Chapter 46 - 4-10
Krisina had been struggling with the princess since the morning of that day.
Her mood was not good. Even when Krisina tried to steer the conversation toward casual small talk, there was no reply. On the rare occasion she did respond,
"What is it!"
There was a sharpness to her voice.
Despite having been the princess's lady-in-waiting for a long time, Krisina was not used to these situations.
While it was not unheard of for the princess to brood and toss those around her about, it was rare.
Her Highness Luchentin Alish had, for better or worse, a certain idiocy about her. She did not possess the habit of thinking deeply about any given phenomenon. Krisina suspected that she had almost never used her intellect for anything other than pleasure.
Because she did not think about things, the princess had no particular attachments.
If she encountered an unpleasant experience, she would cast the situation aside like trash and begin searching for something else, something more enjoyable. Because she did not deal with boring things, the princess was usually in high spirits. In one sense, this might be linked to the magnanimous, carefree, and grand nature that the members of the royal family possessed genetically.
That princess had been sunk in melancholy until about a week ago.
However, she had recovered quickly.
—Ever since she heard that Yugis-sama was sneaking in.
The princess had been in an excellent mood.
With vitality lighting up her eyes, she walked with her head held high.
Recently, the roundness had faded slightly from the princess's cheeks, and a sharp impression had increased within her beauty. Only her golden hair, which had grown long, remained as it was in her childhood, spilling over with gorgeous brilliance in time with the princess's movements.
Whether she had feelings for Yugis-sama or not, whether she looked down on him or adored him, her manner was unclear. Most likely, she herself did not understand very well what to make of it.
Or perhaps, she was trying to hide her true feelings. Regardless, she enjoyed the situation where the boy who had dragged her off the table was enamored with her.
That had suddenly changed. From this morning, she had abruptly become sullen.
That evening.
Having finished dinner and returned to her room, the princess picked up a history book from the writing desk and headed for the chaise longue by the window. She sat down without a word.
Krisina placed the candelabra lighting on the window sill.
"Today, the princess is the spitting image of that person."
"..."
"Of the Queen."
The princess did not lift her face from the book. "Do you wish to make me angry?"
"Make you angry? You truly do resemble her."
The princess looked up. She was smiling.
"Do you want to fight? I'll be your opponent."
Krisina scoffed. "I've had enough. I take it back."
"I will not permit such insolence as saying I've come to resemble my stepmother."
Krisina shifted her gaze outside the window. The princess's private room was on the second floor of the detached palace. From the south window, she could look down upon the front garden. The afterglow, casting rays like thorns, was annoyingly bright. The setting sun cast light from the side equally upon the clouds in the sky and the pebbles on the ground. The golden light, as if diluted with water, was absorbed by the ground and soaked into the darkness.
Shortly thereafter,
"He's here,"
Krisina announced.
Princess Lucy closed her book.
Yugis Necrat was casting a long shadow in the front garden. He had a bundle of thick ropes slung over his shoulder. They were ropes with black-glinting steel hooks at the ends. They appeared to be tools for siege warfare.
—A new approach, Krisina thought.
Yugis swung the hook and threw it carelessly.
The steel, shaped like a cluster of fishing hooks with vicious barbs, approached in a straight line.
Krisina stepped back to shield the princess. Just before the hook touched the glass, it was pulled back, biting into the window's foundation with an unpleasant sound.
When she looked toward the window again, Yugis-sama was gone. He had vanished.
The rope remained hanging limply.
Suddenly, a beautiful youth with sand-colored hair appeared in the deserted front garden. It was Laicanel-sama. He ran past beneath the window.
"Wait!"
Laicanel-sama's voice was murderous, lingering in the ear.
"Again. Again... honestly!"
It was only natural for Princess Lucy to say so. For three days now, it had been the case that Laicanel Thora drove away Yugis Necrat, who attempted to sneak into the princess's chambers. At first, it had been a spectacle and she had rolled around laughing, but she had naturally grown bored.
"What gets on my nerves is that neither Laika nor Yugis even looks at me. The objective has already changed; it's become some kind of competition. What is this, anyway?"
"Shall I tell Cloden to cancel the tryst?"
Krisina asked.
In short, this was the cause of the bad mood.
"No. I've already bragged to everyone. I will absolutely meet him."
"But today, this might be the end of it."
Krisina gazed at the front garden, now devoid of people.
"It's utterly ridiculous."
The princess resumed her reading, and Krisina watched the afterglow melt away. As the night darkness closed in moment by moment, the black hook remained embedded in the stonework outside the window.
Eventually, the door opened without a knock, and Yugis Necrat entered.
This was a first.
Just before Princess Lucy could lodge a complaint, nearly bristling with anger, Yugis placed his index finger to his lips with a serious expression. It was likely because a dagger was gripped in Yugis-sama's hand that the princess fell silent, unlike her usual self.
The boy, wrapped in the dark clothing of the Fourth Army, held his breath by the doorway.
