Interlude: Out of His Reach

Houses were swallowed by flame one after the other. The citizens of the town had likely been evacuated as part of the plan to ensnare the Farzian army; their absence was the one silver lining in this predicament.

Reggie directed his soldiers toward the west gate. “Break up into smaller units and escape through the alleyways.”

Llewynian soldiers were bound to be lying in wait along the larger streets, he figured. His prediction turned out to be correct; there weren’t very many enemies blocking the backstreets. Thanks to his quick thinking, the majority of his men managed to assemble near the west gate.

As they prepared to flee Liadna, for a fleeting moment, Reggie was stifled under the weight of the sacrifices they’d made to get there. “I’m so sorry, Felix.”

Reggie had always left Felix to deal with Ada. That was probably why the knight had shouldered the responsibility for not realizing she was an enemy sooner, signaling to the prince that he would be the one to go after her.

Regardless, there was no time for Reggie to dwell on his regrets.

“Was there anyone outside the gate?” he asked.

“Not that we could see,” Groul responded.

“Let’s head south, keeping our distance from the walls. Stay vigilant against enemy archers. We need to join up with the rest of the troops.” With that, he ordered his soldiers to march out of the town.

It wasn’t long before the troops led by Lord Limerick’s uncle, General Jerome, came into view. By that point, however, they were already engaged in battle with the Salekhardian army. They had likely looped around to the west gate to assist Reggie, only to find the Salekhardian troops meant to ambush the prince upon his escape. Now they were fighting to keep them at bay.

There were about 3,000 Salekhardians, and Jerome was leading a force of comparable numbers. Although the Farzians were unlikely to be outmatched here, the sooner they could force the enemy to retreat, the better.

“Salekhard and Llewyne are doing everything they can to keep our forces split up. We should take General Jerome’s troops and meet up with Alan as quickly as possible.”

Reggie’s knights led the surviving soldiers, striking the opposing Salekhardian forces from the side. Perhaps they hadn’t expected Reggie to make it out of the town so soon; the Salekhardians held out for a while, but eventually, they began to fall back. Reggie didn’t bother giving chase.

“Alan’s forces may have been split up, too.”

His prediction was spot-on. Alan had been fighting off Salekhardian troops with nothing but a joint force of Évrard and Delphion soldiers.

When he heard that Kiara had headed east for a hit-and-run, Reggie was filled with a sense of foreboding. Then again, when wasn’t he worried about her? No matter how many enemy soldiers she could take out on her own, her ability to protect herself was always a matter of concern. Still, at least she had Wentworth by her side; in accordance with the margrave’s orders, he would protect her with his life. Even taking his personal feelings into account, he was likely to put her safety above his own.

His feelings toward the knight were complicated, but Reggie believed in Wentworth. Although his affections weren’t quite as pure as Alan’s, he similarly trusted the man like an older brother. Precisely because he knew Wentworth’s character so well, if Kiara had to be taken from him, he was glad it would be by the knight and not anyone else.

Reggie sent Gina, Girsch, and his own knights over to Lord Enister. He’d heard word that defective spellcasters had entered the fray, which was a sign that Lord Credias had had a hand in all this. If Kiara was in a tight spot, having the frostfoxes for backup ought to relieve some of her burden.

No matter how badly Reggie wanted to run to her side, he couldn’t. At the very least, he first had to drive back the Salekhardians before him so as to allow her a chance to rest once she made it back.

Or so he’d thought.

Girsch and Gina came running back sooner than he’d anticipated. With them was Wentworth, comatose and moribund.

Reggie could hardly believe the condition he was in. Ever since he’d lost his family in Llewyne’s invasion, Wentworth had trained incessantly in a desperate bid to become strong; never had the prince imagined that he would be defeated on the battlefield.

Kiara wasn’t with him. There was no one to ask for an explanation. Based on his injuries, all Reggie could deduce was that he’d fought against several defective spellcasters, followed by a clash with a swordsman.

