Chapter 152
"Even if you accidentally kill someone, you will not be punished. But refrain from bloodshed as much as possible."
Father was casually demanding something that difficult.
Then the knights handed us sheathed swords.
The sword was far too heavy for my frail body.
It was a tall order for me to fight while pretending to be Leo. To make matters worse, Father was making this demand because he believed I was Leo.
Laurenz's trembling would not stop; even accepting the sword looked awkward for him.
The fact that he had challenged me to a duel meant he must have been reasonably confident. But he was focusing too much on the consequences of losing. He was no longer in any condition to fight.
Imperial Poison Wine was a poison famous enough to become legendary. It was said that merely hinting at it could make assassins sell out their employers, and there were countless other tales associated with it.
It was understandable that merely imagining the possibility of drinking such a poison would make his body tremble. Besides, he had challenged me to this duel believing I was Arnold.
The moment Mother called me Leonart, everyone present came to believe that I was Leo.
Leo's prowess with a sword was obvious from his recent accomplishments alone. He had never lost a swordsmanship match since childhood. An ordinary noble had no chance against him.
That was why I could not afford to look incompetent.
"Then both of you, prepare yourselves."
At Father's words, I drew my sword from its scabbard.
Laurenz drew his sword as well and assumed a stance. It was a basic, orthodox stance. He must have had at least some fundamental training. If I fought as myself, I would have no chance of winning.
Damn... I kept being forced to use one forbidden measure after another.
This was not supposed to become a duel.
In a situation where no one knew whether I was Leo or Al, we were supposed to reach a reconciliation.
Laurenz had ruined that. Because he acted without considering his influence or the atmosphere of the moment, the situation had become complicated, and someone now had to be sacrificed.
If that happened, Fiene would be sad. I had done everything I could to prevent it, but... because the idiot in front of me had dragged all sorts of unnecessary people into this, the situation had slipped from my control.
I had no choice but to maintain my pretense of being Leo and improve Leo's reputation.
It was his own fault if he died because of his reckless actions, but I could not forgive him for taking away my option of preventing Fiene from grieving.
I had told Fiene that she would have nothing to cry about. Those words would surely become a lie.
Fiene would feel responsible for their deaths. No matter how many times I told her otherwise, she would blame herself.
The only thing I could do to avoid that future was reveal here that I was actually Al, not Leo.
Then no one would be sacrificed. As always, I would take all the blame, and it would end with me being mocked. The only difference was that if I did that, I would have to leave Fiene's side.
I had no attachment to my position as a member of the imperial family. Even if I ceased to be royalty, I could still help Leo.
But if I were no longer royalty, I could not remain by Fiene's side.
I liked my life now. I liked having Fiene beside me.
This was surely a selfish and despicable thing to do.
I was no different from these people who had never considered Fiene's feelings. I wanted Fiene to stay by my side, even if it made her sad.
For my own selfish reasons, I wanted to keep Fiene beside me. I wanted her to remain the person with whom I shared my secret.
I steeled my heart and raised my sword in front of my face.
It was a knight's ritual before a duel. I performed it dutifully, as Leo would, and activated an ancient magic during the ritual.
It was a magic I regarded as forbidden.
That magic was called "Epigonen."
It was a magic that could perfectly imitate a person in my memories. It could reproduce everything from their physical abilities to their combat techniques.
It was a convenient and useful magic, but such magic came with severe drawbacks. Those drawbacks were why I had forbidden myself from using it, but now I had no choice.
Strength surged through my body. My field of vision widened, and I could clearly read even Laurenz's slightest movements.
This was Leo's view, preserved in my memories.
At this very moment, I had become Leo in every respect.
"Begin!"
"Uooooooh!"
Laurenz charged at me in desperation.
It was a headlong charge with plenty of force but no technique.
An opening surprise attack. He must have thought it was his only route to victory.
Since losing meant death, he had no choice but to seek victory. Laurenz possessed a strength born of desperation.
But the difference in our abilities was not something that could be overcome with such an attack.
I spun once, letting his charge pass harmlessly.
Unable to stop in time after I dodged him, Laurenz sprawled disgracefully across the floor. He curled up in pain, but soon remembered that he was in the middle of a real duel, picked up his sword, and turned toward me.
While he was completely defenseless, I did not move.
Leo would not do that. It would be one thing in a mere fight, but this was a duel. I should fight fairly and honorably.
"Haa, haa... U, u, uwaaaaaah!"
Unable to endure the suffocating tension, Laurenz charged again. But perhaps because he had been evaded moments earlier, his momentum was not as great as before.
An attack with neither skill nor momentum could never reach Leo.
I caught his thrusting sword with mine and flicked it upward.
The sword slipped smoothly from Laurenz's hand and soared into the air.
Despair appeared on Laurenz's face at that moment.
As he watched the sword rise, Laurenz slowly sank to both knees.
The sword fell straight toward Laurenz, and a look of joy crossed his face at the sight. But I caught his falling sword and held one sword in each hand, pointing both blades at Laurenz's neck.
The blades remained trained on his neck.
"Do you still want to fight?"
"Ah... Y-Your Highness... Please forgive me... I, no, I... I only had feelings for Lady Fiene..."
"If all you had done was care for her, things would not have come to this. You acted on those feelings. This incident involved both His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress. It cannot be settled without someone being sacrificed. If you have the pride of an Imperial noble, then to protect the authority of the imperial family... I want you to make that sacrifice."
