Madan no Ou to Vanadis - Volume 18 - Chapter 2.4

On the third day of their visit in the capital, Tigre and Naum met a man called Albatov. He was one of the people Elen had jotted down on the memo she gave Tigre. The place he designated for their meeting was a bar with the funny name 『No Gloves Needed』. It was located in the eastern part of Silesia and used the fact of the bar’s interior being warm enough that you wouldn’t require gloves as its selling point. And because of the walls actually being warm and the bar offering private rooms ─ albeit for an extra charge, the establishment was flourishing.

Tigre and Naum met Albatov in one of the private rooms. The man said that he’d become forty this year. His traits could be summed up with a characteristic hook nose, a conspicuously receding line of dark brown hair, and a medium build. His expression was stiff from the very beginning of their conversation, although it was unclear whether it stemmed from the seriousness of their topic or him having a cramped expression by birth.

The three sat around a table, facing each other under a lamp. A waitress had placed bronze cups filled with wine and a plate with roasted beans on the table and then excused herself. After she had closed the door and another five breaths had passed, Tigre removed his false mustache.

Albatov exclaimed in surprise, “Oh, Brune’s Lord Vorn? Fancy to meet you here. You suddenly vanished from the palace so I had already wondered what might have happened to you, but…”

“I had some things to take care of, so I left the capital for a while,” explained Tigre with a nod and smile.

Just in case, they hadn’t brought up Tigre’s name beforehand. Naum had claimed, “He might be willing to at least hear us out when we mention Lord Eugene’s name, even if we don’t bring up your name here,” but even so, Tigre had to admit that Naum was a resourceful man when it came to negotiations, seeing how he had only needed three days to set this whole thing up.

──I had explained the circumstances to Lord Eugene alone on the day before leaving the capital, but…it looks like he didn’t confide with anyone else about it.

Tigre considered that to be inevitable, however. Eugene had been thrown into jail on the very next day after Tigre departed Silesia. He couldn’t imagine that Eugene would have had time to consult with anyone else in that short span of time.

“Sir Albatov, there is something we would like you to tell us. Is it true that Lord Eugene has been imprisoned on suspicions of having colluded with a foreign country?”

“How is hearing about it going to help you in any way?” Albatov stroked his nose with doubt coloring his eyes, and continued, “This is an issue of our country. Even if yours might have friendly relations with ours, we still wouldn’t want a foreign country meddling in our affairs.”

“I wish to help Lord Eugene. If Lord Eugene is being confined on baseless charges, I want to rescue him, no matter what it takes,” Tigre unreservedly revealed his own feelings on the matter without hiding anything.

He could see Naum’s lips twitching out of the corner of his eyes, but Tigre wasn’t entirely sure whether this was Naum holding back his laughter, Naum being nervous, or both at the same time.

The sharp glint in Albatov’s eyes intensified as he glowered at Tigre.

“You say you want to rescue him, but what are you going to do after succeeding in that? The charges filed against Lord Eugene…of course I believe them to be false accusations, but are you telling me that you’ll clear them away?”

“That is my intention, yes,” Tigre agreed reassuringly, taking Albatov’s stare straight on. “It is not just me either. The Vanadis of Leitmeritz, Eleonora, shares that wish. And the Vanadis of Olmutz, Lebus, and Brest are going to help us as well.”

“Ah, you’re talking about Arma Zirnitra, right…? I’ve heard that you fought the barbarians in the north,” commented Albatov and lowered his eyes at the cup in front of him.

After a short moment of silence, he quietly asked with his eyes fixed on his wine, “I can understand our country’s Vanadis making a move, but, why would you get involved in this? Lord Eugene becoming the ruler of Zhcted certainly might be convenient for Brune. However, if something were to happen to you, who are hailed as a hero in your country, the loss for Brune would be unfathomable.”

“It is not that I am acting on orders from Brune. I am simply following my own heart on this.” After making that preface, Tigre further added, “You said that I am hailed as a hero. But, I became a hero because Eleonora helped me. She lent me her strength two years ago when I lost a battle and became her prisoner of war. Thanks to her assistance, I was able to protect my fief. The same can be said about this year. Although she had also been ordered so by King Viktor, she exerted herself in the war against the enemies who attacked my country. Valentina also assisted on that occasion, but I feel a much stronger debt of gratitude towards Eleonora.”

