The Tale of the Wizrain Kingdom
he Envoy's Question
Translated by: S3
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*****
「Hm...? Wait, where am I? Why am I in a place like this?」
「Um, are you feeling alright?」
「Huh? Oh, my jaw kind of hurts...?」
「We tried to cool it down a bit...」
Kyle, who had been sleeping on the sofa, slowly opened his eyes, but they were still a bit blurry with sleep. Elna, sitting in front of Kyle, couldn't help but offer a puzzled smile.
If he asked where they were, it was Kakami's workplace—the break room of the sweets shop they had just been in. She had informed the shopkeeper and Kakami that there was an injured person and was allowed to use the room, but she instinctively dodged his question before answering. After all, he was an envoy from another country, and not someone the people of this country should carelessly involve themselves with. A mere scuffle in the lower town could easily escalate into an international incident.
Incidentally, since the presence of the royal Feliol would complicate matters further, she had sent him home with his bodyguards first. He had looked at her with worried, solicitous eyes while holding his souvenir chocolate cake, asking, 「Are you really going to be okay...?」 but Elna could only resign herself to the fact that whatever happens, happens.
She had asked Feliol to report to Cross right away, but Cross was probably clutching his head in distress right now. Poor him.
However, Elna had no choice but to brace herself. She couldn't keep dodging the issue forever.
「Well... there was a scuffle in the shop just a moment ago. It was truly a minor quarrel. And in the process, by pure coincidence and chance, you happened to be nearby, and a stray fist—not a stray bullet—grazed your jaw.」
...Had she perhaps stated it a little too strongly? It was undeniably the truth, but her desire to make it sound like an accident might have been too obvious.
「I see, now that you mention it... I feel like something like that did happen...」
Kyle seemed to be slowly waking up and raised his body from the sofa. Since Elna was sitting on the floor in front of him, she was naturally in a position to be looked down upon.
「Ah. You're the maid I saw at the castle.」
Elna's eyes widened, surprised that he remembered her. Perhaps he recognized her as the reincarnation of Elnalfia... She felt her body tense up again. Elna remained where she was, politely clasping her hands on her lap, and met Kyle's gaze with a tense expression. Then, abruptly, Kyle let out a light laugh.
「Oh dear, it's fine. My jaw hurts a little, sure, but I know it wasn't intentional. If anything, it's my fault for not being able to dodge properly.」
「That's not... The man who laid hands on Your Excellency the Envoy managed to get away for the moment, but I believe he will be caught soon.」
「No need, no need. It's not worth the trouble.」
Saying so, Kyle waved his long sleeve.
Suddenly, Elna felt a strange sensation. A young man who strongly resembled Kylevis was smiling with a similar gesture. Was it this strange simply because they shared the same appearance? The fact that Kyle's manner of speaking was much more casual now than during his audience with Cross was likely another reason.
Oblivious to Elna's complex feelings, Kyle nodded to himself and continued.
「Yeah. I doubt they intended to hit me either.」
It was true that the opponent's fist had come out in the fight, even if it wasn't aimed specifically at Kyle... Honestly, Elna was relieved. She said, 「Is that so,」 regretfully, but she'd be most grateful if they could let the whole thing slide. If the perpetrator was identified, the crime would also have to be clarified, and having the envoy of the Kingdom of Marls as the victim was absolutely no laughing matter.
「...Your thoughts really show on your face.」
「............」
It seemed her expression hadn't matched her regretful tone at all. Elna silently pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose.
「...In any case, how do you feel? Since there were no noticeable injuries, we brought you to a quiet place to observe your condition, but if you'd like, I can summon a doctor from the castle.」
「No, no, please stop! Spare me!」
「I really am fine,」 Kyle said, vigorously waving his arms around. His words seemed honest, and when she glanced at the Wind Spirits that had drifted over, they were also bouncing around, indicating he was fine. Wind Spirits are sensitive to the scent of blood and illness. Elna felt reassured, assuming that meant there was no problem.
「...Um, Your Excellency. This is just a small token of apology, but cake and tea have been prepared.」
「Huh? Really?」
Kyle blinked, but since he had specifically come to a sweets shop, he must have a sweet tooth. Kakami had prepared them, assuming he would be waking up soon.
On the table were the chocolate cake they had enjoyed with Feliol and chilled fruit tea.
「Since we didn't know your preference, we can certainly prepare something else if you wish. We can offer you as many sweets as you like.」
「Sweets? Oh, thank you.」
Kyle glanced at the cake for just a moment. 「More importantly,」 he said, turning his face to Elna, who was pouring the fruit tea into a cup.
「There's something I want to ask you.」
Here it comes, she thought.
