Chapter 92

The moment Lyssel got back to Lecashe, he went straight to find Iberin.

He'd thought about waiting until everything was settled before telling her, but it was starting to look like it would take longer than he'd expected.

The emperor didn't appear to have any intention of letting Lecashe go.

"Lyssel?"

Iberin's eyes went round at how quickly he was back.

"You've already been to the capital and back?"

"I have."

"Did the talk with the emperor go well?"

Lyssel's face was already saying it hadn't.

"At least you're back in one piece. You surprised me, coming home so fast."

She must have had countless questions, but it seemed she wasn't going to push until he opened up himself —

she didn't say much beyond that.

"I broke the hypnosis spell that was on me."

"What?! How — wait, is that why you went to the emperor?"

"That's right. With the hypnosis gone, honestly I could have killed him and been done with it, but I thought I'd try talking once. I was curious what would happen to the Forest of the World Tree without Lecashe, and how the emperor would handle that."

"It didn't break easily, did it."

"No. I'd been working on the method ever since I realized I'd been hypnotized."

"That long?"

Iberin had had no idea Lyssel had been fighting that battle the whole time, and it caught her off guard.

"I couldn't just leave it. There was no telling when or how it'd be used against me."

Why didn't I think of that?

Without a word, Iberin pulled Lyssel into her arms.

"You worked hard. I'm sorry — I didn't see it."

"Nothing to apologize for. It wasn't all that hard, either. Kal helped a great deal."

"Kal?"

"The place we brought Kal from, apparently, was an underground hypnosis training room."

The thought of what both of them must have gone through ached in her chest.

"It must have been so hard for him — and he still thought of helping."

Iberin murmured, moved.

"I asked him."

"You did?"

"I wasn't very good at reading other people's feelings back then…"

"It's fine. It was Kal's choice. If he hadn't wanted to, he would've left when the other children did. He's the one who stayed."

"I talked with Kal a little while ago. When I told him he was someone precious to me too, he cried."

Lyssel let his weight settle completely into her arms as she stroked his hair.

"Goodness."

"He said it was enough for him. That he was glad."

"Then that's that. I'm happy just hearing it."

"I was a bit swamped pushing through the last stretch of training. I'm sorry I couldn't pay you any attention."

"That's a good enough reason. I was never angry."

"You were, though."

"All right — a little? I was hurt, but I really am fine now."

A small laugh broke between them.

The two of them laughed for a long while like that.

"So how did the conversation go?"

"It didn't. Other nobles came in partway through, and I stepped out. I'm second-guessing whether I should've kept pushing — the emperor doesn't seem like he's going to release me easily either, so I'm a little stuck."

"What was the conversation even about?"

"Ah — right, I didn't say that part. I told him I don't want to be Lecashe anymore."

"What? If Lecashe isn't Lecashe, what's he, then?"

"A commoner, I suppose. Would that bother you?"

It hadn't even crossed Iberin's mind, so the words caught her off guard, but it wasn't as if being a noble was a plus for Lyssel either.

"No."

A clean answer.

Lyssel smiled like he'd known that's what she'd say.

"But you need the emperor's permission?"

"That's how the imperial law works."

"There's no way he just lets you go. I wouldn't either. Who lets go of a strong man they were getting for free?"

"I didn't want to live the rest of my life as Lecashe, all the same."

"What's the plan now?"

"If I had my way, I'd kill the emperor."

"Then do it. I'm in favor."

"You're serious?"

To Iberin's mind, the emperor was too greedy to be reasoned with.

He'd take more before he ever gave any back.

There were times when an opponent who couldn't be talked into anything had to be pushed back with force.

"Of course."

"But if it came to that, I worry about the danger to you."

Crown Prince Yelberk would be the more reasonable conversation partner.

The problem was that the crown prince was too young to take over the running of the country right now.

A small, ugly thought crossed her mind — that as the male lead of an already-derailed original, what difference did it make what happened to him.

Still, he's Rozelia's future partner.

And he isn't a bad kid.

Iberin shook her head a beat later.

The crown prince had grown up straight and honest even under that emperor.

"Tricky, isn't it."

"It is."

"Iberin's heart really is too soft."

"Mine?"

"You won't kill someone like that, because he's still a person."

It wasn't quite that.

But there didn't seem to be any point in correcting him, so she kept her mouth shut.

She came across as soft because her body was weak — her heart wasn't soft.

If her heart had been soft, she wouldn't have filed suit against the Gelta nobles or pushed the emperor the way she had to his face.

Hasn't Lyssel been watching all of that, too?

He'd watched Iberin throw her weight around plenty in the past.

She was suddenly curious what kind of picture of her Lyssel was holding in his head.

"So in your head, I'm a soft person?"

"That's not all of it."

"What, then?"

