Hakushaku to Yousei - Volume 25 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 ♦ ​In the labyrinth of stone circles

He said that they kissed?
That horse, with Lydia.
When he heard this, Edgar wasn’t able to repress his emotions.
Edgar was unable to suppress his abilities to control Unseelie Courts and knocked Kelpie down.
At the same time, within Edgar, the longing for Lydia which ought to have been sealed overflowed and rushed out.
As long as she was by his side, he could feel gentle happiness. The more they kissed each other affectionately, even more so knowing full well it was mutual, the more harder it was to separate from each other. 
The morning sun that shone through in his nap, the warmth that embraced him, Edgar devoted himself to the happiness that he had finally obtained. 
But now, that warmth wasn’t by his side.
Apart from her, he had no other request. However, why wasn’t he allowed this?
The anger in his mind that couldn’t be stopped boiled over, and the scene of the graveyard emerged under his eyes.
Teran wanted to crush Lydia. She undoubtedly called out for Edgar unceasingly, yet he couldn’t save her.
The voice that shouted for him slowly became weak, and the white handkerchief was stained with blood.
The caramel-coloured hair that Edgar’s fingers combed through many times, as well as the fair skin that his lips had pressed close against, were all crudely covered in mud.
In the end, she still shouted for Edgar with a hoarse voice.
At first, he entered the Prince’s organization in order to protect her, but was this a mistake? In other words, regardless of what happened, he should have been by her side.
At the time when his mind was about to collapse, his consciousness seemed to become weak.
The Prince was rebelling. Within Edgar, the Prince of Calamity, whose powers were seized, seemed to want to take back everything of his and rebel. He didn’t let go of Edgar, even if it was a slight gap of rest that arose when he longed for Lydia.
Whether it was feelings of love or affection, it would all become a weak point that would be toyed with by the Unseelie Court magic. So Edgar sealed them, making hatred and desire stimulate him.
Before everything is over, he couldn’t immerse himself in his longing for Lydia. He pretended that he wasn’t concerned about her, continuing to deceive the Prince within himself. This was also deceiving himself; even when he was alone, he didn’t allow himself to miss Lydia.
However, he had already reached the limits of his patience.
Edgar used the strength in his entire body to get up from the sofa with determination.
He held his coat in his hand, then left the room. He couldn’t be this foolish all the time.
I have to save Lydia.
It’s too late.
It shouldn’t be possible.
If I don’t check at least, something may happen. 
Edgar took his feelings of aimless impatience and rode a horse, galloping on the night grasslands.
But he was worried about Lydia, and became unable to suppress the Unseelie Court magic.
Maintaining the balance of danger, suppressing the Prince with great difficulty, and being driven by the feelings of impatience, he quickly rushed to the church, where the incident occurred.
Lydia definitely went to that church without doubt, and Teran knew this as well. The more he believed this, the more he felt that she seemed to be underneath the land beside the cemetery.
Crossing over the hill, he could see a faint light. He galloped down the hill in one breath towards that direction.
Edgar dismounted from the horse underneath a tree and entered into the land without even adjusting his breathing time.
He walked over to the area that was newly covered with earth, near the cemetery. Perhaps the pastor would sense the sound of activity, but he didn’t care at all.
If that man informed Teran, he would discover Edgar’s weak point. Then, he would think of a way to resurrect the Prince, who was being suppressed by Edgar.
Even if he knew, Edgar couldn’t stop his actions. If he couldn’t protect Lydia, even if he could control the Prince’s powers, it was completely meaningless.
(Master, please calm down.)
Edgar used a shovel that was placed by the hedges and began to dig, while Arrow was in front of him, constantly hovering back and forth in the air.
(The Madam is surely still alive.)
The fairy whose entire body was silver was slightly different than before. Two goat-like horns appeared above its head, as if he was practically a little demon.
The Merrow’s sword became a sword that had the Star Ruby. Arrow’s form had changed as well. Furthermore, not only was this form in Edgar’s dream, but it also appeared before Edgar’s eyes.
The Star Sapphire couldn’t completely become something of Edgar’s. The Arrow of that time clearly had a form that couldn’t be seen apart from within his dreams. Edgar distinctly understood this through experience.
“I must confirm it. You too, becoming this form now, there’s no possibility of knowing about Lydia’s or Bow."
Only the Star Sapphire had a relative relationship with Bow of the moonstone, and it seemed that Arrow, who became the Star Ruby, was unable to receive Little Bow’s response.
(If this place doesn’t have anything, are you planning to dig everywhere?)
It was just as Arrow said.
He shouldn’t act completely on his emotions. Even though he thought in this way, he still dug into the ground with all his strength.
There was nothing. It was all loose soil that was dug out; he merely brushed aside the earth. If that was the case, perhaps she was buried in a deeper area. He couldn’t stop this way of thinking. Eventually, what made Edgar stop was when he saw a white piece of cloth amongst the earth.
He crouched down, pushed aside the dirt with his bare hands and pulled it out.
It was that handkerchief. This morning, he saw it on the surface of the freshly dug-up earth. He didn’t know why it was buried in the depths of the earth now. Edgar pondered about the intentions among it while clenching his fist tightly.
It was Teran. He considered that Edgar would come here to dig, and also considered the possibility of Edgar pretending to not care about Lydia at all.
He found the way to erase Edgar and resurrect the Prince very early on. So only then did he say that he was going to kill Lydia.
Edgar sat down and pressed the handkerchief to his chest, like he was embracing Lydia. He realized his own weakness.
