“What’s wrong, Your Highness?” Keithwood questioned Sion as soon as they had returned to his room.
“What’s wrong? What do you mean, Keithwood?”
“Playing dumb, are we? I’m talking about Ganudos Port Country,” he responded, shaking his head in exasperation. “Do you truly plan to leave everything to Princess Mia?”
“Does that upset you? I thought you’d be happy I made this choice, considering you’re always telling me I should stop sticking my head into danger.”
“You should, but... Leaving the matter alone just isn’t like you, Your Highness,” said Keithwood, scratching his head. His master, Sion Sol Sunkland, wasn’t the type to turn a blind eye to unjust actions that abused the people. The fact Mia would be stepping in perhaps meant that wasn’t completely true in this case, but sitting back on his hands and failing to step in himself just wasn’t like him, especially considering that visiting Echard wasn’t that high of a priority. “I was sure the flames of anger would thrust you onto the front lines.”
Sion chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far, of course, but... You’re right. Ganudos really is doing evil, from what I’ve heard, and that shouldn’t be ignored. At the very least, there’s a need for someone to head there themselves and question the king and the other eminent nobles,” he said, looking quite ponderous.
Is this Prince Sion...a fake?! Seeing his master like this inspired a very Mia-like gut feeling in Keithwood. His case of Mia-itis was clearly severe. Though I suppose now isn’t time for jokes.
Keithwood cleared his throat once—then twice—before speaking. “What happened between you and Princess Mia is still bothering you, isn’t it?” he asked, trying to sound casual. As far as Keithwood knew, Mia had been Sion’s first heartbreak—his first love, rather, now that Keithwood remembered his master’s lack of romantic experience. Suddenly, he began to worry that the pain of that heartbreak had left a deeper scar than he originally thought.
Monarchs blinded by love popped up throughout the world in every nation there was. As a man wise in the ways of the world, Keithwood wondered if he should have stepped in to make sure his master experienced a relationship or two beforehand.
“Oh, I see. I hadn’t realized that was a way of interpreting my actions,” said Sion with a curious grin. “If I joined Mia on this journey, I would get to see her governing prowess from up close. I’d get to see how the Great Sage chooses to deal with Ganudos, which is knowledge that might serve me well in the future. On the other hand, I’d be learning how to govern from the woman who has rejected me, and offering a helping hand would come with complicated feelings. Is that what you surmised?”
“Well, yes... Was I wrong?”
Sion glanced at Keithwood, wearing a self-deprecating grin and shaking his head. “That would perhaps be more human of me, but you’re unfortunately wrong. My apologies for the lack of childish charm, but my thoughts were a bit colder in nature.” Suddenly, Sion opened his eyes. They glistened with the light of intellect, and it put Keithwood at ease.
“I see. So you’ve made your decision as a member of Sunkland’s royal family.”
“Rather than that, as a fellow opponent of the Serpents. If I were operating as a royal of Sunkland, the right course of action would be to head to Ganudos and correct their wrongs, just as you envisioned.” Sion cut off his words and pondered for a moment. “I don’t mean to abase myself, but Mia and Sir Ludwig will be plenty of brains, and Sir Dion and Abel will be enough brawn. Don’t you think there’s not much reason for me to accompany her as well?”
The squad of vassals Mia had built were elites, and Abel easily wielded his blade, knowing when it was time to put his life on the line. With them around, there wasn’t much purpose Sion could serve.
“Hmph. So you’re unwilling to resign yourself to just being backup?”
“Of course I want to fight our enemies on the front lines, and I don’t want to become the type of man who fails to feel anger at the unjust and chooses to turn a blind eye. Had we been fighting a group of bandits, I would happily run straight onto the battlefield. However...”
“Please don’t happily run onto any battlefields, Your Highness.”
Sion ignored Keithwood’s warning and continued. “I don’t think that’s the right way to fight the Serpents. Instead, I believe we need to fight from farther back, where we can take in the entirety of the battlefield. At least, those have been my recent thoughts.”
“Ah, I see. So that’s why you’re headed to where Prince Echard is, to the Greenmoons. They certainly are well-versed in Tearmoon’s foreign affairs, and Princess Orania and Lady Esmeralda are friends. It will be easy for you to gain intel on Ganudos, and not only that, you’ll be able to rush into action if necessary and operate separately from Princess Mia on the front lines,” said Keithwood, stroking his chin. “The Serpents certainly are elusive, and they’re not so foolish as to take only one route to march into a fortified fortress. If our greatest force, Princess Mia, has led a party into Ganudos, there’s a good chance they’ll stir up trouble elsewhere, yes?”
“I don’t know if it’ll be elsewhere, but in any case, I want to lie low and calmly take in the whole situation.” His expression suddenly stiffened. “Abel has found the path that’s his to walk. I can’t lose to him.” He spoke quietly but with hardened resolve.