What’s more, the warhorse Wentworth was riding was from Salekhard. When he heard that the knight had been tied down to keep him from falling off, Reggie murmured, “Did Kiara give herself up to Salekhard in exchange for Wentworth’s life?”

While Girsch tended to Wentworth’s wounds, a glum look passed over the mercenary’s face. “Probably. Also, it looks like Sir Cain was stabbed clean through his stomach, since there are gashes to prove it... but his insides haven’t taken any damage at all. Thankfully, that means a salve should be more than enough to close up the wound. I’ll bet you anything he would have died otherwise.”

Alan’s expression turned grim. “Kiara probably pulled the same trick she did on Felix.” Hanging his head, he quietly muttered, “How am I ever to repay her?”

Reggie could only nod. Kiara had saved both of their lives just as they were about to be lost, sacrificing herself to do it.

Deep down, all he wanted was to shake the knight awake and ask him what had happened and where she was. Unfortunately, the battle was still raging. Tossing conventional tactics to the wayside, the enemy had divided their forces into tiny units and gone on the attack.

In the face of this abnormal maneuver, Alan’s forces were struggling to strike back. If they tried to focus on wiping out a single unit, the other squads would swarm in like ants to defend them. Another unit would then launch an attack from elsewhere, and the squads would use that chance to split up and run off again.

Given the stalemate they were trapped in, Lord Enister’s forces had started to pull back. At this rate, taking down the enemy was going to prove difficult. In which case, their only option was a temporary retreat.

When Reggie said as much, Alan replied, “That leaves the question of where to.”

“Let’s head directly south. We can seize the same fort we stormed earlier.”

The prince ordered his Farzian troops into a tight formation. The next time the Salekhardians tried to lure them in, they were going to take advantage of it and break through their ranks to charge south.

Of course, given that they were charging straight into enemy lines, they weren’t going to make it through without even more sacrifices. Nonetheless, the soldiers once led by the late Lord Azure volunteered to handle the left flank, which would put them at the greatest risk of clashing with the enemy. Knowing that their loyalty to the royal family made them the most dependable of all, Reggie resolved to exploit the Azurans lives for all they were worth, though it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Or at least, that was how it was all supposed to go.

“Lila?!” came the surprised cries of the mercenaries.

When Reggie looked back over his shoulder to the rear of the troops, what he saw was a frostfox that had grown all the way up to Gina’s shoulders. Though he wouldn’t have known it if not for their shouts, it was evidently the fox named Lila. Wondering about what had happened would have to wait until later, however.

At Reggie’s command, Gina used Lila to launch a fierce assault. The Salekhardians were stunned when they saw the giant frostfox barreling toward them, and the subsequent blizzard effectively put a stop to their attacks.

Thanks to that, Reggie and his men found shelter in Fort Liadna with minimal casualties.

◇◇◇

Once they’d safely arrived at the fort, an ambush still had to be laid in preparation for Salekhard’s attack. Regardless, relief washed over the entire army now that they were somewhere they could take breaks in shifts. The way the overgrown Lila was sitting on her haunches and standing guard over a crumbled section of the wall only further reassured them.

Those with ties to the injured and fallen, however, wore miserable expressions. Lord Azure’s men in particular were deep in mourning. After all, the marquis had been betrayed by Ada, the very girl he’d trusted and sheltered, and had been killed as a consequence.

Reggie had managed to hear the full story from them. Apparently, Ada had masqueraded as a devout Jeremian, using the morning services as an excuse to interact with Lord Azure. Generally speaking, Azurans were always gracious toward fellow Jeremians. After getting into the marquis’ good graces by faking her faith, she’d relied on him to cover up the fire she’d started inside Fort Inion.

The source of that abnormal fire had evidently been Ada killing a couple of soldiers when they caught her up to something—though of course, the girl in question had claimed they picked a fight with her.