Tigre breathed out lightly, and after a short pause, continued, “Besides, I like Lord Eugene’s character. Even if he has committed a crime due to some sort of situation, I still cannot believe that he would collude with a foreign country to bring harm to Zhcted.”

“It is just as you say.” Albatov curtly agreed, just to clasp his cup and down the wine in one breath. “If Lord Eugene had been that kind of a man, he would never have been entrusted with the task of being our country’s diplomatic envoy in Brune over such a long period of time. And even if he hypothetically betrayed Zhcted, for argument’s sake, he wouldn’t have used this kind of method.”

For almost a quarter koku after this, Albatov continued to passionately talk about Eugene, obviously having accumulated quite a bit of complaints over the recent weeks. Tigre and Naum silently listened to it all. This allowed them to learn that Albatov had also been removed from his official duties by Miron, now only being allowed to handle miscellaneous chores. According to him, the other two people mentioned by Elen were currently in a situation similar to his.

“──Excuse me. I allowed my emotions to get the better of me,” apologized Albatov and lowered his head.

Tigre and Naum shook their heads, showing him that they didn’t particularly mind. Rather, they felt it to be reassuring to know that Albatov was still adoring Eugene.

“What do the Grand Chamberlain and Osterode’s Vanadis say about Lord Eugene?”

Albatov shook his head at Naum’s question, “Neither is willing to talk about it. I’ve asked them several times to check the charges once more, but they keep telling me that it’s unnecessary. To be honest, I harbored some hope when it came to Lady Vanadis, but I was too naive. At this point, Lord Eugene is being treated as a rebel. No one in the palace speaks on his behalf anymore.”

Tigre and Naum looked at each other.

Naum asked once again, “Does that mean Lord Eugene has no supporters left in the palace?”

“I believe that a fair number of people feel pity for him in their hearts, but when it comes to openly supporting him….,” answered Albatov, unleashing an aura of gloom.

Tigre leaned himself forward, “Sir Albatov, how far would you go in cooperating with us?”

“How far, you ask…?” Albatov suspiciously gazed at Tigre while caressing his nose with a finger.

“I have told you a little while ago, but we wish to rescue Lord Eugene. Even if we have to infiltrate the palace. But, we do not know where Lord Eugene is being imprisoned. We are going to think up ways on how to sneak in from now on, but could we hope for your assistance in this endeavor?”

Albatov pursed his lips and shifted his eyes towards his empty cup. But, even if there was any turmoil occurring within him, it lasted but a short moment.

“I understand,” nodded Albatov his consent with a bright smile. “I can’t help you directly. But, I’ll do as much as I can.”

“Are you sure? If this comes to light, things will not end with miscellaneous chores this time around.”

Naum asked in order to ascertain Albatov’s determination. He planned to give up on Albatov and contact one of the other two, if Albatov showed the faintest hesitation here.

“If things go smoothly, I’ll be able to work under Lord Eugene again. As long as it works out one way or the other, I wouldn’t even mind moving to Pardu. ──Please, free His Lordship.”

His last request was packed with all his sincerity. Tigre and Naum nodded, switching their discussion to the practical part of the rescue mission.

◆◇◆

After Albatov had left the room, Tigre and Naum stayed behind for a while longer. They had judged that it’d be smarter to not go outside together, but instead leave separately.

An empty bronze cup and almost untouched roasted beans remained on the table. Just as Tigre grabbed some beans, Naum suddenly asked him, “What do you think about our Vanadis?”

Tigre reflexively jerked his head around, staring directly at the man next to him. As for Naum, he was currently glaring into his own cup, not even attempting to return Tigre’s look.

Wondering whether he might have misheard, Tigre asked, “Come again?”, causing him to have a coughing fit. “……Are you talking about Lady Elizavetta?”

Tigre going out of his way to use her formal name to check back with Naum was proof of him having pulled himself together. Even so, he couldn’t help asking himself why Naum had to bring up this topic so shortly after they had finished a mentally-taxing, secret talk.

