Tales of Leo Attiel ~Portrait of the Headless Prince~

Part 1

It was about two months after Darren's death that Leo received a letter from Oswell Taholin. The sender was surprising, but then so were the contents: he claimed that he been petitioned by the people of his fief to “create a space for the Cross Faith in my castle town.”

Works had begun to convert a house there into a church, and had been completed about a month later, so now: “I would be overjoyed, Lord Leo, if you could visit me,” to both discuss how to administer the parish, and to attend the inauguration ceremony.

Oswell had already looked around here and there, and had hired several priests from Dytiann. Through them, he had invited a minister of some reputation to come from Dytiann and officiate at the ceremony.

It was true that when Conscon Temple had been in danger of being invaded by Allion, Oswell Taholin had single-handily persuaded the sovereign-prince to send help to them. In fact, once the matter became public knowledge, Conscon had sent a letter of thanks in which they named both Magrid and Oswell. He had always been a man who showed sympathy towards the Cross Faith.

Naturally, this was also good for Leo. If the Cross Faith acquired more strongholds throughout the country, then the prince's influence would grow in proportion to them. Besides, if it had to be said, then the church in Savan's territory served as a connection between the faithful in Atall with Conscon and Allion, which were geographically close. Oswell, on the other hand, seemed to want to give the job of running his parish to priests from Dytiann. Maintaining relations with the Cross Faith in both the east and the west was also very convenient for Leo.

─ Or rather, it was too convenient.

“It's a trap,” Percy asserted without a second's hesitation when Leo showed the letter to the main members of the Personal Guards.

Once, during the events involving Lance Mazpotter, Leo and the others had guessed that there might be a connection between Oswell and Darren, and now, Oswell had very rapidly made approaches to Leo after Darren's death. It was clearly suspicious.

“But, this Oswell person, wasn't he originally strengthening his relationship with the ruling house?” Sarah, who had forced her way in behind her brother, interrupted. “Then couldn't he be the kind of man who wants to cozy up to both sides? So even though he helped Darren, once Lord Leo defeated him, Oswell decided to make good with you, Your Highness. He's a guy who knows how to get on in life as a noble.”

“Women should keep out of this,” Camus yelled as usual.

Why is that Camus can't hold back from saying things that he knows will lead to a fight? Percy sometimes wondered.

Actually, this was a fault that he shared with his little sister, Sarah, and neither of them were ever satisfied unless they said exactly what they thought. And since Sarah had opened her mouth wide as though to argue back, Percy hurriedly stopped the siblings' brawl by pretending to offer her an explanation, while covertly watching for the prince's reaction:

“Still, if we're talking about Oswell, then His Highness already suspected that he was secretly tied to Allion – or, more accurately, to Hayden.”

Leo merely gave a slight nod, leaving Percy feeling disappointed. There was no way that the prince wasn't suspicious about Oswell's overtures. Percy had thought that if he brought up Hayden, then Leo would offer and explanation that coincided with his own opinion.

Exactly. Oswell is the noble who, all by himself, convinced the sovereign-prince to send out soldiers to Conscon. And looking back on Hayden's actions at the time, it seems like he expected that to happen. Oswell was probably secretly connected to Allion, and he swayed the sovereign-prince in the direction that Hayden wanted. If you want proof, just look at how that man, who was so fixated on the temple, seemed so completely indifferent when Allion marched on Conscon that second time – or something like that.

Yet Leo's response was muted. Or rather than muted, he was enveloped in the atmosphere of someone who had already made up their mind, and who found it difficult to explain that to others...

“You can't possibly...” Percy suddenly spoke up, “... Prince, you can't possibly be thinking of going to see Oswell?”

“There's no hiding anything from you, Percy,” leaning against the window frame, Leo smiled a little bashfully.

Why... when you know it's a trap...? but before Percy could ask that question, Leo continued:

“There's a good chance that he is on the alert,” he said while gazing out of the window. “But it's also a good opportunity for us.”

It's dangerous, but it's also a good opportunity – that was almost a tenet of faith with Leo. He had often repeated those words to himself and to his companions before then. One easy example was how he had deliberately set off to the holiday villa with only a few bodyguards to draw Darren's attack upon learning that he was plotting to kill him.

“If we do what the enemy wants us to, then that also means that the enemy's intentions will become very easy to read,” he explained once more.

By that point in time, Leo already saw Oswell as an 'enemy', and he had been waiting impatiently for a chance to get rid of him. And that 'chance' had come thanks to the 'enemy's' actions.

