Chapter 227 - Damn Reincarnation

Scalia

When Ciel opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Eugene’s face. She blinked for a moment at his eyes, which seemed indifferent at first glance but held a quiet concern.

“Did I get in your way?”

The words slipped out before she knew it.

She didn’t know why she had been asleep until just now. Her memories broke off at a strange point. Princess Scalia had attacked in a frenzy, and her lieutenant, Dior, had stepped in to stop her... After an exchange of sword blows that could easily have left someone dead, Dior had collapsed.

She didn’t know why. He hadn’t been cut, but he had suddenly fallen, and then Princess Scalia had raised her head...

She remembered nothing after that. She tried to recall it, but nothing came.

“No.”

Eugene answered as though it were nothing.

“You’re lying.”

Ciel replied just as quickly. Turning her head, she saw Cyan standing motionless a short distance away. His eyes, fixed on the far side of the snowfields, were bloodshot. He was clenching his teeth so hard that the muscles in his jaw and neck stood out.

Ciel knew what her older brother was feeling. She shared that feeling. They were twins, born, as it happened, into the main family of the Lionhearts, renowned for its martial prowess. Their talents were quite exceptional; they simply suffered by comparison. If only they had grown at a normal pace befitting those talents, without trying to rush. If only they hadn’t been caught up in sudden events far beyond their ability to handle.

“You don’t have to spare my feelings.”

Ciel stood up. Javel, the Flying Sword she had been holding until the moment she collapsed, was now safely sheathed at her waist.

The sight made her laugh despite herself.

“Being considerate like that only makes it hurt more. It’s fine. I already know you’re ridiculously strong.”

She had stubbornly insisted on crossing the snowfields with Eugene. She hadn’t thought anything dangerous would happen. A monster attack at most? That hardly qualified as danger. Both Ciel and Cyan had reached the fourth star of the White Flame Formula. Even in Lionheart’s history, few had reached the fourth star at twenty-one. That was an undeniable fact.

It was an achievement they could take pride in. That was why she had thought it would be fine. However much of a monster Eugene was, this journey wasn’t dangerous. If monsters appeared, she wanted to draw her sword and deal with them in his place, then hear something as trite as, “You’ve gotten a lot better.”

“Give me a moment.”

An unpleasant feeling rose within her. Ciel knew what expression she was wearing now, but she couldn’t tell what expression she would make next. Neither these emotions nor these expressions were familiar to her. She abruptly turned her back on Eugene.

‘Pathetic.’

It had been sudden and unavoidable. There was nothing she could have done about being no help at all, about falling so quickly that she had only gotten in Eugene’s way.

Naturally, this proud young lady of the Lionheart family had no desire to accept that it couldn’t be helped. Her pride was wounded. She felt humiliated.

She knew she could never outshine Eugene, but she still didn’t want to be a burden. Even if she couldn’t stand beside him, she wanted to follow close enough not to lose sight of him.

And what was this? Far from keeping up, she had only gotten in his way.

Ciel couldn’t bear how inadequate and pathetic she was.

“Ciel.”

Eugene called her name. But she was desperately trying to still her trembling lips and couldn’t possibly open her mouth to answer him.

Nor did she want to. Her vision swam as she struggled to keep her eyes open, and her nose stung.

“... Don’t look at me. Don’t come near me, either.”

She barely forced the words out, hiding her sniffles. The more she thought about it, the more inadequate, pathetic, and ridiculous she felt. Never in her life had she felt this miserable.

Hiding the trembling of her shoulders, Ciel went to stand beside Cyan. He had woken a little earlier than she had and had already moved past acute humiliation to anger at his own weakness. He glanced away from the distant snowfields at Ciel’s face, her lips pressed tightly together as tears streamed down her cheeks.

As her older brother, he wanted to say something impressive, something comforting that would reach deep into her heart... But wanting was all he could do. He couldn’t get his mouth to move, either. If he opened it, he felt certain he would only shout in frustration.

In the end, Cyan said nothing and patted his sister’s shoulder. That was enough for her. Ciel wept silently for a while, and Cyan gritted his teeth and swallowed his anger.

Eugene said nothing to either of them.

