"Liscia, hold these documents for me," Souma said.
"...Okay. Got it," I responded.
Lately, Souma had been acting strangely.
As I took the stack of documents from Souma, a thought occurred to me.
Recently, Souma had been working on paperwork with even greater zeal and
enthusiasm than before. It was as if we'd returned to that time shortly after my
father had abdicated the throne to him. He shouldn't have been as busy now as he
was back then, but it seemed to me as if he was seeking out work and packing in
more of it than he reasonably could.
And yet, when he suddenly found himself with free time, he didn't do anything in
particular, just stared vacantly out the window. Before, when he'd had free time, he
would have come to my room and worked on dolls, or on cute outfits to dress Tomoe
up in, but he didn't even do that lately.
I watched Souma silently processing documents.
The change was a subtle one, and I was sure that hardly anyone else in the castle
would have noticed it.
I started to speak.
"...Hm? Is something the matter?" Having noticed my eyes on him, Souma looked
up.
I said, "...No. It's nothing." With just those words, I turned around and walked out
of the governmental affairs office.
"Ah! Hey, Liscia."
I could hear Souma's voice from behind me, but I couldn't bring myself to turn
back. Or, rather, I couldn't bear to look at Souma as he was now.
That night, Juna Doma came to my room.
"So, Princess, His Majesty's behavior is strange... that was what you wanted to
talk about, right?" she asked, tilting her head to the side questioningly.
I had called out to her as she was preparing for a Jewel Voice Broadcast program,
and I had her come back to my room when the broadcast finished. I was grateful
that, when I told Juna that there was something strange about the way Souma had
been acting, she had come with me, despite the late hour.
"Have a seat, Juna." I sat on the bed, gesturing for Juna to sit next to me.
"Excuse me," Juna said, taking her seat next to me.
I got down to business. "I don't know how to say it... He seems distracted.
Sometimes it seems he's more absorbed in his work than ever, but the next thing I
know, his head is off in the clouds and he's staring vacantly outside."
"...I see. I think I can understand, if only a little." Perhaps Juna had some insight as
to what was going on, because she nodded with a mysterious look on her face. "I've
seen the same. When I had a meeting with His Majesty about our broadcast program,
his mind seemed to be elsewhere. Though, I couldn't tell you how long he's been like
this."
"I think it's been since we came back from the God-Protected Forest," I said.
It had been just two weeks ago. A landslide had struck the home of the dark elves,
the God-Protected Forest, which was also the homeland of Souma's bodyguard,
Aisha Udgard. Souma had led the unit he was with at the time to carry out a relief
effort.
When notice of the disaster arrived, I had been asked to come back to the capital
to call in reinforcements, so I hadn't personally participated in the rescue operation.
Souma, however, had been there with Halbert, Kaede, and the other Forbidden Army
soldiers, carrying out relief operations in that hellscape of a disaster zone.
I felt like that was the point when Souma had started acting strangely. "Maybe it
was after that relief effort that he started to act strangely, after all..."
"But I heard that His Majesty accomplished a great deal while he was there," Juna
said.
"Yeah," I agreed. "I think he did a good job there, too."
I'd heard that he'd used his ability, Living Poltergeists, to control wooden mice
and had had them search under the dirt and sand, helping to find many people
who'd been buried alive. However...
"But that's not how Souma feels about it. Maybe it's because he saw so many
bodies, he thinks, 'Couldn't I have handled things better?'"
"I don't think it's bad, in and of itself, for him to think that way, though..." Juna
had a complicated expression on her face.
It was important to reflect on things. However, excessive reflection could lead to
self-hatred, and that would be counterproductive.
"That's exactly why I want you to encourage him for me." I took Juna's hand,
placing my own over it.
Juna's eyes went wide. "Y-You want... me to?"
"You're about the only person I can ask to do something like this. Aisha's still in
the God-Protected Woods, and Tomoe's still little. Even so, if I were to ask Mother or
Serina, they aren't close enough with him."
"But, if that's the case, wouldn't you yourself be an even better choice to do it,
Princess?" she asked. "The two of you are betrothed, and I can see that you're
concerned for him."
"I... can't be the one," I said, lowering my eyes. "I'm younger than Souma, so he
probably thinks, 'As a man, I don't want to show her my weaknesses.' When he's in
front of me, Souma puts up a strong front."
"...I'm the same age as His Majesty, too, you realize?'
"You may be the same age, but the way you act is more mature," I said. "I think
you would do a fine job of indulging a young boy who's trying to put up a strong
front."
As I sat up straight, Juna bowed her head.
"That's why, Juna," I finished. "That's why I'm asking you to take care of Souma
for me."
"Princess... I understand. I may not be of much help, but allow me to do all that I
can," Juna said, bringing a hand to her chest and nodding.
◇ ◇ ◇
After leaving Liscia's chambers, Juna went to the governmental affairs office,
which doubled as Souma's room. Things were hectic here during the day, with all the
bureaucrats coming and going, but late at night, it was quiet enough to make the
memory of all that daytime hustle and bustle seem like a lie.
Two guards who were there to protect Souma stood on either side of the door.
Right, Aisha isn't here, Juna thought. That's to be expected, considering...
It wasn't the case that Aisha stayed by Souma's side 24-7, but she was with him
often enough that it felt unnatural to not see her there protecting him.
Juna walked up to the door, giving a slight nod to the guards. Perhaps Liscia had
already spoken to the guards, as they made no attempt to stop Juna.
It's a bit late to bring it up it now, but it's a rather bold move for the princess to be
sending a lady to her betrothed's chambers late at night...
