♠ Germaine ~In the Kingdom of Lucifenia, "The Avadonia Household"~
"Haah~Looks like I'm beaten," Dad said, heaving a big sigh.
It was dinner time.
"What's wrong, Dad?" I asked without thinking, looking upon my unusually melancholic looking father. I was sure I hadn't put any of the tomatoes he hated so much in tonight's dinner.
"I've gotten a summons from the princess."
At my father's words I stopped my hand carrying a piece of bread to my mouth.
"...You think it got out that you were taking from the palace stores?"
"Probably, huh? Germaine, your dad's time has finally come. I trust you to take care of my funeral arrangements, when I'm dead."
"Don't say such an ill-omened thing, Dad. You've been alright so far, so I'm sure you'll get through this somehow."
The food shortage had grown especially serious. It had gotten to where I had caught sight of the corpses of people who had died from starvation just scattered here and there across the highway. And with muggers seeking out what little food there was, murders were never ending. Even the food that we were eating right now was a much more humble affair than one would expect for the captain of the royal guard.
When I learned that Dad had stolen food from the palace food stores and divided it up amongst the people, honestly I wasn't able to hide my confusion. But at the same time I was very proud of my father. Leonhart Avadonia of "The Three Heroes" was different from the other, selfish nobles. He was a magnificent person, who thought of the people first and foremost.
"There's nothing wrong with what you're doing, Dad. You should puff up your chest with pride and boldly brazen the whole thing out."
"'Brazen it out'? What a funny expression."
"I guess it is, ha ha."
I laughed, and my father was led into a smile as well. But his expression quickly became sober again, and he quietly murmured, "Maybe it's-atonement."
"What is this all of a sudden? ...If you're honestly talking about confessing everything and atoning for your sins then-"
"No, that's not what I mean...Germaine, what do you think of your old man?"
"...I think you're a great man. You're stern towards me, and you're stern towards other people, but really you're very kind. -That sort of man."
As one might expect, it was a little embarrassing to say that kind of thing directly to my own parent.
But that was truly, honestly how I really felt about him.
"I see...I'm glad, hearing you say that. But your dad-or rather the man called Leonhart Avadonia, isn't necessarily just that in his entirety."
"I don't have a clue what you're getting at."
"I just mean that I haven't only done pretty things in my life. During the war I killed a lot of people too."
My father's words were unusually timid. Strange for his being sober.
"But that's something you did for our country's sake, isn't it? Those were deeds for splendid 'justice', weren't they? You don't have to be ashamed of that."
"True, I fought for our country, and for the king and queen. But now that those two are gone, my role'll be wrapped up too pretty soon, yeah?-That's what I've started to think, lately."
"You're not at a retiring age yet, are you? And if you weren't there, who would put a stop to the princess' arrogance?"
"But on the other hand, a country can stagnate with just the meddling of older people. Maybe the future needs to be handed over to the younger generation, like you and Allen. And people in the older generation like me should leave from the center stage and quietly atone for the sins we've committed up until this point-I just think that would be best."
"...Are you planning to join a monastery? Dad have you been that religious?"
He burst out laughing for a moment, as though my question had been unexpected.
"No, no. It's not the path of atonement you can take with just prayer."
"What even is your 'sin' in the first place?"
"Just now you said that the things I've done were 'justice'. But that's essentially a justice only from the way the people of Lucifenia saw things. I would say that in the eyes of the soldiers and inhabitants of the countries we fought, I would be recognized as 'evil'."
"Dad, if you can be called 'evil'...then what even is 'evil', anyway?"
"Who can say?" That was my father's only reply, his face turning downcast. "...Sorry, sorry, this has turned into a sort of weird conversation hasn't it?"
"It really has. This is so depressing it's turned me off my food."
"Well, in any case I'll probably be late tomorrow night, so you can eat it later."
"Got it, I'll do that. ...If there's anything left to eat, that is."
After that my dad and I continued our meal in silence.
"By the way, Germaine. Your clothes have gotten pretty frayed, haven't they? You're a woman, so you need to take proper care of your personal grooming. I just bought those clothes for your last birthday, you know."
Dad had bought me this outfit to make me seem just a little bit more feminine. It was vivid red, just like his armor. Frankly speaking it was a bit gaudier than what I typically liked to wear, but I'd been so happy with my father buying me a present that I'd been wearing it every day.
"Speaking of a...present...That's right!"
As though having just remembered something, Dad abruptly headed for the storeroom. As soon as he left he was back, holding something in his favorite handbag.
"Dad? What are you doing?"
"What's the matter with me? I completely forgot about it. When I go up to the palace tomorrow, I'm gonna hand this over while I'm there."
The next morning I saw my father off like I always did. My father, wearing his red armor and heading up to the palace with his usual doddering manner.
I had trusted completely that the life we had would always continue on.
YOU ARE READING
Clôture of Yellow: The Daughter Of Evil
General FictionA vast kingdom called Lucifenia, whose popular name was the "Kingdom of Yellow," was ruled by a tyrannical fourteen year-old princess named Riliane. Under her absolute monarchism, everything was exploited from people and the ones who did not obey he...