The door moved, and another person was about to enter the room. Yugis's arm reached out toward the silhouette behind the door and roughly grabbed them by the collar.
"You idiot, it's me!"
The person at the doorway shouted.
It was Cloden's voice. Cloden Danforth brushed away his friend's arm and straightened his collar.
"What happened to the bastard?" Yugis-sama asked, returning the dagger to his waist.
"No problem. He's convinced he's cornered us and is circling around the orchard. We're out of time."
"Your Highness."
Yugis Necrat turned toward the princess and began to speak slowly. Princess Lucy spoke in a quiet, resolute tone.
"Be silent. I will not permit it. You've kept me waiting for three days without me even knowing what the matter is, and you intend to speak as if nothing happened?"
"I was about to explain that now..."
The princess moved her finger slightly.
With just that, Yugis Necrat dropped to one knee. After Cloden stole a brief glance at Krisina's face, he followed suit.
The corners of the princess's mouth rose with satisfaction.
Yugis looked up. "Your Highness, first, an apology—"
"Hm?"
The princess lowered her index finger.
The boy in black lowered his face, and Cloden lowered his head a step further.
The princess directed a smile of victory toward Krisina.
"As you know, I have a fiancé," the princess said in a formal voice. "I will not permit any remarks that disregard that fact."
"I possess feelings so fervent they surpass that fact."
The boys kept their faces lowered.
"Why were you running away from Laika?"
"If we were to clash, it would become a duel."
"It seems I was not worth risking your life for."
Yugis Necrat stood up.
He had grown taller in the short time since she last saw him. He was lanky, and his muscles had not yet caught up to the extension of his skeleton.
Princess Lucy approached Yugis without a hint of fear. She stood directly in front of him. There was no time for Krisina to stop her.
"Despite the fact that you were sneaking around and running away."
"If it became a duel, I would end up killing your fiancé."
"Are you trying to say you weren't afraid?"
"I am saying that even if I am to compete with the prince of the Thora house, now is not the time."
"I cannot become yours."
It was that still voice the princess occasionally emitted.
Krisina's interest was piqued.
Wanting to see the princess's expression, she moved slightly. Since Cloden had stood up and approached, the two of them ended up watching side by side.
"You have tried to change many things. I know that." There was seriousness in the princess's well-shaped eyebrows. "But likely, the engagement between me and Laika cannot be changed."
"It must change. The other side will make their move. We too shall draw our swords."
"Do you want me to stop Laika? Or are you seeking my permission to kill Laika?"
The black-haired boy shook his head.
"I came simply because I wished to confess my love."
"I believe I ordered that such a thing was not permitted. I forbid it once more."
Krisina, along with Cloden, studied Yugis's face.
Yugis looked down as if bewildered. It seemed the tide was against him.
"Then, at the very least, I wish for you to accept my loyalty."
"Will you fight Laika?"
"Depending on the circumstances."
Krisina and Cloden now gazed at the princess's troubled face.
Eventually, when the princess said,
"Very well,"
Krisina was surprised.
"Be victorious. Dedicate that victory to me. I... how should I put it?"
Princess Lucy was looking at Krisina. Krisina's reply was pitched high with panic.
"What is it?"
"How to express it. For example, I cannot reward you with the touching of skin to skin. For if you win and my fiancé dies, I shall go to a convent."
Yugis remained silent.
"Since I would have lost my fiancé, it is only proper that this body be offered to the Tenshu. I would no longer be able to meet you either. However, you must not concern yourself with such things. Act for my sake, and be victorious for my sake. I shall accept everything. In this world, I alone shall understand you. Be victorious without flinching. Even if you lose and rot away unknown, I alone shall keep you in my memory. If you commit a sin, I alone shall forgive you. Let that be your consolation. It is still too early."
Princess Lucy stopped Yugis as he attempted to kneel.
In Yugis Necrat's eyes, there was a light that trembled violently.
"If I am with Your Highness, I wonder how much I could achieve."
"Yes, indeed. —How much of what would you do?"
Cloden Danforth moved away from Krisina's side.
He moved behind Yugis.
The two boys dropped to one knee with the same motion, offering their respects to the princess.
Without a word, without exchanging glances, and without making a sound, they headed together toward the window, opened the glass pane, and descended the rope in turn.
The princess and Krisina went to the window and watched the evening darkness erase the boys.
At the same moment Krisina closed the glass window, the room's door creaked.
While still holding the window handle, Krisina turned her head.
Laicanel Thora, carrying a lantern, was cautiously scanning the room from the doorway.
"Princess, are you safe?"
"Yes. Of course."
"Was he—"
"He came. —Please come in, Laika. There is something I must tell you. Krisina, I wish to speak with him alone. Stay outside."
Krisina deliberately looked toward the bed. "I shall wait in the hallway."
Just before leaving the room with the candelabra in hand, Laicanel-sama nodded to Krisina as if to reassure her.
She waited for a while in the hallway, staring at the closed door. Just as she thought about eavesdropping, Laicanel-sama opened the door.
