Hakushaku to Yousei - Volume 24 - Chapter Pr

Chapter 0 ♦ ​Prologue

Walking into the flower garden step by step, the apricot flowers which had blossomed in the early spring spread across the horizon like a white mist. And from the depths of the flowers, a faint pink emerged. He walked in that direction.
Soon after walking away from the flowers, a lady stood at the end of a stone bridge. With a petite body and large eyes, which were the characteristic traits of a typical dame, in the eyes of ordinary people, she was clearly having her own private time in this relaxed atmosphere. 
Coming to the side of the bridge, he kneeled down and lowered his head.
“Your Majesty, I am extremely grateful that you were able to accept my consultation.”
“Don’t tell me there are women who exist that would refuse your invitations?”
From this small joke, he felt that he was accepted, and so he lifted his head.
“This is the highest honour.”
She displayed a dignified and well-mannered posture, which couldn’t be encroached on by anyone, and extended her hand while waiting. He walked over from the bridge, held her hand, and lightly pressed his lips with the poise of a gentleman.
Then, he straightened his back and stood up before the sovereign queen.
“It is clear that no one is able to enter here, so it truly is shocking that this letter was unexpectedly placed in my private room.”
It was his letter of a request for a secret meeting.
“It was the fairies who helped me send it.”
“If that’s the case, then it was my bodyguards who were incapable of stopping it.”
The queen laughed softly, like a young maiden.
The light wind brushed across, and the apricot petals floated in the air, drifting down to the brook underneath the bridge.
He met with the queen in this secret garden, which was in the depths of Hampton Court Palace, in order to avoid the eyes of other people. But for the purpose of an unusual wish, he didn’t want to get a third party involved, nor did he want to tell anyone else. What on earth was it? Therefore she had granted the request.
Of course, if it was to be granted, it was hoped that a loud scene wouldn’t occur. 
“Earl Ashenbert, you eliminated the monster that was causing a disturbance in London, you’ve proved yourself to be the Earl of the fairy kingdom.”
“Concerning that matter, Your Majesty, there was actually a secret organization controlling that monster.”
The queen remained silent and looked at him with a calm expression that wasn’t astonished nor suspicious.
“With the title granted to me by my ancestor Edward I for a united Britain, I must eradicate them.”
“You, alone?”
“Yes, can you appoint me to complete this duty alone?”
“Do you require assistance?”
“No at all. I only need to quietly watch.”
“I understand.”
The queen said simply.
“I am extremely grateful, although it is quite irrelevant, I ask that you believe in me.”
The queen sank into contemplation in this way, and suddenly lowered her eyes.

“The British king, the previous generation’s king will say this to the next generation’s king as well, you mustn’t forget the people that cannot be seen. Furthermore, with regards to their people, despite the king being replaced, the one that can still govern the country is the Blue Knight Earl’s family.”
Was she recalling the day of the coronation while gazing distantly, as she was bearing not only the England of the world that was visible to humans?
“When you presented Edward I’s sword, I did not welcome you on a whim. On the other hand, in regards to your loyalty, I have devoted myself to my nation of the world that is invisible thus, I have decided in my heart to fulfill my ancestors agreement, which is why I have acknowledged you.”
He understood now as well. Honestly speaking, during that time he got a hold of the sword, he was merely the Earl of the fairy kingdom in name.
“Then, I will also make an agreement with you. My actions are all for Your Majesty and Britain, but please be aware in the future when I ask to meet with Your Majesty again, to decline for your own safety, because that person will not be me, but a traitor.”
“A traitor that looks exactly the same as you?”
Yes, he replied, thinking over it a little.
“If by any chance that traitor impersonates me, my wife is not at fault. When I am not here, she will leave for the fairy kingdom as the head of the household. Although I obtained my wife’s help, this battle was caused by me alone, so if you sense that I have lost my desires, I hope that you won’t blame my wife, and to please silence other people’s ideas and rumours.”
It sounded quite difficult to understand, and so the Queen raised a question with a concise sentence.
“If you lose, what will happen afterwards?”
“The war will begin henceforth, and I’m afraid that it will be on the mainland.”
“Taking this country as a battlefield...... Then, it will be like the Battle of Culloden from before.”
The child of the exiled James II, Prince Charles Edward, plotted to seize the royal title in the Battle of Culloden, and as a result, he suffered a disastrous defeat. 
So that’s how it turned out, Britain hasn’t had a civil war ever since then. But the Prince was conceived by the gathered people that burgeoned with hatred from the war. 
“Regarding the conclusion to that war, it can’t be said that it’s unrelated, this was heard from the previous king. The casualties were severe. The hatred that was passed down in the bloodline lead to a great catastrophe over time.”
That’s true, he nodded.
“So Earl, if you win the war, what are your wishes?”
It couldn’t be forgotten that an agreement must be given to a knight rushing into the battlefield; she proved herself to be the monarch, even if the era has already passed. Because of this, he declared his wishes without the slightest hesitation.
“My wife, her child that she will inevitably give birth to, please grant this child the title of ‘Earl of the fairy kingdom’.”
“It’s to be expected that your child will inherit the Earl title.”
“It might not be my child.”
The queen sank into a moment of pondering, as this situation was indeed possible.
“Right now, I cannot answer you immediately as I am alone, however, you have to pledge to me with loyalty.”
This was already enough; he, who was a visitor, allowed the meeting time to end.
Someone who seemed to be looking for the queen walked towards the area. The sound of footsteps were heard on the stone road.
“It’s almost time to leave, because I know that Your Majesty’s private time is quite limited as well.”
As if she remembered something, she began to speak to him, who was preparing to leave.
“That’s right, the you who returns unharmed will come here to meet, right? When I see you, how will I be able to tell?”
“If I come together with my wife, it means that I have returned victorious.”
“If she isn’t a golden green-eyed, cute fairy doctor, then I will not acknowledge your wife,” she said very earnestly.
Of course. He sincerely replied in his heart.