The party venue had regained its composure.
The ones who remained were the high-ranking nobles regarded as the principal aristocracy of the Asura Kingdom.
The Greyrats, Blue Wolves, Purple Horses, White Spides, and Silver Toads — families that had long served the Asura Kingdom.
They stayed behind, refusing to flee even after Orsted had left, determined to witness the outcome to the very end.
Naturally, the party would not resume.
But that did not mean what had happened at the party was swept under the rug.
Dalius's fall from grace and Pergius's appearance.
Those two events had firmly planted in the nobles' minds the impression that Ariel was the next ruler.
Of course, there were many who harbored doubts about Orsted, who had appeared so abruptly.
But since Ariel, the host of this gathering, had remained composed, the other nobles who stayed behind had no choice but to do the same.
"......"
The emotion that gripped the nobles was fear.
That man — the man who had appeared out of nowhere and spread terror — had, as a result, saved Ariel.
Ariel and that man were in league together.
From that fact, they would grow distrustful of Ariel as well...
That was what Rudeus had believed.
But in reality, the situation was a bit different.
A man who appeared for only an instant, killed Reida without even giving his name, and vanished.
It was Orsted, of course, but in the nobles' eyes, he appeared to be Pergius's subordinate.
They shared the same hair, the same eyes, a similar bearing — and on top of that, the regal presence that emanated from Pergius made them think so.
Pergius had a subordinate who could defeat the Water God in a single blow.
And whom did Pergius place his trust in?
There was no need to recall their earlier exchange.
(If I oppose him, that same thing will be sent after me next.)
It was precisely because they thought this way that the nobles bowed their heads to Ariel.
They did not ask unnecessary questions like "Who was that?" — they simply accepted their own assumptions as fact.
Ariel had returned as a demon of carnage.
Dalius, who had fled, surely could not still be alive.
Ariel intended to kill anyone who stood in her way.
Nearly everyone present — even the First Prince Gravell — thought the same.
Orsted's curse had the power to make them think exactly that.
With one exception.
That one person knew Ariel better than anyone else.
That one person had heard about Orsted from the Human God.
That one person, even as Ariel had persuaded him, still harbored a faint sense of distrust toward Rudeus.
That person was Luke Notos Greyrat.
Luke pondered.
Was it truly right to follow Rudeus, who had fallen under the sway of such an evil man, and become that man's subordinate?
Luke's instincts were sounding alarm bells.
No matter how things turned out, they must not gain the throne by borrowing the hand of someone like that.
If it came to that, Dalius would have been the lesser evil.
The Human God had appeared in a dream.
He manifested with a sacred aura and a divine presence.
And, showing consideration for Luke, he had pointed the way forward with painstaking care.
He showed Luke what must be done to make Ariel queen, and told him that Rudeus was being incited by an evil being.
Ariel said it was a malevolent god.
She said it was plotting to ensnare Luke and obstruct her path to the throne.
True enough, when later facts were compared with the prophecy, the Human God's words turned out to contain many falsehoods — or rather, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that many of his statements were phrased in ways that allowed one to draw the wrong conclusion on one's own.
Luke had taken ambiguous words and misinterpreted them of his own accord.
That was the feeling he had.
Luke was Ariel's knight.
If his lord said so, he would trust his lord over an inscrutable god.
Even if what she said was something he found hard to believe.
He had been prepared to follow his lord's choices with everything he had, to live together, to die together.
But now, Luke had revised his thinking ever so slightly.
He had revised it upon seeing Orsted.
Luke was confident in his ability to judge women.
On the other hand, he did not possess the power to see through a man's true nature.
He was aware of that.
And yet, even he understood.
Orsted was evil.
That was not a man who cooperated with others to achieve something.
He was a malevolent god who led people to ruin.
Ariel was wrong.
And Rudeus, too, had probably been bewitched by that evil god.
That was what he had concluded.
Then what?
What should he do?
When it became clear that his lord was walking a path contrary to his own convictions, what was he supposed to do?
He could speak his mind, certainly.
But what good would that do?
Orsted had already made his move.
They had already borrowed his power.
With Dalius and Gravell on death's door and Ariel having seized royal authority, wasn't everything already too late?
What could someone of half-baked skill in both swordsmanship and magic do?
Even if he did something, wouldn't it be meaningless?
(I am powerless.)
Just as Luke was about to resign himself to that thought.
