FINAL CHAPTER At the End of All Love and Hate —Emma opened her eyes. “…You’re back with us?” When she opened her heavy eyelids, the first thing in her line of sight was Rintarou. He held her up from where she had collapsed, peering into her face. He had already undone his transformative spell. Then, she noticed Luna, Sir Kay, Felicia, and Sir Gawain looking down at her. The night sky was a deep darkness, and the area around them was made up of the old and lonely vestiges of a construction zone. “…How do you feel?” “…” She said nothing, checking her constitution slowly. She didn’t hurt at all. All her injuries had been healed. But she felt leaden, weak. It was almost as though she had confronted an empty loss that collapsed her chest, as if her soul had been ripped to shreds. Even in her half-consciousness, she shifted her gaze and looked at the Excalibur in her hand. The blade had broken cleanly in half. “…I see… I lost…” Emma remembered everything, muttering as though in shock. An Excalibur was a sword that reflected a King’s way. It was a mirror that projected her heart. And if her heart acknowledged defeat, then obviously it would break—just as it had for King Arthur when he had submitted to King Pellinore’s unbearable strength. “Sniffle… I—I…lost… I lost… Hic…and now…my involvement in the succession battle…is…over…” Emma cried softly, cradling her face in her hands. Warm tears fell from her eyes. “We undid the Curse of a Changed Heart on you,” Rintarou dispassionately told Emma. “…A curse…?” “It got to your head, right? …That’s why.” Now that he said it, Emma’s head did feel particularly clear. That was when she finally realized the abnormality of her thoughts, emotions, and actions up until now. “You might not want to listen to me, but I think…the person who put the curse on you was—” “No, I know… I already know…” Emma had been with Sir Lamorak ever since she had arrived at the island. There was no way someone could have placed this curse on her without catching the attention of a knight like Sir Lamorak. In that case, the conversation was easy. The one who had placed the curse on her had to be Sir Lamorak…or it was an outsider helping her Jack. Either way, Emma had been betrayed by her trusted knight. “…Sir Lamorak…” Emma gently gripped the Round Fragment at her hip. It was now broken, too. She had a feeling…that there was something twisted that burdened Sir Lamorak. She knew she couldn’t help. She had known…that Sir Lamorak had dealt with desires and worries that no normal person could comprehend. But regardless of that, Sir Lamorak had been the one and only Jack who had answered Emma’s summons… Emma didn’t think her Jack had faked her allegiance, her kindness, her devotion to faith… She didn’t want to believe that. “…Why…?” But the person who could answer her question was…gone. Emma gripped the broken Round Fragment and wept in sorrow. “…Wh…y… Snigg… Ugh… Hic… Urp…” She cried. As Rintarou continued to hold her up, Emma didn’t even care about how it looked to the others, sobbing uncontrollably. No one could say a single word to her. …After she had let out and dealt with her emotions herself, she regained her composure. “…It’s…fine now…” Emma got up and stood, rubbing her swollen eyes. “I…lost. The succession battle is over for me. But…I’m sure this is for the best.” She broke into a little smile. Though her lips were wet from tears, she looked brighter, as though she had shaken off a demon inside her. “…In the end… I didn’t have the capacity to be a King… I fought with Luna…and understand that now. I was…weak.” Then, Emma turned to Luna. “I’m so sorry…that I said you weren’t suitable for my master because of your reputation and behavior… Of course you’re amazing… My master is always right.” “Erm, it’s not like… I chose Luna based on her skills.” Rintarou had a complicated expression. Emma smiled slightly at him. “Master…and Luna…I hope you continue your hard work. I’m sure Luna is the true King who will get the better of this succession battle. And, master, please make sure you support Luna.” With that, Emma turned on her heel and left. “What’re you