“Whose side are you on? You poisoned me—but now you’re abiding by our agreement and helping me escape. Your actions don’t make sense.”
“I apologize if you find me confusing. But I have my own goals in mind.”
“Oh, do you? Is that the reason you continue to serve the House of Argyle?”
One of the reports to Crusch had stated that Bean and this maid had known each other for much of their lives. The relationship had apparently been long and quite close, much like that between Crusch and Ferris. And Crusch knew that if she were to go mad, Ferris would almost certainly stay with her rather than abandon her.
“Lady Crusch,” the maid began, “have you ever been in love?”
The question caught her off guard. Crusch looked at the maid wide-eyed, unsure what she meant. The maid closed her eyes and shook her head, taking Crusch’s silence for an answer.
“Then I don’t think any amount of explaining would help you understand what I want.”
“…The flow of this conversation makes it clear who your feelings are for. But there are too many things that it doesn’t explain. Were you Felix’s wet nurse?”
“—”
The moment Crusch said that, the maid’s formerly expressionless face stiffened, and the wind picked up. No—it only looked that way to Crusch. In reality, it was a swell of powerful emotion. It was something like delusion. The same tumultuous feelings she had sensed in Bean resided in this woman, too. But that suggested…
“…Wait. Your hair. Your eyes…”
Looking at the maid’s taut face, a spark caught in Crusch’s mind. The remarkable flaxen hair. The clear yellow eyes and gentle expression. If she were to smile kindly, Crusch suspected her face would bear a strong resemblance to one she knew very well.
—She reflected that Ferris had met his fate because of the suspicion of infidelity.
“If you have the first thought of harming Felix…”
“I’m not going to do anything to Felix. You’re the one who distanced yourself from him, aren’t you? What I want has nothing to do with Felix…with that boy.”
That was the last thing the maid said as she turned away from Crusch. With the chains unlocked, it would have been possible to stop her. But the commotion would have meant the end of everything Crusch had worked for. For a moment, the duchess found herself caught between her personal and official priorities. Then, still unable to choose, she called out to the departing maid.
“Hannah! Hannah Rigret!”
“If you’re too loud, you’ll attract Miles’s attention. Now is the time to be loyal to your duty.”
Crusch had no choice but to watch as the maid disappeared from view.
The taste of defeat bitter in her mouth, Crusch hoped she would have another chance to talk with the maid. Then she would discover the true connection between that woman and her knight.
But she would never get the chance. The flames consumed Argyle manor: the bodies of Ferris’s mother and father, along with the maid, and whatever truth she was keeping.
Crusch was left with only her doubts and a secret, the only one she could never tell Ferris.
17
Overhead, the clouds that had crowded the sky were broken. Fourier quietly let out a breath. Before they’d left the castle, he’d ordered Marcus to put some insurance in place, and what happened in the sky was proof that it had worked. Although there might be some questions later about the use of a tactic that was normally forbidden so close to the country’s borders.
“But I don’t think we’ll have to meet Volakia in force today. They don’t want to contend with us any more than we with them.”
Some outside agency had clearly been involved in the recent events surrounding the House of Argyle. Fourier had never met Bean Argyle personally, but the family’s status and history convinced him that Bean didn’t have the ability to do something like this on his own.
He thought about who might have played a part in this. Perhaps those within Lugunica who wanted to see Crusch fall from grace. Or perhaps an interloper from outside the country, someone with bigger goals in mind. He forced himself to contemplate the worst possible scenario. It was likely that what the Volakians had wanted from all this was to obtain the House of Argyle’s secret spell that allowed them to control undead warriors. The current Volakian emperor was said to be a cruel man. Given the friction between Volakia and Lugunica, it had been necessary to prevent anyone else learning the forbidden spell.
“I managed to do everything I wanted to. Sometimes I impress even myself.” Fourier’s reading of the situation had been so perfect that he found himself bursting into spontaneous self-congratulation.
Fourier’s intuition sometimes proved considerably sharper than average, but this time it had been especially brilliant. Then again, he had been focusing his full concentration on it ever since Crusch had spoken with him.
Granted, this sometimes left him with a pain in his head and a heaviness in his chest…
“But it’s a very small price to save Crusch and Ferris.”
Those two were now talking together near the burned ruins of the Argyle mansion. He dearly wished to join them, but it would have been a most impolitic time to break in. Ferris and Crusch shared a bond that was for them alone. True, Fourier had his own bond with each of them, but he knew that at this moment it was necessary to keep his distance for reasons he couldn’t fully articulate.
“Of course, it’s hard for me to let Ferris have Crusch all to himself right now, given how worried I was about her…”
“On behalf of your friends, Your Highness, let me thank you for your considerateness.” The speaker was Julius, who rode with Fourier in the dragon carriage. He seemed to find recent events thought provoking in his own way. His expression looked different, somehow, from the way it had before they left the castle.
“I gave you your fair share of trouble, too, didn’t I, Julius? Well done getting them both out at the very end there.”
“You needn’t thank me, Your Highness. Truth be told, today’s events made me feel acutely how powerless I really am. I think I may have let being chosen for the royal guard make me forget what it truly means to be a knight.”
