#16
Come to think of it, the Duke and I had never gone to the temple to worship. Even the Duke’s household employees had no interest in religion or didn’t believe in God. There might be devout believers I didn’t know about, but anyway, as far as I knew, there weren’t any.
“Could it be that Your Grace doesn’t get along with the temple?”
It was highly likely. The Duke, who became a hero of the country and received praise from the people, wouldn’t have looked good in the temple’s eyes.
Perhaps they thought he was stealing the temple’s power. They had even drawn and decorated paintings to somehow bring his achievements back to the temple’s side, but that wouldn’t have made the temple’s power solid enough.
At the very least, the Duke should have come to the temple and worshipped at least once, but there was no way that man would do such a thing. Eventually, the rift between the temple and the Duke would have grown deeper and deeper.
The more I thought about it, the more my speculation seemed correct. Perhaps because her thoughts hadn’t reached that far, Kara blinked her eyes and frowned like someone hearing an unfamiliar story.
“Pardon?”
“That’s right. That’s why Kara took me out of there so quickly, isn’t it?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right. You’re correct. They don’t get along.”
It seemed Kara had instinctively sensed the relationship between the temple and the Duke and moved quickly. If it was typical of Kara, it was very much like her.
Then I couldn’t keep sulking either. I let out a small sigh and recalled the demon I had seen at the palace earlier.
“Kara.”
“Yes.”
“It was a demon, wasn’t it?”
At my words, Kara was silent for a long while again.
“Is it dead?”
“No.”
Kara’s voice answering quickly pierced my ears. My gaze, which had been directed toward the window, turned to her.
“It won’t be.”
“How do you know that?”
“If you look carefully, you can see it breathing. You probably didn’t get to see that far.”
“You dragged me out before I had a chance to look.”
“Yes. I did do that. Anyway, it’s not dead.”
Kara looked straight at me and said once more.
“It’s alive.”
Perhaps, just perhaps. The demon that the Duke would sacrifice Andelion to receive power from might be the demon trapped in the temple.
I was the key that could awaken that demon. In other words, if I awakened him beforehand to prevent his power from reaching the Duke’s hands, or conversely, if I made that demon sleep forever, the worst villain that would obstruct that person’s path might not be created.
The best thing would be for me to train myself so I wouldn’t become the sacrifice the Duke desired, but no matter how much effort I put in, the possibility of it being insufficient was too high. The Duke was that remarkable a person. If not that, there was also the method of making the people around me stronger…
If I was going to choose that method, I would have entrusted everything to that person from the beginning. Since he was the most capable person in this world, naturally I could have expected everything from that person. The reason I was working so hard like this was because I wanted that person to live for his own life alone.
Still, what was fortunate was that I felt like I was gradually finding a way. It wasn’t the method I desired, but since I was heading toward the future I wanted, I thought this was good in its own way.
* * *
This is not good. Very bad.
“Cough! Cough!”
Rikin’s condition as he coughed in front of me was very bad. I had heard it was a light cold, but it turned out to be a fever. But to come all the way here with such a body. What remarkable character.
“Wouldn’t it be better for Young Master Parten to return home?”
“Cough, cough! No! I’m fine!”
Rikin waved his hands at Kara and said he was fine. The more severe his coughing became, the more Kara’s face soured. It’s not because of you, it’s because of me. She’s worried your cold might spread to me.
Not knowing Kara’s thoughts at all, Rikin tried to act like nothing was wrong. That didn’t stop his coughing though.
He didn’t even enter the palace because he was worried about spreading his cold to Persis, but it seemed he didn’t think about spreading it to me. I wanted to shout at him to go back immediately, but I couldn’t do that.
Rikin had come right away to have his final confrontation with me. Originally it was a match that should have been held yesterday, but Rikin’s intention was to finish it quickly today.
It was good for me to have the confrontation even a day earlier. I didn’t want to meet this genius who would improve day by day a week later.
Moreover, Rikin was very sick right now. His head couldn’t be working properly. Even if it was working well, I could keep making Rikin’s surroundings distracting. The sick Rikin would surely follow my intentions well.
“You don’t need to push yourself.”
