Chapter SS 03 …
Side Story: Words That Were Never Easy
After that, Yurik frequently visited the Duke of Shuhevers’ residence, trying to persuade Rinea.
“You’ve been feeling dizzy. Probably ever since you were a girl—ever since you started wearing that necklace.”
“…That’s because my health isn’t very good…”
“Why isn’t it good? Is there any reason you can think of? Have you seen a doctor? And if even doctors couldn’t give you a clear answer, have you never considered that the necklace might be the cause?”
Throughout his attempts to persuade her, Yurik was painfully aware of how poor his own rhetoric was.
Rinea didn’t seem to believe either Yurik’s sudden claims or his confession that he loved her. Before trusting his words, she appeared to be deeply wary of him.
“I—”
Just as Yurik was about to continue persuading her, his vision suddenly spun. He tightly shut his eyes and clamped his mouth closed.
Light flickered chaotically behind his eyelids, and his head felt as though it were spinning. After forcing himself to calm the dizziness and finally opening his eyes, Rinea—who should have been sitting across from him—was nowhere to be seen.
“Ri—”
At that moment, Rinea approached from the side and extended a hand holding a damp cloth. Yurik looked up at her in a daze. She stood there silently, her expression blank.
“…Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
As soon as Yurik accepted the cloth, Rinea politely withdrew her hand and stepped back, returning to her seat across from him. She watched quietly as Yurik wiped the cold sweat beading on his forehead, then cautiously spoke.
“You don’t look well.”
“Forgive me for showing you such an unsightly state.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
She hesitated, as though she wanted to say something more, but then closed her mouth. The words I’m worried did not come easily.
“I’ve had a bit more work than usual lately. The fatigue must have piled up.”
In truth, Yurik’s workload hadn’t increased by just “a bit”—he had barely been sleeping at all—but he glossed over it.
“Your Majesty—”
He didn’t share his circumstances with Rinea. Using his hardships as leverage would have been no different from what Cadil did, and Yurik despised the thought.
Punishing Cadil, who was like a parasite gnawing at the nation’s foundations, was in itself an act done for Rinea’s sake.
Even if he hadn’t known Rinea, he would still have sought to punish Cadil once the truth came to light—but his fury wouldn’t have burned this intensely.
Still, he didn’t want to pile his own anger onto Rinea, who had already been deeply shaken after learning from him that everything about Cadil was a lie, nor did he want to force it upon her under the guise of this is for your sake.
That would not be for Rinea, but rather an indulgence in his own emotions of love and devotion toward her.
“You are already so busy with state affairs. Why, then, do you keep coming to see me? I don’t believe Your Majesty has the leisure to do so.”
“I only gain leisure once I know you are safe. Spending horrifying hours imagining what might have happened to you—that can hardly be called leisure.”
Yurik answered seriously. Rinea looked at him with eyes full of frustration.
“Why is that?”
“I told you, didn’t I? Because I love you. Wanting the safety and well-being of the person you love is only natural.”
“……”
He had expected a reply like why or I don’t understand. For an entire month, that had been her response.
But this time, Rinea simply gazed at him in silence. After staring at Yurik for a long while, she clenched her fist once, as though making up her mind, then slowly relaxed it.
She brought both hands to the back of her neck, unfastened the pendant Cadil had given her, and held it out toward Yurik with both hands.
Yurik’s eyes widened.
“Rinea…?”
“I am not saying that I believe everything Your Majesty has told me.”
Her voice trembled slightly as she began.
“However, I do not think it is right to continue forcing Your Majesty—already so exhausted—to visit the ducal residence because of my stubbornness. …Until everything is proven, I would like to entrust this to Your Majesty.”
Yurik was momentarily at a loss for words. Rinea didn’t look up at him, her head bowed deeply.
After a moment, Yurik slowly accepted the pendant from her hands.
“Alright. …Thank you.”
“No. I haven’t done anything.”
“You made a difficult decision based on nothing more than my words. In a situation where no one can prove whether the voices you hear belong to spirits or evil spirits—just that alone deserves my gratitude.”
Rinea hesitated, looking at him, as though she was about to say something—when suddenly she staggered, bending forward as if about to collapse.
Startled, Yurik quickly reached across the end table and caught her by the shoulders.
“Rinea.”
Rinea closed her eyes, gasped for breath, and let out a soft groan. Then, as soon as she opened her eyes, she looked around and murmured,
“You… all of you…”
“Rinea?”
Her face had gone deathly pale. Yurik stared at her in confusion—then realized what was happening as she tried to cover her ears. He quickly stopped her.
“Rinea, those are not the voices of evil spirits. They are the voices of the spirits who have protected and loved you all this time. You don’t need to reject them.”
“But— but…”
“The dizziness is temporary. Listen to what they have to say.”
