Sevens (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 83

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Chapter 83 – Faunbeux’s Princess
I wondered, why wouldn’t the world go as we wanted?

I who was summoned to the mansion that was owned by the Faunbeux royalty was told to sit, with Miranda-san and Novem at either of my sides, and drink tea.

Monica was standing behind me.

The girl drinking tea in opposite of me, Lianne Faunbeux──she was the princess of the Faunbeux Kingdom and the former fiancée of the Bahnseim Kingdom’s crown prince.

Her long deep pink hair was braided and tied up into a bundle.

Her skin was white and her eyes that were the same color as her hair were looking at me.

She was wearing an off shoulder princess dress, giving her an image of a lovely princess. Her slightly bulging chest wasn’t small, but it also wasn’t big.

But, she looked slightly gaunt.

It seemed she was hiding it with makeup.

……If I was asked why I was sitting face to face with the princess of Faunbeux, the cause was Miranda-san.

Princess Lianne turned her gaze to Miranda-san and smiled.

「Long time no see, Miranda. Even so, I finally found the defect of the capable you. It looks like your taste in men is bad.」

The Fifth was exasperated.

『This princess, she suddenly spoke in sarcasm. Aren’t we being hated a lot here?』

I thought that it couldn’t be helped even if we were hated.

It was only natural with what the Walt House had done.

Miranda-san shrugged.

「Even like this I’m confident of my eyes you know? More importantly, I was surprised when I heard the rumor.」

「I also didn’t know that you became an adventurer.」

The two of them were smiling at each other, but I wasn’t having fun at all.

Miranda-san was acquainted with Princess Lianne at the capital──or rather, it seemed they had a relationship where Miranda-san was invited for a tea party several times.

Using that connection, when Miranda-san was investigating the rumor a contact came from Princess Lianne.

The knights and servants around us were glaring at me.

They were sending their killing intent at me knowing that I was from the Walt House.

My stomach hurt.

Princess Lianne turned her gaze to me again.

「……Now then, although disinherited, you’re someone who inherited the blood of that Walt House. I wonder if you’re aware of your connection with the Faunbeux Kingdom.」

Ufufu, she said while bringing up an outrageous topic.

I wanted to run away from this place.

「I heard that various things happened in the previous generation, and also the generation before that.」

「Right. Various things happened. My grandfather was defeated by your ancestor Fiennes Walt. To take down grandfather who was the hero of Faunbeux, he must be a great person.」

My hands were shaking.

I could hear the Sixth’s voice『Haha~, that’s embarrassing』 laughing carefreely from inside the Jewel.

But, the Sixth was a person with various problems……like making a child outside, escaping from his wife because he was scared, or getting mistresses and doing as he pleased. He was that kind of person.

「Besides, your grandfather was chasing around my father on the battlefield. Thanks to that my father still has nightmares you know? Also, the two of them shaved away a lot of the territory of Faunbeux.」

The Seventh was nostalgic.

『So even that brat now has this kind of daughter……it makes me feel the flow of time.』

It seemed that when the king of Faunbeux was still young, the Seventh beat the harshness of the battlefield into him.

When I tried investigating with the Sixth’s Art, everyone inside the mansion other than Princess Lianne were──all represented as crimson, which meant they were hostile towards me.

It was only Princess Lianne who was showing the neutral color of yellow.

She had no hostility but, she also wasn’t an ally……this person, just what was she thinking?

Novem spoke towards Princess Lianne.

「And, what business could your highness possibly have?」

「……The loyalty of the Walt House’s dog is really splendid. Are you perhaps displeased that your master is being bullied?」

The Walt House’s dog was a derogatory term towards Novem’s house, the Forxuz House.

It was said that they swore their loyalty towards the Walt House rather than the royal family. It seemed such thing was also known by other countries.

Novem didn’t object.

Princess Lianne drank her tea and then she began to talk.

「I just wanted to see. What kind of man that woman’s big brother is. I was surprised when I received the letter from Miranda.」

I looked at Miranda-san.

「……It’s amazing, that you could get along with this person. In the first place, Miranda-san is also」

She also had the blood of the Walt House flowing inside her.

Miranda-san made a meaningful smile.

「Indeed. That was why, Lianne-sama purposefully summoned me for a tea party only for the sake of making snide remarks at me. That became the impetus.」

The Sixth was angry.

『This woman is the worst!』

The Seventh was the one who complained to such Sixth.

『The Sixth is the worst man though.』

Princess Lianne also smiled.

