"HEY, don't cry, don't cry! I know this guy is kind of crude, condescending, and vulgar, but he's really just a softie who's incapable of thinking about anything too difficult, so he's handy as a meat shield!"
"Oi! I'll cut that boy and girl in half, for real!"
"And I'll put so many holes in you, you'll resemble a beehive, so you just sit there!"
"Oh? And how are you gonna do that with your hands tied?"
"Your hands are tied too, you brute!"
The two adults started bickering, exactly as they would six years in the future. Jill was amazed. Then she looked up, realizing that now was not the time to be relishing in her joy.
Zeke and Camila weren't her subordinates right now, so she couldn't give them orders. However, Sphere had remained frozen in fear the entire time.
"Please stop, both of you," Jill said. "You're frightening Lady Sphere."
"Hmph," grunted Zeke. "So what? Kids should keep their mouths—"
Jill suddenly got to her feet and tore off the iron shackles that had been binding her wrists. Silence fell over the storehouse.
"First, let's compare what we know," she said, taking charge.
"Oi, hold on a minute! What did you just do, all calmly like that?!" Zeke berated. "Was that a magic trick?!"
"…You possess magic power, don't you? Does that mean you've come from the Kratos Kingdom?" asked Camila calmly.
Jill nodded. Few people in the Rave Empire possessed magic power. And those in the Rave Empire who did possess it had come from the Kratos Kingdom.
"Oi… Does that mean this kid is that g—?"
"Are you two soldiers working for the Northern Division?" Jill asked, looking at the soldier uniforms Zeke, Camila, and the unconscious guard were wearing.
"That's right. We're not impersonators, we're real soldiers," Camila said. "This mess has been terrible for us in the Northern Division… What do you know about what's going on?"
"All we know is that the enemy has infiltrated the Northern Division by posing as their soldiers," Jill said. "They've taken over the naval port and taken Lady Sphere Beil here as a hostage. Isn't that right, Lady Sphere?" She turned to Sphere.
Sphere bowed her head slightly. "Y-Yes. Um, my name—is Sphere de Beil."
Camila looked at Jill and laughed. "You may be young, but you're pretty levelheaded. But Marquess Beil hates the Northern Division. Now his daughter is a hostage who got caught up in the raid of the naval port, which the Northern Division defends? Oh my… It's over for us."
"O-Over?" asked Sphere. "But they say a girl from Kratos was leading them here…"
"That's where things get fishy. The insurgents are looking for a kid who helped them. If you believe that guard over there, at least."
"Wh-What do you mean?" asked Sphere.
"Ugh…" Before they could answer Sphere's question, the guard who had been lying on the ground stirred. He seemed to have regained consciousness.
"Where am I…? W-Wait, where is that girl?! Why was only her jacket there?!"
"You woke up at the perfect time," said Camila. "Mr. Guard, do you remember us?"
"Yeah… You two heard the commotion and came to lend me a hand…"
Jill quietly moved beside Sphere, so the guard wouldn't be able to see her face.
"So, um…" said Sphere, "what does this mean? The insurgents who imprisoned us here are looking for the girl who helped them…?"
"It's not too difficult to figure out if you consider the possible outcomes of this," Camila said. "The assailants got in impersonating Northern Division soldiers, and then they took Marquess Beil's daughter hostage and barricaded the naval port. This would obviously mobilize Marquess Beil's private army. Even the young lady and the brute here can follow that much, right?"
"Are you so messed up in the head that you can't explain this without the extra commentary?" Zeke interjected.
"Then, what if Marquess Beil's incredible private army were to defeat the insurgents?" Camila continued, ignoring Zeke. "He would deem the Northern Division worthless, and we'd be withdrawn from Beilburg. Plus, if it turns out the girl His Majesty the Emperor had brought back with him had helped the insurgents, that, along with the blunder of his Northern Division, would be a huge blow for His Majesty. Fortuitously for Marquess Beil, on the day of his daughter's death, he might very well become unmatched politically in the empire for quite some time."
The color quickly drained from Sphere's face. Zeke snorted. "His daughter is the ultimate sacrifice. That's how an aristocrat would think… It's disgusting."
"I agree," Camila nodded. "But that hinges on a marvelous performance from the marquess, so we don't have to worry about that yet. That's not the main issue. When we heard Mr. Guard over there screaming and came running, that spy girl wasn't in her room. The enemy was panicking big time and asking Mr. Guard where the girl was. Isn't that right?"
"Y-Yes," the guard replied. "They kept asking me over and over where she was…but I had no idea either. Before I knew it, this was all that was left of her." The guard unfolded Jill's jacket and gave it a confused look.
Camila shrugged. "In other words, the enemy saying that the girl helped them is a lie. But the insurgents have nothing to gain from lying and saying that she helped them. There's someone in the shadows, giving them instructions. Who helped the insurgents, then? In this situation, who stands to ultimately gain from this…?"
"My father…" muttered Sphere, her tone laced with shock,.her face falling with the realization.
"It's how you say things," Zeke grumbled, poking Camila with the tip of his shoe. Camila just gave him a sly smile.
The guard blinked several times before asking, "Then does that mean they took advantage of the Northern Division too?"
"The guards were extremely short-staffed today. The aristocratic sons in the division were likely paid off. The only ones left are the commoners without any patrons. From our perspective, it doesn't make any logical sense," said Zeke.
"With all the commotion right now about not being able to find that girl, those guys might get arrested just like us. They'll probably eventually be killed too. There's no reason to keep them alive, is there?" added Camila.
The guard hung his head. Zeke plopped onto the floor to sit. "We'll have no choice but to flee the country during all the confusion once Marquess Beil's troops arrive," he said.
"Sh-Shouldn't you tell His Majesty the truth?!" asked Sphere.
"We can't," said Camila. "Guard, the fact that you drew the short end of the stick means you're a commoner like us, right Who's going to listen to us? We'll just join the pile of dead Northern Division soldiers."
"I… I'll listen," Sphere replied.
Zeke and Camila quietly turned their eyes towards her. In their eyes shone distrust towards the aristocracy, a privileged class. Even the guard, who seemed to be a good-natured person, looked uneasy.
"If you're going to ask us to help you, miss, we can't do that," said Zeke. "We've got our hands full at the moment trying to survive."
"I-I'm not. I want you all to go into hiding. I-If you can't hide in this country, you can hide abroad. I…I am His Majesty's teatime friend." As Sphere stumbled over her words to explain, the three soldiers looked at her with wide eyes.
"So, they shouldn't be able to kill me that easily," she continued. "And they'll need my testimony as a victim, even more so if they can't find the spy girl. I'll tell His Majesty the truth somehow. His Majesty isn't someone who would ignore something like this."
"But the Northern Division won't be able to escape blame for this," Camila replied. "He might sacrifice us to save his own tail."
"But he's the type of person who understands if you explain things to him! It's just that no one ever wants to talk to him. I'll talk to him and make him understand that you all have done nothing wrong. So, when you run away, please leave me behind." Sphere smiled, but it was clear to everyone that she was trying to act tough.
Zeke and Camila looked on in awe. The guard's eyes were wide.
Sphere was telling them to leave her behind because she would slow them down.
Oh… Maybe she was why Zeke and Camila deserted the Rave Empire.
In the alternate universe that was six years in the future, Sphere was dead. Some of the details of the event were probably different, but Marquess Beil had probably orchestrated some event to set up a blunder on the North Division's part. Zeke and Camila had gotten involved. The two of them were clever, so they had almost certainly become suspicious of Marquess Beil's ruse. And then, regardless of the particulars, Sphere had said something similar to what she had said just now, and the two of them had escaped.
But Sphere's father hadn't accepted what she had told him. Far from it—he had pinned her with the crime of killing the emperor's other fiancée candidates and probably forced her to commit suicide. If Marquess Beil had shamelessly insisted that Hadis take responsibility for this incident and that his daughter was innocent, despite the fact that he himself had killed her, then Jill could understand why Hadis had imposed the severe punishment of ending the Beil family line.
Afterwards, Zeke and Camila had become mercenaries in the Kratos Kingdom, where they had met Jill. They never did return to the Rave Empire. They never spoke much about how they ended up in the Kratos Kingdom, but if this was how, Jill wouldn't be surprised.
The girl who stayed behind, alone, to let them escape safely had been branded with dishonor and died. They hadn't been able to save her. Jill wouldn't have wanted to explain something like that either out of shame for her failure.
Jill was just guessing all of this, of course, but she didn't think her guess was very far off.
"You don't have to do that," Jill said. "There's another way that we can save everyone." The others looked at her. "Do you remember the face of the girl you were guarding?" she asked the guard.
"I do. Oh—I get it! We'll look for the girl and get her to testify?!"
"You won't need to do that."
Jill took off her hat. When she removed the pin and shook her head, her hair came tumbling down. She grabbed the jacket from the guard's hands and put it on.
Both Sphere and the guard who had been watching on in amazement shouted at the same time.
"WHAT?! I-I was just wondering where you had run off to!" shouted the guard.
"T-The…the girl Hadis brought back with him…!" sputtered Sphere.
"I knew it. I thought you were that girl," added Zeke.
"I would think so. There can't be that many kids here from Kratos," said Camila.
Zeke and Camila looked more relieved than surprised.
Jill looked at each of them. "My name is Jill Cervel. As you all have guessed, I'm the child who's being painted as a spy. In other words, I'm being framed just like the rest of you. But the enemy hasn't recognized me yet."
Jill looked at Zeke and Camila, who were still sitting on the floor. On her feet, she was just barely taller than them. "This is our opportunity for victory. Our plan doesn't need to be overly complicated—we'll save the captured soldiers, protect Lady Sphere, and take the naval port back from the insurgents."
"…So by saving this mistreated girl and taking back the naval port, you're going to clear yourself of suspicion of being a spy?" asked Camila.
"That's not all. If we protect Sphere and take back the naval port before Marquess Beil's private army arrives, the Northern Division will be redeemed. If that happens, others will surely start to think that someone was trying to stir up the suspicion that I was a spy. Marquess Beil won't be able to hush it all up that easily… But Sphere, you're the key to all this."
"Wh-What?" Sphere asked, sounding shaken.
Jill took one knee in front of Sphere, fixed her gaze on Sphere's large eyes, and tried to persuade her. "If you die, no matter what causes it, Marquess Beil will absolutely use you to his benefit. That's why I'm going to protect you."
"Y-You'll…p-protect me…?"
"Yes. But you will have to accuse your father of orchestrating this."
Sphere's face rapidly lost color.
"Can you do it? If you can't, he'll put an end to you too, sooner or later."
If Sphere couldn't do this, then even if they did save her, it would be meaningless. She needed to prepare herself to do this.
Sphere didn't lose her composure. Her expression was set with grim but brave resolve. "Can I ask you…just one thing?"
"As long as it's something I can answer."
"Wh-Why are you helping me? I'm your romantic rival!"
"I have no plans to fall in love with His Majesty at present, so I'm not your romantic rival, Lady Sphere," Jill said.
"What?!"
Sphere's expression transformed into one of shock.
If they didn't smooth over this point of contention, it would only turn into trouble later, so Jill carefully explained, "His Majesty and I are engaged for a reason—or, I suppose, we're already sort of married—but it's a totally separate thing. We're a married couple in name only. Neither of us have romantic feelings for the other. In fact, wouldn't it be a problem if His Majesty did have romantic feelings towards me, a ten-year-old child?"
"S-So…because of some deeper reason…Hadis…?"
We'll just leave it at that, thought Jill, dodging the question to avoid answering plainly.
Camila laughed. "M-Married in name only! Kids these days say the craziest things!"
"Oi!" said Zeke. "If that's true, then even if you do appeal to the emperor, you won't be able to get him to believe you, will you?"
"Th-That's true. You might have betrayed Hadis, after all…" Sphere said.
"Even if we're just married in name only, we both have our reasons for choosing each other to marry. The emperor won't let go of me so easily." Hadis needed Jill to prevent the curse, and Jill needed Hadis to avoid her engagement with Gerald. "Besides, I promised to make him happy."
"…Make Hadis happy?" Sphere repeated.
"Yes. So, I'm the same as you, Lady Sphere—I'm just someone on the emperor's side. Do you believe me?"
Sphere was silent. She looked like she was fighting to swallow a bitter pill. They didn't have much time to let her hesitate over this.
But Jill waited. Not even Zeke, Camila, or the guard hurried her.
Sphere was going to accuse her father of his criminal deeds, after all. Even though it was the right thing to do, it was natural to feel conflicted. Jill wouldn't have trusted someone who didn't hesitate to make that call. But she also couldn't help someone who couldn't make up their mind about it, either.
Sphere didn't run away from the uneasy decision. "I believe you, Lady Jill. I'll…accuse my father."
In which case, Jill wanted to live up to the weight of Sphere's decision.
"All right. I'll protect you with everything I have… I really respect your courage." Jill put her hand over her chest and gave a knight's bow.
Sphere's cheeks flushed red, and she blinked repeatedly. "I-I can't do much, but I appreciate it," she said.
"Oi! Are you really ten years old? And a girl, not a boy?" Zeke asked.
"Her age and gender don't matter, Zeke. She's just born that way," Camila said.
"Then let's get started," Jill continued. "We don't have much time. If we don't sort this out before Marquess Beil's private army gets here, they'll steal all the credit for themselves."
Ignoring the whispering going on behind her, Jill tore off Sphere, Zeke, and Camila's handcuffs with her bare hands.
"Even a kid can break iron that easily? I've heard stories about magic, but I guess it's not something you should underestimate, huh?" Zeke said, sounding impressed as he looked at his freed hands.
"Magic isn't that strong," said Camila. "This kid is a little unusual."
"Th-That's not a nice thing to say about the emperor's fiancée…" the guard muttered.
"That reminds me, I haven't heard your name yet," Jill said, putting her hands on his chains.
After giving Jill a curious look, the guard nervously replied, "C-Camila has been calling me by my name this entire time… It's Gard."
"Huh?"
"…A truth born from a falsehood, I suppose," said Camila.
"Y-You mean you've been calling me by my name without knowing it?! How did you… Oh, 'guard'?!" the guard—or rather, Gard—cried plaintively.
Sphere smiled slightly.
Zeke got to his feet and did a few calisthenics while muttering, "So, what's the plan? Even if we steal their weapons along the way, the best we could manage with such little fighting power is to launch a surprise attack and escape."
"First, we'll leave here, free the other Northern Division soldiers who are captured like us, and then get them to fight with us," Jill said. "I imagine they're either locked up or barricaded somewhere."
Gard snapped his free hand upward. "I-I heard the other soldiers are being held at the church! But I also heard that many of them are wounded…"
"It doesn't seem like they're going to be able to fight with us then," said Camila. "Maybe it would be best for us to escape on our own after all?"
"We shouldn't abandon the Northern Division. If they hold a grudge against us and later say that we're spies and that we've tricked Lady Sphere, it'll cause even more trouble," Jill said with a nonchalant air. They needed to cooperate with the Northern Division and make people realize that they all protected the marquess's daughter.
Zeke and Camila exchanged glances.
"If you have a plan, then fine," said Camila.
"We've come too far to turn back now. Let's see what you can do," Zeke said.
"Then Gard, you'll lead the way," Jill ordered with a practiced air. "Zeke and Camila, you'll protect Lady Sphere."
"That's fine by me," said Zeke, staring at Jill with a puzzled expression, "but who's going to be protecting you?"
Camila winced. "Your face says you don't need protection… I know you're probably used to fighting, but does Kratos really draft children this young into the military if they have magic power?"
"That's not why…" Jill trailed off. "This is just my family's code. You don't have to worry about me."
"You do have magic power, and I did just say, 'Let's see what you can do,' but you're just a kid," said Zeke bluntly as Camila pat Jill's head and Gard nodded along. "You just tell us your plan, and we'll carry it out. If you screw up and get spotted by the enemy, you'll just get in the way."
As Jill wondered how to handle this, Sphere took her hand. "Let's not interfere," she said.
"That's right," Camila added. "Plus, if we protect the future empress consort—if we aren't deceived by the enemies—we'll be praised for that achievement."
