Clôture of Yellow: The Daughter Of Evil

CHAPTER 1, SECTION 2-THE SHAPE OF THE EVIL DWELLING IN THEIR HEARTS; SCENE 3

♦ Allen ~In the Lucifenian Palace, "Riliane's Room"~

After what happened with Asan, Riliane ended up keeping people far away from her. As of now the only servants who were allowed to take care of her were myself, Ney, Chartette, and Mariam.

Right now, I was alone with Riliane in her room. She'd called me over after dinner.

"Allen. We appreciate what you did the other day," she began. Talking about the incident with Asan. "You...know how to fence?"

I couldn't figure out how I should respond, but as I had clearly wielded a sword in front of her by that point, I probably wouldn't be able to excuse it. I decided here to speak honestly.

"I apologize for keeping quiet about it. Actually, I received some training from my adoptive father when I was young."

I concealed from Riliane that my adoptive father was the head of the royal guard, Sir Leonhart. Because he had told me to keep that hidden. It was just par for the course; if she knew, I would undoubtedly be dismissed.

"I see...Well that's fine. We also have some experience with fencing. We have contested against soldiers several times, and yet have not lost once. What do you think? Impressive, yes?"

She was boasting, but I don't think there was a single person in this country who would genuinely raise their sword against her.

"Even We can tell that your skill is substantial. With that in mind, We have a request to make of you."

I had a bad premonition.

Riliane took some parchment from her desk, and began to write something on it with a quill. When she was finished, she put the parchment in a small glass bottle and handed it to me.

"...?"

When she saw I didn't quite get the meaning of what she was doing, Riliane added, "Take out the paper, and read the sentence written in it."

I pulled the parchment out of the bottle, and checked the sentence she'd put there. This is what was written:

-We want you to kill Leonhart-

For a short while I wasn't able to move. What was Riliane...what was my big sister thinking?

"Surprised? Well, that's understandable. But We have judged you suitable for this job. The royal guard would hardly obey, don't you think?"

I didn't know how I should reply to Riliane's words. Because of that I decided to go at this from another angle.

"Why did you give me your order this way?"

"Hm? ...Oh, you mean the bottle? We were once told a legend a while back that if you convey your most important wishes this way, they will always come true. ...Although We've forgotten who taught that to Us."

I was the one who had taught her that, a long time ago. On that day, at that beach...She's lost her memories but it seems that even so she retains them in this slightly mistaken way.

"...Why would you ask me to kill Sir Leonhart...?"

"Do We need to explain that? Surely you know about the bad blood between us. And on top of that, there was that matter regarding the food stores...Our patience is at its limit. That idiot is always opposing Our will, every day in and out...Agh-WE ARE SICK OF HIM! REALLY SICK OF HIM!"

Riliane raised her voice, exposing her rage. But she quickly became sober again, clearing her throat with a -cough...- and readjusting her tone.

"And, don't you know? He may put on a front of being a loyal subject, but there are shady rumors of him that refuse to die out. Things like him killing allies in the confusion of war, kidnapping a baby from a country he had invaded, that he's really scheming to overthrow the state...They may call him a hero, but really he might just be an unthinkable villain."

"Who...did you hear stories like that from?"

"Ney."

Ney looked to be a quiet person, but really she was quite the talker from being such a huge gossip. Mostly scandalous stories exchanged among the maids. There was no small number of retainers who had originally lost their status, and in the majority of cases the source of the talk about them happened to be Ney.

"You seem unconvinced."

As though trying to guess something from my expression, Riliane began to address me while peering into my face.

"Are you unable to trust in hearsay? Well, We agree that Ney is a loose-lip, but she isn't the kind of woman who would lie. And...don't they say, where there's smoke, there's fire?"

"..."

Riliane continued. "But that oaf is different from Our other retainers, and We can't just simply have him beheaded. Because he's loved so much...For what, We don't know. So there it was. We hit on a solution! If We can't have him executed publicly, then We would have him assassinated secretly!"

Riliane spoke with an innocent expression, as though she had just shared an extremely good idea.

Heheh! I've thought of something fun to do!

I suddenly recalled a memory from our childhood.

The inside of the fireplace actually has an opening put into it. I found it all of a sudden earlier! Let's sneak out of the castle, just the two of us!

Even if she's lost her memories, nothing...nothing about my big sister has changed.

I just barely managed to wring out an, "I can't imagine that...I could defeat Sir Leonhart with my meager skills."

"Don't worry. We have an idea."

Riliane explained all of her plan to me.

I see, with those methods everything would probably go smoothly...But...

"You certainly must not speak of this to anyone else. This is our little secret."

This is our little secret!

That's something Riliane said to me when we were young.

Nothing has changed...Ah, but...

-Where did these gears go mad?-

"We will carry it out tomorrow night. Prepare until then. That's enough for today, though. You can go."