Aria of the Withered Branch
Chapter 9

“Well, Diaje,” the girl said, “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this person before. I had a peek at the list of guests, and I don’t recall seeing any names I didn’t recognize. Could I be mistaken? I swear, this place has gone downhill.”

“Diana!” the man said sternly, but the girl didn’t seem to pay him any mind.

“From the way he’s dressed, however, I doubt there’s any point looking into who he is. Hehe,” said Diana.

“As I told you before, Diana, no guest who stays here warrants such impudence from you,” said Diaje.

“Diaje!”

“And you peeked at the list without permission? I wonder what the manager will have to say about that? I’m sure you meant no harm by it, but you took things too far this time.”

“Darn it!”

The other girl, Diaje, looked down at her shorter sister, waving her fan in front of her face. She turned to me with a polite bow. “Please forgive us. My sister has been very rude to you. She is still young. Would you generously overlook her immature behavior?”

“It’s all right…” I said. I had gotten so used to being treated this way that I wasn’t even all that upset. I was actually more taken aback by the polite apology from the older girl, who seemed to be of high status.

“You’ll forgive her?” she asked.

“I’m not upset at all. Please don’t worry about it,” I said.

The girl smiled shyly, patting at her navy hair that was twisted into a graceful, high bun. She had looked the part of an older lady a moment ago, but now she looked her age.

“If you’ll excuse me. Have a nice day,” I said.

I’d probably taken too long since I’d left the table with the excuse that I needed to wash my hands. I tried to hurry away, but two of the group suddenly tried to stop me.

“Wait! I have something more to ask you!”

The first was the shy young man who seemed to be interested in Chandy, who had more questions for me.

“W-wait!”

The other person was the mature young girl to whom I’d been speaking just now. I had no idea what she could want with me.

“I’m sorry, but I have friends who are—” I began.

“Al, is there a problem?”

One of them came after me. My shoulders drooped as I saw Phay, who had appeared in front of me, looking as lovely as ever. I was so taken in by the man, who seemed to be an attention magnet, that I failed to notice a female face that I should have recognized from my distant memories. Her eyes gleamed as she hid behind a wall nearby.

“I came to find you because I was worried. Did something happen?” Phay’s indigo-blue eyes were looking coldly at the man named Myers and his companions.

They glanced between me and Phay in confusion, seemingly unsure what to say. I didn’t really understand why.

“Nothing happened, Phay. Sir Myers,” I said, “May I call you that?”

“Oh… yes.” The man looked a bit taken aback, unlike before. In fact, he seemed very taken aback.

“I will tell her about you, but we are set to leave tomorrow morning. I doubt she will have time to seek you out. You understand, I hope?” I said.

“Of course… In fact, I’d like to apologize. I was so eager to know that I came across as being quite rude,” he said weakly.

I felt bad for him, but Chandy was probably sick of being approached. She would brush him off as nothing more than an annoyance. Still, I would tell her about him, at least. He didn’t seem to be an unreasonable fellow.

Phay, who had been listening closely, soon relaxed. Perhaps he had guessed what this was about. He eyed me, asking if I was ready to leave. I nodded and began heading back toward the hall.

“But isn’t that Commander Van Eucliere next to you?” said Sir Myers, who stopped us again as we tried to leave. This time his attention was on Phay, not me. “I’m Myers Gene Fichte, a knight of the Hyden Order of Vichatzer.”

“Fichte…?” I found myself repeating despite myself.

House Fichte was a high-ranked noble family within Vichatzer, the country we were heading to. The title, presented as his middle name, was more than enough to tell me how powerful the family was. We were currently located in the western continent, which was situated most closely to the northern one.

Vichatzer, part of the northern continent, used the same naming conventions as my continent. Kings bore the middle name “Lah,” royalty “A,” high-ranked nobles “Gene,” and nobles in the capital who were similarly ranked to feudal lords “Lynn.” Knight captains used the name “Van,” top-ranked magicians or sorcerers “Marr,” countryside nobles with “Minh,” those with special abilities who were not nobles “Aughn,” and commoners “Hah.” Slaves or wanderers had no such title.

Just like Windom of Chaive, the Hyden Order could be considered representative of Vichatzer. They were referred to as the Golden Lions and were known throughout the continent. Merely belonging to the order was enough of an indication of their abilities, so absolute was their reputation. Why was a knight of this order, and someone with a prestigious enough background to use the name Gene, saying Phay’s name with such fervor? Phay wasn’t even from Windom, and was only one of the four knight captains of the imperial palace.

House Eucliere didn’t ring any bells, which meant it probably wasn’t famous. Phay’s middle name, Van, which indicated that he was only a knight captain, was indicative of this. On second thought, however, I recalled he was actually a demigod. I was quickly growing very curious. I glanced at Phay beside me, who was watching the man with a nonchalant look on his face. He soon shook his head.

“I don’t remember ever meeting you before. Do we know each other?”

“I visited Chaive last year as a member of a group of envoys,” Myers said.

“You saw me just once, and yet managed to remember me?”

