Side Story 1: Dear Cruse’s Courtship: Part One

— Rahful’s perspective —

I had come to call at the home of my subordinate and dearest friend, Cruse.

Cruse was the daughter of a provincial noble. Her house and my own house of Burschenschaft had long had ties. Since Cruse and I were the same age and of the same sex, we had often played together since we were small. Had either of us been male, even a betrothal might have been possible—our parents lamented as much over how close we were.

Which was why… ever since learning that Cruse had fallen victim to the criminal Alde Rama, I had been unable to face her, unable even to visit her.

What I most regretted, and could never regret enough… was having sent her to interrogate Alde in the first place.

I had soothed and cajoled her as she sobbed and refused, and only by promising to introduce her to the eldest son of a central noble house upon completion of the task had I managed to get her to go—but to think she would be taken by force on the spot…!

I was no longer at the royal castle at that time; I had heard the first report through the communication implement at the inn where Her Highness was staying… according to the report, by the time she returned to the guardhouse Cruse was utterly drained, and the moment she conveyed Alde’s testimony, she collapsed in tears. At that moment Cruse was apparently crying out something, but it was no longer in words that carried meaning.

For her to have been sobbing that bitterly… there was no need to confirm anything further. No—confirming would only have been more cruel. In other words, that’s what had happened.

And when I had returned, after persuading Her Highness, Cruse—exhausted from weeping—was already asleep in her sickroom.

Seeing that tear-swollen sleeping face… I had no idea what words to offer her when she woke, and I had fled the room.

Several days had passed since then… in the middle of an exhausting search for Her Highness, I had finally steeled myself to call on Cruse, who was still bedridden.

Because there was a cruel reality I had to convey to her…

* * *

— Cruse’s perspective —

I was sitting up in the bed of my bedroom, gazing absently out the window.

For the past several days I had taken leave from my Princess’s Guard duties, and I felt apologetic toward my superior—and dearest friend—Rahful… but Rahful had graciously accepted my leave, and I had given in to her kindness.

After all, I… had been deeply wounded by that criminal, Alde Rama…

By a thoroughly ordinary commoner, of the sort you find anywhere…

By a man who was neither particularly handsome nor anything more than a scruffy nobody…

I had been told I had no appeal!!

Granted—I am not as beautiful as Her Highness, but surely I am beautiful enough in my own right?!

Even the young ladies of the central nobility are jealous enough of my beauty and martial prowess to whisper about me behind my back!

And thanks to that, the gentlemen of the central nobility avoid me!!

The only one who ever paid court to me was Rigor—eldest son of a central noble house, yet stuck at the rank of Royal Guard—but a man with no talent who does nothing but boast, central nobility or not, I would rather pass on!

And on top of that—!

The moment I refused Rigor’s proposal of marriage, that man started fabricating scandalous rumors about me and spreading utter nonsense everywhere!

What is that man’s problem! No wonder he is utterly unpopular!!

Owing to such circumstances, despite my fine appearance and impeccable conduct, I have been unable to settle on so much as a single fiancé…

I have been enduring the humiliation of being single at the age of twenty.

The one saving grace was being admitted, perhaps undeservedly, to Her Highness’s Princess’s Guard. Up until then, the Princess’s Guard had been chosen by family pedigree over ability, and a provincial noble like me would never have qualified. But Her Highness Tiariece’s Princess’s Guard evaluated ability above lineage.

And so the Princess’s Guard was a particularly honored position; while I was engaged in that work, I could at least use ‘busy’ as an excuse for being somewhat late in finding a marriage match.

And Rahful was also still single, so in that sense, too, I had been able to find some small measure of comfort.

And yet…!

In short, the reason I am behind in marriage is the misunderstanding and the public duties—not my own appeal!

And yet that man, of all people!

A mere commoner, dismissing me like that!!

Remembering that man, a sob welled up inside me.

So I rolled onto my front on the bed and pressed my face into the pillow.

Wanting to hold back the rising sobs.

As I trembled there for a while, there came a knock at the bedroom door.

* * *

— Rahful’s perspective —

When I was shown into Cruse’s room, she turned a tear-swollen face toward me.