The sand-haired Prince had red cheeks.
He was a person who naturally had a feverish light in his eyes. He directed a gaze that said 'I am interested in you' equally toward any woman. Toward Krisina as well.
—I feel he is especially kind to me.
Even Krisina, the head lady-in-waiting, sometimes had such an illusion.
He showed subtle considerations that only Krisina noticed, and he did so extremely naturally.
That Laicanel-sama said,
"The princess flatly rejected Yugis's invitation, didn't she?"
He spoke while gazing into the distance.
He looked as if he were in a dream.
With the lantern in one hand, he simply walked away.
Krisina was struck by a sense of surprise. It was like the eyes of a boy in love. A boy who had confirmed the affection of the girl he liked. He had a face that had touched genuine happiness.
Krisina Mcgillis immediately returned to the princess's chambers.
The princess was deep in thought, covering her nose and mouth with her right hand.
Seeing Krisina, she lowered her hand.
"I received his kiss,"
the princess said.
"My, my..."
"I told him that I would not permit him to confess his love. Then, he gave me a kiss full of affection."
"That is wonderful."
"Of course, it was wonderful." Her proud face suddenly clouded. "More importantly, those last words Yugis said, what was that about?"
—If I am with Your Highness, I wonder how much I could achieve.
Yugis-sama had said that.
"It sounded as if he had something he wanted to do with you."
"It was likely just a figure of speech."
"Is that so?"
Even when asked if it was so, Krisina did not know.
"What does that person seek from me? What is he expecting?"
"That person wished for you to accept his loyalty. That is all. In the first place, there is no need for the princess to meet his expectations."
Glaring at Krisina, the princess went toward the window where the light was.
"Is that not the case?" Krisina followed. "You mustn't, princess. In the end, you are teasing that person. Giving him expectations that cannot be fulfilled."
"I am not."
"You must not. You have a fiancé. You must not fall for Yugis-sama."
"Laika and Yugis both seek me in the same way. But Laika seeks me because he needs me."
"That is a good thing for the sake of the country."
"Yugis wants me."
—That's not a reason.
Krisina thought. There was likely no man who did not want the princess.
It might have been the time to scold the princess. However, Krisina remained silent. She herself had not yet gathered her thoughts on where the princess was wrong, or if she was truly wrong at all.
Yugis Necrat finally stopped running in a back alley away from the detached palace.
To have the princess see him running away had been a complete embarrassment. Moreover, he was told that a confession of love was not permitted, so he had not achieved his original goal. However, he felt fulfilled.
—It was a wish that could never have come true to begin with.
It was a grand desire. After all, she was the princess.
However, Yugis thought.
—She can also be called a single woman.
There was nothing wrong with falling in love. In the meeting just now, the princess had merely rejected Yugis based on her position as a princess. What about her as an individual?
—Be victorious without flinching.
She had said that to him. Yugis felt a tremor in his soul. He wanted to enjoy everything that was truly alive together with the princess. To put it vulgarly, the pleasure of sensuality. He wanted to smell the princess's scent, and taste the princess's warmth and softness to the fullest.
On the other hand, it was the life of the soul.
He wouldn't call it a lifetime. A single moment would suffice. To delve into the princess's flesh, to entwine the sliminess and sliminess of their souls, to melt together and become a single joy—it had grown into a distinct desire, as if it had a skeleton.
"Yo, Necrat, how'd it go?" Cloden, walking beside him, asked.
"It was extremely good."
"You got an erection, didn't you?"
"Well, when she gets that close..."
—I'm glad I could meet you.
The princess had told him to go for it. Now, it was up to him.
As long as the princess believed in him, he could do it.
"Cloden."
"What is it?"
"Were there any results?"
"Yeah. I've investigated various parts of the detached palace over these three days. I've memorized the faces and names of several of the people working there, so it's fine."
"What do you need?"
"A thousand shiny, pure gold coins."
"I'll arrange it."
Yugis had a plot to sneak into the bed of Ness Syllabus's younger sister and marry her. This was to bring Ness over to his side. The flaws in that plan became apparent immediately. Ness's younger sister, Larisa Syllabus, already had a fiancé, and in the first place, Ness had apparently returned to Karnain city recently to lead a life of recuperation.
This meant that the mental decay of Ness Syllabus had already reached a stage where he could not be placed in society.
Sneaking to the princess's side was supposed to be training for entering Larisa's bedchamber.
The original purpose had vanished, but only the training plan remained.
That plan eventually shifted to the objective of—
—casting a net over the detached palace to ferret out the secrets of Laicanel Thora.
If he could grasp some kind of secret and keep Laicanel pinned down, it would be ideal. If things went well, it might even be possible to manipulate the Third Army.
"Well, just leave it to me," Cloden said. "I've already picked up a few rumors that can't be ignored."
"Rumors? For example?"
"I'll tell you once I've caught the tail."
He seemed confident; Cloden smiled and showed his front teeth.