◆
Mother was beautiful this morning as well.
That was nothing less than a law of heaven, a self-evident truth of the earth.
Yet could I refrain from confirming it for myself?
No.
At breakfast, Mother sat across from me wearing a pale pink nightgown beneath a light morning robe embroidered discreetly with the Aster family crest. Perhaps because she had only recently risen, her hair had not yet been tied up. The flaxen strands flowed smoothly from her shoulders down across her chest.
I will kill them.
If asked whom, the only possible answer would be everyone.
The moment I imagined that somewhere in this Empire there might exist even a single inferior being who would look upon that flaxen hair glowing in the morning light and harbor impure thoughts, something inside me began to boil.
The number of visitors has been increasing.
Mother’s name is spreading.
More and more inferiors will surely be granted the chance to see her.
To think of Mother being exposed to their eyes, to those wretches──
Shall I kill them all?
No.
Mother would grieve.
She is the sort of person who would mourn even the lives of inferior beings.
I cannot kill them.
But I cannot forgive them either.
I cannot forgive them, yet I cannot kill them.
I briefly considered gouging out the eyes of every man in the Empire, but Mother would weep for that as well.
There is no solution.
I declare this contradiction to be a far more serious matter than the Empire’s civil war.
「Hein, eat properly」
「Yes, Mother」
Mother sipped her tea.
That single gesture determined the meaning of my entire day.
For me, morning is the time to look upon Mother.
Noon is the time to think of Mother.
Night is the time to be spoiled by Mother.
Everything else is trivial.
◆
That said, the Aster Ducal House had become even busier than before.
Visitors were arriving from all directions.
Graman was wearing out his feet shuttling between the reception room and the study, and Feri had already revised the mansion’s guard assignments twice. The stone pavement before the gate had begun to darken beneath the shoes of merchants and messengers from lesser nobles. During Damian’s time, only creditors and debt collectors had come, so the change was considerable. Mother, acting as head of the house, now spent much longer reviewing correspondence. The light in her study did not go out until after midnight.
It was the result of Mother steadily cleaning up the negative legacy that man──Damian──had left behind.
The debt owed to the Clausewitz Company had been fully repaid, and the recent dinner with the Sarkai Company had secured a new appointed merchant. Among the demi-human nobility, Mother’s name was apparently spreading throughout the Empire through networks of blood ties and obligations.
The standing of the Aster Ducal House was certainly improving.
But I took pleasure in that for only one reason.
If it lessened Mother’s burden, then good.
If it increased Mother’s smiles, then excellent.
Anything beyond that belongs to the world of inferior beings and is not something I need concern myself with.
Yesterday evening, when Mother was struggling with a stack of letters in her study, I brought her some tea.
Without looking up from the documents, she tilted her head ever so slightly once.
That alone conveyed everything.
Within that single gesture was contained a quiet 「Thank you, Hein」.
Mother is the kind of person who can make herself understood without words.
And because of that──as I carefully observed her expression across the breakfast table, there was no way I could fail to notice the faint shadow that had begun to linger around her eyes recently.
It had appeared after the night at the White Heron Pavilion.
◆
That merchant──Rikyu Sarkai. It happened near the end of the dinner with him.
After he confessed that he carried demi-human blood and wished to place himself beneath Mother’s banner.
Mother──truly, Mother is a kind person──nodded deeply at his words. Normally, it would be unthinkable for the acting head of a ducal house to grow misty-eyed over the confession of a mere merchant, but Mother is not normal, so it cannot be helped. She is the kindest person in the world. I will not entertain objections.
I thought the business was concluded and that all that remained was for everyone to part ways.
But Rikyu did not rise from his seat.
「There is one more matter I must convey to Helga-sama」
His tone changed slightly. The courtesy of a merchant remained, but another weight seeped through from behind a thin veil.
「……What is it?」
Mother set down her teacup.
「Does Helga-sama know what is happening in the north, east, and southwest of the Empire?」
I saw Mother’s eyes waver ever so slightly.
「……I have received reports from Zigitaris-dono regarding the movements of the Three Houses. She said there were troubling signs」
「I see」
Rikyu nodded.
「Helga-sama. They are no longer signs」
The air changed, though the candle flames of the White Heron Pavilion did not so much as flicker. It was that kind of voice.
「It has already begun. Duke Edelweiss of the north has slain Duke Bazenfeld. At the Zanderholm Plains──the Duke was killed in battle. More than three hundred of his retainers were annihilated」
Mother’s lips parted slightly.
「The bloodline magic of the Edelweiss House can turn a radius of two ri into a polar wasteland. They froze the entire beast corps──」
「……Duke Bazenfeld」
「That person has children──」
「The heir is said to be sixteen, and the daughter fourteen」
Mother lowered her eyes.
That was unmistakably the face of a mother.
