Chapter 98
──It was ten years ago.
At the time, nineteen-year-old Louis Miller had bought himself a new pair of boots with the reward money from slaying a dragon, and he was in an exceptionally good mood.
His steps were light in his gleaming new boots, and every time he walked, the ponytail he had recently started growing bobbed behind his neck.
What he clutched in his hand was not a mage's staff but a bottle of liquor—and a rather expensive, high-quality one at that.
After returning from slaying the dragon, he heard that a friend was getting engaged and decided to pay him a visit to tease him and offer his congratulations.
That friend──Lionel Brem Eduart Riddle──was the First Prince of the Kingdom of Riddle.
Louis, who was merely a member of the Magic Corps, was not someone who could casually meet with the prince... but he could simply slip in through a window using flight magic.
He would of course be severely reprimanded if he were caught, but Louis knew exactly what route to take to reach Lionel's room without being seen.
Now, then, first he would make his way around to the back of the castle... As he crept along, he sensed someone nearby and hid behind a wall.
The people passing nearby were court nobles. That in itself was no problem. The problem was what they were talking about.
"Have you heard the rumor?"
"Ah, that matter? Goodness, how unfortunate Count Mifork's daughter is..."
Count Mifork's daughter.
She was the woman who was supposed to become Lionel's fiancée.
What could have happened to her? Louis strained his ears to listen, and when he heard the details...
...he flew into a rage.
Apparently, Lionel's engagement to Count Mifork's daughter had been called off because she had suddenly fallen ill.
However, the sudden illness was merely the public explanation.
The truth was... Count Mifork's daughter had attempted suicide by poisoning herself in order to refuse her engagement to Lionel.
Fortunately, she had been found in time and survived, but the engagement had consequently been called off.
The problem was what happened afterward.
Apparently, Duchess Listoa, who was well connected in high society, had made the following remark about the incident.
──Apparently, Count Mifork's daughter already had a gentleman she had set her heart on... Surely this engagement caused her to fall ill. How unfortunate.
Because of this remark, an atmosphere arose in which it seemed as though Lionel had fallen for Count Mifork's daughter, forced her into an engagement, and driven her to suicide.
Count Mifork was a neutral who leaned toward the First Prince's faction, while Duchess Listoa belonged to the Second Prince's faction. The Second Prince's faction had used the commotion surrounding the broken engagement as an excuse to besmirch First Prince Lionel.
The engagement to Count Mifork's daughter had not been decided by Lionel. It was a political arrangement decided by the senior members of the First Prince's faction and Lionel's mother.
And yet, to claim that Lionel had fallen for her and forced her into an engagement was slander of the worst kind.
Furious that such an absurd story could exist, Louis stormed into his friend's room—and found his friend utterly dejected.
Lionel was a huge, intimidating man, both in face and physique. To put it simply, he looked like a gorilla.
But this gorilla was kinder and more sensitive than anyone.
Lionel, having been unjustly maligned, rubbed his red, swollen eyes and said quietly,
"I'm glad Count Mifork's daughter is alive. I really am..."
In Louis's opinion, the count's daughter who had attempted suicide because she disliked the engagement was hardly blameless.
To be born into a noble family and reject a marriage to royalty in such a manner was unbelievably foolish.
And yet Lionel was happy that the foolish girl who had slandered him was safe.
Louis was so furious that he drained the bottle of liquor he had brought in one go.
He disliked the count's daughter who had attempted suicide, the duchess who had spread those baseless rumors, and all the idiots in high society who swallowed them whole. He would not be satisfied until he had beaten them all senseless.
But just as Louis, bottle in hand, was about to storm out and start punching people, Lionel grabbed him from behind and stopped him.
Lionel did not restrain Louis because Louis's rampage would damage Lionel's own position.
While restraining Louis, Lionel said with utmost sincerity,
"You want to become one of the Seven Sages, don't you?! Don't shut off your future for my sake!"
This prince, a foolhardy good-natured man to the point of stupidity, had stopped Louis for none other than Louis's own sake.
The struggle between Louis, thrashing around as he tried to storm out and attack people, and Lionel, who tried to stop him, continued throughout the night.
When the sun rose and Louis had finally run out of energy even to curse, Lionel crinkled his bruised face into a smile and said,
"Thank you for getting angry on my behalf, my friend."
...This prince really was a hopelessly good-natured man.
