying out that "Aneli did this," and was diagnosed as having gone mad.
Though Seiri vehemently denied it, Duke Roam decided to make a decision he had been putting off. He concluded that a quiet and peaceful monastery would be suitable for treating his son's condition.
Around that time, a report came up regarding the events in the Montel territory. It stated that Lilia had borrowed a magical artifact from the Ruezak family to give to Frizian, and that Aneli had been kidnapped, using this as a pretext to send Frizian into the dead lands.
It was revealed that what had poisoned Frizian was the toxic energy of the dead lands, and the magical artifact that the Ruezak count's daughter had lent failed to function properly.
Before Duke Roam could even question responsibility, Count Ruezak instead flew into a rage, claiming their magical artifact had been stolen.
For Duke Roam, it was utterly absurd.
However, he had no time to be overcome with emotion.
News had arrived that the Crown Prince had gone mad. If that alone were the case, it might have been fine, but Lilia was named as the one who drove the Crown Prince to madness.
"His Imperial Majesty refused audience again today?"
"……Yes, they say his sacred body is unwell……."
The aide broke into a cold sweat and bowed his head deeply. It had been quite some time since the Emperor last met with Duke Roam.
At first, those who had been skeptical one by one began to surmise that Roam and the Imperial family had fallen out. Already, some were prematurely mocking Roam.
The Baron Kendal family, who had been planning to swallow Roam through Frizian, also changed their attitude.
They were completely denying the engagement with Frizian, claiming it had been a fraud from the start and an illegitimate procedure.
It was a truly wretched sight as they tried to quickly sever ties while Frizian was injured.
Duke Roam asked.
"What of Prince Heinrich's side?"
"There hasn't even been a reply from them."
"……Send another communication."
Duke Roam's voice as he gave the order lacked any spirit. There was no need to wait, for he already anticipated what answer would return.
He had prepared himself that choosing the Crown Prince ultimately meant there was no turning back with Heinrich.
However, with things having come to this, he had no choice but to approach Heinrich again, even if it meant enduring embarrassment.
Naturally, Heinrich ignored Roam.
"Um, my lord Duke."
The aide cautiously reported to the duke, who was looking down at Frizian with sorrowful eyes.
"A message has come from the Temple. They say they are tracking heretics and request cooperation……."
Duke Roam gazed silently at Frizian's face, sweating cold sweat with closed eyes, then slowly turned his body.
It felt as if something were tightening around his neck from all directions.
The once brilliantly shining light of Roam was fading.
* * *
The jewel that had developed a crack was the one containing Dasha.
I stroked the cracked portion with my thumb, trying to hide my anxious feelings.
For now it was merely a hairline fracture, but there was no telling when it might split apart.
'Did Dasha, who had lost consciousness, wake up? Is she protesting, demanding to be summoned?'
If that were the case, I shouldn't summon her under any circumstances right now.
This wasn't my only worry. Zenon, who had left saying he needed some time alone to think, still hadn't returned well into the night.
"That's why I said why bring that up needlessly!"
Irritated, I threw yet another tantrum—for who knows how many times—and Samuel, who had been maintaining his sword, answered calmly.
"Yes, it was my greed."
"How can you be so shameless?"
"If I had waited any longer, I wouldn't have even had the chance to be shameless, so I did what I thought was best."
Not stopping there, Samuel even asked back with perfect composure.
"And isn't it true that you have no lingering attachment to this world?"
Whether I wanted to die or not, that was something for me to decide on my own, not for Samuel to worry about!
With sharp eyes raised, I was about to scold him but just dropped my shoulders and turned my gaze away.
What was the point of arguing? It would only drain my energy.
"The other knights will follow whatever you command, even if it means deciding your death. Whether in the past or now, I'm the only one who opposes it."
"You want to prevent my death? In the past, I'll accept that you did it out of affection. But why are you doing this now?"
I asked irritably, but Samuel didn't answer. He had been silently focusing on maintaining his sword blade when he suddenly spoke.
"What's important is that you care about that mage."
For some reason, that voice sounded somewhat bitter.
"It's fortunate that besides cooking, he has other useful aspects."
"Through the last authority, if there's a possibility I might die, do you think Zenon would prevent it?"
"Of course. Do you think he would acquiesce to your death?"
