Chapter Thirteen: The Triple Alliance
I
Imperial Army, Oscar’s Workroom at Kier Fortress
Major General Oscar Remnand was troubled—in fact, he was positively anguished. His troubles, large and small, were many, but the one that plagued him now was the worst of the lot.
What am I to do...?
The source of this particular trouble was a freshly arrived letter that lay in front of him. It was addressed to his immediate superior, Rosenmarie von Berlietta, and the sender was none other than an open traitor to the empire who had once been counted among the Three Generals—Felix von Sieger. The well-formed hand on the outside was unmistakably Felix’s own, and a soldier had come in secret on his orders to deliver it. Oscar didn’t need to open it to guess at the contents.
He and his ilk are rebels. No one could blame me if I threw it on the fire. And even if word did get back to Her Ladyship, I could come up with some explanation.
His eyes drifted to the red flames flickering in the hearth. A junior officer came in bearing tea, eyeing Oscar dubiously as he paced between his desk and the fireplace. But Oscar was so caught up in the letter that he did not even notice. In the end, Oscar did not destroy the letter. The main reason was that he still did not fully understand the string of events that had begun with the sudden change of emperor, but he also observed with a touch of masochism that deep down he felt that something wasn’t right about the current state of things.
Her Ladyship is clear-minded. She will know what to do. With that, he set off from his workroom, but his steps were as heavy as if he had iron shackles around his legs.
Rosenmarie’s Workroom
The first thing Oscar saw when he opened the door was Rosenmarie in a very un-commander-like posture. Her expression was lazy, and she leaned back in her chair with both legs thrown up on her desk. He glanced at both ends of her desk and saw that the stacks of papers were untouched from two days earlier.
Rosenmarie didn’t look at him as she said, “Even my chief of staff has more time on his hands than he knows what to do with, huh? You have my permission to sleep on the sofa there—just this once, mind.”
“We march the day after tomorrow. I am not at liberty to nap.”
They had an imperial order to exterminate the Azure Knights. In order to carry it out as quickly as possible, the Crimson and Helios Knights were rushing to prepare to march. As chief of staff, Oscar had a mountain of things to attend to.
“Now that you mention it, so we do,” Rosenmarie said. She sounded completely disinterested. Oscar hesitated over whether to give her the letter, but then he steeled himself. He placed it on an empty patch of desk.
“For you, my lady.” He did not say who it was from—perhaps an unconscious sign of his desire to avoid the subject.
Rosenmarie didn’t even glance at the letter as she said animatedly, “What timing! It’s like he can read our every move.”
“I haven’t yet told you who it is from...”
“Yes, but I figure there’s only person it can be who’d make you sweat like that, Oscar.” Rosenmarie tipped back in her chair far enough that it looked like she would topple over, then brought her legs off the desk and crossed them. She cut a strangely striking figure.
“Did you anticipate something like this, my lady?”
Rosenmarie, picking up the letter, said, “Well, you know. I thought there’d be some attempt at a liaison. He’s not the sort to just walk away after kicking up a huge stink like this. I mean, he’s so sincere it’s painful.” She hummed to herself as she broke the seal. Oscar watched, feeling like a prisoner being led to the gallows. Before his eyes, her expression grew sharp.
“May I ask what it says?” he asked, unable to contain himself. Rosenmarie thrust half of the letter out for him to see for himself.
Oscar took the letter, and read through it hungrily. When he finished, he spluttered, “Wh-What does—?!”
Rosenmarie’s face snapped up. There was a bewitching gleam in her eyes. “It means that His Imperial Highness Emperor Darmés has had us dancing to his tune this whole time. Did you ever hear of such a pack of idiots? You can’t even laugh.”
“My lady, do you seriously lend credence to this cock-and-bull story about Emperor Ramza being manipulated by Emperor Darmés?!”
Rosenmarie gave him a curious look. “Let me ask you: what reason do you have not to believe it?”
“Reason? I don’t...” Oscar spluttered. “It’s so removed from reality.”
“You think so, do you? What about those imperial soldiers who interfered with my fun then? Did they fit right in with reality?”
“Well...”
“It defies all common sense, but there’s truth in there. So I, for one, believe it,” Rosenmarie said with a look of absolute confidence. But Oscar was not so easily convinced.