I said that, but the corners of my mouth were already rising. Thinking of myself achieving perfect victory, I couldn’t hide my emotions at all.
“No. I can’t keep postponing it. There’s no need to disturb His Highness any longer!”
He’s talking about me like a dark cloud hovering in front of Persis. He meant he was a genius and I wasn’t.
“Yes. That’s right. You’re absolutely correct.”
When I agreed with him just the same, Rikin’s expression soured. He was definitely better than Persis in this regard. Wasn’t he grasping my meaning exactly?
Kara, who had been quietly watching us both, sighed and placed the game board between us. I arranged the pieces neatly while glancing sideways at Rikin, who was lost in thought while holding a handkerchief.
I wondered what moves he had prepared. He was a genius that everyone would acknowledge without exception. Since I couldn’t just take it lying down, I was planning to use various tricks, but I had to consider when nothing would work. Should I not admit defeat even if I lost? After all, throwing a tantrum was the way. Why else would I be seven years old? I was seven years old for times like this.
Deciding to properly show why a seven-year-old is a seven-year-old, I moved my first piece.
When I placed my piece, Rikin also placed one of his pieces elsewhere. Our pieces moved and matched together in an organized manner.
When the game reached the middle stage, I closed my eyes in dismay. Really, this didn’t make sense. Rikin was a genius. No one could match him in swordsmanship or tactics. There shouldn’t be anyone.
But what on earth was this?
Moves that seemed like they came from books. Flows that seemed like they would appear somewhere. It was movement that was far too conventional. Where on earth had he practiced like this? Unlike Kara, who always moved irregularly and completely bewildered me, he had become an opponent who was far too easy to see through.
It was actually scarier when he first played. Where had he buried that brilliant move he made then? He had regressed far too much.
There was no need to drag it out. I moved my pieces without hesitation and surrounded Rikin’s king. The more I did so, the paler Rikin’s face became. The coughing sounds coming from his mouth gradually became more severe. But I couldn’t back down because of that.
I was going to win this game. Hadn’t I decided not to yield the spot beside Persis to Rikin? I moved my final piece and eliminated any retreat for Rikin’s king.
“What will you do?”
I asked Rikin one last time. Rikin bit his pale lips tightly and surrendered with great difficulty.
“I’ve lost.”
I didn’t like it. The Rikin I knew wasn’t like this. Of course, it was the future Rikin, but he was a man who, as one of the few men who could stand beside that person, demonstrated insight that could view everything rationally and brilliant creativity.
No matter how young he was, this wasn’t right. I was certain I had been able to glimpse the future Rikin in our previous game. But what was this?
“What are you doing?”
“Pardon?”
“Are you playing games with me?”
I wasn’t a good-natured enough person to just let this slide.
Upon hearing my words, Rikin’s pale face turned bright red. It seemed my words were humiliating. Since I had said it to make him feel that way, I sat still and waited to see how Rikin would react.
“What do you mean by that! We had a fair duel and I lost! Playing games!”
“Then are you saying this was your best?”
“Yes! That’s right! It was my best! My best!”
Suddenly feeling wronged, Rikin burst into tears while shouting. The tears that burst forth along with his coughing made Rikin gasp for breath. It was a heart-wrenching scene just to watch. Who could just stand by and watch a young child cry without being able to speak properly?
Even the Parten family employee who had been quietly watching us both tried to reach out to calm Rikin down.
Before he could comfort Rikin, I decided to finish saying what I had to say. I felt sorry for Rikin, but I couldn’t just leave him like this.
“No, that’s not right. This isn’t your best.”
When I spoke firmly, Rikin’s sense of injustice exploded. Gently ignoring Rikin’s voice as he cried more violently, I opened my mouth again. Our Kara did well to block the Parten family employee who was about to step forward to stop me. I really live thanks to our Kara.
“Do you remember the first game we played?”
Rikin sniffled and wiped his tears. The sight of the small child sniffling with clenched fists was quite cute but pitiful enough to tug at one’s heartstrings.
“Don’t you remember?”
“I was scared of Young Master Parten back then.”
Shocked by my words, Rikin stopped crying and started hiccupping.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