After leaving a man and woman alone at night, what did she intend to do if
"something" were to happen? Did she believe nothing would happen? Or was it that,
even if "something" were to happen, she was prepared to accept it if that cheered
Souma up?
...Somehow, I get the sense that it's the latter.
Juna let out a sigh of admiration. Lately, when she looked to Liscia, there were
times when she could see a queenly dignity in her. When her sudden betrothal to
Souma had first been decided, there had been some awkwardness between the two
of them, but now she seemed to have accepted the reality of the situation.
She's truly a magnificent individual.
For each day she spent with Souma, Liscia grew a little more attractive as a
woman. Someday she would make a splendid queen, as well as a good wife and a
wise mother. Juna couldn't help but respect her as a fellow woman.
The princess asked this of me, personally. I, too, must do my duty.
Firming up her resolve a little more, she gently knocked on the door to the
governmental affairs office, and called, "Your Majesty, it is Juna Doma. Are you still
awake?"
She kept her voice low enough that, were he already asleep, she would not
disturb him.
"Juna? Come in," she heard Souma say from inside the room.
When Juna opened the door with a "Pardon me," and entered, she found Souma
looking through some paperwork by candlelight. Souma laid the document down on
the desk, turning a somewhat wearied smile to Juna.
"What is it, so late at night? Are you sleeping over at the castle?"
"Ah... Yes, I am," Juna said. "It's been decided that I'll be staying in the princess's
room tonight."
"Having a girls-only party? That sounds like fun."
When he gave her that frank and unguarded response, while Juna may not have
been lying, she still felt guilty. "No... Anyway, what are you up to, sire? I had heard
you were finished with your government work for the day."
"Ah, I did lie down to go to bed... But I just couldn't get to sleep, so I started
looking through the papers I was going to go over tomorrow. I figured, maybe it
would help me feel a little more sleepy," Souma said, glancing to the stack of papers
on his desk. Juna could see the tiredness in his expression.
"Could it be... You're not sleeping, lately?" Juna asked.
Souma scratched his head a little awkwardly. "My body's tired, but my mind just
won't let me get to sleep, you know. When I close my eyes and try to sleep, I end up
thinking about all sorts of things. About everything I've done, about everything there
still is to do, about whether the decisions I've made were right, about whether the
decisions I'm going to make are right... It all whirls around inside my head, and I just
can't get to sleep." Souma gave a weak laugh.
Juna remembered that ever since Souma had been summoned to this world, he
had been forced to carry many heavy burdens: getting the country back on its feet,
resolving the food crisis, and providing relief to the disaster area. Any one of these
would have been too heavy for Souma, who had been a student until just recently.
And now, this time, he needed to find a solution to the friction between him and the
three dukes, along with the problem of the Principality of Amidonia's maneuvering
in the shadows.
All that pressure must have been keeping him up at night. When that occurred to
her...
"Oh! ...Pardon me, a moment." Juna took Souma's hand and had him stand up.
"Huh? Hold on, what?" he stumbled.
Paying no mind to the flustered Souma, Juna pulled him by the hand, tugging him
over to the simple bed set up in a corner of the room, then pushing him down on it
with a thud. As Souma lay there, eyes wide, having just been laid down on the bed,
Juna spoke to him in a quiet tone.
"Please, sleep."
"Huh? J-Juna?"
"Please, just sleep." Juna, who always wore a warm smile, had an unusual
expression on her face. It was like one she might use to scold a naughty little
brother, stern, yet at the same time full of concern for the person she was talking to.
"I know things are difficult, but please take care of yourself. Princess Liscia is
worried, too."
"Liscia is?" he asked.
"Yes. She saw right through your front, sire. She knew something was wrong, and
sent me here. She asked me to do my best to indulge you."
"...Well, darn." Souma looked up at the ceiling, a wry grin on his face. "I had
thought... I was working hard and doing my best, you know..."
"You are working hard, sire. However, you work too hard." Juna sat down on the
edge of the bed, resting a hand on Souma's forehead. He could feel Juna's cool hand
robbing his forehead of warmth. While enjoying that pleasant sensation, Souma
closed his eyes.
As she watched Souma, Juna began to sing quietly:
Go to sleep, for tonight. Sleep until tomorrow.
When you wake, walk.
When you tire, sleep.
The longer you walk, the more hands there will be to support you.
It wasn't a song from Souma's world, but a lullaby from this one. A song mothers
sang to children who had learned to walk. A song that prayed that they would walk a
lot, sleep a lot, and grow up healthy. However, the line "The longer you walk, the
more hands there will be to support you" touched Souma's heart, bringing forth
tears.
Souma put his arm over his eyes, hiding them. "...Sorry. For letting you see me
look so uncool."
Juna smiled. "It's okay for you to whine now. Because I, too, am on your side."
As she said that, she gently stroked Souma's head.
"I can understand why you don't want to look bad in front of the princess," she
told him, letting her gentle voice stroke Souma's ears. "It's because of those feelings
that you're able to work hard and try to be strong. However, when you grow tired
from that, call me. On the nights you can't sleep, let me be there to sing for you."
Not long after, Juna heard his shallow breaths as he drifted off to sleep. His body
and mind were both more than exhausted enough for it. He must have fallen asleep
the moment his heart had been set at ease.
Juna rose from the bed, checked that Souma was fully asleep, and pulled a
blanket over him. Then, she headed for the door to make a silent departure, reached
for the handle, and... suddenly, she stopped. Juna made a U-turn back to the bed, and
pulling the hair hanging over her ear back, she brought her face to Souma's ear and
quietly whispered:
It's okay. I am on your side. If the princess brings out your strengths, then I will hide
your weakness