Even when he was imprisoned by the Prince under the circumstances of having no power in the past, he couldn’t have imagined that he would be so weak in spite of everything. However, Teran merely used a tactic to go as far as to make him receive a shock to this point.
If he makes a mistake on how he should hold his attitude, then Lydia would be in danger. He clearly knew this, yet he couldn’t calm down completely.
Having a weak point is due to changes that arise from obtaining important things, and because of this new self, it was even harder to control.
Edgar finally concealed his worries for Lydia, with the help of his anger towards Teran. Doing so was in order to not let the Prince find out that Lydia was his weakness, as well as to not let him see the gap.
Now, Edgar could suppress the Prince properly.
(Master.)
“......I know, Arrow.”
But it was very painful.
Just when he knew that he was no longer alone, a lone battle became an unavoidable pain.
But even if it was this kind of situation, he wasn’t alone.
Edgar finally exerted force onto his feet and stood up.
He couldn’t be confused by Teran’s intentions. Edgar strongly said this to himself.
If Teran buried the handkerchief in order to sway Edgar, then Lydia escaped from here. It proved that she didn’t fall into their hands.
If that’s the case, Edgar couldn’t stop fighting. There were still many paradoxes.
“I must find Lydia’s location quickly.”
It wasn’t only to not let Teran have the opportunity to dispose of her.
The reason why he made Ulysses and Teran chase after the fairy ship, apart from wanting to deceive the Prince, was to strengthen his own position within the organization, and well as for another important reason.
Making Lydia go to the fairy kingdom, perhaps was a very big mistake.
This thought grew within Edgar’s mind as time went by.
When prying into the Prince’s memories, who was the figure that flashed by? It was simply like prophesying to the child in the cradle.
“You must go to the fairy kingdom.”
“In there, dispose of the Prophet and his fiancée.” 
That figure knew the Prophet of the McKeel clan? In the fairy kingdom, what would the existence of the Blue Knight Earl family become?
He wasn’t able to find out if the words that the Prince heard were a prophecy. It was also possible that the fairy kingdom’s existence was implanted into the Prince’s consciousness as a trap to try and lure him there. But regardless, heading to the fairy kingdom without any preparations was dangerous.
He ought to have stopped Lydia and the others.
He had to act now while he had the chance, as they had no choice but to stop temporarily due to seeking the road to Lyonesse.
Edgar returned to the area where he left the horse, feeling helpless and tired. 
As he was in the organization, he didn’t even have the time to relax either. No, whether he was awake or asleep, it normally seemed like he was looking at the Prince and watching him. The path to the future was still quite long, so he couldn’t speak weakly here.
Just when he straightened his back, there was a sound within the underbrush. As Edgar braced himself, a figure ran out from there.
The figure didn’t sense this side and tripped over something, then tried to stand up in a panic.
At this time, he fixed his eyes on the intruder.
A maiden with her hair in a braid appeared in the moonlight.
Kelly?
She raised her head as if she was shocked, and rigidly stared at Edgar with wide eyes.
Then, she suddenly relaxed with a face of relief.
“Master......! P--Please save me! I saw it. This church is......”
Kelly, who hastily stood up, ran in front of Edgar and embraced him.
“You’re alone?”
Edgar quickly inquired.
“No, Miss Lota, Mr Paul and I came here to look for the Madam.”
How was he going to make the three of them escape this place?
He didn’t even have the time to reflect, as another voice came through.
“Hey, search over there!”
That was Teran’s voice.
Edgar tried to calm himself down. He couldn’t let Teran know that he had been rattled. He couldn’t make an error in judgement. He told himself this.
If it was for Lydia, then even if he sold his soul to the devil, he wouldn’t regret it. There was only one way for him to become completely like that.
“Master, please come to this side......”
After Kelly spoke, she was grabbed by the neck by Edgar.

Lota hid herself in a dark place of the chicken coop, peering all around. How are Kelly and Paul now? Although the three of them scattering was something that couldn’t be helped, it might be very bad this time.
“Anyways, what is this church?”
It seemed that the kind-hearted pastor told Lota that he saw Lydia and the others, and said to her that staying here until dawn was fine. Just as she was planning to do as he said, Paul discovered something similar to a bloodstain on the wall.
Furthermore, the wall turned into a hidden door, and upon opening it to take a look, there was a staircase that led underground.
The cave-like underground room had a door that was bolted from the outside. After undoing the bolt to check the inside, they tripped and fell from the countless corpses that had already become bones.
They were likely imprisoned here, and then discarded this way.
A skeleton sat in a chair by the corner, wearing pastor robes.
“Are these...... the pastor and believers?”
“Then, the pastor just now is a fake?”
“It’s quite possible that it’s a person with connections to the Prince’s organization.”
“Let’s hurry and escape!”
When Kelly said this, someone was already standing at the door.
“You guys saw it, huh.”
It was the pastor from a moment ago. Lota knocked him down in a flash.
“Run!”
After confirming that Paul brought Kelly and rushed up the staircase, Lota kicked the pastor into the small room.
Closing the door and locking it, Lota then chased after the two. But at the same time they ran out of the church, they were surrounded by a group of dogs.
Those uncommon feral dogs. They were black demon dogs.
“I’ll go and draw the dogs away.”
“Lota......”
“Paul, I’ll leave Kelly to you.”
Lota believed that she could succeed in leading the dogs away. But perhaps Paul and Kelly might not be able to escape completely. Lota thought so because she seemed to hear the voice of Kelly’s laments.