This made Jill see the situation from a different perspective. She could facilitate the Northern Division receiving a reward of merit for protecting Sphere as well as herself.
Besides, Jill didn't doubt Zeke and Camila's abilities.
I was the one who trained them to develop their magic powers, after all… But maybe I could make up the difference for that shortcoming, at least.
"…In that case, I'll take you up on your kind offer and count on you guys," Jill said.
"Hmph. Shoulda said that from the beginning. Now, what do we do first to break out of here?" Zeke asked.
"I am, however, going to blast through the wall," Jill added.
Sphere froze. Jill let go of her hand, walked over to the wall of the storehouse, and put her hand against it. Camila started panicking.
"What?! Wait, are you serious?! You can do something like that? Wait—"
"We don't have time, so save any complaints you have for later." Jill took her right fist and, with her magic power enhancing it, slammed it against the wall with all her might. There was a beat of silence, and then a staggering sound rang out, and the wall of the storehouse collapsed.
"By the way, people used to call me the Sergeant from Hell." Jill kept the words "It was you two" hidden behind the smirk on her face.
Amidst the screams and bellows of their enemies, Jill turned to face her party's dumbfounded expressions.
"I'm expecting great things from you guys. It'll be fine—just don't die, and I'll back you up."
WHEN the man heard the commotion outside, he couldn't bring himself to care, like the noise was someone else's problem entirely.
It doesn't matter. My life is over…all because the emperor was so incompetent…
Somehow, insurgents had infiltrated and taken over the naval port, all thanks to the help of the child the emperor had brought back with him. Apparently, the insurgents had even taken the marquess's daughter hostage. The commotion outside was surely Marquess Beil's private army, who were rumored to be a force of elite soldiers, charging into the port.
The man didn't have much hope that the marquess's private army would come save him. The naval port had been overrun, and if the marquess's daughter were to die, the Northern Division would be held responsible. The first ones who would be punished for this would be people like him—the underlings.
The Northern Division was part of the imperial army. This man had no education or skills—he only had his youth and his strength going for him—and of all the jobs he could do, this one had paid the best. If he could send more money back to his family, that was all that had mattered. The man supposed he had just been unlucky to die in such a shameful manner.
The man really did think it was weird—why did only the soldiers from common birth get caught? Those nobles who were always so stuck-up and said they were so different—where did they go?
But the man supposed that he would never know the truth. In life, these things happen sometimes. If the man were to survive, the only thing he'd be able to do would be to disparage the cursed emperor from the shadows, declaring the empire doomed while drowning his sorrows.
After all, that would be the only life fitting for a man like me.
That's what the man believed, so when he saw the church ceiling panel open, he couldn't believe his eyes. Then, when that girl they were calling a spy jumped down from the ceiling, he was utterly speechless.
"You!" shouted one of the insurgents who had been patrolling the inside of the church. "Where did you come fr—?!"
The insurgent was then thrown against the wall and knocked unconscious. As the man stood there gawking, he was suddenly grabbed by the back of the head and forced forward. The other patrolling insurgent's sword swept just above him. Just as the man realized that his life had been saved, the insurgent was kicked in the stomach and crumbled to his knees.
"I've come to save you," said the girl.
Because of the situation the man had found himself in, he felt those words of salvation like a weight in the pit of his stomach.
With a snap, his ropes were torn away from him like they were made of paper. A small hand reached out to him. Now that the man was finally free, he sat up. The girl was just a child, but her dignified gaze in the gloomy church pierced right through him.
"Four people are about to enter the church," she said. "One of them will be Lady Sphere of the Beil family."
"You…you rescued her?" the man asked.
"Yes."
"But you're…the spy."
"My name is Jill Cervel. By order of His Majesty the Emperor, I've come to save you all."
The loudest stirring yet erupted from the Northern Division soldiers.
"No way… His Majesty the Emperor?"
"That cursed emperor is going around saving people—and commoners like us, at that? What an idiot…"
"This is a self-staged attack by Marquess Beil himself," Jill explained. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried throughout the church. "It's a trap he's laid to ensure the ruin of the Northern Division and to tear down the emperor's political support. Lady Sphere has been unwittingly used as a pawn. He has cast suspicion on me of being a spy. However," she added emphatically, "we cannot let his despicable actions be carried out! No—we will not let them be carried out!"
This was not the voice of a little girl. It was the voice of someone in an elevated position, leading others into action.
"Those of you who can move, build barricades as soon as Lady Sphere is under the protection of the church! Injured soldiers, your injuries are badges of honor! They are nothing to feel ashamed of! Soldiers, don't forget that you are fighting for the empire—for His Majesty the Emperor! We will take back this naval port with our own hands! Troops, prepare for battle!"
All the soldiers straightened their backs and returned the salute they had learned by heart. That moment was the first time the Northern Division had shown a willingness to oppose their enemies.
HADIS looked up, sensing magic power. It had come from the naval port.
"Hadis! Hadis, get a load of this! Your wife is too funny!"
Hadis's dragon partner, whom he'd asked to check on Jill, phased through the wall and appeared in the kitchen..Rave was laughing so boorishly, the dignity of the Dragon God be damned, that Hadis, who had been keeping an eye on the fresh cream, flicked a cold look up at him.
"Didn't I tell you to protect her? I'm in the middle of preparing her welcome here."
"But she said she didn't need me. That girl is something else! She really doesn't need me. She escaped with her own strength, and then when I found her, she was fighting enemies in the church."
At this unexpected reply, the hand that had been whisking the fresh cream froze.
"What? Fighting? Why would she do that?"
"She said, 'I'm tied up at the moment,' and told me to go back to you! Like the Dragon God was just getting in her way!" Rave cackled with laughter and ate one of the peach slices Hadis had cut up for decoration. "Mmm… Yummy. What are you making?"
"Peach mousse. Now stop stealing my ingredients and answer me—what in the dragon realm is going on?"
"Lady Sphere is being protected at the church," Rave said. "The surviving Northern Division soldiers are fighting valiantly to push back the enemies under the command of your wife. She said they're going to take back the naval port. Incredible—just incredible!"
"The naval port… She was serious when she said that, was she?"
"I'd say she was serious, as she's currently doing it."
Since Jill had previously fought with such a large amount of magic power, Hadis had expected that she could escape on her own, but he never thought that she would go so far as to reclaim the naval port.
"She really kicked butt with a speech she gave in the emperor's name," Rave said, sounding especially amused. "The Northern Division believes you sent her to save them. She's making your reputation shoot through the roof."
"…So she's going to save them all? What a reckless plan to come up with…" Though exasperated, Hadis pondered this as he combined the mousse and the whipped cream.
Her actions would preserve the honor of the Northern Division soldiers. Hadis, who wouldn't have been able to do anything on his own, even began to see a way to save Sphere.
"Is there any chance of the attackers escaping?" he asked. "Is there any damage to the town so far?"
"They've just been fighting inside the naval port, so there's no damage to the town. The little miss has been destroying things here and there, cutting off the paths of retreat. That's right—she's even destroyed their ships in the harbor too."
"So, she's going to capture the attackers and prevent Marquess Beil from weaseling his way out of this? My wife is brilliant…" Hadis said in awe.
She wasn't just going to clear the Northern Division's name; she was even going to position them as heroes. And if that was the case, they could assert that the naval port being overtaken wasn't a failure of the Northern Division, but part of their strategy. Moreover, if they could drag Marquess Beil out from where he was pulling the strings from behind the scenes…
I thought that she would have escaped with Sphere, at most… She's much more talented than I had imagined.
But just how much destruction had been wrought? Hadis began calculating the damage costs but stopped halfway through.
"Let's squeeze the rebuilding expenses out of the Beil family," he decided. "That should be better than severing their family line."
"Oh? Then we are going to settle things amicably?" Rave asked.
"I don't know if it'll be amicable, but there is a point of compromise."
"That's great!"
Hadis, who'd been pouring the mousse into a mold, blinked in confusion at Rave's remark.
"Lady Sphere, the Northern Division, the Beil family… Now you don't have to resign yourself to forsaking or killing them, right?" Rave said. "Instead of carrying out a reign of terror, maybe you could become an emperor that's not hated by everyone."
