256 - Fanbayle's Choice
To put it simply, Fanbayle ended up taking a part in the encirclement of Banseime.
The terms, which could be called extraordinary, were that Fanbayle would take the lead in working with neighboring countries to unite the western part of the continent.
The reason they became motivated was the return of the territory governed by Margrave Lesnou—formerly Fanbayle territory—but the biggest reason was—
With a woman with disheveled hair straddling me, I was lying on the floor inside the porter's carriage. Our clothes were both disarrayed, and our breathing was ragged.
If you've heard this much, it might sound like a suggestive story, but you can guess the situation given that I'm the one being straddled.
"Guh, I can't... breathe..."
"How dare you... how dare you ruin my plans!"
A look of fierce desperation. Furthermore, Riane-sama's expression, seen from below, was terrifying. She looks like she'd appear in my dreams. Or rather, her outstretched arms—her hands—were strangling my neck.
"Wait, get away from Liel!"
Aria hurriedly tried to pull Riane away, but even Aria, who trains regularly, was struggling. Monica also put away the tool she was holding and lunged toward me, trying to pull Riane and me apart.
However, her nails dug into my neck, and it hurt. I was bleeding.
"B-blood is coming out!"
Monica cried out to Shannon.
"She's rampaging in such a narrow space. Could you get the medicine?"
Shannon opened the seating section of the porter's sofa and took out medicine from there. Braubey-kun, the grandson of Margrave Lesnou, who had seen the desperate woman's actions, was clinging to his mother, Parselena-san, in fear.
When the porter suddenly stopped, Clara poked her head into the carriage.
"Um, it's so noisy... wah!"
Clara also seemed to grasp the situation, she looked at me and Riane and approached. Receiving the medicine box from Shannon, she took out medicine, soaked it into a cloth, and pressed it against my neck. The wound stung, and on top of that, Riane, who was rampaging in front of me, looked as if she were about to pounce on me at any moment.
—In other words. Fanbayle promised their cooperation with great joy once Riane, who had seized the castle, was pushed onto me. On the surface, they gave various reasons, but they were absolutely delighted to be liberated from Riane.
Riane had her power in Fanbayle snatched away by me and my family.
The Fifth was worried about Braubey-kun, who was trembling.
"This will become a trauma. Third, maybe seal the memory with Mind—"
The Third laughed.
"Hahaha, that's not allowed. Well, my skill isn't that strong, and there are times when people remember things by chance, so I can't recommend it. If he remembers it in an important moment in the future, he'll panic. But still... this is beyond imagination."
Indeed, Riane was a more problematic woman than imagined. Accepting such a Riane was the plan that Raiel had left at the end. In fact, Fanbayle promised cooperation, and by showing the phantom of the Seventh, the trauma of the heavyweights and even the king was reactivated.
With this, they probably won't try to move against us for a while.
Once Clara finished wrapping the bandage around my neck, I touched it.
"Is it painful?"
"I'm okay, thank you. Please take care of Aria too."
As I said that and stood up, Riane, who was being held in a full nelson by Monica, was rampaging with her hair flying.
Aria also seemed to have been scratched by nails, as blood was coming from her hand.
Riane's nails were also split, and blood was coming from them. Even so, Riane, trying to pounce on me, was like a beast.
Then, Parselena-san moved away from Braubey-kun and stood up. Stepping in front of Riane, she delivered a slap.
"...What should I do?"
While I was flustered, Mireia-san spoke from within the jewel. Then, Parselena-san spoke to me.
"Liel, just watch in silence."
"I have overstepped my bounds. However, I cannot stand by and watch. Please watch for a moment. You are the Princess of Fanbayle, Princess Riane, correct? I am Parselena... Parselena Lesnou."
Before Parselena-san, who was introducing herself, Riane, held in a full nelson, looked down, her disheveled hair hiding her face.
"What was that behavior just now? Making a fuss because you cannot accept what has been decided. You are a Princess... know that you cannot defy the decisions of the country."
The elegant and quiet woman stood dignified before Riane. Aria, Monica, Shannon, and Clara all remained silent.
Through the gaps in the hair hiding her face, purple eyes were visible. They were the same purple eyes as Novem's, but they didn't have a shred of kindness.
"The wife of the Margrave's heir is acting quite haughty toward me—"
Being held in a full nelson, Riane tried to snap her fingers with her right hand. It was an action to activate a skill—
The Third spoke to me.
"Liel, that kind of skill won't activate if you disrupt it a bit. Use any of Liel's skills to interfere."
—I hurriedly deployed the Second's skill—Field—and interfered, and Riane's skill did not activate.
With only a snap of her fingers, Riane looked at her own right hand. Then, she looked at me.
"Interfering with me again... and I believed in you... I believed we were the same, seekers of revenge!"
Thinking that I didn't need such trust, I felt relieved that the skill was sealed. Parselena-san spoke to Riane.
"I have heard about the matter with the Crown Prince. It was an important matter for the Lesnou family as well. However, you are wrong right now."
Riane glared at Parselena-san.
"I will not tell you not to seek revenge. Nor do I have the right to say so. But is the reason you are so obsessed because you still love him?"
To Riane, who burned with revenge against the Crown Prince—Rufus, Parselena-san pointed out what was in her heart, even though she didn't have eyes like Shannon's or any special skill.
Riane fell silent. Tears dripped down.
"No. I..."
Parselena-san spoke.
"You were not abandoned. You are alive. And you have not been charmed by Celes. ...How about thinking of it this way? That you were pushed away precisely because you were loved."
Riane said nothing. She had an expression that said she couldn't accept it.
However, hearing Parselena-san's words, I remembered the words of the First. That the reason I was able to survive while my parents were under Celes's control might have been luck, but it might also have been my parents' desperate resistance.
