KANA 5
The Fierce Saintess
episode 5
-Horizontal.jpg)
*****
Tyler Beaton, Commander of the Knights of the Kingdom of Lestwick, still could not believe what had transpired today.
Not only had King James IV, Second Prince Alton, and his mother, Royal Concubine Trisha, been beheaded, but First Prince William had been reduced to a young girl's pawn through some eerie spellcraft.
What's more, all of it had been carried out by the hands of the Saintess herself—the very figure summoned by the King's own command.
He had never imagined such a disaster could occur.
「I see no sign that any of you possess such resolve!」
The words of the summoned Saintess, Princess Kana, resurfaced in Beaton's mind.
(Indeed, she may be right.)
Recalling how His Majesty and the others had acted moments ago, he offered a bitter smile. He could not help but think that, given their behavior, they truly deserved to be criticized for lacking the resolve required of those who bore the weight of a nation.
And yet, the fact remained that the King was a friend he had studied alongside since childhood and the sovereign he had sworn to serve for a lifetime. Yet he had failed to protect him. His heart felt as though it would crumble under the crushing weight of loss and guilt.
"Priority, Ty. Don't forget—the highest priority is..."
He remembered the mutterings of the man who, until just a moment ago, had been clinging to his back and trembling. Those words, repeated over and over, were the very source of his sense of loss.
(Cowardly as he was, he was stubbornly unyielding in the strangest ways...)
Beaton shook his head as if to dispel the swelling emotions, shifting his focus back to what he needed to do now.
After conferring with the Prime Minister, Aldridge, a gag order had already been placed on everyone present, forbidding them from speaking a single word of what they had seen and heard today. Currently, mages were rushing to draft magically binding contracts of silence. As soon as they were finished, the task of having everyone sign them awaited.
All forty-six individuals—ministers, mages, knights, and guards alike.
As for the deceased King and the others, they currently lay in a corner of the room, draped in knights' cloaks. The cord-like bindings that had restrained them had vanished without anyone realizing.
Regarding their ultimate disposal... that could not be decided without consulting Queen Shaira and Prince William, so there was nothing to do but await the return of the Queen and the Prime Minister.
The Queen had left the room earlier accompanied by Princess Kana, and the Prime Minister had followed after them; neither had returned yet.
Though he was curious about what they were doing, keeping anyone from leaving this room was Beaton's job for now.
After all, more than a few people had been trying to leave the room under various pretexts.
(What the hell are they thinking at a time like this? Try showing a bit of cooperation, damn pieces of trash!)
That sentiment must have shown on his face. A mage holding a stack of documents approached with a frightened look. It seemed the pledge agreements were finally complete.
These documents required passing the magical power of two individuals through them in addition to the signee for the spell to take effect, so troublesome as it was, he needed to oversee the process to ensure it functioned properly. Thus, Beaton forced the grumbling crowd into a single line and worked alongside the mages to have them sign one by one while verifying each.
Just as the mages signed last and the task was finally nearing its end, the Prime Minister and the Queen returned.
When Beaton handed over a list of those who had complained loudly or attempted to leave during their absence, explaining that he had marked the worst offenders, the Prime Minister replied that he had a report regarding thieves breaking into the private quarters of the concubine and Prince Alton, which he would submit at a later date.
Holding his aching head over the endless parade of problems, the three of them set off together for Prince William's room to hold a discussion.
The prince was sitting up rather than lying in bed, seemingly lost in thought. Considering his previous agony, his physical condition did not appear bad. Still, erring on the side of caution, they decided to hold the discussion at the prince's bedside.
As a result, it was decided that the three corpses would be enshrined in the mausoleum beneath the royal palace, with the mages who had signed the magical non-disclosure pledge tasked with maintaining their frozen state.
Furthermore, when the timing was right, it would be announced that the concubine and Second Prince had died of illness, and that the King had likewise fallen ill. Consequently, an urgent need arose to hold Prince William's investiture ceremony as Crown Prince, though the details, including the schedule, were left for a later discussion.
Additionally, an agreement was reached for the Prime Minister and the Queen to temporarily handle state affairs. It was deemed best for Prince William—who would likely be unable to disobey Princess Kana's orders—to step back for the time being. This was primarily the Prime Minister's suggestion, but since the prince himself assented, there seemed to be no issue.
Since the prince promised to inform the Saintess himself tomorrow, the discussion for the day came to an end.
