Kays Translations

Chapter 11: The Count’s Daughter, Radius’s Retainer

The evening breeze swept softly across the surrounding lawn.

From time to time, the voices of students who were still at the academy reached the two boys’ ears.

Neither paid them any mind. Radius, in particular, focused only on the story he was about to tell.

“The girl who came to be known as the Corroding Princess possessed mana that corroded everything it touched. Even her own parents could not lay a hand on her.”

“So it was the exact opposite of Vessel Fracture?”

“Yes. Vessel Fracture eats away at the sufferer’s own body, while the Corroding Princess’s mana ate away at others. Worse, she could not fully control it, so her father had no choice but to confine her in a tower.”

Rather than reciting the folktale exactly as he had heard it, Radius gave Ren a condensed account of its plot.

Ren felt a pang of sympathy for the Corroding Princess.

He also wondered why anyone would tell such a grim story to a young member of the imperial family. As he listened further, however, he learned that it ended in a suitably fairy-tale fashion.

“Eventually, a man appeared who was unaffected by the Corroding Princess’s power.”

“Then I suppose he was the hero of the story.”

“Exactly. He gathered the three treasures needed to suppress her power and asked for her hand in marriage.”

The folktale mentioned only that he had to gather three treasures.

It apparently offered no details about what they were, treating them merely as trials the man had to overcome.

Radius did not seem especially bothered by that. To him, it was only an old folktale.

“And then what happened?”

“The Corroding Princess nearly refused him out of fear that her power might return, but the man forcibly carried her out of the tower. When the tower’s guards realized something was wrong and pursued them, she warned him, ‘My power may return one day. Or those who try to take me back may turn their swords on you.’”

The two continued along a path bordered by tall hedges in the academy garden.

“But the man dismissed her warning. He laughed and said, ‘None of that matters to me,’ before asking, ‘Do you dislike having me beside you like this?’”

Ren listened intently as Radius continued.

“The Corroding Princess did not answer. Instead, she said, ‘You cannot be happy with me. Someday, both you and I may be attacked by new pursuers.’”

Then the man spoke.

He gave the Corroding Princess—the girl who had always feared making someone else miserable because of her—the words she needed to reveal her true feelings.

“‘When that day comes, I will simply risk my life to protect you.’”

Perhaps they were ordinary words.

Even so, it was easy to imagine that there was nothing else the Corroding Princess had wanted to hear more.

“She replied, ‘Then I will give you everything I have. In return, show me the world you have seen,’ and chose to live at his side.”

The passage Radius had related was only part of the folktale of the Corroding Princess, but just as he had said, the story did not end on a grim note.

That was where the tale came to a close.

“The captive girl left her dark room with the man. The two fled somewhere far away and are said to have lived happily ever after.”

“Well?” Radius asked with a smile.

Ren looked at him and voiced the one question that had occurred to him.

“I think it is a good story. There are just a few things I’m curious about. May I ask?”

“Of course. What is it?”

“If she was called a princess, did that mean she was someone of very high rank?”

“It is only a folktale, so the finer details are unknown. In some rural villages, even the daughter of the knight entrusted with governing the settlement may be called a princess. There is no way to say for certain.”

“I suppose so. Do you at least know which country the story came from?”

“No such information remains. But that is simply the nature of folktales. It was less concerned with perfect consistency than with being a heroic tale told before bed. So long as children enjoyed it, that was enough.”

“Ah, so it might have been a story invented long ago by someone in the imperial family or one of their attendants.”

“Precisely. That is why I have never concerned myself with the details.”

They continued chatting as they walked, treating the subject like ordinary small talk.

According to Radius, girls in the imperial family who heard the story of the Corroding Princess tended to develop a certain longing.

They would dream that someone like the man in the tale might one day appear for them as well.

The two stopped in a secluded corner of the garden.

“This should do.”

“Yes, this is fine.”

They sat at a terrace table, hidden from view by the surrounding hedges.

“That is enough about folktales. How was swordsmanship class? Tell me a little more.”

Ren did not have much to report. He had arrived late because of his organizing committee work, crossed swords with Licia, and then been taken to another room by an instructor who had witnessed their match.

When he explained again that they had discussed how his swordsmanship classes would be handled from now on, Radius laughed.

Radius had expected the matter to reach this conclusion sooner or later, so he merely shrugged again and smiled as though it could not be helped.

They spent another half hour talking like ordinary male friends before the edge of the sky grew noticeably darker.

“It is already this late?”

Radius glanced at his wristwatch, and the two soon rose from their seats.

At the same moment, Ren sensed someone approaching and tilted his head.

A voice came from beyond the hedge.

“Your Highness, it is me, nya.”

A charming girl of mixed Cait Sith and human ancestry emerged after the voice.

