“Noah, do not speak as if your standing by my side is some kind of sin,” Claudia said. Noah remained facing away from her. “My mother chose you for my sake. And if we must speak of fault, then it is mine. I left Reinard behind in the first place and drew you and Sieghart into this.”
“Princess,” Noah said, finally turning to her. “This is the way I have chosen to live. Regardless of whether someone planned it or not, I am here now because I want to be.”
“Noah...”
“Before I came to you, I knew nothing but suffering and wished only for death.” He turned to Sieghart. “I am living proof that death is not something you should choose.”
The serpentlike sigils that had been entwined around Sieghart’s neck had vanished.
“At the very least, I have severed the collar and chains that had bound you,” Noah said to his cousin.
Sieghart laughed faintly yet bitterly. “Heh... I forgot that you’re a year older than me. If not for the hatred shared by our fathers, then perhaps we would have grown to be as close as brothers... Maybe Anna would be with us too.”
The strength seemed to drain from his body.
“Anna... I...” he murmured, before he collapsed to the floor with a dull thud.
“He’s fallen unconscious. The strain must have been immense,” Noah said.
“Then we must let him rest,” Claudia said quietly.
The conjured lilies slowly faded from the chapel. Smiling, Claudia rose from her seat.
“Prepare a teleportation spell, will you? We must move—”
The chapel shook with a great tremor, and Noah shifted into an on-guard stance.
Claudia, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, turned her attention toward the great doors at the end of the aisle.
“Otherwise, we might be caught in a battle with Reinard,” Claudia finished.
There, at the end of the crimson carpet, stood a figure clad in a robe.
“So, you have finally awakened, Adelheid.”
The robed figure appeared at first glance to be a tall, broad-shouldered man.
“Reinard.”
“Ha ha!” the figure exclaimed gleefully. His long black hair had been tied back, and his smile still held that air of command and sensuality that she remembered. There was no mistaking it; before Claudia stood her first disciple.
And yet...
Just one look was enough for her to see the truth: This figure was only an illusion conjured by Reinard.
“I’ve waited so long to hear you speak my name,” the phantom Reinard said with a mocking grin.
The illusion shimmered, and within it, a much smaller figure appeared, overlapping with his form.
“The forces of Avianoia will soon fall to my army.”
Although they spoke using Reinard’s voice and mannerisms, the person standing before them was shorter than the sixteen-year-old Claudia. Their slender limbs and delicate frame exuded a fragile beauty.
“Now...come to me.”
Reinard’s vessel had long blonde hair and beautiful pink eyes. On this person’s face was a cherubic smile meant for Claudia.
“I’ve come to take you home, Adelheid.”
Noah clenched his fists. “Anna...”
Reinard extended the hand of Noah’s sister, thought to have died ten years past, toward Claudia.
“I let you out of my sight for five hundred years, and look at you now. It seems you’ve gone and picked up some nasty manners,” Claudia coldly said as she descended the steps of the altar. “To think you’d use the corpse of your adorable descendant to preserve a soul that should be long dead.”
Her voice was pitched lower than usual, and the air of the chapel seemed rife with tension. Aware of how unbecoming it was, Claudia nonetheless continued her reproach.
“Just when did you become so ill-mannered, Reinard?”
The vessel’s face softened with what looked like something akin to bliss, as though joy was surging through, unable to be contained.
“Ah ha ha! Even after five centuries, you truly are the same. I somehow find comfort in that.”
“You, on the other hand, have changed quite thoroughly. I’d have much preferred it if you had just been someone pretending to be Reinard. That would have been far easier to stomach than this reunion.”
Noah silently positioned himself in front of Claudia, sword at the ready. “Princess, please stand back.”
“I will do no such thing, Noah.” She gently placed a hand on his back.
Reinard frowned, clearly displeased by the gesture.
“You need not be here for this,” she said to her dear servant.
As a child, Noah’s sole source of solace had been his sister. He had even gone so far as to sell himself into slavery to shield her from harm. The only time he had ever fled from Claudia’s side had been to lay her body to rest.
“This is my fight to settle, and mine alone,” Claudia said softly. “So please, no matter what soul it holds, you mustn’t raise your blade against Anna’s body—”
“Even if that were the real Anna...” Noah said, interrupting her. Claudia’s head shot up in surprise as she watched his profile. “If she stood as your enemy, I would not hesitate to fulfill my duty.”
“Noah...”
“Let’s end this together.”
In his obsidian eyes burned the same beautiful, unyielding will he had carried since childhood.
“I represent your peace, Princess. If it means I can protect the quiet days where you can finally rest, then I will do anything.”
Claudia beamed, true joy radiating from the very depths of her heart.
“Thank you, Noah.” Instead of standing behind him to be shielded, she stepped forward to stand at his side. “Well then, I do hope you understand now, Reinard.”
“A mere child, no more than a descendant who happens to carry my blood,” came the reply. Anna’s delicate face twisted with scorn, as if she were glaring at something vile. “Yet you would presume to interfere with my return?”
“What a dreadful thing to say. And where, I wonder, did you learn to act like that?” Claudia said. She conjured a staff into her hand as she watched Reinard. “In this life, I have resolved to do only what I wish to do. And right now, I simply wish to enjoy a long-overdue reunion with my dear servant.”
A beautiful staff, shaped from snow and ice, took form in her hand. Still resting her right hand gently on Noah’s back, Claudia reached out with her left to grasp the staff.
“Even if you’ve come to take me back, I’m afraid I’ll have to decline. I won’t have you disturbing my afternoon nap with Noah.”
“Ha! Ha ha!”
Reinard’s laughter was slowly swallowed up by the rumble of the kingdom-shaking tremors that still rattled through the chapel.
To be continued...