Elna had heard rumors that Kyle was sounding out the castle maids for information. Based on the previous report from the Hamster Spirit, it seemed Kyle was trying to grasp the layout of Wizrain Castle, which was dangerously suspicious for an envoy of another country. Elna stopped her actions with a slight resolve, thinking it would be best to simply refuse to answer whatever he asked.
「...What is it?」
「Yeah. Listen, about the castle's—Ah, never mind. No one will tell me about that, probably.」
「............」
「It seems the maids have been avoiding me recently... so I had nothing to do but walk around the town. But that was actually fortunate. There was one more thing I wanted to ask.」
The maids avoiding him was probably due to Cross issuing a notice to not interact with the Marls envoy more than necessary. Elna involuntarily swallowed, waiting for Kyle's words with the stiff expression she'd been told was very easy to read.
「What do you think of this country?」
「...Huh?」
「I mean it exactly as I said. What do you think of this country, the Kingdom of Wizrain?」
Kyle's question was completely unexpected for Elna.
His silver eyes, behind his long fringe, stared intently at her, as if determined not to miss any of Elna's reactions.
「What do you mean by 'what do I think'... ?」
「I mean exactly what I said. Do you like it, or do you hate it? I see, you like it. So why? This is my first time visiting this country. But everyone seems so cheerful. They look happy. I feel it's completely different from my own country. What is the difference?」
As if peering into her very soul, Kyle smoothly strung together his words, then gradually began to murmur to himself in a small voice, like a self-dialogue rather than a question directed at Elna, deep in thought. His hollow eyes reflected nothing, simply staring up at the ceiling, utterly empty.
It was a disturbing sight. Even Elna found herself standing up unconsciously, putting half a step of distance between herself and Kyle, ready to flee at any moment.
His voice stopped abruptly.
「Ah, is that because there's a dragon...?」
This time, Elna swallowed her saliva quietly, careful not to let Kyle notice. She felt as if a very long time had passed. In reality, it was only enough time for the clock's hand to move slightly.
「Yeah. There are no dragons in the Kingdom of Marls, you see. Definitely no dragons. I'm sorry, I said something strange.」
「N-No...」
The strange atmosphere from a moment ago scattered as if it had never been, and Kyle gave a wry smile with an expression that was hard to tell if it was sad or embarrassed.
「So, what about it? Hey. Why do you like this country?」
Kyle asked Elna with a look of pure, unadulterated curiosity, like a young child asking a question.
***
In the end, Elna was unable to give a proper answer.
「Why, I wonder...」
Remembering her own voice, which had involuntarily escaped her, made her feel strangely pathetic and embarrassed.
「I see. So you don't know.」
Saying only that, Kyle smiled. He merely told her, 「I'm going back to the castle. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about today,」 and then left. Now, Elna stood alone in the empty room. The untouched cake and tea remained on the low table.
「...Because this is the country Vaid founded.」
That's why I love it.
If she were to state the reason, it was simple. But was that really all there was to it? All the people who continued to live in the kingdom were precious to Elna. But why were they precious? If asked, she didn't know. Because Elna knew nothing about them. Before her memories as Elnalfia resurfaced, Elna's world was very small. She had been desperately trying to survive within that tiny world, so she couldn't possibly have paid attention to her surroundings.
「...Yet, why is it?」
Why do I love this country so much?
「No, no, no, no! This is no time to be led astray by Kyle's words!」
Should she think he was teasing her, or that he had successfully manipulated her? Either way, he was a strange person. As she frowned and put a hand to her mouth, thinking, 「What an inscrutable person,」 the Hamster Spirit jumped out of her head.
「That man! He's too suspicious, gonsu!」
「Huh? Were you hiding there the whole time?」
And then he disappeared again. It seemed his previous encounter with Kyle had deeply scarred him with fear...
「It's alright, it's alright. Look, you accompanied Feliol on his outing today. We already ate dessert, but let's eat the sunflower seeds we bought at the shop.」
「Gonsu—!」
「I'm happy that you reacted so quickly.」
「But we'll eat them after we return to the castle, okay,」 Elna said, thinking that she needed to relay today's events to Cross again, while tidying up the room they had used. But she hadn't been able to meet Cross recently. Would it be another message via Commonwald?
She felt a little lonely wondering when she would be able to see Cross, but she immediately felt embarrassed and shook her head vigorously. The hamster on her head clung desperately to Elna's hair.
「L-Lonely, no way. That's absolutely not the case, and I wasn't even thinking such a thing.」
Even if she mumbled excuses, it meant nothing, of course.
「No way!」
Elna turned away with a huff, lifting the cake plate, though no one was there to see it. However, that very night.
An unbelievable surprise would soon come her way.
—Midnight.
A faint sound, like something gently tapping the window, echoed.
*****
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