Lota hastily snuck into the darkness and chased after the sound. The moonlight illuminated the slightly empty area ahead. Lota stopped.
A man wearing a deep hat stood there.
It’s Teran, Lota’s intuition told her. This was the first time she saw him up close, but she realized that he was giving off a strange atmosphere just by standing there. It wasn’t known if the reason was the Nuckelavee blood flowing within him, but his monster soul appeared at night.
Teran stared at the cypress tree with sharp eyes, and the wails of a maiden came through.
It was Kelly. A man standing under the shade of the tree, had his hand around her neck.
Kelly resisted, and in result, that man shifted his body slightly. His side profile was illuminated by the moonlight.
That unquestionable proper side profile had glittering blond hair hanging down. The well-proportioned stature clearly restricted the maiden, who used up all her strength to struggle, yet he still had the grace of a sculpture.
This kind of person, there was only one that Lota knew of.
Edgar......?
Lota couldn’t take her eyes off of him, barely managing to hold back the voices of wanting to cry out.
“The prey is this little rabbit? Hunting at night truly is whimsical.”
Edgar said this to Teran.
Teran held a pistol, hastily putting away the muzzle that was pointed towards Kelly. Was this intentional or accidental? Edgar pressed Kelly close to him.
“Isn’t this Your Majesty? Why did you come here?”
“What were you doing here just now?”
“Someone from the Earl family snuck into this church. They discovered the mountain of corpses that the pastor hid.”
Edgar glared at Teran. Lota, who sensed Teran’s monster spirit just now, felt goosebumps due to Edgar’s darker, more grim appearance.
Sure enough, he has been controlled by the Prince.
What will happen to Lydia next?
“Your Majesty, please hand over this little girl to me, I will help you dispose of her.”
Edgar didn’t comply with him, nor did he retort his opinion, and merely threw Kelly to the ground. She seemed to have fainted, as she hadn’t budged since she fell. 
She shouldn’t have died, right? Although Lota was quite fretful, she looked all around in order to find a way to escape danger.
“There are still two others, they seem to be companions, hurry and go look for them.”
At first, Teran wanted to approach Kelly, but after hearing Edgar’s orders, he shifted his posture.
“There is a woman that is the most troublesome. She was originally a pirate, so she escaped quite quickly.”
Edgar walked over to Teran, abandoning Kelly who fell by the cypress tree.
“They have already been handed over to the pastor.”
Then, Lota saw a horse tied behind the cypress tree. Paul was hidden in a dark place over there.
He approached the horse, step by step. If releasing the horse causes a disturbance, they might be able to take the chance and bring Kelly away.
They had to fight for a little more time.
“Although she’s a woman, she fights very ferociously. Would she lose to that old priest?”
At that time, Edgar’s gaze moved towards the side, looking behind Lota.
While shocked, Lota sensed the pastor pouncing towards her, and flipped over instantaneously.
She turned her body while using her elbow to strike the other person in the stomach. Knocking the staggering pastor into the air, she then suddenly used a knife and pressed it against him.
Taking the pastor as a shield, Lota turned towards Teran and Edgar.
Right at that moment, Paul undid the reins. I have to turn the enemies’ attention towards me.
“Don’t move. Or else your comrade will die.”
Lota said. Yet Teran smiled, then pointed the pistol towards her side. 
“You fight quite ferociously, but your mind doesn’t function well.”
So that’s it, this guy is a cold-blooded monster. He couldn’t have apprehensions towards his comrades.
By the time she realized this, it was already too late. But for Lota, she couldn’t abandon Paul and Kelly and run away by herself.
“Let me handle her.”
Edgar suddenly spoke.
“I’ve had a bit of a grudge towards this pirate woman once.”
Indeed, these were truthful words. Although he seized the pistol from Teran, it was unimaginable that the current Edgar would save Lota.
As expected, Edgar opened fire without the slightest bit of hesitation. Soon after Lota leaned down, she heard three gunshots in a row.
The pastor let out a cry. Yet Lota was unharmed.
“A cheap pistol can’t take aim, huh.”
“Your Majesty.”
“It’s out of bullets, bring me the spare ones.”
Teran accepted the monarch’s selfishness with a baffled face, and just when he reached into his pocket, the horse cried out.
Paul released the horse.
Lota let go of the pastor, ran out, and helped Kelly up together with Paul.
As Teran went to stop the horse, Edgar flatly loaded the pistol with the bullets, and although he pointed the muzzle of the gun toward Lota and the others, it wasn’t known if he couldn’t take aim at them, who immediately entered into the darkness, as the sound of gunshots didn’t come from behind.

***

No matter where you went, it was all rocks, rocks, and rocks. Standing stones of all shapes and sizes were simply arranged irregularly.
Walking back, the possibility of finding Catena was quite meager, and finding a way out from this place was very difficult as well.
Lydia, who wasn’t able to determine her bearings, looked up at the sky; there wasn’t a constellation that she knew of. The Milky Way was very messy, as it had dispersed everywhere. In the end, where was the holiness of the space that Catena created?
She was once a giant, a survivor of the ancient deities. Apart from this, nothing else was known.
“Even the sky seems to have become a mess of a riddle.”
Lydia grumbled, as she was used to being ignored by Ulysses. He had been silent the whole time. What she could only sense was his anxiety.