Lord Azure’s corpse had been found when Kiara’s team headed into town after Reggie. Kiara had run into Ada there, but the enemy spellcaster had run off in tears without even raising a hand against her.

“Perhaps she grew attached to Felix,” Reggie murmured. “Or was it Kiara?”

“I would wager it was the both of them, Your Grace,” Groul responded. “The lady Ada always did seem rather starved for love.”

That would explain why she had grown so obsessed with Reggie, despite meeting him only once in the royal palace.

“Given how many times Felix had to drag her away from you, perhaps that felt like he was paying her special attention. Lady Kiara comforted her once as well. Seeing as they were fellow spellcasters, she may have felt a special sort of connection there.”

Reggie hoped that Groul’s assessment was right. If Ada had refrained from attacking Kiara out of sentiment, that increased the likelihood of her pulling some strings for Kiara while she was Salekhard’s captive.

“Still, I never would have thought Lady Kiara was a healer, too. We owe her quite a lot. Felix’s arm is hardly any worse for the wear, and his burns should heal in time.”

Felix remained in a coma, but he was going to make it. This introduced a different problem, however.

Kiara had used up too much of her magic in this battle. She’d saved Felix’s life, launched an assault against the Salekhardian army, and even aided Lord Enister in his attack on the Llewynians. To begin with, mending wounds took such a large toll on Kiara that she’d passed out after the time she healed Reggie.

Although Kiara had surely learned to cast more magic since then, she had also fought off nearly ten defective spellcasters with only Wentworth’s help. Would her body hold up after all that?

“Just tell me she’s still alive...”

All he could do was hope that she was still breathing.

Once the soldier had finished relaying his message, Reggie left the room. There was someone he had to confirm a few details with.

“We’ve been expecting you, Your Grace.”

The ones kneeling inside the tiny chapel of the fort, waiting to welcome him, were Gina and Girsch.

“First, I’d like to hear about what happened to your frostfox,” said Reggie.

He still hadn’t heard why the frostfox named Lila had grown to such enormous proportions.

“I’m not sure of the reason myself. All I know is that Lila licked Sir Cain’s clothes while Girsch was tending to him... and ended up like that.”

Ended up a giant, in other words.

Could a monster really undergo such a dramatic transformation just by lapping up some blood? More than anything, the change in size seemed to indicate an increase in power.

That was when Reggie suddenly remembered: according to the report, when Kiara restored Felix, she had applied her own blood to the wound. Perhaps it was a vital step of the healing process. In which case, it followed that she had done the same thing to Wentworth.

“So it was Kiara’s blood, hm?”

A miniscule amount though it was, some of Kiara’s mana was contained within her blood; hence why using her own blood made it easier to create her golems and such, according to what Reggie had been told.

Plus, the frostfoxes always had been drawn to Kiara in hopes of soaking up some of the mana she exuded. Thus, there was little doubt that her blood was the secret to Lila’s sudden growth spurt.

Once he’d arrived at his own conclusion, Reggie said, “I understand now. Thank you,” and turned to take his leave.

“Um, Your Grace?” Gina called him to a halt.

Reggie turned around, and the next thing he heard from her wasn’t quite what he’d been expecting.

◇◇◇

The next day, the Salekhardian and Llewynian troops in Liadna marched farther north. With that, the Farzians could finally afford to relax their guard.

As an air of relief settled over the fort that evening, Reggie headed to Wentworth’s quarters, having heard word that he had finally woken up.

When he stepped inside the room, the first thing he heard was: “The one who took Miss Kiara away... was King Isaac of Salekhard.”

Alan was asking questions, and Wentworth was lying in bed, offering stilted answers. Perhaps his injuries had him running a fever, judging by how red his face was.

“Did he introduce himself?”

“No; Miss Kiara is the one who called him that. The two were previously acquainted, it seems. They both knew each other’s names.”

Alan was flabbergasted. “How did she know an enemy king?”

