Editing Rakuin no Monshou:The Little Fugitive (section)

=== Part 5 ===

That night, Jurgen Ozt was waiting for Dach and his men to return. Since the prey had been located, it was no problem to leave the rest to them.

''And afterwards, there’s Lord ‘Fool’.''

He briefly recalled the conversation with the crown prince. Since he had brought up Oddwill’s name, Jurgen had to consider that he at least had suspicions about what he had done.

''Bullshit. A brat who knows nothing of the world, what could he possibly do?'' He thought as though to shake off his unfathomable dread and unease.

Anyway, Prince Gil would be leaving for Apta any day now. It was simply that he had been running around because he needed money for his preparations and while he was doing so he had heard from other nobles that Jurgen appeared to have become slightly better off. Mentioning Oddwill had merely been a way of threatening him into giving him money.

In any case, the dead don’t speak. Neither Oddwill himself nor his wife and daughter could cause Jurgen any harm.

“M-Master,” a chamberlain came rushing in, gasping for breath.

“Have they returned?”

Jurgen smiled and turned around. He had drinks prepared to congratulate them on finishing the job and was in the act of holding out a decanter when,

“How thoughtful, Jurgen.”

He almost dropped the decanter.

Behind the chamberlain was Imperial Crown Prince Gil Mephius. And behind him, there was a girl.

“H-Heavens, Your Highness. Why are you here? And so late at night…”

“Oh, you weren’t waiting for me? Then shouldn’t you be keeping these drinks for the guests who will be coming later?”

''T-This damn ‘fool’.''

Jurgen mentally ground his teeth. He did not know how much the other had grasped but if he could force things to go at his own pace, he should be able to somehow send Gil away. Never mind what would come after that. If he brought out his father’s name, the cowardly Gil Mephius would certainly go scuttling back to the safety of his own room.

“Although this may be presumptuous of me, I cannot say that I admire this, Your Highness. Have you come all the way here to raise war funds? Very well, although I am not in a position of ease, I will give what I can. For today, we can leave it at that. But I would ask that you think about your own position a little. How would His Majesty feel if he knew that the heir to the proud throne of Mephius was calling late at night at the houses of retainers to beg for money?”

“His Majesty, you say…” Gil looked daunted.

Seizing the opening, Jurgen allowed his voice to swell.

“Indeed. For all that you may be the Imperial Crown Prince, do not think that you can get away with acting like a god. As a member of the imperial family of Mephius, responsibly and with moderation –”

“It’s him.”

At that moment, the girl behind Gil pointed a trembling finger at Jurgen.

“What?”

“He is the one who killed Papa –”

Jurgen almost exclaimed out loud but hurriedly closed his mouth.

''Oddwill’s daughter?''

“You’re sure?” Gil turned to look back at the girl and asked her gently. The girl nodded repeatedly.

“Nonsense,” Jurgen spoke almost without thinking. “This… What kind of jest is this, Your Highness? To make me out to be a murderer… No, this, it must be a trick by someone who wants to catch Your Highness and myself in a trap. Your Highness, please Your Highness, this is –”

“You had best say the same thing in front of His Majesty whom you love so much, Jurgen. This girl saw her father being murdered in front of her very eyes. And having seen your face, she is now testifying that you are undoubtedly the culprit.”

“Utter nonsense! This girl is blind. So how could she know that I’m the culprit…”

“''How'' do you know that this girl is blind?”

When those words sliced through him, Jurgen suddenly fell silent.

The next moment, at a sign from Gil, men appeared one after another in Jurgen’s mansion. Among them were some familiar faces. At the head of which was Dach, bound in ropes.

With his captured soldiers dragged before him, there was no longer any means of escape.

His face drenched in cold sweat, plunged up to his neck in a sea of despair, a dangerous thought flitted through a corner of Jurgen’s mind.

''Ah –''

It looked as though Gil had only brought five Imperial Guards with him. He still had ten soldiers on site. At his signal, they would come rushing into the room.

''Since he went out of his way to come here in person, it means that the prince hasn’t told anyone else about this yet. There’s no doubt he just waltzed over to accomplish a feat all by himself. He probably just can’t forget how nice it feels to be showered with praise as a hero.''

''The prince is known for his erratic behaviour. There’s that rumour that he frequently takes black water lily powder as a stimulant. If I settle things here and make up some excuse later –''

It was also very risky of course but as things were he would only fall into ruin anyway. It felt as though the wave of despair that had reached up to his neck had receded to the height of his chest. Now then, in order to attract the other’s attention, he would protest about something or another and when he raised his head –

His eyes met those of Prince Gil.

In that instant, a wave higher than Jurgen’s head surged up and when its crest came crashing down, it engulfed his entire body.

