To those who only knew Lucas as the stoic second prince, who had performed his duties flawlessly even in the face of the marshal’s death, his current behavior must seem unbelievable. I stared blankly at the gravestone.
And to the nobles who acted like Heroes didn’t bleed, I imagined it was even more outrageous.
“He didn’t even show up?”
“The marshal brought him up from a boy into a knight. I guess they’re just not cut from the same cloth.”
Every time I heard another snide remark from the crowd, I clenched my hands in front of me and swallowed back my anger.
They don’t know anything! They have no idea how much he’s hurting, how he said this was all he could do, because he doesn’t even know how to cry! Don’t speak so thoughtlessly! I swallowed the scream rising in my throat, then raised my voice to be heard clearly.
“Prince Lucas said some monsters become more active in the rain. He’s gone to check the areas around the border to ensure nothing slips past.”
He’s not here because of what the marshal taught him. I straightened my spine and made that firm declaration.
Just then, a hand fell gently upon my arm, and I turned in surprise.
It was Anika, her face clouded with concern. The duke and duchess of Herbst stood behind her, visibly upset.
And then a bitter voice rang out, stifling the murmurs. “He’s the kind of Hero we all wished to have as Bern’s protector, isn’t he, Prince Leon?” Dirk said.
“Yes, he is.”
Leon’s voice carried the anger of someone who knew all too well how we’d forced the title of Hero onto both Lucas and Marshal Webber.
The whispers began to take on a tone of quiet respect. The mood began to feel like a true farewell.
And that’s when an unwelcome guest showed up to run his mouth at the worst possible moment.
“Your kingdom’s Hero is said to have surpassed even his master, the greatest warrior on the continent. So it’s only natural. He bears a burden far beyond anything we could understand.”
What caught my eye first was the symbol of the goddess, delicately embroidered in gold on the shoulder of his pristine white cloak.
Mud had splattered on the hem of the priest’s brilliant white robe, but his face betrayed no signs of discomfort. Mud, after all, could be seen as a return to the goddess, in the eyes of those who worshipped death.
Despite Bern having its own high priest, Egrich had sent one of theirs to attend the state funeral. But not out of respect.
If they’d meant to show respect, they wouldn’t have sent notice only the night before. They wouldn’t have remarked snidely about the marshal’s missing body tight to Lucas’s face!
“High Priest, what do you mean by a burden far beyond our understanding?”
What, are you saying dying in battle is just par for the course?
You force your Saints to throw their lives away as sacrifices and dare to look down on Bern’s Hero, who puts his life on the line to fight monsters? Who do you think you are?!
“The Depths in our empire and the abyss in your kingdom are not the same. Just as the Holy Emperor, the representative of the goddess, is not the same as the Hero who wields a divine relic in Bern’s defense. Their missions are not equivalent, wouldn’t you say?” The Egrich priest smiled serenely as he stepped toward me, each movement deliberate.
My vision went red with fury. I fought to hold it back.
“Reducing the number of monsters is our shared goal. And you, too, have a sacred duty, Princess Cecilia, the Hero’s beloved, and bearer of the rare healing power.”
The way he said it carried the insinuation that while the Hero was to fight monsters, my role was to become a Saint.
He reached out his hand, and I felt a chill run up my spine.
I was meant to support Lucas as the second princess. To be the sheath that held the divine Hero. I had the potential to be a Saint.
If I rejected those words outright in front of so many watching eyes, I’d be denying my bond with Lucas, and by extension, tarnishing even the marshal’s memory.
But if I were to agree now, I’d have no choice but to take his hand.
No matter which decision I made, it could lead to exile from Bern.
That was why he’d come today. Because he knew that one wrong word would condemn me to the Depths, and I would never climb out from there again.
But I would not take that hand. Not today, and not ever.
You’ve miscalculated, priest. I’ve been threatened before. When you live with a knight whose soul is pitch-black, this sort of posturing is nothing. And I love my black-hearted knight. And I won’t take anyone else’s hand.
Because my husband is possessive, volatile, and dangerously violent.
If I so much as touched another man’s hand while he was afield, he would turn Bern and Egrich into a blood-drenched battlefield. He said he’d build a mountain of corpses, didn’t he?
So no matter how high the stakes were in that moment, I would not make decisions without talking to my husband first.
Besides, both Lucas and I outranked the high priest. That he dared to make demands without even introducing himself was unbelievable.
If you want my hand so badly, the Holy Emperor can come here and grab it himself, seeing as he’s so eager to punish me!
So I smiled sweetly and went to war.
“Oh my, you must have sharp ears to have heard so soon about what happened in Majaar! As for me, my mission is to support Prince Lucas and live with him here in Bern. I swore to love him singularly and irreplaceably, with the goddess herself as witness to my vow. Of course I would spare no effort to keep it. If His Holiness the Holy Emperor acknowledges that, then I’m truly honored!”