There is no way to confirm it. But I hoped that it was so.
Parselena-san gave words to the silent Riane.
"Be happy. Even if you seek revenge—even if you were loved, it will be for your own sake."
I felt as if those words were being spoken to me.
Night.
While preparing for camp after stopping the porter, I noticed Mei's reaction.
When I went outside, Mei appeared carrying luggage. Holding up a bag, Mei said,
"A delivery!"
She said with a smile. Seeing Mei approach with a smile, I remembered the events of the day—
"You just stay as you are. Really, just as you are—"
Then, Mei tilted her head.
Seeing that gesture, I felt the Fifth laughing a bit inside the jewel.
"Idiot, Mei is a good girl. Too good for you... or for me."
Mei handed the bag to me.
"This letter is the one to show Shannon too. And this is the letter from Jampea, and this is..."
Mei explained as I looked inside. After confirming them, I checked the future plans with Mei.
"So, what will Mei do after this?"
Mei stretched.
"I'm tired, so I'd like to rest. I'll eat a lot and relax for a few days. Novem and the others are going from Jampea into Banseime, and then from the south toward the west? I heard they're heading southwest."
Then, the Seventh spoke from the jewel.
"Southwest Banseime... the Walt family's territory, huh. Well, I think there's no need to worry about Novem and the others..."
The one who holds the largest territory as a lord in Banseime, after the King, is the Walt family. The land they expanded over generations has now become the largest territory in Banseime. Therefore, southwest refers to the Walt family's territory. There were also dependent vassals nearby... no, the Foxus Family's territory was there too.
"We planned to head there if we had the leeway anyway. So Novem and the others are doing well, then."
Mei laughed.
"That's right. The King of Jampea said he wants to drink alcohol with Liel. Just the two of them."
I had been opening the letter, but my hand stopped upon hearing that. Slowly raising my face, I said to Mei,
"...I'm no good with alcohol."
"I know, right! But Novem accepted the offer, so do your best."
While feeling anxious about the drinking party with the King of Jampea, I spread the letter and confirmed the contents. Inside the letter were the results in Jampea. And how much military force they could provide was written.
Along with Miranda's views, information Eva heard from her kin was also written.
"...Jampea has no problem with the quality of the soldiers, but there's anxiety regarding combat on flat land, huh. They're strong in mountains and forests from the start, so if we can somehow make use of that..."
As I pondered, I heard the sound of a stomach growling. It was Mei.
"I'm hungry."
I laughed and decided to return to the porter to have Monica prepare a meal.
The next morning.
Shannon had a difficult expression while holding a letter in front of Monica.
"Uh, this one says something like Jampea had continued sunny weather, and this one says something like the fruit was delicious..."
As Shannon said vague things while reading the letter, Monica swung her hammer down. It was a hammer, but the material was something light, not iron. It wasn't paper, but when it hit, it made a "Piko!" sound, which was funny.
"I want this,"
When I said that, Braubey-kun's eyes also sparkled as he looked at Monica's hammer, which had a yellow handle and a red hammer head that dented when it hit but immediately returned to normal.
Monica spoke to Shannon.
"Yes, that is incorrect. Do not say things haphazardly. Since the answer check is a failure, this month's allowance is decided to be half. Now, if failures continue like this, it will get progressively worse."
"What! I worked hard! I mean, tell them to write bigger and cleaner! The handwriting is wiggly and hard to read!"
As Shannon looked as if she were about to cry, Clara offered a helping hand.
"Well, in picture books, things are written clearly. When it comes to ordinary letters, the difficulty might still be high."
Having been helped, Shannon turned a smile toward Clara. However, Aria spoke.
"But it'll be tough if you can't read this. Do your best, Shannon."
In reality, it would be a problem if she couldn't read them accurately. Shannon's education would be necessary for future operations.
The porter's carriage.
Looking at Riane sitting in the corner, I wondered how to address her. While everyone was gathered around Shannon, only Riane was sitting in a position away from everyone.
Then, Parselena-san spoke to me.
"Please leave her alone for now. She is eating, and just watching over her is enough. That girl is a strong girl. She will surely recover on her own."
Looking at Parselena-san beside Braubey-kun, I felt a bit of what a mother is.
"I understand. I'll do that. ...Soon, we will return to Margrave Lesnou's territory. She will be with us for a while, but after that, I will release her, so please be patient."
Parselena-san had a slightly troubled face.
"...Even though you're trying to use her as bargaining material, you are quite kind."
I said with a serious face,
"You could say that because she's bargaining material, I'm treating her with care. Well, I have my own personal thoughts on this, and it varies from person to person."
Having secured Fanbayle's cooperation, we were on our way back to Margrave Lesnou's territory.
Shannon, with teary eyes, was confirming the last letter. Then, her hand suddenly stopped. And, looking toward Monica,
"...Tell Big Sister that I understood."
Then, Monica seemed to convey that to the Valkyries. The answer that came back from the Valkyries seemed to be that there was no problem.
"Miranda also said there was no problem. Now, today's evaluation is... desserts are banned for two days. This month's allowance is half. That's how it goes. You're lucky, if everything had been a failure, desserts would have been for a week, and there would be no allowance."
At Monica's refreshing smile, Shannon looked frustrated. However, she hugged the letter as if it were precious.
"Just watch. I'll show you someday!"
Monica laughed through her nose at Shannon's line.
"Struggle all you like. Though, it'll be a sight to see how much you can do in the remaining few months."
Mei was watching Monica and Shannon while lying down.
"Monica isn't very honest, is she. I mean, Miranda probably gave Shannon—"
When Mei said that much, Clara stopped Mei's statement.
"Please don't say it. Well, it's the affection between sisters."
—Surely, Miranda probably gave Shannon an easy problem.