Hadis's eyes widened in amazement. Belatedly, a restless feeling welled up inside of him.
"…Y-You mean…I can become an emperor that's liked by everyone…?!"
"No, I wouldn't go that far. But that girl's a good consort, isn't she? She might actually make you happy after all, huh?"
"P-Please don't…say that…" Hadis's heart abruptly started to race. He pressed a hand over his mouth. "I-I feel sick… W-Water…"
"And, yeah…maybe do something about that habit of yours… It's shameful. She'll totally dump you."
"D-Don't say things that! It's bad for my heart! Why would she dump me?"
"I mean, you're not even doing anything right now," Rave pointed out.
Hadis froze, so water trickled from the tilted jug, spilling onto his apron.
"Oi, you're spilling! Towel, get a towel! If you get wet, you'll catch a cold!"
"…W-Well, I was making peach mousse… Is that not enough?! Oh! What if I went and annihilated Marquess Beil's private army?!" Hadis exclaimed.
"Don't go annihilating an army that hasn't done anything yet because you're worked up!" Rave chided him. "Isn't that reverting to a reign of terror…?"
"Then what do I do to make her like me?! I don't know! This is so difficult!"
"If you don't know, then at least make her wishes come true!"
"Okay, so then I should just finish the mousse, right?!"
"That's not—actually, maybe you're right?! What?! Hold on—am I no better at this than you are…?" Rave asked, absolutely baffled.
After a sideways glance at him, Hadis started taking off his wet apron. Just then, the door to the kitchen opened. Soldiers shuffled inside. On the sleeves of their uniforms was the crest of the Beil family.
These were soldiers from Marquess Beil's private army.
"Pardon us, Your Majesty. Marquess Beil has instructed us to guard you!"
"Guard? I'm busy making mousse right now. Please don't go kicking up dust," Hadis replied earnestly.
The soldier snorted. "We've received reports that the attackers who have overtaken the naval port are headed for this castle. As a precaution, the marquess would like for you to take shelter at a safe location, Your Majesty."
Marquess Beil must have been panicking about the possibility that the Northern Division would recapture the naval port. Hadis felt exasperated by their makeshift plans to buy time so that he couldn't see Jill.
But this situation must have been much more than Marquess Beil had expected.
How could he be at the mercy of a ten-year-old girl that easily? Hadis thought, and then he grinned. Doesn't that go for me too?
There was no way Hadis, the girl's husband, was the same as Marquess Beil.
The soldiers remained at the ready, their hands at the hilt of their swords. Their employer, Marquess Beil, had probably told them not to let Hadis run away, which was funny. There was no reason for the emperor to run away.
He would just cool the mousse. He would put the decorations on later.
"I don't want any dust to be kicked up—stay where you are and kneel before me."
Hadis removed his triangular bandana. His gold eyes glowed, and magic power shot out from under his feet like a ripple. The castle shook.
JILL felt the ground shake for a moment and instinctively stopped moving.
An earthquake… No… Magic? No way—did something happen to Hadis?
Jill had thought that Hadis would be fine if Rave was with him, but she hadn't even made sure that Rave could fight.
Hadis was supposed to be incredibly strong, but he seemed to vomit blood and collapse at the moment of victory, so Jill was out of her mind with worry. She decided that the next time she wound up in a situation like this, the very first thing she would do would be to make sure her husband was safe. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to concentrate on the battle in front of her.
All that man had to do was cook delicious meals and sweets and quietly wait for her to come home to him.
"Oi, hurry up! I don't know how long the church is gonna hold out!" Zeke shouted, swinging his sword and clearing the way.
From behind, Camila drew her bow and shot through the thick chords of a loading platform. The logs rolled off it, blocking the path to leave.
Now was not the time to be worrying about Hadis.
"That was the last boat! Let's go back!" Grabbing Zeke and Camila by the collar, Jill kicked off into the sky. Zeke shouted in alarm.
"Say something before you start flying! I coulda bit my tongue…!"
"Just who are you really, Jill?!" Camila asked.
As they followed the rooftops of the buildings on their way back to the church, Zeke and Camila hurled their grievances at Jill, but she didn't have time to answer them.
Jill kicked off the castle rampart to avoid being seen by the enemy as much as possible, leaped to the roof of the church, and jumped down from the skylight inside.
Amidst the nervous figures wondering if the sudden visitors were the enemy, Sphere came up to greet them.
"Lady Jill! You're all here!"
"What's the situation?" Jill asked.
Gard stood at attention and replied, "As you ordered, we barricaded the entrances and windows and fought defensively. We are surrounded…but the situation is the same as before you left, Captain."
"…Captain?" Jill asked, pointing at her own face.
Gard and the other soldiers nodded. "We all decided to call you that. If we call you by your name, the enemy will know your real identity, and you've taken command, so…"
"I see. I'll take you up on that, then. I appreciate everyone's concern."
The enemy had probably figured out that Jill was in the naval port the moment she had broken out of the storehouse, but this was bigger than that. Faced with the soldiers' concern and hope for her, she had changed her tone of voice and given them a salute.
Their prospects in this fight, however, were not good. Half of the soldiers in the church were injured. Only ten of them could fight, and that was including Jill and the others.
But even though the soldiers were still trapped, the mental strain was different when they were surrounded by allies, not held captive by enemies. The soldiers that could move had helped build the barricades and had gone deeper into the church, looking for anything potentially useful. Even the morale of the soldiers with weapons in their hands was boosted.
"Those guys lost their ships," Zeke said. "They won't be able to escape that easily. It's finally time to fight 'till the end."
"Of course you would suggest that, you meathead," said Camila. "If we do something like that, we'll lose."
"Isn't that why we destroyed their ships and cut off their paths of retreat? Why else would we do—"
"So that the attackers won't be able to get away when Marquess Beil's private army charges in," Jill explained. "They'll change their tactics to avoid being killed by Marquess Beil's troops."
Even if they were working together behind the scenes, outwardly, they were Marquess Beil's enemies. With the Northern Division fighting like this, Marquess Beil's private army was sure to begin attacking the insurgents. This would increase the insurgents' chances of being killed in the commotion to keep them from talking. Now, the insurgents were likely searching for a way to avoid being disposed of by Marquess Beil.
"But isn't there a possibility they'll get desperate and charge at us?" Zeke asked.
"I don't think they'll keep going until they totally annihilate us. The most important thing for hired mercenaries is their profit. Right now, they'll either be running around trying to find an escape route, or—" Before Jill could finish explaining the situation, a voice rang out from outside.
"Hey, Northern Division! I'm the leader of these guys—let's make a deal!" The voice sounded more youthful than Jill had expected. "You have that spy girl with you, right? Why don't you give her to us? If you do, we won't lay a hand on the marquess's daughter, and we'll pull out of the naval port. If you don't, we might just set fire to the church."
One of the soldiers keeping watch outside from the crack of a window blocked up with church pews reported, "I see archers readying their bows at us! They're using fire arrows too…"
Camila grimaced. "The walls here may be made of brick, but many parts are made of wood. If they use fire arrows, this place will burn down in no time."
"…Now we're under threat of being totally wiped out," Zeke groaned. "What do we do, Captain? There's no way we can regain the naval port."
"That's not true," Jill said with a smile. "The enemy's leader has finally come out of hiding."
"You hear me?! We'll wait forty seconds! Tie up that girl and bring her here before time's up!" the insurgent leader demanded. "One!" he began counting down.
Jill quickly looked around.
No one averted Jill's gaze. Even in this unfortunate position, no one seemed to be considering handing her over to the enemy. Even Sphere, who was helping treat the wounded soldiers, shook her head as soon as Jill looked at her, as if to stop her from doing anything.
Looks like they all have hope this will go well.
Everyone seemed to be waiting for Jill to give them instructions. Whenever people looked at her like that, it was in Jill's nature to want to rise to the occasion.
"I'll go," she said.
"Wait," Camila spoke up. "Did you forget that we said we have to protect you too?"
"That's right!" Sphere exclaimed. "If Lady Jill's going to be the only sacrifice, I'll go too…!"