Ghh… the wound on her heart had clearly not yet healed…

Of course it had not… taken by force by a commoner—a criminal—with a vacant, idiot face…

I called to Cruse with some hesitation and sat down at the bedside.

“Hey… Cruse. How are you holding up?”

Wait—fool that I am…?!

Asking how she was holding up—that would force her to remember that man whether she liked it or not!

I deeply regretted the question the moment I had asked it, but Cruse responded more calmly than I had expected.

“Yes… thanks to you, I am much calmer now. I am sorry, Rahful. For abandoning my duty and taking leave…”

“Don’t worry about that. To begin with, you accomplished a major task—extracting information from a criminal. The leave you’ve earned is a small price for that.”

“It is kind of you to say so, but…”

After that, an awkward silence fell between us.

The reason I had come today was that there was something I absolutely had to tell Cruse… but I could not bring myself to broach the subject.

To convey it to Cruse, who was still suffering psychological damage, would be cruel… and yet, by staying silent, she would learn the truth eventually, and delaying would only wound her further…

While I was hesitating, Cruse spoke first.

“So—what happened to that criminal?”

“A-ah… right.”

Come to think of it, I had not yet told Cruse the full course of events.

So, before getting to the real matter, I began the explanation.

“In truth… he has fled, taking Her Highness with him.”

“…What?”

Cruse’s eyes went round.

This fact alone was shocking enough for us. So I would gauge whether or not to broach the real subject based on her reaction.

While I was thinking this, the astonished Cruse said:

“Wh-what do you mean? Surely you do not mean Her Highness lost—”

“No, not at all. No one can defeat Her Highness once her offensive magic is unleashed, and in fact it was an overwhelming victory. However… when the dust settled, the Sky Palace—the site of the duel—was empty.”

“I do not understand… if Her Highness had fought in earnest, she could easily have finished off some commoner, could she not?”

“Yes… but there are no signs of her having done so either. We and the Intelligence Bureau looked into it, and… Her Highness has, with that man, departed the royal capital once again.”

“What…?”

“In other words… I believe it is reasonable to think that Her Highness has forgiven that man.”

“S-surely that man… has not, by some smooth tongue, deceived Her Highness yet again?!”

“I would rather not believe it, but… that is the most likely scenario.”

Cruse stared, with a look that said she could not believe it.

I went on:

“Under such circumstances, we cannot even place Alde Rama on the wanted list. If we incurred Her Highness’s displeasure by doing so… it would be we who would be wiped out next.”

With just Her Highness alone, the half-fortress that is the Calvan royal castle could be easily brought down. The Sword of Heavenly Fire—Lævateinn—alone made that self-evident.

To think that a single human, on her own, could unleash magic of that magnitude… even having witnessed it firsthand, I still could not quite believe it.

So of course, deploying the national army to the outskirts of the royal capital would mean losing in an instant. She could rain down wide-area bombardment magic more powerful than Lævateinn as easily as breathing. Her Highness, no doubt, would do so without losing a single breath.

With such thoughts in my head, I sighed and said:

“Incidentally, the courier horses we sent in pursuit of Her Highness’s party were also shaken off. Since horses cannot keep up, we have also purchased several Magic Vehicles ourselves, but we have yet to locate Her Highness. In all likelihood, some kind of magic is obstructing the pursuit.”

“What does the upper command intend to do from here?”

“His Majesty Ajinos’s intentions have not yet been confirmed, but… Lady Lily, at any rate, intends to bring Her Highness back to the palace by any means.”

“Well… I suspect she has rather a lot of personal motivation mixed in too, but…”

“Indeed. Even so, my own opinion is the same. This kingdom cannot stand without Her Highness’s power.”

“You are right… how in the world did things ever come to this…”

“Honestly…”

We sighed in unison.

If His Majesty Ajinos had not, in siding with the nobility, made that fatal slip with Her Highness… this kingdom could have continued enjoying long-term prosperity under the protection of a genius—Her Highness Tiariece…

But it was too late for regrets now; I had to think about what came next.

What came next—yes, for the time being, that meant Cruse.

It was for her sake that I had come here.

