Chosen by the Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 35: The Catalyst (2)

Cassion, the 2nd Knights Commander, was a proud and loyal subject.

He was also a vehement hater of mages.

That was why Cassion had been displeased with Grand Duke Aratus’s command to leave them be when the mages from the Otherworld ambushed the plaza.

At that time, Cassion must have been enraged at the mages who dared to touch Serzila.

‘So he pushed Harad into the tunnel…… he’s truly insane.’

Lost in thought, Elaine smiled bitterly.

That was a dream.

In reality, the plaza was fine, and Cassion had not pushed Harad into a tunnel.

If I had been bewitched, the one who had bewitched me was not Harad, but the dream…….

The face of the 2nd Knights Commander, Cassion, who had entered the office, stiffened slightly.

The room was thick with the smoke of cigarettes.

“Cigarettes are not good for you, sire.”

What seeped out was, as expected, a thick loyalty.

All the knight commanders were like that, but Cassion’s loyalty was among the most renowned in all of Serzila.

“They will be a detriment to you, Grand heir.”

“I’ll try to cut back gradually.”

Though she had no intention of doing so, Elaine said she would.

“Are you still drinking, sire?”

“I’ve cut back recently.”

“That is a relief.”

Cassion was pleased.

Like this, there was no one in Serzila who did not believe in the Grand heir.

No one who disliked him, no one who did not have expectations for him.

“Lord Palaz was worried about you, sire, saying your absences have become frequent.”

“I’ve had much to do. And even more to contemplate.”

“But you will overcome it, Grand heir.”

Cassion was simply convinced that he would overcome it.

He did not actually ask about the worries themselves.

“Thank you.”

Elaine smiled gently.

“I am glad to have seen you. I had heard that you had become sensitive recently, Grand heir, but seeing you like this, it must have been a misunderstanding.”

He seemed to be talking about the time she suspected there might be a mage among the mansion’s servants.

Though she had only shown it for that one morning, there wasn't a soul in Serzila who didn't know about it.

That was the kind of position the Grand heir held.

One whose job was to put on a facade, and whose talent was to attach dignity to that facade.

“Ah, you mean that day. I had a particularly bad dream. It must mean I am still lacking.”

Elaine laughed softly, as if embarrassed.

“I’m sure you’ve heard this many times already, but…… you, Grand heir, are not someone who should be swept away by personal feelings.”

It felt as if she were being graded or evaluated.

It was like that with everyone she met. Anyone from the North would size up the heir named Elaine Serzila.

“I always keep that in mind.”

Though the sentiment of the North was burdensome, she had never found it unpleasant or heavy.

Elaine had endured it until now, and she was confident she would continue to do so.

“The North will be pleased.”

But for some reason, today felt stifling.

The North. That word was stuck in her throat like a thorn. She craved a cigarette more than water. Instead of a cigarette, Elaine licked her lips.

“Lord Cassion, your weakness is your long preambles.”

Elaine said amiably.

Cassion. He was a foreigner who had moved to the North more than 10 years ago.

Perhaps because of that, his way of speaking was different from the other knights. In vulgar terms, he sounded educated.

“Speak freely. When have I ever ignored your valuable opinions?”

Loyal advice becomes bone and flesh, perfecting the facade.

Elaine had heeded all of their words. There were times she waited for them, and times she needed them.

“Haha, you are truly a Serzila, Grand heir.”

Cassion seemed to have a lot to say.

Unlike his mouth, his eyes were not smiling at all.

“I heard another mage has entered the Inner Fortress.”

“That’s right. You must have seen him coming and going.”

Elaine did not give him the answer he wanted.

Again. Again, it was a similar topic.

“I understand it was a request from the mage named Harad.”

“That’s right.”

“Why……”

“It was a request His Grace the Grand Duke permitted.”

Cassion’s eyes widened.

It was because that Elaine had cut him off.

“The new mage, Kubel, must also have his use. It may not be visible to our eyes, but it must have been visible to His Grace the Grand Duke’s eyes.”

Elaine spoke as slowly as possible.

Otherwise, she felt her annoyance would seep into her voice.

“Do you trust that mage, sire?”

“I do not.”

Elaine answered immediately.

“Do you trust the mage named Harad?”

“It is His Grace the Grand Duke’s decision.”

“……”

“Furthermore, I heard he met His Grace’s expectations. By disposing of the mage from the Otherworld, and going on to earn the recognition of the 1st Knights.”

“……Are you saying His Grace the Grand Duke is placing his expectations on a mage?”

Cassion’s face hardened.

“Only His Grace the Grand Duke would know. But what’s clear is that this is not a matter for us to debate.”

“It has already been 20 years since the sabbatical. If His Grace the Grand Duke is feeling verti……”

Cassion hastily shut his mouth.

It was a clear mistake. This time, Elaine’s face hardened. Cassion had just crossed the line.

“I will pretend I did not hear that. You may leave.”

“……It was a slip of the tongue born from loyalty.”

“I am overlooking it because I know that.”

Cassion did not get up.

It seemed there was a different answer he desperately wanted to hear.