Percy understood what Leo was trying to say... but the situation was different from when he had invited Darren's attack in the resort area. In fact, it was the exact opposite: instead of lying in ambush for the enemy, they would be the ones walking up to a foe who was sure to have made every possible preparation.

“It's too dangerous,” Percy objected to the end. “Please reconsider. Instead of accepting Oswell's invitation, it would be far better to provoke that bastard into leaving his castle and killing him, just as you did with Darren.”

“What are you...” Percy's words were so extreme that Camus' eyes widened in surprise, but Percy stubbornly continued to shake his head.

It hadn't been long since the affair with Darren Actica. It was now widely known among the people that Darren had planned to murder Leo and to wrest away Savan's stone quarry, but there was no denying that Leo Attiel's impetuous actions made the nobles – sovereign-prince included – very nervous. The trap that Oswell had set was surely a dangerous one, but what would be far more dangerous was if Leo caused yet another disturbance.

Percy Leegan was absolutely right. Anyone with any common sense would have supported him. Even Leo himself agreed with him.

There's probably something wrong with me. Yet every time the had that thought, there was one scene that came back to him – that time at the banquet when he had told Hayden: “I'll show you how I'll turn the tables on you.” The threat that he himself had spoken back then was one that Leo had never ceased to hold to heart. And he constantly drove himself forward with the thought that: If there wasn't something wrong with me, then I wouldn't be able to turn this situation around.

Now that Darren was dead, Leo viewed Oswell Taholin as the greatest threat. If he really had been tied to Darren Actica, who had tried to destroy Leo, then there was a strong possibility that he would continue to pose a threat in the future. And if you added to that a connection to Allion, then he would be a far more difficult opponent than Darren had been.

If I stop now, it will all have been for nothing. Up until then, and also from then onwards, Leo drove himself forward with those words.

Defeating Hayden, killing Darren, and also, allowing all those soldiers to die in the battles surrounding those events... it would all have been absolutely for nothing. And my life as Leo, the second prince of Principality of Atall, will also lose its meaning. In the future, those unknown historians will laugh, saying that: “He was a man who didn't accomplish anything, and it would have been better for him to simply live out his entire life as a hostage in Allion.”

Leo was firmly set in his decision.

But Percy's attitude was also unwavering.

“For now, please turn him down. We have too little information, and we don't have enough time to remedy that. I agree with you that Oswell is an 'enemy', but please be patient for just a little while longer. That would also be best for your future. If you are too hasty, you will only end up losing everything for nothing at all.”

Leo was perfectly aware that it was a valid argument, and one which he could not refute. By the time they had talked it over again several times, the day had already passed.

Yet Leo could not afford all that much time when it came to his trip to Oswell’s territory and, before long, he arrived at the point where he needed to start preparing for it, even though he not been able to counter Percy’s objections.

At that point, he was forced into making another decision. It was probably the first one like it since he had travelled through Allion, fleeing from being a hostage; Leo decided to take action without taking Percy’s opinion into consideration. To prevent Percy from suspecting anything, he deliberately gave him something to do that would take him far away, and, during that time, he hurriedly finished his various preparations for the trip.

Once I get results, I’m sure Percy will understand, thought Leo.

Yet if he had been the same as he usually was, he would have taken as much time and used as many words as he needed to to win over approval from all of his close guards: Percy, Camus and Kuon, and when he intended to make his move, he would have first worked at persuading them as though his life depended on it.

That was how it went when he decided to fight Hayden. Even though Camus had vehemently opposed his plan, Leo had litteraly put his life on the line to convince him to take part in it.

However, the circumstances then and now were different.

Back then, Leo had not had a single soldier that he was free to move, but now, his Personal Guards had swelled to over two thousand. Percy was just one person, and even if he did not agree with what Leo did, Leo now had enough 'power' to force a change in the situation. So, in other words, he no longer needed to waste time in trying to persuade the one person that was Percy, or to put his own life on the line.

When Percy Leegan returned to Guinbar, he received a shock. It had been five days already since Leo and his group – which included Camus and Kuon – had left the castle.

On top of that, he had left a verbal message to pass on as an order: “I'm leaving five hundred men with you, Percy. Have them continue their training while they guard the territory.” Which translated to: Stay where you are and don't move without permission.

“The fuck is this!” 𝗳r𝗲𝙚w𝐞𝚋𝘯𝚘ѵ𝗲l.𝑐oｍ

Percy vented his emotions which such rare and open violence that the nearby pageboys and new recruits trembled.

