Chapter 3: Siblings

Chapter 3:
Siblings

 

THE LEADERS of the Six Great Houses had gathered. Most wore sour expressions, while Albergue’s was one of pure exhaustion.

The kingdom certainly has sent some meddlesome individuals.

After the recent series of incidents, Alzer now had to pay reparations, and Holfort had sent people to negotiate the process. The New Year’s Festival was soon approaching, however, so the leaders wanted to put the matter to rest, especially as the coming festival carried a very different meaning than the ones before.

Loic, former heir to House Barielle, had inadvertently brought matters in the republic to a grinding halt in the wake of his scandalous affairs. Other foreign powers probably thought the republic was in the midst of a crisis. In order to dispel those impressions, they planned to make this New Year’s Festival even more extravagant than ever.

Their most important job before the event was negotiating with Holfort Kingdom. Alas, the person the kingdom had sent was most unpleasant and tiresome, leaving everyone looking absolutely exhausted.

Lambert of House Feivel was the first to open his mouth. He was a short, pudgy man with a balding head and a miserable personality. It was no surprise, then, that he made no effort to hide his resentment. “This is utterly humiliating! The Alzer Republic has never lost a war, yet a third-rate country like Holfort Kingdom has us dancing around in the palm of its hand. This is unprecedented!”

Everyone else was fed up as well. Under normal circumstances, they would probably have readily agreed with Lambert, but reality wasn’t so kind.

Bellange, the leader of House Barielle, sneered at his peer. “You choose now to express your dissatisfaction after being so tight-lipped a moment ago? Why not speak your mind when we’re actually in negotiations?” Bellange smiled mockingly.

“And whose fault do you think it is that we’re in this position to begin with?” Lambert shot back. “Oh, while we’re on the subject, how is your former heir doing after he was abandoned by the Priestess? Is he in good health, hm?”

“Bastard!” Bellange roared, launching himself from his chair.

“Enough, both of you,” Albergue’s low voice cut through the air. “We’ll adjourn the meeting here.”

Albergue tried to speed out of the meeting room, but he stopped when several of his subordinates came rushing to the door, begging to be allowed in. As soon as Albergue gave his permission, his breathless aides managed to eke out, “B-big trouble! The Sacred Tree is… It’s…!”

 

***

 

The town was pitch-black, save for the illumination of streetlights. My breath came out in visible white puffs, which served as a reminder of just how cold Alzerian winters were.

“If it snows, we may even get a white Christmas,” I said.

Angie drew her brows. “A white…what?” She and Livia were walking on either side of me. Both wore coats, their cheeks rosy red.

“Mr. Leon, you say some odd things from time to time,” Livia said.

That’s right. This world doesn’t have Christmas—though they do have a similar holiday.

Livia stared up at the sky. “The Alzer Republic really is a mysterious country, isn’t it? When I first saw that enormous Sacred Tree, I thought it was a mountain.”

“It is pretty big, isn’t it?” I gazed up at it as well, amazed by the size. How many decades, or even centuries, had to pass for it to grow to that height?

Angie glanced around at our surroundings. “I see they’ve developed ground transportation instead of relying on airships. I suppose since they have unlimited access to energy, this is more convenient. That way they don’t have to worry about their vehicles crashing.”

Airships weren’t so bad themselves, but when they crashed, the resulting damage and casualties were astronomical.

Angie’s eyes lit up when she spotted a tram. “I want a vehicle like that one. Though I suppose trying to supplement the fuel costs through magic stones would make it difficult. It might be possible if we hiked up ticket prices, but then how many people would actually use it…?” She trailed off as she contemplated.

“You came up with all that off the top of your head just by looking at a tram? You’re amazing, Angie,” I said, genuinely impressed.

“Perhaps it would be more accurate to say you’re an anomaly for having such an empty head,” Luxion butted in, ever fond of disparaging me. “You see how technologically advanced these other countries are and you don’t feel the least bit uneasy. It saddens me.”