"N-no... No! I would rather die here than drink that poison!"
With that, Laurenz charged at the sword I was holding.
But I had anticipated that. I stepped back several paces and prevented Laurenz from killing himself.
"That is enough! Seize him!"
"Your Majesty! Please forgive me! Your Majesty! Father! Father! Please help me!"
Laurenz clung to Father and the elder Weitling in a half-mad panic.
Seeing him like that, Father twisted his face in displeasure.
"I raised you wrong, Edmund."
"Please forgive me... After this, I cannot go on living. Please, give me some Imperial Poison Wine as well."
With those words, the elder Weitling asked for the poison himself.
How had this man's son ended up like this?
It could not simply be because he had been raised poorly. His eldest daughter had become the Crown Princess, and his second daughter had risen to become the commander of the Imperial Guard.
It would be cruel to place all the blame on the parent alone.
As I thought that, Father shook his head.
"No. Take responsibility for this and raise the next Marquis Weitling properly. Until then, I will hold your life in my hands."
"Your Majesty..."
"Everyone, withdraw. This matter ends here. Take these men into custody. Is that understood? Under no circumstances are you to allow them to commit suicide."
With that, Father rose from the throne and left the throne room.
Franz, who remained behind, immediately began handling the aftermath, issuing instructions as he went.
In the meantime, the Empress left, and Mother followed.
Only Therese, the elder Weitling, and I remained.
"...It would be wrong for me to resent you, Leonart."
"You may resent me if you wish."
"No... I am grateful that you gave me a chance... Do you blame me? For acting to save my foolish younger brother...?"
"I would never blame you. Wanting to save someone is surely a noble thing. But... Sister-in-law, you chose the wrong method. With that approach... you could not save them."
Therese had been shut away in the Eastern Palace the whole time.
With no information about the outside world, the only person she could rely on must have been the Empress.
Perhaps it could not be helped. After losing the Crown Prince, this woman had become a recluse from the world.
Yet even after renouncing the world, she could not abandon her own family.
"Elder Weitling, can you stand?"
"...I would like to remain this way for a while... I was foolish, and I disgraced myself... Even so, he was my son..."
"...I understand. Sister-in-law, please take care of the elder Weitling."
With that, I left the rest to Therese and departed the throne room.
Since it would be a problem if anything happened afterward, I signaled Sebas to stay alert. He vanished from the room as if he understood. If either of them lost their heads and did something rash, Sebas would stop them.
Afterward, I returned to my room.
I was sure Fiene would be there.
...
"Welcome home, Al-sama."
With those words, Fiene welcomed me in.
I could not bring myself to say anything to her. I simply stood there.
"Al-sama?"
"...I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing, Al-sama?"
"...In the end, Laurenz and the others will die. There was a way to save them. But... even though I knew you would be sad, I could not choose it."
With that, I took a step forward.
But at that moment, the imitation magic wore off.
Then the drawback came crashing down on me—the imitator who had reached beyond his limits.
"Guh..."
"Al-sama!?"
Clutching my head, I dropped to my knees.
A severe headache struck me, my vision warped, and my sense of my own body became hazy.
That was the drawback. As the price for making movements I normally should not have been capable of, my brain was placed under strain, causing a violent headache. And because I had become someone else, my sense of my own body had also gone haywire.
I tried to move my hand, but could not move it properly. Leo's sensations and my own had become jumbled together, leaving my body confused.
Unable to stand, I was supported by Fiene and somehow made it to the sofa, where I collapsed.
I ended up slumping against Fiene from the momentum, but could not move enough to adjust my posture.
"Haa, haa... This is why I didn't want to use it..."
"Is this a side effect of the magic...?"
"Yeah... The headache will last for two days, and the sensory misalignment will last even longer. The drawbacks were far too severe for a benefit that lasted only a few minutes, so I had forbidden myself from using it..."
"That's terrible..."
"I had no choice... I had to maintain my pretense of being Leo... If I lost, I would lose the life I have now."
With that, I grimaced from the headache.
Unable to bear watching me suffer, Fiene lay me down on the sofa. My head ended up resting on her lap, and the headache eased a little.
When I slowly opened my eyes, I saw Fiene's worried face.
"You're... not crying...?"
"Mitsuba-sama told me... that I mustn't cry."
"Mother...?"
"She taught me that when welcoming a man who has worked hard, a woman must not cry... That it is proper to welcome him with a smile..."
With those words, Fiene's eyes grew slightly moist with tears as she smiled brightly at me.
That's my mother for you. She said exactly the right thing.
That's right. I would rather see her smile than her tearful face.
"...Please forgive me. I was selfish. I was confident I could keep you from being sad while finding a way to reconcile everything else... but I could not accept leaving your side..."
"I see... Please rest assured. I will never leave your side. Wherever you go, I will follow you. I am here because I want to be. No matter what anyone says, your side is where I belong."
"I see... That's good. What a relief... I was a little worried that you might hate me..."
With that, I gave a wry smile and closed my eyes.
My body was craving sleep. The headache was severe, and I wanted to fall asleep just like this.
"Fiene..."
"Yes?"
"Since I'm pretending to be Leo... until he returns, please treat me as Leo..."
"Understood. Then get some sleep, Leo-sama. Leave the rest to me."
With that, Fiene gently stroked my head. Each time she did, the headache eased.
Reassured, I drifted off to sleep.
All the while thinking that this must be my place, too.