「That was the case at first. But, when I tried talking to her it was amusing, so after that I thought of her as a friend. Well, I don’t know how Miranda thinks about me though. Now then, let’s return to my story.」

What made me curious was Princess Lianne’s words about ‘that woman’s big brother’.

「Lyle-dono, I understand from meeting you face to face like this. You are still not insane.」

「Eh?」

「To be more accurate, I mean that you haven’t been driven crazy by that woman──Celes.」

Miranda-san’s eyes turned sharp.

「Is the palace’s situation horrible just as I thought?」

「It’s horrible. The knights of Faunbeux were turned into putty just by a single meeting with Celes. Celes’s popularity is high even in the capital.」

The Fifth was shocked.

『The ‘Child of the Evil God’ that the First mentioned……could it be it’s not actually wrong?』

Someone who was possessed by the Evil God.

The Child of the Evil God.

An existence that appeared at the turning point of an era and pushed the continent into chaos.

I muttered.

「──Child of the Evil God.」

Princess Lianne was shocked.

「Oh, you knew that? That’s right, if it’s that Celes then it won’t be strange even if she is called the Child of the Evil God. That child──that woman, she seduced Rufus in front of my eyes.」

The crown prince who everyone had high hopes for as the next king──his highness Rufus Bahnseim. The one who seduced him was my little sister Celes.

I felt faint hearing that fact.

In the middle of the talk, Novem was more surprised by my words rather than the fact about Celes.

「Lyle-sama, where did you hear that story?」

「Eh?」

「The story of the Child of the Evil God. Where did you hear it? Normally you won’t connect the two like that.」

「Ah, no……where was it again? Perhaps it was from Ojii-sama.」

Novem stared at me.

The Seventh was,

『I only knew of the Child of the Evil God as a mere fairy tale though?』

Even so, I could only say that I heard it from the Seventh if I had to explain where I learned it from.

Miranda-san looked puzzled.

「That’s a fairy tale isn’t it? I once also heard about the Child of the Evil God but……what is the relation of that with Celes?」

Princess Lianne explained to her.

「The Child of the Evil God that appeared in the fairy-tale received power from the Evil God and played mischief with it. But, existences like Agrissa, who pushed the continent into chaos in the past, it seemed such existences were also called the Child of the Evil God. Lyle-dono is knowledgeable aren’t you?」

Miranda-san comprehended it.

「Well, it feels like there can be a connection if it’s like that. In the fairy-tale, the Child of the Evil God committed bad deeds and at the end he got tricked by the Evil God and lost his life. The original material was something like that wasn’t it?」

Novem looked at me.

「It’s like that. That’s why, it was surprising that Lyle-sama called Celes-sama as the Child of the Evil God.」

……It felt like she was doubting me for some reason.

「Pe, perhaps I read it in a book.」

Novem was looking at me, so I returned the talk to Princess Lianne.

「Tha, that’s, what happened after his highness was seduced?」

Princess Lianne gazed at me while gradually directing hostility at me. The Sixth’s Art was telling me that her hostility was swelling.

The map of the mansion inside my head──the light dot that was placed in front of me was changing from yellow to red, and then it transformed further from red to muddy red that looked blazing.

I could sense how her killing intent was swelling up.

Monica was about to move. At the same time, the knights standing by around us were also moving to unsheathe their swords. There,

「……Right after that, Rufus annulled our engagement just like Celes told him to do. I wonder which party it was. Each time Celes who made her appearance in high society came to the capital, Rufus’s heart would be thrown out of order.」

The first time it was at the level of Celes being on his mind.

However, from the second time……it seemed the crown prince became madly in love with Celes.

On the third time, apparently he confessed that he was in love with Celes in front of Princess Lianne.

……Frankly speaking it was abnormal.

「I even want to praise him that he managed to resist that Celes for two times. That’s why, even now I’m remaining here hoping that perhaps Rufus will open his eyes. But, even that has come to an end. I ran out of time.」

「Ran out of time?」

「The instruction telling me to return back has come. We will be busy after this.」

The Fifth’s words pained my chest.

『This won’t end with just a skirmish. It’s unknown just how many people will die just because of Celes alone.』

A war would begin at the border with Faunbeux.

Because of Celes’s fault, a lot of people would die.

Princess Lianne looked at me.

She was looking at me with eyes that had no light, but something black inside.

「I’m amazed that you were able to stay sane. No, could it be, you are actually mad and I simply cannot sense it? There isn’t a single decent person around Celes.」

The Seventh noticed from hearing that.

『……So even Maizel and Claire, were driven mad by Celes.』

The two in my memory when I was a child, and the two in reality before I got driven out of the house.

They were completely different, was this because Celes drove them mad?