Naturally, Lydia was very anxious as well. Whether it was continuing to pace around with Ulysses, or the fact that even if she got out and escaped, she would still be his captive, she didn’t want either of them. However, there were no countermeasures for dealing with the situation.
“Hey, Edgar...... are you truly going to get married with Miss Kathleen?”
She definitely didn’t intend on asking, but by the time she noticed, she had already asked out loud about the matters that she was concerned about for a long time.
“As a princess, she is much more suitable compared to you.”
If it was about this, then he would reply, but the tone of his voice was very fed up.
“Edgar said it as such?”
“Don’t address him so casually. He is our Prince.”
“Edgar is Edgar.”
“There are more than enough women with outstanding beauty and whatnot, but what is needed to give birth to an heir is noble blood. You have no value at all.”
So Edgar definitely hadn’t changed. Although she didn’t possess beauty, nor did she possess a noble lineage, he loved her. If now, he was surrounded by people who possessed that sort of value, then Lydia was still a special existence to him.
With the excess pain, Lydia told herself this.
“That being said, I truly don’t understand why he would marry a person like you in the end.”
“I don’t need you to understand.”
Amongst numerous precious gems, Edgar chose Lydia, whom other people wouldn’t even take an extra glance at. Why was it her? To make other people accept the reason for this, even Lydia herself couldn’t think of anything. But Edgar’s sincerity convinced Lydia, and she obtained courage from within.
Since that time, Lydia decided that at the very least, she was going to make herself a more sparkling existence compared to any other gem with regards to Edgar.
Because she had to save him from within the Prince’s darkness, she wanted to become a light that illuminated him.
“If you follow me, it is also possible to become someone who attends to His Majesty. I’m not interested in disposing of you now, and in any case, this is better than being tortured to death by Teran.”
“You truly are naive. It’s because of this that you were driven away by the organization.”
“What did you say?”
“As long as I enter the organization, he will be engrossed in me. His vengeance against Britain and so on will become unimportant as well.”
She tried to act brave, but Ulysses laughed.
“He is no longer the “Majesty” that you know.”
Lydia didn’t want to believe this.
She couldn’t forget, and he, who was with Kathleen, felt like someone that Lydia didn’t know.
However, this was an unavoidable problem.
If Edgar had truly changed, how was Lydia going to become his light?
Not to mention the light, she would become a hindrance to Edgar. As the Prophet’s fiancée, even if she didn’t want to, it was also possible to become someone that would seize his life.
If the Prince could be eradicated under the circumstances of Edgar not dying, then would Lydia choose to become the Prophet’s wife?
She began to ponder over this issue, which she had never reflected on before.
If that was the case, would Edgar feel happy if he returned to his original self?
Even if he wasn’t happy at all, as long as it was for him......
She looked forward to the day that she wouldn’t need to place her hopes on the McKeel clan’s strength if she was able to reach the fairy kingdom. Although this was very good if it were to be the case, there wasn’t a slight guarantee of succeeding, and now, there wasn’t even a way to obtain a guidepost.
“Hey, are you truly the same person as that black-haired teenager?”
The circumstances of Edgar’s body undergoing changes, Ulysses had also experienced in the past. Lydia couldn’t ignore it.
“When you obtained that body, what happened to the soul of that body?”
Ulysses suddenly stared at Lydia with a dangerous expression, but his reply was quite flat.
“He completely lacked the desire to resist and gave his body away. Because it had been prepared that way beforehand.”
Was it by means of psychological abuse that the spirit was extinguished?
It was the same thing that the previous Prince intended on doing to Edgar.
“But Catena judged you to be another person. Invading another person’s body and whatnot, it’s impossible in reality, right?”
Hmph, Ulysses scoffed, then spoke.
“It would have been better to die.”
His mumbles seemed like they were let out by someone else.
“The original soul of this body has been calling like this all along. Even if another person snatches away his body, the original soul is a part of the physical body, and won’t disappear. He despaired and crumbled, yet he has been here all along.”
He spoke in this way and pressed his chest.
“The anger and sorrow are overflowing, and can never obtain stability. His uncontrollable emotions that leak everywhere and incessant prattling are truly noisy, I haven’t genuinely slept. But even with this sort of thing, I have always continued to live. If there was a split second of rest, that guy would probably try to use all kinds of ways to make this body kill itself.”
Ulysses spoke consecutively to Lydia, who was wavering. It was like he wanted to take the leaking emotions within his body and rush it towards Lydia.
“‘Your Majesty’ is also suppressing the soul of the liberated Prince in this way. Every day, apart from continuing to fight, there is no other alternative. The moment he relaxes, he will lose. Furthermore, even if he loses, the pain won’t end. Being seized by conscious pain, it will always continue until the moment this body meets death.”
“This, in other words......”
Lydia hoped that he could live. But now, wasn’t it just like drawing Edgar into this endless pain?
Lydia couldn’t move a single step, and crouched down.

Please read this chapter at Daydream Translations
Within Catena’s maze, Nico and Raven were together, and had already been pacing back and forth for no less than an hour.
“What on earth is going on with this place. The path can’t be seen at all, can’t it?”
“Does it seem like we can’t get out?”
Nico stopped and sighed.
“It truly is a headache that we can’t return to where Lydia is.”
“Yes.”
Nico sat down on the grass. Even if they walked back and forth, it wouldn’t help, and would simply use up physical strength. Raven also followed and sat down 
“Hey Raven, if the Earl truly has become the Prince, what would you do?”
Raven looked at Nico with an expression of not understanding.
“Will you leave Lydia and take action for the Earl?”