I glared at him. “What good would it do me to rack my brain over it? I’ll leave fretting about technological advances and whatnot to the higher-ups. Although now that I think about it, Roland’s pretty crap when it comes to getting his work done, so maybe he’s not thinking about it either.”

I didn’t feel the least bit guilty about addressing Holfort’s king by his first name rather than by his title, but Angie glanced at me and put her hand on her forehead.

“It’s hard to believe you’re even allowed to take that kind of attitude with His Majesty. You have some nerve.”

“What? This is Roland we’re talking about. I could even call him ‘rat bastard’ and no one would bat an eye.”

“Sometimes I can’t decide whether you are extremely bold or simply an idiot. I know you always come through in a pinch, but don’t you think you’re a little too relaxed most of the time?”

“I like him the way he is,” Livia chimed in. “He’s a bit awkward, but he’s kind. It’s cute, don’t you think?”

C-cute? Me?!

Before I even had a chance to respond, Luxion beat me to the punch. “Olivia, shall I have a thorough medical evaluation performed for you? I believe it is highly likely you have a serious problem with your brain.”

You little twerp… Do you really find it that odd for her to call me cute?!

“Uh, um… Th-there’s nothing wrong with me,” Livia stuttered.

“I believe there is. Your ability to find Master ‘cute’ is proof of a serious abnormality. I believe Angelica may suffer from the same affliction.”

“You think I’m abnormal?” Angie asked.

“Yes. You called Master ‘bold,’ but he is at all times extremely indecisive and, in fact, tends to waffle the most when the stakes are the highest. Furthermore, he’s completely incompetent.”

I just got utterly ripped apart by an AI. What did I do to deserve this?

“H-hey, you jerk! You’re really gonna say that? You’re always like this! I get that you hate me, but don’t use that as an excuse to spread misinformation!”

“Misinformation?” Luxion echoed. “I fail to see the issue here. I am merely stating facts. Oh, my apologies. That must be what bothers you so much—that these things are facts.”

“You know what? I’ll remember this. I’m the kinda guy who always pays back twice as good as he gets.”

That didn’t discourage Luxion from mocking me further. The two of us continued bickering until Angie and Livia started laughing.

“Wh-what?” I demanded.

Angie tried desperately to hold back her laughter. “Apologies. I just felt so relieved to see you two acting the same as always. You haven’t changed at all since you left Holfort.”

Livia glanced between Luxion and me, a smile on her face. “Yes, you two are as close as ever. Even here in the republic, you’re still the same Mr. Leon I knew back home.”

I narrowed my eyes at them. “You know, it sounds an awful lot like you girls are saying I haven’t matured at all.”

“That is precisely what they’re saying,” Luxion said matter-of-factly. “Or did you somehow misunderstand the obvious implication?”

“I think you and I need to have a conversation about what a master-servant relationship entails. Don’t think we won’t when we get back home,” I said, stabbing a finger in his direction.

Frankly, Luxion was being even more sassy than usual. Had I done something to offend him?

Luxion turned his gaze to the very top of the Sacred Tree.

“Just gonna ignore me?” I snapped. “Enough of your—”

“Master. If I may, I have a question,” said Luxion.

“What is it?”

“There is a flower blooming at the top of the Sacred Tree. I have heard nothing about such a phenomenon. Do you know anything of it?”

I followed his gaze, but I couldn’t make it out from here. Luxion finally projected a video that revealed what he was seeing. Angie peeked over my shoulder, staring at the white flower apparently in bloom atop the tree.

“It has a ton of petals,” I observed. “It looks like a chrysanthemum.”

“The shape is similar, but the size is completely different,” said Luxion.

Angie stared at the projection and pressed her hand over her mouth. “So the Sacred Tree has blossoms as well? Although the positioning looks rather unnatural.”

Livia also studied the image. “It does. It almost looks like someone put it there, and something about it feels artificial. Also it’s…off-putting. I get a bad feeling from it.”

What could this mean? What’s gonna happen?