I pressed my hand on my chest. Miranda-san placed her hand on my shoulder.

「Wait, are you alright?」

Novem was also similar. She was worried for me, and then she strengthened her vigilance towards the surroundings.

Princess Lianne looked down and smiled slightly.

I could only see her lips but, her face with the corner of her lips raised didn’t look lovely but insane.

「My, pardon me. I caused everyone to be wary.」

Her hostility was gradually vanishing and the color of her light dot was returning from red to yellow.

「……When I return back, I will receive a difficult treatment. Perhaps I’ll be called as the stupid princess who got her fiancée stolen. Anyway, I won’t be welcomed there.」

She would receive difficult treatment even if she returned.

It would be pointless even if she stayed here.

Princess Lianne talked to us about the situation at Faunbeux.

「I’ll teach you something interesting. It’s a story from before I returned back to the country. I had told everyone all the time about Celes’s abnormality, but no one would believe me. Even if there is an Art to seduce other people, the result like right now would be impossible, they said.」

Miranda-san couldn’t believe that.

「That’s a lie right? Because, in reality the situation is this──」

「Amazing isn’t it? Even the neighboring countries don’t notice the abnormality. Although there are nobles who say that the engagement is annulled because I’m useless, it seems they don’t consider Celes a threat. At best, they only think of her as a country toppling beauty perhaps? The most they think about this is that it will be advantageous if Bahnseim’s national power drops from this.」

Even after Celes was displaying her abnormality to this degree, not to mention the surrounding countries, even the people inside this country weren’t feeling any sense of danger.

The Fourth suggested.

『Faunbeux is making light of this? No, that’s not it. In this case……perhaps Celes has that kind of ability, or perhaps the people who came into contact with her were simply ensnared and harbored good will towards her. When listening to the story about this, they won’t believe it if it’s only from hearsay, while when they heard about the story from someone who had come into contact with Celes, they might be telling nothing but good things about Celes.』

The Third concluded it into a sentence.

『H~m, this is troublesome.』

Princess Lianne looked at us while making a thin smile.

「It will be stormy in Bahnseim from now on. If you’re going to escape then I recommend to another country at the minimum. If not then it will be dangerous.」

「If Lianne-sama makes that judgment, then perhaps it’s not wrong. And, what is your plan from now?」

「I’ll leave this mansion when the snow melts. I won’t return anymore to this place, and even if I return, it will be the day Faunbeux attacks Centralle and burns it to the ground.」

The Sixth concluded the talk in a way that I could understand.

『In other words, Faunbeux will be observing Bahnseim that is in chaos due to Celes. Depending on the situation, it seems they have the will to invade and aim at the capital.』

The Seventh made a pained voice.

『The countries that are bordered with this country won’t just stay quiet. It’ll be dangerous to stay inside this country.』

The Fifth also showed a strong interest.

『Setting aside the capital nobles, I’m curious as to what the feudal lords are thinking. Lyle, ask about it in detail.』

「Lianne-sama, do you know about the situation with the feudal lords within Bahnseim Kingdom?」

「Are you curious? I think there is no point even if you know about it but, it’s amusing so I’ll tell you. First, there are feudal lords who are worried about Celes. There are also a lot of them who’re making light of her. These two groups are the majority. A part of them are strengthening their vigilance and also protested to the palace.」

It seemed there were also proper feudal lords, but it seemed that the palace right now wouldn’t respond even if there was protests.

「There are also a lot of feudal lords who cannot move even if they noticed the abnormality. Right now they’re persisting in waiting and seeing how the wind blows. If I have to say what do I think, then it looks like it’ll be impossible for the nobles to unite and take down Celes.」

The Fifth listened to the talk and grasped the situation.

『Guess so. There must be a lot of guys who are troubled of what to decide.』

The Third also agreed.

『When push comes to shove, feudal lords who change sides to other country will also appear. This is rough.』

An indescribable feeling was ruling over my heart.

My chest felt strangely painful.

The Fourth was concerned about me.

『……Could it be that Lyle losing his memory, is also related to Celes?』

The Seventh agreed strongly.

『That’s likely enough. If Maizel and Claire went mad, then it wouldn’t be strange no matter what happened. But, in that case there is one thing bothering me. Celes was hating Lyle wasn’t she?』

The ancestors knew about Celes hating me.

Because I had told them everything.

But, here there was one curious thing. The arrogant and overbearing Celes──someone who seduced even the crown prince. Why would someone like that leave me alone?

She should hate me so much she wanted to kill me.

She didn’t want to dirty her own hand? No, when I fought that fellow, I certainly felt killing intent from her. She also wasn’t someone who would hesitate killing a human.