Although he had a faintly ironic smile on his lips, his eyes were terrifying. Quiet anger burned within them. It felt as though their blaze might be released at any moment and Jurgen would be enveloped in flames.

Of course, Jurgen had no way of knowing.

That Gil Mephius – who was in reality Orba, had been thinking of simply killing him since far back and that he was fiercely fighting the desire to cut Jurgen down here and now.

Jurgen had no way of knowing.

That Mephian soldiers had thrown Orba’s family to the flames and that even now his anger and the brand on his back burned from his resolve to exact revenge.

That Orba’s eyes were filled with fury on behalf of the women who had been robbed of what they held dear by the high-handed tyranny of a man of power.

Jurgen didn’t even realise that he was shaking. His head sank down. It felt as though this time, he had abandoned himself to that sea of despair.

Her nerves probably stretched taunt, Alicia remained standing there, her eyes brimming with tears. Naturally, she didn’t know that the masked swordsman Orba and Gil Mephius who was beside her were the same person.

''I made her feel scared'', thought Orba but he deliberately refrained from speaking. He had previously ordered his men to shadow Alicia’s mother, Sasha. By chance, they had been able to save her from her predicament when she visited the pawnshop but afterwards, as per Orba’s plan, she had been held confined for a short while to prevent her from returning.

The mother and daughter had been reunited a short time earlier. If Sasha wanted, Orba intended to find a position at the palace for her.

“Alicia”

“Y-Yes, Prince,” Alicia stood rigidly straight at being spoken to by the Crown Prince.

“I have a favour to ask of you. It’s about your friend. My sister Flora has constantly been worrying about his whereabouts.”

“I understand,” Alicia gave a nod then smiled with a somewhat lonely expression. “I was able to meet Orba because Yamā led him to me. And because I met him, my father’s name was cleared. Please tell Lady Flora about the exploits of the hero Yamā.”

“Of course.”

“And also,” Alicia was not shy by nature and this was reflected as she spoke with relish for some reason, “please tell Orba something too. I was right and just as I remembered it, Princess Katjua has the very happiest ending.”

“I’ll pass it on,” Orba smiled.

When Gil Mephius gave a heartfelt smile, the like of which he never showed at the palace, the soldiers who were hauling Jurgen away looked a little astounded.




Early one morning, a few days before the departure for Apta.

“This way, Lady Flora.”

Vileena Owell had invited Mephius’ Imperial Princess out to gardens before breakfast.

Dazzled as she looked up at the sky, Flora cautiously walked across the lawn, one step after another. It had been a long time since she been outside. She had not initially seemed inclined to accept Vileena’s invitation but in the end there was no way she could reject the solicitude of a guest from a foreign country.

A small shadow unexpectedly emerged from a corner of the garden.

“Oh my –”

Colour instantly returned to Flora’s pale face. Adorned with a new ribbon, Nelwin came running and leapt into Flora’s wide-open arms.

Delighted to see him again, Flora rubbed her cheek against his soft fur for some time before turning her attention to the girl who was nervously following behind the cat. The two drew closer to one another and exchanged greetings.

Vileena watched them from a distance along with Gil Mephius who had been waiting in the garden.

“So you kindly took the time to search, Your Highness.”

“Ah, er, well,” Gil answered somewhat evasively. “Since Orba just happened to have nothing to do.”

“Oh? He went through a series of fights at the Sword Festival. Resting is also a part of work. So what is this about ‘having nothing to do’?”

“Ah, yeah, right.”

Jurgen Ozt had lost his position but he had not been a high-standing noble in the first place. There had only just been the commotion caused by the rebellion during the Founding Festival and in order to keep the people’s emotions in check, the matter had not been made public.

''Doing something like this won’t bring an end to it''. Exposing the oppression caused by a single noble and having him fall into ruin would not lighten Orba’s heart. The roots of his grudge against all aristocrats, or to go further, against authority itself, ran deep.

Just then, Nelwin, who had been jumping about between the two girls, came over to Orba and Vileena.

Vileena smiled and half crouched to greet the cat. Orba paid it no attention even though the cat coaxingly called out.

For some reason, the jauntily walking Nelwin then stopped abruptly and suddenly turned back to where Flora and Alicia were waiting.

“What was that about?” Vileena said, half astonished, half indignant.

Orba shrugged. “Even if you ask that, not everything unpleasant in this world is my fault.”

“T-That isn’t –”

“They say that cats have remarkably keen perception. Most likely it saw through you, Princess. Even though you look lovely, you have a terrifyingly fiery temper.”

“Really – Your Highness –”

Orba laughed as Vileena blushed.

In this season, the sky was high above Solon.

At about that same time a few days later, Orba would leave for Apta, which would be labelled by later historians as Imperial Prince Gil’s “Land of Destiny”.






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