going to do now?” Rintarou called out to her. “You mean…me? …Right.” She stopped in her tracks, gazing at the sky deep in thought for a while… “I think I’ll go home.” “!” “I just transferred over here, but…since the battle is over for me, I don’t have any reason to be here anymore. I was thinking I’d quit school and go back to Orleans, back home…” Emma’s home—the Religious Order of Saint Joan. For possessing King Arthur’s blood in her veins, she had been forced into a grueling life, brainwashed and tortured. It was the lair of the inhumane. “You’re… But that’s…” “Yes, I know. I don’t think any good will come out of going back to my hometown. Maybe they’ll force me to get married to someone to protect King Arthur’s bloodline? Or maybe they’ll abandon me because I’m not useful anymore? …But I don’t have any parents or relatives. As someone without anyone else in the world, the only place I have to go home to…is there…” “—Nh?!” “…Good-bye, master… I’m really happy that I got to see you again…” At the very end, Emma paid tribute to Rintarou with a soulful smile wet from tears. Emma started to leave. As he watched her lonely figure from behind, Rintarou was deep in thought. She’s been released from her cruel fate. She doesn’t need to be the King of salvation. She never wanted to be that in the first place. I set her free. It was a drastic measure, but someone had to do it. I wasn’t wrong. But she still hasn’t been saved. He should have stopped her. Leaving it at this would be irresponsible. It would mean he hadn’t liberated her. But I don’t have the qualifications to do that. On top of destroying her support system, I’ve been progressively wandering away from living a virtuous life… Rintarou didn’t have the necessary traits. He didn’t have anything he could say to her, either. Any words he could offer would only save face. They wouldn’t make a tangible difference. But fortunately, there is someone here, isn’t there? …There’s someone perfect in these situations. Rintarou’s mouth secretly twisted up. Someone had grabbed Emma’s shoulder in a vise grip from behind. “What? …Just wait a sec, Emma. You thought I’d let you escape?” It was Luna. “…Mm? Uh. Um… Luna?” “‘I lost. Win in my place. Bye.’ …You really think you can just leave with that little flair of adolescent drama? EM-MA?” Luna smiled incredibly wickedly, and Emma immediately faltered. “What? Uh… Th-that was… I did cause you a lot of trouble…and I’m very sorry about that, but…” “Excuuuuse me?! If apologies solved anything, we wouldn’t have police and postwar military trials! Now, let’s see. What kind of debt should we collect from a failure of a King like you?! Hmm?!” “E-eep!” Emma was in tears at Luna’s mafia-esque menace. “Right. How about we do this? My place is basically a mansion, and we don’t have enough people to do chores… But it’s not like we can hire on a normal person. So this is a royal order, Emma! I order you to be a maid at the Logres Manor!” “Huh?! Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!” Emma raised a voice in disarray. “Wh-why would I do that?!” “What?! What do you think you’re saying? I won, and you lost! It’s universal logic that the loser is absolutely obedient to the winner! I have a right over your life, and you’re not allowed to deny me! Being the magnanimous King that I am, I forgive your insolent rebellion! In exchange, I’ll graciously accept you as one of my followers! You haven’t got anything better to do even if you go home, right?! In that case, I’ll have you be my humble maid until you find yourself! And you’ve got to go to school! Got that?!” “B-buuuut!” Luna had created a big scene. From the corner of his eyes, Rintarou looked at their little scuffle. Yeah… This is good. Her pushiness…is the right thing for this occasion. Rintarou grinned and turned his back. “Ah, well… Don’t tell me this was your little scheme all along.” Felicia planted a hand on her hip, grumbling in exasperation at Rintarou. “Who knows? Well, when it comes to Luna, I had a feeling this is how it’d turn out,” he admitted. “I can’t believe that Merlin would take on the hated role to save a