Chapter 4: 1.3

The sky was slightly cloudy.

Beatrice was walking down a straight corridor. The path led to the courtyard of the royal palace of Hierbas, where stone flowers were in full bloom.

(I’m dreaming a nostalgic dream.)

Beatrice thought in the back of her mind. In the world of sleep, where memories were linked together, it was not uncommon to come across yourself telling yourself that this was a dream.

Beatrice looked at the well-polished window glass and saw that she had the face of her child self.

She was only a little over ten years old. A warm, small hand was tucked into her right hand. It was her younger brother, Samuel. He looked up at her innocently with his moss-colored, mottled eyes.

Beatrice always ended up spoiling those eyes that he inherited from their grandfather.

In place of their grandfather, who was only able to be with her for a short time, God had left the angelic Samuel.

The Bertram children of this generation all happened to have golden hair and green eyes, but the Bertram dynasty itself didn’t especially have repeated familial marriages. She had heard that in the past, there were princesses with silver hair or red hair. Her older brother Albert and herself both inherited the distinctive Bertram traits in their entirety.

The youngest child, Samuel, had a slightly different hair color than his older siblings. His face was very similar to theirs, but his had a mysterious air that seemed to gently envelop him in the dim light. Perhaps it was because of his vague and precarious-looking eyes.

(Back then, I envied Samuel’s eyes.)

My Samuel——before meeting Garrett, that was what she called him, and Beatrice used to put him on her lap.

Samuel, who was still only seven years old, couldn’t wait to play outside. He was trying his best to hold back his eager legs and match his sister’s pace.

“Brother.”

She called out to the back that was a step ahead of them. “What,” Albert replied without turning around.

“Let’s go play in the garden for a bit before you give Samuel his sword practice.”

“Playing is for after practice. Samuel is always getting fevers, so he can’t train. If he trains his body, he will no longer be confined to his bed.”

“But, it might snow in the afternoon.”

“Someone who flinches from snow is unfit to become a king of Hierbas. Even if it snows heavily, you can still play outside.”

Samuel spoke plaintively.

“Brother is always mean to me. If it snows too much, I’ll catch a cold.”

“If you catch a cold from just snow, you must give up your claim to the throne when you come of age. I don’t need you burdening my dynasty.”

“Sister.”

Samuel tugged on Beatrice’s dress.

“The stone garden is most beautiful on a cold and sunny day like today, Brother. Countess Berni told me that even teachers can get tired as well.”

Countess Berni was one of the siblings’ governesses. She was unusually knowledgeable about politics and history for a woman.

“And?”

“It means that even you need to rest, Brother. And it’s not just your dynasty. We siblings have to help each other.”

“Camilla too!”

Samuel added.

Their cousin Camilla, who was two years older than Beatrice, had said, “I can’t believe you’re going out in this weather,” and didn’t move from her spot in front of the fireplace. Beatrice would say that she made the right call.

Camilla was more interested in the latest dresses and cosmetics brought by the foreign ambassador than playing outside.

“Just for a little while.”

Albert relented, and the three of them walked to the courtyard. In the frigid Hierbas, it was difficult to get brilliant flowers to bloom. In the courtyard, they admired the flower sculptures made of stone. Although she had used Samuel as an excuse, Beatrice also liked the garden.

Albert sat down on a bench in the arbor and spoke sulkily.

“They won’t change no matter how many times you look at them. The flowers here aren’t alive.”

“Do you prefer living flowers, Brother?”

“Of course. Even though they’re just flowers, they’re still alive, so they have reactions.”

“Reactions…”

“No sooner than you see them bloom beautifully, they’ll wilt, dry up, wither or decay. That is what living things are.”

There’s nothing interesting about looking at rocks, he said.

Albert placed great importance on what the other person was thinking “right now.” That was why he wanted to put the people he liked within sight. His surroundings were filled with the things he liked. Friends, attendants, and a private room full of sculptures and paintings. He was always loud and noisy and never knew how to enjoy things quietly.

However, there were also many who left him. To be precise, Albert drove them away.

For him, did they wither and decay…?

Anyone who displeased him in the slightest would not have a seat the next day. Except for his blood siblings, that is.

“Drying and withering…it’s just like Brother to not enjoy the different colors and scents.”

“In the middle of difficulty lies the true value of a living thing.* The actions it takes when cornered is the best expression of its nature.”

——I wonder if he’s referring to that incident the other day.

Beatrice became lost in thought.

The two rulers were currently battling over the review of the tax revenues. Beatrice’s father was against collecting taxes from the working class. On the other hand, Camilla’s mother—Beatrice’s aunt—determined that raising taxes was unavoidable. Although there was still plenty of money in the treasury, the provinces had to prepare for the stockpiling of goods before the onset of winter.

The number of supplies stockpiled was extremely uneven from region to region. In some areas, there was enough to keep the villagers’ bellies full until spring and even bake a cake for the New Year’s celebration, while in other areas, it was doubtful if there would even be firewood to stave off the cold that day.

