As we returned to the audience chamber, the two royal guards I had sent off earlier were back.
“Is my father inside?”
“Your Highness! N-No... His Majesty has not returned.”
So they were guarding an empty room. That might be their job, but seeing them devotedly protecting an empty room reminded me of my past self. I’d done everything without thinking for myself, just because it was my duty. The knights standing watch over nothing were just like I was as I acted the thoughtless Crown Prince.
A country is not for the King. A king is for the country, I thought. But I had existed for my Father. I lived as his spare, doing his bidding. He and I are different people. Even if we would each end up as kings, we couldn’t live the same way. If my father would go so far as king to sacrifice the Sacred Maidens, I would fly the flag of revolution.
It seemed that Father was in his bedroom. It was true that his health had been failing him the last few years. Part of the reason why I had gone along with the journey of purification was to prepare for my ascension to the throne once he was gone.
“Father.”
After ordering his servants to leave, I entered his room with Fernando.
“...Edoardo.”
I heard a voice hoarser than that I heard in the audience chamber from within the thick canopy over the bed. Pushing the canopy back, there was an elderly man lying there. He’s really aged, huh. Had he always been this small?
“You know why I’ve come, correct?” I said as monotone as I could.
“No...I don’t. Did something happen?” His colorless dried lips curved in a smile.
“Why did you send her off in the Black Carriage?”
“My— Did you hear that from Fernando?”
“It doesn’t matter who I heard it from. I’m asking you why you did it. Are you not embarrassed, as a king?”
My Father’s eyes finally fell on me as I denounced him.
“As a king...” Muttering that, he returned his gaze to the ceiling. “...I didn’t sentence her to death as the King.”
“What?” I blinked at his unexpected answer.
“I sent her off in the carriage as a dying father.”
I wasn’t the only one shocked to silence. I heard a gasp from behind me as well.
“Had she kept her powers, or had you not chosen to send the original Sacred Maiden back, she wouldn’t have had to die. If she had kept them, I would have married her to you, and if you had taken the original as your queen, I would have given the girl to Clementi. But it was too dangerous to leave her after the original returned home. The Sacred Maiden who purified the Cristallo Sacro is an important being for our world. You know about the teachings of the faith of the Sacred Trees, correct? And how the King lost the Sacred Maiden to the hero? What if Clementi revolted? And the nobles rose up around him? I had no choice but to get rid of her.” Father heaved a heavy, exhausted sigh, closing his eyes.
“Celestino wouldn’t...”
“Her power was unique, and unexpected. It may not pass down to her children with Clementi. But what if it did? Even if he doesn’t aim for the throne, what if his descendants did? A king must be absolute, and a king must have strong retainers. If Clementi had a strong child who would support our country, that would be fine. But if you don’t have a strong child yourself, that girl’s child might be more fit to rule, and would do you more damage under the Sacred Maiden’s banner. Though Clementi having a powerful child would be desirable, we wouldn’t want it to be too powerful. I will take all who could threaten your reign along with me.”
I stood silently as he kept speaking.
“Clementi’s attachment to the girl was not trivial. I wanted to settle things peacefully, but the girl would not back down. I had only one option to keep them apart. If she lived, Clementi would search for her, and she would call for him. If only one Sacred Maiden remains, she mustn’t be given to anyone else.”
Saying that, Father fell into a violent coughing fit. I raised my hand to rub his back before I remembered what I had come here to do, and gripped it in a fist instead.
“Edoardo, give up on the girl. Tell Clementi to curse me if he wishes.” He opened his eyes once again, looking at me. His emerald eyes were clouded, but still sharp.
“Father... No, King Lamberto. No matter what you think, I believe you are wrong. A country does not exist for its king. We have no right to harm innocent people based on our own desires. A country will continue existing, even if the King changes. You should not have put the royal family on a scale against our savior.”
“So you mean to kill your father, Edoardo?”
“You were the one to have the Sacred Maiden killed first, Lamberto Melchiorre Banfield. If it is to render justice for her, I will become a patricidal king. I can’t allow any more blood to be shed for our family. I’ll end it all with your life.”
As I went to pull my hidden dagger from the sheath, Fernando spoke up to stop me. “Please, wait.”
“Don’t get in my way.”
“Your Highness, you don’t need to shoulder the dishonor. I am also at fault for not stopping His Majesty. I am your shield. A new reign does not need to be under a crown of thorns. Your Majesty...please forgive me.”
Fernando easily took the dagger from my hands, while I jumped in front of him in a panic. No, I didn’t bring you here for this!
“Fernando, wait!”
“I will not wait. I am angry as well. I couldn’t stop His Majesty, or protect our savior. I cannot forgive myself as a knight — or as a human. If His Majesty will die bearing the sin of killing a Sacred Maiden, then I will die taking the sin of killing a king with me. This is not a sin that you should bear as you lead the country to a new future.”
There was no way I could win against Fernando’s experience when all I knew was basic self-defense. After he took my dagger, he pushed me towards the door.
“Go back, Your Highness. You know nothing. Understand?”
“Stop, Fernando! Don’t do it! I have no intention of losing you!”
As we argued, we were suddenly shocked silent by an inappropriately loud laugh.
“Edoardo, do as Fernando says. Usurpation is a heavy crime for a new king to bear. The people won’t follow you. That’s the danger of subverting the state. Are you going to sow more chaos now that the country is at peace without the monsters?”
I bit my lip. The world was celebrating; the Cristallo Sacro was purified; monsters were vanishing; and a new year was beginning. It wouldn’t be advisable to start it off with the blood of a Sacred Maiden and a king. But I couldn’t leave things as they were either. At the very least, I needed to find out where Lucia’s body was dumped and give her a proper burial.
“As you say then, Father.”
Looking at his darkened face, I could tell he wasn’t much longer for this world.
“You will go to the royal villa in the south, where Mother sleeps. We will make it appear as though you retired there to rest after I returned. Fernando, put away your sword, and ready things for his abdication. You will take command, and keep everyone away from the villa. The King is deathly ill, and does not require visitors. Give him as few attendants as possible.”
Fernando made a bitter face at my orders, but he silently picked up the dagger’s sheath, putting it away. After that, he knelt before me, bowing his head as he offered the dagger to me.
“By your will, my lord.”