"I'll be okay, Lady Sphere. We're not going to screw up and ruin the plan now."
Sphere, now on her feet, blinked.
Jill put out her wrists pressed together and ordered them to tie her up. Zeke clicked his tongue and told the soldiers that could move to bring them rope. Camila's brows furrowed as she tied Jill's hands together.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Yes… Take care of Sphere," Jill whispered so low that only Camila could hear. "The most effective trump card against Marquess Beil is Lady Sphere, the victim, not me, the spy. It doesn't seem like he'll give up."
"So there might be an enemy in the church, right?"
"The priest ought to be around here. I'll leave him to you."
Camila held Jill's gaze and then nodded. She left to go whisper the information to Zeke. Now Sphere would be safe.
"Gard, please be the one to hand me over—that's an order from your captain."
Gard swallowed back the objection that had been on hi tongue and then nodded.
They were now past thirty seconds. It was time.
"P-Please come back safely…!" Gard muttered in a small voice before shouting over the counting, "We'll take the deal! We'll…we'll hand over the spy girl, so please stop!" His trembling voice actually seemed appropriate for the situation.
"All right, then come on out!"
"You won't attack the second I open the door, will you?!"
"Of course not. We need to get ready to get out of here, so we don't have quite enough time to kill you guys."
With a creak, the door opened inward.
Behind Jill, everyone was hidden, surrounded by the rebuilt barricade.
It was still light outside. The man who seemed to be the insurgent leader took a step forward. He seemed young to be the leader. Jill observed him leisurely, noting that although he seemed flippant, his expression was focused and fearless.
"All right. That's the kid. Nice work."
The moment he confirmed Jill's identity, the leader, still wearing the uniform of the Northern Division, put one hand in the air. The soldiers behind him readied the fire arrows.
"And farewell—"
Jill kicked off the ground and kneed the leader square in the face before the fire arrows could be shot. She then scrambled onto his back and started choking him.
"If you value your leader's life, fall back!" she shouted.
"She's bluffing! Don't worry about me, kill this brat—"
Jill waved her right hand and blasted all the enemies around them away. While she was at it, she also snapped the watchtower in front of the church in two and made it fall towards the group of insurgents who were attempting to shoot fire arrows from a separate location.
"Wh-What…?"
"I'm the one who went around destroying your boats, by the way." Stepping on the leader's back, Jill snapped her fingers. "Choose: either we'll all die here, or you'll stop resisting and surrender quietly."
"…Haha! I underestimated you, huh? Hey! Now!" the leader shouted towards the church. "Take care of the marquess's daugh—" He stopped mid-sentence.
Zeke had just kicked the priest, whom Sphere had turned to for advice, out of the church. He tumbled outside.
"Unfortunately for you, Lady Sphere is safe," Zeke said.
"I never in a million years expected a priest to attack us with a knife! What is this world coming to?" Camila added.
The insurgent leader, whom Jill was still stepping on, went limp. "…I'll be more than enough to satisfy, won't I? Please let my subordinates go," he requested.
It was quite a chivalrous thing to say. Zeke and Camila looked at each other. Jill answered frankly. "Only if you tell us who hired you."
"…You already know, don't you? Marquess Beil."
"Can you tell that to His Majesty the Emperor?" she pressed.
"My words aren't that important. To those high-and-mighty people, fellas like us are nothin' but trash."
"Ch-Chief! Chief!" cried one of the insurgents, running toward them. "Marquess Beil attacked us! That's not what we agreed—"
Just then, the man was shot through the chest with an arrow and fell to the ground, dead. Sphere, who had left the church, let out a high-pitched scream.
The leader of the insurgents tried to run, but Jill held him back. His eyes were murderous.
"Hold on!" Jill hissed.
"You little…!"
"Do you want everyone to die?! I know that you guys were all just sacrificial pawns to him, and I'll help you as much as I can, so just hold on for now…!" she ordered.
The leader's eyes widened. Knights emerged behind the fallen insurgent. The organized and well-disciplined movements seemed well beyond that of a private army. They had probably been rigorously trained.
"…Are you the child that deceived His Majesty the Emperor?" Of all the imposing knights in formation, the only man riding a horse had moved forward.
"Father…" Sphere said in a feeble voice.
The marquess was an intense-looking man. He looked down at Jill with scorn in his eyes. He had often looked at her with this expression at the Kratos royal castle too.
"You're a Kratos witch, even at your young age? You're a monster."
Jill smiled at him. "It's nice to meet you, Marquess Beil. The Northern Division has recaptured the naval port. You were just a moment too late in coming to their aid."
"What do you mean?" he sneered. "I arrived just in time."
Jill flung the leader of the insurgents towards Zeke. There was no way she was going to let the marquess steal credit for their hard-fought achievement.
Marquess Beil grinned and raised his hand. At the same time, a massive shadow suddenly blanketed them from above.
Jill looked up—it was a dragon. The fire spewing from its mouth wasn't ordinary fire. They were Flames of Judgement, fire that had been bestowed to dragons by the Dragon God and which burned through everything, even magic.
"It makes no difference if I finish you all off now," he said.
"Everyone, get inside the church!" Jill shouted.
She could keep herself out of the flames' reach without a problem, but if she did so, the dragon would burn down the church. She had no choice but to prevent the attack entirely. Jill widened her stance and looked upwards. Up in the sky, the dragon opened its mouth.
Bring it on!
A gentle puff of smoke came out of the dragon's mouth.
As Jill blinked in surprise, the dragon, with its wings still extended, plummeted to the ground. The dragon's enormous body squashed Marquess Beil's army. Dust billowed upwards. Jill could hear a horse neighing.
Amidst the chorus of screams, Marquess Beil, who seemed to have fallen from his horse, bellowed angrily at the dragon, "Wh-What are you doing?! Get up! Attack!"
"A dragon could never do such a thing before the Dragon Emperor," came a clear voice from behind them. The undercurrent of Hadis's words, however, was not as gentle as his tone of voice.
The chaos immediately subsided, as if everyone had been doused with cold water. The pressure and magic power around the emperor were so strong that goosebumps broke out over Jill's skin, just like they had before in the Kratos Kingdom. Jill gulped.
Marquess Beil had only managed to wriggle his upper body out from under the dragon. "Y-Your Majesty…" he gasped, breathing heavily. "Why are you here?"
"There was no way I'd evacuate to a safe location and abandon my wife." Suddenly, with both arms outstretched, Hadis lifted Jill from behind. "You are uninjured, my amethyst?"
"Y-Yes. Are you feeling well, Your Majesty?"
Jill looked up, worried about the fact that Rave was nowhere to be found. Hadis looked pleased—the muscles around his mouth were relaxed.
"It makes me happy that you were worried about me. By the way, what happened to the naval port?"
Jill quickly tried to jump down from his arms, but she couldn't break free from his grip on her. She silently glowered at him. Hadis smiled back. He seemed to have no intention of letting her go.
Reluctantly, Jill gave her report from Hadis's arms. "…The enemy spread disinformation that the naval port had been totally overtaken. The moment the Northern Division soldiers learned that Lady Sphere and I had been captured by the enemy, they launched a rescue mission and took the port back from the insurgents, all while protecting us."
"Your Majesty! Do you still not understand that that girl is a spy?! She's actually working with the people who captured the port!" accused Marquess Beil, pointing to the insurgent leader.
The leader wasn't even being restrained; Zeke was just holding his arm. Even if the marquess was just delaying the inevitable, when Jill saw the insurgent leader gaze at the marquess in amazement and then smirk, she bit her lip.
To the insurgent leader, Marquess Beil's army was the most imminent threat. If he testified that Jill was a spy, Marquess Beil would probably protect him, even if only temporarily. Unless Jill presented a more appealing option to him, it would be senseless for him to accuse Marquess Beil. Without the marquess's protection, Hadis would simply execute the insurgent leader.
Marquess Beil looked foolish, with the lower half of his body still crushed by the dragon, but his expression was triumphant. "There are still enemies in the naval port. Please believe us and wait for us in the castle, Your Majesty. If you want to say that the girl was just taken advantage of by the insurgents and that she should be pitied, that's fine by me. I would be willing to explain that to everyone else."
