It had been that way since ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) they were young. The thing he had ground himself down to achieve, that brat did with laughable ease.
The brat who always slacked off saying he hated studying—his grades were always better than his. His swordsmanship was beyond comparison.
There were always people crowding around the one who spoke without thinking.
“Why....”
Their father’s attention, their mother’s love. And—
‘Even people’s praise!’
All of it, all of it belonged to Zeno.
And now even the Sword of Protection had chosen him.
‘I’m the elder brother....’
I’m the firstborn!
Staring at the sword that showed no reaction in his own hand, he despaired all over again.
“If only you didn’t exist....”
“......”
“If only you didn’t exist!”
In that instant the sword thrust forward—though he knew Zeno was standing there.
SHLUK!
The blade sank into his chest far too easily.
“Mi... hai....”
Mihai’s hand, which had driven the sword into his younger brother’s heart, trembled. Zeno staggered back a step and toppled over the cliff.
“......!”
Only then did Mihai come to his senses and collapse on the spot. The Sword of Protection was still in his hand.
A Sword of Protection that had already gone cold, its master lost.
****
“The one who died back then wasn’t the elder brother, Mihai, but the younger brother, Zeno—right?”
Only then did everything click into place.
The reason the very person who found the Sword of Protection was not chosen by it.
The reason the head of House Jevillan was wandering the Practice Yard with a sword stuck through him.
It explained all of it.
[Right.]
As expected, Zeno nodded straightaway.
[I’m the one who died then. Not my brother.]
“Why....”
Whatever had happened at that cliff where they went to find the Sword of Protection, no one else had seen it.
Which meant Mihai had no reason to return pretending to be Zeno.
He could have simply claimed he himself had found the sword, couldn’t he?
‘Then why?’
Why did he throw away his own name and live as Zeno?
[It was punishment he gave himself.]
“Punishment?”
[How do you think it feels to hear the name of the person you killed for the rest of your life?]
Everyone calls you by that person’s name.
[He chose that.]
So he would never forget, could never forget, the crime he had committed in a single, terrible instant of rage.
Mihai Jevillan carried the price of murder on his back for the rest of his life.
“Is that even possible?”
Even if they were twins....
Camilla asked, her face making plain that she couldn’t grasp it.
“How can you live your whole life as someone else?”
And no one noticed?
[Our father knew.]
“......!”
As expected.
However alike they were, it made no sense that even a parent could fail to tell his children apart.
[But he kept silent.]
One son was already dead, and only one had returned alive.
Zeno’s father kept silent. He surely guessed the whole situation, but he could not lose the son who remained.
[And there was that gap of a year.]
A whole year passed after Zeno and Mihai left home to look for the sword. A short time if short, a long time if long.
Even if the man who came back had a slightly different personality or bearing, you wouldn’t easily catch it.
[Funny, isn’t it? The name of the one who died—my name—didn’t fade for a long time, and the name of the one who lived, Mihai, vanished completely.]
Zeno smiled bitterly.
The Zeno who returned home with the sword... no, Mihai... was a very good head of house.
He was widely respected, always generous, and led the house better than anyone. Even now, after many years, many still praise him.
Only not as Mihai, but as Zeno.
Zeno’s face as he spoke of the past was very calm. There was no trace of anger.
[At first I was aggrieved, resentful, furious.]
Reading Camilla’s thoughts, Zeno snickered and went on.
[I cursed Mihai to hell and back, raving about why I had to be the one to die.]
But....
‘Lord Zeno has returned!’
‘Thank goodness Young Master Zeno is alive.’
‘What would we have done if even Lord Zeno had been lost?’
Before Mihai ever declared himself Zeno, people welcomed the one who returned alone as Zeno without a second thought.
They were relieved it wasn’t Zeno who had died, but Mihai.
Only then did he understand.
‘Yes. Mihai is dead.’
[I couldn’t hate him anymore.]
What kind of eyes and words had surrounded Mihai all his life?
‘Why is it you again!’
Why had he hurled such bitter words at the one who found the Sword of Protection.
[I think he paid for his sin enough.]
There was no hatred left for Mihai, who lived his entire life under Zeno’s name. If anything, Zeno felt pity.
[Idiot.]
How could he keep hating a man who couldn’t tell even his own children the truth and died to the end under a false name?
[And a lot of time has passed.]
“That’s true.”
Camilla nodded lightly.
Time has enormous power. Enough to wash away even great rage.
Only one question still remained.
“Then why are you still here?”
Mihai had long since died, and you say you hold no particular resentment or anger toward him. So why are you still here?
When she looked at him in puzzlement, Zeno grinned.
[Because I love the sword.]
“......?”
[Because I love the sword too much to leave.]
His gaze had already drifted back to the Practice Yard.
[I never got to swing it properly.]
“Pardon?”
What kind of nonsense...?
He was the one hailed as a prodigy of the sword, the very founder of Jevillan swordsmanship.
