Chapter 69
Hearing what Faustina said, Sylaria drew a small, quiet breath. Her chest thudded at the calm voice she was listening to.
“Her Majesty the Empress said she found you insolent, Sylaria. So she ordered me to shape public opinion and to make it seem like His Highness the First Prince simply picked up a woman cast aside by the Second Prince.”
It was something the Empress was more than capable of. If those orders had come, it made sense why Faustina, who had no prior tie to Sylaria, had invited her and seated her beside Aria.
But there was one thing Sylaria could not understand.
Faustina had stepped in to help her. If Faustina had taken Aria’s side—no, even if she had only watched from the sidelines—the Empress’s plan might have succeeded.
“Why did you help me?”
“Because it’s petty.”
Faustina sniffed in disdain. She glanced toward the spot where Aria had been seated and continued.
“I considered letting it play out since it was Her Majesty’s order, but driving an innocent person into a corner… that’s just not me.”
“I might cause trouble for you, Madam.”
“Oh my.”
When Sylaria spoke with concern, Faustina’s eyes rounded in surprise. She covered her mouth, laughed softly, and said,
“Are you worried about me?”
Faustina’s eyes bent in a smile as she lowered her hand.
“The Lacroix family is a distant relative of His Majesty the Emperor. The worst Her Majesty can do to me is ban me from the palace.”
“Ah…”
“And after what I said just now, everyone will rush to offer me candidates for the Second Prince’s bride. With her son’s marriage being urgent, do you think the Empress can afford to push aside the one arranging matches?”
Sylaria parted her lips slightly in astonishment. To have calculated so much in such a brief time, Faustina’s quick mind was remarkable. And at the same time, Sylaria felt she wanted her as an ally.
Faustina dominated the social scene and had the courage to stand against the Empress. With her on Sylaria’s side, everything would feel much safer.
“That’s a relief. I won’t forget what you’ve done today. Truly, thank you.”
“It’s nothing. Besides, if this helps me get closer to His Highness the First Prince, all the better.”
Faustina smiled brightly as she took Sylaria’s offered hand. From afar, Aria watched the two of them.
* * *
Entering the gorge, Euclid looked over the steep ravine with cold eyes. A place where monsters lived even without an opened ‘Maw’.
Shastir.
The wind swirling between the cliffs sounded like the wails of beasts, or perhaps the screams of those they had devoured.
“Are you prepared?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
At Euclid’s question, Morris answered briskly. As captain of the First Prince’s Holy Order, he signaled with his hand, and armored knights moved into formation.
The sequence of the battle was sharp and disciplined, the product of training since childhood among the imperial bloodline’s branch families. They drove man-sized shields into the ground, raising a solid wall, while the spaces between became lines of drawn bows.
At Euclid’s command, a rain of flaming arrows would pour down upon the monsters.
But then.
“…What is that?”
Something flickered in Morris’s sight. High in the sky, dark smudges wavered like shadows of clouds. He narrowed his eyes, and in that instant the shapes swelled rapidly.
“Your Highness! A ‘Maw’!”
Recognizing what hovered above, Morris shouted, his voice sharp. He swung his arm, and the Holy Knights shifted aim from the canyon’s edges to the ‘Maw’ in the heavens.
“Wait.”
Just as the bowstrings stretched taut, the prince looking up at the sky spoke. His deep, weighty voice stopped Morris mid-motion. The captain froze and turned toward his commander and soon gasped.
Around the First Prince’s body, a dense crimson radiance unfurled. He had seen His Highness wield holy power many times before, but never such vivid, blinding light.
The glow swelled brilliant and fierce, like a burning sunset. Euclid raised his hand, and the light gathered above his palm, coalescing into a crimson orb.
As the searing sphere formed, Euclid’s pupils themselves glimmered with an uncanny blue light.
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