R 09

 Chapter 9

As I tilted my head in confusion and sank into the soft seat, leaning back and resting my arm on the armrest, I caught sight of the black firebird emblem on the back of my left hand.

“Ah!”

Only then did I remember, and I let out a little cry.

Lus, sitting beside me, kept his gaze fixed on the open sky as he spoke.

“If you’re worried about your friends, don’t be. Every single one of them boarded safely.”

“……”

Feeling awkward for no reason, I pretended to straighten my hair and looked away.

Just then, someone who appeared to be an attendant handed Lus a book.

It was time for the dignified Lus to read.

As I watched his handsome profile, I suddenly remembered the way he had knelt in front of me and put my shoes on for me.

My face grew hot before I knew it.

Whether Lus knew I was stealing glances at him or not, he kept his eyes on the book and said,

“It’ll take about eight hours to reach Ruklus’s Tower from here. So while we’re on the way, whether you want to sleep, play, eat, or look at the sky, just tell one of the attendants what you need. They’ll take care of everything. And, if possible, don’t leave the cabin until we arrive.”

The endless sky stretched out before my eyes, but I couldn’t spend forever being moved by the scenery.

What good is a beautiful view if I don’t know when I’m going to die?

I wanted to live.

If possible, I wanted to live for a long, long time.

It might sound ridiculous, but the fact that I had the highest chance of surviving longer than the other village women who had come with me was actually somewhat comforting.

Besides, if I knew how King Ruklus intended to torment me, perhaps I could come up with a way to get through it without too much trouble.

Of course, if I managed to offend the king before I could even try any of those tricks and got executed immediately, then none of that would matter.

With those thoughts running through my mind, I spent quite some time staring out at the sky.

Then, around the time a plate of assorted fruit was served as a snack, I cautiously asked Lus,

“How does the king torment me?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“I heard that among the women born with the black firebird emblem, one survives, while the others are tormented by the king until they die before they can even last three years. I thought that if I knew beforehand how His Majesty torments me, I might be able to prepare myself mentally.”

“……”

Crunch.

Lus stared at me before putting a piece of fruit into his mouth and chewing.

Crunch.

I bit into a piece of fruit as well.

The answer that soon came from Lus was completely unexpected.

“He doesn’t.”

“…What?”

“How exactly do you know about him?”

At Lus’s question, I carefully recalled everything I had been taught about Ruklus.

“For the twenty years that the women with the black firebird emblem are born and raised, he’s a benevolent king. But the moment those women reach adulthood, they say he turns into a tyrant.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. Once that happens, he kills all of us except one, and he also kills the people around us who try to interfere… He’s practically a demon—”

I stopped myself halfway through.

Oh, no!

I quickly shut my mouth.

Judging by Lus’s expression, his face had indeed hardened.

It made sense, even after only a moment’s thought.

He was a knight, after all. There was no way he would enjoy listening to someone badmouth his liege.

And Lus was a commander, so he would probably be even more loyal.

Just then, Lus let out a low sigh.

“Haah. I don’t know how you came to hear things that way, but he isn’t that kind of person. Though it is true that all the women with the black firebird emblem are killed when they reach adulthood.”

“If the king isn’t that kind of person, then how does it make sense that he kills us?”

Lus suddenly fell silent.

He merely turned his head and stared out at the sky.

“Lus, is there really nothing you know about the king? What’s going to happen to me once I enter the castle?”

Growing frustrated, I asked again.

Lus responded with a question.

“What do you think is going to happen?”

“Hmm… A slave? A sacrifice? Or maybe torture at the hands of someone with some kind of perverted obsession?”

I honestly told him all the things I had imagined over the years.

Lus looked utterly dumbfounded.

He cleared his throat twice before starting to eat fruit again.

When the plate was empty, Lus wiped his hands in the bowl of water brought by an attendant.

“I told you he doesn’t torment you… Can’t you think of any other possibilities?”

I thought harder, but there was nothing remotely good in all the stories I had heard.

He studied my expression and sighed again.