It was a roundabout threat—sweep the matter under the rug in exchange for saving Jill. Just as Jill was about to lambaste him for his duplicity, Hadis muttered, "Ruling with terror does still seem like an appealing option…"
"…What did you just say, Your Majesty?" Marquess Beil asked.
"Oh, no, it's nothing— Rave, shut up, I know. I'm a married man now. I can't let my wife's hard work go to waste… The reign of terror is an absolute no-go." As Hadis muttered these incomprehensible things, perhaps talking to Rave inside his body, he put Jill down. Then he walked straight up to Zeke and the others.
Jill had no idea what Hadis was planning to do—all she could do was look on.
"You all have done incredibly well. Zeke, Camila, and Gard, was it?"
Zeke and Camila looked at each other when their names were called. Gard's voice trembled, "…W-We're just commoners, and Your Majesty knows our names… Why…?"
"Why? The Northern Division is part of the imperial army. It would be bizarre if I didn't know the names and faces of the people who served in my army, at least."
The three of them stared back at Hadis, flabbergasted. Hadis then looked at the insurgent leader.
"And—you're of the Northern Division too."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Zeke asked. "This guy's… H-Hey!"
Hadis, who plucked the insurgent leader away from Zeke, grabbed the man by the back of the collar and lifted him up.
"You were appointed here so suddenly, it's not surprising you don't know what I look like. Hello there, it's nice to meet you. I'm your emperor."
"What…? I'm… Gah!" A croaking sound escaped from the insurgent leader's throat.
Hadis carried on in a clear voice. "The uniform of the Northern Division suits you well. You've certainly been through an ordeal so soon into your new appointment, haven't you? You've done well to survive. Now, please report the information you and your squad have gathered about the one behind this."
"U-Um, Your Majesty, what in the dragon realm are you…?" asked Gard, bewildered.
Hadis ignored him and threw the insurgent leader on the ground. He looked up at Hadis, coughing. "I'm afraid my wife seems to want to save everyone, even sacrificial pawns."
Jill stared at Hadis with wide eyes. The insurgent leader looked at him in astonishment.
"And I've decided to kneel before my wife." Looking down at the insurgent leader with cold eyes, Hadis put a hand on the hilt of his sword. "But I'm also fickle. I'm quick to change my mind, so you'd better decide quickly."
The insurgent leader looked back, speechless.
"Y-Your Majesty!" cried Marquess Beil, his face white. "What are you saying?! You can't really be—"
"I, Hugo, officially took up my post with the Northern Division today," said the insurgent leader, kneeling before Hadis. "I will report whatever you wish, Your Majesty."
This was Hugo announcing that he was willing to become Hadis's pawn. Hadis gave a small grin.
"Then that settles one thing. My wife is innocent. You're next, Marquess Beil."
"N-No one would ever admit to this sort of—"
The rest of Marquess Beil's sentence died in his throat when Hadis stepped on his head. With the sole of his shoe pressed against the back of the marquess's skull, he admonished him as if he were scolding a child.
"You're as good as dead. Dead people don't talk."
"…Y…You can't treat a marquess like this, even if you are the emperor! You'll pay for this!"
"I told you. If my wife was innocent, she'd be appropriately compensated. Did you really think you could engineer my downfall with such a ridiculous plan? You dared to underestimate the Dragon Emperor?"
Hadis tilted his head as he assessed the marquess.
"What sort of execution shall I carry out? It's hard to think of how I could possibly torment a father who would have killed his own daughter to use as ammunition to criticize his emperor. Or perhaps you feel differently about the daughter you have with your second wife?"
Marquess Beil gasped.
"Oh! You've gone pale. I guess all humans have some sentiment, after all. Good. I probably won't lose all hope in humanity, then. All right, let's start from there. Will she be burned at the stake? Tortured? This is all because of you and your own incompetence. Poor girl."
"Y-You…!"
"But I don't really have a fondness for hurting people. So how about this? Beg for your pathetic life. And give Beilburg to me."
Hadis's expression was one of a dictator, but he smiled benevolently.
Seeing this, Camila rubbed at the goosebumps that had erupted on both of her arms. "Oh dear, the emperor's a heartbreaker, isn't he? …My heart just skipped a beat!"
"Isn't that being a little too soft? He shouldn't forgive what happened here so easily," Zeke said.
"What?" said Sphere. "U-Um… So, what's going to happen to Father now?"
"His Majesty says that if he admits to all his wrongdoings and gives him Beilburg, he'll be spared," Jill whispered.
Sphere clasped her hands together as if she had been given a newfound hope. Her prayer, however, was interrupted by a shout of laughter from Marquess Beil.
"You think you've shown me mercy?! Oh, the emperor who drove his mother to suicide is indeed kind!"
Everyone froze in the face of Marquess Beil's contempt. Hadis's face went blank.
"How many people died before you became emperor? How many people have you killed?! I did the right thing! I tried to protect my country—my territory—from the cursed emperor! From this monster in human skin!"
Hadis let him rant without saying anything.
"There are people who sympathize with me, but no one would defend you! No one in this country wants you as emperor. No one even wants you alive!"
Everyone watched on, waiting for Hadis's response with bated breath.
The cursed emperor.
The silence seemed to affirm this rumor, but just as Jill was about to step forward into it, Hadis quietly replied, "You're probably right."
Jill gazed at Hadis in shock. His answer was unbelievable.
"But I am the emperor. Whether you want me to be or not. I'm not going to demand that you understand." Then, in a final, nearly inaudible mutter that only Jill could hear, "That would mean depending on other people…"
"Zeke. Camila. Take Marquess Beil with you," Hadis ordered.
Zeke and Camila obeyed, though confused.
Marquess Beil was dragged away, laughing all the while. When the sound of his voice became muffled, Hadis turned back towards them, walked past Jill, and looked at Sphere. Sphere, her face ghastly pale, stepped forward, trembling.
"U…Um, Hadis… I'm so sorry about my father—"
"You don't have to worry. I'm not going to take your life."
Sphere fell to her knees, alternating between thanking Hadis and apologizing to him.
Hadis smiled and shook his head.
Jill stared at his profile. She wondered if that face would ever show the man's true feelings, but even after everything was said and done, Hadis's emperor mask never cracked.
"I asked him, 'Aren't you pushing yourself too hard?' But I guess he has no choice," said Rave.
After dinner and a bath at Marquess Beil's castle—the castle that would be transferred to Emperor Hadis—Rave had appeared in front of Jill under the guise of being her guide and was now sitting atop her head.
There was no one else around. Hadis hadn't shown up for dinner either, so Jill had eaten the peach mousse all by herself. Hadis really didn't have any other choice—he didn't trust Marquess Beil's servants to remain in the castle.
Everyone from the marquess's living quarters had been ordered to leave. Since these living quarters made up the entire fifth floor of the castle, Rave was showing Jill the way to her bedroom.
"He can't let it show on his face every single time he gets hurt, can he? He may be an idiot, but he is the emperor, so he keeps these things in mind so that people won't underestimate him. Naturally, he's had the ability and capacity to become emperor from the very beginning… Although that might come as a surprise going off the way he acts normally."
"Yes. I thought he seemed much calmer." Jill had assumed Hadis would have been angrier or more agitated, but he hadn't looked or acted that way at all. "But I hadn't expected him to be able to make such cruel facial expressions or be so threatening, so that was also surprising," she added.
"Well, that… Yeah… I'm in the process of course correcting so that he doesn't rule with terror, so…"
"But I don't think it's good for him to act like that—pretend like he's not hurt when someone hurts him," Jill said. "If that becomes his natural reaction one day, he'll stop feeling anything altogether, and he won't have any empathy for himself or for others… I don't think that would be a good thing for the emperor as a person."
And then Hadis would become merciless. Naturally, he would then be treated with malice, and so, because nothing could hurt him, Hadis would turn into the sort of man who could calmly order a massacre. Jill had seen that outcome for herself.
"I see… It's true that being alienated from people for so long has given him a poor sense of personal boundaries," Rave admitted. "He tends to take things very seriously and to extremes. He believes that if only he could get rid of the curse somehow, then everyone would like him, and he'd make 100 friends—seriously. The happy family plan played a part in that."