I find it difficult to understand caring about the children of others. But Mother is that sort of person. She was pained by the fact that a sixteen-year-old boy had lost his father, and worried about what would become of a fourteen-year-old girl. That is Mother’s heart. It is one of the countless reasons I revere her.
「Furthermore」
Rikyu continued.
「The heir of the Schwarz House in the east has declared that he will rise in support of His Highness Prince Victor, and the Graus House of the southwest is said to have joined them. North, east, and southwest──I believe it is safe to say that all three houses have drawn their bows against the Imperial Capital」
「……All three houses」
「I have also heard that the Chancellor is preparing an imperial writ of vengeance for the heir of the Bazenfeld House」
「That is enough」
Mother’s voice became low and firm.
「I have heard enough. Thank you, Rikyu-dono」
Mother smiled.
But there was no way I, her son, could fail to realize that the smile was not genuine.
From Zigitaris, she had probably heard only of 「troubling signs」. Political maneuvering beneath the surface and a civil war in which one duke kills another are worlds apart. Mother had not anticipated matters escalating that far. She is not someone who regards people killing each other as something natural.
──Unlike me.
Rikyu bowed deeply and said nothing more. It seemed this man possessed a certain amount of discretion.
◆
That night, Mother stared out the carriage window the entire way home.
Usually, she would take my hand and smile, saying, 「You behaved very well today」.
But that night, she sat beside me in silence, following the rows of lights drifting through the Imperial Capital.
I could not tell whether she was looking at her own reflection in the glass or at the night beyond it.
Then, quietly, she murmured:
「So they will make a sixteen-year-old boy seek revenge」
Her voice vanished beneath the creaking of the carriage. It was probably not meant for me.
I wanted to be spoiled.
I could not ask for it.
I wanted to, yet I could not──is there any greater absurdity in my life than that? Mother is my everything. Only when her warm hand rests against my cheek does the world take on a complete form. To have that hand so close, yet be unable to reach for it, is a torment beyond anything the Three Dukes of the Empire could inflict together.
I wanted to say it.
Mama, please hold me.
But I could not.
Because Mother’s profile was fixed upon something impossibly distant.
◆
The next morning, Graman delivered his report in his usual calm manner.
「Young Master. There have been further developments in the Imperial Capital」
「I have no interest」
「As I believe it will soon reach Helga-sama’s ears as well──」
The old man always phrased things that way. Even if I did not care, I should know if it concerned Mother. Irritatingly clever, but correct.
「……Speak」
「It is said that His Highness the First Prince, Ludwig, is demanding the immediate annihilation of the rebellious Three Dukes. He is calling for a full mobilization of the Imperial Army」
Ludwig. The First Prince, renowned for his martial prowess and favored by the conservative faction, if I recall correctly. I had heard inferior beings whispering somewhere about whether Chancellor Zigitaris was pulling his strings or not.
「Annihilation, hmm. There is quite a dog barking loudly」
「……With respect, Young Master. He is, after all, His Highness the First Prince」
「A dog all the same」
「……」
「Perhaps dog is too harsh. Then let us call him the dog’s owner instead」
Graman let out a deep sigh. It was hardly a rare occurrence. Having served both Mother and me for many years, the number of sighs this old man had released could probably rival the number of paving stones in the Imperial Capital.
「In any case, His Highness the First Prince belongs to the hardline faction. With His Majesty the Emperor yet to awaken, the intentions of the Chancellor and the First Prince will likely guide the Empire. The possibility of an expeditionary force being formed against the Three Dukes is not low」
「What does that have to do with the Aster House? Our duty is the defense of the Imperial Capital」
「Indeed, Young Master. However──if the war spreads further, it will eventually become difficult to remain uninvolved. The Chancellor is surely watching the movements of House Aster, the shield of the capital」
「I see. Even so, I have no interest」
「As expected. However──」
「We will simply choose the path that aligns with Mother’s wishes」
「……I am humbled」
Something flickered across Graman’s face as if he wished to say more, but I paid it no mind. We choose the path that makes Mother smile. That is all there is to it.
「Hmph」
I rested my cheek on one hand.
To me, the Empire was nothing more than a trivial landscape stretching beyond the walls of the home where Mother lived. As long as Mother remained within those walls, I cared little for what happened outside them.
──Or so it had been until now.
One day, the world would belong to Mother. In my mind, that future was already decided beyond all debate. If so, then it would be unacceptable for the land that Mother was destined to rule to be ravaged by civil war.
I know little of politics. I will admit that. But I am not such a fool as to believe that simply exterminating the rebels would solve everything. The territories of the Three Dukes contain people. They contain fields and farms. The more they are devastated, the more Mother’s future world will be diminished.
For now──the Empire, now beginning to crack apart, must be repaired.
This time, I shall use wisdom rather than force.
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