Although I said I was being confined, I wasn’t actually locked inside a room.
When it was time for class, I went to class, and when it was time to eat, I went to the student cafeteria.
The only thing Yuna restricted was me leaving the Cradle.
Maybe that was why it didn’t really feel suffocating or frustrating.
“What should we have for lunch?”
“Hmm, pasta?”
“Sure, let’s do that.”
I was spending almost twenty-four hours a day with Yuna.
She was supposed to be busy receiving training as the heir to the Magic Tower Master, but maybe she had taken a leave of absence, or perhaps Olga Hermod simply didn’t have the spare attention to worry about Yuna too given the current situation.
She was free.
And to that extent, my freedom was being restricted.
Well, it wasn’t all bad. There was no time more reassuring than when I was with her. She did cling to me enough to get a little annoying, but it was bearable.
“Hmm.”
I unfolded a newspaper someone had left in the cafeteria and checked the latest developments.
Yuna puffed her lips out in dissatisfaction, but she didn’t stop me.
Maybe that was another reason I didn’t feel stifled.
Yuna was only doing this because she was worried I’d go outside and get myself involved in trouble again.
That thought crossed my mind.
“……The situation’s changed.”
Before the day of the public execution arrived, it seemed the Resistance had launched a surprise raid on the prison.
Too many cooks spoil the broth. It wasn’t Lobelia’s decision.
Either way, it was a foolish idea. How could they possibly know who was wrongly imprisoned and who was an actual criminal?
If they had succeeded and accidentally released some vicious criminal by mistake…
Then the reputation of Lobelia, the woman who was practically the pillar supporting the Resistance, would’ve taken a major hit.
That part must have been especially troublesome.
There were far more people quietly holding their breath and hoping the storm would pass than those who had actively joined the Resistance.
But fortunately, the foolish operation carried out by part of the Resistance failed.
And it failed because—
“So in the end, this old man finally steps in.”
With a single Word Magic from Tronios Ether, the Empire’s strongest archmage.
Every single Resistance member who had attacked the prison was immediately sent straight to prison themselves.
An overwhelming power against which anyone below a certain level couldn’t even resist.
Faced with that kind of power, those who had joined the Resistance with half-hearted resolve probably lost their courage instantly.
The ones who didn’t were usually one of two types.
Either they had already anticipated even this outcome, or they believed in Ariel Ether, another archmage.
So which would it be? Tronios Ether and Ariel Ether.
In a sense, the abilities of those two were similar.
In that they were both extraordinarily versatile.
[Telekinesis], which can exert every kind of physical force imaginable, and [Word Magic], which exerts power through speech.
Even I was curious about a fight between those two.
Though objectively speaking…
“I’m not sure Ariel’s going to be okay.”
Ariel Ether would lose.
Setting aside the differences in their abilities, the gap in experience was simply too great.
Of course, Ariel had crossed countless battlefields alongside Lobelia.
She had even defeated the Great Warrior.
But naturally, Tronios Ether had walked that same path as well.
And once it came to what they had accomplished after becoming archmages, his side was overwhelmingly superior.
“Well, it’s not like he’d kill his own daughter.”
Yuna, who was sitting across from me smearing strawberry jam all over a piece of bread, replied bluntly.
She always said she wasn’t interested whenever I talked about recent events, but it seemed she had no intention of staying indifferent when it involved people close to her like Ariel.
“In the end, the Resistance’s morale took a massive hit, while the Imperial side’s morale shot through the roof.”
Was this an unexpected variable? Or was even this part of the Emperor’s plan?
Considering he had deliberately left Tronios Ether stationed at the prison, it was probably the latter.
I tilted my head for a moment, then quickly gave up on thinking any further and turned the page of the newspaper.
I’d already decided not to get involved in any of this. No point wasting energy trying to analyze it when all it would do was make Yuna grumble at me again.
“Oh, even Princess Lobelia might’ve been shaken by this one.”
But the moment I turned the page, I couldn’t help but let out a low murmur of admiration.
The next page covered a clash between two knight orders.
One side still supported the Imperial Family, while the other had become disgusted with the Emperor for killing Theseus and joined the Resistance.
It was a battle between those two knight orders.
Unfortunately, the Imperial side had won here as well. It hadn’t been as overwhelmingly one-sided as the earlier incident…
But in another sense, the impact was even greater.
“Johan, aren’t you going to eat?”
“Hmm? Yeah, I am.”
Yuna, who had already finished off the appetizer bread by herself, snatched the newspaper out of my hands.
Well, I guess sitting here reading the paper the entire time while out on a date was a bit much.
Pretty rude to my beautiful girlfriend, honestly.
I shrugged and obediently went along with her actions.
I’d already read everything important anyway.
The second article. The battle between the two knight orders.
The biggest variable in that battle hadn’t been the difference in strength.
– Did you truly not know what kind of man His Majesty was? Even if there are differences in degree, if you would abandon the oath of loyalty you swore upon becoming knights over something like this, then how dare you call yourselves knights?
It was a difference in conviction.
A painfully harsh truth. Well, if it were just a matter of saying their lord’s choices were wrong, that would at least be understandable.
But Emperor Abraham had always been that kind of person from the very beginning.
So swearing loyalty to a man like that and only now trying to argue about good and evil?
That was laughable in its own way.
That shallow difference in oaths became, in the end, a difference in conviction.
“Johan.”
“Ah.”
I must’ve drifted off into my own thoughts again, because Yuna was staring at me with narrowed eyes.
She’d been especially clingy lately. Then again… maybe she’d always been like this?
Maybe it just felt more noticeable now that we were spending so much more time together.
“……I was thinking about today’s date plans.”
“And what kind of date plans did you come up with?”