 

***

 

When we returned to Marie’s estate, the atmosphere was the same as always. We barely made it through the front door before Marie peeked her head out. As soon as she realized I wasn’t holding anything in my hands, her face fell. She must have been expecting gifts.

A sweet and spicy scent wafted out from the kitchen, which was becoming pretty commonplace by this point. When Julius popped into the foyer, Angie’s expression soured.

“You’re back already? You should have said something. I’ll have some skewers ready momentarily, just give me a few,” he said.

It seemed Julius was in charge of dinner tonight. Ever since he returned after Marie chased him out of the house, he’d periodically taken over dinner duty. That was wonderful, truly it was… Except for the fact that the only thing he knew how to make was skewers.

Julius casually strode back toward the kitchen to prepare our food. In his wake, Angie covered her face with both hands.

“Don’t let it get to you, please,” said Livia, trying to console her.

“Livia, I have no regrets about His Highness abandoning me. I mean that. But seeing him like this leaves me at a loss for words.”

Who would ever imagine their country’s prince would be captivated by skewers and dedicate his life to becoming a cook? No one, that’s who. Even I couldn’t have seen this coming.

Miss Cordelia was the next person to appear, and she quickly took our coats. “Welcome home. Will you be having dinner here?”

Angie sighed. We’d eaten out for lunch, but sensing impending trouble, we had opted not to stop at a restaurant for dinner.

“I will,” said Angie. “His Highness is making our meal personally, correct?”

“My lady, if you would prefer, I could prepare something else for you,” Miss Cordelia offered.

“That would be impolite. I need to get changed though, so Livia and I will return to our rooms for a bit.”

“Very well.”

Livia gave a small wave before climbing the stairs to her room. In their absence, I headed for the dining hall, where Marie and the others were already feasting.

“Not having to do all the cooking myself is heaven!” Marie had a skewer in either hand, her cheeks swollen from all the food she’d packed inside her mouth. She also had a glass of alcohol nearby.

It looked less like they were having dinner and more like they were having a drinking party, with the skewers as a side snack rather than a meal.

Carla, Marie’s close friend and lackey, smiled merrily. “Not to mention Prince Julius even takes care of the cleanup afterward!”

Kyle, Marie’s half-elf servant, wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, because it pisses him off when any of us try to touch his utensils. Not that I really care at all, but are you sure it’s a good idea to let the prince cook like this?”

Marie continued snacking on her skewers as she took a drink, impressively downing all the contents of her glass in one gulp. “Pwah! Nothing to worry about. It’s fine! Julius is only doing it ’cause he wants to. Plus, who knows what’ll happen when we go back home?”

Once winter break was over, we would be in our third term, and after that, we’d have to return to Holfort. Julius could indulge his passion for grilling here in the republic, but it might be a different story once we were back home. As such, Marie wanted to let him do as he wanted for now.

Noelle made her way over to me once she realized I was back. “Leon, did you eat out today?”

“Nope. I’m getting ready to chow down here.”

“Then how about we eat togeth—oh, sorry.” Noelle stopped herself as soon as she remembered Livia and Angie. She left my side and returned to her own seat, where she resumed her meal. She was probably trying to be considerate.

The atmosphere in the room turned awkward, but it didn’t last for long as the idiot brigade began making a ruckus.

“Hey, listen to this. I’ve noticed that at times, Julius looks at Rose and Mary strangely. He helps me feed them, but then he starts saying weird things like, ‘Hurry up and grow. I can’t wait for you to get bigger.’ Doesn’t that strike you as odd?” Brad was referring to his pigeon and rabbit respectively. I was less surprised about Julius’s interactions with them than the names Brad had picked.

“That’s what you call those pets of yours?” Jilk asked with an exasperated sigh.

Brad grinned proudly. “Adorable, aren’t they?”

“Well, being friends with a pigeon and a bunny does seem to suit you.”

“Yes, I do have adorable friends!”

Jilk’s sarcasm flew right over Brad’s head. Meanwhile, Greg and Chris were bickering.