“I understand your intentions perfectly, my lord. It must be hard to believe. Anyone would be, as trust requires time.”

“……”

“It is just that the 1st Knights’ time was exceptionally short. No one can force you to take the same amount of time.”

Cassion did not answer.

Elaine let out a sigh and continued speaking.

“Just watch for now. I am doing the same. The question of whether Harad is trustworthy or not is a matter that time will solve.”

Harad, not ‘the mage’.

Cassion’s eyebrow twitched.

“……Since when did mages become such an existence to the North?”

Elaine did not answer.

This had never happened before…… but sighs kept escaping her. Her chest felt tight. It wasn't because of the cigarette smoke filling the room.

“You, Grand heir, are in a position where you must hold the center.”

It was clearly loyal advice.

Advice she should listen to, advice she had always needed.

“……I am trying to do so.”

Just for today, she was tired.

* * *

Trust requires time.

That’s true.

When they first met, who could have predicted they would end up spending time together so often?

Ellen never imagined she would be spending her nights with Harad.

Of course, in exchange, the suspicion of whether there were mages among the people around her had begun…… but compared to what she had gained, it was a minor side effect.

It was because Harad could distinguish mages.

So whenever she was with him, there was no need to be suspicious of her surroundings.

If this too was trust, then it was trust.

And that trust…… though she hated to admit it, was more than the time invested.

Trust requires time, but time is different for each person.

Just like the 1st Knights, Ellen’s time had also sufficiently accumulated.

The time was short, but its concentration was dense. It wasn't just a simple daily routine; they had faced the line between life and death together.

In front of the tattered magical beast, Harad did not run away. In the Sanctuary of Fire, at that watchtower, Harad killed Herbis.

If Harad had chosen asylum in that situation, Ellen would not have been able to stop him.

The projection of a 4th Rank. That jet-black sun held such power. The Red Tower would surely have welcomed Harad.

But Harad chose Serzila, not the Red Tower.

Looking back…… that choice was decisive.

‘I will become a vassal of Serzila.’

Enough trust had formed for even the Grand heir, Elaine, to believe those words.

In other words, it was only that much trust.

The extent of, ‘I will watch you from now on.’

Cassion and Harad.

If she had to choose between the two, Elaine would choose Cassion.

Trust is relative like that.

……But since everyone was harping on about it, as Ellen, she had no choice but to drink.

“They say even a rich man gets a stomachache seeing a beggar get a handout.”

Because Harad is a mage?

Then they should go chew out the 1st Knights first, who run to Harad at the drop of a hat.

“Why is everyone giving me shit.”

Do they take the Grand heir for a joke?

Ellen drank straight from the bottle. Something hot went down her throat. Her chaser was a cigarette. As she took a deep drag, she felt her insides clear up.

She was about to drink again, but the bottle was light.

Ellen ordered a new bottle and drank it down. She drank half the bottle in one gulp, and burned through one cigarette in a single breath.

This damn incredible body needs such stimulation to feel anything.

“Now I feel alive.”

Work and rest must be kept clearly separate.

The distinction between Elaine and Ellen was the same.

Ellen was only able to draw the line after drinking two bottles.

Now was the time to rest.

Tinkle.

“Ah, crap.”

The line blurred.

It was because Harad had entered through the open door.

Seeing him, Ellen’s face crumpled with all its might.

“You look at me like I’m a bug.”

“If you know, then leave.”

Harad sat down next to Ellen.

He created a tiny flame above the liquor bottle Ellen was drinking from, and it floated above the bottle.

“It’s amazing you can drink such strong liquor. Without any side dishes.”

“The side dishes here taste bad.”

This place, the Snow Leopard’s Footprint, had bad food.

“Why not drink at Kubel’s annex?”

“I can’t smoke this there.”

Ellen waved the fingers holding her cigarette.

Cigarettes were forbidden in Kubel’s annex. Even Kubel smoked secretly outside.

Ellen snatched the bottle from Harad’s hand and downed it in one go. She smoked a cigarette instead of having a side dish and ordered a new bottle.

“You’ll die like that.”

“I don’t die.”

Even if she drank like this, Ellen didn't get hangovers.

She didn't get addicted either, and she could sober up whenever she wanted. That was the kind of body she had.

“Did something happen?”

“Nothing happened.”

“Something did.”

Harad’s answer was strange.

He was certain. Come to think of it, he was always like that. Harad saw through her every time.

“Speak freely.”

Ellen frowned.

It was because the face of the 2nd Knights Commander, Cassion, came to mind.

When she had thrown those words at him, Cassion had gotten to the point.

“I might be able to help. No, in fact, I’m certain I can help.”

Knowing nothing, Harad was overconfident in himself.

“It’s fine. You, you’ve never had a social life, have you.”

“I’m not of a station for that.”

“See?”

“Nor have I ever been of a station where I had to.”

At Harad’s following words, Ellen tilted her head.

“I may not look it, but I was the heir to a count’s house.”

“……Ah.”

* * *

It was a fact I knew.

I had only forgotten for a moment because of the way he had acted until now.

“The Iagar were a fairly distinguished family. Not as much as the Serzila, but still.”

The Iagar was a family with a rather long history.

