Kimi to Boku no Saigo no Senjo, Aruiha Sekai ga Hajimaru Seisen - Volume 10 - Chapter 2.3

3

Nebulis Sovereignty, Star Spire.

Alice was walking fast through its halls.

“Ugh, I can’t believe the meeting finished thirty minutes late. What was wrong with Lord Mask? ‘Your queen proxy outfit is stunning, it makes you look very elegant.’ What was that about…?”

It had been when the conference of the three bloodlines had ended. Normally, Lord Mask would immediately leave with Kissing, but he had called out to Alice as she was about to exit.

Her queen proxy outfit…

Alice had worn her personal clothes until recently. Now, however, she was wearing the attire of the queen’s official proxy. She did this to show she did not intend to give up the queen’s throne. Though her outfit had been constructed in the same style as her previous royal dress, it featured more florid red and blue hues.

…What did that mean?

…Lord Mask didn’t comment on it at the last conference.

So why now?

Alice felt an ominous chill run down her spine when she realized Lord Mask hadn’t pointed out the outfit until now.

…Is he up to something?

…He was in an oddly good mood, too. I can’t help but wonder about it.

She couldn’t let her guard down. She knew for a fact the Zoa and Hydra were vying for the throne. The Hydra had targeted the current queen’s life, and Alice knew they were also responsible for bringing the Imperial forces into the Sovereignty. Under normal circumstances, she would have immediately accused them of those crimes.

“But I need proof for that. I need Sisbell to come back…”

The room in front of her eyes…

The Lou queen’s personal quarters, the Stardust Skyscraper. Though these chambers belonged to her mother, she was unfortunately still consulting with the ministers after the conference. Alice pushed open the doors in place of the queen.

“…I’ve just barely made it.”

She glanced at the wall clock and let out a sigh of relief. But just as she did that, the light of the communications device on the table lit up.

“Huh?! A call!”

She scrambled to pick it up. Alice leaned forward and pressed the monitor close to her face.

“Sisbell! It’s you, isn’t it, Sisbell?!”

“I’m sorry for making you wait, dear sister. I was a few minutes later than expected.”

A girl with strawberry-blond hair came on screen. They had only spoken through a voice call the day before, but this time, Alice could actually see her sister’s face. Was she inside a building?

It was clean, but the walls that surrounded Sisbell looked like those of a cell.

“Oh, are you wondering where I am? I’m in the restroom of a limited-express train.”

Sisbell glanced around, checking to make sure no one would overhear.

“Just as I said yesterday, dear sister, I will be heading to the capital to rescue Rin. Actually, I am already on my way there. On this train.”

“So you were serious…”

Alice was conflicted. Rin was irreplaceable to her, and she would have done anything to rescue her attendant. But on the other hand, she also wanted Sisbell to return home immediately.

Neither option was better than the other.

Her desire to help her most beloved attendant was at odds with her wish to keep her sister out of harm’s reach.

…The capital is the most dangerous part of the Empire.

…Going there is like heading toward the witch hunters.

Sisbell was walking straight into the lion’s den.

The capital would have astral-energy sensors installed everywhere. If her sister was captured for being a witch, it would all be over.

“…”

“Oh? You look as anxious as the others.”

Alice couldn’t tell whether Sisbell understood her current anguish.

Sisbell answered, fully calm and collected. “This is our chance to counterattack. If Rin and I are safe, no one can do anything to us anymore. Rest assured we will unveil how the Hydra made a barbaric attempt on the queen’s life and kidnapped my attendant.”

“I know… But how are you making sure you’re safe?”

“Me?”

“That’s right. I’m afraid of what will happen if you’re caught before you can rescue Rin.”

“I have guards I can rely upon.”

Sisbell produced a picture. She brought it close to the screen so Alice could see, which made Alice doubt her own eyes. It was a picture of Iska and her own sister walking close together, arm in arm.

“Do you see, dear sister? This is how close we are.”

“Ngggh?!”

The picture had likely been taken in an urban area in the Empire somewhere. Iska and her sister were strolling, arms linked, shoulders pressed against each other boldly despite the looks from families and businesspeople surrounding them.