Don't move. Don't move, you say? Camus and Kuon both moved, completely ignoring your orders. But you didn't criticize them for it. So what if I move too? His Lordship won't be getting angry as long as the result works out, right? Well, isn't that right, Prince? Isn't that right, Leo!

He was incandescent with rage. It looked like they had gotten cocky just because things had worked out well that one time.

Camus and Kuon are both pathetic. Is risking their lives the only things they can do? Simply blindly obeying isn't loyalty. They're just acting like idiots who've given up on using their own brains!

At the same, since he had suddenly been left behind like this, he also wondered if the problem didn't lie with his attitude towards Leo.

I opposed the prince's decision. I wasn't wrong, but... maybe I was too stubborn afterwards, when I refused to listen to his arguments.

He couldn't say for sure that he hadn't been influenced by his jealousy towards Camus and Kuon, and by the feeling he had because of it that the way the prince was treating him was unfair. If he hadn't directly opposed Leo, but had simply offered him a different opinion, if he had listened to what Leo intended to do after accepting Oswell's invitation, then there should have been both a way and the time to figure something out. Maybe not much, but there should at least have been something.

“Shit!”

Standing near the warehouse were stones for the church construction were kept, Percy let out an angry howl that sounded like it could have come from a wolf.

Part 2

Oswell Taholin's territory, Archon, stretched from the eastern tip of the Iron Chain mountain range down towards the south. Since the mountains protected it from the northern cold, it was an area which remained comparatively mild even in the winter, whereas in this season, which was starting to carry a hint of summer warmth, the many forests that dotted the land helped soften the heat. As a result, it was an area where all of the noble families had built holiday villas.

“Live in Tiwana to spend money; do business in Dharam to make money; retire with money to the banks of the River Archon,” was a saying that was often repeated within the country.

Fields stretched out on either side of the highway, and farmers could be seen working vigorously, harvesting the wheat. A group was travelling along the road towards the castle town, looking at those figures without really seeing them.

A carriage rolled on at a leisurely pace, and those travelling on foot around it all wore leather cloaks over their long religious robes.

“Still, I've always thought so, but you really are stupid, Neville,” said a tall man. “Look at how you were when we met Bishop Baal in his hall. Saying too much for no reason just got you injured. At times like that, you should stifle your breathing, stifle your presence and keep a careful watch on the situation. Especially in one like that where we didn't know anything: we were surrounded by enemies, and we didn't know why those enemies had us brought to them or what they wanted from us.”

“I'm greatly obliged to you for your teachings, venerable elder,” retorted the young man walking next to him.

The tall man stuck out his lower lip and shrugged.

“That's exactly it. You look so solemn, no matter what you're saying. There are times when I think I'm a complete fool for talking to you.”

“Everyone knows that you're uneducated, Godwin. And yet you think that you can call me an idiot and make fun of me? I really can't stand guys like you.”

“Want me to strangle you with your own hands until you repent, cretin?”

How long had it been since they had met Bishop Baal? Their appearances had completely changed from what they had looked like while in prison, when they had been emaciated, covered in grime, and with long, unkempt hair and beards.

Godwin had recovered the brawny body that had made him stand out even among the warriors of the Cruciform Army, and which had lead to his being feared as the 'colossal monk'. He now strode along the highway as his thick blond hair fluttered in the wind.

Neville, on the other hand, had cut his hair short, like a monk. When they had met with Baal, he had been as thin as a skeleton, which made the sharp glint of his eyes stand out almost eerily. Now, however, he had regained weight, his dress was neat and tidy, and his virile good looks caused quite a number of those they passed on the road to want to turn around and look at him again. His cheeks were still a bit sunken, but then again, that had always been how he looked, even before the prison. Compared to Godwin's more rounded face, he gave off an austere impression.

“Heh, that was a joke.”

“A joke? I've known you for a long time, but I still don't get your jokes.”

“I get what you're saying, Godwin, but I can't change myself at this point. From the moment I became aware of how I am but an empty void in God's gracious presence, changing how I am was no longer in my own hands.”

“That's a beautifully poetic exegesis, comrade.”

“What's an exegesis?”

“It means to explain to other people something that you saw, or heard, or felt. Pictures, songs or talking are all forms of exegesis for people.”

Neville's joke about Godwin being 'uneducated' had clearly rankled, and he was showing off the half-understood knowledge that his companions in the Cruciform Army had taught him.

The two of them were from the same village. Godwin, who had been known for his strength since he was very young, had been the first to enter the Cruciform Army. Then, a few years later and almost as though chasing after him, Neville had also donned the that unit's blue uniform.