“For instance, you might get married. Or become his spouse, his partner, his queen, or perhaps…”

Lus paused for a moment and met my eyes.

Those deep ruby-colored eyes seemed to pierce straight into my heart.

“Perhaps you might fall truly in love with each other.”

Thump.

At the same time, something in one corner of my heart gave a strange, aching flutter.

I had never experienced a feeling like this before, so I hurriedly looked away.

My wandering gaze settled on the firebird insignia attached to Lus’s uniform.

And then I felt heat rise into my face.

“M-Marriage? With King Ruklus?”

“Your face is as red as an apple. Are you happy because, instead of dying, you’re going to become queen?”

I was relieved that he hadn’t realized how I truly felt.

That Lus had mistaken the reason for my flushed cheeks.

But it was difficult to take his words at face value.

Even if I accepted them innocently, there were far too many suspicious points.

Besides, it didn’t make sense.

If I was supposed to marry the king, then why had I been raised hidden away in a secluded village?

And why did all the other women have to die except one?

And if it was supposed to be true love, why did the woman change every twenty-three years?

“Come on, that’s a lie. It came completely out of nowhere. Lus, be honest with me. You’re only saying that because you don’t want me to get scared, right?”

“…It’s true.”

In the end, I asked Lus directly.

“That doesn’t make any sense, does it? Then why do I have to live in hiding? And why do all the women born around the same time have to die?”

“That’s because unfortunate accidents kept happening…”

“Unfortunate accidents?”

“It’s…”

Lus leaned back against his seat, seemingly tired from trying to explain.

“It’s too long to explain. There’s a library in the compartment right next to this one. Why don’t you look through the records there? There aren’t that many books, so it should be easy to find.”

At those words, I immediately stood up.

The attendant beside us led me to the library and then sat down on a sofa in the corridor.

Apparently, they intended to keep watch over me so I couldn’t go anywhere.

As if there’s anywhere I could go from here.

I sighed inwardly and looked around the library.

The books Lus had said weren’t very numerous seemed to number in the hundreds at a glance.

There was only one table, though.

“That’s an enormous number compared to the secluded village…”

Maybe “not many” was simply Lus’s standard.

I pulled out a few books, flipped through them, and put them back.

It would have been easier to find what I’m looking for if he’d at least told me the title.

Muttering to myself, I pulled out another book and opened it.

“‘High-Altitude Flying Techniques of the Mandarin Race’? You can fly that high?”

The common knowledge I had was that Mandarins could fly, but bringing out their wings in the first place was extremely difficult. Even when they managed to fly, they could only fly very low, and they were slow.

That was why they used Roadloaders.

But this book was unusual from its very title, and it even had a picture of a pair of fully spread wings.

“Why not give it a try?”

Curious, I turned the page and read part of the preface.

— The Mandarin race can achieve high-altitude flight by using their hidden wings. However, flying to great heights requires talent and an enormous amount of effort, and it consumes a great deal of strength, so use another means whenever possible.

“……”

— Perhaps this was different in the old days, but these days there are convenient means such as Roadloaders and airships. There is no need to go through unnecessary hardship.

“……What?”

It was a ridiculous preface.

— Still, if you insist on flying, turn to the next page…

I let out a hollow laugh.

“It tells me to use another means right from the first page, and then it gives me instructions on high-altitude flying…”

But starting from the next page, it really did explain how to fly.

There were detailed little notes accompanied by illustrations.

How to bring out the wings.

How to flap them.

How to land.

How to retract the wings again.

And so on.

After flipping through a few pages, I returned the book to its place.

I’ll have to take a closer look at this later.

That wasn’t what I was looking for right now.

Right now, I needed to find a book about why Ruklus, the king of the Mandarins, kills the women born with the black firebird emblem.

“The title probably has something like ‘Black Firebird Emblem’ or ‘Ruklus’ in it, right?”

Muttering the keywords I had guessed, I began rummaging through the bookshelves.

“What’s this?”

Then I found a strange-looking book.