Chapter 64
The Instinct to Return Home (2)
The last King of Gainus was overjoyed when a daughter was born into the Arsak Family. As soon as he heard the news, he rushed to the Arsak mansion, insisting on an immediate engagement ceremony, tiring out the parents who were holding their newborn baby. The Daughter of Arsak was healthy, while the son of Gainus suffered from frequent illnesses, so the engagement was repeatedly postponed indefinitely. And one day, the six families stabbed the King in the back. That was the end of the engagement, or so she thought. Princess Liene was no longer the fiancée determined from birth, but the new Monarch of Nauk who had taken the eldest son of another family as her lover. But that was just what she thought; her heart didn't seem to agree at all. It seemed her heart was always thinking of returning to her betrothed's side. Otherwise, she wouldn't feel like she had come home like this. Liene was his home. A place that had always been in the same spot, a place he had never left. A place he could return to as if he had never left either. To say he could let go of this again would just be insane.
“It’s the same now. I will live as the Princess's husband and guardian knight. I have no intention of shedding blood for anything more than that.”
“Well… that's why you only broke their bones nicely. I understand.”
Since coming to Nauk, she had thought that her Monarch had been too kind and lenient even to insignificant things, and that was all because of that reason.
“I will bring the Sectarian.”
“Now.”
“E-excuse me, now…? Did you say now?”
Black flicked his hand as if he couldn't be bothered to say it twice.
“As quickly as possible.”
“...Yes, Monarch.”
Fermos lowered his head deeply and left his room. * * *
“It’s in two days.”
As a result of the new advisor Alland's busy work, the Grand Council was set. All six families had sent letters of consent indicating their attendance, and Alland carefully bound them into a formal proclamation and hung it in the square. The Grand Council would be held in the Grand Hall located in the very center of the Square of the Gods. The elegant Grand Hall, once a symbol of Nauk, decorated with nine fountains modeled after the Nine Waterfalls, had become as old and dirty as the rest of Nauk. Managing the Grand Hall was rightfully the job of the six families, but the Kleinfelter Family had passed it on to the royal family because it cost unnecessary money. When Liene first took over the reign, she unknowingly allocated a budget to the Grand Hall, but a few years ago, she realized that it was unnecessary and let it go. The result was a leaky ceiling and cracked walls.
“I went to see the Grand Hall… I thought it should at least be cleaned.”
Liene listened to the words with a face that showed not a fingernail's worth of interest.
“The Grand Council will take care of it themselves. Leave it alone.”
“Still… is that alright?”
Alland asked back, rather flustered.
“If they don't do it themselves, they'll be breathing in dust. I don't know if the heads of the six families can stand that.”
“T-then… I will convey that.”
“There's no rush, so take your time. Just let them know before the Grand Council.”
“Yes… as you command.”
Alland nodded awkwardly. He still didn't know even half of the awkward relationship between the six families and the Arsak royal family. Liene, who was about to send Alland away, suddenly had a thought and asked.
“Ah, have you heard anything about the Kleinfelter Family's movements?”
“What are you asking about?”
“Anything. They must have gone through something a few days ago, isn't there any rumor about that?”
Alland tilted his head.
“When I visited, they didn't seem any different. If I hadn't become a royal advisor, I wouldn't have even known that the Head of the Grand Council wasn't at the mansion.”
“Ah… I see. I understand. You can go now.”
“Please call me anytime.”
Alland bowed and stepped back.
“...That's a bit strange.”
Liene, left alone in her office, rested her elbows on her desk and pondered.
“Tiwakan went and brought Mrs. Hinton, but it seems like nothing happened? How can that be?”
Losing Mrs. Hinton meant that the power to use Klima as a errand runner had also disappeared. Klima knew all the evil deeds that the Kleinfelter Family had committed so far. They would want to somehow get Klima back or kill her to silence her, but it was too strange that they were being quiet.
“Is Lyndon Kleinfelter's absence that big? Is there no one else to handle things without that man?”
That didn't seem to make sense. The Kleinfelter Family was the largest family in Nauk. It was a place where a large amount of wealth circulated, so there were many people who handled the work.
“Lyndon Kleinfelter couldn't have done all those bad things alone… there must be someone who helped him.”
She felt frustrated. Liene got up from her seat and headed to the window.
“I didn't even know how my kingdom was running until now.”
She had no idea what the Kleinfelter Family, the royal family's biggest enemy, was doing behind her back. She felt angry and ashamed at the same time.
“I've just been living day by day.”
In fact, living day by day in Nauk was exhausting and difficult. Liene, who had inherited the reign at too young an age, didn't know what a non-exhausting Monarch's life was like.
“I can't do that anymore.”
She needed eyes and ears. To show and tell her every corner of this small kingdom. On the one hand, she was glad to have found out before it was too late. If she had continued to live as Laffite Kleinfelter's lover without anything happening, and then been sold off in marriage when she could no longer afford the debt, she would have become someone who didn't even deserve to be called a Monarch. Everything had changed since Black had jumped into her life.
“That man… gave me too much.”
Liene lifted her forehead from the window she was leaning on. So, she would give too. Everything she could give. Liene left the office, took one of the few remaining royal jewels, and headed to the North Tower. * * *
“……”
“……”
Her expression was calm, but her eyes were still the same. Gentle, but somehow broken eyes. Eyes that made the person who saw them feel sorry.
“I came because I wanted to see if you were doing well. Is the sleeping arrangement very uncomfortable?”
“...It's alright.”
Mrs. Hinton didn't even greet Liene, who had suddenly come to visit. Even if it was understandable, she couldn't help but feel bitter.
“I've brought some fruit, would you like to try some?”