“Protecting Madam Lydia is Lord Edgar’s command.”
“With regards to that command, would you carry it out in any situation? If the Earl and the Prince are one, Lydia might be an enemy to the Earl. To protect Lydia, don’t rule out the need to take the Earl’s life.”
Raven sank into reflection. After a fairly long time, although he was still vexed, he did his utmost to squeeze out words.
“At that time, I might violate Lord Edgar’s command, i--if that’s the case...... would you despise me, Mr. Nico?”
“I won’t.”
Nico immediately replied, and Raven looked at him in surprise.
“Lydia probably hopes that only you could still be the Earl’s comrade even if something happens. Because although Lydia herself wants to do so, she might become a hindrance to the Earl instead.”
“However, whether or not Madam Lydia is truly the Prophet’s fiancée is still uncertain.”
“......She is the fiancée.”
Not knowing whether or not it was due to surprise, Raven’s pupils widened slightly.
“Mr Nico, you knew?”
“No...... it might not have been in the beginning. Because Aurora was planning to make herself take in everything. However, I gave Lydia something from the coffin of the sacred land.”
“But I heard that the coffin was empty.”
“Because Aurora took it away, so it was empty when Lydia went. I obtained that item from Aurora and safeguarded it. If I had safeguarded it all along, it would have been fine. But......”
Nico sighed deeply again.
“It’s the bloodstone. It is the chalcedony spring’s water droplet from the Hebrides islands. In order to cure Lydia’s injury from the Philis Chyris, the Earl made her swallow the stone.”
“In other words, it is within Madam Lydia now......”
“This is the case.”
“However, if she didn’t swallow it at the time, it wouldn’t be known if they would still be married now.”
“That probably would have been better.”
“Is that so? The Lord Edgar from that time made people unable to stand it. If it continued in that way, he would completely lose the strength to fight and be dominated by the Prince.”
“But the two of them wouldn’t have become enemies,right?”
Nico thought. Regardless of whether it was Lydia or Edgar, it was something that caused them more pain than separating.
“It still isn’t certain whether or not they are enemies.”
Even so, they had no choice but to consider the worst case scenario.
“Does the Prophet have a way to use the item which had been swallowed?”
“I don’t know, but he said that Lydia herself is a weapon to overthrow the Prince, and that it might become a power......”
They clearly trusted each other more than anyone else. Raven clasped his hands.
“Mr Nico, why did you inform me of this?”
“The only friend I can tell this to is you. I think that if I told this to anyone, they might tell Lydia.”
“Did it appear as if they will tell?”
“I don’t know. If Lydia knew this, she would definitely be deeply hurt.”
Nico lowered his head, then from above his shoulder, he felt Raven holding his paw.
How warm, thought Nico. Because of a human’s warmth, even if he knew that it would disappear rather quickly, yet he would still want it to remain by his side always.
Lydia as well, even if it was for one more day, Nico really wanted to stay by her side. He didn’t want to let her become like Aurora, who passed away at a very young age.

​Raven’s comforting hand suddenly left Nico. With a sense of tension, he stood up.
Nico was also nervous.
“Someone is here.”
“Eh, who is it?”
Looking all around, no figures could be seen.
On the ground the countless rocks that stood side by side seemed to shine like stars, could be seen at a distance. Even the sky was only covered by what looked like a scattered starry sky. 
Hey - a voice came through.
Only a voice could be heard. However, that voice called Raven and Nico’s name.
“Isn’t this Lota’s voice?”
“It came from this side.”
Raven led Nico’s paw, passing between the rocks in the direction that the voice was coming from. At the same time, Lota’s figure appeared up ahead.
“Whoa, where did you guys come from?”
Paul and Kelly were there as well. Seeing Nico and Raven suddenly appear from between the rocks, the three of them were frightened.
“You guys as well, why are you here? You truly are lucky that you were able to find this place.”
“Because you guys disappeared, we came to find you. Then, the rocks suddenly shone.”
“We came closer to take a look, and saw Raven’s and Nico’s figures in the stone circle, but just as we were about to go into the stone circle, we completely lost our sense of direction.”
So that’s why they tried to shout Nico and Raven’s names.
“Compared to this, where is the Madam? Weren’t you all together?”
Kelly pushed away Lota and Paul, who were explaining, and approached Raven.
“We were together at first, but the Lyonesse fairy trapped us in here, and we separated from being slightly careless.”
With regards to Raven’s answer, Kelly was furious.
“You went as far as to divert your attention away from the Madam......! You were chasing after Mr Nico’s tail, right?!”
“How did you know?”
Raven, who confirmed this,  grabbed Nico’s tail in order to stop him, but on the other hand, Kelly’s misunderstanding seemed to grow deeper.
Kelly looked at Raven with an expression that said: “As expected, he is an eccentric.”
At this moment, Lota scanned around with her eyes, as if she sensed something.
“Hey, I heard a sound.”
Everyone shut their mouths and listened attentively.
“It’s the Madam’s voice!”
Raven grabbed Kelly, who wanted to rush out, by her braid.
“Wah! What are you doing!”
“Because I just happened to see it.”
“This...... this isn’t a tail! Please don’t take interest in it.”
“Huh?”
In place of Raven, who was incurring a misunderstanding, Nico interrupted.
“Well well, Kelly, Raven wanted to stop you. You will get lost from passing through the rocks arbitrarily.  Everyone should hold hands.”
“Ah...... so that’s the case.”
“Hey, in other words it has something to do with magic.”
