The Daughter of Evil - Volume 3 - Chapter 3.13

Chapter 3, Section 1-The King and the Girl; Scene 3
Praeludium of Red, page 161-169

✥ Kyle Marlon ~Territory of Lucifenia, “Corpa Mansion”~

 .

One night two weeks later, a dinner party was held in the mansion of Lucifenia’s wealthiest merchant, Corpa.

There were many guests attending. The size of the crowd showed how Corpa’s trade was flourishing.

Most of the guests were merchants. They were carelessly indulging themselves with luxurious food, drink, and amusements. They were optimistic while the skirmishes were going on with Beelzenia. To them, war was little more than the content of their livelihood, after all.

Ever since the revolution, the nobles in the former Lucifenia territory had lost a great deal of their influence.

Luckily for those nobles, Marlon’s intervention prevented Lucifenia’s transformation into a republic. If Lucifenia were to have become such, it certainly would have ended up choking the life out of them. Even so, the nobility didn’t have nearly the power that they did before.

The ones who increased in power instead were the merchants who had come in great droves to this party.

Thanks to the revolution, the merchants were freed from the unreasonable tax system that had come before it. They also became able to engage freely in trade that had previously been restricted by the nobles. It was just made to fit the standard of things back in the country of Marlon, but it seemed that in the Lucifenian Kingdom the exploitation by the nobles was fairly severe. In the end, it was the merchants who obtained the most from the revolution.

And bringing all of those merchants together was the great merchant, whose influence spread all throughout Evillious despite living in the Marlon mainland. The man who supported the revolutionary army behind the scenes.

The head of the merchant trading association, Keel Freezis.

That man, who had been a social outcast when I first met him, had come far in his life.

Assuming that Keel had endorsed the revolution predicting the current state of affairs–that it was the merchants who would benefit–it was most impressive of him.

He and the others wanted to maintain the new status quo for a long time. At long last this country had become manageable for them, thanks to the revolution. It wouldn’t be good for them if another country were to intervene and cause that structure to change.

In that sense, someone like me was probably in their way, but they had unexpectedly welcomed Marlon’s actions. Keel and I were close friends, so it seemed he had the plan that Marlon wouldn’t treat the merchants coldly.

One could also offer up the fact that they needed an army powerful enough to protect “their country” as another reason for why the merchants had accepted Marlon.

Naturally, the merchants didn’t have the ability to assemble an army. If they became a republic, despite their best efforts the military foundation that had been led by the royal family would temporarily weaken. They figured that if they were going to be targeted by Beelzenia and Asmodean during that interlude, being taken over by their former ally of Marlon would allow them to more smoothly get their military situation in order.

In order to receive the merchants’ support, I needed to keep having military successes. They wanted a strong monarch. A king that couldn’t protect “their country” was little more than an obstructing figurehead.

I wanted economic might to expand my territory. The merchants wanted military might to protect their country. Right now we had a give-and-take relationship.

Because of that relationship, while I was this country’s king, there were many times where I would join in on the banquets that these merchants would host.

 .

A large, drafty atrium was being used as the main assembly hall.

At the farthest point inside of it the mansion’s owner, Corpa, was making a speech while twirling his moustache.

“Everyone, with the party in full swing let me display to you my household’s own cherished treasure!”

On the cue of Corpa’s introduction, a beautiful woman rose to the stage. She seemed to be about sixteen or seventeen. Her makeup looked a little thick, on someone her age. Maybe she was trying to look more like an adult. Eventually she began to sing with a piano accompaniment.

Her powerful voice modestly swayed the atmosphere of the hall.

…It’s not great.

Her singing wasn’t terrible, certainly. But it was lacking something–it didn’t resound in my heart. A truly amazing song was one that could make various scenes play out beneath your eyelids merely by listening to it.

I bore this bothersome, critic-like impression in my mind.

.

A song that could make various scenes play out beneath my eyelids merely by listening to it.

I had once met a woman who had let me hear such a song.

It had been on a night like this, at a banquet. It had been a certain diva who had come to the stage at a banquet that Keel was hosting.

I hadn’t been able to hide my surprise when I saw what that diva looked like.

Mrs…Margaret!?

That was because she looked almost identical to the woman I had crushed on when I was a child–my painting tutor Margaret.

Naturally, Margaret wasn’t still alive. And even if she was, she would have been passed thirty years old by then.

No matter how you looked at the diva from back then, she was a girl in the latter half of her teens, barely an adult. It was an accidental resemblance to a stranger–and yet, she looked so much like her.