It was almost as though…

Almost as though they were a couple on an afternoon date.

“Wh-wh-what do you think you’re doing, Sisbell?!”

“We pretended to be on a date while surveying the enemy domain. It is an Imperial city, after all.”

Sisbell waved the photo around, showing it off. What flagrant, indecent behavior.

“That hour was so perfect. I feel so at ease near him. Just feeling his strong, muscular arms fills my heart.”

“Iska probably hates it! He obviously looks uncomfortable!”

“I feel content, so that’s what matters.”

“What are you talking about? Iska is my rival… Guh…!”

Alice hadn’t told Sisbell about her relationship with Iska. She did know, however, that Sisbell had an inkling of it.

…No, she’s fully aware!

…She’s defying me because she knows!

Sisbell was trying to steal him.

But he’s my rival, just mine—

“Hee-hee. I’m sorry, Sister, but the battle has already been decided.”

“…What did you say?”

“Our difference in experience is showing.”

Sisbell put the photo in her pocket. Then she placed a hand against her cheek and turned her warm, glistening eyes upward.

“Iska and I have already done so many things together. Just thinking about it makes me blush…”

“Wh-what did you do?!”

Alice howled at the image of her blushing sister on the comm before glaring at her through the screen.

“Y-you couldn’t have! I don’t believe it! Iska…would never be baited by someone like you into doing anything scandalous!”

“Scandalous?” Sisbell was taken aback. She blinked. “My. I never said anything about doing anything indecent at all. Nothing of the sort.”

“Huh?”

“I walked around holding Iska’s hand and took pictures with him, and we had a drink together at a café. That was what I was reminiscing about.”

“……What?!”

“Oh my.”

Sisbell brought her face closer to the camera. She was grinning derisively, as though to say, I got you.

“Oh, dearest sister, what in the world could you have been imagining? Pray do tell me—”

Snap.

Just then, something shattered in Alice’s mind.

“Oh, sister.”

“Shut up!”

She abruptly turned the comm off. When Alice came back to her senses, she realized the call with her sister was over.

“Oh…”

“How was it, Lady Sisbell?”

“I-I’m so sorry, Shuvalts!”

She quickly turned to the older gentleman waiting in a corner of the room.

“I was hoping to let you talk with her after…”

“I am grateful for your consideration of me. However, through her voice, I was able to hear she is doing well, even from here. As her attendant, I am relieved.”

Shuvalts was Sisbell’s attendant. He had been confined to the Hydra’s astral power research institute, the Snow and Sun, until escaping a few days ago.

“But still…” Shuvalts glanced at the comm on the table. “I was a bit surprised to hear those details from you, Lady Alice. Was it Iska you spoke of? I am shocked that his unit would still help Lady Sisbell even after returning to Imperial territory.”

“But didn’t you negotiate with them to ensure her safety?”

“Yes, indeed. But that was originally for their time in the independent state of Alsamira. Although…” He paused for some time. “I didn’t think they would be so faithful about keeping up their end of a verbal promise… It seems there are reasonable people even among the Imperials.”

“That’s right! Indeed, my amazing Iska is—”

“Hmm?”

“…Never mind.”

She casually turned away.

That had been too close. Since Shuvalts was also an attendant, Alice had almost let it slip as though she were talking to Rin.

“But, Shuvalts, please make sure to educate my sister. She’s forced her bodyguard into doing such odd things.”

“Ha-ha-ha,” the gentleman laughed. “Oh no, Lady Alice, that was simply a little sister poking fun at her older sister. She is not yet at that age. And he is an Imperial as well.”

Oh, how naive he was! How truly naive!

In her mind, Alice balled her hands into tight fists. She recalled when she had searched her sister’s room. Though her sister had very serious books on history and culture lining her shelves, Alice had found teen romance novels hidden among them.

…She’s the type who is only book smart about these sort of things!

…She simply acts as though she’s innocent in front of Shuvalts!