The moment she addressed Radius as ‘Your Highness,’ Ren understood that she was one of his associates.

“What is it?”

“I was told it was time for you to return, but you were nowhere to be seen, so I came looking for you, nya. I apologize for interrupting your conversation, nya.”

“Then I owe you an apology—ah, forgive me, Ren. Allow me to introduce her.”

Radius beckoned the girl closer.

Her bearing and the refined air she gave off immediately made Ren suspect that she was a noblewoman.

His guess proved correct when Radius supplied the answer.

“This is Mirei Arkhaise. She is the daughter of Count Arkhaise, whom I mentioned before, and she served as student council president last year.”

“Oh! You’re the person Radius said he wanted to invite onto the organizing committee!”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, nya. As His Highness said, I am Mirei. He approached me the other day, and I intend to assist the organizing committee in whatever small way I can, nya.”

Mirei had evidently accepted the invitation.

“Thank you very much,” Ren said before introducing himself as well.

“Please call me Mirei, nya.”

“I couldn’t possibly address a count’s daughter without an honorific.”

Ren suggested adding ‘-sama,’ but Mirei firmly refused.

“Then Mirei-san would be preferable, nya. Please spare me the embarrassment of having His Highness’s friend call me ‘-sama,’ nya.”

Ren glanced at Radius. Seeing him nod as though to say that was fine, Ren agreed.

Mirei, for her part, preferred to keep her usual manner of speaking.

“I have taken the liberty of learning about you, Ren-dono, so I already feel a certain familiarity with you, nya.”

“I thought you might have been watching things from somewhere near Radius.”

“Only occasionally, nya. For example, after last year’s special request.”

“Ah, when Radius and I were talking in an alley in Elendil.”

“You are perceptive, which makes this easier, nya. That was one occasion, but I have also observed you from afar several other times, nya.”

Ren was grateful that she was easy to speak with, and he was pleased that they had been able to greet one another so casually.

Once their introductions were complete, Radius spoke again.

“Mirei, will we be able to borrow the vacant room I asked about?”

“There should be no problem, nya. It has been used as an academy storeroom until now, however, so we will need to move its contents to another storage area and put everything in order, nya.”

“That is acceptable. It will not take long if we divide the work.”

Ren tilted his head at the exchange but did not interrupt, unsure whether this was something he was meant to hear.

Radius noticed his reaction and looked at him.

“It concerns the organizing committee,” he explained.

“We need somewhere to work during our activities. Because Mirei was student council president, I asked her to find a room we might be allowed to use. The academy will provide the organizing committee with an empty classroom, but I intend to use that only as our public reception room. I wanted another quiet place where we could work.”

Understanding now, Ren nodded and asked another question.

“I see. Mirei-san, where is this room?”

“It is a small room at the back of the library, nya. It has served as a storeroom for several years, so the academy agreed to lend it to us on the condition that we clean it ourselves, nya.”

It was dusty, but apparently in perfectly usable condition once cleaned.

Even after the organizing committee’s work ended, they would be allowed to keep using it unless someone else submitted an application for the room.

As Ren considered that arrangement, Radius added something else.

“It should be convenient for you as well, Ren. If you use your swordsmanship period to study another subject, it will give you an ideal place to work.”

“Oh, I may use it then too?”

That was welcome news.

Ren had not yet decided which subject instructor he would ask for assignments, but it seemed he would have access to a quiet study space.

(I wonder whether the other two will be pleased.)

Remembering Licia and Fiona’s conversation on the rooftop, Ren smiled faintly.

“—Ah.”

His smile abruptly froze.

“What is it?”

“Sorry. This is sudden, but I just remembered what happened this morning.”

“This morning?”

Standing before Radius, Ren decided that this was something he ought to discuss with him and brought up the incident at the Lion’s Holy Office.

He told Radius about the unexpected encounter he had had that morning.

“I met the Director of the Lion’s Holy Office this morning. But classes were about to begin, so I could not greet her properly, and I had to rush straight to the academy.”

“You feel you were discourteous and want me to arrange another opportunity for you to greet her?”

“More or less. Either that, or I would like you to pass along my apology.”

Ren spoke with some nervousness because of Estelle’s position, but Radius did not appear concerned by such a minor matter.

As the three began walking, Radius regarded Ren in his usual manner.

“I understand your request, but this is Estelle we are speaking of. When she heard what time classes began, did she not tell you to hurry to the academy?”

Ren recalled their exchange and nodded.

Radius showed no concern and merely said, “I thought so.”

“I will tell her later that you were worried you had offended her. You are bound to meet her again at the Lion’s Holy Office sooner or later, so that should be sufficient, should it not?”

“Thanks. Please do.”

Radius immediately nodded in agreement.

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