"Soft, yes, but also kind, and clever. Gentle with anyone weaker. Sometimes you almost look like an angel. And—"

"Wait, wait. There's more?"

A shiver crawled up her skin.

The compliments were already over the top, and there was more?

"I'm not even halfway through. You take care of the people around you, and most of all, you're beautiful. Your eyes, your nose…"

"Ugh!"

"What's wrong?"

"How am I supposed to sit still through that? It's embarrassing!"

"Well, I don't have anything in particular worth complimenting, but every word that comes with you is true."

"It's not! Absolutely not!"

"You don't like hearing it?"

"It's not that I don't like it — it's just not the kind of thing you should be able to say sober."

"That's because Iberin—"

It was about to spin into another round of praise, and Iberin had to slap a hand over Lyssel's mouth fast.

She regretted asking.

---

After that, Iberin and Lyssel talked the rest of it through properly.

Killing the emperor was going to be a problem on a lot of fronts.

Rozelia was on Iberin's mind, but it didn't seem like Rozelia would be unhappy if she just didn't meet Yelberk.

That was only a guess, of course.

But if the emperor let Lecashe go quietly, there wouldn't be any bloodshed.

Lyssel had told the emperor he was giving up the title, but there'd been no word since. There was no sign of any move against Lecashe, either.

For now, Iberin and Lyssel decided to wait on the imperial response.

But they didn't know.

That this was about to get more complicated than they expected.

"Oh — I also met Duke Cherity."

"Hm? How?"

"One of the nobles who came in while I was talking with the emperor was Cherity."

"Really?"

"He followed me out and struck up a conversation."

"Is he that interested in Lecashe? It might just be brazenness, after trying to kill someone."

The duke had approached her first at his own party too.

If his reputation for fanatical holiness and hatred of Lecashe was real, then was that a lie?

If so, why had he taken the emperor's hand?

"He apologized."

"He apologized?"

"Asked me not to hate him."

"What an odd person. He was the one who tried to kill me."

"I held back from killing him on the spot."

He sounded like an utterly unreadable man.

But he was someone who'd tried to kill her.

The truth was that Iberin, unlike at first, had started to find him grating, too.

"Good. When we send the emperor on his way, send Cherity right along with him."

"I will."

That was when —

The door burst open and Pons came rushing in.

He must have run there — he was out of breath, gasping.

"Your Highness?!"

Pons hadn't realized Lyssel was back, by the look of it; he started at the sight of the two of them together.

"Pons, what is it?"

"Ah."

Before Pons could get a word out, Lyssel shot up from his seat.

"The monsters are moving."

"Yes. They've come out past the entrance, so we've moved the nearest residents to safety for the moment."

With no proper knight order, running was the most they could do.

Pons had been at a loss with Lyssel gone.

Thank goodness he was back.

"It's dangerous — Iberin, stay here! Pons, get the rest of the residents into the castle!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Iberin, you go with Pons, and stay where there are lots of people. Don't go off on your own — just in case."

"All right."

Maybe because there'd been something like this before, Lyssel had worry written across his face.

But the demonic energy wasn't ordinary — this was clearly different from last time.

It wasn't some half-hearted move.

Lyssel sprinted downstairs.

He'd hold back the monsters, so the castle was the safest place to be.

This time Iberin did as Lyssel said and stayed where there were lots of people.

If she wandered off and got hurt, Lyssel would blame himself, and the mood would only get worse.

She decided her job was to settle people once Pons brought the residents in, and she held her position.

Please don't let anyone get hurt.

Praying with everything in her.

---

Lyssel ran outside and stopped short.

He'd been clearing monsters by his own hand every day — when had the numbers shot up like this?

He'd never slacked on visiting the forest, not once.

He'd been afraid the killing urge would build and someone else would pay for it.

Roarrrr—

The kind of monster that usually appeared near the entrance, easy to put down.

But that only held for Lyssel — for ordinary people, of course, it was beyond them.

"Kyaaah—"

"Help!"

"Diona!"

A small child had stumbled while running and fallen behind.

A man and woman — her parents, by the look of them — were sprinting back for her, screaming.

The monster opened its jaws wide, about to swallow them whole in one bite.

Lyssel closed the distance in a heartbeat and tore the monster's jaws apart.

The villagers had braced themselves for the worst and squeezed their eyes shut; when the silence held, they cracked them open again.

A solid back, black hair lifting in the wind.

It was the Grand Duke Lecashe.

"Haaa…"

Only then did they realize they were alive — a small breath broke out of them, and they sagged where they stood.

"Pull back into the castle. Quickly."

This was no time to keep standing still.

The next moment they scooped up their child — brought to them by the other residents — and ran for the castle.

Lyssel cut down monsters in a blur.

The monsters' movements had spiked, all at once, and their activity had climbed.

Something was changing.

He cut down the last one and stood there with his sword loose in his hand, eyes closed, breath dragging in deep.