“I’m afraid I couldn’t tell you that part.” Wentworth gave a shake of his head before he went on to describe the king’s defining features: reddish hair, gray eyes, clad in the green cape of Salekhard, and accompanied by a cavalry.

“Isaac, hm?” Reggie was sure he’d heard the name somewhere before. It couldn’t have been directly from Kiara’s mouth; if she had ever spoken the name of a man who wasn’t part of their military, Reggie would have been keeping an eye out for him.

Searching his memory, Reggie finally remembered the merchant Kiara had been talking to back at Fort Inion. That had to have been King Isaac. Had he come to do some reconnaissance under the guise of a townsperson? Reggie struggled to understand why the king himself would undertake such a task. While it was no business of his own, the very thought gave him secondhand anxiety; what had he been planning to do if something happened to him along the way?

When Reggie mentioned what he’d remembered, Alan heaved a sigh. “He was probably digging for more information on our spellcaster.”

“Probably. Miss Kiara did say that he wanted a mage of his own.” Wentworth continued to relay what he knew in fragments.

“Did he demand that she surrender herself to him?” Reggie asked.

“No. She offered it of her own volition so that he would let me escape with my life. I had sustained injuries prior to our encounter.”

So it had happened exactly as Reggie had imagined. If she hadn’t done something of the sort, there was no way Wentworth would have come home alive. He wouldn’t have made it back to their troops without the work of that frostfox, either. Soon after Wentworth had been loaded onto a horse and sent off, Lila had gone running off to find him.

After pausing to catch his breath, Wentworth turned to Reggie. “My most humble apologies for showing my face here after failing to protect Miss Kiara. I’ll make this right, even if it costs me my life.”

“Oh, Wentworth...”

Having witnessed Kiara get stolen right out from under him, it was no surprise that he was beating himself up over it—both as a knight and as a man. What could Reggie possibly say to stop him?

After some deliberation, he instructed Groul and Alan to wait outside the door. Now that they were alone together, Reggie walked over to the bed where Wentworth lay, taking a seat on a stool.

“Your Grace,” Wentworth said. “Once I’ve recovered, please order me to rescue Miss Kiara.”

“There’s no need to push yourself, Wentworth. I know you feel responsible, but you’re going to have a hard time infiltrating enemy territory all by yourself.”

“But someone has to save her. It will be a considerable blow to our army otherwise. Besides, if Miss Kiara ends up under Lord Credias’ control, even your life and Lord Alan’s could be in danger.”

“Lord Enister mentioned that the viscount could control defective spellcasters. Is that why you’re saying that?”

Wentworth nodded. “Sir Horace speculated that as the trade-off for being unable to cast a direct attack, he knows a spell to control defective spellcasters. I ended up fighting against ten of them in practice. Depending on the circumstances, it wouldn’t surprise me if he could puppet Miss Kiara herself.”

If that happened, it would put them in a tough situation in the battles to come.

“In the worst-case scenario, we may have to...”

Reggie calmly predicted that he was about to end that sentence with “kill Miss Kiara.”

Of course, Wentworth didn’t want to say that. His hand lying atop the blanket was clenched in a fist. However, taking his priorities as a knight of Évrard into account, he knew he had no other choice.

Reggie’s mouth was filled with a bitter taste. Wentworth’s next words only made it worse.

“If it came down to that, I would want to be the one to do it. As long as the two of us fell together, I thought I could be at peace with that outcome. And if it saved you and Lord Alan in the process, I would take no issue with it.”

“Wentworth...” Reggie hung his head. “You don’t have to resign yourself to your fate. I don’t want to lose Kiara, but I don’t want to sacrifice you to save her, either. You’re like a brother to me and Alan, you know. Kiara loves you like a sibling, too. She wouldn’t want you to die just so she can be rescued. Just leave the matter in our hands.”