＊ ＊ ＊
Recalling the reckless folly of his youth, one of the Seven Sages, 〈Barrier Mage〉 Louis Miller, smiled courteously at First Prince Lionel Brem Eduart Riddle in the same room as ten years ago.
"Congratulations on your engagement, Your Highness."
"That is somewhat premature, Louis."
"What are you saying? The decision has already been made behind the scenes, hasn't it?"
Ever since the commotion surrounding his broken engagement to Count Mifork's daughter ten years ago, Lionel had avoided this sort of discussion. Recently, however, a marriage proposal had finally begun to take shape.
His prospective bride was Princess Tsetsilia, the half-sister of the emperor of the Schvargalt Empire, who was scheduled to pay an official visit to the Kingdom of Riddle soon.
The engagement would presumably be formally decided during that official visit.
Princess Tsetsilia was twenty years old this year, a young and beautiful princess nine years younger than Lionel.
And yet, there was something gloomy about Lionel's expression.
"To Princess Tsetsilia, I must seem like an old man..."
"Royal marriages between people nearly as far apart in age as parent and child are hardly uncommon."
In fact, Riddle's current king and his third queen were nearly twenty years apart in age.
The fact that the current king had taken three queens was not nearly as abnormal as the fact that Lionel, the crown prince, was still unmarried at the age of twenty-nine.
"Leaving behind an heir is also a duty of royalty. Wouldn't it be somewhat irresponsible for you to keep running away from marriage proposals?"
"...Guh."
Louis's words left Lionel at a loss for words, and he hung his head.
Lionel was still troubled by Count Mifork's daughter's suicide attempt.
However, Louis believed that the count's daughter had never intended to die in the first place. In fact, she recovered quickly and soon married a young, handsome nobleman from another country.
Even so, Lionel, who had been made a fool of by that staged suicide, was still haunted by what had happened. He worried that his new prospective fiancée might dislike the idea of marrying him and attempt suicide as well...
(I have to make this engagement to Princess Tsetsilia succeed, no matter what.)
For the sake of this country... and so that this kindhearted friend of his could overcome his past trauma and move forward into the future.
For that purpose, Louis had worked on people in various quarters and made arrangements behind the scenes.
"Your Highness, you can rest assured regarding Princess Tsetsilia's security. I have already arranged the necessary personnel, and above all, I will be standing by on the day of her visit..."
"Louis, about that matter..."
Lionel looked awkward as he stared straight at Louis and said firmly,
"You will not be assigned to the princess's security detail."
"…What?"
Louis needed a moment to process what he had just been told.
It was customary for one of the Seven Sages to be assigned to protect an important person from another country.
With one of the Seven Sages, each reputed to be worth a thousand soldiers, there was no need to parade a long line of guards around wherever the visitor went. More importantly, it allowed Riddle to demonstrate the excellence of its mages to other nations.
And in recent years, 〈Barrier Mage〉 Louis Miller had always been the one assigned to this sort of important-person security detail.
Louis was a master of defensive barriers, and he was both good-looking and sociable.
It was absurd, but good looks were considered extremely important in the protection of important people. Even among the Royal Guard assigned to protect the royal family, appearance was considered essential for the elite units.
Louis was a handsome man, so he was frequently prized for important-person security assignments.
That was why he had never doubted that he would be the one assigned to Princess Tsetsilia's protection this time as well.
So why was he being removed from the assignment?
Louis thought for a moment, narrowing his grayish-violet eyes warily behind his monocle.
"Prince Lionel, do you suspect that I might let my personal feelings lead me to do something unnecessary?"
"What are you talking about? You never act for any reason other than your personal feelings."
Lionel was right. Louis had already been working behind the scenes for purely personal reasons.
But Louis shook his head as though deeply offended.
"I'm no longer so young that I can't distinguish between public and private matters."
"No, forgive me. I do not doubt your magical skill or your character. However... His Majesty Emperor Leonhardt of the Empire specifically requested you by name."
"A personal request from the Black Lion Emperor?"
Interfering in the security arrangements of another country he was visiting was an extremely arrogant thing to do.
As Louis frowned, thinking, Who does he think he is?, Lionel said solemnly,
"Yes. His Majesty Emperor Leonhardt personally named ………… to guard his younger sister."
At that unexpected name, Louis's eyes widened behind his monocle, and he was left speechless.