Neville was a scrupulous young man, and even within the army corps, he was especially devoted to his duty. It was to the point that if he had received the order from above to 'die', he might have cut his throat on the spot. On top of that, he was extraordinarily skilled, and when it came to handling the halberd, there were very few people who could win against him in a one-on-one fight.

But by the time he entered the corps, the civil war was already in its final stages, and he was captured before his fame could spread throughout the lands of Dytiann. Even so, the two of them were able to escape thanks to the help of friends.

While they were being hidden in one place and another by acquaintances from all over, they attacked carts transporting goods to the Papal States, and continuously made things difficult for Mordin and the others who were trying to make changes to the states. Ultimately, however, those were no more that the struggles of pygmies in grass canoes against a huge, oncoming wave. After three years, the two of them were caught by the troops of the 'Current Church faction', and thrown into a filthy and cramped underground dungeon, where there were very few to provide them with anything they needed.

That had been less than a year ago.

Bantering in their own style, Neville and Godwin continued along the highways of the Principality of Atall, in the direction of Archon. Their destination was Aconrey, the town built at the foot of the castle belonging to Oswell Taholin, one of the vassal-lords. And there, the two of them would wield their blades to kill Leo Attiel. That was the mission that Bishop Baal had given them.

When they had first heard it, neither Neville nor Godwin could believe their ears.

“What do we have to do with the prince of a small country like Atall? And assassination? Go ask someone else,” said Neville.

“This isn't assassination,” Baal answered seriously. “You will be destroying an envoy of the Devil and exorcising the taint of evil from this world.”

“Aren't you the bastards who took the citadel? Then why aren't you giving such a glorious mission to one of those on your side? If you're really acting in accordance with the Lord's will, you should be able to chase away a devil with just your prayers, right?”

“I don't have time for endless debates,” Baal cut through Neville's words as though he found them truly childish. “Time is precious. What I want is a swift and prompt decision from those able to bring down that Hell's spawn.”

Baal stressed that one point, that 'time is precious', without offering any further information.

Neville and Godwin had family back in their native village. The only one Godwin had left was his elderly mother, but Neville had married in his late teens and had children. They had wanted to go and see them after they escaped, but since they knew there was a high chance that the 'Current Church faction' would be monitoring their relatives, they both of them decided to consider that they no longer had any family, and acted accordingly.

And yet...

“I will release your families if you successfully carry out this mission.” – There was no way that the young men's hearts would not be swayed when they heard those words.

It was probably because he could tell that their hearts were moved that Baal smiled then for the first time.

“There would normally need to be a certain amount of recognition and glory for heroism but, since that is what you wish, I will not make this matter public. I'm proud of you for not seeking fame, fighting only to bring about the time when God's glory will shine upon the whole world,” he even went as far as to say.

Your names will not be made know – essentially, what that meant was: it will not be made public that you took part in an assassination.

It was thanks to those words that Neville made his decision. He, who was from a farming village, had taken up weapons and taken lives only because he deeply believed that he needed to do so for the Pope, God's representative in this world. It was true that his family had been taken hostage, but he had devoted himself to the Pope, and if his name spread because of his being involved in assassination, then he would never again be able to face either his family or his now deceased master.

Neville informed Baal that he would accept the mission.

But after that, I’ll drag you on a chariot of flames and plunge you into regret as deep as the depths of Hell that you ever let me hold a weapon again.

Hatred blazed in his heart.

A few days before Neville and Godwin arrived in Aconrey, Oswell received a reply to his invitation from Lord Leo.

“I am truly delighted to learn of your desire to experience God's will through his teachings. I am also anxious the learned gentlemen from Dytiann, and I will certainly do myself the pleasure of coming to visit you in a few days.”

Oswell felt himself tremble when he read the contents. He looked over them again and again.

Finally...

Both his mind and body were so tense that it felt as tough he was being squeezes by some giant hand, and he felt like he was suffocating and unable to find any ease. As I mentioned previously, the path to success had crumbled in front of Oswell each and every time. Lord Leo had recently become a major roadblock to him.

He would kill Leo.

And of course, he wasn't the only to share this thought. With Hawking of Allion acting as a link between them, Oswell of Atall and Baal of Dytiann were working together to make their shared wish come true.

First of all, using the fact that Leo was trying to propagate the Cross Faith within the country, Oswell had invited him on the grounds that he was building a church. Even if the prince refused with the excuse that he was too busy, or something like that, simply establishing a parish within his fief meant that Oswell would have any number of opportunities to invite Leo again in the future. Which also meant that Oswell was prepared to be in it for the long haul. However, Leo had jumped at the bait with unexpected alacrity.