After hesitating briefly, Rinea slowly lowered her hands. Yurik released her and quietly observed her.
Before long, Rinea began murmuring to herself—or rather, responding to someone unseen.
“No… yes…”
Yurik watched her for a moment, then silently turned and left the drawing room. Rinea didn’t seem to notice.
They would have much to talk about. It was only right that he give her privacy. Though it pained him to leave her, Yurik decided it would be better to hear her story the next time they met, and so he departed that day.
Several days later, this time it was Rinea who came to see Yurik while he was working.
When she arrived in the audience chamber, Yurik dismissed everyone else, accepted her greeting, and asked,
“What brings you here?”
“I felt it improper to continue having Your Majesty come all the way to the ducal residence, so I came to pay my respects in person.”
Rinea spoke quietly with her head lowered, avoiding his gaze. After standing silently for a moment, she slowly placed one hand over her chest.
“Your Majesty was correct. They… the spirits never harmed me. We spoke, and cleared up our misunderstandings.”
“I see. Have the misunderstandings been resolved?”
“Yes. …Because the spirits could not identify themselves as spirits, I had judged them to be evil spirits solely based on his words.”
She lowered her head awkwardly.
“It is shameful. To think I treated those who had always worried over me and protected me as something vile, based on nothing but another person’s words. If not for Your Majesty’s help, I don’t know when I would have realized it. …I truly thank you.”
“Even without me, you would have realized it eventually. You are capable, and you are wise.”
“No, that’s not—”
Just as Rinea was about to say more, a servant announced from outside the audience chamber,
“Your Majesty, Marquis Lamben urgently requests an audience.”
“I will take my leave now.”
Rinea spoke hurriedly, but Yurik raised a hand to stop her and answered toward the door,
“Let him enter.”
Rinea stiffened in surprise as the doors opened and Cadil entered immediately.
His face flushed with agitation, Cadil didn’t even bother with proper etiquette. The moment the doors closed, he shouted,
“What is the meaning of this outrage, Your Majesty?!”
“What outrage would that be?”
Unlike Cadil, Yurik remained calm. Cadil glared at him as though he wanted to kill him, but Yurik—dark circles under his eyes betraying exhaustion—showed no fear or hesitation, only a faintly indifferent air.
“How dare you search my private residence and seize my belongings at your whim?! No matter your authority, this is—!”
“It’s well within my authority. All the other officials accepted it.”
For a moment, Cadil looked as though his soul had left his body.
Yurik slowly rose from the throne and descended the dais until he stood directly in front of Cadil. Tilting his head slightly, he looked down at him.
“It seems you didn’t receive word. We were in a hurry, so my apologies.”
“Y-You call that an apology—!”
“So? What do you think?”
“…Pardon?”
“I asked what you think of being a traitor who manufactured illegal addictive awakening drugs and colluded with foreign powers.”
Cadil’s mouth fell open.
Beside them, Rinea covered her mouth with both hands.
The blood drained from Cadil’s face—but then he forced a servile smile.
“What are you saying, Your Majesty? I have always been loyal—”
“You said the same thing to the King of Psyche. Though, of course, you never met in person.”
Yurik pulled a torn letter from his clothes and tossed it at Cadil’s feet.
“With this letter.”
“……”
“You poured your heart into declaring your treason. You might claim it isn’t your handwriting, but that will only buy you about a week.”
“Buy… what?”
“What do you think? The remaining time of your life.”
Then Yurik struck Cadil’s jaw with his fist.
“Ghk!”
Cadil screamed and rolled across the audience chamber floor. Yurik stepped on him, speaking almost to himself.
“The Noble Council reviewed all your charges and accepted your guilt. The kingdom has denied any involvement with you. The Empire Army has seized your awakening drug facilities. And today’s search of the Marquis of Lamben’s estate must have uncovered piles of magic tomes and evidence of treason.”
He stopped and looked down at Cadil.
“Should I praise you? Uncovering everything you did over the past month was no easy task.”
“W-What are you—”
“Still denying it? Even though I know you exploited Rinea’s ability to commune with spirits?”
Cadil’s eyes bulged as he struggled to breathe beneath Yurik’s foot.
Rinea stood there, stunned, barely able to breathe as she listened.
Desperate, as though grasping at a lifeline, Cadil tried to shout,
“T-That woman—she’s—!”
“She is a descendant of the Great Spirit. More precisely, a granddaughter.”
Cadil was rendered speechless.
Rinea’s lips parted slightly.
“I… am?”
“You knew that, and continued to exploit her. You drained her power with that necklace, using her ability to command spirits. Unfortunately, there is no one who can punish humans for exploiting spirits.”
Yurik raised his foot high—then brought it down decisively.
