Deal
“…I was fairly confident in my ability to conceal my presence, but as expected of the close aide to the Third Princess.”
The one who appeared with that voice was Floria Florence, daughter of the Duke Florence household that supports this nation, and also a classmate of Lux.
“Unfortunately, those matters are my specialty, so I cannot allow myself to be so easily outmaneuvered.”
“Fufu, I still have a long way to go then, don’t I.”
Saying that with a slight curl of her lips, Floria approached Violet.
Then, once the two were facing each other, Floria spoke again.
“As you understand, you are a close aide to the Third Princes… I have come not so much with a request for you, Violet-sama, but because I wish to speak with you.”
Since it was Violet herself who had urged Lux to learn her name from Floria, she was not particularly surprised when Floria mentioned her name directly for the first time.
“I will hear you out.”
Violet gave that brief reply, and Floria continued.
“If I am able to win this sword tournament, and then as the champion defeat the First Princess in the exhibition match, I wish to make one request of you, Violet-sama… more precisely, I wish to make a deal with you.”
“A deal, you say… In that case, before I accept such a proposal, may I ask the nature of that request?”
“It is a request born from my personal feelings, but I cannot tell you now… I will explain when the time comes that it is possible for me to make the request.”
Generally, in contracts or deals, what lies ahead is supposed to be made clear in advance.
Since it was impossible to hear the details now, Violet hesitated over whether to accept, but as she sensed there was also benefit on her side, she decided to present a condition.
“Very well… however, should I accept your deal, I will attach a condition to that request of yours.”
“What sort of condition would that be?”
“That it must not interfere with my duties.”
With this, even if Floria were to demand that she defect to her side, she could refuse, and if told to cease associating with Lux, she could reject it on the grounds that such a demand would interfere with the duties entrusted to her by Siana.
How Floria would respond to this was uncertain, but she showed no sign of being perturbed and simply said,
“That condition is acceptable… From the start, I had no intention of making a request that would interfere with your duties, Violet-sama.”
To Floria, who said this, Violet raised the central point behind why she had accepted the discussion.
“If this is to be a deal, then conversely, should you lose, Florence-sama, it would be acceptable for you to grant me a request, would it not?”
“Of course… but I too have one condition regarding that request… That it does not go against my feelings.”
“Not go against your feelings, you say…”
As a deal, it seems ambiguous whether my request would go against Florence-sama’s feelings or not…
“Understood, that is acceptable.”
Even if Violet were to state any request, if Floria said it went against her feelings, that would be the end of it. Still, Violet trusted in Floria’s character and gave that answer, upon which Floria spoke.
“In that case, that concludes what I wished to say… Even so, unlike with the Third Princess, speaking with you, Violet-sama, is very easy.”
“The Ojou-sama is, by nature, a very intelligent and logical person, easy to converse with as well… It just seems that when she speaks with you, Florence-sama, she becomes emotional.”
“I would like to say that causes me real trouble, but since I myself also become emotional when speaking with the Third Princess, I cannot talk about others.”
Saying that, Floria paused briefly before speaking to Violet.
“Violet-sama, before, you said that both my view of not shedding blood for Lux-sama and the Third Princess’s view of shedding blood for Lux-sama were correct. Do you still think so even now?”
“That has not changed… And if you, Florence-sama, deny the shedding of blood, then you and I cannot be reconciled.”
Violet looked at the palm of her right hand, which was covered by her glove, and continued speaking.
“Because… my hands have been stained with blood, not only for the sake of Rodwell-sama, but for many other reasons as well.”
“…That is—”
“I have said too much. It is about time you returned to your seat, Florence-sama… Please excuse me.”
With those words, Violet vanished from the spot in an instant.
Florence-sama may deny it, but even so… Rodwell-sama told me that these very hands of mine are beautiful.
Violet gently clasped her right palm.
Therefore, for the sake of Rodwell-sama, who told me that these hands are beautiful, and for the sake of Ojou-sama as well, I will continue to use these hands…
Having once again renewed her firm resolve, Violet decided to remain in the deserted place and watch the matches of the sword tournament through to the end.