Leo would blithely wander over and enter the house that was being converted into a church. There, warriors chosen by Baal and disguised as priests would be waiting for him. The bishop had gone to great pains to gather a dozen skilled but unknown individuals. And at the head of that list were, needless to say, Neville and Godwin.

But Leo might be on his guard if there were nothing but nameless attendants.

And so, also on Baal's advice, a priest by the name of Gemili was travelling with them. He was the man who had been shaken about in the carriage.

He had belonged to the same monastery as Baal when the latter was still a monk. Even back in those days, Gemili had lived a life of laziness and dissipation so, even though he was a little older than Baal, his junior had despised him since their youth. Gemili, however, was the youngest son of a domain lord with enough authority to employ soldiers from the Papal States, so he had been ordained unusually quickly. Still, he was a terrible drunkard. Not even his father's influence could cancel out his repeated excesses, which was why he had worked as a parish priest in Baal's church for more than ten years now, without ever making it to bishop himself.

Baal had given Gemili this task with the air of giving small change to a child and sending them on an errand. He had, of course, hidden the truth, and had simply instructed him to: “Travel with Neville and the others to carry out missionary work in Atall.”

Setting his personality aside, Gemili was well-known. So even if there were somebody at Leo's side who was knowledgeable about Dytiann's internal affairs, they probably wouldn't expect anything strange to occur since a big name from the 'Current Church faction' had publicly announced his participation.

At the house, Leo's group would meet and talk with those from Dytiann, including Gemili, Neville and Godwin. Oswell would initially be present at the meeting, but would soon leave because of having some business to attend to.

“And that's when you kill Leo,” Baal had carefully gone over his instructions to Neville and the others.

He did not inform those who were to carry out the assassination that Oswell was working with him. He worried that if they knew that there were people within Atall who wished for the prince's death, they might start questioning why they were the ones who had been chosen to assassinate him.

Which was why Baal told Neville and the others that: “Your weapons and escape route will be prepared by one of my agents, who will be sent beforehand to infiltrate the Taholin House.”

That was not the only thing that Oswell and Baal kept hidden from the assassins.

Oswell would arrange to have soldiers lie concealed around the house; they were to wait until the meeting was in progress, then simultaneously shoot fire arrows at the building. Meanwhile, the exits would, of course, have been locked, and if anyone managed to force their way out, they would be met with armed and armoured soldiers.

Leo's group would fall prey to the flames or to the soldiers' swords and spears, but so would Neville and the others. Father Gemili would be no exception.

Oswell Taholin would just barely manage to escape the burning house – that would be the official story, at any rate – and would pretend to learn from his servants that: “Neville's group killed Lord Leo. The fire must have been caused during the struggle. When we heard the uproar, we came running over with soldiers and slew Gemili, the ringleader, as he was trying to flee our territory.”

They would also claim to have 'understood the situation' after inspecting the corpses:

“Neville's group came here as official envoys from Dytiann's Church, but they had falsified their real identities and actually belonged to the former Holy See, which fought against the current Church authorities. They were aiming to cause war between Dytiann and Atall by murdering Lord Leo.”

“Those damned rebels probably intended to take advantage of the turmoil that would cause to bring down Dytiann and allow the old Holy See to seize power again. Father Gemili shouldn't have had any connection to the Holy See, but it looks like he used in this plan either because he was being threatened by them, or because he had been tricked.”

That was the version of events that they publicly announce.

By throwing Neville, Godwin and the others to the flames, and blaming them for Leo's death, they were aiming to prove that neither Oswell nor Dytiann's regime were directly connected to the prince's murder. However, it was of course inevitable that Oswell would earn the fury of both Dytiann and Atall for having foolishly invited the assassins.

Which was why Oswell and Baal would pretend to hurriedly set up a meeting immediately after the events to: 'handle this mutual emergency as quickly as possible.'

“This was all done by the partisans of the former Holy See, and our two countries cannot be foolish enough to fall for the plot and turn our blades against one another,” they would say as they pretended to work out a solution. For example, perhaps they could propose that Mordin might come to Atall on a condolence call? In that way, Oswell would paint the image of himself as a man who was doing everything he could to calm the tension between the two lands, and so he would avoid taking too much damage to his reputation.

Put another way, Oswell was fully aware that this plan would lead to his reputation being tarnished for a while.

It was the same for Baal.