Had they held him back? He hadn’t gone so far as to think that. Just look at who their opponent had been: Noir Giabella, queen of the dream demons. A fight against her wasn’t even feasible to begin with, and Eugene himself hadn’t tried to fight her.

But...

If he had been forced to fight, he wouldn’t have been able to leave Ciel and Cyan to fend for themselves. He wouldn’t deny that. They might not share his blood, but they were his siblings, whom he had known for nearly ten years.

Once their emotions had settled a little, he explained what had happened. At the mention of the queen of the dream demons, both stared, blinking, their mouths hanging open.

“... So... Duchess Noir Giabella of Helmuth took over Princess Scalia’s body just to say hello?”

“Yeah.”

“And it was all a prank?”

“According to her. It’s incredibly... um... fucked up, but nobody died in the end, right? To that crazy woman, this wasn’t even a particularly nasty prank.”

Eugene had neither the desire nor any reason to defend Noir Giabella. But he couldn’t change the facts. Unpleasant and incomprehensible as it was, this attack had been nothing more than a playful greeting to Noir.

“... Apparently, she was pretty curious about us. You know, our founder fought the queen of the dream demons himself... And you’re the main family’s legitimate children, with one of you set to become the next family head.”

“You don’t have to say that crap to spare my feelings. The queen of the dream demons came to see you.”

Cyan snorted.

The second coming of Vermouth the Great. Of course Cyan knew what the world called Eugene. Beset by complicated emotions, he chewed on his lip.

“... So.”

Cyan once again swallowed the anger rising within him.

“Was Duchess Giabella satisfied after seeing you?”

“What?”

“I asked if she was satisfied after seeing you.”

His eyes regarded Eugene calmly. Deep within them mingled youthful impetuousness, humiliation at being disregarded, and frustration with his own inadequacy. But the composure on their surface concealed those writhing emotions beneath it.

“... I don’t know if she was satisfied, but she said she liked me.”

“Then that’s enough.”

Cyan nodded.

“It’s better to earn the recognition of someone who was our great founder’s enemy than to be dismissed by her.”

“That’s very mature of you.”

“Did I say something strange?”

“No, nothing strange. Anyway, about all this... um... Don’t tell anyone else. Nobody was hurt, and there’s no need to make a bigger issue of it.”

Cyan and Ciel nodded. They accepted that Noir Giabella was a lunatic beyond any ordinary person’s understanding.

“What about Princess Scalia?” Ciel asked.

They had moved Princess Scalia and Dior off to the side after the two had fallen facedown in the snow, but neither had regained consciousness.

“We can’t leave them like this. They’ll freeze to death.”

“Then are we taking them with us?”

“Do we have to? We can tell them to make their own way to Lehein, and we’ll go on our...”

“No.”

Ciel shook her head.

“My brother and I will go with Princess Scalia.”

“What?”

“You’re going to Great Hammer Canyon in Leheinyar, aren’t you?”

Ciel’s eyes were still red, but her voice was no longer thick with tears. She continued with a bright smile, as though she had never cried at all.

“His Majesty Aman recommended that you visit Great Hammer Canyon, not us. Honestly, I’m sick of these snowfields already. I don’t want to climb any farther into the mountains for no reason, and I don’t want to visit some Great Hammer whatever canyon. And the training while we traveled together...”

She couldn’t bring herself to lie about that, too. After a moment’s hesitation, Ciel gave a short laugh and shrugged.

“Well, that wasn’t so bad. But if I had a choice, I wanted a trip that was easy on both body and mind. Sitting in a sleigh or a carriage... somewhere like that, drinking hot chocolate or coffee with you as we traveled, you know? Now I don’t even feel like that anymore. I just want to get to Lehein quickly and try those famous hot springs.”

“Hey, you...”

“Nothing you say will change my mind. My brother feels the same. Just say we can go. Oh, don’t tell me you’re worried about us? It’s fine, it’s fine. Princess Scalia might not have been in her right mind, but Sir Dior was perfectly sane, wasn’t he? Surely he knew how to get to Lehein while they were wandering around the snowfields.”

“...”

“And besides, if anything dangerous happens, it’ll be while climbing Leheinyar, not out on the snowfields. I don’t want to get caught up in something like this again. And I don’t want to get in your way.”

“Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m not stupid. That’s why I know my limits and why I’m saying this. What? Do you pity me when I talk like this? If you do, I really hate that. I don’t want your pity.”

Ciel snorted and sprang to her feet. Then she approached Princess Scalia and Dior, who were still lying facedown.

“How much longer are you going to lie there sleeping? We’ve waited long enough. Shouldn’t you be getting up on your own by now?”

“Let’s carry them.”

Cyan rose after Ciel. Before Eugene could stop him, he hoisted Dior over his shoulder. With that, Ciel naturally took Scalia onto her back as well.

“They’ll wake up eventually while we’re walking.”

“Hey, what’s the rush? Just wait until they wake...”

“I’m too ashamed and embarrassed to stay with you any longer.”

“And looking at your face makes me so angry I feel like I’ll tear all my hair out.”

Ciel spoke first, and Cyan nodded in agreement.

“If you try to stop us from leaving, I’ll hate you for the rest of my life.”

Ciel glared at him with her bloodshot eyes as she snapped the words. That silenced Eugene.

“See you in Lehein.”

Cyan started walking. In the end, the twins left with Dior and Scalia. Eugene remained seated for a while, watching Cyan and Ciel walk away.

“Are you worried?”

The tone sounded faintly teasing. Eugene turned to look at Kristina.

Her eyes and lips curved gently. It was Anise.

“Of course I’m worried.”

“Perhaps it’s because you experienced childhood after your reincarnation? Hamel, you seem more human than you were in your past life.”

“I was overflowing with humanity in my past life, too.”

“Well, I can’t deny that. Still, I’m glad. Those twins... don’t hate you, Hamel. They’re jealous, but not resentful. Rather, they care about you and want to help you.”

“I know. I found that endearing and admirable, so I went out of my way to teach them all sorts of things. But Cyan and Ciel are too young.”

“I don’t believe age matters very much. Three hundred years ago, we were all young, too.”

Anise smiled faintly and made the sign of the cross.

“... Of course, those twins are different from us. They’re young, as we were, but their gifts and their experiences are different. But Hamel, people adapt and change surprisingly quickly. A few catalysts that cannot be called trivial. The will to act. Given those things... human beings can work miracles. Just as we did.”

“...”

“Hamel. You spent your childhood with those twins. With all your memories of your past life intact, you couldn’t have shared their perspective despite being the same young age. So you’ve continued to treat them like children.”

“Because they are.”

“No. They’re no longer children. They want to stand on their own, not depend on someone else. Those twins have the will to do that. They were furious that they couldn’t help. They despised their own weakness. What they experienced today. Everything they’ve experienced until now. The emotions they felt each time. All of it will become a catalyst for change.”

Her words weren’t only meant for Ciel and Cyan, who had left. They were also meant for Kristina, listening quietly on the other side of their consciousness. Kristina, too, keenly felt her own weakness and wished to overcome it and move forward.

“... If you cross the line between life and death.”

Eugene let out a long sigh and rose.

“You survive a brush with death instead of dying. You struggle because you don’t want to die, steel yourself to kill someone else, and do it over and over. Yes. You can’t help but grow stronger. Anise. You and I know that all too well. We lived in that kind of age.”

“Yes. We did.”

“But this age is peaceful. I... If possible, I’d rather... You’re right, in the end. I still treat Cyan and Ciel like children. If possible, I want them to live happily in a peaceful age like this, without ever having to cross that line.”

“That is a selfish wish.”

Anise was uncompromising on such matters.

“The times do not follow our wishes. The humans living through them are weak and insubstantial, helpless against the great currents that sweep them along. And those twins are descendants of Sir Vermouth. As long as they bear the name Lionheart, they will inevitably stand at the forefront of the upheavals of their age.”

“...”

“Whether they willingly walk into mortal danger when the time comes, or... abandon everything and run in the end, that is not for you to decide, Hamel. A person’s fate must belong entirely to them.”

“... They might cry out that they don’t want to go, only to get caught up in it against their will.”

“If they didn’t want to be caught up in it, they could flee. If they make halfhearted compromises and stubbornly stay until they’re swept up in events, that, too, is something they must bear themselves.”

“That sounds like self-reproach.”