……Why did she leave me alone?

Was it related with me having no memory?

I didn’t understand everything.

Princess Lianne erased her smile and made a slightly sad face.

「……When I return back to my country, I will act on my own. I also can’t forgive Rufus who discarded me but, I can’t forgive that woman even more. When I return back, I will be treated not as a princess but as a divorced woman returning back to her parents, so it will be really busy.」

Even if it wasn’t Princess Lianne’s fault that the betrothal annulment happened, the surroundings wouldn’t see it like that. As a divorced woman──a woman whose betrothal was annulled and returned back, people who were holding her in contempt would also appear.

It was unknown whether she would be able to calm down after returning back.

No, it seemed the person herself had no intention of calming down.

Apparently she was planning to do something with the burning vengeful heart inside her chest.

「I’m glad I could talk with you today. I can’t tell you to let’s meet again but, I want to avoid having a reunion with each other on the battlefield.」

The talk ended and we left the mansion.

──Inside the Jewel.

The ancestors were talking to each other without Lyle present.

The Fourth was wiping his glasses’ lenses with a troubled look.

『Now then, what to do now.』

The Sixth crossed his arms and made a serious look.

『The previous Lyle was completely helpless against Celes but, the problem is if the current Lyle can win against her or not.』

The Seventh pressed his forehead with his hand in distress.

『Not wanting to make brother and sister kill each other, is naïve thinking huh.』

From the Seventh’s perspective, the two of them were his cute grandchildren.

Lyle and Celes fighting──killing each other was something he didn’t even want to think about.

The Third shrugged.

『It will bring nothing but trouble even if we get involved, it’ll be better to just head to another country.』

The Fifth heard the mention of another country and immediately recalled Beim.

Beim was located to the east from where Bahnseim was. Because there were several countries between them, it could be said to be the ideal place to escape to.

『I had gone to the eastern part of Bahnseim several times, but I often heard about Beim. It seems to be a big metropolis where you can earn a lot from commerce. There’re also a lot of adventurers there, but I heard that it’s the merchants who hold the authority.』

The Third seemed to have a question.

『Did you have some kind of business in the east?』

『……My wives came from the eastern part.』

The Fifth──Fredericks kept five women at his side. Because of that, the later generation knew of him as a lecher.

His legal wife and mistresses were all from the east.

The Fourth was nostalgic.

『The east was a territory where martial arts were popular.』

The Third tilted his head in confusion.

Weihs territory was located at the southern part of the Bahnseim Kingdom.

He must felt it strange that there was an interaction there with the eastern part.

『That’s unexpected. Obaa-chan came from the northern part, and Kaa-san also had no relation with the eastern part. Passetto also didn’t come from the eastern part.』

The Fifth talked about that time.

『Around that time, various things happened in the east, many nobles evacuated from there.』

The Fourth was glaring at the Fifth.

『Certainly there were various things. Really, a lot of “various things”.』

The two didn’t touch this topic anymore than that.

The Third returned to the topic.

『That child Celes, her influence to her surroundings is big and she is also stronger than Lyle. This is a definite information. It’s to the degree that even Miranda-chan said that she cannot win, so I think she is really strong but……perhaps they can manage somehow.』

Wouldn’t it be possible depending on their method?

That was what the Third meant. The Fifth snapped at him.

『You were the one who said to not get involved. Certainly there might be a way to fight her but, we don’t know anything about Celes so we don’t know how judge it.』

Everyone’s gaze gathered on the Seventh.

The Seventh noticed and answered.

『My answer remains the same no matter how many times I’m asked. The Celes that I know was a cute granddaughter. I don’t know if she has some kind of Art, and I also don’t know anything about what happened after that.』

The Seventh couldn’t feel anything that could be said as strange when he was alive.

『……My memory was only until I let go of the Jewel. My memory is cut off from there, so I can only say that there must be something that happened after that.』

Just what in the world happened?

The ancestors also couldn’t find any answer──.

That day was really sunny.

While walking on the road, the snow piled up at the roadside reflected the sunlight dazzlingly.

「It has been so long since the weather was this good.」

When Eva-san said that, Shannon took off her muffler.

「Somehow it feels hot. The outside is dazzling.」

「The snow is reflecting the sunlight.」

「Is that so?」

Shannon was impressed by Eva-san’s knowledge. She was walking on the street with a good mood.

The three of us were going outside because Eva-san recalled a talk from before.

──Let’s go out with the three of us.

I who returned back from the mansion of Princess Lianne had a lot of things to think about in the inn.

Eva-san was worried for me who was like that and this might be her consideration towards me.