Even though the crime would be committed by a group which was hostile to Dytiann's current government, the Church's influence would inevitably suffer since they had been unable to prevent it from happening. It was only five years since the end of the civil war, and its embers had yet to be extinguished, so that this would be a hard blow for the country. But Baal was willing to risk it, so deep was his desire to see Leo dead.

Part 3

A large part of why Percy had tried to hold Leo back was because, while they knew that this was probably a trap, they had no time to investigate what the trap was. And Leo himself was also perfectly well aware of that.

Take, for example, the envoys from Dytiann who were coming to visit Oswell's territory. Were they real ones? If they were fake, then they must be assassins aiming for Leo's life. But if they were assassins, then it was hard to believe that they had simply disguised themselves as priests of the Cross Faith. If Leo's side had a bit more time,

then they could have sent messengers to Dytiann to check the identity of these visitors.

Is Oswell tied to Dytiann?

Although Leo had considered it, he also believed that Oswell's treacherous connection was with Allion instead. So was it possible that he could be closely linked to Dytiann at the same time?

And then, it was also possible that the priests from Dytiann were no more than bait to lure Leo in, and that something completely different would be used to try and murder him.

Poison, or an attack by soldiers posing as marauders... No, if it was a question of posing as something else, then the chamberlains that were to take care of him at the residence could be replaced by soldiers who might kill him while he slept...

In short, they had no idea what to expect.

Which was why Percy Leegan had been so desperate to get Leo to change his mind.

This was basically jumping naked into the den of a starving dragon.

Yet it was also a good opportunity to get rid of Oswell, who was in Leo's way. Leo was ready to walk towards the dragon which waited for him with its jaws wide open, and so he left Guinbar without telling Percy.

He went with a little less than a dozen attendants. These included Camus, the representative from Conscon Temple, two deacons who were acting as representatives of Guinbar Church, and several of his Personal Guards, Kuon and Aqua included.

Later, the different platoons within the Personal Guards, who had been given orders beforehand, would also depart. Leo had them remain on standby at Olt Rose Castle, which had once belonged to Darren, whom he had only just defeated.

It was the height of the Atallese summer when Leo Attiel arrived at Oswell Taholin's castle. Since most of Atall enjoyed a mild climate, there was no need for him to spend the entire trip jolted about in a carriage. He travelled along the same highway bordered by wheat fields that Neville, Godwin and the others taken about half a month earlier.

Camus' nerves were on edge as he wondered if the entire town might not become the stage for an assassination. Gripping his spear tight, he stayed close by Leo's side and didn't budge from there at all, anxiously peering around in all directions. But, of course, the only thing to greet Leo when he entered the town were the cheers from the crowd, and no arrow suddenly came flying, nor was he abruptly surrounded by soldiers armed to the teeth.

That evening, Leo was invited to a reception held in the castle's great hall. Apparently the idea was for the guests to have a chance to see each other before the real meeting.

“Has it finally come?” as usual, Camus' eyebrows were bristling up like flames.

“No,” Leo's tone of voice was the same as someone trying to soothe an unruly horse. “Quite a few of Aconrey's merchants and bigwigs have been invited to the banquet. I don't think there's any way that they'll try to kill me there. They'll start by giving us a warm reception so that we don't suspect anything.”

“But, my lord, look at Darren, who was willing to kill his own people to give himself an excuse to attack you. And after all, Oswell is a villain of the same stripe. We don't know what might happen.”

At that point, Kuon interrupted:

“Looks like the gates to the castle are going to be left open until the end of the banquet.”

Apparently, that was information gathered from his subordinates in the Personal Guards. He had now gotten to the stage where he could show that much forethought.

“We need to place the Guards inside and out in case we have to close the castle gates in a hurry.”

“Understood. Kuon will be in charge of that.”

“Aye.”

Seeing Kuon nod and give a slight bow, Aqua, who was travelling with Leo as a Personal Guard for the first time, looked at him strangely.

Speaking of Aqua, it hadn't been long since 'he' had gotten into a violent quarrel with Sarah, who had also come along as an assistant to her brother, in his capacity as the representative of Conscon Temple. She was the one who had promptly gone to get information from the monks from Dytiann, and who reported back to Leo about the priest named Gemili.

“There's no doubt that he really is a priest from the 'Current Church faction', but he isn't anyone who particularly stands out within the Dytiann Alliance. He is probably connected to the upper echelons of the faction. We hadn't heard of him either. But he's been working as a parish priest alongside Bishop Baal.”

Baal? Leo shivered suddenly.