“Another serious one! Knights should be more—well—gallant! Do some brave deeds, and you’ll be knight enough. Yes, I’m sure of it.”
Julius looked entirely taken aback by Fourier’s pronouncement. But he composed himself quickly and smiled, then nodded. “You’ve surprised me more than once today, Your Highness. I, Julius, swear anew my fealty to you.”
“I’m not quite sure how I feel about that, but I accept your loyalty. Devotion to the kingdom is truly valuable. Let your heart be bound not to me, but seek the prosperity of our whole land. Now…you think it’s about time?”
Fourier leaned over to get a look at Crusch and Ferris. Ferris, who had been crying in Crusch’s arms earlier, was now turned away, blowing his nose. It looked like things had calmed down some. He could call out to them soon.
“Maybe I’ll go and join them, then.” Now eager, Fourier stepped proudly from the dragon carriage and down onto the grass, ready to go over to Crusch and Ferris. But as he did so, his vision wavered.
“—Your Highness?” Julius’s voice sounded strikingly far away. The next thing he knew, he felt an impact, and everything was sideways.
Fourier himself didn’t know what had happened. Until so recently he had been filled with the sense that he could see everything that was happening in the world, yet now that feeling had utterly abandoned him.
“Ferris! Ferris, come quickly! His Highness Fourier needs you!”
Julius’s panicked shout was the last thing Fourier heard as his consciousness slipped away. Everything went dark, the world grew distant. But just before it left him, he heard two beloved voices calling his name. Fourier clung to that sound as the darkness overcame him.
THE DREAM OF THE LION KING
1
Fourier Lugunica�
��s collapse was paid comparatively scant attention in the Kingdom of Lugunica.
A member of the royal family had fallen ill, and it was treated lightly. Normally, such a thing could not have been imagined, but at that moment it was excused by a peculiar circumstance in the kingdom.
—Fourier was not the only member of the royal family who had been brought down by disease.
Rather, every single member of the royal family of Lugunica had fallen ill. Fourier’s father, the current king, Randohal Lugunica, was of course among them. There were individual differences in the symptoms of illness, but simple guesswork could not be allowed with a disease whose name and origin no one knew. In its whole history, the kingdom had never faced something like this, and it shuddered with the encroaching crisis.
“So my probationary period is fiiiinally over and I get to be a regular member of the guard, but the captain is just the worst! He’s acting totally different from before! What a bully!”
“Mm, I thought as much. Just when you think Marcus is as serious as he looks, he turns out to have a mischievous side. I figured you two would get along.”
“Your Highness, are you listening to me? Ferri is getting bullied by a mean ol’ superior in the royal guard. I’m looking for some comfort here!” His eyes watered and his voice shook, but this only caused Fourier to smile.
Ferris shook his head helplessly at Fourier’s amusement. Then he brought some water to the prince’s sickbed and held it to Fourier’s lips. The young man sat up with some difficulty, and Ferris could hear the water from the pitcher running down his throat.
“I’m sorry for always putting you to such trouble. It’s almost like you’re my personal attendant these days.”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry! These days it’s meowthing but lowlifes trying to get Ferri to heal their training wounds just ’cause they think I’m cute. I would much rather be with you, Your Highness. And Lady Crusch hasn’t been acting very friendly lately…”
“Yes, she must be quite busy. I haven’t seen her for days, and I’m getting lonely. Perhaps it has to do with my frustration at being unable to move. This accursed illness.”
“—”
Fourier wiped his moistened lips on his sleeve, then nestled into his pillow and smiled weakly. His smile showed his distinctive canines, as always, but there was no energy to it. It was a forced smile to hide from Ferris the sharp pain running through his chest.
Fourier was emaciated. His shining golden hair had lost its luster, and his eyes, red like the twilight sun, seemed somehow faint. He spoke without vigor and often succumbed to fits of coughing. Above all, he no longer had even the strength to walk around. For the last month, he had been completely bedridden.
—It had all started on the day of the trouble at the House of Argyle. After the mansion burned to the ground, Fourier had stepped from his dragon carriage, only to collapse. The sight had caused Ferris to put aside all his emotions and focus everything on healing the prince.
Fourier seemed to be in pain. Ferris had transferred life force to him, put him in the carriage, and returned to the castle with all haste. That was where they first learned the grim truth that the entire royal family was ill.
After that, all the patients, including Fourier, were confined to bed rest in the royal chambers. The illness went on without significant change, but its pathology remained mysterious—even Ferris couldn’t figure out what was causing it. Even Ferris, who was second to none in the art of using mana to cure sickness.
There had been signs. Ferris himself had seen Fourier’s coughing fits and occasional bouts of ill health. At the Karsten mansion, he had groaned in pain—but he had refused to let Ferris examine him.
At the time, Ferris had been so busy thinking about himself and Crusch that he had overlooked these things. And only now was he keeping close to the prince, trying to make things better now that it was more convenient for him. Ferris hated himself so much, he wanted to disappear from existence.
“Ferris, shouldn’t you—? Aren’t you supposed to be with my father, not with me? You’re the heir to the kingdom’s greatest healer. It’s your duty.”