“Greg, you’re only eating the chicken breast and tenderloins. Stop that. And while we’re on the topic, stop hogging all the salted meat. Why not try something slathered in sauce for a change?”

“Not interested in anything other than breasts and tenderloins. Also, if I’m gonna eat anything, it’s gotta have salt on it. The rest is yours.”

Greg was chowing down like a man possessed. Though in this case, a picky one who refused to eat anything else. On the other hand, while Chris sounded like the reasonable one, his appearance suggested otherwise; he was clad only in a loincloth and happi coat. Lately, that was all he ever wore.

Isn’t he cold?

Marie glanced at me and cocked her head. “Not going to sit?”

These guys had given me hell last year. Why, then, did I find myself studying abroad with them? I was the one who wanted to cock my head and demand answers.

A shattering sound suddenly broke through the clamor in the room. I raced toward the source, which was in the kitchen, only to find Yumeria collapsed on the ground.

“Hey! Are you okay?” I asked as I dashed over to her.

Tears welled in her eyes. “I-I’m so sorry. I was only trying to help.”

By the looks of it, Miss Yumeria had tripped and dropped some plates. She quickly tried to reach for the broken shards, but Julius interrupted her.

“You’ll only hurt yourself. I’ll get a broom and dustpan so we can clean properly.”

Since Julius had worked part-time in a food stall for a while, he was so accustomed to these kinds of accidents that they didn’t faze him. I was impressed.

“I can’t believe our useless prince has grown up so much.”

I had always thought he was nothing more than a spoiled brat, so I was happy to see him mature.

Once the moment passed, I looked Miss Yumeria over to make sure she wasn’t hurt.

“Looks like you didn’t injure yourself at least.”

“I’m sorry,” she said again. “All I do is make mistakes.” She was even ridiculously cute when she was depressed.

“Nah, nothing to worry about,” I assured her.

Kyle stepped into the kitchen and approached us. Although Yumeria looked too young to be a parent, she was actually his mother, though that didn’t mean much considering he was the more well put-together between them.

“You broke plates again? How many does that make now?” he demanded.

“Kyle, I-I’m so sorry.”

“You should be apologizing to my mistress, not me. She seems to be in a good mood right now, so it’s not a big deal, but these plates aren’t cheap.”

As he continued admonishing her, I cut in, “That’s enough. Kyle, you can get back to your food.”

“No, I’ll help with the cleanup. Besides, servants like me shouldn’t be dining with everyone else to begin with. We only did that before because we had no other choice with how tight things were, but I think it would be best to draw a line from now on.”

You little twerp, you’re way too serious. You should let your mom pamper you a little more.

Kyle was lucky he had that chance. All I’d done for the mother in my previous life was cause her endless grief ’til the very end.

“Kyle, I really am sorry,” said Miss Yumeria again.

“I already told you to apologize to my mistress, not me,” he snapped. “Or at least apologize to the earl.”

Flustered, Yumeria turned to me and bowed her head low. “M-my humblest apologies!”

“No, I already told you, it’s fine.” I glared at Kyle. “Hey, Kyle! You could stand to be a little nicer—”

“She’s older than me. She needs to get ahold of herself,” Kyle muttered under his breath as he left the kitchen, looking somewhat sad as he went.

 

***

 

At around this time, the other members of House Rault learned of the abnormality occurring with the Sacred Tree. Albergue consequently summoned both Louise and Serge to his office. Louise stood with her arms crossed, refusing to even look in Serge’s direction. Meanwhile, Serge’s hands were shoved in his pockets, and he averted his eyes away from Louise.

Albergue stood before his two children, already exhausted by their unchanging attitudes. But it would do him no good to chide them now, given the circumstances.

“A flower has bloomed on the Sacred Tree,” he said. “I checked every record up until the present day, but nothing was said about such a phenomenon, at least not for the past three hundred years.”

Serge grinned. “That’s great. Means we gotta be pretty lucky to be able to see it then.”

His thoughtless response infuriated Louise. “Not using your brain at all, I see,” she scoffed. “Maybe you should take some time to study up and learn what your status actually entails, hm?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

They finally turned toward each other only to glower.