A hollow laugh escaped Myers’ lips. “Someone of your looks is not easy to forget. What’s more…” His eyes gleamed as he looked at Phay. It was not the dreamy look he’d had when thinking of Chandy. This look contained eagerness, admiration, jealousy, and, above all, massive respect. “As a warrior myself, how could I easily forget someone who is famous for being a king?”

Phay said nothing.

“Isn’t that right, King of Spears?”

“My goodness!”

The sisters beside him nearly screamed.

Phay glanced at me and rubbed his ear, looking almost embarrassed. I was taken aback—not by the fact that he was known as the King of Spears, but because he seemed to feel shy about it. I knew, of course, what it meant to be called a king. It meant that he had reached the pinnacle of martial prowess. It was such a legendary status, however, that it really wasn’t sinking in.

I had studied to be a knight myself, but I was just a beginner. Having only just moved on from trainee status, it all went way over my head. There was a level of mastery called swordmaster, which, when achieved, resulted in the miracle of one’s body being reconstituted. Most warriors dreamed of reaching this level.

As if that wasn’t amazing enough, there was a rank above that, that of lord, and even higher still was the status of king. A person who had reached this level was said to become a demigod, just like the famous two-thousand-year-old monster in Chrome. But then again, maybe it was only possible for that particular person because they weren’t human to begin with. As far as I knew, the only pure-blooded human who had managed to reach king status was the general of the Hyden Order. Phay was also a Binah, a race regarded as demigods. His level of mastery was a natural result, in a sense, so I was puzzled to see him so embarrassed.

“But why are you here? There will be a melee competition in Chaive soon,” Myers said.

Phay said nothing, and I just stood there in a daze as I recalled my dream, the one in which a piece of white paper had fluttered to the floor. The white paper had featured the word resignation like some sort of tattoo.

“Al, could you go on ahead?” Phay said, nodding and smiling as he gestured toward Myers. “Let us talk for a moment,” Phay said, disappearing with Myers in tow.

The sisters seemed to be full of questions for me now that Phay was gone, but I quickly fled the scene. I was stepping into the hall when I heard a voice.

“Alcheris.”

My body spun around of its own accord, a chill racing down my spine as my mind went utterly blank.

The Worst Possible Meeting, and More…

“Who would have thought I’d see you in a place like this? It certainly has been a while.”

An older noblewoman with luxurious, reddish-blond hair piled into a bun and fixed in place with a hairpin boasting a long chain of gems was standing before me. Her pale face was still clearly imprinted in my memory as she smiled coldly at me, her face illuminated under the yellow light coming from the ceiling.

“Madam Voygianna.”

It was the lady of House Voygianna, my grandmother—though I didn’t think of her as such, since she wasn’t my true grandmother. She was approaching me, causing my breath to catch in my throat.

“Have you left House Vahliers completely?” she asked.

I wasn’t able to respond.

“How did you get in here? Not even I am able to gain entry easily. Do you have someone with you? Speak.”

“You… must be aware that I have been assigned to work at the embassy in Vichatzer. I’m traveling with some people I met on the way, and they allowed me to stay here for the night with them,” I said.

“Hmm.”

She was sure to make trouble for me if I told her the truth. She—in fact, all her family, as well as my father—were only happy when I was doing worse than they were.

“Don’t tell me you’re traveling with the archduke’s daughter?”

“Of course not…” I said.

“Well, I was just wondering if you’d eloped or something,” she said, suddenly snapping open her fan and chortling while covering her mouth.

I had considered my heart incapable of feeling hurt anymore, but I felt a slight twinge, nonetheless. I smiled wryly. My hands had balled themselves into fists without my realizing it.

Relaxing them, I said in passing, “She is with her brother at the summer palace, remember? What an amusing suggestion, my lady.”

I had considered them to be my friends once. One of them had betrayed me, however, and the other’s feelings had been at odds with my own, and we’d ended up doing nothing but hurting one another. The memories were not pleasant ones, but the woman standing before me had stirred them regardless. Those two individuals were coming to mind far too often today.

Reminded of how I had looked in the bathroom a moment ago, my mood grew only worse. “And you are well aware of my… situation. Why would you make a joke like that? Do you find it amusing?”

“It was such a famous incident among us, you know. She was younger than you, but she certainly claimed to adore you.”

Right. But the thing is, she didn’t actually love me.

“Are you traveling with a man, then?” she asked.

Why is she being so insistent? Is there something she wants to say?

“What does that matter? I met them on the road, nothing more. If you’re so eager to know, I’ll tell you. I’m traveling with both men and women.”

“Oh? Heh.”

What in the world is she plotting? She was staring at me as if gauging something, and I felt uncomfortable.

What is she going to say this time? My eyes were focused on her lips when the fan covered them again.

“I have something to give you,” she said. “I’ll see you in the tree garden in a little while. Be sure to come. Perhaps this will be the last time we meet.”

“Right…”

The last time… When my mother was three, my real maternal grandmother had died in a sudden airship accident. My grandfather, Count Voygianna, who had loved her very much, was left a wreck for some time. He had loved her so dearly that even the sight of his daughter, who resembled her closely, had been difficult for him to bear.