He had met Bishop Baal twice in the past. The first had been when he and Arthur, the commander of the Sergaia Holy Rose Division, had met with Leo to talk about volunteering reinforcements to Conscon Temple. Back then, Baal had stared persistently at Leo with eyes as cold as a snake's.

Sarah, his informant then and now, had claimed that “Arthur and Baal have a thing going on.”

The second time they met was after Arthur's death. On that occasion, Baal had avoided looking at Leo, as though holding himself back. But from time to time, when their gazes happened to meet by chance, Leo clearly caught sight of a fire in Baal's eyes. To put it more bluntly, rather than a fire, it was hatred. Rage and the urge to kill.

Those eyes clearly understood who it was who had lured Arthur Causebulk into a trap, then killed him.

Leo had no doubt at all that Bishop Baal bore a bitter grudge against him. And now, the priest who had come over apparently had some connection to him.

While attending the banquet, Leo could not rid himself of the fear that any and all of the people who greeted him were hiding a blade at their breast, and that at any moment, they might plunge it into his heart or slice through his neck with it. However, the party passed its height without any particularly noticeable occurrence. Just as he himself had said, Oswell surely wouldn't have him assassinated so publicly.

Leo's mental strain gradually melted away. He spoke with Father Gemili. His usual manner returned as he exchanged trifling jokes with Oswell. Whereas earlier, he hadn't touched the wine, he now stretched out an arm to take a goblet, and emptied its contents in one gulp. His throat had been parched, probably because of the stress, and the drink was so delicious that it seemed to flow throughout his entire body.

But... was it a case of negligence?

Camus' vigilant gaze was scanning the entire hall. Kuon was monitoring the escape routes from the castle. It was the same for the other Personal Guards.

For just one second, their attention shifted away from Leo himself.

The wine cup dropped from his hand and rolled on the carpet.

“Prince?”

Camus, who was beside him, was a fraction too slow in turning around. The colour drained from Leo's face as he staggered then, like a doll which had lost its support, he pitched forward, face first.

“Prince!”

“Your Highness!”

As shouts rose up all around, Leo started frothing at the mouth before loosing consciousness.

Early that morning, a thin layer of clouds hung over Aconrey, and a light rain started to fall on the houses and on the streets that people were hurrying along.

“Have you heard?”

Maybe it was because of the gloomy weather, but those who were talking together looked despondent, and spoke in hushed voices.

“They say His Highness, Lord Leo, has died.”

“I heard it too. Even though he was waving at us so cheerfully just the other day.”

“It seems he was poisoned at the welcoming banquet.”

“Shh! Be careful what you say.”

Even though it was still early, armed soldiers could be seen patrolling around the streets, which explained that sudden, sharp tone and the cautious check of their surroundings. ƒ𝑟𝐞𝗲𝘄𝙚𝚋𝑛ｏ𝙫𝒆𝒍.𝒄𝘰𝓂

“It's not true that he died. I heard it from a guy who sells vegetables to the castle, so it's definitely reliable.”

“What? That bastard Boyle, acting all puffed up and talking like he knew everything... Right, he's going to give me back what I treated him to yesterday.”

A man who seemed to be well-informed stopped a man who looked like a carpenter as he started rolling up his sleeves.

“Hold your horses. The story wasn't completely unfounded. It looks like it's true that His Highness collapsed at the banquet...” He continued his story with a self-important air.

Three days after Lord Leo arrived at Aconrey Castle, rumours such as those started to circulate on every street corner in the castle town, in every tavern and in every house. Oswell had declared martial law, but it was impossible to stop people from talking.

And it was undeniably true that Leo Attiel had collapsed towards the end of the banquet, after downing a goblet of wine. Given the timing, it was hardly surprising that people were saying that: “Prince Leo was poisoned.”

And when thinking about the circumstances, the natural progression was to suspect that the criminal was Oswell Taholin, the castle lord of Aconrey. Although, taken the other way around, it also meant that if Oswell were really plotting to assassinate the prince, he surely wouldn't have chosen such a conspicuous method.

And in actual fact, Oswell had been thrown into a panic when Leo collapsed. Had his own plan been pre-empted by someone who wasn't in on it? At first, he had turned to look at Gemili's group, then his gaze had travelled those from his own House, but every last person there seemed as alarmed as he was.

It was the same for the prince's attendants too. While everyone turned ashen, a large priest called Camus lifted Leo into his arms and shouted at Oswell to call for a doctor.

Leo had been taken to a room in the castle and Oswell had done what he could by sending for medical help.

Three days had passed since then.

Oswell had come up with three hypotheses.