***
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he immediately came upon a door marked "Keeper's Office." When Beaton opened it, a scrawny male keeper handed him a document in silence. Swiftly signing it and placing it into the designated box, Beaton opened the door on the opposite side from where he had entered.
Passing through a stone archway that smelled of dampness, he emerged into an open space beyond. At its center stood a solemn altar. The names of the founding king and queen were engraved upon it, signifying that this was the mausoleum reserved exclusively for the royal family.
Though called a mausoleum, it was originally a place where only locks of hair from successive kings and queens were kept; now, however, it served as a morgue housing three coffins.
Though underground, it was illuminated by numerous burning candles, yet wrapped in an astonishing chill. This was likely due to the ice magic applied by the mages when they enshrined the three coffins earlier.
Beaton approached the two soldiers guarding the side of the three lined-up coffins and spoke to them.
「Forgive me, but please leave us for a short while.」
Though they hesitated despite it being a request from the Commander of the Knights, he pleaded that it would only be for a brief moment, managing to persuade them.
「Understood. However, please be absolutely sure not to touch the coffins.」
「Understood.」
Nodding at his reply, the soldiers walked off toward the keeper's office. A small stove was installed in a corner of the keeper's office, so Beaton figured they might be going to fetch a warm drink in search of heat.
He stepped closer to the coffins he had been told not to touch. Their severed heads were now placed where they belonged, wrapped in scarf-like cloths to conceal the clean cuts. Looking at their forms alone, all three appeared as though they were merely asleep. Approaching one of them even closer, he looked upon his friend's face.
「Jay, I am sorry I could not protect you. And as for your priorities, I doubt anyone could say I upheld them, either. Still, that was going too far, even for you. You were the King, after all; at the very least, you could have shown a bit more resolve...」
Beyond that, words failed him.
"That's why I told you I'd struggle, didn't I, Ty?" He felt as though he could hear his friend's laughing voice.
"Priorities." Those were the words spoken over ten years ago by his friend, who had just become King during a period when dark clouds gathered between their realm and the neighboring Gatehelm Empire. Since they were in a private setting back then, their speech toward each other had been casual.
「Hey, Ty. The order of priority for protection is already decided. First is William. Second is Alton, third are the wives, and last is me.」
「Are you really fine with being last, Jay?」
「Yeah. But don't worry. I'll definitely struggle disgracefully to survive. Uncool, ungraceful, shielding myself with those around me, crying out that I don't want to die as I struggle.」
「Bah. Is that really acceptable behavior for the king of a nation?」
「It's fine. I can't do anything else, after all. I'm not gifted with military prowess like you, Ty, nor do I possess courage like Benny. Nor do I have a brilliant mind like Ren, or diplomatic talent like Shara. All someone like me can do, no matter how pathetic it looks, is cling to life. Besides, as long as I'm alive, things can always be worked out.」
That gentle, timid friend who had smiled as he spoke now lay inside a frozen coffin, beyond the reach of ever conversing again.
Beaton simply stood frozen beside the coffin. The backs of his eyes burned, and his nostrils throbbed. Something large seemed lodged deep in his throat. Not just tears, but a torrent of emotions overflowed one after another, beyond his control. He could only give voice to the single vow he was capable of making.
「Things turned out like this, but no matter what happens, I will protect Prince William. If doing so requires protecting that young girl, don't hold it against me. To protect the kingdom, there is no other way. I will gain her trust at all costs and remain at her side. In doing so, I will protect your son... I will protect him to the very end... Jay...」
***
Supported by Beaton, William sat in a chair for a time before returning to his room with the assistance of two knights who approached his side. Though the attendants immediately prepared him for sleep and helped him to bed, his mind was far too chaotic for him to lie down.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he recalled the events that had just transpired.
When he had awakened this morning, he was filled with anticipation and anxiety over the Saintess summoning, but now, nothing existed within his current situation except anxiety and regret.
(Even though I am alive...)
At the same time, countless "whys" swirled in William's mind. *Why* was he alive? *Why* had Alton not waited in his room? *Why* had his father made such a blunder? *Why* had Lady Trisha died in his mother's stead? Why, why, why...
Of course, he still believed his father's decision to perform the Saintess summoning had been correct. Yet he could not prevent feelings of regret from taking precedence, wishing he had never agreed to it had he known such sacrifices would be made.
