kscans

Chapter 59 - Episode 48: Preparing for the Curtain Call

Lupia let out a tired breath. Haaah. She wondered what had happened to the time she’d promised to meet Rupert, and a glance at the clock she’d brought made her freeze.

"...This is bad."

She was one minute past the appointed time. It was only a minute, but a minute was a minute. Rupert was very strict about time. Just as Lupia realized what this meant and staggered to her feet, the doors burst open.

"Lupia!"

"Lupiaaa!!"

"Big sis!!"

"Sister-in-law!"

"Hey, Lupia!"

"Lady Lupia!"

Aristerios, Millière, Rupert, Vernella, Rod, and finally, Alfred. They all came thundering into the Audience Chamber, shouting her name in a cacophony of panicked footsteps. It was one thing for her family and Alfred to be here, but what was the king of another country doing? She could tell he was so worried that he had come not as a ‘king’ but as a family member. She understood that, she really did, but still.

"...Um, well, you see..."

It seemed that time had passed much more quickly than she’d thought. The proof was in how they’d all stormed in, completely out of breath. They had probably tried to contact her, but couldn't get through. Aristerios’s frantic expression said it all. She had rarely ever seen her father that flustered. The only other times were probably when she or Rupert had gotten injured as children, or when Millière had fallen ill.

"U-um."

"Sister-in-law!"

"Y-yes."

Called out in such a loud voice, Lupia instinctively straightened her back. Vernella, staring intently at the frozen Lupia, strode forward without hesitation and leaned in, her eyes fixed on the wound on Lupia’s neck.

This is bad.

"...H-who did..."

"Um, Vernella."

"Who committed such an outrage as to mar my dear sister-in-law’s porcelain skin with a wound like this?! Was it Falty?! Or was it His Highness?!"

An angry beauty is a terrifying thing, Lupia thought profoundly. But right now, her priority was to calm down her sister-in-law.

"Wait, Vernella, you’re wrong. This was something I—"

"What?!"

"Ah."

A very unladylike sound escaped Lupia’s lips. Rupert, who had overheard, now stomped over and, just like Vernella, shoved his face close to hers.

"What do you mean, sis?!"

"Um, well, there’s a reason for this."

"What reason?!"

"It’s a very long story."

"The short version."

"Ehh..."

The more concisely she explained it, the higher the chance her brother and sister-in-law would completely lose it. A very, very high chance.

What would happen to these two if she said, ‘I bet my own life as a bargaining chip in a deal with the Source of All Evil’? And her parents, Alfred, and even Rod were here right now.

The Calmond family had raised Lupia with an incredible amount of care. When she declared she would take on both the Crown Princess and family head education simultaneously, many people had laughed, saying, ‘There’s no way you can do that.’ But after she piled effort upon effort, many people had come to support her. They were strict when necessary and incredibly kind when it was time for kindness. Especially those on the inside. Others had only seen the ‘strict when necessary’ part, which was probably why they thought the family was on bad terms, when in reality, it was the complete opposite. Though, they had used that misconception to their advantage to flee the country en masse for this incident.

As Lupia pondered what to do, Alfred approached her hesitantly.

"Alf?"

"My lady, I hope I’m wrong, but…"

"Alf, wait a second. Stop."

"You haven’t been using your own life as some kind of bargaining chip, have you?"

The moment he said it, the voices of Vernella and Rupert—two people who could fairly be called the ‘Lupia Faction’—rang out in perfect, horrifying harmony.

"WHAT?!"

Rupert and Vernella’s screams were practically shrieks, and Alfred’s guess was entirely too accurate. She wanted to praise him for being such a loyal attendant, but not now.

"Uh, well…"

"S-sister-in-law…"

"W-wait, Vernella?!"

Vernella sniffled once, and then, as if a dam had broken, she burst into tears.

"You mustn’t! There is no one who can replace you, Sister-in-law, so please take better care of yourself!"

"...Vernella…"

Normally, Vernella might cry, but she wouldn’t get this emotional. In handling the ‘underground’ work of the Alcioni family, she had become exceptionally good at controlling her emotions. But the number of times she had shown this much emotion could be counted on one hand. Lupia, who had discovered her talent, was without a doubt one of the few precious people to whom Vernella would show her true feelings.

"...Y-you big idiot, Sister-in-law…"

"I’m sorry, Vernella."

Lupia hugged her slender body tightly, gently patting her back. There, there. When she glanced over, she saw Rupert desperately holding back his own tears.

"Rupert."

"You’re a huge idiot, sis!"