“How can you be so sure of its truth?”
“He doesn’t lie.”
Oscar gaped at her. But everyone who knew Felix knew him to be a man of integrity and so, unable to argue, Oscar settled for avoiding the question by turning back to the letter.
“Why did Lord Felix choose Fernest of all places to seek refuge?” he found himself asking. “They are our greatest enemy...”
Rosenmarie obliged him by answering. “He went to them because they’re our greatest enemy. They suit his needs a damn sight better than any no-name nation.”
“I suppose there’s a certain logic to that, but to go to Fernest for that reason alone...” Oscar shook his head. “A foot out of place, and he would find himself in a very sticky situation.”
“Felix will have decided it was worth doing anyway,” Rosenmarie said, adding a little derisively, “He’s got nerves of steel, that one.”
Oscar, disconcerted by the sultry smile on Rosenmarie’s lips, nonetheless went on, “Lord Felix appears to want to reinstate Emperor Ramza, but I can’t imagine Fernest allowing that.”
“The addition of Emperor Darmés’s assistance has finally driven the Royal Army into a corner. Once they learn that Emperor Ramza never wanted this war in the first place, who’s to say they won’t cooperate with Felix?” Rosenmarie rested her cheek in her hand then, looking away from Oscar, added a touch sarcastically, “Of course, we cannot ignore the harsh nature of reality. No matter how much aid the Azure Knights may offer them.”
Oscar studiously avoided making any comment. He remembered the monstrous horde that had swarmed the Royal Army and feasted upon the flesh of the soldiers. Even now, the image was seared into his mind, fouler and more repulsive than any other battle he had known. Death to those creatures seemed like no more than a game. The Azure Knights might have been the empire’s mightiest but the idea that even they would meet the same fate seemed less foolish than inevitable.
“He also seems to be asking you for your support, my lady. How do you mean to answer him?” Oscar endeavored to keep his expression neutral, but privately, he felt like he was opening a forbidden door. Felix’s request to Rosenmarie had been the only item in a letter full of surprises that he had expected. Depending on how she responded, they could well end up repeating Felix’s mistake.
Rosenmarie went over to the window and flung it open. A cool breeze gently flowed into the room, sweeping a few documents off her desk into the air.
“...must have...”
Her voice was so quiet he couldn’t catch what she’d said. “What was that?”
Rosenmarie turned around. Instead of answering, she held out the second page of the letter with an unusually grave look on her face. Oscar took it dubiously, read through it, then gasped.
“It seems your instincts were right, Oscar,” Rosenmarie said. She said it comfortingly, but Oscar barely heard her. He had never expected to learn the truth like this. He began to shake.
Lord Gladden... He remembered the last time he had seen the marshal. He had known something was wrong, even then. Ever since, he had regretted not following him, no matter how badly he might have been reprimanded for it.
“What drove Emperor Darmés to do such a thing to Lord Gladden...?”
“He probably uncovered a secret about Darmés or something of that nature. It’s all beyond what I can imagine, though.”
“Here I am, blithely going on with my life without even realizing that my superior officer was murdered. This is insanity.” Yet somehow, no anger rose in him toward Darmés, who had done the deed. He only felt a bottomless expanse of self-loathing.
“Neither of us expected it, but now we know the truth,” Rosenmarie said. “But that’s all in the past. We won’t get anywhere by looking back. There’s nothing new to be found there. Oscar, what do you want to do?”
Revenge for Gladden. The words rose to his lips, but he choked them back. The one against whom he wanted revenge was the ruler of the empire, so far above him that in a sense, he was even more detached from the reality Oscar inhabited than the ghouls. And more importantly even than that—he had his pride as an imperial soldier.
Oscar knelt before Rosenmarie, then said, “I am your chief of staff. My duty is to serve you, my lady, and to show my loyalty to the empire. My own interests do not enter into it.”
Rosenmarie smiled at this. “That was a model answer,” she said, then ordered him to summon her main commanders.
“My lady...”
“Oscar, you know me. I’m as far from the model answer as a person can get.” Clenching her fist tight, she looked down, a ruthless smile on her lips. Oscar could feel in his bones that the situation was about to go from bad to far, far worse.
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