Lota grabbed Nico’s paw in one hand, and extended the other towards Paul.
“That being said, it’s quite similar to a tail. It’s both shaggy and soft.”
Kelly grabbed her braid back from Raven’s hands, who was observing the braid once more. Kelly blushed faintly, not knowing if it was due to anger or embarrassment. Yet Raven held her hand completely uncontrived, as if he was twirling a branch from the roadside.
“Let’s go.”
“Raven, did you hear where the voice came from?”
“Yes. I think it’s this side.”
“A voice huh, so that’s the case.”
Nico muttered in regret.
Catena connected the spaces between the stone circle intricately and intermittently. So as long as they went through the rocks, they would be separated, but in reality, everyone was in the dozens of yards of stones. Furthermore, the direction that the voice came from wasn’t affected by magic.
By relying on Lota’s voice just now, Nico and Raven found the location of Lota and the others.  Advancing in the direction of Lydia’s voice, they were able to reach the area where Lydia was.
“Lydia!”
Upon arriving at a slightly wider space, Lota called out.
Lydia was sitting on the grass. There was a man beside her and Lydia, who lowered her head and had a pale complexion. He looked towards them and assumed a combative stance.
“Ulysses......”
At the same time Paul spoke, Raven had already dashed out. Ulysses wanted to draw back, but Raven went behind him and pressed a knife against him first.
“What did you do to Lydia!”
Lota spoke while rushing at him, and Ulysses sneered.
“Nothing. I simply told her what condition His Majesty is in, that’s all.”
Raven increased the strength of the knife pressed against his throat.
“Raven, release him.”
Lydia lifted her face as if she finally had come to.
“Ulysses hasn’t done anything.”
Although he hesitated for a moment, Raven still did according to what Lydia said.
“Hmph, such a stupid woman. You will regret not killing me.”
After he said that, Ulysses turned around from the rocks and left.
“Lydia, are you okay?”
Lydia grabbed Lota’s outstretched hand.
“I might be doing something horrible to Edgar.”
Lydia leaned her face against the shoulder of Lota, who caught her.
“I might not even have the qualifications to make him happy, and will only make him feel pain.”
Because Edgar wasn’t here, Lydia became thin and pallid, yet she had never lamented in this way like now.
However, everyone knew how rattled Lydia was, and planned to protect her. But the pain that Lydia knew from experience seemed to go beyond everyone’s imaginations.
That was only natural. In order to protect Lydia, Edgar wouldn’t be fed up regardless of how distressed he was. Having received these kinds of feelings, Lydia wanted to save him.
However, if she wasn’t able to find a way to save him, it would be too much.
Nico looked away, pressing his forehead against the corner of a rock.
He sensed someone standing behind him; it was Raven.
“Lydia has a strong resolution. Although she didn’t say it, I understood. Even if she isn’t the fiancée, she contemplates many things for the sake of the Earl. So I cannot speak about the true situation out loud.”
He continued the topic from a moment ago, and Raven ought to have understood.
If he informed her about the swallowing the bloodstone, he could determine that Lydia would certainly be in more pain than now.
​

​​***

“What is this, why won’t this rotten wooden fence break?!”
The wooden fence of the stable entrance wasn’t even at the height of Kelpie’s chest.  But no matter what he tried, he couldn’t cross over it like usual. So he tried to destroy it, but the thin wooden planks which had been assembled didn’t move at all.
The wooden fence acted as a door, but on the outer side, it was blocked by half of a wooden plank placed horizontally, yet it did not move; there wasn’t even a creak.
“For me to actually......”
Kelpie grumbled, casually lying down on the hay.
Between the gaps of the tattered roof, he could see countless stars in the sky.
The reason wasn’t unimaginable at all.
Kelpie succumbed to the powers that were held by Edgar.  He was defeated by that power, which could control Unseelie Courts to their heart’s desire.
Since Edgar trapped Kelpie in here, Kelpie wasn’t able to resist.
“Hey, get up.”
Someone spoke, but Kelpie decided to ignore him.
“You’re not going to obey me? How courageous.”
At the same time, Kelpie’s entire body went numb with pain. Kelpie jumped up.
“......What are you doing!”
“Are you defying me? You have some nerve.”
Damn it, said Kelpie, as he grabbed his own hair and glared at Edgar.
“What did you come here for.”
“Go find Lydia and bring her back.”
“You, you think that I would do that sort of thing?!”
“You think you can go against me?”
Kelpie shifted his gaze to the side with considerable effort.
“I don’t even know where she is.”
“Let me look. She’s on this island.”
“You might have to spend a bit of time.”
Although Kelpie couldn’t go against his orders, he decided that he had to stall for time as much as possible.
“You have to act quickly to find her before Teran does. As expected, he knows of Lydia’s whereabouts, but now, I haven’t seen any signs of him taking action.”
“Can’t the Prince stop Teran?”
“The Prince won’t stop Teran. Apart from himself and benefitting the organization, he isn’t the least bit concerned about anything else. I am in this kind of position now.”
“I really don’t understand.”
“In short, Teran is planning to take Lydia’s life. You should hurry.”
“You are already no longer the Earl from before. But you said that if the Prince won’t stop Teran, what are you taking Lydia back here for, do you want to hurt her?”
“You do not have a choice.”
Edgar asserted coldy, then opened the door of the wooden fence.
“Damn it!”
Kelpie clenched his fists and stood up.
The wooden fence that he was trapped in until now was opened, and he was urged to go out.