“So I will.”
Side Story: Words That Were Never Easy
After that, Yurik frequently visited the Duke of Shuhevers’ residence, trying to persuade Rinea.
“You’ve been feeling dizzy. Probably ever since you were a girl—ever since you started wearing that necklace.”
“…That’s because my health isn’t very good…”
“Why isn’t it good? Is there any reason you can think of? Have you seen a doctor? And if even doctors couldn’t give you a clear answer, have you never considered that the necklace might be the cause?”
Throughout his attempts to persuade her, Yurik was painfully aware of how poor his own rhetoric was.
Rinea didn’t seem to believe either Yurik’s sudden claims or his confession that he loved her. Before trusting his words, she appeared to be deeply wary of him.
“I—”
Just as Yurik was about to continue persuading her, his vision suddenly spun. He tightly shut his eyes and clamped his mouth closed.
Light flickered chaotically behind his eyelids, and his head felt as though it were spinning. After forcing himself to calm the dizziness and finally opening his eyes, Rinea—who should have been sitting across from him—was nowhere to be seen.
“Ri—”
At that moment, Rinea approached from the side and extended a hand holding a damp cloth. Yurik looked up at her in a daze. She stood there silently, her expression blank.
“…Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
As soon as Yurik accepted the cloth, Rinea politely withdrew her hand and stepped back, returning to her seat across from him. She watched quietly as Yurik wiped the cold sweat beading on his forehead, then cautiously spoke.
“You don’t look well.”
“Forgive me for showing you such an unsightly state.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
She hesitated, as though she wanted to say something more, but then closed her mouth. The words I’m worried did not come easily.
“I’ve had a bit more work than usual lately. The fatigue must have piled up.”
In truth, Yurik’s workload hadn’t increased by just “a bit”—he had barely been sleeping at all—but he glossed over it.
“Your Majesty—”
He didn’t share his circumstances with Rinea. Using his hardships as leverage would have been no different from what Cadil did, and Yurik despised the thought.
Punishing Cadil, who was like a parasite gnawing at the nation’s foundations, was in itself an act done for Rinea’s sake.
Even if he hadn’t known Rinea, he would still have sought to punish Cadil once the truth came to light—but his fury wouldn’t have burned this intensely.
Still, he didn’t want to pile his own anger onto Rinea, who had already been deeply shaken after learning from him that everything about Cadil was a lie, nor did he want to force it upon her under the guise of this is for your sake.
That would not be for Rinea, but rather an indulgence in his own emotions of love and devotion toward her.
“You are already so busy with state affairs. Why, then, do you keep coming to see me? I don’t believe Your Majesty has the leisure to do so.”
“I only gain leisure once I know you are safe. Spending horrifying hours imagining what might have happened to you—that can hardly be called leisure.”
Yurik answered seriously. Rinea looked at him with eyes full of frustration.
“Why is that?”
“I told you, didn’t I? Because I love you. Wanting the safety and well-being of the person you love is only natural.”
“……”
He had expected a reply like why or I don’t understand. For an entire month, that had been her response.
But this time, Rinea simply gazed at him in silence. After staring at Yurik for a long while, she clenched her fist once, as though making up her mind, then slowly relaxed it.
She brought both hands to the back of her neck, unfastened the pendant Cadil had given her, and held it out toward Yurik with both hands.
Yurik’s eyes widened.
“Rinea…?”
“I am not saying that I believe everything Your Majesty has told me.”
Her voice trembled slightly as she began.
“However, I do not think it is right to continue forcing Your Majesty—already so exhausted—to visit the ducal residence because of my stubbornness. …Until everything is proven, I would like to entrust this to Your Majesty.”
Yurik was momentarily at a loss for words. Rinea didn’t look up at him, her head bowed deeply.
After a moment, Yurik slowly accepted the pendant from her hands.
“Alright. …Thank you.”
“No. I haven’t done anything.”
“You made a difficult decision based on nothing more than my words. In a situation where no one can prove whether the voices you hear belong to spirits or evil spirits—just that alone deserves my gratitude.”
Rinea hesitated, looking at him, as though she was about to say something—when suddenly she staggered, bending forward as if about to collapse.
Startled, Yurik quickly reached across the end table and caught her by the shoulders.
“Rinea.”
Rinea closed her eyes, gasped for breath, and let out a soft groan. Then, as soon as she opened her eyes, she looked around and murmured,
“You… all of you…”
“Rinea?”
Her face had gone deathly pale. Yurik stared at her in confusion—then realized what was happening as she tried to cover her ears. He quickly stopped her.
“Rinea, those are not the voices of evil spirits. They are the voices of the spirits who have protected and loved you all this time. You don’t need to reject them.”
“But— but…”
“The dizziness is temporary. Listen to what they have to say.”