"...Yes, you’re right. I’m a huge idiot."

"...I-it was scary."

Having seen Lupia become like an emotionless doll, he didn’t want to lose the sister he knew, the one who was always smiling. He let out a single sob, then roughly wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and took a step back.

"...?"

"But I think… that’s how serious it was."

"...I’m sorry. And thank you."

She held out a hand to Rupert as if to say, ‘Come here,’ and he hesitantly drew near again, hugging her tightly. Despite their height difference, she felt terrible for making her cute, precious, and irreplaceable little brother feel this way. But then she saw Millière, who was crying even harder than the rest of them, and the twins and Vernella froze in unison.

"Eh?"

"U-um."

"Mother?"

"You… you great fool of a daughter!"

"Hic."

The sight of Lupia flinching and Millière glaring at her with tears streaming down her face was quite the contrast, but it clearly conveyed just how worried she had been.

"I-I’m sorry…"

"Really!! You are just like your father, you really are!!"

"Eh?"

Everyone’s eyes turned to Aristerios. Come to think of it, her father hadn’t gotten angry at her. So that’s why! Lupia thought, finally understanding. She’d heard that as the Commander of the Knight Order, he had been seriously injured several times—either to let his subordinates escape when facing a crisis during a monster subjugation, or when he’d led the charge himself into battle. That must be what she meant.

"Listen here! You, my husband, and you, Lupia! And you too, Rupert! None of you are to treat your own lives so cheaply!"

"I haven’t done anything like that."

"Be quiet! You’d throw your life away to protect Vernella in a heartbeat, wouldn’t you!"

"Wait just a moment, Rupert, I haven’t heard anything about this?!"

Oh, brother, Lupia couldn’t help but pull a strange face. But in the end, it seemed their fundamental nature—to do anything to protect what was precious to them—was the same. "Hey!" Rod’s voice called out to them, snapping everyone back to reality.

"Since when did this country get a new king?"

"What?"

Aristerios, who had likely only had eyes for his daughter since arriving, shifted his gaze to the throne.

"Prince Liam was still the Crown Prince…"

It was too soon for him to ascend the throne. If the king himself had abdicated, a notice would have been sent to all neighboring countries. No nation would ever conduct a coronation in secret, without anyone knowing.

"Could it be…"

"Is this also the effect of that ‘System’ you were talking about, Lupia?"

"It might be. When I arrived, they were already sitting here. His Highness seems to be unconscious now, but his eyes were so… vacant…"

Just like me when I was a puppet, she added, remembering what Rupert and her parents had told her. Lupia clenched her fists tightly.

"I wonder how far the influence spread…"

"I don’t know. Until they wake up… there’s no way to tell…"

Even if they wanted to ask what happened, both Falty and Liam were unconscious. Falty was still collapsed on the floor. Feeling that was a bit much, Lupia walked over and gently lifted Falty’s body. At least this way, she wouldn’t be in as much pain.

"Can we do anything with healing magic?"

"I don’t know the answer to that, either."

She couldn’t give Vernella a positive answer. She had no idea how things had ended up this way, or why they had lost consciousness. It was easy to imagine that Falty had collapsed because the thing inside her had left, cutting her puppet strings. But with Liam, she had no idea what had happened.

"Sister-in-law, should we try calling out to her?"

"Yes… I suppose so."

She didn’t know why this girl, with whom she’d had almost no contact at the academy, had harbored such ambition. But now, the fairytale and the dream were over.

"Falty-san."

Supporting Falty with one arm, she used her other hand to gently tap Falty’s cheek.

"Falty-san, wake up. Falty-san."

She needed her to face reality. The majority of this mess was probably the fault of that ‘System,’ but Falty had eagerly jumped on the sweet offer. And so had the royal family, including Liam, who had fallen for Falty and readily agreed to the dissolution of the engagement despite the king's original decree.

—And that’s why.

"Wake up, Falty-Ardia!"

What had been a series of gentle taps turned into a loud, powerful, and painful-sounding SLAP! Her soft tone was gone. Calling her name sharply, Lupia had mercilessly struck Falty’s cheek. And Falty, slapped awake with wide eyes, finally came face to face with her.

"What do you think you’re doing?! There’s a limit to everything, you know… wait… what…"

Falty, recognizing the person she had been about to snap at, had her eyes narrowed in anger, but her momentum quickly fizzled out.

"Lupia-sama."

The person whose name she called with a twitching cheek smiled—a smile so wide you could almost hear the sound effect—and then declared:

"The convenient dream is over."