Chapter 76: At the Masterless Manor
—–I immediately realized this was a dream.
The fever eroding my body. The lethargy. The chills. All of these were just illusions of a dream.
Why did I know? Because there was someone there who shouldn’t have been.
“Have you awakened, Al sama?”
The gently smiling face of Makina, looking relieved, was a familiar one.
Ah yes…that was after the duel with my brother Leo, when I had apparently overworked amidst the recovery efforts in the capital and other matters, accumulating fatigue until I came down with a fever and took to bed.
This was the memory from that time. I was dreaming of the events from back then.
“The doctor said it was due to ‘overworking.’ Please rest now. I’ll make your favorite, the apple rabbit, for you.”
Shut up. Don’t decide people’s favorites on your own…well, I do like it though.
—–As I tried to say that, my mouth wouldn’t move.
It was like my whole body was paralyzed. Despite it being my own dream, I couldn’t move freely, which was infuriating.
“I’ve gotten quite good at peeling apples myself, you know? These days I can make not just rabbits, but tigers, bears, snakes…recently even rampaging dragons!”
Your lineup is getting intense one after another. What are you aiming for?
“……Do you remember when you first took me in, Al sama? You had been bedridden with a cold back then. I peeled an apple for you at that time too, but it was an absolute mess.”
Ah, I remember that. It was lumpy and bumpy, not something I could serve to royalty in all honesty.
“But you still ate it, Al sama. You said, ‘It doesn’t matter who peels it, the taste is the same.'”
Makina laughed, reminiscing about that precious memory.
“Here, it’s ready. Makina-chan’s special apple rabbit.”
After arranging the apple slices shaped like a rabbit on a plate, Makina stood up from her seat.
Turning her back to me, she began walking away, into the swirling darkness beyond.
(Makina. Where are you going? Where are you—-?)
I reach out my hand. Towards the girl in front of me. Towards the girl who had stayed by my side.
Reach. Reach. Reach.
I keep weaving it in my heart, like chanting a spell, pouring my wish into it.
The outstretched hand reached her. I definitely grasped it.
But.
“…………I’m sorry, Al sama.”
The hand I grasped was shaken off.
Disappearing. The figure of that precious person, disappearing into the darkness beyond. Somewhere my hand cannot reach.
Disappearing. Disappearing. Disappearing—-.
“—-……!!”
A flash of light burst forth.
My eyelids opened, and all at once the information of reality came rushing into my eyes like a torrent.
“Al kun?”
“Char…lotte…”
With flowing golden hair reminiscent of a surging stream, and azure eyes evoking blue gems.
Her appearance was unmistakably my fiancée – Charlotte Mersenne.
“I’m glad. You’ve awoken.”
“This is…..”
“Lord Garland’s manor. Al kun, don’t you remember passing out after that?”
After that…
When Makina left us, vanishing along with Nenel and the other “Children of Six Emotions.”
……That’s right. After that, I lost all strength in my body and immediately lost consciousness……I vaguely recall that much.
“I heard from the others. In addition to the battle with the Armored Girl, you also fought Nenel…You had used up far beyond your physical and magical limits. The doctor said your collapse was likely a self-defense mechanism.”
Now that it’s mentioned, that battle did involve using Sublimation on top of unleashing powerful techniques without restraint. It’s no surprise I reached my limit.
“After that……what happened?”
“We retreated with you to this manor. The ‘Land God’ was exhausted and required rest for a while, but…the miasma had already dissipated, and it should be able to normally purify the surrounding area going forward.”
Up to here was within expectations, and not the information I most wanted to hear.
Charlotte wasn’t purposely withholding the important details either.
“……The mechanical palace that Lucile called the ‘Orchestra’ is still silently floating in the air.”
Looking out the window, it was indeed there.
In the azure sky like a splash of blue paint, a single distorted blemish.
The Orchestra. The mechanical palace, audaciously occupying the heavens.
“…………What about Makina?”
“Makina-san…………”
At my question, Charlotte quietly lowered her eyes. After a pause of silence, she began weaving her next words, desperately holding back her trembling lips.
“…………Makina-san left, along with Lucile and the others.”
“I see…………”
So that’s how it is after all. Of course, that’s how it would be. For me to even dream about it like that.
The retreating back. The warmth of the grasped hand. The chill when it was shaken off. I remember it all.
That wasn’t a dream. It was reality. The girl named Makina is no longer by my side.
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“—-Then there’s no time to be lying around.”
Immediately after deciding, I sat up in the bed. My body was a bit stiff, but some movement would help regain mobility soon enough.
“B-But you can’t get up so quickly! Please rest a little longer.”
“There’s no time to rest. I don’t know what Lucile and the others are plotting with that huge thing, but it’s certainly nothing good. And……we need to get Makina back, as quickly as possible.”
“Get Makina-san back…?”