“Enough,” Albergue snapped. “We’ll be keeping a close eye on the tree for now, and we’ll be holding the New Year’s Festival as planned. You both are required to attend.”

Serge raked a hand through his hair before stomping toward the door. “That festival’s just for kids. Don’t see any reason why I gotta go.”

“Serge!” Albergue shouted, but it was too late; Serge was gone.

Louise stared down at the floor, clenching her teeth.

Albergue turned his attention to her. “Please allow him some leeway, Louise. Serge is—”

“Why do I have to be so considerate?! Leon wanted so badly to be a part of the New Year’s Festival, but he never got to. Yet Serge has the audacity to say it’s ‘just for kids’? I won’t be allowing him so much as an inch of leeway.”

Louise was referring to the time when Leon was five years old. His body had grown weak, and the doctor informed the family that he wouldn’t make it to the new year. At that time, he said he wanted to participate regardless, but that wish remained unfulfilled. This was why Louise had gone to the other Leon to ask him to participate as a stand-in for her brother. She hoped granting her brother his wish was a way in which she could make things up to him.

Albergue understood Louise’s intentions, which was why he had allowed her to invite Leon despite the trouble it would inevitably cause. He also knew that if the new Leon and Serge ran into each other, the latter would become extremely upset.

“I understand why you feel such contempt for Serge,” said Albergue. “But from the moment we adopted him, he became a part of our family.”

Louise lifted her chin, eyes brimming with hatred. “I will never recognize him as family.” As she turned on her heel and started out of the room, Albergue stretched a hand after her, but he stopped himself from saying anything.

 

***

 

After retreating to her room, Louise retrieved a small photograph she had stashed in the drawer of her desk. It was a black-and-white picture of her little brother. A long time ago, art and photos of him had been scattered about the estate. Now there wasn’t a single one to be found. This was all because of Serge.

Albergue had wanted a successor, so he’d adopted Serge. After Serge came into the family, he had thrown out almost every single memento of Leon. He had even burned an item Louise had kept as a dearly treasured keepsake in her dead brother’s memory. This was the reason she hated Serge so much.

“Why is he ‘part of our family’? He’s not! You agree with me, don’t you, Leon?” Louise asked the picture as she recalled Serge’s arrival at the Rault estate.

 

***

 

Three years after Louise’s little brother passed away, the liveliness that had once gladdened the halls was utterly gone. Her noisy little brother’s absence had left the place an empty husk of its former self.

The Raults’ extended family and servants were kicking up a royal fuss at the lack of an heir. They had begun discussing the immediate need for a replacement, hence why Serge was brought to their castle. His birth parents were thrilled that he would be the next head of the great house to which they were related, but he hid behind them the whole time, staring down at his feet.

I guess maybe he didn’t want to come here, Louise thought.

There was nothing to be done about it, but she did feel sorry for him. When the opportunity arose for her to talk to him in private, she said, “Starting today, I’ll be your older sister. I hope we can get along, Serge.” She held a hand out to him, though she was unable to hear whatever he was muttering under his breath. “What is it?” she asked.

“…up.”

“Huh?”

“I-I said shut up! Who’d ever want to get along with you?!” he yelled at her before charging out of the room.

Leon had been a mischievous child, but he had also been very straightforward. Louise had expected similar behavior from Serge, so this came as a shock. Had she done something to offend him?

Louise spent the next several days worried over the confrontation. She tried again to say they should get along, but Serge refused to meet her gaze.

Then, a few months after his arrival…

“No! Nooo! Serge, stop! I’m begging you! That was a gift from Leon!”

Louise suddenly returned home to find Serge burning a collection of Leon’s photos and portraits, as well as other mementos. She launched herself at him, clinging to his arms in an attempt to stop him, but Serge managed to shake her off. Then he tossed a gift she had received from Leon into the flames as well. Louise tried to jump in after it, but some servants scrambled to the scene and managed to stop her.

