After overcoming the assassins, Caim and his companions had finally arrived at the easternmost town of the continent—Berwick, the port city that Lance, the second imperial prince, had made his stronghold. Lance had informed the group that Millicia’s eldest brother and first imperial prince, Arthur, would attack in a week.
The decisive battle that would decide the next ruler of the Garnet Empire, the greatest military nation of the continent, was right around the corner.
“Arthur has a lot of subordinates, but the most troublesome one is the Eye of Heaven—Dame Merlin,” Lance calmly explained to Caim and the girls. “She has the power of foresight, which works by calculating possible outcomes based on the information she has gathered. I’ve heard it’s only accurate ninety percent of the time, but during war, that’s plenty. In a way, she’s even more dangerous than Ser Gawain.”
The ability to see the future and predict an opponent’s next move was very troublesome, even if it wasn’t one hundred percent accurate.
“Well then, how do we overcome Dame Merlin’s ability?” Lance continued. “I thought a lot about it, and I came up with an answer: chaos. We just need to bring chaos to the board!” he declared confidently.
Caim and Millicia didn’t understand, so they asked Lance to explain further.
“What I mean by chaos is uncertain information. By feeding a ton of uncertainties to Dame Merlin’s foresight, we’ll overload its capacity and prevent her from predicting the future accurately. In short, we need to create so much junk intel that probabilities will become impossible to calculate.”
“...And what does this have to do with the current situation?” Millicia asked her brother, her tone harsh after listening to everything he had to say.
Currently, Caim and the girls, as well as Lance, were at a private beach on the eastern coast. The sun was shining, white clouds drifted through the sky, and they could hear the sound of the waves from the blue sea. At first glance they appeared to be clad in their underwear, but of course they were actually wearing swimsuits.
In other words, even though war awaited them in a week, they had come to play at the sea.
“Just after reuniting, you invited us to the beach, so I thought you wanted to talk somewhere private so as not to be overheard by anyone else,” Millicia continued. “But then you told us to bring swimsuits. Considering the situation, we have not come here simply to relax, have we?” she asked with a smile—and a blue vein starting to throb on her forehead. Millicia was angry—very angry at her brother and his carefree attitude.
“Of course not,” Lance proudly denied, wearing swimming trunks and sunglasses. “Didn’t I just explain? We’re creating chaos to confuse Dame Merlin’s foresight!”
Millicia stared at him silently.
“Think about it. How could she possibly predict that we would go have fun at the beach just before the war? By doing unexpected things like this, we’re creating chaos! I am absolutely not using this as an excuse to drop all my work and play around! Nor did I want to flee from the insufferable prewar mood!”
“You liar! You just could not bear the serious atmosphere and just wanted to take it easy!” Millicia couldn’t stop herself from retorting loudly. “How can you be so carefree?! The war against Arthur is on the horizon, and yet you do not look nervous at all!”
“Hey, don’t worry. My subordinates are very capable.”
“That is even worse! How can you, their liege, play while they work?!” she scolded him.
✦ ✦ ✦
As they watched Millicia tell off her brother, Tea pulled at Caim’s hand. “Hmm... Is he really all right?”
“Yeah, I’m not sure either... I’m starting to have some doubts—heck, make that some regrets—about having him as our leader,” Caim replied, and they both sighed.
Lance Garnet had been acting like this ever since they’d met him. He was nonchalant, carefree, and flippant. They had come this far because Millicia wanted to make him the next emperor, but the way he acted had started to make Caim rethink that choice.
“Um... Despite how he acts, Prince Lance is actually a very capable man.”
“Lenka...”
“Please forgive his behavior,” Lenka, who had been listening to Caim and Tea, said apologetically. “Prince Lance isn’t stupid or dim-witted... Though I do understand how you would feel that way, seeing him act like that.” She sighed as she watched Millicia lecture her brother. “He’s a master negotiator. The way he acts puts people off guard, but he’s actually pretty sharp. His carefree behavior makes people think he’s an easy target, but they all end up agreeing to unfavorable terms.”
“So you mean to say that he’s just acting?” Caim asked.
“I don’t think it’s all an act, but I can’t deny that he might play it up to make people underestimate him. He is very popular, after all. He also has many capable subordinates, and while we’re doing nothing here, they’re preparing all for the war.” Lenka turned toward Berwick, which was a short distance away. “Prince Lance assigns the right people to the right positions and gives them full authority for their work. He’s the complete opposite of Prince Arthur’s one-man dictatorship. He also has many allies in other countries, which is why the princess wants him to be the next emperor.”
Lance advocated diplomacy and Arthur military expansion, so naturally, it was safe to assume that other nations would support Lance, as they did not want to go to war against the empire. Though Arthur was a military man and Lance a pacifist, it was impossible to know who was superior until they actually clashed.
“Good grief... Lance is always like that...” Millicia complained, returning to Caim after finishing scolding her brother.
“You’re done?” Caim asked.
“Yes. In exchange for letting him slack off today, I made him promise to work diligently starting tomorrow,” Millicia said with a pout, showing her annoyance.
It was the first time Caim had ever seen Millicia act so childishly, and he couldn’t help staring at her curiously. “I guess you guys really are siblings, huh?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what I said.”
When Caim had seen Millicia and Lance talk, he’d realized that was how normal siblings acted. Despite having a little sister of his own, Caim had no memories of ever playing, or even quarreling, with her. All he could remember was her ignoring him or tormenting him because she thought everything was his fault.
I wonder if we could have been like these two if I hadn’t received the Poison Queen’s curse...
“...Yeah, no, that’d be weird.” Caim smiled bitterly, immediately crushing the small feeling of envy that had sprouted in his chest. It was useless to waste time thinking about a possible future that would never happen.
That future was lost the instant that man decided to transfer the curse to me. No point in thinking about it.
“So, what do we do now?” Caim asked, changing the subject.
“He told us to have fun, so... Well, I suppose we should make the most of it and enjoy ourselves to our heart’s content!” Millicia shouted, giving up on being serious. She had been fed up with Lance’s antics, but it didn’t matter anymore. They would fight Arthur and his army soon, so this could be the last time they would be able to relax. “You should have some fun too, Caim! Even if something happens while we are playing around, it will all be Lance’s fault!”
“Well, if you say so. It’s my first time swimming in the ocean, so I should enjoy it.”
“You know how to swim, Master Caim?” Tea asked, tilting her head. “I’ve never seen you swim.”
“No, I don’t.” Caim had been too weak to swim before fusing with the Poison Queen, and swimming was not something she’d known how to do. And while he had bathed in rivers before, he had never actually been swimming.
“Then Tea will teach you. I’ve dove in rivers to catch fish before.”
“I know exercises for learning how to swim. I’ll show you.”
“I’m not that good, but I’ll help too.”
Lenka and Rozbeth immediately followed after Tea.
“I am not a great swimmer, but I should be able to help you a little.” Millicia also volunteered timidly.
“Thanks, everyone.”
Thus, Caim went to swim in the ocean for the first time in his life, taught by four beautiful women.