“It’s all right. I make sure I’ve done everything I’m supposed to before I come to Your Highness. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m putting you ahead of the king.”
“I see, it was simply my misunderstanding. How embarrassing—! Crusch is going to laugh at me.”
Fourier’s smile as he spoke Crusch’s name was lonesome. People grow more prone to loneliness as their bodies weaken with illness. Even Fourier, the very epitome of enthusiasm.
“Lady Crusch…” Ferris took Fourier’s hand in his, patting it gently, and whispered the name like a prayer.
He knew Crusch was immensely busy. She was one of the highest-ranking nobles, and with the entire royal family incapacitated, there wasn’t a moment when her hands weren’t full. And yet, even so, Ferris couldn’t help thinking…
I wish she would come comfort this sweet, lonely, precious person.
He couldn’t do it by himself. He was no substitute for Crusch. Ferris treasured Fourier so much, and yet once again, he was unable to give the prince the strength he needed. Powerlessness tore always at Ferris’s heart, threatening to break it.
“…The heartsick look doesn’t suit you.” Fourier’s voice found Ferris under his self-torment, and then self-reproach struck him like a thunderbolt. Mentally gritting his teeth, he mustered a smile for Fourier.
“Aw, I’m not heartsick. Ferri is feeling fine—just fine!”
Far be it from him to start crying. Not here, not now. He might be powerless, but he had his pride. He couldn’t heal Fourier’s illness, but he could manage a smile.
If that was all he could do, then he would do it come hell or high water.
“Gosh, Your Highness! If you just eat and drink and then go right to sleep, you’ll get fat…!”
“And then…Crusch won’t…like me anymore…”
All he could do was remind the prince of the everyday things, so maybe Fourier could revisit them in his dreams.
2
In the royal assembly hall, Crusch Karsten had found herself unable to think anything for a very, very long time. For several days now the powerful and noble of the realm, along with the Council of Elders, the organization that essentially acted as the kingdom’s brain, had been discussing what to do about the turmoil that faced their nation.
Crusch was getting awfully sick of the meetings she was obliged to attend as duchess. They had been talking for so long that she knew even the smallest details of every attending noble’s face.
They had to deal with rituals where the king’s presence was expected, while trying to prevent any word of the current situation reaching the world’s three major powers. They had to take care of all the duties each member of the royal family would normally have attended to, all while trying to figure out what to do about a disease whose origins remained obscure. And on top of all that, each of the nobles had the usual business of their domains to contend with. It led to a level of confusion and exhaustion that few of them could remember experiencing before.
But now, a month after all this had started, the royal family’s condition finally seemed not to be getting any worse. This was what they had just begun to discuss when—
“First Prince Zabinel is dead, you say…?”
The tearful report brought by the spell caster from the Royal Academy of Healing was more than enough to throw the room back into near panic. First Prince Zabinel Lugunica had been the first of the confirmed cases of illness in the royal castle. Hence the condition afflicting him might have been the quickest to act…
“This is all too sudden! How can this be? How can His Highness have gotten so ill?”
“It’s impossible! I met with him only yesterday, and he… He gave no sign of being so close to the end…”
Those who had been especially close to Zabinel mourned the sudden news of his passing. But they weren’t the o
nly ones left agape at the report. Everyone in the room was shocked.
One person had now died from the disease that afflicted the entire royal family. And still no one knew the cause or how to treat it.
“Highness…” Crusch, too, felt a pang at the news. She was usually so careful to stand up straight, but now she felt she might break in half with the anxiety tearing at her innards. She could only think of Fourier, lying in his sickbed and offering his weak smile when she came to see him.
“We must consider the possibility that His Majesty, too, will leave us.” Even as she chewed her lip, Crusch heard a raspy voice. She looked up to find that everyone who had heard had focused on the center of the room, where Miklotov, the representative of the Council of Elders, stood.
“Sir Miklotov, a poor jest! His Majesty? Leave us?”
“Mm. The inevitable cannot be avoided, no matter how diligently we look away from reality. We cannot afford to be optimists right now. Or else we will not be able to fulfill the duties of the most precious seat in our nation. Am I wrong?”
“Ngh…”
“We see now how quickly the condition may turn—and that means that even tomorrow, we could find ourselves facing the worst. When it happens, it will shake the kingdom, and our role is to support the nation during that time. We must not turn our backs on the people.”
Miklotov’s pointed pronouncement put to rest those who thought he was being disrespectful. His words may have been unsparing toward the kingdom’s leader, but this only made them all the more necessary.
Thus, Crusch was the first to put aside her personal feelings and speak on the sage’s behalf. “Sir Miklotov is right. If anything should happen to His Majesty, the kingdom won’t disappear. It will fall to us to do something about it.”
Crusch was one of only a few present of ducal rank, but she had relatively little experience and hadn’t established herself yet. Still, her speaking up helped the rest of the nobles start to feel the same way.
“I’m grateful for your endorsement,” Miklotov said. “Naturally, I still hope and pray that His Highness and His Highness’s family will come safely through this trial. Please don’t misunderstand me on that point.”
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