"Why did you raise him like that…? That's absolutely going to backfire!" Jill shouted.
"I didn't have a choice! If I didn't make him believe that it was all the curse, that no one was at fault, and that people were inherently good, so many awful things would have happened! Like with his mom… His mom was to blame, but he…he couldn't hear me," Rave said sadly.
That sort of distraction was doomed to failure. And yet, Rave had probably just wanted to give Hadis some kind of hope, even though he knew it was naïve.
"…I get the feeling he's realizing it's not really true, though… But if he loses hope in people, it's over. He's the emperor. More than that, he's the Dragon Emperor, the reincarnation of the Dragon God. The things he can destroy are too big…"
"But the emperor is here today because you kept telling him not to give up, Rave. I think that's amazing," Jill told him. As Rave's tiny eyes blinked at her in surprise, she raised her index finger and offered a suggestion. "So, let's tame him before it's too late. For instance… Well, how about we try to make him a cute emperor? That will make him approachable."
"A what emperor? Like putting a ribbon on his head and having him hand out sweets?" Rave paused for a long moment before saying, "…That might suit him."
"He should show a little vulnerability!" Jill exclaimed. "The emperor's incredibly good-looking, so we can leverage that to attack from a 'looks and personality disparity' angle. His Majesty is incredible enough even without going out of his way to play up the 'strong emperor' role."
He hadn't let his emotions get the better of him with Marquess Beil, so he showed that he could be the bigger person in the face of abusive language. It had probably boosted morale, too, that he knew the names of even the lowest-ranking soldiers.
"Besides, I don't like when people hide that they're hurt," Jill said. "When he made that beautiful, emotionless face, it just made me want to punch him and tell him to cry… But then again, it's also irritating when a grown man cries, and it makes me want to punch them and tell them not to cry…"
"You punch them and tell them to cry, but when they cry, you punch them and tell them not to cry? That's terrible."
Jill looked around sheepishly at Rave's valid criticism and then corrected herself. "But if he would at least not make that beautiful facial expression in front of me… Well, if he didn't, I guess I'd still want to punch him. I would feel like he was avoiding me."
"Heh heh! Oh, so that's what this is about? Missy, have you actually fallen for Hadis?!" Rave looked down at her face from above, his eyes twinkling. Jill stared back, unamused.
"How did you jump to that conclusion?"
"Because that's the same as picking on a kid you like because you want their attention."
"I'm not a kid, and that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"But Missy, no matter how you look at it, you are a kid."
He was right… Jill cleared her throat and let Rave know, because he brought it up, "I have no plans to develop a romantic relationship with the emperor right now."
"Right now, you say, eh? Are you worried about the age issue?"
"That's part of it, but primarily I—I want to become the ideal married couple united only by mutual benefit!" she declared.
"Is it because I'm the Dragon God that I don't get what you mean by that…?"
"I think there might be differences between gods and humans."
"…Well, whatever. Hadis is just as odd as you… Oh, here it is. This will be your bedroom."
Jill could finally see the end of the hallway. It had probably seemed so long because she had such short legs. It looked to be an incredibly large room—even the doorknob was very high. She stretched out, grabbed the doorknob, and with a little bit of magic power, opened the heavy door.
"He's inside. Good luck!" Rave winked.
"…What?! You don't seriously mean the emperor is inside, do you?!"
"I do. You are married, even if it's in name only, so of course you'd share a room. There's also the issue of security."
"Wait a second! But it's—our first night together as a married couple—!"
Just as Jill was about to protest, she saw a massive canopy bed in the center of the room. She stepped back involuntarily, but when she unexpectedly saw the emperor face-down on the bed, his upper body falling off of it, her head cooled.
"…Your Majesty?"
"I…drank…too much…" he groaned.
"You drank wine?!" said Rave. "Missy, get water! Water!"
"O-On it!"
And thus, the scene transformed into a battleground where Jill ran around, trying to save the emperor, who had developed alcohol poisoning after drinking just one sip of wine.
AFTER a parting comment that Hadis rarely ever drank alcohol, Rave went into Hadis's body. This was apparently an effective way to speed up the healing process.
Indeed, after Rave did this, Hadis's breathing very quickly returned to normal and the redness left his face.
He was probably more exhausted mentally than physically…
Jill pressed a damp handkerchief against Hadis's forehead. He was lying down, and his eyelids fluttered open.
"…Are you…my amethyst?"
"Yes. Are you okay? I have water here. I got some fruit from the kitchen too."
After blinking several times, Hadis quietly asked, "…You're going to take care of me?"
"Yes. I'm used to taking care of drunk people… I can call for someone else, though, if you feel uneasy."
Camila and Zeke were probably good at this sort of thing too. But Hadis slowly shook his head and drank water from the jug Jill held out to him.
"As long as you're here, that's more than enough…" he said. "I'd like an apple."
"Sure. Just a moment."
Jill almost handed the apple over unaltered, but then she remembered that Hadis was the emperor. She picked up the small knife she had brought to cut it into pieces and pondered, …He won't like it if I don't peel the skin, will he…? All right…
Jill spun the knife around once in her fingers before pressing the blade into the apple. Slowly… She moved the blade, trying to cut off just the skin, but it was a rough job, and she cut off a lot of the fruit with it.
She stared at her handiwork mutely. The point is that the skin is gone. If he complains, then he should just eat it with the skin on.
Jill pierced the skin of the apple with the blade again, and after making a magnificent cut, a piece of the fruit hit her forehead and fell to the floor. She heard a laugh from behind her.
"Y-You're so skilled with a blade, but you're surprisingly clumsy," he chuckled.
"Just because someone can use a sword doesn't mean they can cook," Jill retorted sourly.
Hadis sat up, still laughing. Suddenly Jill was lifted in the air and placed between his legs. Then he draped himself over her back and placed his hands over hers, holding the knife and apple.
"You do it like this." Hadis moved Jill's hands by example and peeled the apple cleanly. Jill stared at her hands, being moved for her, and felt impressed.
"So it's the apple that moves, not the knife?"
"Right… See? All done. Pick up a few tricks, and you'll be able to do it in no time too."
"Um…"
"Hm?"
"…Can you…cut them into rabbits? I-I really want to learn how to cut them like that…" Jill wanted to become the sort of woman who could do those sorts of things when she was taking care of someone. She felt embarrassed to admit it, but Hadis didn't laugh.
Hadis neatly discarded the skin peels into a bowl, cut the dexterously peeled apple onto a plate, removed the core, arranged the apple slices beautifully on the plate, and then picked up another apple.
Then, with his body still draped around Jill, he skillfully started moving the knife again. Like magic, his large hands cut apples into slices that looked like rabbits.
"Ooh!" cried Jill, her eyes twinkling. "Rabbits…!"
"If I had a few more, I could make them into all sorts of edible decorations."
"You can make decorations too?! Are you some kind of chef prodigy or something?!" she exclaimed in delight.
"They're not that hard to make… I have a younger half-sister and brother. I thought if I could do this kind of stuff, they might like me a little more, so I just practiced at it. Now, let's wash our hands…"
Hadis took the bowl that had been filled with water for washing their faces in the morning and dipped his hands, along with Jill's, inside. He was perhaps excessively considerate when he thoroughly wiped her hands dry with a handkerchief afterwards.
He had really wanted to do this for his younger siblings.
After that realization clicked in her head, Jill pushed her unnecessary doubts about this being their first night together as a married couple—and that he liked little girls—into the back of her mind, and let the night progress uninterrupted.
"You should eat some apples, too," he suggested.
"Okay."
She was sure that whenever Hadis had gotten sick, there hadn't been anyone to peel apples for him or eat apple slices with him. Jill took the plate of apples Hadis had arranged and thought for a moment.
…Right now, I'm a kid. This is just an extended game of playing house. Okay! No embarrassment!
She turned around to face Hadis on the bed. Then she held up one of the cute, rabbit-shaped apple slices up to his mouth.
"Okay, Your Majesty. Please open your mouth."
"…Me?"
"That's right. You may just be drunk, but you need to be taken care of, don't you?"