Wentworth was someone who had always stood by Reggie’s side. Perhaps because they were closer in age, or perhaps he was already a brother to Alan... unlike Groul and the rest, Wentworth was the only knight who would ever scold Reggie like a younger sibling.

He wanted them both to live. Reggie was always prepared to cut people off in order to preserve his own standing or his own life, but this was the one point where he refused to compromise.

Wentworth blinked. “Miss Kiara knew you would say that.”

“Say what?”

“When Miss Kiara let me escape, she said that she wanted to protect me because I was like a brother to her. She claimed that you would understand her choice, even if it meant her falling into enemy hands—that you knew how much she wanted a family.”

Both Reggie and Kiara had lost the only relatives they could count on. Reggie had shed his attachment to the idea of family, but seeing as Kiara remembered the warmth of her past-life home, she yearned to have another family like them. That was why she always likened the people close to her to parents or brothers or sisters; it was all to satisfy that longing in what little ways she could.

Kiara’s words had brought about a change in Wentworth. “When she said that to me, I couldn’t help but remember how I’d felt when I lost family... how much I wished I could have saved them, even if it meant dying in their place. But here, I was placed in their position. That’s when I realized: if you consider someone family, you’d want them to live rather than die alongside you.”

Reggie bit down on his lip. He and Alan had always known how much Wentworth regretted losing his family, but they’d never been able to do more than quietly watch over him. All the while, they’d worried that one day, he would lay down his life in exchange for his revenge.

Kiara had turned that on its head—by risking her own life for his.

So that’s why, Reggie thought as something finally dawned on him. The reason Wentworth wanted to rescue Kiara so strongly was because he’d realized he was someone irreplaceable to her—and of course, because he wanted Kiara to live, too.

“Kiara always tells other people not to throw their lives away when they have so many precious things to live for. Yet why is she always so careless with her own life?” Reggie murmured.

Reggie, Wentworth, and even Alan treasured Kiara deeply. If she knew that, why did she always try to sacrifice herself for them?

Wentworth gave a small laugh. “I’m sure you know the reason, Your Grace. She doesn’t have a strong attachment to this world. Precisely because she has memories of her past life, the world she’s living in now feels almost like a dream to her.”

Reggie understood what he was saying. After all, Kiara didn’t have anyone to teach her about the world around her when she was young. She’d relied on her memories of her past-life family to make her way through this life.

Nobody had ever seen her as anything but a tool; thus, the much gentler world of her past life felt more like the “real” world to her. It was subconscious—a defense mechanism borne of all the cruelty she’d endured. Otherwise, she never would have been able to cut her ties to her family here, no matter how awful they were. She hated being alone, after all.

It was after she’d become a spellcaster—just like in her memories—that she’d stopped shying away from hurting herself. Even if she died, she figured it was all just part of a story, and perhaps she even held the faint hope that she might wake back up in her original world.

The only way to know whether that was truly the case was to ask her. Still, Reggie doubted that his speculation was far from the truth, and Wentworth would probably agree with that assessment.

“If nothing else, I wish there were a way to stop her from being so reckless.”

“I do have one suggestion. You should let her protect you.”

“Why?”

“The reason she became so determined to fight on the front lines was so that she could protect you... and because you told her not to do that.”

“But I’m not the only one she wants to protect. What about you?”

She’d tried to protect Wentworth, too. That was the entire reason she’d been taken captive.

And yet, Wentworth shook his head. “You were what started it. But either way, if she doesn’t come back alive...”

“I don’t think we have to worry about that. They won’t hurt Kiara.” Reggie had determined as much after hearing the truth about Salekhard. “I heard a few things about Kiara from Gina, you see.”

Since Wentworth had seen King Isaac with his own two eyes, Reggie decided to divulge everything he knew to hear the knight’s thoughts on it. As they were talking, a strange feeling washed over him.

This was the first time he’d had such an honest, in-depth talk about Kiara with Wentworth. The thought of that made him truly glad.