No matter what it is, even the door yields to the Prince, huh.
Kelpie kicked open the door of the wooden fence, as if he was very angry, then left the stable.

​***

“So, the promise that the past Blue Knight made with that fairy called Catena must be achieved by us.”
Lota said, after having listened to Lydia talk about being trapped in the stone circle.
In the area surrounded by standing stones, everyone gathered together for the time being, thinking about what should be done.
Although they had no choice but to find Francis, as long as Ulysses was also in this stone circle, they would have to hesitate from carelessly making noise.
Furthermore, because Lydia left the ship without giving any prior notice, it made Lota and the others quite worried. So she felt that it was necessary to explain things clearly first.
“Are there any hints?”
“Although I'm not too sure, Catena gave a guidepost to the first ancestor of the Earl family that visited Lyonesse. I think that since it’s the same promise pertaining to the guidepost, then it should be related to something that can be done at that time.”
In other words, the ancestor that went there did something only the Blue Knight Earl from three hundred years could do, and that’s why she is wishing for the same?
“If that’s said, what kind of fairy is Catena? If her race is known, then we might know some clues pertaining to her wish.”
Nico said.
“Currently, we only know that she is part of the last generation of ancient gods that existed in Lyonesse a very long time ago. But in reality, Lyonesse has already submerged into the ocean, and only the Isles of Scilly remain. Amongst that, she is the only one that dwells on the remnants of the dryland called Lyonesse, and possesses the ability to bring humans to that place. I think that she is likely a fairy that has a very long history with Lyonesse.”
“Well, if it’s related to the toponym, Lyonesse......”
It’s quite rare, Paul interrupted.
“Mr Paul, do you know something?”
“Ah...... no...... it isn’t anything very important, I merely recalled where I read a poem that used the legend of Lyonesse as the subject matter. If I remember correctly, the toponym Lyonesse came from the meaning of the land of Lugh and so on. ”
“Hey...... Paul unexpectedly knows quite a lot about it.”
Although Lota said this very happily, Paul slightly tilted his head with great concern at the word “unexpectedly”.
“The land of Lugh. Is that so.”
“Madam, what is the meaning of Lugh?”
“I seem to have heard it before, it’s one of the ancient gods, an omnipotent sort of sun god. ”
“Then Lyonesse is the land of that god, and Catena is a relative of that god?”
That might be the case. However, it made it harder to understand what her wish was.
“A relative of Lugh...... what kind of relative in the end.”
“It wasn’t of much help, huh. ”
Paul sighed, but Lydia shook her head.
“No, this is very important, it will definitely become a significant hint.”
Catena’s matters, along with things having to do with the Blue Knight Earl’s family were all only pieces of information. But they ought to be connected to each other, and amongst it is something that Lydia wants to know.
Was there not enough pieces of information to connect it? Or was it that despite having gathered the puzzle pieces, they just didn’t know how to piece them together?
Like the stone circle which had become scattered, Lydia had a vague understanding of Catena’s existence.
Just as Lydia was thinking, she seemed to hear the barking of a puppy by chance.
Lydia raised her head and listened carefully.
“What’s wrong, Madam Lydia?”
“Kelly, do you hear a dog barking?”
“Ah? I don’t...... ”
Kelly looked all around at the surrounding people, as if to seek everyone’s opinions, but apparently no one heard it either.
However, Lydia heard it again.
Was that sound the key to the fairy kingdom? In her mind, she appeared with Edgar, who showed her the key’s form, the white puppy.
She felt that because it was taken away by Catena, it let out lamentful calls, looking for Lydia.
Lydia stood up.
“The sound came from there.”
“Wait a minute, everyone has to move together.”
“Yes yes, that’s right.”
Although she was hurried, she held Lota’s hand. Then, Lydia took a step towards the vicinity of the rock. At that moment, she had a bad feeling from a past experience about the hand holding hers, so she looked back.
On the other end of the hand that Lydia was leading along, it wasn’t Lota at all.
“Catena......”
The dazzling silver blue hair seemingly covered her entire body and went down to her legs. This fairy, which possessed the form of a maiden, looked at Lydia and narrowed her eyes.
“Seriously, this guy has been calling for you the whole time. It’s extremely noisy, I seriously lost to him.”
What she held on the other hand was a furball-like white puppy. When Lydia was seen, it called out to her, but seemed unable to move freely.
“Give that kid to me.”
“Why? Why would the key of the fairy kingdom acknowledge a fake like you?”
“We want to become the genuine Blue Knight Earl and protect the fairy kingdom.”
“If you want to go to the fairy kingdom, you must be someone chosen to inherit the Earl family’s blood. My ocean sapphire will choose offspring with abilities, and the one that was chosen was that man, not you.”
“But this is also a Selkie’s heart. If the seal that swallowed your tears in the past became a Selkie, this is your teardrop, a magic stone that will choose its master.”
Lydia desperately tried to persuade Catena.
“This isn’t a teardrop. The only teardrop in this world is the ocean sapphire that I entrusted to the Blue Knight Earl.”
“Eh? That, what is it......?”
“Indeed, that is a Selkie heart which changed due to my magic, but it isn’t a teardrop.”
This was undoubtedly a different object from the sea sapphire that Ulysses possessed. If that was the case, then it was more and more disadvantageous for Lydia. Catena probably wouldn’t change the contract to guide Lydia.
Even so, Lydia could only convince her.