Yet what William questioned even more was this: *Why had we taken it for granted that the summoned Saintess would willingly assist us without complaint?*
(Yes, we simply assumed so. Because she was a *Saintess*.)
Somewhere in their minds, they had assumed without a shadow of doubt: *The Saintess, a kind-hearted maiden, will feel grateful to be taken under our protection despite her anxiety over arriving in another world and will gladly grant our wishes.*
Yet shifting perspectives to the person who was summoned, it was no different from being kidnapped, told she could never return home, and then threatened that she must obey because they were offering her shelter. He had not even realized this until Princess Kana herself pointed it out.
(A bunch of simple-minded fools, indeed... She was right.)
Perhaps his mother and the Prime Minister, who had opposed this summoning to the very end, had understood all along. After all, they had insisted that they should not force their own problems onto the shoulders of a single young girl from another world.
And yet, his father's judgment that their kingdom could no longer hold out was not wrong either. That was precisely why the knights, subjugation forces, and mages had spent every day desperately fighting monsters up to this point, ensuring the summoning ritual could be carried out safely. Having joined the subjugation forces many times himself, William knew this well. Everyone had believed that so long as the Saintess was successfully summoned, everything would work out.
Yet today's tragedy was the result.
Then, a realization suddenly struck William.
He realized that while history books recorded that the Saintess used her holy power to restore peace and establish a new kingdom, *they made no mention of what became of the king who summoned her or the kingdom that existed before.*
(Could something similar have happened back then? What if they arbitrarily assumed that a holy maiden with purifying powers would never harm them—or lacked the ability to do so—only to suffer a counterattack from the Saintess?)
The possibility could not be denied. No, it felt as though the very fact that it was omitted from the history books spoke volumes, proclaiming it to be the truth.
(If so, today's events were bound to happen sooner or later...)
Yet it occurred to him that Aldridge could not possibly have failed to realize what he himself was only now noticing.
(Could he have anticipated this outcome? Was that why he opposed it so vehemently? But if that were the case, had he simply said so, I would never have agreed either...)
His thoughts spun in circles with no answer in sight, eliciting a sigh from him. Just then, a knock sounded at the room's door, and an attendant informed him that his mother and the others had arrived. He heard his mother's voice telling him he could remain in bed.
The three who entered the bedchamber all wore terribly exhausted expressions, though he felt that was only natural.
When the Prime Minister informed him that various matters regarding the future needed to be decided, they made the area beside his bed their discussion space. The talks proceeded primarily under Aldridge's lead, establishing several decisions while leaving specific dates for a later time.
Among them was the matter of William's investiture as Crown Prince. There, he was finally forced to confront the reality that he would become King. What he had thought was a distant prospect just yesterday was suddenly placed directly before him. The weight of that responsibility made him flinch at the mere thought of it.
In the end, preoccupied by that revelation, he failed to ask the crucial questions he wished to ask before the meeting concluded, leaving William once more drifting in a sea of unending deliberation.
***
As dawn drew near and he finally began to doze off, William had a dream from his childhood. It was a memory of a time he had overheard slander against the King. Infuriated by insults like "a puppet of the Prime Minister" and "a coward who obeys the Queen's every whim," William had urged his father, 「Anyone who says such things should be executed!」 But his father had merely laughed, telling him there was no need to be angry because it wasn't entirely untrue.
「When it comes to military force, Beaton keeps an eye on internal affairs while Barley keeps an eye on the outside. As for governance, Aldridge handles domestic policy while Queen Shaira demonstrates her skills in diplomacy. And my job is simply to ensure all of those move smoothly without impediment. That is my way of being king.」
So, he had said, let those who want to speak have their say.
When he woke, William was remembering that moment. Though his young self had not been fully convinced back then, he had said nothing more since his father had spoken so.
But now he understood. All five of them, including his mother, had trusted one another deeply. It was not a matter of who was superior or inferior, nor was anyone being sacrificed; the four of them assisted the King in their respective ways, and the King, in turn, supported everyone.
His father's gentle face came to mind. In that smiling face, he felt as though he was being told: *You need only find your own way of being king...*
「I am... going to become King, aren't I...?」
*****
What is this blatant way the author trying to prop up the King?
Maybe it's one of those tropes where the enemy already infiltrated the camp and did some brainwashing thingy to the Royal Family?
Thank you for reading. If you want to help my hobby, please download and install LDP9 with my link down below. Just click the small yellow LDPlayer Banner.
OR
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel
-Horizontal.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment