Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume11 Chapter2 (section)

=== Part 1 ===

When they heard that the emperor had apparently summoned the crown prince to the imperial capital, the people’s reaction was split in two:

“His Majesty has finally recognised His Highness Gil.”

“No, he’s surely planning to have him arrested and executed once he arrives at the capital.”

The arguments were carried out both surreptitiously and in loud voices. There were not many, however, who clearly supported one option or the other.

The greatest concern for the people was – ''how long will the civil war continue?'' Or, in other words, for how long would they need to fear the destructions of war, how long would high taxes be levied, would the men be conscripted as soldiers – those kinds of concerns.

Naturally, there were different opinions among them. There were those who felt that as long as the current reign ensured the country’s peace, then they did not care about the circumstances of those at the top. There were also many who felt uneasy about the emperor’s recent behaviour – invading a neighbouring country with a cause that even those around him felt to be unconvincing, attempting to execute his retainers and their family – and who worried that even once the civil war was over, the signs of trouble would continue to loom large.

Amongst the tangle of information, there was also some about Princess Vileena. This was because, in the port-city of Birac, Gowen and the others had taken the initiative of spreading rumours. Although they had managed to avoid a serious deterioration of popular sentiment towards Garbera, thanks to the news that the princess had captured the intruder, Salamand, the princess herself was said to have returned to her home country.

Incidentally, Salamand, the ringleader of the affair, was said to currently be held in a dungeon in Solon, although only a very limited number of people knew of his exact whereabouts. Although it was doubtful whether he even still breathed, rumour suspected that he was being kept alive on the emperor’s orders, as he had now become an important bargaining piece with Garbera.

In any case, a wide variety of confused reports continued to circulate and, even in Solon, the emperor’s core domain, the people could not hide their anxiety.

There was only one exception.

“The Garberan princess has finally understood her own situation,” gloated Empress Melissa when she heard that the princess had been returned to Garbera.

Her ladies’ maids were helping the Empress change into new clothes. Once the clothes had all been put on, there were the ornaments and hairstyle to tend to, so they were busily going about their work making fresh preparations for these. In the midst of that, the topic of Princess Vileena had been brought up.

“Regardless who tries to twist the truth and how, the former imperial crown prince is no longer part of this world. Since her intended fiancé is no more, Princess Vileena no longer has any place in this country either. Given her boundless willfulness, it seems that she was never someone who could adjust to the strict life in our Mephian court, so you could say that each has found their own place.”

Melissa’s attitude towards everyone was gentle. That had remained the same even after she ascended to the position of Empress.

However –

“That is… about His Highness the Crown Prince,” one of the ladies’ maids standing behind the Empress and holding up a mirror spoke in a low voice. “Is the rumour that His Majesty invited him to Solon really true? If it turns out to be true that His Highness is alive, and, moreover, with his having waged war on His Majesty…”

“That is not the crown prince!”

Melissa’s voice was sharp enough to cut. The lady’s maid suddenly stiffened and almost seemed about to drop the mirror. Gazing at the pale face across the mirror’s surface, Melissa went back to smiling.

“Did I not only just finish saying so?”

“Ah, y-yes.”

“His Majesty is following his own thoughts. Do not trouble yourself with that low person who is senselessly raising a fuss.”

In fact, the one who had reacted the most sensitively to the news that a person claiming to be the crown prince had appeared was none other than Melissa herself.

And yet, ever since the Garberan princess had returned to her home country, she seemed to have completely lost interest in the matter. It was as though the Impostor Crown Prince had never existed in the first place.

Before the evening, Melissa went to visit the Dragon Gods’ shrine. Being deeply devout, she paid homage at the shrine every day without fail. Wearing the hooded cloak that the emperor had distributed to all of his retainers for the ceremony marking the erection of the shrine, she left the soldiers who were acting as her guards at the entrance and proceeded alone into the shrine’s interior.

One of the elders came to welcome her. His filthy appearance suggested that it had been a long time since he had bathed in warm water, but Melissa’s brows did not so much as twitch, and she met him with the greatest possible respect.

“First of all, nothing could be better than that you successfully removed the hindrance.”

“With that, the ‘diagnosis’ should have changed, should it not?”

“Please be at ease. Mephius is moving in a better direction. Ever since the moment when you drew Emperor Guhl to us, the foundations for the ‘land of destiny’ have steadily continued to be consolidated. Indeed, Mephius will unmistakable be guided by your own hand, Empress.”

Beneath the hood, Melissa smiled as bashfully as a young girl whose friend had just pointed out that she was in love for the first time.

“Then, with regards to that matter…”

“Ah yes, that Imperial Guard who accompanied the princess. He was called Tanis, was it? ''That'' too was destiny’s guiding hand. And he has safely completed his sacred mission. His fate has now already run its course and he will be awaiting us in the promised land.”

Melissa gave a slight nod. She appeared satisfied, but her eyebrows then suddenly contracted in concern.

“This is somewhat abrupt of me, but, of late, I have not seen that Esteemed One at the shrine. Today also, I had thought to give him my greetings and went to call on him, but…”

“Hmm,” even though there was no one around, the elder lowered his voice a little. “It has been more than half a century since that Esteemed One has taken his ‘current appearance’. The longer the time to grow accustomed, the better the circulation of ether becomes, but that Esteemed One is naturally subject to the laws of one’s allotted lifespan, and so a long passage of time produces various impediments.”

“Will he be safe?”

“It is nothing serious. That Esteemed One is constantly enduring pain. He gazes at a world far wider than that which our insignificant selves can see, and he guides a great many destinies. That is similar to spending every second bearing pain sharp enough to slice through one’s body.”

“Indeed.”

The Empress gave a deep bow then left the shrine.

That evening, Melissa had planned to eat dinner with her two daughters. However, when she arrived at the spacious dining room reserved for the use of nobles, only her second daughter, Flora, was there, with her eldest, Ineli, nowhere to be seen.

When she asked the ladies’ maids about it, it came out that Ineli had recently been attending all sorts of engagements. She was frequently absent as she attended parties, art exhibitions, recitals, or received the greetings from foreign envoys and all manner of events.

“Daughters at that age are so vexing,” Melissa lamented. The ladies’ maids waiting on table were setting down an amount of food that two women alone could not possibly finish. “In that respect, I am saved by the fact that you listen obediently, Flora. How were your studies today?”

Thus addressed with a smile, Flora answered something but seemed unable to calm herself down. After that, the silence dragged on.

No doubt finding it dreary, Melissa changed the topic.

“I heard from Ineli that you are still preciously keeping hold of an old book.”

“From Elder Sister?”

The slightest of smiles peeped out from Flora’s face. She was probably happy that her sister had remembered something so trivial.

“I am certain that was something that Ineli once received from His Majesty, was it not? Take good care of it.”

When Melissa said that, Flora for some reason lifted her face as though startled.

“…Yes,” she answered in a faint and fading voice, and after that, she obstinately shut herself away in her shell.



At around the same time, Ineli Mephius was, in fact, within the palace premises. She was in a courtyard which was screened by a promenade along which grew luxuriant trees. There was a small armoury on the south side. Although the sun had already set, it was naturally not an appropriate place for an imperial princess to be.

The drab street clothes that she wore were unusually subdued for her. A young soldier waited by her side.

Although, for all that he was a soldier, his only weapon was a short sword at his waist, and even that was hidden beneath his overcoat. That was probably because he was not one of the palace guards who were allowed to enter that courtyard. No doubt because he was aware that he was breaking the regulations, his young face was pale.

“It’s too dangerous, Princess,” he repeated while incessantly looking around left and right. “And if anything were to happen, I am not sure that I would be able to protect  you by myself. You have to understand that he is not normal. No matter what we ask him, he just mutters something unintelligible and…”

“That isn’t something to be frightened of.”

Ineli laughed airily in front of the arsenal and lightly touched the young soldier’s cape. From that alone, the youth’s face flushed crimson. He was one of the capital’s garrison guards. Some time ago, his garrison had undertaken a search for a certain man on Ineli’s orders.

