A Conversation with Sonea

Then, for a while, conversation continued as other merchants and dignitaries joined in.

I continued talking with one person after another, and before I knew it, quite some time had passed. When I looked out the window, the moon had set, and when I surveyed the hall, the banquet that had been so lively was beginning to show the loneliness of a fire burning itself out.

It was a melancholy sight, but I somehow liked watching the hall empty out. It felt like a private moment, something I could not share with most people.

I was in a good mood, and perhaps because I was tired from talking, I felt like getting a little drunk.

I felt bad for the servers cleaning up, but I had them make me a drink of fruit juice with a little alcohol added.

The sweet citrus flavor was followed by a hot sting that burned my throat. It was the first time I had tried this kind of alcohol, but it was delicious.

I had never cared for alcohol, but perhaps this tasted good, or perhaps my palate had changed as I grew older. Either way, I was in a strangely pleasant mood.

If alcohol could make me feel like this, it was not so bad.

As I tilted my glass in high spirits, a woman approached me without a sound and bowed. A green dress and flaxen hair. It was Sonea-san.

"Sonea-san, did you enjoy yourself?"

"Yes. It was the finest banquet I have ever attended. My domain lies in the deepest reaches of the frontier, so being able to attend such a banquet will be a memory I cherish for the rest of my life."

That was surely an exaggeration. A banquet like this would be held every night in the royal capital, and even in the provinces, there should be several every year.

Besides, as she had said herself, Sonea-san's domain was far from here. The reason she had come all this way, of course, was Hardy.

I had no intention of marrying Hardy. I should not let that be known, but I ought to tell Sonea-san.

"Um..."

At the same moment I opened my mouth, Sonea-san also began to speak.

After a silence, we both deferred to each other, and in the end, I let Sonea-san speak first.

"Romelia-sama, as you likely already know, Hardy and I were engaged. Then the matter of your engagement was raised, and ours has effectively been dissolved."

Sonea-san's appeal struck me in the chest.

Marriage between nobles was supposed to be a serious matter. An engagement was a contract between two houses, not something that could be dissolved on a whim.

But powerful nobles could get away with unreasonable things. No, since the prince broke off his engagement with me, such things had become possible.

The prince, a symbol of the nation, had simply declared his engagement void. To object would also mean opposing the prince and the royal family.

Against my will, I had set such a precedent.

Father had probably simply failed to realize it, but those beneath him had no choice but to obey. I had done exactly what that prince did.

"But please do not misunderstand me. I did not come here to make a pointed accusation. I have admired your activities for some time."

Her unexpected words caught me off guard. I had been prepared to be called a homewrecker and slapped across the face, at the very least.

"In fact, I have been watching you ever since you left on your journey with the prince three years ago. And it was not only me; many young women felt favorably toward Romelia-sama."

"Is that so?"

I had heard that I was the subject of vicious rumors in high society, so I found that difficult to believe.

"But wasn't it wonderful? A prince who left alone, worried for his country, and the fiancée who followed him out of love. It was like something out of a heroic legend. You may not know this, but three years ago, every young man swore to defeat the Demon King, while every young woman promised, 'I will go with you.'"

She told me that the two of us had started a trend back then. I wondered whether Sonea-san had made the same promises to Hardy.

When I looked at her, Sonea-san realized what I meant and laughed it off.

"Still, it is an insensitive thing to say to someone who actually went on a life-threatening journey."

She bowed her head slightly in apology.

"I know there were all sorts of rumors in high society to preserve the royal family's dignity. But many of us privately felt favorably toward you. And when the princes returned in triumph and erased your existence from the story, quite a few people became distrustful."

She looked me straight in the eye to show that she was one of them.

Her words surprised me, but I did not take her praise at face value.

Most people who approached me flattered and praised me.

"And now Romelia-sama is training soldiers in the provinces and exterminating monsters for the sake of the people. The sight of you, the daughter of a great lord, turning your attention not to the capital but to the frontier and helping its people has drawn the attention of lords throughout the provinces and frontier regions."

If that was true, it was heartening.

The provinces and frontier regions, though lumped together, were not all alike.

Even on the frontier, important defensive strongholds might be entrusted to powerful nobles with formidable knightly orders. But places like Cashew, which were not militarily or economically important, were given neither decent troops nor sufficient funds. They were treated as convenient buffers.

For that reason, the petty lords of the provinces and frontier regions tended not to rely on the royal family and had a strong spirit of independence.

"Monsters are also running rampant in my domain, and causing us no end of trouble. More recently, remnants of the Demon Army have begun appearing here and there as well. Monsters are one thing, but facing the Demon Army is more than we can handle, and I cannot expect the royal family to send us soldiers. That is why I wish to form a military alliance with you, milady."

A sharp proposal was thrust at me at the end of the languid banquet.

It was the very offer I had been waiting for.

The Demon Army would not come only to Cashew or the count's domain. It would spread across the entire kingdom. Yet no matter how necessary it might be to defeat them, I could not send soldiers across a border. That would constitute military action, and could even be treated as treason.