“Stop! Please, give it back!” Louise sobbed as she stretched her hands toward the fire, but alas, Leon’s gift to her had been a ring made from paper. It was an ugly thing, and clumsily made. It was the only belonging she still possessed that had been hers and Leon’s, and theirs alone. In seconds, it was gone without a trace.

The servants, who understood nothing about the situation, were dumbstruck.

Louise had in fact told Serge about the ring. She had brought it out of her room, and when he showed interest, she shared the story of its creation. Now he watched silently as it disintegrated into nothing.

Tears poured down Louise’s face. She whipped around and howled, “I hate you! I’ll never, ever forgive you for this!”

Up until that point, Serge had never properly looked Louise in the face, but for the first time, he met her eyes and stared.

 

***

 

At some point, Louise fell asleep and in the process recalled unpleasant memories from her youth. She slowly propped herself up in bed, noticing she hadn’t even bothered changing before she drifted off.

“What an awful dream.”

Her parents had scolded Serge for his actions that day, but as if trying to be considerate of his feelings, they proceeded to take down and confiscate any remaining photos or portraits of Leon. If they didn’t, Serge flew into a destructive rampage and burned whatever he saw.

When had it all started? When had Serge begun to loathe her little brother so ferociously?

Normally, a family would rescind an adoption for such behavior, but after entering their family, Serge had received one of the Six Great Houses’ crests. That couldn’t be removed easily, and too much else was wrapped up in his adoption for them to back out. They had to consider their own retainers, their extended family, and the current state of affairs in the republic… An entire laundry list of reasons for why Serge had remained the new heir.

Louise stared down at her brother’s photo. Her voice was warm with affection as she said, “Leon, the New Year’s Festival is almost upon us.”

 

***

 

“Dammit!”

Serge was livid when he returned to his room. He slammed his foot into his chair and sent it tumbling to the ground. Then he threw himself onto his bed, belly up, and stared at the ceiling.

“New Year’s Festival? What crap. That’s just an excuse for those stupid romantics to offer their prayers or whatever.”

It had originally been a ceremony for the nobility to offer their gratitude and prayers to the Sacred Tree. Although, calling it a ceremony was a bit of a stretch; it had been a simpler affair in the beginning. People gathered on New Year’s to drink alcohol together and that was it. But that had been centuries ago. It had gradually become more and more formal, turning it into the obnoxious affair it was today. Now it really could be considered a ceremony, though there wasn’t much meaning behind it. Yeah, people prayed and swore their oaths, but it devolved into a party soon afterward.

Young people would enter the cave in pairs to pledge their lives and loyalties to the monument within. People only went in as family or as couples, which meant there was no purpose in Serge participating. Yet an image of Lelia entered his mind.

“No, hold on a sec. If she’s engaged to Emile, that means she’ll be coming too, right?” As soon as he realized that, he changed his mind. “Can’t believe I come back and she’s engaged. What does she even see in that guy?”

Serge knew he had feelings for Lelia. More than anything, he found her profoundly easy to just be around; she wasn’t ridiculously polite like the other noble girls, and she even had a bit of a dirty mouth at times, which he preferred in a woman. On top of that, she accepted his dream to become an adventurer.

As a member of one of the Six Great Houses, it was hard to spend any time casually with most girls. It was for that very reason that, to Serge, Lelia was precious. Irreplaceable.

Admittedly, he also liked her because she seemed to loathe her older sister, just like he did. Lelia would never say as much, but the way she gazed at Noelle reminded Serge of himself. There was such a complex mix of emotions in her gaze—both love and hate. Realizing that had made him realize how alike they were. It was how he’d initially developed an interest in her, and in the blink of an eye, those had turned into romantic feelings. Yet Lelia was utterly different from the first woman he’d fallen in love with, so he’d been shocked when he realized his affection for her.

As Serge reminisced, his expression clouded over. “My first love might not have gone well, but this time, I’ve got no plans of apologizing for what I’m gonna do.”

Though he felt guilty about Emile, Serge in no way intended to give up on Lelia.