"Of course, it's true that he regards me specially. But……."
I couldn't finish my words. Because Zenon appeared with a rustling sound.
Perhaps because it was the dark of night?
Zenon's face looked particularly pale. The light smile he usually habitually wore was nowhere to be found, and his yellow eyes were darkly settled.
"Can I speak with you for a moment?"
There was no passionate emotion in his calm voice. Yet strangely, my heart felt anxious and tense.
It wasn't as if I had committed some tremendously large wrong.
……I didn't do anything wrong…… right?
* * *
Even after moving to another location for a more comfortable conversation, Zenon remained silent for a while.
The longer his silence stretched, the more uncomfortable I felt for no reason. It was because, as Samuel said, I cared about Zenon.
Knowing full well how Samuel's words must have sounded to him, how could I be composed?
"Zenon."
In the end, I was the one who spoke first.
"Sir Samuel's words are……."
However, I couldn't really continue the topic. That Samuel's words were false? I couldn't say that for certain.
I could make excuses with lies, but I didn't want to lie to Zenon.
Because Zenon was the only person who gave to me.
In the end, I just moistened my lips with my tongue and turned my gaze away. Coincidentally, where my eyes landed, I saw a thin and densely woven spiderweb between blades of grass.
As I stared blankly at the spiderweb shimmering white in the moonlight, Zenon's low voice reached me.
"The reason I quietly followed Lady Aneli's words was because I believed you would explain everything to me someday."
"That's……."
"I believed that after finishing urgent matters, I would be given enough time to hear the explanation."
At the faintly blowing breeze, the spiderweb swayed gently. The undulating appearance looked precarious, as if it might snap at any moment.
"Yet to think that after everything ended, even such time might not be given…… I find that bewildering."
Zenon was remarkably calm. Whatever he was suppressing inside, outwardly he was sufficiently rational and composed.
That attitude at least eased my tension somewhat. I took my eyes off the spiderweb and slowly looked at Zenon.
"It's an uncertain matter. So there's no need to be depressed in advance."
"Uncertain means there's a possibility."
The tension that had briefly loosened heightened again.
"As that holy knight said, the possibility that Lady Aneli might die."
Zenon, who had been standing a little apart from me, took a step closer.
Only after seeing his face up close did I realize that he was not at all rational or calm.
"And I didn't know that."
On the contrary, Zenon was more angry than at any other time.
"If the worst-case scenario had occurred, I would have faced that end like a fool."
"Zenon."
"Lady Aneli had no intention of considering my confession, the feelings I harbor, at all."
He was an emotional man, so I thought he would feel sad that his first love might end badly.
I also thought he might feel hurt toward me for not explaining in advance.
But I never thought he would be this angry.
Was he angry at the fact that his love might not come to fruition?
"It was uncertain, so I simply didn't want to burden you with unnecessary worry."
"Unnecessary worry."
"Yes. There's no reason to needlessly expend emotions when I might not die."
"Then should I thank you for not making me expend emotions needlessly?"
"Don't be so prickly."
"I thought that even if our emotions couldn't be of equal weight, they could at least be given similar names."
That was correct. The emotion he felt and the emotion I felt shared the same name.
The only difference was that he had voiced it, and I had not.
"So I thought I could become Lady Aneli's tomorrow. But Lady Aneli still had no expectation for tomorrow."
"Your words are a leap."
I just wanted it to be a bit more certain. Because right now I couldn't be certain that I had a place to stand on this earth.
"Love is not merely a pleasant emotion. We don't love just to feel good."
Zenon's voice was still calm, and even sounded dry at first hearing. Yet to my ears, it sounded exactly like weeping.
Strangely so. When there wasn't a trace of tears in Zenon's voice.
Wanting to soothe that, I parted my lips without realizing it.
"……When everything ends, I will find rest."
"Rest?"
"Yes. To some, that rest…… is death."
When I uttered the word 'death,' Zenon's eyes trembled lightly. Zenon, who had been pressing his firmly closed lips, asked in a deeply sunk voice.
"And for Lady Aneli?"
I swallowed a dry breath. Then slowly moved my lips.
"……I don't know."
I don't know either, what my rest is.
I only know that I am weary, and merely wish to rest.
As it was from the beginning.