A figure suddenly moved within his field of vision.
The person swiftly stepped before Ariel, knelt, and bowed his head to the floor.
"Princess Ariel!"
Pilemon Notos Greyrat.
Luke's father.
He wore an oily smile and raised his voice toward Ariel.
Loud enough for the entire room to hear.
"Congratulations!
How I, Pilemon, have longed for this day!"
Pilemon said cheerfully as he looked up at Ariel.
"I feigned defection to the Gravell faction to put them off their guard, watching for the right moment,
but in the end, there was no need for me to lift a single finger.
As expected of Princess Ariel — you have grown abundantly in foreign lands!"
His brazenly sweet words caused several nobles to grimace.
They were the ones who knew that Pilemon had sent his own soldiers as assassins against Ariel in order to curry favor with Gravell.
They looked at Pilemon with contempt, thinking, "How dare he say such things with a straight face."
"Pilemon..."
"No, no, Princess Ariel, there is no need to say more.
I, too, in a position with few allies, acted in a way that invited scorn from others.
However, everything was done with you in mind.
Now that things have turned out this way, we can return to where we were before.
I will stand as your backing once again—"
Ariel did not let him finish.
"Pilemon Notos Greyrat!"
A roar that threatened to drown out Pilemon's own booming voice.
"There may have been considerations for the family!
There may have been considerations for your position!
And there may have been reasons for my own weakness when you defected!"
Pilemon stared wide-eyed at Ariel.
It may have been the first time Ariel had ever screamed at him like this.
"But if you were going to defect, you should have held onto your pride until the end!
Now that you are the losing side, you think you can simply crawl back into your old sheath?
Have some dignity!"
"Ah... I..."
Pilemon's eyes rolled back and he forced out the words.
"I... I am... terribly sorry..."
The sight of Pilemon rendered utterly speechless drew a few stifled laughs from the assembled nobles.
Pilemon's face turned crimson and he hung his head.
But Ariel's fury was not spent.
"Defecting once — I could have accepted that as an unavoidable measure to preserve your family.
If you had yielded the headship to Luke and retired to your domain,
I had no intention of pursuing the matter further!
But!
To defect, and then still try to grovel before the very people you betrayed!
It is so shameless that words fail me!
I have determined that from now on, you will be nothing but a blight to everyone around you!"
Pilemon's face went deathly pale.
"Die and atone for your sins!"
Hearing this, Luke suddenly realized — oh, this is all theater.
Ariel had foreseen this outcome from the very beginning.
No — or perhaps, as her words indicated, she had never truly intended to carry out the execution.
She might have been planning to wriggle out of the promise to Gilleen by dismissing it as a mere verbal agreement, finding one excuse after another to spare Pilemon.
To Ariel, Pilemon had been her greatest ally.
He might have been groveling and scraping now, but before she had fled to Ranoa, the Ariel faction had revolved around Pilemon — that was no exaggeration.
His abilities were far from what one would call capable.
But still, Ariel owed him a great deal.
It was Pilemon who had arranged the means for her to escape north.
It was Pilemon who had provided her with many retainers.
It could be said that Ariel was alive thanks to Pilemon.
She had not forgotten that debt.
But if she showed mercy to betrayal and treachery committed twice over, she would be trampled upon.
It would have a detrimental effect on Ariel's political standing going forward.
If he had stayed hidden and kept his head down, that would have been one thing — but now that it had come to this, execution was unavoidable.
"Luke! Lend me your sword!
At the very least, I shall deliver the final blow myself."
Hearing those words, Pilemon looked at Luke with a genuinely terrified expression.
Eyes pleading for help.
Eyes saying, "Say something on my behalf too."
Meeting those eyes, Luke hesitated.
--- Luke's perspective ---
I knew that my father was a spineless coward.
But I also believed I understood why.
Though he had become a lord at a young age, even from his son's eyes, his methods were petty, cowardly, and bumbling.
Every time he made a decision as lord and the result fell short, he was compared to our stern grandfather — even the retainers would whisper behind his back, "If only it were Sir Paul..."
I had witnessed that scene countless times during my years at the family estate.
Father had his own troubles, his own suffering, and in the end, he had become twisted.
And now, that father was about to be executed before my eyes.
It had been his own doing, but the promise to Sword King Gilleen was surely involved as well.
The thought had crossed my mind — had Father played a role in the execution of Sauros Boreas Greyrat.
