“Sir Heralts?”
“...!”
When he looked into the mirror again, Ragniel was still beautiful. His eyes were deep and quiet, and his hair looked soft as silk.
Then what in the world had he just seen?
Could Ragniel have made such a mess of the room because he had seen his own reflection in the mirror?
Was there some kind of magical device worked into the mirror?
Heralts’s thoughts tangled into a complicated knot.
“Your Majesty. What are you...”
After steadying his breath, Heralts spoke quickly.
“What are you looking at?”
Ragniel shook his head. Heralts, unable to understand, looked at the beautiful king, who now seemed almost frightening.
“You should answer my question first, Sir Heralts. I asked how it made you feel.”
“...I felt nothing. What was reflected in the mirror was only me.”
He did not understand the king’s question, but Heralts answered with all sincerity.
“Nothing? Look a little more closely. That cannot be true.”
“Your Majesty...”
Unable to watch any longer, a maid tried to stop him, but Ragniel paid her no mind.
Heralts turned the mirror toward himself again.
Only after facing himself in the mirror did he realize that he was terribly frightened. Having witnessed Ragniel’s reflection in the mirror, fear had crept into Heralts’s heart in that brief instant—the fear that perhaps he himself looked that way too.
“How do you feel now?”
“Relieved.”
Heralts hesitated before answering. He could not tell whether his answer was correct.
Ragniel nodded.
“You feel relieved because the mirror proves the self you know. But no one can truly know. What kind of thing is budding inside one’s own heart, I mean.”
A slender hand gripped Heralts’s thick shoulder.
“That is why one must keep a sense of vigilance and always look into oneself. It is the work of watching and restraining oneself. Do you understand?”
“...Yes, Your Majesty.”
A strange silence settled over them. Heralts could see the maids trying to keep even the sound of their breathing small. They were afraid too.
Ragniel tapped the back of Heralts’s hand, which still held the mirror at his command.
“I shall grant you this mirror as a gift. I trust you understood what I said.”
With those words, Ragniel turned his head away. It was a dismissal. Heralts clearly understood what he had come here to do. But overwhelmed by Ragniel’s strange presence and incomprehensible force, he could not remain any longer. Leaving behind the maids’ gazes begging him for help, Heralts left the king’s bedchamber.
Thud. The door closed behind him. Heralts grabbed the arm of the maid standing guard before the room and asked,
“Does Lord Giselle know?”
The sound of the door closing echoed.
Ragniel blinked blankly. Tears fell from his dry eyes.
“Your Majesty, you must have your wounds treated.”
“No. No... I wish to be alone.”
“But, Your Majesty. How could we leave you when you are wounded like this...”
Ragniel told the maid to come closer.
“I do not wish to hurt you. What if I break the mirror again by mistake and the shards fly?”
His hand cupped the maid’s cheek. Her soft, tender cheek trembled faintly beneath Ragniel’s touch.
The maids lowered their heads and withdrew. Soon, only Ragniel remained in the room. Since everything broken had been carried out, the room was clean.
Ragniel looked at the broken black section of the full-length mirror that had not yet been removed.
It was just like his current state.
Broken, revealing the blackness inside.
“Am I... Am I going mad?”
He walked toward the mirror. Kneeling upright, he set both hands against the mirror and looked into himself. It was clearly his own face, so why? Why did it feel as though those glittering eyes were glaring at him? Why did those eyes, bright as the morning star, seem to be urging him to make the right judgment?
“I should not have sent them to war...”
The version of him in the mirror seemed to be looking down at him.
Ragniel could not interpret the meaning of that gaze.
***
“Kirky! Are you really going to leave? Are you really leaving?!”
Coco felt as though rage would drive her insane. Kirky was like family to her. And now she was supposed to send someone like that to war.
“Oh, Lady Coco! If I had known you loved me this much, I would have written plenty of letters the day before. Actually, I had a dream last night, you see? Would you like to hear it? It was a very, very important dream!”
Kirky’s eyes sparkled as he emphasized “very” twice. But as always, Coco did not listen to him.
“Please, are you joking even in this situation?”
“This time I’m not joking! I mean it!”
Kirky cried out with an aggrieved look. But there was no one willing to listen to the words of a man who joked every time.
“My lady, please calm yourself.”