「Lyle is still thinking about various things?」

I was happy that she was concerned for me.

「Well, yeah.」

But, knowing that my little sister──Celes was pushing this country into a dangerous situation, I now didn’t know what to do.

Would it be alright for me to escape to Beim like this?

Was I really……alright with things being like this?

The answer wouldn’t appear.

Shannon puffed up her chest. The chest that didn’t have any bulge at all made me sad looking at it.

「I know about this. This kind of thing is called Inadequate ideas are worse than none at all isn’t it? Monica taught me.」

Eva-san was laughing.

「Monica is really amusing. I never get bored hearing her stories. Aa~, I’m really glad I entered this party.」

The two of them were all smiles.

The Fourth was slightly exasperated with me.

『Lyle, you can’t make the two of them worry. Be more confident and look happy.』

The Fourth told me to smile for the two’s sake. I wanted to retort back that I wasn’t feeling like it but──certainly, I didn’t want to worry them.

「……Where should we go today?」

When I raised a topic, Shannon waved both her hands and appealed.

「Yes! Ye~s! I want to listen to songs! And also various stories!」

Eva-san puffed her cheeks at Shannon’s request.

「Is my songs unsatisfactory?」

「I want to listen to one in the proper place rather than just song practice!」

Did she mean she wanted to go listen to a singer on stage?

Shannon looked down.

「Because, I couldn’t go to those kinds of places until now.」

Shannon was forced into a life of house arrest when she was living in the capital with her eyes blind. She was unable to walk around outside.

Eva-san said 「In that case」 and,

「Then, I’ll introduce you to a bar where the elves gather. But, it’s still not open at this time, so let’s look around until then.」

Shannon raised one of her hands high.

「Agreed! Ah, Lyle will carry the baggage.」

「……You, do you hate me that much?」

Damn Shannon grinned while nodding.

We went around the capital with the three of us.

We bought and ate food from various stalls, looked inside some stores and shopped.

Even though that was all we did, it was really fun.

I quarreled with Shannon, fought for sweets with each other……I wonder why. Perhaps it was great to not need to be considerate.

The time became evening while we were doing that.

Soon it would be time for the bar to open.

We came to a stall that sold accessories for the last.

Eva-san and Shannon were looking at the items.

「Eva-san is also interested?」

It wasn’t good to say this but, it wasn’t a place that was handling expensive merchandise. And yet, Eva-san was observing seriously. I was curious.

「It will become a souvenir when going around the village. Girls will be happy with this, and there’re various designs here so it’s not boring to look at them.」

Other than accessories, there were also combs and hairclips on display.

Shannon was staring fixedly at one of them.

It was a brooch.

Eva-san poked at me with her elbow. When I looked at her face, it was like she was telling me 「Buy it for her」.

……I should buy it?

While I was hesitating, the ancestors were booing at me.

『Buy it for her.』

『It’s not even anything expensive.』

『……I think it’s better if you buy it.』

『Lyle, it’s just this cheap thing. You should know that in my case I had to buy gems several hundred gold coins worth in order to please my wives.』

『Wouldn’t it be better if the Sixth reflected on yourself more? Lyle, buy it for her. Rather, do you intend to not buy it in this situation? From Ojii-chan’s view, that’s an unbelievable thing to do you know?』

──Ignoring the Sixth’s opinion, everyone was saying that it was better to buy it.

They must be thinking a lot about Shannon’s upbringing and so on.

I took out money from my wallet and,

「Give me one──」

『Stu~pid! Lyle you stupid!』

The Third warned me.

『There is also Eva-chan here. You at least need to buy the items she was looking at before.』

The Fourth added.

『Later let’s buy presents for everyone else too. Don’t buy the same things.』

The Fifth was getting even more fussy than normal.

『Make it so the presents has similar prices. Don’t make one present superior than the others. After that, buy after thinking whether it will suit the person. Before thinking about the sense of choosing present and so on, it’s important to buy for the sake of the other party. Choose the item they’re usually mentioning as something they want.』

……Why was he talking about this kind of minor details?

I also purchased the bracelet that Eva-san was looking at.

「……This brooch, and this bracelet too please.」

「Thank you for your patronage.」

The shop owner grinned at me.

「Lad, you’re bringing cute girls with you. Is that elf girl over there your lover?」

…….Apparently he was misunderstanding.

I thought to correct him.

「That’s no──」

「That’s right. That’s why, make it cheap okay?」

Eva-san said that with a smile. The shop owner said 「Can’t be helped」 and lowered the price slightly. It was really just slightly.

「Tha, that’s」