The lead-up to the main subject had become a serious conversation, but Cruse’s responses had been steadier than I had expected.

Her tear-swollen eyes too had softened somewhat; this might be all right to broach now.

With that thought, I steeled myself and broached the matter.

“And so, Cruse… the reason I came today, besides paying you a visit, is that there is a small matter of business.”

“Business?”

Unable to look Cruse in the face as she tilted her head… I averted my gaze before speaking.

“Ah—about that introduction to the eldest son of a central noble house, you see.”

“Now that you mention it—yes, that was the agreement.”

I heard the sound of Cruse clapping her hands together.

When I returned my gaze, Cruse…

Cruse…………….

Had eyes far more full of expectation than I had imagined.

Th-this is bad.

This is… is this not very bad?

“So, Rahful. Whom, exactly, will you be introducing me to?”

“A-ah, well… about that…”

“Of course you know already, but please do not, no matter what, tell me to go back to Rigor merely because he is central nobility! You know full well how rudely he treated me, do you not?”

“O-of course, of course…”

“At this point, so long as it is not Rigor, I am prepared to overlook nearly anything. I will not insist on someone my own age, or someone handsome, or someone skilled in the martial arts.”

“I-is that so…?”

“It is. That said… a gentleman past the age of fathering children would be a bit much… surely the person is not that sort?”

“O-of course not…”

“Right? In that case… at this point, I am even fine with a man in his forties. I will not ask about appearance. He can be balding, he can be a bit round in the middle. So long as he loves me…”

“L-love is important, isn’t it…”

“Yes, indeed! In that respect, perhaps a seasoned older gentleman is even better than a hot-blooded young man. The most important thing in a man is his measure. With a man of great capacity, I can surely be happy!”

“Y-yes. Measure is important…”

“So—who is it? The central noble gentleman you wish to introduce to me?”

Cruse looked at me with her eyes shining wildly.

And I—could absolutely not bring myself to say it.

That all of her suitors had refused her once they heard she had been taken by force by a commoner man.

Wh… what do I… what in the world am I supposed to…?!

To begin with, the central nobles are too narrow-minded! What did it matter that she had one or two trysts in her life?! Although in this case, the problem is that the partner is a commoner man!!

Gh… this is no time to complain…!

Wh-what in the world am I to do…?!

And so.

Cornered, what I ended up saying was—to put it without ceremony—pure improvisation.

“I-in fact—he’s the same age as you!”

“Eh… really?!”

“Not an older gentleman—is that all right?!”

“Of course, of course! How old is he?!”

“T-twenty!”

“Twenty?! The same age as me?!”

“Y-yes, that’s right!”

“…Hmm? A central noble of the same age as me—was there ever such a person…?”

Suddenly on the verge of being caught in my lie, I scrambled to push on…!

“Th-there was! Someone who rarely attends banquets or the like, but there is such a person!”

“Truly! And from which house?!”

“Th-that is a secret!”

“A secret…? And why is that…?”

I could of course not say “because I have not built up the rest of the setting yet,” and so, sweat pouring down my face, I rattled on!

“That gentleman is very shy! He says he cannot name his house until Cruse has agreed to the meeting! Oh, but please do not misunderstand! By ‘shy’ I mean he is exceedingly gentle, kind to everyone, with a love of flowers and song—that sort of personality!”

“Oh, my! He sounds like a gentleman straight out of a wandering bard’s tale!”

“Y-yes!”

“In that case, of course I shall accept the meeting!”

“Excellent! Then I shall arrange it within the next few days—please wait a little longer!!”

With that, I stood bolt upright. And—as if to drive the point home further—Cruse said, eyes glittering brilliantly:

“I shall await it! Please, please make the arrangements!!”

“F-for my dearest friend’s sake! Leave it to me!!”

I gave a firm nod and bolted from the bedroom as if escaping!

A-ah…

What am I going to do…?!

What in the world am I going to do?!

That I have been driven into a corner like this, that every one of Cruse’s matches has fallen through—it is all Alde Rama’s fault!!

Fleeing Cruse’s mansion at top speed, I was seized by an urge to break down and wail aloud…!

(To be continued)