How do you define “evil”? What is betrayal anyway?
If evil was born of loneliness and despair, who did the souls of its victims hate, and how could they be saved?
Throughout those peaceful days, there were happy times and there were sad times.
One came not long after Leorino’s parents had returned to Brungwurt. It was the news that Erina, the wife of Leorino’s eldest brother, was pregnant.
Erina planned to wait until she felt better before moving to the royal capital, where her family resided.
But rather than a homecoming, it was an evacuation to prepare for the war against Zwelf.
What cast a shadow over Leorino’s mind was the fate of Julian Munster, after what he had done.
Gravis of course knew that Julian had drugged Leorino and attempted to assault him. The Duke of Leben made no excuses and was prepared for his entire family to be punished.
As it turned out, however, neither Julian nor the Duke of Leben received any official punishment.
There were three main reasons for Gravis to withhold severe punishment.
Firstly, he did not want to damage Leorino’s reputation by making the incident public. The second reason was the possibility that Julian had been manipulated by the Marquis of Lagarea, although this was not something they could openly discuss. The third was the duke’s contribution to the country. Julian was acquitted in recognition of his father’s loyalty, including the provision of funds for the expansion of Brungwurt’s military.
Still, Julian would never be allowed to see Leorino again. If he was found to have done so, he was told that he would be exiled, no questions asked.
Soon after, Julian’s engagement to a princess from another country was announced. It was an entirely political marriage. That was Julian’s punishment.
At a soiree held at the end of the summer at the royal palace, Leorino saw Julian from a distance. For Leorino, it was the first soiree he had attended since it was publicly announced that he was to be Gravis’s spouse.
Neither Gravis nor Leorino had much interest in social gatherings, but when they were hosted by the royal family, they had no choice but to partake.
Julian was the center of attention as he appeared accompanied by a foreign princess to whom he had just gotten engaged. Standing near the throne, Leorino watched them.
All the guests were eager to congratulate Julian and Leorino on their respective betrothals.
It happened when both their companions’ attention was elsewhere.
Leorino turned around at the intense gaze he felt from afar.
For that brief moment, Julian and Leorino’s gazes met again.
They were so far apart that their voices couldn’t possibly reach the other. Julian looked straight at Leorino, and moved his lips, forming them in the shape of a few short words.
There were dozens of people between Julian and Leorino. But the words that Julian pronounced alongside his piercing gaze reached Leorino’s ears regardless.
Leorino closed his eyes.
He wished he had not thought of going to see Julian to apologize that day. If only he hadn’t done so, the days would have simply passed, the Marquis of Lagarea never getting involved, and Julian might have given up on Leorino and eventually found someone else to love.
But there was no point in thinking about what might have been.
Leorino’s foolish, reckless behavior had brought about this conclusion. There were no happy endings in sight, only Julian’s ruin and despair.
But Leorino also knew that it would be arrogant to assume that everything had been his responsibility.
He recalled Hundert’s words.
“Relationships require decisions from both partners.”
Just as Leorino had made a mistake, Julian had erred as well.
Leorino considered Julian part of his extended family. Julian should do the same and give up on him. Even if they never crossed paths again, they still had the rest of their lives ahead of them.
Leorino cast his eyes to the ground for a moment, as if to free himself of the plaintive gaze cast at him from afar.
Eventually, he lifted his chin again, as if nothing had happened.
Standing beside him, Gravis squeezed Leorino’s hand. Leorino looked up at the man, wondering if he had noticed. Gravis met his gaze and said nothing. He remained silent and tightened his hold on Leorino’s hand just a little to reassure Leorino he trusted him.
At that moment, the warmth of Gravis’s hand put an end to Leorino’s regret and doubt.
Half of my heart is already in Vi’s hands.
Leorino squeezed Gravis’s large hand back.
After that, peaceful life in the royal capital ostensibly continued as usual.
Leorino regularly traveled to the royal palace to receive education from Queen Emilia and Theodor on his future role as a royal spouse. In the absence of a wife for the crown prince Kyle, Leorino’s status as a royal spouse made him second only to Emilia, despite the difference in gender.
Emilia was Adele’s niece. For two generations in a row, they had married into the Fanoren royal family from the neighboring country of Francoure. However, she was a plump woman with a kind smile. She did not look much like Adele, who had a slender figure and brilliant beauty.
Unlike Adele, Emilia did not have a great influence on national politics, but she was aware of her responsibilities as a member of the royal family, which was a clear sign of her Francoure lineage. She was a wonderful queen to her country in a different way from the queen dowager.
Leorino grew fond of the gentle queen who would soon become his sister-in-law. That being said, she was almost the same age as his mother, so she felt more like an aunt than a sister. Emilia also doted on Leorino, who was much younger than Kyle, as if he were her own son.
Out of consideration for his frail constitution, Gravis had already instructed the royal court to unburden Leorino of any official duties. For that reason, Leorino was only expected to learn the necessary etiquette for royal ceremonies and diplomatic formalities.
In the quiet days that followed, Gravis and his men secretly sent a scouting party into Gdaniraque to obtain solid evidence of the Marquis of Lagarea’s treachery.
They believed that the ironworkers kidnapped by the Marquis of Lagarea were kept confined somewhere in Gdaniraque and forced into labor.
It was the royal family’s prerogative to punish the Marquis of Lagarea on circumstantial evidence alone. But in order to do so, the craftsmen who had been abducted and forced to manufacture weapons had to be rescued first.
According to Ginter’s secret nationwide research, they could confirm over thirty craftsmen from the Lagarea domain and nearly twenty from other areas had gone missing in the past three years. Even so, the full extent of the abductions was something they likely could not verify yet.
The first step was to locate the craftsmen. However, Gdaniraque was a mercenary state and did not have a clear national entity. The search for where the kidnapped were being held was extremely difficult.
One day, Alois, Gravis’s other adjutant, burst into his office.
“Your Excellency, Francoure and Gdaniraque have finally clashed on Francourian soil!”
Tensions ran high among the leadership of the Palace of Defense at the news.
An emergency meeting was held. Upon hearing the report, a deep frown appeared on Lucas’s fierce face.
“Francoure and Gdaniraque are already at war?”
“I don’t know if war has been officially declared yet. Besides the main route to our country, Francoure has suffered considerable damage from Gdaniraque, including skirmishes at the port. It appears that the king of Francoure couldn’t stomach it any longer.”
Gravis stood up.
“I’m leaping to Francoure to discuss matters with my uncle.”
“Sir!”
“I’ll be back the day after tomorrow. Lucas, you’ll be in charge while I’m gone.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gravis looked back at Dirk. “Tell Theodor to contact Leorino.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Alois, you’re coming with me. Hold on to me…we’re leaping!”
Fanoren and Zwelf had been on the brink of a confrontation.
But it was the clash of their respective allies that became the initial trigger.