“She was probably just misled by Lucile, having the darkness in her heart exploited…like with my brother Leo. That’s why I need to get her back. I won’t let one of my subordinates, a ‘Child of Six Emotions’ or whatever, be at the mercy of that devil woman.”
Which means I can definitely get her back. If I can make her see the truth, she’ll surely return.
This isn’t something to be bemoaned like a nightmare. What needs to be done is already clear, isn’t it?
“……I see. I’m a little relieved. You seem more energetic than I expected.”
“If I dwell on this here, those bastards will just get ahead of me. I need to move, no matter what.”
I get up from the bed, loosening my body’s joints. Though some fatigue lingers, it’s within an acceptable range. My magic power has recovered decently as well.
“……You’re strong, Al kun. To get back on your feet so quickly after collapsing.”
Charlotte said that with a somewhat sad-looking smile.
“Charlotte……? What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…you looked like you were troubled about something.”
I couldn’t quite articulate the feeling I got from her properly.
“It’s nothing. More importantly, would you like something to eat? I have some apples prepared.”
Deflecting my concern, Charlotte held out a small plate kept nearby.
Arranged on the plate were apple slices cut into the shape of rabbits, resembling what Makina had peeled for me in the dream just prior.
“……Thank you. I’ll take some.”
I popped one slice into my mouth. The well-balanced sweet-and-sour flavor permeated my fatigued body pleasantly.
“Mm. Delicious.”
“I’m glad…Though I just cut them into rabbit shapes.”
“It’s those little courtesies that make me happy.”
The simple fact that my fiancée cut them into shapes made them taste better.
…………Hm?
“…………You cut these, Charlotte?”
“Yes, I did. What’s wrong?”
“No, nononothing atallll?”
Calm down. Take a deep breath. Let me recall this slowly and carefully.
There was a time when Charlotte made me sandwiches, before my duel with Brother Leo.
The catastrophic scene from then surfaced vividly in my mind. Knives sent flying with a single swing. Waves of skewers scattered everywhere.
……I remembered. Charlotte is incredibly clumsy.
As Makina had put it, to the point of interfering with causality – a transcendental level of clumsiness……!
For some reason, whenever Charlotte attempts cooking, the surrounding area is inevitably struck by an indiscriminate storm of death.
Fortunately (?), the only issue is her transcendental clumsiness – the completed dishes themselves are perfectly fine.
No, more than just fine – they are exquisite in taste.
Though a scorned child, I am still of the royal family. I have sampled numerous high-class cuisines since birth, and I can say with confidence that even without my fiance-biased perspective, Charlotte’s cooking could make gourmet connoisseurs swoon (unlike Luche-nee’s cooking that sends anyone who eats it to the hospital).
However, Charlotte’s problem lies not in the result, but in the process.
And I had been sleeping in my bed amidst that deadly storm of a process while she shaped the apple rabbits.
Looking closely, there were indeed many knives stabbed into the walls and ceiling around the bed, along with what seemed to be slashing marks. These had likely occurred during the process of cutting the apple rabbits.
(Just being alive is a miracle in itself……)
Why does combining the women around me with cooking make me grateful to be alive? An eternal mystery.
☆
At any rate, after getting up from the bed, I decided to first meet with Noel to confirm the current situation details and discuss our future plans.
With Luche-nee still unconscious from her severe injuries, Noel and I would have to determine the immediate plans for the time being. Even if my familiars sent to the capital bring back any instructions, or if reinforcement troops are dispatched, it would still take time.
“The Second Princess of the Ivelpe Kingdom? You mean the one called the ‘Snow Fairy?'”
“Yes, Princess Marietta. She visited this manor shortly before you awoke……”
“……Reinforcements for purifying the ‘Land God?’ No, there was no mention of that, was there?”
“Indeed, she was not originally scheduled to come. ……Apparently she strongly desired this ‘study abroad’ opportunity herself and ‘forcibly obtained permission’ to come.”
“Quite the unrestrained princess……”
While her reasons for so adamantly wishing to ‘study abroad’ here are unclear, it is still welcome. The battle against Lucile and the other ‘Children of Six Emotions’ will require the power of the Fifth Attribute.
“She is currently resting in this room along with Noel sama.”
“I see. Then I should at least go greet her briefly.”
I lightly knock on the door of the now-masterless Garland manor.
“Excuse me, Princess Marietta. It’s Charlotte. May I have a moment? I have something to report.”
“Yes, of course. Please come in.”
Invited by that gentle, snow-like voice, I open the door.
With wavy pale blue hair extending to her waist and a well-proportioned silhouette with bountiful curves evoking a flowing river, her youthful age seemed around the same as ours. An elegant, graceful aura befitting fairy tales, coupled with the dignity of nobility.
This must be her – Marietta Noll Ivelpe, the Princess of Ivelpe.
And beside her was her brother Noel, who for some reason had been hogtied and hung upside down from the ceiling.
“……………………”
I closed the door.
TLNOTE: Forgot to mention that the kanji of Children of Six Emotions can also be read as Children of Six Calamities
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