“If that is what you heard, you heard correctly. Three hundred years ago, I did not keep my fate in my own hands. Nor did I run away. But that doesn’t mean I wanted to go. I was foolish, unable to defy the Holy Empire’s orders dressed up as the will of the Light. Fool that I was, I witnessed countless deaths, keenly felt my own weakness and the horrors of that age, and despised myself for not running away.”

Anise rose. Looking down at Hamel, who was still sitting, she smiled brightly.

“But in the end, the final choice was mine. I followed Sir Vermouth of my own will. Of my own will, I crossed the demon lands with Sir Vermouth, with you, Hamel, with Senya, and with Moron. And of my own will, I ended my life at the last. The reason I could change like that... Hehe. Catalysts that were anything but trivial. The will to act. It was because I had those things.”

“And you crossed the line between life and death countless times.”

“Yes, that’s right. In any case, what I want to tell you is simple. If you truly care for your siblings, don’t treat them like children. Respect their will to act.”

“It’s been a while since you lectured me.”

Eugene rose with a wry smile. He turned to look. Cyan and Ciel were no longer in sight.

“... But Anise. When you face death over and over, it does something strange to you. It breaks you.”

“When that happens, give them all the care your love for them demands. Just as we did three hundred years ago. Do you remember, Hamel? When we crossed the sea together and defeated an entire legion of demonic beasts and demons. You... couldn’t sleep at night because of all those corpses and the smell of blood.”

“Was I the only one? We were all like that then. Except that bastard Vermouth.”

“It was Sir Vermouth’s composure that let us steady our wavering hearts. We relied on each other and held one another together so no one would break. Hamel. There’s no need to make this difficult.”

Anise’s smile changed slightly. She narrowed her eyes at Eugene and grinned.

“You simply need to be to the twins what Sir Vermouth was to us.”

“Fuck, don’t say disgusting things like that.”

“Oh, don’t be embarrassed. Deep down, you admired Sir Vermouth, didn’t you?”

“When did I ever!”

“Don’t deny it now. It’s hardly anything to be ashamed of, is it? Back then, we all admired Sir Vermouth, not just you.”

“I—I didn’t. I never admired that bastard. To me, Vermouth was...”

“A rival you desperately wanted to surpass? Wouldn’t saying that yourself be even more embarrassing?”

“It’s not embarrassing. To me, Vermouth was... well... I hated how much better he was than me, so... it frustrated me... and one day, I wanted to beat him no matter what...”

“Enough, enough! Just listening is making me cringe. How can you say such things completely sober, without a drop of alcohol in you?”

“Shut up... I’m... not embarrassed.”

That was a lie. His face and stomach burned as though he had recklessly downed a vast quantity of hard liquor. Honestly, he wanted to tear off the mouth that had blurted all that out.

“You really aren’t embarrassed? Hmm, then how about this?”

Anise approached Eugene with a smile. Then she caressed his chest with her long fingers.

“... I followed Sir Vermouth of my own will. Of my own will, I crossed the demon lands with Sir Vermouth, with you, Hamel, with Senya, and with Moron. Of my own will, I ended my life at the last.”

“What are you doing? That’s exactly what you said earli...”

“And of my own will, Hamel, I loved you.”

His face felt so hot it might explode. Eugene leaped backward in horror. Anise giggled at the sight of his blazing red face.

[“S-S-Sister!”]

‘What does it matter? I’m saying this of my own will. Or would you like to take courage from the mood and speak up yourself, Kristina?’

[“I... I wouldn’t...”]

‘Oh, wouldn’t you?’

Anise found teasing Kristina utterly delightful.

“... I like you of my own will, too, Sir Eugene.”

The Cloak of Darkness opened. Mer looked up at Eugene with a pout.

“But I love Lady Senya. And Lady Senya feels about you...”

“Stop, young familiar. You mustn’t say such things on her behalf. It will be much more entertaining to see Hamel’s reaction if Senya tells him herself.”

“Shut up.”

Eugene abruptly raised a hand and slapped his own burning cheek. Mer’s mouth fell open at the sight.

“Have you lost your mind?”

“Evil!”

“Woof!”

Ignoring the stinging pain in his cheek, Eugene took off running. Evil, who had remained quiet until then, gave an energetic bark and began running as well.

“Let’s go to Great Hammer Canyon!”

Behind him, he could hear Anise giggling.