Order
Right after Rezaimiliana returned to the royal castle, and stepped into the entrance hall.
“What happened to Lage?”
Elizalina, who had been standing beside the entrance, called out to her.
Because of that, Rezaimiliana turned in that direction and faced her as she spoke.
“He is now nothing but a corpse.”
“Oh… From the way you were acting, I thought for sure you might spare him, but Rezaimiliana-oneesama handled it properly.”
“Yes… Not only did he attack a noble of the same country, but he hid eight swordsmen to surround me and had them point their blades at me.”
“I knew he was an idiot, but pointing a sword at you goes beyond idiotic in every possible way. Whether it is status, law, or strength… So because that made him legally eligible for the death penalty, Rezaimiliana-oneesama took his life?”
“That’s right… Though it wasn’t only Lage’s life I took. The other eight swordsmen as well.”
When Rezaimiliana added that, Elizalina waited a moment before speaking.
“If Lage hadn’t pointed his sword at Rezaimiliana-oneesama and had shown even a little remorse… would you have let him live?”
“Who knows?”
After giving a short reply, Rezaimiliana looked away from Elizalina and began walking deeper into the castle.
“If Lage had attacked Rodwell yet still fallen short of the legal grounds for execution… what would I have done with him?”
For Rezaimiliana, the law was absolute.
Because the law existed, order existed, and a nation could continue to stand.
That was why, as a member of the royal family, breaking the law for personal reasons was something she believed she could never do.
Or so she had always believed… until now.
This time, she took Lage’s life because he had committed a crime that qualified for the death penalty…
Or was it because of her personal anger over his attack on Lux?
Both played a part in what happened, without question, but the order of those reasons…
“In any case, all I did was judge a major criminal… nothing more and nothing less.”
The answer to the question that had surfaced would likely reveal itself only when Lux once again found himself in danger somewhere within her sight.
Of course, Rezaimiliana didn’t wish for such a day to come, but if it did.
That would be the moment when her resolve as royalty, or her love for Lux, would be put to the test.
Siana’s Side
Within the castle, Siana and Violet had been gathering information in hopes of finding out when the time Elizalina spoke of would come, but…
“We weren’t able to grasp any useful information.”
“Yes. The entire country is like this, but the royal castle especially might be within Elizalina-sama’s reach.”
“It cannot be helped… We’ll gather information little by little.”
“Understood, Ojou-sama.”
Deciding it would be difficult to gather any more information in the castle today, the two began walking toward the entrance to leave the grounds.
And then.
“Huh? Felisiana and Violet, you are still in the castle?”
Elizalina was standing beside the entrance and called out to them.
“Elizalina-anesama… what are you doing here?”
“I was talking with Rezaimiliana-oneesama here a moment ago… Felisiana, what about you? Why are you still in the castle? Don’t tell me you were trying to figure out what I am planning?”
“Who can say?”
“So that is how it is.”
Even though Siana gave a vague answer, Elizalina replied brightly as if she had already decided the truth.
Feeling the same discomfort toward her sister as always, Siana listened as Elizalina continued.
“While you two were doing something pointless like that, something big happened with Lux, you know?”
“What? Something big happened to Lux-kun…?”
“Yes. Lux was attacked.”
“What…? Lux-kun was attacked!?”
“Yes, by Lage.”
Hearing that, Siana’s eyes widened and grew vacant.
Violet’s expression didn’t change much, but the cold anger in her presence was unmistakable.
To that Violet, Siana spoke in a flat, emotionless voice.
“Violet, right now—”
Before she could finish, Elizalina cut her off, fully aware of what Siana intended to say.
“You are planning to do something about Lage, right? But you should suppress that feeling now.”
“I cannot possibly suppress it. Lux-kun was attacked, and Elizalina-anesama intends to defend Lage? If that is really what you mean—”
“Don’t say something disgusting like me defending Lage. Even if you are my cute little sister, I will get seriously angry.”
After those cold words, Elizalina continued.
“I would take care of Lage myself if I could, but Rezaimiliana-oneesama already handled everything and took his life. There is nothing left for us to do in this incident… and Lux is safe thanks to her.”
“I-I see… that is… really good…”
Watching Siana let out a strained breath of relief, Elizalina spoke.
“If you care about Lux that much, then why not hand him over to me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Precisely because I care about Lux-kun, I will not hand him over to anyone. I don’t know what you are planning, Elizalina-anesama, but I will stop your schemes no matter what.”
“It would be impressive if you could stop me, but even someone as smart as Felisiana might have trouble with that… my love for Lux will not stop now.”
Leaving those words behind, Elizalina walked away from the entrance.
“I stopped holding back a long time ago.”
Siana answered the sister who was no longer there, then stepped out of the castle entrance and returned with Violet to Count Rodwell’s residence.