Father and Sauros had not been on good terms.
Or rather, it should be said that Sauros and Grandfather had been close.
The previous head of the Notos family and the head of the Boreas family had shared a bond like family.
But Sauros had apparently taken a dislike to Father, Pilemon.
Even before Father became a lord, Sauros had openly called him "the size of a bean," belittled him, mocked him... and even after Father took the position, he had constantly found fault.
And now Sauros had fallen into dire straits.
If Father had seized the opportunity and arranged his death behind the scenes, I would not have found it at all strange.
Father was capable of that.
Well, the Human God's lies had been partly to blame — I had been quite flustered when I first heard the news.
Come to think of it, it had been eight years since I last saw Father's face.
The father I met after eight years looked far older than I remembered, and smaller.
"......"
Suddenly, I found myself wanting to talk things through with Father openly.
When I was young, I had talked with Father about all sorts of things.
Looking back now, I felt that Father had favored me more than my older brother.
Perhaps, as a fellow second son, he had felt a certain kinship.
Father never told me the important things, but if I ever had something to discuss, he would listen without complaint.
Father didn't know everything, and he often gave me wrong answers, but he answered all the same.
He told me to figure things out for myself more than once, but he still pointed me in the right direction.
In his own way.
Father was always like that.
Clumsy, always making the wrong choices and taking the wrong approach.
But even such a father had surely done his best for Ariel in his own way.
When we were still in the Asura Kingdom, he had struggled against a sea of enemies to make Ariel queen.
His motives may have been selfish.
Selfish, yes — but as the head of the family, he had a duty to protect it.
Even if, after Ariel disappeared from the royal capital, he had ended up with no choice but to join another faction, who could blame him?
Sending soldiers as the vanguard — that, too, had been to protect the family.
He must have been desperate to earn the trust of the Gravell faction.
"Princess Ariel, I have a request."
"What is it, Luke?"
"Would you spare my father's life?"
Ariel turned to look at me.
Her eyes were cold.
She had been looking at me this way a lot lately.
Especially since the day she learned that Father had betrayed her.
"...I cannot do that."
"Because of what happened with Gilleen?"
"No. It is because I cannot afford to pardon betrayal."
I see.
No matter how close Ariel and Father had been.
Father had committed a very public betrayal and even sent soldiers against Ariel.
If she pardoned that, she would lose all face.
I understood that too.
No matter how much he struggled, the man named Pilemon Notos Greyrat was finished.
I did not know what that evil god had done.
Perhaps Rudeus and Ariel were both being deceived.
But the fact remained that Father had betrayed her, and that he had shamelessly tried to worm his way back to his old position after doing so.
But I.
I could not accept it.
"......"
I drew my sword.
"...Luke?"
"My apologies!"
"What?"
Even I did not understand why I had done it.
When I came to my senses, I was holding Ariel from behind.
With the flat of my blade pressed against the side of her neck.
"...Luke! What the hell are you doing?!"
Sylphie noticed immediately.
She glared at me with a sharp expression that bordered on killing intent.
It was an expression she would never show to Rudeus.
In her hand was the staff of an apprentice magician.
A small staff, the kind used by someone who had only just begun learning magic.
But I knew that from that staff, magic on par with the commander of the Asura Mage Corps could be fired in rapid succession.
And it was pointed right at me.
"Sylphie, don't you think this is wrong?"
"You're the one who's wrong! Do you even realize who you're pointing a sword at?!"
I was aware that I was in the wrong.
I barely even knew what I wanted to do myself.
The nobles' eyes were boring into me.
They, too, wore bewildered expressions, unable to understand what was happening.
...So this is the end for me too, I suppose.
Oh well.
"Sylphie, do you truly trust that man?"
"That man? You mean Orsted?
What's gotten into you all of a sudden?! What does that have to do with any of this?!"
"Just answer me!"
At my harsh tone, Sylphie kept her staff aimed at me but answered in a low voice.
"I don't trust him."
"Then why do you follow Rudeus's orders?
He became that man's subordinate — even if he did it for your sake!"
"Because I trust Rudi!"
That made no sense.
"Rudeus is moving as Orsted's subordinate.
Have his actions changed from before and after becoming that subordinate?
Isn't he being deceived by Orsted?"
I was not trying to bring Sylphie over to my side.