“…….”
Love really is difficult.
And terrifying.
***
There was definitely something off.
I knew Yuna disliked it whenever my attention drifted toward the outside world.
And I knew she was hiding something too. But I had no intention of digging into it. Whatever she was hiding, one thing was certain. She was doing this for my sake.
Unless she was secretly planning to do something dangerous behind my back, but if that were the case, she wouldn’t be glued to my side this constantly.
“Fufu, Johan.”
I could see how hard Yuna was trying.
Wearing nothing but one of my shirts, Yuna smiled at me with a sly expression.
It was an incredibly blatant attempt at seduction, but—
“I’m not falling for it, Yuna.”
This wasn’t my first day dealing with her.
Every single time, she’d tease me like this and then stop before actually crossing the line.
I knew the pattern already. Completely predictable.
At this point, I wasn’t even expecting anything anymore.
“You say that, but you’re being awfully well-behaved.”
“I’m a naturally well-behaved person.”
I simply sat quietly on the bed and watched Yuna.
What else was there to do in a cramped little room like this? Might as well enjoy the rare spectacle in front of me.
“Johan, what are you thinking about right now?”
“I’m not thinking about anything.”
“Really?”
Grinning mischievously, Yuna shoved me backward onto the bed.
It was an incredibly suggestive situation, but like I said before, I wasn’t expecting anything.
She’d just stop halfway anyway.
“How obedient.”
“What is?”
“The fact that you’re not thinking about anyone else besides me.”
“…….”
Normally I would’ve argued back somehow, but this time it was difficult.
Even earlier during the day, while I was out on a date with Yuna, I’d been sitting there reading the newspaper and thinking about completely different things.
I’d screwed up. Chose the wrong words.
Now it sounded like I was actually enjoying and anticipating this situation.
But I wasn’t expecting anything.
No way I’d fall for the same trick twice.
“Puhihi.”
After pushing me down, Yuna went as far as climbing on top of me.
Hmm. Well. Maybe this was worth falling for a third time.
It was just my cute girlfriend playing a mischievous prank. Indulging her a little seemed reasonable enough.
Not that I was expecting anything, of course, but I could at least play along.
Sure, sure. Let’s see where this goes.
“How about now?”
“……What about now?”
“What are you thinking about?”
“…….”
A lot of things, actually.
The mysteries of the universe, the future of this country, the creation and extinction of life, the origin of species, evolutionary theory.
Stuff like that. I’m a man with many thoughts.
“You’re not going to answer?”
Yuna slipped her fingers beneath my shirt.
Fine, I’d admit it. In a situation like this, how was I supposed to think about anything else?
Was this finally real? Could I actually let myself expect something this time?
We’d already been together for over a year. At this point, our relationship was progressing so slowly it was almost ridiculous.
“…….”
“Yuna?”
But then her movements stopped.
Did she suddenly get embarrassed again? That had been the usual pattern up until now.
Thinking that, I finally pulled my eyes away from her provocative outfit and looked up at her face.
“Yuna…….”
And there I saw it.
Yuna’s eyes were glistening with tears.
***
Yuna’s plan was simple.
The confinement itself was only an excuse. All she really had to do was control Johan from causing trouble.
Johan thought too much. Which meant he would quickly notice if something was off.
So she didn’t block everything. Newspapers, rumors, the atmosphere around them. She allowed Johan to sense all of it.
Of course, he still complained about it…
But in the end, the only conclusions Johan could draw would be about the Empire and the Resistance.
That was why this approach worked. She carefully guided the direction of Johan’s thoughts as much as possible.
And then came the nights, when wandering thoughts were unavoidable. With no newspapers, no information, no outside distractions, Johan’s mind would naturally begin to roam freely instead of staying focused on the state of the Empire.
So Yuna intended to make sure he couldn’t think about anything else at all.
That was how she intended to protect him.
She wanted to protect his mind from Alice’s death.
Because Alice was going to die no matter what. After extracting that promise from her, Johan would never even realize her death had happened.
She would die quietly, somewhere far from sight.
And Johan would never know about it.
That would be enough. If things continued like this, everything would turn out fine. The Emperor’s plan was for the sake of the world, and unless some major variable appeared, it would proceed smoothly.
If they could just keep Johan’s attention elsewhere for a little longer, the Emperor would naturally exit the stage, and Lobelia would become the next ruler.
So that was enough.
At least, it should have been.
“…….”
But she couldn’t do it.
She couldn’t keep her mouth shut forever.
Yuna knew.
She knew this was undoubtedly for Johan’s sake. She knew this was the best option.
But what she hadn’t realized…
Was that she herself wouldn’t be able to look away from it.
It would’ve been better if he never knew.
The person Johan had loved. The person who had tormented him for so long.
Yuna knew that Alice’s existence would only hurt Johan again.
And yet she couldn’t help it.
Because she herself couldn’t turn her eyes away from the death of someone innocent.
Because she didn’t think she could bury the final moments of the person Johan had spent his entire life longing for.
She knew what kind of person Johan was.
Cowardly, timid, and mean-spirited.
But also someone willing to muster courage for the sake of people he cared about.
And because it was the courage of a coward, it shone all the brighter.
That was what made him so admirable.
Yuna loved that part of him.
And because she loved someone like that—
She hated the thought of him remaining ignorant, powerless, and helpless while all of this happened.
Her chest felt like it was tearing apart.
“Johan…….”
In the end, Yuna couldn’t do it.
She could deceive Johan.
But she couldn’t deceive herself.
“Alice is going to die.”
And so, she willingly brought about a situation that put her at a disadvantage.
It was a regretful, foolish decision that offered her absolutely nothing in return.
“But I thought you deserved to know.”
So she told him.
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