When she had received the news that the person had been found, Ineli had announced that “I want to meet him at once.”

As it would, of course, have been far too conspicuous for the Imperial Princess to go to the garrison station, she had issued orders to a company commander who could allow entry into the palace, and the man had been moved to the armoury earlier that day.

It was precisely there that she was going to see that man now. For some reason, Ineli had assigned only one young soldier to act as her guard while she was doing so. Although, for all that he was a soldier, he appeared to be not yet twenty and his facial features still retained a trace of innocence. Ineli stretched out her fingers to the lightly curling hair that reached to above his shoulders.

“From this close, your face is exactly like that of an Endean nobleman.”

“P-Princess…”

“I believe in you, my Prince. You’ll protect the weak Ineli, won’t you?”

“T-That – of course!”
[[Image:Rakuin no Monshou v11 079.jpg|thumb]]

While the young man who was about three years older than her was in ecstasy, Ineli produced the key to the armoury and opened the door. At her orders, her sentinel was to stay on the alert outside the door.

When the princess raised her lamp, a shadow inside scuttled hurriedly as though to escape from its light. It was movement like that of a wild beast, but, upon closer inspection, the shadow was human.

Its face and entire body was wrapped in bandages. It was impossible to tell at a glance what kind of person it was.

Both its ankles were chained, like those of a slave, and the eyes that were looking up towards the intruder were filled with fear.

“Do not be afraid,” Ineli whispered sweetly. “I have been looking for you for a long time. Now, now, nothing scary will happen to you here. Please tell me your name.”

She crouched down to bring her gaze level with that of the man who was practically on his hands and knees on the ground, looking ready to escape at any moment.

With a tense expression, the young guard asked about the situation from outside, only to receive the peremptory command to not let anyone get close. He immediately turned his attention back to the outside of the armoury.

Meanwhile –

“A-a-a,’ the man struggled for breath. “I-I’m… Bane. C-Captain Bane, of the Black Armoured Division.”

The Black Armoured Division.

The name of a military unit that no longer existed. Because its commander, Oubary Bilan, had at one time been falsely accused of assassinating the crown prince, the Black Armoured Division had been dissolved; and the three hundred or so soldiers who did not appear to have been involved in his plot were integrated into various other units.

And then – Captain Bane. Originally an unimpressive figure wholly unconnected to splendid military feats, it was uncertain that there was anyone in Solon who even remembered him, yet his name was linked by fate with that of Crown Prince Gil. Right, his fate was deeply intertwined with that of the man whom Ineli was relentlessly fixated on, the very “traitor” who, even now, was dividing Mephius in two.

Ineli Mephius remained crouching.

“I see… Bane. Why is a hero from the glorious Black Armoured Division in a place like this? Why do you fear humans like a beast which has escaped from its cage and crawl on all fours through the town, hunting for scraps of food? Please tell me everything. Because from today onwards, you will regain your human dignity and position.”

As the Imperial Princess of Mephius talked, Bane gazed upon her as though upon a saint. Even as his breathing continued to be ragged and harsh, and although, just as Ineli had said, he definitely shrank back like livestock terrified of humans, he brokenly started telling his tale.

It was right after the two battles that Taúlia had waged against Apta. The reconciliation with Ax Bazgan had brought a period of peace to Apta but, before long, Captain Bane had suddenly received summons from Gil Mephius.

The two of them had galloped through the dead of night. He had been informed neither of their destination nor of their purpose. Then, at the point they had arrived at, they were captured by the bandits who had been raising trouble in the neighbourhood. The village at which the two of them had dismounted was precisely the bandits’ hideout.

The two of them had been locked away separately, but Gil pretended to have slipped away through a gap in the guard’s vigilance, and freed Bane. Whereupon, he gave as reason for Bane escaping along that, “I’d attract too much attention. If they realise that I’ve gone, they’ll chase after us like their lives depend on it.”  He then ordered him to go and bring back help.

