Volume 3: Chapter 011: Thor – An Unavoidable Past
Author: かっぱ同盟／友麻碧
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3862be/
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
I had a bad feeling.
It was the night before Makia’s birthday and I was being called by Lord Raymond at a time when I would not generally be summoned. As expected, he had some absurd instructions for me.
[1] “Impossible, there is a reason why I cannot be on-call tomorrow. I have already mentioned this before.”
“Lady Makia’s birthday?”
“Indeed, if Your Excellency knew about it, then you should understand,” [1] I said seriously.
“Please, please, please, I need this as a favour. Think of this as a serious request, please!”
“I refuse. You may be the viceroy of this country, but the answer is no.” [1]
The ‘request’ that His Excellency Lord Raymond was begging me for was to escort Princess Lulubeth on an expedition for three days. Starting tomorrow. Right on Makia’s birthday.
Sudden request aside, this was not something that I could simply do. I kept shaking my head. [1] That’s right, let’s keep saying no, no, no, no, no.
“Why the sudden request anyway? Where are they going for this expedition?”
“That’s just it, dear Thor. Velette. Velette… Velette… Velette…”
“Velette?”
[2] I had no idea why Lord Raymond kept repeating that name. Well, I do have some ideas. The Port City of Valette was ruled by the Terziers. The one that Lord Raymond insisted harboured demons and the centre of some kind of conspiracy.
That said, “If it’s so dangerous, why is the princess being sent to such a place?”
“There was a sudden request from the First Prince’s camp. Since the Terziers were Princess Lulubeth’s maternal family, they say that they wish to meet with her… however, I believe there is an ulterior motive behind this request.”
[1] “And?” I asked when the expectant silence stretched too long.
His Excellency turned his gaze to me and smiled.
“Thor, what does the First Prince’s camp want most right now?”
[1] “The throne?” I said, feeling like that time I was at the academy, forced to answer leading questions by people whose status was higher than mine.
“Indeed, those people wanted to defeat me, to kick me down. And they plan to do this through Princess Lulubeth!”
“…?”
[1] What is this person saying now?
“Although they were the ones who called Princess Lulubeth back from Gibraltar, they insisted on putting her well-being under my care. More specifically, they had been keeping her away from the people of the First Prince’s camp. Why do you think they did that?”
[1] “Wait, don’t tell me…” I said with mounting dread.
[3]
[4] “By not involving themselves with Princess Lulubeth’s activities, if something were to happen to her, wouldn’t they take the opportunity to blame me? After all, even if no trace could be found, they could just say that I had ‘arranged’ for her death, eh?”
“Her death?” [1] I said sceptically. “Do you think they would really go that far? [3] Would the Queen really arrange for her own daughter’s death?”
“It’s not impossible. You may not know this, but Princess Lulu had been nearly killed many times before. Many princes had already fallen to the hands of poisons and assassinations. Although the First Prince’s faction is ostensibly fighting against other factions, the Queen still fears that the princess would bring harm to the First Prince.”
“Ah,” I said, finally understanding. “Esta’s divination.”
“Oh my, you know about that?”
“A bit,” I said, staring hard at him. [1]
Sir Raymond suddenly grinned, but dropped his gaze. [5] This kind of contrasting behaviour was understandable, given Ruskia’s long-standing tradition of killing off each other to rise to the throne. The Royal Palace’s history was a bloody one, and it would be foolish of me to forget that.
“Princess Lulubeth is a pitiful one. Shunned and alienated by her mother for no apparent reason. Well, the Queen had not always been that way, but the pressure of giving birth to the first prince and then doing all she could to protect him from harm must have convinced her to become stronger at all costs. I, too, am doing my best to grow stronger. It’s just… well, it looks like her actions had become twisted in the process. For the sake of putting the First Prince on the throne, I doubt she will have any qualms about sacrificing her own daughter for that goal.”
“… …”
It’s not like I can’t understand what Lord Raymond is saying.
[3] There are times when a mother will abandon one child to protect another.
An old memory flickered in my mind and, though I do not wish to think about it, [1] I cannot help but feel the pain of it nipping at my heels.
I thought of Makia.
I wanted to be there for her birthday because she cherishes our bond.
No, the birthday is just an excuse for us to come together and ensure that our bond is still the same. That nothing has changed.
