......I’m sorry.
The words Hio had left for him, having remained alone in the empty conference hall.
An incomprehensible apology.
“I’m sorry. Teodore.”
He didn’t bother to listen to what followed.
He simply turned on his heel and left.
Why would he say such a thing.
It was almost as if......Silvia was about to die at any moment.
It couldn’t be......it couldn’t.
Was he not a mage. He would find a way.
A mage who made the impossible possible.
A mage who changed day to night with a single gesture.
But then why, with such an expression......
* * *
“Teodore.”
Silvia’s clear voice, breaking him from his thoughts.
To that call, Teodore answered.
“Yes.”
Yon Torno’s castle.
Silvia’s room, decorated spaciously and lavishly.
Silvia, lying in bed gazing up at the ceiling, and Teodore standing at her side.
“You went to see Hio, didn’t you?”
At Silvia’s question, Teodore paused briefly before answering.
“......Yes.”
As always, a curt nod.
A short answer.
While Silvia was being attended to by her maids, Teodore had gone to see Hio.
He likely thought he had gone in secret, but to Silvia, the machinations of this tactless knight were obvious.
“What did Hio say?”
Silvia asked Teodore and waited for an answer.
The loyal knight had never once betrayed the Imperial Princess’s expectations.
If he knew the answer to a question, he replied immediately.
And if he did not know, was he not the Teodore who would somehow find out and give an answer?
Silvia asked, and Teodore answered.
It was a result that had never once gone awry.
So Silvia waited for the answer that would come.
“......”
But the answer did not come.
The low, rigid voice that always returned at Silvia’s questions was not heard.
It was the first time, but Silvia was not surprised.
She simply asked once more.
“What did Hio say?”
The second question.
“......”
Still, no answer.
Even so, Silvia waited.
She waited because she knew the knight at her side better than anyone.
And sure enough.
“......Hio Pavlenko said.”
Teodore’s mouth opened heavily.
A mouth that had held nothing but truth his entire life.
A knight who had never dared utter a falsehood.
The words such a knight finally forced out after hesitating again and again:
“He said it seems they will be able to find a way.”
A lie.
A lie fabricating and conveying a fact that did not exist.
“Really?”
But at that lie from Teodore, Silvia smiled brightly.
A smile so bright it was blinding.
“Thank goodness! As expected of Hio.”
Showing that brilliant smile in full, she spoke to Teodore.
“Good work, Teodore. I should rest a bit now too, so hurry along and get some rest.”
“......Yes, Your Highness.”
Teodore moved his steps toward the door.
Before opening it, he briefly bowed his head toward Silvia.
“Then please rest well.”
“Yes. Thank you for today as well, Teodore.”
Opening the door, Silvia waved her hand with a bright smile until the door closed.
Teodore stood there, the door shut before him.
Though it was his first time speaking falsehood in his life, relief outweighed shame.
What would have happened had he spoken the truth.
If he thought of how devastated and pained Silvia would have been, he could tell such lies hundreds of times over.
Silvia, who suffered nightmares every night.
Even so, somehow it felt good.
Had she not shown such a bright smile?
Would she not sleep deeply tonight, dreaming pleasant dreams?
‘Tomorrow I must go and ask the mage properly.’
There was surely a way.
‘I should make sure she has fallen asleep before I go.’
Making that resolve, the knight stood guard before the Imperial Princess’s door.
An hour passed.
Two hours passed.
Teodore remained in front of the Princess’s door.
Frozen still like a stone statue.
“H-hic......”
A faint, stifled sob seeped through the door.
Fearing the knight guarding outside might hear, Silvia’s weeping came in suppressed, choked bursts.
How could he not have known that the Imperial Princess could see right through such a tactless knight’s obvious lie?
The knight still stood guard before the Imperial Princess’s door.
With both eyes bloodshot and wide.
Nails digging into his flesh, blood dripping from a fist clenched as if to crush itself.
Together with the stifled sobs.
Throughout the night.
* * *
“So.”
Second Imperial Prince, Belloque Verden.
“We have a victor, Sword Saint.”
He spoke to Vitalianus in a tone ill-suited to him.
“Let us dispense with such formalities. Is this not between you and me? Did I not follow the Sword Saint devotedly since my youth?”
Even so, Vitalianus merely offered the same answer like a machine.
“Once you ascend to the throne, all will be resolved.”
“You have eyes and ears. You should know. I am Emperor now.”
“The one the late Emperor appointed as Crown Prince is His Highness the First Prince.”
“Then why did you not side with my brother? Is it not because you believed I was better suited to the throne?”
“His Highness the First Prince has not undergone the coronation.”
“Hmph......”
The Second Imperial Prince, Belloque Verden, bared his teeth and furrowed his brow.
He looked exactly like a growling beast.
“So I need to cut my brother’s throat cleanly for you? Then you will acknowledge me as Emperor?”
Belloque began to laugh as if it were absurd.
“Truly, nothing but laughter comes out.”
After laughing for some time, he rose from his seat.
“Even so, my brother is raising an army and returning. As you wish, I shall cut off my brother’s neck and bring it to you. Then you will truly become my dog......no, my sword. Hahahaha!”
If he definitively severed the First Prince’s life, the Sword Saint would have no choice but to recognize him as Emperor.
If that came to pass, the entirety of the Royal Knights, who followed only the Emperor, would heed his words and lie at his feet.
The empire’s supreme military force would lead the way, dyeing the continent in blood.
“Let us meet again soon, Sword Saint. No......”
The Second Imperial Prince left the room, imagining that thrilling moment.
“The former Emperor’s guardian knight. Vitalianus Mahel.”
The Sword Saint, left alone.
The Empire’s Golden Lion, Vitalianus Mahel.
His attire was neither a uniform nor armor.
He was dressed in black mourning clothes.
He stared at the door the Second Prince had exited with apathetic eyes.
Such trivial provocations were not even amusing.
However, Vitalianus was a man who had sworn to his master that he would follow only the Emperor.
Second Prince or First Prince. No matter who won, the Sword Saint could only follow.
‘Though what meaning does it hold.’
In truth, he hardly cared anymore.
It was simply, terribly hollow.
He quietly looked down at his sword placed in a corner of the room.
The Imperial Family’s treasure, bestowed by the Emperor.
Something once as precious as his own life.
‘......I do not know.’
But now he did not know.
There had been a time when he too picked up the sword filled with passion.
A time when he had shouted himself hoarse for someone’s glory.
Now, for what indeed should he hold the sword?
‘I don’t know.’
For what had he first picked up the sword?
He could not remember well.
* * *
A day later, the Eastern Alliance nobles and Silvia gathered again in the conference hall.
Hio arrived slightly late, but the atmosphere was markedly different from the previous day.
“There will be no problem. It has merely changed from fighting monsters to fighting humans.”
“Have we not protected the East for over ten years? Troop organization is not an issue.”
“The chain of command is well established, and the soldiers are quite experienced.”
“We prepared for emergencies, so supplies and materials are abundant as well.”
Nobles participating passionately in the meeting.
They spared no effort, exchanging ideas back and forth to derive the best results.
“Every imperial citizen knows the Eastern Alliance has been preoccupied with blocking the Monster Wave, so no one will pay attention to us.”
“Surely no one would imagine we resolved that in a single day and are marching on the capital.”
Their knowledge, experience, and memories all remained the same. Only one thing had changed.
That they acted solely for the Imperial Princess.
“Hio, you’re here?”
Silvia greeted Hio with her usual tone.
Even so, the nobles paid it no mind.
No matter what Silvia did, in their eyes she would appear the noble Imperial Princess.
“What meeting is this?”
Silvia’s complexion was visibly poor.
Dark circles had settled heavily, as if she had stayed up all night.
She seemed to have tried to hide them, but it was impossible not to show.
Hio deliberately averted his eyes from that sight and looked at the nobles engaged in heated debate.
“Troop organization and this and that. We have to advance quickly before a victor emerges.”
If one of the princes ascended to the throne before Silvia arrived leading the legion, it would no longer be a war of imperial succession.
It would become treason.
If that happened, they would have to face numerous Named who maintained neutrality.
If the Royal Knights and the Sword Saint joined in particular, things would truly become difficult.
“What we lack is information.”
“Troops, supplies, timing, even the enemy’s carelessness—everything is perfect. Only information is lacking.”
“Is not information the most important thing? We cannot rashly move troops without information.”
“What are you saying! This is a situation where we must move as quickly as possible!”
This was the problem.
The lack of information.
No one had imagined they would participate in the civil war, so there was no information, nor was there a way to quickly obtain it in the East.
In the end, it meant they would have to find out as they marched toward the capital, but wasn’t that far too risky?
Therefore, even among the Eastern Alliance, which existed solely for the Imperial Princess, opinions were divided.
“Huh? Information?”
Having roughly grasped the situation, Hio nodded.
“Don’t worry about that. There’s a way.”
“A way?”
Silvia tilted her head.
She could not imagine what way there could be to obtain information in this remote place.
“Mm...... Just a moment.”
Hio left the conference hall.
And shortly after, voices were heard from outside.
— Hey!
— ......
— Come out already. I know you’re there.
— ......
— I’m pretending not to know...... How long are you going to hide?
— Oh! Who’s this. My friend Hio!
— Damn it.
— Hahaha! What a coincidence! I was just passing by!
— Stop talking nonsense and come here. Aren’t you coming quickly?
— Hahaha! I will go, but aren’t you glad to see me since it’s truly a coincidence!
After such an exchange went back and forth a few more times.
Hio returned to the conference hall dragging some man by the scruff of his neck.
A man with an unfamiliar face.
A man crouching meekly like a cat grabbed by the scruff.
“Hahaha. Pleased to meet you. I was passing through by chance, Hio’s childhood friend......”
“Jason Clarock.”
All eyes in the conference hall turned to Jason.
“Jason Clarock?”
“Who is that?”
Unlike the bewildered Eastern nobles, Silvia’s eyes went wide.
She had definitely seen this man before, with Professor Silvert.
The head of the Assassination and Information Guild.
But his face and physique were completely different from that time.
They said he was a prodigy of disguise and infiltration, but this was beyond imagination.
......Could that cat-like posture also be a type of disguise?
While Silvia was thus surprised, Hio was interrogating the Jason held in his grip.
“Was it you?”
“Huh? What?”
“The one who told Silvert my location.”
“Hahaha! What are you talking about, friend. I know nothing of it.”
“How much did you sell it for?”
“Hey! That’s hurtful!”
“Shall I ask Silvert?”
“......Sorry.”
Jason quickly admitted and began apologizing profusely.
He had every right to feel aggrieved.
He had maintained without letting his guard down the same distance that had kept him from being caught by Hio.
What he didn’t know was that Hio’s circle had risen.
And that by handling various magics, Hio’s sensitivity to mana had grown broader and sharper.
“Now, Jason.”
“Yeah?”
“Cough up all the information you know.”
“Yeah......”
The information issue was thus resolved like picking up a stray cat.
* * *
High-quality information obtained through Jason’s joining.
Thanks to that, the meeting continued until late.
Late at night after the meeting ended, inside Hio’s room.
“Hio Pavlenko.”
Teodore was facing Hio.
“I have come to hear the words I could not hear to the end yesterday.”
It was to hear a definitive answer.
Immediately after Silvia’s ability manifested yesterday.
What was that expression of despair as he remained alone in the conference hall?
What in the world was the meaning of that apology given to him?
Was it truly......the thing he was thinking of?
Teodore had to know.
“Ah...... That.”
At that, Hio scratched his head.
“I was thinking about it constantly, actually.”
Speaking, he sat awkwardly on the floor.
No, as if that weren’t enough, he lay flat on his back.
“Wait a moment......”
Teodore looked at Hio quietly, wondering what he was doing.
Lying down, Hio fumbled at the pocket on his hip and pulled out a small book.
As if it were a precious treasure, he hugged it tightly to his chest while lying down.
Between that posture, the title of the book glimpsed briefly:
— Good Things Come to Those Who Wait!
Crooked like a title written by a child.
“......What are you doing, Hio Pavlenko.”
Teodore’s expression hardened stiffly.
Did he wish to jest when Silvia’s life hung in the balance right now?
His own heart was so torn and anxious, yet this man was truly......
“Teodore Ricart.”
But if it were a joke, Hio’s expression was no less serious and grave than Teodore’s.
Lying on the floor, he looked up at Teodore with an unprecedentedly serious face.
“Do you want to save the Imperial Princess?”
Hio Pavlenko spoke while hugging the book to his chest even tighter.
“Then hit me right now.”
At those words spoken with a very serious expression.
“As painfully as possible.”
Teodore flinched and stepped back without realizing it.