girl… Did you hit your head or something?” Sir Gawain looked at Rintarou as though he were observing a strange creature. “Shut up! God, leave me alone. Oh, by the way… There’s something I wanted to say to you all.” Rintarou scratched his head in annoyance and cast a sharp look at Felicia. “About that fight with Emma and Lamorak…” Felicia and Sir Gawain steadied themselves, alarmed. M-my liege, the way this is going…, her Jack thought. …At this rate, he’s going to give us an earful about disappointing him, Felicia finished. From his behavior, the two sighed, as though they had resigned themselves to their fates. When they thought back about it, the only one who had been able to directly fight against Sir Lamorak was Rintarou. The rest of them were just flesh shields to achieve the right number of people. The two of them readied themselves for Rintarou’s scolding… “…Uh…so about that…” Unexpectedly, he had something else to say. “…Felicia…uh, I’m glad you were here…I think. Honestly, if we hadn’t had your magic and Excalibur, we would have been goners…” “…What?” “And, Gawain…you were also… Uh, I guess you kind of did a good job?” “Huh.” “I didn’t think you could have actually taken a hit from Lamorak and lived through it… You might be a rotten scoundrel, but you’re still part of the Round Table, I guess? …Hmph,” Rintarou spat in a low tone. “Well…it wasn’t perfect, but you helped save Emma, too. Thanks… That’s all I wanted to say.” He snorted and turned his back to them. “……” “……” For a while, Felicia and Sir Gawain let their eyes pop out of their heads, boring their gazes into Rintarou’s back… “You’ve really gone off the deep eeeend, huh?!” “M-my liege?! I’m sure Rintarou got his head hit during the battle!” “H-he must have! Of course! That’s it! Just wait, Rintarou! I’ll use Healing magic on your head right away—” The pair roared, quickly surrounding Rintarou to apprehend him. “SHUT IT, YOU TWOOOO!!” Rintarou boomed, forehead twitching in anger. He grabbed each of them with the palms of his hands. ““AAAAAAAAH?!”” He slammed them down on the ground. The heightened anxiety of the battle must have finally worn out, because the three of them roughhoused each other. Sir Kay was in front of them. …Rintarou, Felicia, and Sir Gawain… Each had their own role in this battle… They possess such power…but I… She could only watch them with distant eyes. Luna had no idea that this plagued her Jack. “Anyway! I just got a cute maid! You better be happy, Rintarou!” Proudly, Luna gave them a thumbs-up and pulled along the dejected Emma, who looked as though she had submitted to her fate. “Uh… I don’t know the first thing about being a maid, but…I’m in your charge for a while, master…” “I see, you’ve got rotten luck. Well, why not? It’s way better than going home, right?” “Th-that might be true…but are you sure you want me getting in your way…?” “You heard the head of the household. Don’t worry about it,” Rintarou consoled, and she sighed in worry. He noticed something else. This is what you wanted, right? Gosh. You’re a troublesome vassal, Rintarou. Luna moved her lips silently from behind Emma, grinning. He instantly read her lips. “!” Rintarou looked at Luna’s smug face and blinked. …Ah, well, guess I’m no match for my King. In exasperation, he grinned wryly, shrugging in response. “Hey! Mm! Hmm!” With a beam as bright as the midsummer sun, Luna lifted her right hand and jerked her chin. It seemed she was readying herself for a high five. “…Okay, okay,” Rintarou said as though he didn’t have a choice, raising his right hand. The two of them, neither of them being the initiator, stepped toward each other, and— CLAP! Passing by each other, their hands hit the other, echoing through the silent night over their heads. The King Arthur Succession Battle had only just started. From here on, they would be able to overcome any hardship in their way. This was what this fight had left them to think—and believe. This ringing sound seemed to reaffirm that. The next day, they were back at Logres Manor. “Yoo-hoo! My little maid! You master is home!” Luna had come home later than usual—held