After hesitating briefly, Rinea slowly lowered her hands. Yurik released her and quietly observed her.
Before long, Rinea began murmuring to herself—or rather, responding to someone unseen.
“No… yes…”
Yurik watched her for a moment, then silently turned and left the drawing room. Rinea didn’t seem to notice.
They would have much to talk about. It was only right that he give her privacy. Though it pained him to leave her, Yurik decided it would be better to hear her story the next time they met, and so he departed that day.
Several days later, this time it was Rinea who came to see Yurik while he was working.
When she arrived in the audience chamber, Yurik dismissed everyone else, accepted her greeting, and asked,
“What brings you here?”
“I felt it improper to continue having Your Majesty come all the way to the ducal residence, so I came to pay my respects in person.”
Rinea spoke quietly with her head lowered, avoiding his gaze. After standing silently for a moment, she slowly placed one hand over her chest.
“Your Majesty was correct. They… the spirits never harmed me. We spoke, and cleared up our misunderstandings.”
“I see. Have the misunderstandings been resolved?”
“Yes. …Because the spirits could not identify themselves as spirits, I had judged them to be evil spirits solely based on his words.”
She lowered her head awkwardly.
“It is shameful. To think I treated those who had always worried over me and protected me as something vile, based on nothing but another person’s words. If not for Your Majesty’s help, I don’t know when I would have realized it. …I truly thank you.”
“Even without me, you would have realized it eventually. You are capable, and you are wise.”
“No, that’s not—”
Just as Rinea was about to say more, a servant announced from outside the audience chamber,
“Your Majesty, Marquis Lamben urgently requests an audience.”
“I will take my leave now.”
Rinea spoke hurriedly, but Yurik raised a hand to stop her and answered toward the door,
“Let him enter.”
Rinea stiffened in surprise as the doors opened and Cadil entered immediately.
His face flushed with agitation, Cadil didn’t even bother with proper etiquette. The moment the doors closed, he shouted,
“What is the meaning of this outrage, Your Majesty?!”
“What outrage would that be?”
Unlike Cadil, Yurik remained calm. Cadil glared at him as though he wanted to kill him, but Yurik—dark circles under his eyes betraying exhaustion—showed no fear or hesitation, only a faintly indifferent air.
“How dare you search my private residence and seize my belongings at your whim?! No matter your authority, this is—!”
“It’s well within my authority. All the other officials accepted it.”
For a moment, Cadil looked as though his soul had left his body.
Yurik slowly rose from the throne and descended the dais until he stood directly in front of Cadil. Tilting his head slightly, he looked down at him.
“It seems you didn’t receive word. We were in a hurry, so my apologies.”
“Y-You call that an apology—!”
“So? What do you think?”
“…Pardon?”
“I asked what you think of being a traitor who manufactured illegal addictive awakening drugs and colluded with foreign powers.”
Cadil’s mouth fell open.
Beside them, Rinea covered her mouth with both hands.
The blood drained from Cadil’s face—but then he forced a servile smile.
“What are you saying, Your Majesty? I have always been loyal—”
“You said the same thing to the King of Psyche. Though, of course, you never met in person.”
Yurik pulled a torn letter from his clothes and tossed it at Cadil’s feet.
“With this letter.”
“……”
“You poured your heart into declaring your treason. You might claim it isn’t your handwriting, but that will only buy you about a week.”
“Buy… what?”
“What do you think? The remaining time of your life.”
Then Yurik struck Cadil’s jaw with his fist.
“Ghk!”
Cadil screamed and rolled across the audience chamber floor. Yurik stepped on him, speaking almost to himself.
“The Noble Council reviewed all your charges and accepted your guilt. The kingdom has denied any involvement with you. The Empire Army has seized your awakening drug facilities. And today’s search of the Marquis of Lamben’s estate must have uncovered piles of magic tomes and evidence of treason.”
He stopped and looked down at Cadil.
“Should I praise you? Uncovering everything you did over the past month was no easy task.”
“W-What are you—”
“Still denying it? Even though I know you exploited Rinea’s ability to commune with spirits?”
Cadil’s eyes bulged as he struggled to breathe beneath Yurik’s foot.
Rinea stood there, stunned, barely able to breathe as she listened.
Desperate, as though grasping at a lifeline, Cadil tried to shout,
“T-That woman—she’s—!”
“She is a descendant of the Great Spirit. More precisely, a granddaughter.”
Cadil was rendered speechless.
Rinea’s lips parted slightly.
“I… am?”
“You knew that, and continued to exploit her. You drained her power with that necklace, using her ability to command spirits. Unfortunately, there is no one who can punish humans for exploiting spirits.”
Yurik raised his foot high—then brought it down decisively.
“So I will.”
