That had been… Georg’s reason for the staged treason, then. To have all of my potential opponents taken down in one fell swoop, and for him to fall alongside them. That plan had coincided with the one Hakuya and I had been working on to keep Amidonia under control, which had turned it into a grand stage none of us had expected. It looked like Roroa had been planning her own script of events, too, so it had become a grand stage with many playwrights.
Those who’d thought they would be making others dance had been forced to dance themselves, and though we’d felt like we were cutting our own paths, we had actually just been walking atop the rails someone else had laid for us.
“I dunno what to say… It makes me lose confidence in myself,” I admitted.
“There’s no need for that,” Albert said. “The fact of the matter is, you managed to reach a different future, no? You annexed Amidonia, and you rebuilt this kingdom which was nearing its end into the Kingdom of Friedonia. I can say with confidence that I was not wrong to give the throne to you.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that and all, but… in the end, where do you think the future changed?” I asked.
“The very beginning, no doubt. Because, this time, from the very start, you had Liscia by your side.”
“Liscia?” I asked.
It was true, Liscia had been supporting me from the very beginning, but why was her name coming up now?
Here, Sir Albert put on a slightly sad expression. “Liscia was at your side in the future where I made you my prime minister, too. She was serving as Georg’s secretary, so the two of you met through him. In that world, just in this one, Liscia recognized your true talent and fell in love with you. Even when I dismissed you from your post, she came to appeal directly to me to reinstate you. However… that time, I didn’t heed Liscia’s advice. Disappointed, Liscia returned to Randel where you were. To Castle Randel, which the nobles burned to ash. I’m sure she spent her last moments… together with you…”
Liscia… had died at my side, huh. Now that he mentioned it, he did say that the king of that world had “lost everything.” That had included his own daughter, then.
“What about the other comrades that I’ve recruited?” I asked.
“They were never there to begin with. In that world, you never used the Jewel Voice Broadcast. I listened to the voices of those who valued tradition, and I never allowed you to use it. That was why you never gathered personnel, or did the sort of productions that you do now.”
Working without the Jewel Voice Broadcast, huh… That would have been hard. Now that I thought back, most of the current members of my staff had been gathered through the the Jewel Voice Broadcast. Without the Jewel Voice Broadcast, I wouldn’t have met Aisha, Hakuya, Tomoe, or Poncho. Also, if I had just been the prime minister, I doubted Excel would have dispatched Juna, and I wouldn’t have met Ludwin, Halbert, or Kaede through the military, either.
That being the case, the Jewel Voice Broadcast was starting to feel like the turning point.
And the strongest thing pushing me to use the Jewel Voice Broadcast had been Liscia, who’d given legitimacy to the royal title I’d been given. Without that, I might not have been able to shut up the people who were against me using the Jewel Voice Broadcast. When I thought of it that way…
“…Well, damn. Liscia’s starting to feel like my goddess of victory.”
“I want you to take good care of her,” Albert told me.
“Of course.”
She was a goddess who had never abandoned me, no matter how adverse the situation. If I didn’t treasure her, I was probably in for some serious karmic retribution.
Sir Albert rose from his seat. “Well, I have told you all I know. Now, my role truly has been played out to the end. The rest… I leave to you and the others.”
With that said, Sir Albert stood next to Lady Elisha, hugging her around the shoulder.
“I think we will leave the castle, and live quietly in my old domain in the mountains.”
I inhaled sharply in surprise. “Why?!”
“If the old king stays too long, people will begin to get bad ideas,” Albert said. “Now that I have seen the changing future, I will withdraw. This is another thing I had decided on from the very beginning.”
Here, he wore not the face of an unreliable king, but the eyes of a loving father watching over his children. Those eyes… was he directing them at me?
“You’ve already made up your minds, I see,” I said slowly.
“I can trust you with both Liscia and this country,” said Albert. “Elisha and I both believe that. I ask you to do this for me, my son.”
“My son.” When he called me that, I rose from my seat and pounded one fist on my chest.
“You have my word. Father, Mother, thank you for everything.”
I bowed my head deeply to Sir Albert and Lady Elisha. Sir Albert nodded when he saw that, while Lady Elisha continued watching with a smile until the end. I bowed one more time, and turned to grasp the handle on the door to leave… then stopped.
“I have just one last thing to ask.”
“What?” said Albert.
“In the world where I became the prime minister, were our bodies ever found?”
“…No. As I told you, they were reduced to ash. Nothing was ever found.”
I see. They’d never found the bodies, huh. Well, then…
“In that case, Liscia and I might have still been alive.”
“What?!”
I smiled as Sir Albert’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “If I were alone, I might have died. But Liscia was there, too, right? If the me from that world cared for Liscia as much as I do here, he would never have let her die. When danger closed in on them, I’m sure he would have taken Liscia and fled, not caring what people would say about them. It’s possible they were struck down by enemy soldiers in the attempt, but in that case, there would have been bodies. If you’re telling me there were none, I’d say that means they got away.”
Perhaps Georg had been using himself as a decoy to buy them time. Though this was probably on the same level as believing in the theory that Yoshitsune had survived. But, what did it matter? If it would help my father-in-law to assuage his guilt even a little.
“…Thank you, son-in-law.”
I heard those quiet words behind me as I turned to leave the room.
“What are you doing here?”
I was on the terrace of the governmental affairs office, looking out on the castle town at night, when Liscia came out with a blanket.
“I’m surprised you knew to find me here,” I said.
“Hakuya told me where you were,” she said. “Everyone’s in a frenzy trying to get things together for the singing contest, you know?”
“…Sorry. Let me stay here a little longer.”
“Geez… In that case, try wearing something a little warmer,” Liscia said, then threw the blanket she was carrying over me, sliding underneath it herself, too. The warmth of her body touching mine felt very comforting. “Whew… It sure is cold out at this time of night.”
“Well, yeah, it’s winter.”
“Ah! It’s snowing!” she cried.
“Whoa. You’re right.” I noticed there were snowflakes falling here and there. Even though I could still see the moon off in the distant sky.
It started as powder snow, but gradually gave way to larger snowflakes.
The lights of the town and snow on a moonlit night. It was like a scene out of fantasy.
“It’s pretty,” Liscia murmured, standing next to me.
“…Well, damn. Liscia’s starting to feel like my goddess of victory.”