“But now, the situation has changed. Julius Ashenbert made a contract with you, right? Currently, a problem more serious than he thought of at the time has arisen, and the Earl family’s bloodline has died off. ......The dead person in that rock won’t come back to life. You ought to know this as well.”
She probably understood from the demise of humans, family and friends.
Along with Ulysses, at least along with that body, the Earl family’s successors have already died. He, too, was unable to return to his former self.
......Is it true for Edgar as well?
The train of thought in her mind finally appeared.
“Furthermore, that key contains my feelings towards an important person. You have a very important person as well, you should understand. If it’s lost, it will be extremely painful.”
“Important......”
Catena mumbled.
At that moment, the scenery around Lydia began to change.
The rocks that stood side by side disappeared, the night sky became a bright day, and Catena walked along the vast green fields and pastures.
Lydia didn’t exist in this landscape at all. The horizon was like looking at a huge, boundless painting; she was looking at Catena’s illusion.
She was big enough to overlook the outstretched tall oak trees. It was Catena, when she used to be a giant. And sitting on her hand was a girl.
The two of them smiled happily. The surrounding scenery quickly passed. Blue skies, flowers that blossomed in the wind, hills and rocks that were enveloped by the sun, wheat fields and herds of sheep. The two of them were probably enjoying taking a walk a lot.
The flowers are very beautiful. The calls of the skylarks, can you hear them? The quiet rippling sounds of water resemble your hair.
These words flowed into Lydia’s ear.
Within Catena’s memories flowed sounds, scenery, and longing.
She met a tiny girl, whom the god of the giant race knew. She decided that she would no longer walk around back and forth as she pleased to topple over the trees, no longer bury the fields filled with fruit in muddy waters, and no longer make the spring waters dry up.
She quietly walked by the village boundaries, and calmly guarded the people’s lives.
Lydia experienced how the Catena within the legendary tales spent every day with her human friend.
That girl harbored curiosity and approached the beautiful yet frightening relative of the gods. She was innocent, spoke directly of the things that she liked out loud, and taught Catena things pertaining to the human heart.
“The me from that time didn’t take human lives. I wasn’t aware of the death of humans nor was I aware that the things that I destroyed wouldn’t recover any more.”
Lydia listened to Catena’s voice.
It was different from the her in the illusion; a maiden slightly shorter than Lydia stood beside her.  Her form was the same as when she was a giant, but she had become much smaller.
“I could get along with humans quite well. Although I had once thought so after meeting her, I didn’t understand anything at all about humans.”
The girl invited Catena to the coast. Catena pushed the boat that the girl was riding, towards the centre of the sea. 
Dolphins were swimming. Their faces were exposed above the sea, and their tails jumped up from the water. The girl saw this and smiled.
She wanted to make her laugh more. And so she imitated the dolphins’ force and jumped up, disrupting the seawater.
“My heart was made with something different from that of a human’s soul, so I cannot understand humans.”
The situation had suddenly changed. The sea surface which was still very calm a moment ago had become chaotic.
A large wave suddenly rose, engulfing the leaf-like boat.
“It was me that killed her. I didn’t know that humans would die from falling into the sea.”
By the coast, the silver-blue haired giant shook the motionless girl, who was lying in the palm of her hand.
In the end, several days had passed, the sun set and rose, days and nights alternated continuously, illuminating Catena and the girl, then disappearing.
Within the parallel rocks of the stone circle, Lydia faced Catena directly once more.
The puppy that she was holding disappeared.
“I didn’t know how important the key was to you. Even if you say that I ought to understand, I don’t have a human’s soul.”
“The Blue Knight Earl’s ancestor told me. That girl won’t ever wake up again either.”
Catena’s memories had already become an illusion, and wouldn’t appear again. But emerging clearly in Lydia’s mind was the scene of a knight appearing beside her, who was motionless, on the seashore.
The sea sapphire pendant that was directly on her skin was glowing. The Selkie’s heart was once a part of the Selkie, and due to the stimulation of her magic, it slightly regained its presence. An ancient scene appeared before Lydia’s eyes.
“That knight brought a clan member and left Britain, his goal aiming towards the new land. He said that he wanted to go to Ibrazel, and wanted to know the path that flowed with magic.”
Why am I different from her? It would be great if I was human like her.
The giant’s maiden said as such. Within the illusion created by the sea sapphire, her thoughts came through.
At that time, there was only one teardrop in the world that flowed down.
“He told me about that human’s, that child’s pain, then set out towards Ibrazel.”
That was the very first contract. As the exchange for the learning of pain, she gave him a guidepost to head for Ibrazel.
“After several centuries had passed, I had become very small, and was more or less the same size as humans. If that was the case, could I then become human?”
Along with this unexpected question, Catena approached Lydia.
“Do you have this ability?”
Could this be her wish?
Turning a fairy into a human was impossible. Even if it was the Blue Knight Earl, he wouldn’t have this kind of power. Didn’t this belong to the domain of gods?
However, Julius Ashenbert still made this kind of promise with her.
Why was this impossible agreement made? By doing so, did he not want to let his offspring enter the fairy kingdom?
Watching Lydia, who pondered with all her strength yet couldn’t answer, Catena smiled faintly, seemingly disappointed.
“I won’t return the key to you. You aren’t a member of the Blue Knight Earl family that I have been waiting for.”
Even though her wish was understood, it was something that was completely impossible to achieve. 
If this continued on, they wouldn’t be able to reach the fairy kingdom.
In front of Lydia, who was standing there blankly, Catena’s figure disappeared.