“I understand. It would be problematic if something happened to the Princess. I shall go to Velette as well.”
I’m sorry Makia.
I cannot overlook this situation because of my past life.
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The expedition came up too suddenly. Therefore, preparations had to be made before sunrise the next day.
The people who would be accompanying the Princess’s expedition, aside from myself, are Captain Dante of the Order of Magic Knights and Melvis. Both of whom were familiar to me.
The viceroy’s aide-de-camp would also be accompanying us.
“Tooru-kun!!”
Even though it was still early in the morning, Ulysses came up to us just as we were getting ready. He must have heard about the situation this morning.
Captain Dante and Melvis bowed deeply to him.
That’s right, this fellow is a prince.
“I just heard about it, Tooru-kun. Sorry about dragging you into this mess.”
“Yeah, it’s a pretty huge mess. More importantly… well, there’s…” [1]
“Are you worried about Maki-chan? It’s fine, I’m sure she’ll understand. I’ll talk to her about it.”
“Yes, please do.”
I did not think that I would get out of this matter easily. I know that the best way to stay on top of the situation would be to talk to her directly about the situation and convince her of it myself. Even if I get punched and scratched, it would still be best to inform her as soon as possible, but it’s too early in the morning to bother her, and I did not have the time.
Just inside the castle gate, mingling with the soldiers hurrying back and forth with various luggage, I looked up to the upper floors of the call castle. Makia should be in one of the rooms just beyond the hanging gardens. I wonder if she’s still sleeping?
“Tooru-kun, I’m not sure how to say this, but, please protect Lulu. She is in a very dangerous situation right now.”
“I understand,” [1] I said. “It’s a Knight’s job to protect.”
“I’ll be counting on you, Tooru-kun.”
Ulysses looked both apprehensive and apologetic. We both had some idea of what would happen next.
As for Makia… what should I say to her about this?”
“Oi Thor! Thor Sagaram! Time to go!” Captain Dante called out.
After one last look at the hanging gardens, I put on my black cloak, straightened the Magic Knight armband and climbed into the carriage emblazoned with Ruskia’s imperial coat of arms.
Speaking of which, I had also pinned the brooch that Princess Lulu gave me onto my chest. Makia would most likely be very angry.
What should I say to her once the mission is over?
My face got paler the more I thought about it. As for Ulysses, he had also paled. [1] Is he also afraid of telling Makia about this?
Especially when he was just starting to enjoy the life of a newlywed.
“Oh my, it’s Elder Brother Ulysses,” [4] Princess Lulubeth, who had turned up in her own carriage, waved at him. “I only get to exchange a few words with Brother Ulysses since I came back. I’m so glad you’re here to see me off…”
Then, she turned to her twin maids, saying, “Right? Right?”
Her demeanour was childish and reminded me that she was still a young girl.
“You got on well with Ulysses,” I said.
“Indeed, Brother Ulysses is the only brother who is nice to me. He’s a very kind, handsome, generous and caring brother… But then… to think that my dear sweet brother would suddenly get engaged…”
Rumble, rumble–
[5] I looked up at the sky warily, but it was clear. However, the atmosphere around the princess has darkened… moreover, her eyes have taken a stormy look…
With a sense of foreboding, the line of carriages made for the Port City of Velette.
[Gumihou: Nearly all of Tooru’s dialogues suddenly became cloyingly cute. Ugh. I hate it when authors make their own characters OOC. It’s not even a ‘revelation’ type of characteristic. Tooru just dropped a few dozen IQs and transformed from a gloomy, cool guy good with physics and electronics into an idiotic twee tween. He wasn’t even like this in the prologue. I get that the author wanted to prepare us for some kind of big reveal, but this kind of spoon-feeding technique is really insulting to the readers.]
[1] Thor-like dialogues and inner thoughts that are not too twee or stuttery ehhhhh!!! over basic things like murder, poison and SA. Especially since a bunch of princes had already been killed off.
[2] Raised Thor’s IQ back to normal.
It’s actually possible for the plot to go on without reducing that guy’s IQ. Seriously.
[3] Deleted spoon feeding ‘Like, wow, this happened? Sheesh, fer real??!’ info delivery
[4] Realistic dialogue from the very twee Lord Richard
[5] Add detail
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