Their fame was not that great, but they were a count’s family, and they were highly respected. They were an educated, scholarly family that occasionally even produced administrators for the Imperial capital.

“I received as much education as an heir should. It just became useless, that’s all.”

Harad was the sole heir of such a count’s house.

Normally, I would have ignored it.

The Harad of Iagar was a crybaby and a coward.

But now, I could not ignore it.

There was a high probability that the Serzila Intelligence Bureau was wrong.

The Harad who came to Serzila was neither a crybaby nor a coward. Rather, he was closer to the complete opposite.

If that was his true self, then Harad Iagar must have been a fine heir.

“……”

Ellen stared blankly at Harad.

Mages already had an image of being cunning.

On top of that, reminding herself that he was the heir to a scholarly family made him seem even smarter.

“If it’s a political problem, that’s a bit difficult. The Iagar had no ties to politics.”

“It’s not about politics.”

Ellen’s lips twitched, then she drank.

She smoked her cigarette, and her lips twitched again.

“Is it hard to put into words?”

“……Yes. It is.”

It did seem like he could be of help.

But she couldn't say it looking like this.

Should I just release the magical item and come back?

‘……You’ve lost your mind.’

As if the Grand heir of Serzila, out of her mind, would confide her worries to a mere mage.

And complaints about her position as the Grand heir, at that.

Ellen put a new cigarette to her lips.

The tip lit up by itself. It was Harad’s magic.

“If it’s difficult, you don’t have to say anything. I’ll talk by myself.”

“What?”

“The answer is sometimes hidden in things that have no relation at all. My grandfather supposedly completed a scholarly work after seeing a waterfall.”

Though I’ve never read it myself.

Harad added with a smile. Then he looked at Ellen.

“This is a story about a friend of my grandfather’s.”

As if taking Ellen’s silence as permission, he opened his mouth again.

“His identity is a secret, since it’s his private life. His family was quite remarkable. To exaggerate a little, it was on par with Serzila. He was the sole heir of such a family.”

Ellen chuckled in spite of herself.

The only family that remarkable was the Enverque, meaning, the Imperial Family.

She did not bother to refute it.

That wasn't why the story had begun.

“He told my grandfather this. The fewer the heirs, the more the vassals expect. Since there is only one chance, the result must be perfect.”

“……”

“He said he didn't have any particular complaints. It would be strange to have any! He even shouted as much at my grandfather, saying it was the complaint of a man with a full stomach.”

Like a child listening to a fairy tale from her grandfather, Ellen quietly focused.

“He also said it was only natural. The vassals offer their loyalty, and the people give their love, so it was only right to repay them. There was no reason not to be perfect.”

Ellen unknowingly nodded her head.

“He lived like that. There was nothing he did half-heartedly. He wasn’t without flaws, but they were trivial compared to what he had done.”

Harad paused for a moment and looked at the liquor Ellen had been drinking. And the short cigarettes she had piled up.

“There was nothing that wasn't loyal advice, so he listened to every single one, and there was no love that he wasn't grateful for, so he responded to all of it. He was a great man.”

Ellen wanted to know the man’s name.

In Enverque, the Imperial Family, there was no such fine figure.

“And so, he became the head of the family. And he is said to have told my grandfather this.”

Ellen swallowed hard.

She waited for Harad’s mouth to open.

“Should’ve just lived however the fuck I wanted.”

“What?”

Ellen’s eyes widened.

“He regretted his past.”

The conclusion was strange.

“He was the sole heir to the family. Even if he lived like a ruffian, the position of family head was his anyway.”

He only realized that fact after he became the family head.

“But the family wanted him to be perfect.”

“Why do I have to be perfect? That’s what he said. Why do I have to be mindful of those who follow me?”

“……”

“Because you have to repay their loyalty, love, and expectations?”

Ellen nodded her head heavily.

“Those are things he received even before he became perfect. They weren't things he received because he was perfect.”

“……”

“He was like that from the moment he was born, so would those things disappear just because he wasn’t perfect?”

Maybe so.

Harad said, as if whispering.

“If it is a heart that would disappear for such a reason, is it worth repaying?”

Harad’s voice was gentle.

But it did not sound calm. It felt like being struck.

“What’s the reason to receive it? Is there a reason to receive even the hearts of those who want a perfect me, and not me?”

Suddenly, their eyes met.

She realized that Harad was not looking at her, but at someone else.

“Looking back, even my own father did not wish for me to be perfect.”

But those eyes were incredibly sharp.

Ellen felt as if everything had been laid bare.

The start of her deviation was not of her own will. It was Grand Duke Aratus’s suggestion.

He had asked if it wasn't suffocating to live only in that one form.

“Why should I.”

“……”

“Well, it’s a story like this.”

Harad ended the story with a smile.

“It’s cliché if you think about it. Isn’t pressure common in noble society?”

Ellen could not hear him.

Her memory was blurry from then on.

She wasn’t drunk, but at some point, Harad had disappeared, and she was in the Inner Fortress mansion.

By the time she realized that fact, she was already lying in bed.

……And she had a dream.

-Why should I.

Elaine in the dream said.