The prince looked surprised for a moment, then broke into a smile. “Thank you. That’s plenty. I might have made it sound like it was other people’s fault, but the chaos in the imperial court is all the result of my own inadequacy. And it can be righted through my own effort. That’s what I believe. Farewell.” Hiltzel slipped into the crowd of people filling the hall.
I found myself letting my eyes wander over the party until Fiona made her way over to me some time later. “Seika.”
“Oh, sorry. We got lost in conversation.”
“I even told you to stay by my side today,” Fiona said reproachfully. “So, what did Hiltzel have to say?”
“Just small talk, mostly. He told me a bit about the imperial court and the revolt, but it wasn’t anything major.” To confirm what I had heard, I gave Fiona a brief account of my talk with the prince. She listened, a faintly troubled look crossing her face before she spoke.
“All of that is true, but it’s a little incomplete. There are two other factions in addition to the first, second, and third princes’. I would say they’re the ones giving him a hard time.”
“There are only three princes. What are the other two?”
“Have you forgotten? One of them is me.”
“Oh, right.”
“I’m sure he must find it incredibly irritating that a faction that’s only a few years old is gaining so much power. Not only his younger brothers, but even a sister born to a mistress has joined in the struggle for the throne. How vexing it must seem.”
“Yet he didn’t say a word about you.”
“He wouldn’t say anything negative about me in front of someone under my patronage, I’m sure. Though perhaps it’s simply that I’m not worth acknowledging in the first place. There have only been a handful of empresses in the empire’s long history, after all.”
“So what’s the other faction?”
“The current emperor’s.”
“Huh?” I was puzzled. “How can the current emperor have a faction when these factions are all supposed to be supporting one of the heirs?”
“The emperor’s faction is a group that expects the emperor to adopt a talented heir from outside. If the princes come into conflict with the emperor, they act in ways that serve the emperor’s interests.”
“Oh, I see. That sounds like a bit of a gamble.”
“Even so, they’re the second-largest group. Many of them defected from the first prince’s faction. Just last year, Marquess Daramat, whose territory includes Tenend, took action with the emperor’s faction and became the talk of the court. He had been a strong supporter of Hiltzel until then.” Even I had heard of Marquess Daramat and the canyon city of Tenend. It seemed Hiltzel’s faction was now at the point where prominent figures were beginning to defect. “That just shows how uneasy everyone feels about entrusting the throne to the current princes. Of course, it has given me an opening to exploit as well.”
“Are you actually serious about going after the throne?”
Fiona giggled. “Would you like to know?”
“No, never mind.” I got the feeling nothing good would come from finding out the answer. Instead, I asked another question. “Who is the anti-Hero faction with?”
“The second and third princes’ factions have some particularly radical members. Criticism against them has grown louder since Marquess Greville’s blunder, and I hear their position is tenuous even within their own factions now.”
“I certainly wouldn’t complain if they self-destructed.”
“They’ve become a bit too radical, which does make them an issue, but now that the emperor has personally summoned Amyu, it’s only a matter of time until they collapse.”
If we accepted the emperor’s request and suppressed the revolt, the voices approving of the Hero would likely only grow stronger. Looking at it that way, maybe cleaning up after political strife wasn’t entirely a bad thing. Recalling that strife, I asked Fiona another question.
“What about the revolts? Have you heard any rumors about them being instigated by the second and third princes?”
“Yes.” Fiona nodded, a troubled expression on her face. “I suspect they’re true.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
Hearing my accusatory tone, Fiona’s gaze sharpened. “Would telling you have changed your decision?” she retorted. “I was opposed to your involvement from the start. I do believe I informed you that it might result in you getting dragged into political conflict.”
“That’s true.” If she had thought it would persuade us, she would’ve mentioned it. I couldn’t blame her for not passing on information we would’ve brushed aside anyway.
“Besides, even if my brothers started it, the situation has progressed well beyond that point,” Fiona continued, still wearing a dissatisfied expression.
“I’m told there’s a War Princess too.”
“There are such rumors, yes.” This time, Fiona looked like she felt a little guilty. “To be clear, I kept quiet about that one for the opposite reason—I didn’t believe it to be credible. On the battlefield, strange rumors are always circulating, of comrades who return from the dead to lend aid, or of people claiming to have seen the form of a god.”
“I get it. I’m not blaming you.” It was a rumor that left me at a loss for how to respond. Fiona must have found it difficult to convey as well. I took a short breath. “Well, it doesn’t seem like he was lying to me. Not that I really felt like he was.”
“Seika.” Fiona addressed me with a firm expression. “What do you think of Hiltzel?”
I took a moment to consider my answer. “I feel bad saying this to you, but I thought he was a good fit to inherit the throne. He’s honest, intelligent, and has self-awareness and resolve befitting the imperial family. He has the unreadable qualities of a politician, but I think that’s necessary in a ruler.” As far as flaws went, his frail constitution was the only thing that came to mind. Had he been born with a healthy body, I doubted anybody would object to his taking the throne. I thought I had given a reasonable opinion, but Fiona’s expression grew even more grim.
“Don’t trust him too much.”
“What do you mean?”
Fiona continued without giving me a chance to question her. “He’s a politician, just as I am.”