The first one was fairly ridiculous: since Leo is only a boy, he made himself ill by gulping down too much alcohol when he isn't used to it.

The second was that: maybe he somehow got wind of our plan and is only pretending to be ill. While he lies in bed he will be observing how we react.

As far as Oswell was concerned, that was not a situation that invited optimism.

However, when the doctor he had sent for came out from seeing Leo, he announced that it was impossible for the prince to be pretending.

It was clear from the way his skin had passed beyond pale and had instead started to darken that there was a problem with his blood circulation. On the night he collapsed, he was seized more than once with convulsions. His fever couldn't be brought down at all, and there was no end to his diarrhoea and vomiting. The doctor had given him a decoction of herbs to drink, but Leo even threw that up, and as his body could not take in any nutrients, he grew increasingly weaker. In just three days time, Leo had wasted away into nothing more than skin and bones.

“What's the cause?”

Upon being asked that, the doctor had shaken his head and replied that he couldn't say for sure.

“It's most likely some kind of snake venom, but the prince's symptoms are unlike those caused by any snakes found around Atall. It might be a poison that was compounded for some specific purpose,” he added, and Oswell Taholin went speechless.

If it was poison, then it strengthened his suspicions, and fell in line with his third hypothesis. Namely –

“There's someone in this castle who wants to kill Lord Leo and frame me.” When thinking about who this 'someone' was, it could only be Dytiann or Allion.

The plan had originally been for Dytiann to share the blame for not having been able to prevent the crimes of the former Holy See, but it was conceivable that they had decided to pin sole responsibility on Oswell.

But... given that Neville and the others had, from the start, come to Aconrey with the intention of carrying an assassination, Dytiann's current government, which was pulling their strings from behind, must surely realise that if Oswell had them arrested and tortured, they would confess everything. Why would Dytiann go to all the trouble of sending assassins, only to create a more dangerous situation for themselves?

Then... is it Allion?

That didn't quite fit, either. If Oswell were an eyesore for Allion – which he himself would find hard to believe – then they had plenty of far simpler methods of dealing with him than setting up this convoluted scheme. For example, Hawking could just send one of Oswell's letters to the sovereign-prince with a warning that there was a traitor in the country. Hawking Ingram had exchanged personal dealings with both Oswell and Baal, so he fully grasped all the circumstances and was in a position to make use of them.

But... what in the world for?

If his goal was to have Leo murdered, then he just had to sit back without doing anything.

Did he want to cause Oswell's downfall in order to avoid having to keep his promise about appointing Oswell to a position in Allion?

Argh! I don't know. What is this? What's going on?

The situation left him drenched in cold sweat. Even if someone was hidden behind all this, if Leo died now, then Oswell would have to shoulder all of the blame and disgrace.

Please, I'm begging you. Don't die.

It was almost farcical how a man who had schemed to murder Leo was now the one person in the world who was the most anxious about Leo's wellbeing.

The group from Dytiann, which was originally supposed to be found guilty of Leo's assassination, seemed bewildered by how things had developed. And since they didn't know that Oswell and Baal were connected, he couldn't get in touch with them. For now, they seemed to have decided to stay at the castle 'until Lord Leo recovers.' But then, regardless of how the situation evolved, they probably wouldn't feel the same sense of urgency as Oswell, since Leo's death was exactly what they hoping for.

When the prince failed to regain consciousness after three days, those at his side requested that doctors be invited from the capital. Oswell Taholin had no reason to refuse.

And more importantly, the priest called Camus who made personally came to make the request was glaring at Oswell as he would at an enemy general across the battlefield. He definitely suspected the vassal-lord was the poisoner. If Oswell shook his head in refusal, those powerful hands might wrap around his neck and start strangling him.

A messenger on dispatched from Aconrey on a fleet-footed horse. Yet that night, Leo's health improved ever so slightly. After he managed to drink a little tea and eat a small amount of easily-digestible food, his fever dropped considerably.

After another two days, and without waiting for any team of doctors from Tiwana, he left his bed and went to see Oswell.

“It looks like I've caused you trouble.”

Although his face was still almost bloodless and his entire body was haggard, compared to how he had previously been almost unable to speak, his voice was a lot clearer.

“I'm sorry to have kept the visitors from Dytiann waiting. If possible, I'll meet with them tomorrow.”

Here again, Oswell Taholin had no reason to refuse.

Thank goodness you survived – even though his feeling of relief was so overwhelming that he felt like hugging the prince, he was inwardly going over and over the plan for Leo's assassination on the very next day.

The dark clouds hanging over Aconrey had not yet cleared.