Sisbell knew even more than Alice about what went on between a man and a woman. Alice could tell from seeing that picture with Iska. She could see it in the way her sister had so blatantly wrapped her arms around his, how Sisbell had so calculatingly made sure their skin touched in such a nonchalant way. Her sister was, without a doubt, attempting to seduce him.

“…”

Whew. She took a deep breath.

“As I thought, I need to hit where it hurts.”

“Exactly. We cannot allow the Zoa and Hydra to continue without repercussion.”

“…That wasn’t who I was referring to.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Alice shook her head, attempting get back on track.

Even if she were to use Sisbell, who was attempting to steal Iska, as a model to learn from for her own “education,” Alice couldn’t afford to get distracted by what was happening in the Empire.

She needed to keep a close eye on the Zoa and Hydra.

“Shuvalts, would you be kind enough to accompany me for a while?”

“As you wish. Though I am older, I will do all I can to be of service to you in Rin’s absence.”

Alice had no attendant, and Shuvalts had no lady to attend to. Because they were each lacking their counterpart, they had temporarily constructed a rapport.

Then…

The door opened behind them.

“Oh…Your Majesty!”

“I’m sorry for the delay, Alice. The ministers do keep the conversations long when they catch me after a meeting. They wanted to make small talk and kept going on and on about a cat that messed up the lawn… I really should have cut off the discussion there and come back faster if I’d known they would be wasting their time on that.” She walked into the room with a sigh. “Alice, did you get word from Sisbell?”

“Yes. She is more detestable than I imagin— Oh, I mean, she seems to be doing well. Like she told me yesterday, she is going to the capital to save Rin.”

“…I see.” The queen sighed yet again. “It seems quite the complex situation. Though as her mother I wish she would return home immediately, I feel somewhat elated to hear this news.”

“Because she’s attempting to save Rin?”

“Yes. I never thought she would volunteer to do anything of the sort.”

The queen smiled wanly, seeming worried.

“She holed herself up in her room and hadn’t shown herself for days or weeks. I cannot believe she would leap at the opportunity to enter enemy territory of her own volition.”

“Like mother, like daughter, Your Majesty,” Shuvalts said. As he was preparing drinks at the table, he paused. “I am quite sure Lady Sisbell inherited her tomboyishness from you, Your Majesty.”

“…I did cause you quite a lot of trouble three decades ago.”

The queen’s face slackened into a smile.

“How are you feeling, Shuvalts?”

“I apologize for worrying you, Your Majesty. While I was confined to the Snow and Sun, my perception of time was so warped it felt like weeks…but as you can see, I am back on my feet.”

“I see. I wanted to ask you more about that.”

Her lips tightened into a thin line. She looked at Alice and Shuvalts in turn.

“You were restrained by a Hydra assassin and confined within the Snow and Sun.”

“That is very much true.”

“And you were freed by…”

“Him,” Shuvalts replied heavily. “…By Salinger.”

“Salinger… You…freed me…”

“Just to pester them. I don’t care why you were trapped in Snow and Sun, but I’m sure losing their captive will hurt.”

The transcendental sorcerer Salinger.

Alice had heard that the felon who disappeared from the thirteenth state of Alcatroz had, for whatever reason, attacked the Hydra base. Why had the sorcerer saved a butler of the royal family?

“Shuvalts, did he say anything at all?”

“No. He only asked me what the Hydra were planning. It seemed that he only freed me to ask this.”

“…I see.”

The queen closed her eyes as though lost in thought, like she had lost herself in some faraway scene.

“Salinger, what in the world are you—”

Her mother stopped—there was a sudden rumble from below their feet.

“An earthquake? B-but this one is…much larger!”

Shuvalts stumbled.

“Your Majesty!”

They could barely stand.

The floor was practically swaying. Alice grabbed her mother’s hand and squeezed it tight. In the center of the living room, mother and daughter clung to each other for support. They heard glass cracking in the halls.

What could have been shaking the palace?

“A—a giant earthquake?!”

“…No, Alice. Something very similar to this has happened before… It couldn’t be!”

The queen held Alice as her eyes went wide.

“She couldn’t possibly be awakening!”