There was, however, a loophole in the law. If the lord governing a territory requested aid, it was permitted.

"Of course, I am not asking you to help us for free. I will dispatch what soldiers I can and provide food, warhorses, and funds."

I nodded inwardly at Sonea-san's words. I had trained my soldiers to defeat the Demon Army, but this force alone would not be enough to fight a war. We lacked both troops and adequate funds. The support and aid of the provincial lords would be indispensable.

It was the offer I had been waiting for, but I did not leap at it immediately.

The beginning was crucial. If this relationship went well, other lords might follow suit. But if I made a mistake at the outset, it would end here.

"That is a generous offer, but I am only a daughter. I cannot command the Cashew garrison."

I employed the stock phrase for declining an offer.

Sonea-san's offer was welcome, but there was the matter of Hardy between us. Perhaps she intended to lure me into a trap.

Of course, she would have nothing to gain by doing so, but love and hatred could sometimes outweigh self-interest. She might even be willing to burn her own domain to trap me and drag me down with her.

I could not let all my soldiers' hard work be ruined by a failure in negotiations.

"Then I shall take my leave."

I turned to leave, but she called me back.

"Please wait. If you cannot trust me because of what happened with Hardy, I can introduce you to other lords. Our house is small and poor, but it is an old one with ties to other lords. If I introduce you, I am sure some of them will be willing to form an alliance with you."

I could not help stopping.

A military alliance was important not merely for the promises exchanged, but for the attitudes of both parties. There was no point in making an agreement if neither side intended to honor it. That was why I could not trust Sonea-san, but the matter was different when it came to other lords.

They bore me no personal grudge, so I could trust them to a certain degree. They might have ties to Sonea-san, but I did not think that would make them bare their fangs at the daughter of a count.

"Are you really all right with that?"

The introduction would be helpful, but in the end, it offered Sonea-san no benefit whatsoever.

"We do not know when the Demon Army will arrive in my domain. I need your army to be ready by then."

She believed that supporting me would lead to stability in her domain. She was looking beyond immediate gain and thinking about the future. She truly was an intelligent woman.

"But did you come here solely for that?"

From what she had said, it seemed she had planned this from the beginning. But would she really come all this way just for that?

It was a welcome opportunity, but even without Sonea-san's offer, I had already selected several lords and was preparing to approach them about an alliance.

"As I said earlier, I respect you, Romelia-sama. I wanted the honor of meeting you in person at least once. And it would be a lie to say that Hardy had nothing to do with it."

So that was it after all. Of course it was.

"But Romelia-sama, please do not misunderstand me. As for Hardy, I was certainly shocked by how suddenly this happened, and it is true that it changed my plans for the future. But is that not what men do—live for their families and advancement? There is no point in a woman like me standing in their way. I regret what happened between us, but I have given up on him completely."

Sonea-san had a very pragmatic way of thinking. Had hers been a life of having to give up one thing after another?

"Then why did you come here?"

If she had given up, there should have been no reason to come all this way.

"For Hardy, rather than for you. I came to give him a push."

She named a man who was not there.

"You know how men sometimes refuse to move unless you give them a kick in the rear?"

The way she put it made me laugh.

It was true that men could act quickly once they made up their minds, but they often dithered until then. Especially when a woman was involved.

"He was probably being considerate of me, the Count, and you, and that was why he had been so halfhearted."

That was exactly right. They must have been close. She understood him well.

"But if he keeps trying to read everyone's mood, no one will be happy, will they? He should hurry up and discard me, then decide whether to side with the Count or with you. I came here to give him his walking papers."

She was certainly a decisive woman.

"Are you all right with that?"

There was no sign of lingering feelings for Hardy in Sonea-san's words. But could someone really be so detached?

"It cannot be helped. I think seeing his back as he walks away with his resolve made up would be better than seeing him looking back regretfully."

I nodded quietly.

And inwardly, I gave up on using Hardy.

I had wanted Hardy and his knightly order, but it would be wrong to tear the two apart when he had no such intention himself.

"Sonea-san, I..."

I was about to say once more that I had no intention of becoming engaged, but Sonea-san placed her index finger to her lips and stopped me.

"I understand what you have in mind, Romelia-sama. But even so, I have shown my resolve. Shouldn't we have the gentleman show his resolve as well?"

That was certainly true.

The moment Father interfered, their engagement had effectively been broken. My refusal would not restore a broken vessel. Even if they were to get back together, they could not do so until they had settled matters between them.

"The rest depends on what sort of resolve he shows. We can decide what to do after we see how the men act."

I silently nodded at Sonea-san's mature response.

I did not think there was any need to go out of my way to make a man look good, but I could at least give him a chance to prove himself. If it did not work out, we could think about how to deal with each other. And if it did, so much the better.

"Hardy is in the courtyard. If you want to judge his resolve, the sooner the better. But let me say one thing: when Hardy is cornered, he always makes a decision. I can guarantee that much."

Having said that, Sonea-san bowed and left.