This year’s cold wave came earlier than usual, and the kings had to take immediate action.

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In Hierbas, death from starvation and freezing to death were considered the most miserable deaths.

In order to save even one citizen from danger, the rich must undergo great hardships.

“I never would have expected that to happen.”

Samuel was innocently collecting the small stones that were spread out in the garden. Sometimes there were interesting-looking blue-tinged and green-tinged stones. Beatrice used to play the same game with Albert next to her.

While the two kings were feuding, the poorer regions were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the monarchy. The monarchy in Hierbas tended to be unstable.

As a result, when their father—the king—visited those regions, his carriage was attacked and his right arm got injured. Camilla’s mother became so frightened that she shut herself and her daughter inside the palace.

It was fine as long as a wise king was on the throne, but if that was not the case, discontent would erupt all over the land. Queen Adele had been dead for quite some time now. It was time for the seams to start coming apart.

“It’s hard to see the outside world when you’re living peacefully in a palace. ——Also, I doubt if it really was the people who did it.”

“…Huh?”

“Enemies don’t reveal themselves easily. This joint rule might seem peaceful, but in reality, it is full of problems. Rights and responsibilities are dispersed, and the nobles have little to gain. For those cunning people who know the past Hierbas, it is tedious and disappointing.”

Behind the people, there was a privileged class that stirred them up——

It was true that their father was trying to curtail the benefits of the privileged class. But…

(Not knowing who the enemy is. That is what the palace is.)

Is that smile fake or real? Can I trust that consideration or not?

No one, not even the most trustworthy person, could know the depths of your heart.

“Tris.”

The only person who called Beatrice by that name was Albert. Not even her parents or close friends called her Tris. Until Samuel was born, it was just the two of them. Because of Samuel’s weak body, they had only recently begun living in the same palace.

Their mother’s attention was focused on their younger brother, who was born sickly. Since Beatrice was becoming lonely, Albert started taking care of her. Sometimes even doing the jobs of the maids.

As the eldest child, he was more aware than anyone else of the fact that he would inherit the throne.

He wanted to raise the younger sister who he would make to help him with his work with his own hands.

Beatrice sometimes had a misapprehension. That she was her brother’s property. That she was a puppet who ensured Albert’s power and danced under his hands. Beatrice’s girlhood was almost over. She was beginning to realize that there was something behind her older brother’s kindness.

Albert spoke with a strict expression.

“Don’t carelessly associate with Aunt’s people. My salon will soon be completed in the palace. The only people you will be allowed to talk to are the people there. I’ll get you people you can trust.”

——I wonder if that’s really a good thing.

What’s the point of joint rule…Beatrice thought as she gazed blankly at the stone flowers that would never wither.

“Then I also want to make allies for you, Brother.”

“…You’ll be able to fulfill that role well in the future.”

“What does that mean…?”

“Look, Sister! I found three stones that have the same color!”

Some of the white stones were chipped and shining an emerald green color. Colored stones had been mixed in so that the landscape of the garden would not look so monotonous, but it was true that there weren’t so many beautiful speckled stones lying around.

Samuel loved sparkly things, and he would often sneak open their mother’s jewelry box to take the gems in his hands and stare at them. He enjoyed looking for stones so much that he seemed to have forgotten about the cold.

“I found them, so the biggest one is mine.”

Samuel was about to grip the largest stone in his palm. Albert took it away from him.

“Ah!”

“At the start of things like this, it’s good manners to ask me, the oldest, ‘Brother, which one would you like?'”

“It’s my stone. You took it.”

“If you don’t want to give it away, you shouldn’t have shown it off in the first place. The very act of boasting is vulgar and it lowers your dignity as a person.”

“Brother, it’s only a stone…”

“Tris, he’ll always take advantage of your kindness because you spoil him.”

She soothed Samuel, who was beginning to cry, and offered him the prettiest of the two remaining stones.

“In your little hands, this is a wonderful gemstone. And since Samuel was the one who found the stones in the first place, Samuel’s the most amazing boy in the world.”

Comforted by Beatrice, Samuel regained his good mood. She was no longer at the age where she would be delighted over stones, but in front of Samuel, she placed the remaining small and ugly one in her pocket for Samuel.

Albert roughly picked up a sniffling Samuel.

“Tris.”

He put the large stone he took from Samuel in Beatrice’s hand.

The younger brother blinked his eyes in his older brother’s arms.

“You’re giving it to Sister?”

“That’s right. Tris is a girl, so she doesn’t need sword practice, and if you find a pretty stone, you should give it to her without showing it off.”

“That’s not fair. She doesn’t have to practice, and she doesn’t have to do anything to get a pretty stone.”

“She doesn’t do nothing. …Women have the big job of gambling their lives.”

Yes——that’s why Brother calls me Tris.

To bind me to the fact that I’m the closest family member to him, more than anyone else…

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