The sky was high.

The forest was quiet, as if the clamor from just moments ago had never happened.  Neither the stench of blood nor the corpses lying about had any bearing on it.  In that stillness, the chirping of small birds could be heard.  Sunlight filtered down between the leaves, through a gap which the sky could be seen, like a sole ray of hope.

It was the same color of his younger sister’s eyes, a sister with whom he’d never be able to reunite with.  Perhaps within the sky is where the protection of Dragon God Rave resides?  Maybe my sister is also there?  He let out a sound from his throat at those thoughts.

Do you want to return to the sky, or such?

He felt as if it were a place he longed to return to.  Although, there was no way he could ever go back.  Reality always moved forward without mercy.

—Even now, the footsteps of his executioner drew closer.

“You were quite late, weren’t you, Rudgar-aniue?”

The sound of footsteps crushing dry leaves came to a halt.  In truth, he should have been able to come without making any sound at all, but this was an innocence he had never outgrown.

Sprawled flat on the ground with his arms and legs spread wide, he only moved his mouth.

“The war started long ago.  You may have come to kill me, but you’re far too late. Thanks to that, aren’t I, the most important one here, now on the verge of death?  As always, aniue, your timing is terrible.”
“…Maynard, who did this?”
“Does who it was matter anymore?  It was practically the same as suicide.  Still, I don’t want to be treated the same way as Elynsia-aneue.  She probably couldn’t endure the betrayal of her younger brothers.  A delicate lady till the very end.  Could have done far more than I ever could with all the power she had.  Such nauseating virtue.”

The halted footsteps began to move again.

“We have retaken Noitral.  The Dragon Emperor is headed for Lehrsatz as well.  With you, the one being hoisted by Kratos, brought down from your palanquin, the war will end.”
“It doesn’t matter if you kill me here, Kratos will not back down so easily.  The fiancée of His Highness Crown Prince Gerald is strong.  She lives up to being called the War God’s daughter.”
“However, if I take your head, Kratos will lose its justification for attacking the Rave Empire.”
“Oh?  You believe my head still has value?”

Still staring at the sky, he laughed from his throat.

“You are always late.  That’s why you didn’t make it in time for Arnolt either.  Listeard and Frida too, they all died, everyone.  And now I’ll die too.  Once the war begins, I’ll be of no use to Kratos.”

He had no interest over whether the assassin sent after him truly came from the Rave Empire or not.  Given that the guards who had been assigned to him were always absent, it made no difference either way.  The most likely case was that the intentions of His Highness the Crown Prince of Kratos and his noble eyes, and those of His Excellency the Rave Chancellor who detested impurity had aligned.  The exit of Maynard was inevitable for those two.

He liked acting, so he went along with it.  As far as he could determine, that was the very best he was capable of doing.

Slowly, he tried to move his fingers, but the knife he had pulled from his side wouldn’t stay in his grip.  Slippery from his own blood, it slid out of his right hand.

“The war won’t stop even if you take my head back to the Dragon Emperor.  In the end, you’ll just be executed by His Excellency the Chancellor.  Well, if you’re going to cut off my head, please do it after I’m a corpse.  It won’t take more than an hour.   I’ve taken medicine to keep from feeling pain, but even so, being beheaded while still alive is something I must decline.”

The footsteps stopped once they reached his side.

“…Why did you do this?”
“What a strange question.  Is it really that odd to think that a prince born of the Rave Empire would desire to become emperor?
“As if you would ever think something like that!  You who hated that mother of yours so much—!  I thought you and Arnolt would be able to manage things together!  That’s why I did that”
“It should have been me who died, not Arnolt.  If that had happened, the Rave Empire would not have ended up like that.  Did you come here to say that as well?”

When he turned his head, all he could see were legs.  Even so, the presence of someone holding his breath reached him.

“…The only ones allowed to say anything are Listeard and Frida.”
“Except those two are no longer here.  I heard Listeard died a commendable death.  They say he challenged the Dragon Emperor in an attempt to remonstrate with him and was executed.  Arnolt must be proud.  But in the end, he never became emperor.  It was a pointless death.”
“Don’t cloud the issue.  You’ve always been like this.  Never talking about what really matters.”

His elder brother crouched down and cast his shadow over him.  The sky darkened, but he was able to see his brother’s face.

“Answer me.  Why did you do this?  You’re intelligent.  You must have known you were being used by Kratos.”

This was his first time seeing his brother in several years.  He had grown a beard, his hair was unkempt, and he looked far more aged than he remembered.  Despite having only just entered his thirties, he looked to be either forty or fifty.  He must had endured a great deal.

“You shouldn’t have thought you could become emperor.  You should have never wanted it either.”
“…I saw the Dragon Emperor.  At Noitral.”

He closed his eyes.  Imprinted on the backs of his eyelids was the image of a beautiful young man, wrapped in vivid, blazing silver light.  Despite being told that was his younger brother, it didn’t resonate with him in the slightest.  To begin with, he could hardly believe that figure was even human.

“That is the Dragon Emperor.  No one can deny that.  To frantically try to deny it would only be a sign of having something to hide.”
“Then why did you—”
“But our country as it is now is not the country I desired.”

He scraped the ground with his fingertips.  He could still move his left hand, it seemed.  Clenching his teeth, he tasted blood.

“A country like this isn’t needed.  They should just perish, both of them.  Would serve them right.  It’s wrong that those who should be living die, while those who ought to die continue to live.”
“There isn’t anyone who ought to die.”
“You say that even though you yourself think you’re the one who should have died.  That’s why you can’t stop anything.”

Sharp as ever, his older brother’s eyes widened.

“—There’s still something else?”

Maynard gave a faint smile.

“I told you, didn’t I?  Our ane-ue couldn’t endure the betrayal of her younger brothers.”
“You don’t mean Vissel!?  Impossible!  Isn’t he the chancellor of this country!?”

A soft laugh slipped out.  Almost immediately, it became no different from an unstoppable fit.

“What’s so funny, Maynard! —Tell me, what’s coming next!  What have you set in motion!”
“You can’t see anything at all.  What irony, there was no older brother more devoted to his siblings than you.  You turned in your own mother to protect your siblings, and even tossed aside your right of succession and your status as royalty, only for it to end like this.  Truly, how pitiable.”
“Enough with stories from the past!  I am asking you, what will happen now!”
“It’s a matter that has nothing to do with you.”

His older brother clicked his tongue and tried to stand.  He was good at gathering the trust of others.  He might have allies, might try to contact them.

But he was always soft when it came to his siblings.  He looked away.  He turned his back.  His poor timing was almost a talent.

Maynard sprang up, took the needle he had concealed in the hem of his left sleeve, and drove it into his brother’s back.

“Wha…ah, May….”
“I… intend to support Lutiya.  That child with no one by his side.”

His brother stubbornly muttered, “Laica,” while shoving him aside.  He tried to run, but quickly staggered and then leaned against a nearby tree.

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