Liene held out the basket of fruit she had stopped by the kitchen to get on her way.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
Instead of taking the basket, Mrs. Hinton stared at Liene and asked.
“Don't you know who I am? I am someone who will not accept anything that the Princess gives me.”
“...I thought you might be feeling down. When I heard you were in this room. Because it doesn't get much sunlight here and it's always dark. They say it's good to eat something sweet at times like that.”
“What does the sun matter if your heart is in hell?”
“……”
Liene was at a loss for words. She couldn't even dare to imagine what Mrs. Hinton had gone through. One son had died, and the other was broken. The one who killed her son was her husband. Her husband wanted to save the bloodline of his Monarch, not his family. And then he sacrificed his own life. The wife was taken hostage by the one who killed her husband, living a slave life that was neither alive nor dead. How could she have endured such a life?
“Then, is there any other food you would like to eat?”
“I don't need anything.”
“I'll come to change the bedding before nightfall. Everything in this room is old and not good to use.”
“Don't bother.”
“I'm sorry. I can't think of anything else to do. So, I wish you would tell me what you need. I'll leave the fruit here, so try it later if you get your appetite back.”
Liene put the basket on the small table next to the bed and turned around. Thud! The next moment, a sound caught Liene. When she turned her head, Mrs. Hinton had thrown the fruit basket to the floor, and on top of that, she was stomping on the fallen fruit.
“...Be careful. There's more than just fruit there. You'll hurt your foot if you step on it wrong.”
“...?”
Mrs. Hinton, who was crushing the soft fruit as if it were Lyndon Kleinfelter's head, raised her head towards Liene. Her expression was dumbfounded.
“What… did you say?”
“There.”
Liene approached Mrs. Hinton and rummaged through the remains of the crushed fruit.
“I put this in here.”
Something hard-looking was held between Liene's fingers. Liene wiped off the sticky flesh and juice with her sleeve.
“My mother brought it when she married into the Arsak Family. It's the most valuable thing I have left.”
The object, cleanly wiped and revealing its light, was a ruby rose-shaped pendant.
“Why this…?”
“As I said, because it's the most valuable thing.”
“……”
Mrs. Hinton's neck flushed. She was a gentle person, as one could see. Even when angry, all she did was crush fruit. The change in her skin color was the extent of it.
"Are you trying to give me jewels so I'll just forget? Forget who died and who killed them?"
"No."
"Can jewels make me forget? Is this so great? Enough to make a person's death okay?"
"I don't think so."
"Then what is it!"
Mrs. Hinton rushed forward and snatched the jeweled pendant from Liene's hand. Thud! The pendant was thrown back onto the crushed fruit.
"The reason I brought this is..."
Liene picked up the pendant again and wiped it clean.
"Because it's pretty."
"...What?"
"I thought it might bring some comfort if you looked at it."
"..."
Thud. Liene placed the well-cleaned pendant on the table.
"I heard what happened to you, Mrs. Hinton. I can't imagine how hard it must have been. To you, I'm probably the same as Kleinfelter. You probably don't like being in Nauk Castle, just when you thought you were getting away from the Kleinfelter Family. I know that, but I don't know what I should do. There's no way to bring the dead back to life."
The words Liene spoke calmly were long. Long and slow. Like the guilt she should have carried for 21 years.
"Painful, agonizing, not even afraid of death... maybe that's how you feel now. I know that nothing matters. But still... I want to find something that might make you think there's something a little better if you look around."
"Is there... is there really anything like that? For a mother who's lost her child..."
"There is one thing. The Sectarian doesn't have to listen to Kleinfelter anymore."
"..."
Mrs. Hinton looked at Liene. She looked so much like Klima. Klima also looked at her with those sad, kind eyes, mixed with confusion and hurt. She was angry, but the person looking at her could only feel sorry for her.
"That child... committed many deeds. That child thinks I don't know, but I actually knew. So I... I thought that child would eventually be caught and killed for what he was doing..."
"I know the Sectarian didn't want to do it. The blame belongs to Kleinfelter."
"How... why is the Daughter of Arsak saying such things..."
Mrs. Hinton lowered her gaze, heavy with confusion. The remnants of the crushed fruit and the dirty floor were reflected in Mrs. Hinton's eyes.
"I was four years old then."
Liene bent down again and began to pick up the fruit in the basket. She knew that if she didn't clean it up, Mrs. Hinton would end up doing it.
"I keep thinking. If I had been a little older, would things have been different? If I could have at least stopped Father, would Sir Hinton not have died? That man..."
That man, could he have not lost his home? Could I have been with him without worrying about when I would lose him? I can't stop thinking about it since I met the Sectarian. It's like a nightmare that will never end..."
"...My second child was five years old."
Mrs. Hinton, who had been standing blankly, couldn't bear to watch Liene picking up the fruit any longer, so she sat down on the floor and began to move her hands as well.
"He was tall and well-built for his age. No one believed he was five years old. So much so that he looked similar in build to the eight-year-old prince. He must have taken after his father. That child died without even screaming when his father raised his sword."
"..."
Liene couldn't say anything and bit her lip hard. Her crying was a pretense. Compared to Mrs. Hinton or Black, she had lost nothing. She had no right to cry.
"No matter how much I can't forgive the name Arsak, I know that a four-year-old child couldn't have done anything. Just like my child. My child at that time..."
Thud! The fruit that Mrs. Hinton was transferring from her hand to the basket fell.
"... Hic!"
The woman collapsed onto the dirty floor and began to sob. Liene couldn't tell her to cry until she was exhausted, nor could she say that she also wanted to cry so badly. She just bit her lip and held back her own tears beside Mrs. Hinton until she stopped crying.