Feeling frantic, Bane flew back to Apta Fortress and reported all that had happened to his superior officer, General Oubary Bilan of the Black Armoured Division.

Gil must have calculated that Oubary would want to have a monopoly on this outstanding achievement, and so would only bring a small number of troops with the pretext of “not attracting attention”.

The Black Armoured Division were ambushed in that village. As soon as they entered the inner part of it, flaming arrows came flying overhead and within an instant, their surroundings were lit up as brightly as the noontime sun.

For a moment, a shadow seemed to have been branded into the earth’s surface.

Then, that shadow had suddenly dissolved. The next instant, it had turned into the figures of bandits swooping down with swords and axes in hand.

Bane remembered parrying once, then twice, with his sword. That, however, was all he could recall from the fight. Judging the situation to be unfavourable, he had been about to run away when he had received a blow from behind from an axe.

He had collapsed in a dead faint but, fortunately, he had been wearing a steel helmet and had only fallen unconscious. When he had come to, the entire area had turned into a sea of flames.

Bane had screamed voicelessly and had used the very limits of his strength to flee. Even as his face, arms, and legs were scorched, even when he could no longer breathe, he had run and run, seized with a despair that was like swimming in a pitch-black ocean.

And then, from amidst the bushes into which Bane had collapsed, he saw –

The crown prince and General Oubary were facing off against each other, their raised swords interposed between them. As sparks flew and the swords collided  with one another, Bane finally realised…

This had all been part of a carefully devised plan. That Gil Mephius – or rather, that someone who looked like the crown prince – had set a trap to bury the Black Armoured Division.

As he watched, the General was driven back and soon fell before the sword that the prince swung like lightning.

Although his consciousness was hazy and dim, that one scene was one that Bane had not torn his eyes away from. The prince’s clothes had caught fire and burned. The heaving muscles on his back had been gleaming with sweat. And in its centre was, beyond a doubt, the mark from a slave brand.

Afterwards, the bandits had started to throw the bodies of the Black Armoured Division’s soldiers into the fire. They would toss two or three corpses into the flames, then every time, they would shout something and laugh out loud. To Bane, they looked like a group of demons.
Bane had once again lost consciousness.

When he woken up, there was no one around and only the pillars of black smoke rising up from the ground’s surface were left to prove that the small village had been there.

Even though his entire body was covered in severe burns, Bane had unsteadily started walking, as though fleeing from looming danger. He had stolen repeatedly from one village after another, fleeing further and further west, as if being pursued by some invisible spectre, until finally, he had collapsed and been found by a man called Rone Jayce.



''A brand''.

Ineli gulped. At some point, she had gotten to her feet and was looking down at Bane from above.

''The brand… of a slave''.

That was certainly what he had said.

While travelling through his fear-coated memories, the wretched man who had now finished speaking must have been vividly reliving the emotions he had felt at the time, and his entire body was quivering unceasingly as he dribbled tears and drool.

It all seemed like the senseless ramblings of a man who had lost his sanity.

And yet, at the same time, a strange feeling was stirring within Ineli.

''I want it to be true''.

Ineli was convinced that the man who currently claimed to be the crown prince was an impostor. Up until now, however, she had not been able to grasp his real identity. Because of the close resemblance in their faces, she had even considered that he might be someone linked by blood to the imperial family whose existence and identity had been hidden for some reason or another.

Yet she was being told that he was a slave. In Mephius, they were the very lowest category, treated on par with livestock.

That, however, was convenient for Ineli. That his origins were the lowliest of the low meant that the crown prince’s secret was all the bigger. The impact when it was exposed would be huge.

''That man… Is that right? A slave… he’s a slave?''

Ineli trembled.

''A brat''.

What flashed through Ineli’s mind were the words that the man disguised as Prince Gil had spoken softly as they had passed by one another.

''A brat like you doesn’t understand anything. Any more whining from you and I'll strangle you with my own hands. Got it, little girl?''