Not to mention, I had been extremely taken by her singing.

Once her clear voice entered my ears, it ran through my whole body like electricity. She sang a total of four songs, which took about twenty minutes all together, but when her singing was over my heart was overflowing with satisfaction, as if I had finished reading a magnificent novel.

She was a servant who worked in Keel’s home. In the blink of an eye, I had fallen for her.

Her name was Michaela.

 .

Seemed I’d had a bit too much to drink.

I got out of my chair and gazed at the night sky from the mansion’s garden. Unfortunately it was cloudy tonight, so I couldn’t see the moon or the stars.

Just a little bit longer, Michaela. Very soon now you will have your revenge.

Germaine was in Beelzenia. But she hadn’t been sighted since the battle of Retasan Fortress.

Even so, she couldn’t have gone far.

Five years…It had taken more time than I thought it would, but finally I would achieve my dearest wish.

 .

’…Boring.’

 .

I almost swore I could hear someone whispering. A very quiet whisper that mingled with the gentle wind.

 .

‘

…How trivial, what a dull mind…

’

 .

Who’s that? Whose voice is it?

I looked around me. There were a lot of people in the mansion, and several in the garden, but I couldn’t see anyone who seemed like the owner of the voice.

It echoed once more.

.

‘…Boring, boring, boring.’

 .

Eventually the voice changed to a piercing metallic sound, as though striking in the crevices of my mind.

Shut up! My—my mind isn’t boring!

I began to develop a headache. I couldn’t tell if that was the fault of the alcohol, or that murmuring voice.

I could hear the footsteps of someone drawing closer to me.

“You look exhausted; here, have some of this if you like.”

A woman offered me some warm tea to distract me.

I received it gratefully. Lucifenian tea was good on its own, but still there were times when I yearned so much for Marlon tea.

“Thank you. That helps a little.”

I couldn’t hear the whispering anymore.

I thanked the woman who had brought me the tea. Going off of her clothing she wasn’t a servant, but one of the guests that Corpa had invited there.

When I looked more closely I saw that she was extremely young; it might even be appropriate to call her a young girl.  Was she someone’s daughter?

“Your hairstyle’s changed quite a bit. Your previous style was nice, but I think the current one suits you pretty well,” she said, smiling.

Now I was at a loss. It sounded like the two of us had met somewhere before.

Who is this…?

Thanks to the drink I was having trouble remembering.

It was unthinkable for a Marlon gentleman to forget a woman’s face.

I carefully looked her over once more.

Her hair was in short braids…she was wearing a red dress… It felt like I’d seen her before, but also that I hadn't…

“You still like banquets, don’t you? Alone, without any bodyguards.”

I made some vague responses like “haha, that’s right”, as I racked my brain.

“Though you’ve hardly come to call at the banquets in my house since the revolution. Dad’s gotten a bit lonely.”

I remember. I remember! It’s Keel’s eldest daughter, Yukina.

I didn’t allow any of my joy at having recalled who she was to cross my face. To the end I feigned an air of calm.

“Heh. You’ve gotten pretty tall, Yukina. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“You flatter me.”

“Your novels have become quite popular, haven’t they? I often hear talk about you.”

She was a prodigy, who had a career of having novels published ever since she was nine years old. I had collected all of the novels she’d written up until now in my bedroom. I hadn’t asked for them, but Keel had sent them to me on his own.

“I have a ways to go yet. I’m still in the middle of training.”

“Even so…”    

What was Keel’s daughter doing in a place like this?

As I recalled she was…currently…

Before I could ask, Yukina cut in and said, “You seem pretty drunk right now, so I’ll come by the palace tomorrow to visit you then. I just came here today to greet you.”

“Mm, ah, okay. It is getting late.”

Yukina bowed once and then returned into the mansion. There, after giving her farewells to Corpa, she left.

That former tomboy has grown to be quite the graceful young lady.

When she was a child, she was always running around the mansion and causing Keel trouble.

Was she already fourteen?

 .

I tried to return to the mansion, but my footing was shaky. Yes, I had indeed drunken too much.

I properly greeted Corpa, and called for Clive who was standing upright in the corner of the room.

“Are you well, my king?”

“I’m going home soon. Make preparations.”

“Yes sir.”

 .

Inside the carriage on the way back, I gazed at the sky the entire way.

I guess the cloudy sky had cleared, because I could hazily see the moon.

Would it be a full moon tomorrow night?