But ever since she had gotten together with Rudeus, she had stopped thinking for herself, or so it seemed.
Because Rudeus was doing it, because Rudeus said so — she had stopped forming her own opinions.
And it was I who had taught her that.
A wife should obey her husband's words silently, and she would be loved for it.
...At least, that was what Mother had not done, which was why Father had not loved her, leading her to leave the family.
"Are you actually thinking for yourself?
Rudeus can make mistakes too, you know?"
Sylphie flared up.
"I am thinking!
But Rudi is acting out of concern for us!
He's swallowing his pride, showing us his most undignified face, and doing his best — all for our sake!
So what I should be doing isn't throwing out objections to confuse and trouble him,
but supporting him from the shadows!"
Sylphie answered clearly.
Her thinking was entirely Rudeus-centered.
In these few years, she had changed a great deal, it seemed.
"And because of that, Princess Ariel has ended up in this situation?!"
As I said that, I pressed the blade against my lord's neck.
It was the flat of the blade, of course.
After this, I would likely be executed as a traitor — but I could not allow Ariel's skin to be marked.
A woman's skin should always remain pristine.
"You have no right to say that!"
She was absolutely right.
And then — Rudeus appeared through the entrance, visible in my field of vision.
He looked toward me, eyes wide.
"Listen, Sylphie.
To respect Rudeus's judgment means submitting to the will of that evil Orsted."
"...And what about it?"
"It means a situation like this one—"
I glanced at Rudeus.
He was looking around, trying to understand the situation.
His gaze settled on one point, and he sent a look in that direction — but he quickly turned away, his face clouded with disappointment.
I followed his gaze. It was Pergius.
Despite the turmoil, Pergius sat in his chair with an air of composure.
Watching us with every appearance of amusement.
"If you want to save Princess Ariel, kill Rudeus."
Sylphie's eyes went wide.
"What would you do if I told you that?"
Sylphie did not turn around.
She had to be aware that Rudeus was standing right behind her.
"If you were forced to choose one or the other, what would you do?"
Even I recognized that I was asking a cruel question.
Why was I asking something like that?
The conversation had veered off track.
"I'd choose Rudi."
Sylphie barely hesitated.
She answered at almost the speed of a reflex.
"I feel bad for Princess Ariel, but when it comes to being forced to make a choice like that, I wouldn't have a child with someone I couldn't choose."
That answer stung, just a little.
It would sting for Ariel, too, I imagined.
Behind Sylphie, Rudeus was covering his mouth with both hands in a "I can't believe this" gesture, and he looked thoroughly exasperated.
"I'm going to follow Rudi wherever he goes.
I don't know what'll happen because of that.
Orsted might cut him down, and we might end up in dire straits again... but even then, I intend to support Rudi.
Isn't that what 'staying together until the end' means?"
Those words pierced my consciousness like an arrow.
So that was how it was. Something sank in the pit of my stomach.
I felt that a single answer had emerged from all my wavering.
"...Hah."
A small sigh escaped me.
What in the world was I doing?
Even if he was wrong, even if Ariel was placed in danger, I would save her.
Wasn't that the kind of person I had wanted to be for Ariel?
Hadn't I wanted to be her knight — to stay by her side until the end?
So what if Orsted was a malevolent god?
If it came down to choosing between Orsted and the Human God, I would certainly want to trust the Human God.
But if it came down to choosing between the Human God and Ariel — which would I trust?
That went without saying.
All I needed to do was watch over Ariel's choices, follow her words, and when things went wrong, throw my own body on the line to protect her.
That was all I needed.
Ah — my own words were all coming back to me.
"So, Luke."
Ariel had heard after all.
She had been silent the whole time, but upon catching my sigh, she finally spoke.
"If Sylphie has chosen Rudeus, does that mean I am to be cut down by you?"
"Huh?"
"If so, then before that, I would like a word with my brother.
You would not object to entrusting me with the task of smuggling Sylphie and the others safely out of the country, would you?"
Ariel said this in a composed tone.
"You aren't going to ask why I'm doing this?"
"No."
How sorrowful this was.
Now that it had come to this, she could not even offer an excuse — but Ariel had truly believed I would betray her.
Me, who had been with her since before she could remember.
Me, who had served her all this time.
Me, who had abandoned everything else to serve her.
Me, who had always placed Princess Ariel above all else.
She had believed that when it came down to the wire, I would be the one to turn on her.