up at a student council meeting at Camelot International. She kicked the front door open and barged through the entrance hall. Behind Luna, Rintarou sighed and scratched his head. Nayuki Fuyuse peeked into the grounds, her eyes fluttering. “We’ve brought an important guest from the student council today! Here, take her to the drawing room quickly and get some tea ready!” “Waaah. Uhhhh, y-yes, master…” Emma greeted them in a maid uniform and teary eyes. “Oh, what? I had no idea Emma lived here, too. But why is she wearing that…?” “Ugh… Please don’t ask, Nayuki…” In the earlier Rintarou Pursual Battle, Nayuki had learned to recognize Emma’s face. She tilted her head as Emma’s shoulders drooped, avoiding any clear statements. “Um… Luna? Why am I a maid, too?” Next to Emma…in the same maid outfit, Sir Kay was also in tears. Ignoring the pitiful duo, Luna turned to Nayuki. “Heh, Nayuki! What do you think? This is my castle! Isn’t it grand?!” “Y-yeah… I can’t believe you have servants and live in this luxurious mansion… Luna, you’re amazing. Of course, I suppose that’s expected from a high-class English family… But why is Emma…?” “Ha-ha. I know, right? Come on in! Relax! We’re all going to start having a tea party—stat!” “Um…Luna…?” “You can’t say anything to change my mind, Sir Kay… Hurry and prep the tea for our guest…” Resigned to this new job, Emma and Sir Kay passed by Luna’s crew. “Hmm? Luna, you’re back.” “Oh, welcome home, Luna.” Felicia and Sir Gawain appeared in the landing of the stairs. Felicia was in her normal attire—a gothic dress. But Sir Gawain looked unusually casual in a tank top and military pants instead of his normal knightly attire. “I’m home! Oh, Nayuki, I’ll introduce you! That’s Felicia. She’s one of the Feralds, a distinguished noble family in northern Ireland, and that’s her attendant, Gawain.” “A—a noblewoman and her attendant… N-nice to meet you! I’m the secretary from the student council! My name is Nayuki Fuyuse! Sorry for intruding into your space!” Nayuki was bashful after hearing about their titles. “Hee-hee, it’s my pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Nayuki.” Pinching up the edge of her skirt, Felicia elegantly bowed. Nayuki breathed out a sound of admiration. “Felicia, we’re going to have a tea party right now. Would you like to join?” “Oh? Are you sure?” “Of course!” “I see. Then I’ll be pleased to join you. Sir Gawain?” “Yes! Of course, I will join you, my liege!” Felicia and Sir Gawain continued to the drawing room. “I—I remember you telling me all this, but…Rintarou, it seems like you’re sharing a house with some amazing people… It’s like they’re from a whole other world…” Nayuki lowered her voice, cautiously speaking to Rintarou on their way over. “Hmm, well, uh…it kind of like…fell into my lap…” Rintarou had no choice but to be ambiguous. “To tell you the truth, she bought this house with my money, so I don’t know why Luna is acting like she owns the place…” “Huh? What? Did you say something?” “Nothing… Nothing at all,” Rintarou deceived with a shrug. “Really? …Anyway…it feels fun and exciting here. It’s nice.” “You think so? Seems noisy to me.” “I live alone in an apartment that used to be a boardinghouse…so maybe I’m just a little jealous that it’s animated. It’s the exact opposite of my home.” “Seriously? In that case, do you want to come here, too? We’ve got rooms to spare,” he suggested jokingly. “Ah-ha… Right. I might…take you up on that sometime.” Nayuki flashed him a slightly mischievous smile. “Hey, Rintarou?” Nayuki gently asked. “How is your life with…Luna and everyone? Is it fun?” “Hmm?” There was something deeper to Nayuki’s question. He could feel it. Rintarou tilted his head. “Well, I’m not bored,” he answered bluntly. But when she observed his profile, it seemed he wasn’t altogether displeased… “…Ha-ha, good.” Nayuki looked at Rintarou, softly smiling. On that day, they say the tea party was particularly fun—with Rintarou, Luna, Sir Kay, Felicia, Sir Gawain, Emma, and their guest of honor, Nayuki Fuyuse, all in attendance.
Chapter 32
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