He was famous for never letting go of a sword once he first took it up—and he never got to swing it properly?
At her expression that all but said what on earth are you talking about, Zeno stretched, arms reaching overhead, and answered.
[Because there was no worthy opponent.]
His voice was guileless, like he was telling her an obvious truth such as ‘the sun rises in the east.’
[There wasn’t a human who could face me.]
“Wow....”
So smug.
Worse because she couldn’t refute it.
“Master” was the title for one who had reached the highest realm of the sword.
Zeno said he reached that realm at the unbelievable age of nineteen.
Even Zeno’s father, then head of House Jevillan, was not a Master, so his complaint just now—that he’d never had the chance to swing as he pleased—was surely true.
‘Swordmasters aren’t that common... hm?’
Wait.
‘Are they not that common?’
A face popped into her mind.
In fact... one, two, three... huh?
‘...There are a lot, aren’t there?’
There were even two living under the same roof with her, weren’t there?
“......”
Camilla shot one sidelong glance at Zeno, who was still gazing mistily at those swinging their blades, and let out a deep sigh.
Ugh, my lot in life.
[What? Is something on my face? Well, I suppose handsomeness could—]
“Please stop with the unfunny dad jokes.”
Camilla rose slowly to her feet.
She knew she would regret this....
“Zeno.”
[Hm?]
“Would you like to swing a sword properly—just once?”
[...What?]
If she pretended not to notice, it would keep nagging her, so there was no helping it.
****
“A bout?”
“Yes.”
Back home, Camilla requested a bout. With whom?
“...With you?”
“Yes, with me.”
With Ludville.
Camilla beamed at her elder brother, who was just staring blankly.
Beside him, Zeno—who had followed her to the Sorpel estate—looked Ludville up and down with care.
[Wow, he’s impressive. This could be fun. But will he even accept your request?]
Camilla answered by bobbing her head a few times as if stretching.
All three dukes were Masters, and Arsian was said to be very close. Petro was the same.
Even with Masters—or near-Masters—thick on the ground around her, she had a reason to ask Ludville in particular.
‘Because he won’t take my words as a joke.’
He was someone who never let any words slide.
Even now, what would have earned a scoff or a snort from someone else merely hardened Ludville’s face as he sank into quiet thought.
“Why?”
“Yes?”
“Why do you want to spar with me?”
“Because I want to test my limits.”
She’d expected the question, so Camilla answered at once.
‘What limits, my foot.’
Her “limits” would be blown away by a single stroke of Ludville’s sword.
Even to herself it was an absurd answer, but Ludville listened to it seriously, as always.
“You could get hurt.”
“If someone who picked up a sword is afraid of getting hurt, they shouldn’t be holding one.”
“.......”
Ugh, when you look at me that seriously it pokes my conscience.
Whatever she felt inside, Camilla’s face stayed serene.
“...All right.”
At last, permission fell from Ludville’s lips.
A little later, the two of them headed to the Practice Yard, now empty with training done for the day.
By the time Camilla took up her own sword and stepped in, Ludville already stood at the center, fully prepared.
Seeing him standing there with his sword hanging naturally at his side, Camilla swallowed dryly.
...Is this really okay? The thought that she’d stuck her neck out for nothing hit hard.
‘I’m insane. I’m not even an exorcist—what confidence did I have to start this....’
She must have lost her mind for a moment.
‘Since when was I this impulsive?’
She should have kept her eyes averted from the wistful look in Zeno’s gaze toward the Practice Yard... to the end...!
“Zeno.”
In a very low voice, Camilla called to Zeno. The water was already spilled—spilled because she wanted to. It was too late to gather it back.
“Are you ready?”
[...I can’t refuse.]
Slllp.
Zeno’s soul entered her body.
“...Ah!”
A fierce dizziness surged. At the same time all sensation left her body.
From head to toe, nothing felt like it belonged to her.
‘So this is what it is to be possessed?’
It was the first time even for Camilla.
She’d often taken help from Ferrol, the chef’s ghost, but then only his hands had possessed her. This was the first time her whole body was overtaken like this.
‘...You’re happy.’
She could feel Zeno’s joy, unmistakably, inside her body.
The joy of holding a sword again. The thrill that the one standing before him was a Master.
Every feeling he felt flooded straight through.
Camilla—no, Zeno—shot toward Ludville in an instant and went wild, in the literal sense.
BOOM!
With a single clash Ludville’s expression changed. Camilla was shocked too, of course.
‘This power is coming out of me?’
They say a possessed person’s strength is such that several grown men can’t hold them down—this was power she could never produce on her own.
“How do you know this swordsmanship....”
Recognizing Jevillan swordsmanship, he turned a gaze full of surprise and puzzlement on Camilla.
But that was all. Ludville said nothing and focused on the bout.
The ring of blades colliding began to fill the Practice Yard.