But her next words dissolved that notion entirely.
"There is only one thing I want to say, Luke."
"...?"
"You are my knight."
I felt tears welling up.
For me, those words were enough.
Even now, at this critical moment, Ariel still thought of me as her knight.
She had not believed I would betray her.
She was absolutely certain that I would never betray her.
Even in this situation — with a blade pressed against her neck — she still believed I had not truly betrayed her.
"......"
I threw down my sword and released Ariel.
The dry clang of the blade hitting the floor loosened the tension in the air.
I knelt before Ariel and looked up.
She looked down at me with the same cool gaze as always.
"Luke, what are you?"
"I am your knight."
Ariel smiled softly.
Seeing that smile, I lowered my head, parted my hair, and bared my neck.
"Then please — strike off the head of this traitor."
I did not want to die.
I still had things left to do.
But it was fine.
I was satisfied.
"......"
Ariel picked up the sword, hefted it with one hand as if it were heavy, and then —
whacked me on the head with the flat of the blade.
A dull pain shot through the crown of my skull.
"Luke. You, with your weakness for women, suddenly lost all self-control and grabbed me, groping my body."
"...?"
"Normally, this would be unforgivable, but I was feeling rather pent up myself, so I shall let it pass."
I looked up at Ariel.
She winked at me with a mischievous grin.
Ah, it had been so long since I had seen that smile.
Nowadays she did nothing but put on a manufactured smile, but when she was small, she used to laugh like this all the time.
"Hah!"
I had been forgiven.
My actions and words — which could easily have been taken as outright treason — had been pardoned.
No consequences.
"Well then."
Ariel took a breath and turned to face my father, who had gone pale.
Father straightened up at her gaze and bowed deeply.
"What shall be done about him?"
Father's fate.
By pardoning my betrayal, the atmosphere in the room had shifted slightly.
An air had been building that demanded he be forgiven.
But what Father had done was grave.
He had committed treason and even plotted to take her life.
Even if some excuse were fabricated, it could not be pardoned the way I had been.
Not without some reason.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, Rudeus approached and spoke.
"A moment ago, Dalius let it slip.
He claimed that he was the one who had gotten rid of Sir Sauros.
Pilemon was merely used — nothing more."
"...What happened to Dalius?"
"He died... I killed him."
"Is that so... Then let us pin everything on Dalius."
Ariel said this and cast her gaze behind me.
At some point, Gilleen and Eris had circled around to my back.
If I had continued holding Ariel hostage, I might well have been cut down from behind.
"Gilleen, would that be acceptable?"
"I..."
Gilleen wore a dissatisfied expression.
Was she that eager to execute Father?
Then Eris gave Gilleen's tail a sharp tug.
Gilleen flinched at the sensation and looked at Eris.
Eris released the tail, crossed her arms, and tilted her chin upward with a huff.
"Gilleen! You shall be content with what just happened regarding Grandfather's revenge!"
"...If Lady Eris says so."
With those words, Ariel turned back to my father, apparently satisfied.
"That is how it is, Pilemon.
We shall follow up with a formal decree later."
"Y-Yes...!"
Father bowed until his face nearly touched the floor.
It would not be without consequence, but his life had been spared.
"Luke... I'm sorry..."
I caught that faint voice and felt a wave of relief.
I looked around.
Rudeus was saying something to Sylphie while pulling her into a hug and stroking her head.
Sylphie hung her head, embarrassed, but did not look displeased about it.
Eris was talking with Gilleen about something.
I could hear because she was speaking at her usual volume — she was proudly telling him, "Rudeus mentioned this before, but this is what 'reading the room' means."
Pergius was unchanged.
He was watching the scene with every sign of great amusement.
I suppose the exchange just now had contained something entertaining even for the Dragon King.
Father remained in his deep bow.
His figure still looked small, but somehow he seemed lighter, as if a weight had been lifted.
That apprentice knight — Izolte, I believe — was weeping over the remains of the Water God.
There was no sense that she would come this way.
Dalius was apparently dead.
Gravell had lost his great patron and sat slumped in his chair, looking utterly exhausted.
Nobles were clustered around him, but... there was little they could do now.
The Ariel faction nobles looked at me as though they had seen a fox spirit.
Among them, I could see Tris standing alongside his parents.
There were no more enemies.
---
And so, the battle for the Asura Kingdom drew to a close.