His golden eyes looked bewildered. Eventually, however, Hadis opened his mouth and took a bite out of the apple.
Jill laughed at the disparity between the way he chewed on the apple and the sharp contours of his handsome face. Hadis looked annoyed, but he finished chewing and swallowing the bite before speaking. Jill mused that his good manners were very fitting.
"Why are you laughing? You told me to eat it, didn't you?" he pouted.
"I just thought it was cute. You reminded me of my little brother," she told him.
"…Little brother?" Hadis repeated, his eyebrows furrowed as far as they could go.
"I have a big family, so I have an older sister, an older brother, a younger brother, and a younger sister," Jill explained, holding up her fingers to count them.
"That sounds all lively and fine, but I remind you of your little brother?"
"He's fearless, so I'm sure he won't be afraid of you… That reminds me, I haven't sent any word to my family yet, have I? I think things are fine…"
"Things are not fine," Hadis stressed. "What in the dragon realm do you mean, I'm like your little brother…? Wait, your little brother is your family, right…?"
"That's right. My parents saw the scene when I proposed to you, and the fact that I didn't return meant that I was captured by a strong man whom I couldn't escape from with my own power, so they probably figured their hands were tied." Jill shrugged.
Hadis, looking put-out, this time grabbed and ate an apple slice on his own. "Is that what families are like?"
"It's what my family is like. It would be a different story if I asked them for help, but our family motto is 'strength justifies all.'" Jill ate an apple slice. It was a little sourer than the apples grown in Kratos, but it was refreshing and delicious in its own way. "…Oh, that's right," she added. "Um, thank you."
"For what?"
"For earlier today. For granting my wish."
Hugo could very well have said disadvantageous things about Hadis. Hadis could have killed him and then executed Marquess Beil on the spot. The only reason he hadn't was because he had intuited that Jill wanted to save everyone.
"…Well, you don't like that kind of stuff, right?" Hadis asked for confirmation. "Ruling with fear, massacring…those sorts of things."
"Of course I don't. But that was the first time I'd fought to save everyone. I wasn't confident that it would work."
"…Really?"
Jill smiled at the astonished look on his face. "Really. Until now, I suppose I've always prioritized my orders over what I really wanted…"
It was only natural for a soldier to follow orders. An army wouldn't function otherwise. Moreover, Gerald's orders were always efficient, impeccable, and nothing out of the ordinary. Jill, therefore, had no complaints.
"Wouldn't that make you more like my subordinate than my wife?" Hadis asked, puzzled.
Jill's heart ached at this. She tried to continue, but for some reason, she became overcome with embarrassment. "Well… Th-That's why I was so happy when you helped me…"
"You don't have to thank me for something like that." Hadis shook his head. "It's only natural for a man to help his wife."
"…But because you did, Marquess Beil said such terrible things to you…" Her voice choked up a bit. It probably wasn't right for her to apologize for this. Jill looked over and covered one of Hadis's hands with both of her own. "I want you alive, Your Majesty, cursed or not. So the next time someone says something like that to you, please tell them that. Tell them that I want you alive."
Jill inwardly vowed that she would never let Hadis give anyone such a sad affirmation again. Hadis quickly pulled his hands away. His cheeks suddenly flushed red, and he looked as bashful as a young girl.
"You…actually love me, don't you?" he asked in a scandalous whisper.
"…What?" she croaked.
"You wouldn't have said you wanted me alive if you didn't!"
"Isn't that too low of a baseline for love?! It's only natural to think that way about family!"
But after Jill said that, she remembered that Hadis had no experience interacting with family members. She panicked, thinking she might have said the wrong thing again.
But Hadis's eyes suddenly narrowed. He looked as if he had gotten offended rather than hurt. "I see. I'm like a little brother to you, then…?"
"What? Oh, yes. That's what I'm saying." Jill was just thinking about how quick Hadis had been on the uptake when he took the plate of apples from her and wrapped a bedsheet around his body. "Your Majesty?"
"…I've been shivering for a while… I might have drunk too much water. I'm cold…"
"Please tell me those sorts of things right away!"
Jill grabbed another bedsheet and a jacket that had been discarded right beside them, made Hadis lay down, and draped them on top of him. When she touched Hadis's cheek, however, it was still cold.
It might take some time for him to warm up.
"…Pardon me, Your Majesty."
Jill crawled under the sheets with Hadis. Because her body was small, she wasn't tall or wide enough to reach all of him, but her body temperature was high. She would act as a hot water bottle.
Hadis's head was lying on a pillow, and Jill's head came up to around the base of his throat.
"You'll warm up faster this way."
"…Yes, you're right."
Hadis wrapped his arms around Jill. In the semi-darkness, Jill could see his gold eyes smiling wickedly. "Got you."
After a beat, it dawned on Jill…
"Y-You tricked me…?!"
"It's not right for a wife to treat her husband like her little brother, after all. I won't allow it."
"Y-You said you were cold! I got worried!" she argued.
"Well, it is true that I'm cold. I can't feel my toes. I do feel a little uncomfortable."
If he says that, I won't be able to get away so easily. Shoot! He was acting so childish, I accidentally let my guard down…!
Embarrassed and frustrated, Jill looked down. Hadis hugged her tightly.
"It's fine, I won't do anything," he promised.
Of course, you won't.
But Jill felt like no matter what she said, she would sound like she had a case of sour grapes, so she remained silent.
"Did you know? Being a married couple means it's okay for a wife to fall in love with her husband."
"…You're always going on about that, Your Majesty. What about you?"
"I would never do something as cruel as falling in love with you."
I wonder what that means…
But Jill got the feeling that that should be kept unknown.
"Hey, why don't you try falling for me?" Hadis asked. His voice was sweet, almost giving the illusion of love. "Otherwise, I'll want to uncover everything about you."
Try it, Jill thought, biting her lip. She was sixteen on the inside, her first love had already come to an end, and she had experienced horrendous heartbreak.
She wasn't going to let her curiosity and desire to know to get the better of her. She wasn't going to get too emotionally involved. She wasn't going to fall in love first. That was why Jill could pretend that she didn't understand the meaning behind her flushed cheeks.
AS Jill resolved herself of this, she quickly fell asleep. Hadis looked down at her.
"I can't tell if you're a child or an adult," he whispered.
But that wasn't a bad thing.
Hadis had never wished for anything more in his future consort than that she be under fourteen and have enough magic power to be able to see Rave. But Jill was even more outstanding than he had imagined. She made him elated, and it was a different elation than when she had proposed to him.
You'll make me happy? You want me alive? And you're serious? Is that arrogance, I wonder?
As Hadis felt a desire to sneer that such a thing was impossible mixed with a hope that she should try anyway, he couldn't stop the inexplicable elation that followed.
The girl didn't understand—she didn't understand just how dangerous of a thing she was trying to touch. Otherwise, she wouldn't be saying those things that made Hadis feel like she was indiscriminately plunging her hands inside of him.
But it's already too late.
Hadis had long decided that one day, if he got a wife, he would kneel before her and pay respect to her. That was the least Hadis could do to show his sincerity. Asking her to fall in love with him was like a game for him, but as long as she didn't hate him, that was enough.
And yet, this girl made Hadis so discomposed that he had become tempted to relentlessly pursue her until she would eventually run away.
"…If you'd just try to act cool about it, I'd be able to get some peace of mind… It's not like the girl's trying to get a rise out of you."
The sleepy voice spoke from inside his body. It was Rave. Hadis responded with just his thoughts to avoid waking Jill up. "But pursuing her a little bit would be fine, right? You were the one who said that the Goddess shouldn't be able to interfere anymore."
"And you were the one who said that she had other means of interfering. Besides, the girl said that she wanted a relationship with you that was only about mutual benefits. If you're always on her heels about it, she'll seriously hate you. Would you be okay with that?"
"It's fine. I'm used to being hated."
That was why he wanted her to like him. Indeed, he wanted her to love him.
Hadis wouldn't love her. He would dig out that girl's stubbornness and pull out everything inside of her… Before she dug out what was inside of him.
And to do that…
"I have to make delicious bread for breakfast tomorrow…!"
"…Yeah, sure. Go for it. I'll be sleeping."