I sat beside Lilia-san under the brilliant glow of the moon. She gazed at the stars for a long time, lost in a heavy silence, before she finally found the words to speak.
"Kaito-san, you know that I’m a former princess, don't you?"
"Yes."
"I was in a very delicate position for a royal. My older brother—the current King—is eighteen years older than I am. If anything, I’m closer in age to his children, the First Prince and First Princess. I believe Luna mentioned before that my brother and I are half-siblings."
"Yes, she did."
"I am the child of the Queen. My brother is the son of a concubine."
I caught my breath. I was stunned by the words Lilia-san spoke so quietly. The current King was the son of a concubine, while Lilia-san was the child of the Queen... To be honest, I had assumed it was the other way around.
"I’m sure you can imagine the friction that followed. My brother ascended the throne at twenty-five, but it was far from a smooth transition. I was the long-awaited first child of a Queen who had struggled to conceive for years, and a powerful faction insisted that I should be the one to rule. In the end, largely because I was still so young, my brother took the throne."
"..."
"If it had ended there, it would have been fine. But then the arguments started all over again—this time concerning his children and the order of succession."
"That’s... well, I’m not sure what to say."
"Oh, please don't misunderstand. Our personal relationship was always good, even if the people around us were constantly making a fuss. My brother doted on me like I was his own daughter, and both the Prince and Princess looked up to me as an older sister."
Lilia-san offered a faint, fleeting smile before her expression turned grave—heavy with the weight of an old regret.
"You may have already realized this, but I no longer use the royal name of Symphonia. I use the family name Albert. The reason is simple: I ran away. I fled the struggle for the succession."
"I always had the impression that you didn't have much interest in the throne, Lilia-san."
"I didn't. However, so many people had placed their expectations on me, and I didn't want to betray them. I stayed in an ambiguous state for a long time, and that was the greatest failure of my life. If only I had clearly stated from the beginning that I wouldn't take the throne... then that incident would never have happened."
Lilia-san bit her lip, the frustration clear on her face. It seemed this was the heart of the matter. She hadn't wanted the crown, but her supporters had been determined to give it to her. Because she hadn't firmly refused, she had been dragged into a political battle.
"Sieg and I have been together for as long as I can remember. Her father, Rei-san, was a Court Mage at the Royal Palace, so Sieg and I often played together when we were children."
"So you and Sieg-san are childhood friends."
"Yes. Sieg was the one who taught me how to use a sword. To me, she is an older sister, a mentor, and my most precious friend."
Lilia-san paused, looking back up at the sky with distant eyes as she continued.
"Sieg was actually the one meant to become the Commander of the Second Division. But she recommended me instead, insisting it would be a valuable experience for my future. She took the position of Vice-commander just so she could support me. She was always helping me, always worrying about me because of my complicated position. And yet, I..."
"..."
"Sieg warned me many times. She told me that if I didn't want the throne, I needed to make my intentions clear. I stayed indecisive, and that led to the worst possible outcome."
"The worst possible outcome?"
I was starting to see the pieces fall into place. Sieg-san had been a member of the knights, and she had lost her voice because of a wound. Combined with the succession struggle Lilia-san mentioned and her look of deep regret... that could only mean one thing.
"It happened during the second year after Luna joined the knights. She had been an adventurer, but I invited her to join the order."
"Wait, Lunamaria-san is a former knight as well?"
"Yes. Though she wasn't particularly attached to the job. When I received my title and resigned from the knights, she quit immediately to follow me."
"That sounds like her."
"It really does. Sieg, Luna, and I were always together. Luna would tease me, I would get angry, and Sieg would soothe me with a wry smile. That was our life."
I could easily visualize the scene. It sounded like the bond of true friends, and I could see just how much Lilia-san cherished those memories. She paused again before finally reaching the crux of the story.
"One day, the First, Second, and Third Divisions were ordered to cooperate on a mission to suppress a massive monster outbreak. There were many powerful beasts, and the scale of the operation was enormous. Based on the intelligence we were given, the divisions were to deploy in three different directions to secure the area."
"..."
"We moved to what the preliminary report identified as a safe zone. I left the command to Sieg and went with Luna to coordinate with the other divisions. That was when the truth came to light."
"The truth?"
"The intelligence given to my division had been swapped. The place where my troops had deployed wasn't a safe zone—it was right next to a monster nest."
"What!?"
I was horrified. It meant Lilia-san’s division had been ambushed while they were completely off-guard.
"As I said, the monsters were incredibly powerful. A single division shouldn't have been able to handle them alone. At worst, they should have been wiped out. But that didn't happen."
"..."
"When Luna and I rushed back to the camp, we found Sieg. She was covered in blood, standing alone against a literal swarm of monsters to protect the wounded knights."
"Sieg-san did that...?"
"Luna and I joined the fight immediately, and the other divisions arrived soon after to finish the subjugation. Thanks to Sieg's desperate stand, my division suffered no casualties. It was a miracle. But Sieg... her injuries were so severe that even recovery magic couldn't fully mend them. She hovered between life and death for days."
I don't know much about combat, but to keep an entire division safe against monsters that required three whole divisions to handle... she must have turned her own body into a shield.
"When Sieg finally regained consciousness several days later, she had lost her voice. The wound to her throat was simply too deep."
"..."
"The person who swapped the reports was never found. But given the timing, it was almost certainly the work of a faction that didn't want me gaining any more military prestige."
"..."
"It was my fault. Because I wasn't firm... because I hesitated... Sieg lost everything."
I didn't know what to say. Listening to her, I didn't think Lilia-san was to blame, but a person as responsible as she is would never accept that. She continued, oblivious to my struggle for words.
"Sieg never blamed me. Rei-san and Fia-san forgave me too, saying that if their daughter didn't hold a grudge, then they wouldn't either. But I can't forgive myself."
"..."
"I accepted a title from my brother and fled the succession struggle. I couldn't stand the thought of my loved ones being hurt because of me anymore. Since then, I’ve searched for a way to restore Sieg’s voice. But every method I found was impossible."
"Is that why you’re so determined to get the Fruit of the World Tree?"
"Yes. It is an incredibly rare treasure. Even as a Duke, I have never even seen one in person."
Lilia-san fell silent then, her story finished. Now I understood why her entire demeanor had changed when she heard about the prize. It was the one thing she had been searching for—the one thing that could finally heal Sieg-san.
"Lilia-san."
"Yes?"
"I don't have any wise words for you, but... well, I don't think you're the one to blame."
"...Thank you."
The conversation ended there, but I felt the sharp, painful tension surrounding her soften just a little.
Dear Mother, Father—I learned a bit more about Lilia-san's past today. She and Sieg-san... they were childhood friends.