Eventually, Guinness spoke up. “Last Day of Respite, I got news that eight top dog Solists turned up dead. As if it was the sort of trivial news that even a middle-class conductor like me would receive.”
“What feels like an everyday event for you might be a major omen that heralds the fate of the world. So? What of those eight dead Solists…?”
“They died in a duel. On the Day of Respite. I looked into it, but their remains were carried to the Throne Room and buried in the Rootgrounds by the blue chronicle priests.”
“The Rootgrounds…?”
“I only heard about it when I became a Conductor. It’s a cathedral under the Throne Room for mourning the dead. Traditionally, that’s where royalty is buried, as God’s roots are there. Along with most Solists who died in Schwertmusik. Not even close relatives are allowed to go there to mourn them, so I don’t know what kind of injuries those eight died from, honestly. That’s just what the castle speaker said. But anyway, the last Day of Respite just happened to be the day Belle and Adonis went through the trial to play the Key.”
“And…?”
“The eight Solists who died all went after Adonis for the swords he’d collected. The reason they had their swords on them on the Day of Respite was because they heard Adonis was spotted in the lower city.”
“I see… It’s not often he shows himself outside the castle. If I had to guess…”
“He showed himself on purpose and killed those eight people. But from everything I’ve heard, Adonis has never done anything like that before.”
“He hates trouble more than most people, after all.”
“Trouble doesn’t even come close this time. Among the eight Solists who were killed, some of them are from families with blood ties to castle nobility. They won’t be able to refuse a chance to fight Adonis. Their family customs don’t allow it. A sword must be repaid with a sword…”
“So eventually, he’ll have to die… I guess that’s the outcome of everything he did so far. That would explain Adonis’s Motif.”
“Not entirely. I read this on the news. Apparently, there was a meeting among the castle nobility, and it’s being proposed that Adonis be named King Minor.”
Benet’s triangular, finlike ears stood on end. He must have been very surprised. His amethyst eye widened as he stared at Guinness in shock.
“Well, that’s…very strange.”
“Not as strange as you’d think. Doing this would stabilize the castle’s image of the king. The former King Minor vanished from the castle along with the former Queen Minor, and the former Queen Major died from illness, leaving only the King Major… But now they can finally fill all those vacancies.”
“But wait, the position of Queen Minor is still vacant…”
“There’s Belle.”
“What?!”
Benet was stunned. What Guinness had said defied belief, yet he’d said it with complete indifference. He knew Guinness to be a show-off, but it was exactly because he was the one who’d said it that made Benet likely to believe him.
This hopeless former Libretto may have proved good enough to be qualified as a Conductor, but since he spent all his wits on things that didn’t matter, he would always stay mediocre. And since it came from Guinness’s lips, the absurd statement somehow seemed believable.
Benet cradled his forehead like he was suppressing a headache, and Guinness smirked.
“The best way to deal with an outsider is to make them one of your own. The problem is: She’s too good to fill that role. At least, that’s what I would say if I was one of the castle speakers.”
“But isn’t she going to depart on a journey?”
“What if Gods from another country order our country’s God to do this?”
“What…? What are you talking about?”
“I’m just saying that if I was our God, or another country’s God, that’s what I would do,” Guinness said, completely nonchalantly. “If it was me, and there was someone like Belle who didn’t fit into my system of law and order, I’d use that as my reason to shackle her forever by any means. Killing her would be unacceptable. I mean, if she died in Schwertmusik it would be one thing, but… Anyway, that’s the Motif behind what’s happening here, as far as I can tell. The question is whether Belle heard about this news, but all things considered, she probably didn’t.”
“It’s the first I’m hearing of it, too. I swear, you’re such a blabbermouth. And you attach facts to your story, too. You’re never going to get promoted, I can promise you that.”
“Thanks. What’s your read on it, then? You’re emotionally closer to Belle and Adonis than I am, so you can do much more for her.”
“As you know, what she wants is a companion. Not a brief, fleeting romance,” Benet said with a hint of resentment. “What she really seeks is a companion for her journey. A comrade that will obey her and be there to support her unconditionally, one-sidedly. No man wants that. At least so long as it’s conditional on setting out on a journey, none of us will stand with her… We feel that way, and so does she. And that’s her Motif. Even she doesn’t know what percolates deep down in her heart, so I’m not going to presume that I do.”
“Adonis has a big weight to shoulder. What about him, then?”
“I don’t know. He hardly reveals himself, both emotionally and physically, so I wouldn’t know. But I believed that, at least in this country, he could save Belle. That’s why I backed down. Speaking of, where is he right now? If things are going down like this, I wish I had a way to give him some guidance.”
“I think Adonis is too cold to accept serious love advice from you. I’ll try to find out where he went as soon as I can, though. I do want to ask what he’s thinking.”