“Do I look like I can calm down? You show up out of nowhere! And then they tell me to send you, you, to the battlefield...! And what about Ren? That child might be unconscious or asleep, no one even knows...!”
“Lady Coco!”
Hugh hurriedly supported Coco as she staggered.
“Lady Coco, I told you that you must reduce your anger. Rage is fatal to the body.”
“Forty percent of this rage is because of you. Do you know that? You turn my stomach inside out every single day! Even now, like this, when you have to go to that land, you’re acting so calm!”
“Shhh. Lady Coco.”
Kirky soothed Coco with practiced ease. This was not the first time she had staggered from being unable to contain her anger. Duke Gannion had died, she had been betrayed by her own vassal, and after meeting Ren, her temperament seemed to have grown a little calmer, but apparently not.
Saaaaaah.
When Kirky placed his hand in the air above her chest and recited a prayer, warm light burst like soap bubbles and seeped into Coco. Color returned to her pale face, and her bloodless lips regained their natural shade.
“Ohoho! Look at this, Lady Coco! My competence! That must be why the royal castle is looking for me.”
“Are you happy to go to the groaning land?”
An unavoidable, deep sorrow pooled in her violet eyes. Having lost even the strength to be angry, Coco leaned fully against Hugh.
“My lady, excuse me for a moment.”
Hugh spoke softly and lifted Coco into his arms. He seated her on a small sofa. When Hugh looked around, Kirky smiled brightly and brought over a blanket. It was a blanket decorated with cute white rabbits and strawberries.
“Hehe. Actually, this is a gift for you, Lady Coco!”
“...What are you talking about out of nowhere?”
“I was wondering when to give it to you, and now here we are. I found an extremely cute blanket and bought it a few months ago, but there was never a chance to give it to you, was there? You were angry every time!”
“When have I ever been angry?”
“You’re angry right now!”
“Be quiet! My head is ringing so badly I could die!”
“Lord Kirky, please do not provoke my lady.”
Hugh stopped Kirky with a troubled expression. Even while pouring out a mountain of anger, Coco did not throw away the blanket clenched in her hand. She seemed to like it. The flush in her cheeks was probably not only from anger. Kirky knew Coco’s heart well.
“What are you so happy about that you’re even humming? Did you actually hate staying here? If you had only said so at any time... I was going to send you to the temple.”
Hurt was buried in her sharp tone. Kirky, who had been packing, stopped his hands and turned toward her. His long white hair swayed with his steps. His red eyes carefully met the young lady’s. Sitting down with a thump in front of the sofa, Kirky took Coco’s hand and kissed the back of it.
“Why would I return when being by your side is so enjoyable, Lady Coco? Unless you want to throw me out! Perhaps deep down you’re thinking this worked out well...”
“As if that could be true?! You’re still joking in a situation like this, Kirky!”
Coco stomped her foot.
Instead of being frightened by her force, Kirky chuckled, saying the young lady had regained her energy.
“I like being by your side too, Lady Coco. We’re practically childhood friends!”
“You don’t actually know what childhood friends means, do you?”
“Doesn’t it mean friends who like each other?”
Kirky winked. Coco, no longer wanting to deal with him, pressed her mouth shut. When she stopped speaking, Kirky brought out his true feelings with a gentle smile.
“I have sensed it for a long time. Before one rises to the seat of high priest, the candidates must face a trial. I wondered what it would be, and when it would come, but I think it will probably be this.”
“Is it that dangerous?”
For an instant, Coco could not hide her fear. Reading the black worry like burnt ash inside the firm gaze of the young lady, Kirky shook his head.
“But all things are according to God’s will. We will move forward according to His guidance, so you have nothing to worry about, Lady Coco.”
“I...”
Coco swallowed her words. She did not believe in any god. But she could not say such a thing in front of Kirky.
“And Ren’s older brother is there! I should take good care of him!”
“Ah...”
Pretending not to notice Coco flushing with embarrassment, Kirky chattered excitedly. For today, even Coco did not stop Kirky’s rambling.
***
Giselle returned to the room holding Dell Belkerman’s sword.
He dismissed everyone inside.
After passing through the drawn curtain, he walked toward the one lying there.
Beside the large bed, the boy lying on the small bed.
Shing.
With an eerie energy, the blade revealed itself.