“You’re aware that our Lady likes you, aren’t you?” Naum asked while still avoiding looking at Tigre.

The wrinkles on his face looked a lot deeper than usual. Probably owed to the lamp light’s angle.

Tigre shortly confirmed

It had only lasted for a short period of time, but Tigre had served as her personal attendant for a while. He would never forget her smile when he bid farewell from Liza after recovering his memories. Then again, it was only recently that he had clearly become aware of her feelings for him. When he came to Zhcted in autumn, met her, and talked with her on many occasions, he had started to consider it a possibility.

However, he had made an effort to act like he didn’t pay attention to it, also because she hadn’t directly confessed her feelings to him like Mila had. He already had Elen, Titta, and Regin. And now even Mila. As such he felt like he didn’t have the qualification to bring it up from his side.

Having said that, it wasn’t as though he could Naum honestly tell all that, and thus he said, “You’re probably going to tell me to stop being so conceited, but whatever your answer might be, I can’t act from my side. On top of that, there’s my and her positions to be considered.”

Publicly, Tigre was an earl of Brune while Liza was a Vanadis of Zhcted. It was the same as with Elen.

“I’m aware of that,” Naum turned himself, body and all, towards Tigre while making the chair’s legs screech across the floor, fixing his eyes on the youth. “And yet, I beg you. If you don’t think badly of our Vanadis, please tell her directly, regardless of whether you’re going to reject or accept her feelings.”

As might be expected, Tigre was bewildered by this. However, he knew that Naum meant it seriously. He could sense the older man’s tension from his expression.

“What do you mean?”

Naum sighed lightly and stroked his face’s wrinkles many times over as if to demonstrate his irritation. After inserting a pause in such a way, he explained with a tone that sounded as though he had somewhat given up, “Our Lady possesses excellent abilities when it comes to governmental and military affairs. But, I’m afraid, she’s a completely lost case in anything related to romantic affairs. She’s been often talking about you in front of us, but she’s always happy with just having been able to talk to you for a bit. It’d be a different matter if she was a girl at the tender age of ten, but we’re talking about a nineteen-years old woman here.”

Being able to vividly imagine the scene of her bragging in front of her soldiers, Tigre had to do his utmost to stop his face from twitching. Somehow he could feel the bearing of a big brother or father from Naum’s sullen face.

“Because of her position as Vanadis, it wouldn’t be odd for her to marry a man after passing the age of twenty. Same happened to our country’s preceding Vanadis. Even so, it’s painful to listen to her bragging about having been able to talk with the man she likes a bit longer than the day before while not even trying to confess her feelings despite him being right next to her.”

The latter part of his words was a flood of emotions.

“And so you’re telling me to, umm, tell her my feelings…?”

“I’m not asking you to do so as soon as we join up with her again. You probably need to prepare yourself mentally, too. In the first place, it’d be okay to wait with this for after we’ve cleaned up this whole mess here. You might consider it a bother, but if you don’t come clean from your side, our Lady probably won’t be able to move ahead, whichever direction it might be. She’s that kind of a person. If possible, I’d like you to do it before you go back to Brune.”

Likely having said all he wanted to get out of his system, Naum placed his hands on his knees and breathed out deeply while looking downward.

For a while Tigre silently stared at Naum’s head, but eventually he sighed, and answered, “I got it.”

‘Whether you accept or reject her feelings’ is what Naum had told him. Considering his standing in all this, he should be trying to get Tigre to accept Liza’s feelings at all costs. He could have insisted on Tigre at least reciprocating her feelings, even if a marriage was no option. But, he hadn’t done so. Tigre knew that this was Naum’s own way of expressing sincerity and friendship.

“I’m sorry, really,” said Naum, finally lifting his face again. “I had planned to tell you before we arrived at the capital, but it’s nothing I could have mentioned in front of Gaspal and Damad. In the end, it got delayed until now.”

“Now that you’re having me take responsibility for this, make sure to see this through to the end, ‘kay?” Tigre joked.

Their laughter made the atmosphere in the room tremble.

◎

——————- End of Part 4 ——————-