Those had been the words of a slave? Those had been the words that a slave, whose life was one of sipping mud on the very lowest rung, who could be killed at a single order from his master, had spoken to Emperor Guhl Mephius’ step-daughter?

As though it had been set alight, Ineli’s entire body burned with the heat of anger such as she had never felt before. Yet at the same time, there was a strange pleasure in the incandescence that coursed within her.

Dizzy and shivering from fury, the princess staggered for a second and, placing her hand against the wall, she waited for her violent emotions to subside.

Suddenly shifting her gaze, she saw the wretched man who was still trembling while clutching his head.

He no longer had any use.

Not only was Ineli done with him, but he was also certain to become an obstacle to the future of Mephius.

The Imperial Princess once again crouched down. She gently stretched out her hands towards that quivering back and shoulders, and hugged them close.

Bane’s entire frame heaved with a sudden start.

“It’s alright. Don’t be afraid… It’s alright,” Ineli whispered into his ear. She deliberately pressed the man by the shoulders towards the swell of her breasts.

A light that was hard to describe came into the eyes of the perpetually trembling Bane. He was right against the young girl’s soft, fair skin. As she murmured words that were almost like love, an unknown fragrance wafted towards him with her warm breath. This time, it was Bane whose entire body succumbed to heat as he was seized by passion.

With a cry like a beast’s, Bane’s body covered hers.

The girl screamed.

''Ah!'' – The guard standing sentry outside hurriedly peeked through the crack of the door. A black shadow was wriggling. Beneath it, slender limbs that glowed with an almost dazzlingly white lustre were struggling.

Instantly drawing his conclusion, the sentry pulled his sword in every bit as much of a frenzy as Bane, and rushed in.

He was a soldier from the downtown area garrison, where his duties amounted to chasing fleeing burglars or slaves, or forcibly restraining drunkards who were swinging swords around. Before he even fully realised it, the other man had collapsed, blood pouring from his head.

While he was still breathing violently, he heard Ineli’s voice murmuring a few words.

“He is still breathing.”

The young soldier looked towards her, then shifted his gaze in a fluster. Her clothes were torn and her naked body – or, at any rate, one of her ample breasts, was completely exposed.

It was only afterwards that he realised what the princess was saying. Although Bane was lying prostrate with blood gushing from his head, his back was spasming weakly.

The sentry was once again seized with violent anger. When he thought of how that filthy man had ripped the princess’ clothes and buried his face against her bare skin, he felt that he could not be allowed to live.

“Do it.”

Ineli’s voice flew over his barrier of reason and moved him to action. He raised his sword with a strangely shallow stroke, then swung it down.

Without raising another sound, Bane stopped moving completely.

“You did well.”

Ineli stepped to the sentry’s side. She took his blood-covered hand.

“P-Princess…”

“I should let the hero who saved the future of Mephius take his reward.”

Ineli guided his hand towards a warm, soft sensation.

While the youth’s mind was being pulled into a white mire, Ineli giggled softly to herself.
''It only needs to be just me alone''.

''I’m the only one who needs to know the prince’s real identity. The one who holds vital knowledge about the man who will eventually be ruling the country''.

The actions she had just taken greatly resembled those of her mother, Melissa Mephius, but naturally, neither the mother nor the daughter had any way of knowing about what each was doing. And their goals were greatly at odds with one another.

On Ineli’s instructions, the young sentry transported Bane to the incinerator used for disposing of the corpses of slaves.

From the next day onwards, Ineli’s behaviour was striking.

By using her personal connections with the nobles that she already had ties to, as well as with the people she had quickly built up intimacy with in the process of collecting information about the crown prince, Ineli created opportunities for meeting a great many of the retainers.

Within Mephius, Ineli was shown great respect for her title of “imperial princess”. However – that was limited to only “within Mephius”. As she had not inherited the blood of the imperial family, in a way, her worth did not extend beyond being useful as a reward for a retainer or as a tool for negotiations with foreign countries.

It was partly for that very reason that she was so eager. The current chaos was Ineli’s best chance of seizing an opportunity to become a central figure in Mephius.