Chapter 50: After She Was Gone — 7

To Discard, and To Be Discarded

In the upper chapel of La Ruota Della Church, which enshrines the sister goddesses worshipped by the kingdom, Elvira received a blessing on the day she turned nineteen.
“Blessed bride,” the priest with silver hair and blue eyes had proclaimed at the wedding of the crown prince and crown princess.

Regardless of noble or royal status, during weddings couples swear their love before the statues of Fortuna, the Goddess of Fate, and Rinnamorato, the Goddess of Charm and Love, in a place known as the Hall of Offerings.
If the eyes of the sister goddesses shine at that moment, the couple is recognized as blessed by the goddesses and promised eternal happiness.

That had been the case for Bernhard and Elvira.
The eyes of Fortuna and Rinnamorato had glowed a beautiful ruby red, the color symbolizing love.

As those around them rejoiced that the “fated lovers” had been blessed by the goddesses, and as Elvira wept tears of joy at becoming a blessed bride, she did not notice.
She did not notice Bernhard, staring blankly up at the sister goddesses with all color drained from his face.

After the annual birthday blessing ended, Elvira straightened and bowed to the priest.
When the priest bestowed the prescribed words, Bernhard, who had been watching from behind, stepped forward.

With a girlish smile, Elvira clung to Bernhard.

“Bernhard.”
“Good work, Elvira.”
“Yes.
Hehe, I’m really looking forward to today’s birthday party.
I’ll be able to see my brother, Father, and Mother again after so long.”

It would be Elvira’s first time seeing her parents since the wedding.
A month earlier had been her brother Kane’s birthday, but since it was the year he succeeded to the ducal title, they exchanged little more than greetings.
After that, Kane had been busy greeting others and dealing with nobles far older than himself whose duties he had inherited from Citrin.
Elvira’s parents had not attended Kane’s twenty-first birthday party.
She had wanted to ask him why they were absent, but Kane had been too busy moving about, and they never spoke beyond a greeting.

For the celebration of the crown princess’s nineteenth birthday today, not only Kane but also their parents had been properly invited.
Elvira believed they had retired to the territory at the same time Kane inherited the title, leaving everything to their dependable son and enjoying a leisurely life.

There were so many things she wanted to ask them once she saw them.
As Elvira smiled innocently, looking forward to the evening, Bernhard gently stroked her black hair and turned his lapis-blue eyes toward the priest who watched them with a pleasant expression.

“Uncle, may I have a moment of your time after this?”
“Bernhard?”
“Sorry.
Please return to the castle first.
There’s something important I need to discuss with my uncle.”
“Then I’ll stay as well.
I am your wife, Bernhard.”

“Heh…”

Between Bernhard, who wanted to move Elvira away from the scene, and Elvira, who refused to yield because she was his wife and wanted to hear the conversation together, the priest let out a small laugh without changing his expression.
With a face that suggested fond amusement, Elvira blushed shyly, looking somewhat pleased.
Bernhard, however, furrowed his brow in pain at the priest’s smile.

“How harmonious, how very fine.
You are a couple that represents this kingdom.
From now on as well, remain close and affectionate.”
“Yes.
Of course.”
“Crown Prince.
Return as you are today.
Tonight is the Crown Princess’s birthday party, and you will have limited free time.
I will remain here, so come visit me whenever you like.”
“…Just a few minutes will be enough, Uncle.”

Seeing Bernhard’s stubborn insistence, the priest smiled wryly.
After stroking Elvira’s hair and ordering the guards to protect her, he had her escorted out of the upper chapel.

The priest—Ciel—gestured to the church chairs and said, “Shall we sit?”
Leaving one seat empty, Ciel sat beside Bernhard, and at just that moment, a well-groomed young man ascended the stairs from the lower chapel, carrying a tray with a teapot and two teacups.

“Ciel.”
“Oh, your timing is perfect.”
“I saw the Crown Princess and the knight leave earlier, but the Crown Prince wasn’t with them, so I thought perhaps he had something to discuss with you.”
“Hehe.
Seems like it.”

The beautiful young man had rose-colored hair—only the left side reaching all the way to his shoulder—and eyes of the same hue.
At the sight of him, Bernhard’s eyes widened.
The man set the tray on the church chair and poured tea into the cups with practiced hands.
Holding each saucer in both hands, he offered one to Ciel and one to Bernhard.

“Hmm?”
Ciel tilted his head at the scent drifting from him.

“Vered, is it just me, or do you smell a bit burnt?”
“Ah, yeah.
I failed at baking a pie, and I was cleaning up afterward.”
“A pie?”
“I wanted to eat one.
I thought the fire was too weak and added too much wood, so it burned.”
“Hahaha.
That’s cute.”

While Bernhard sat there feeling stifled and uncomfortable, Ciel bantered lightly with Vered.

After finishing his exchange with Vered, Ciel turned back to Bernhard and prompted him to speak.
Bernhard glanced at Vered, but Ciel told him to treat him as if he were not there.
Even so, Bernhard did not want a third party hearing what he was about to say.

Especially not him—
A memory he did not want to recall threatened to surface, and Bernhard gave a small shake of his head.
Still conscious of Vered’s presence, he finally spoke to Ciel.

“…Do you know, Uncle?”
“Know what?”
“…Where Faustina is now.”

“….”

Ciel furrowed his brows into a gentle curve as he drank his tea.
Vered leaned back against the wall, gazing up at the stained glass ceiling.

“That’s a strange thing to ask, Crown Prince.
Why her?
And why do you think I would know?”
“You cherished Faustina, Uncle.
And… Faustina was fond of you as well.”
“I am, after all, the one in charge of the church.
She is the reincarnation of an important goddess.
It is only natural that I would treasure her.”

“….”

Having more or less grasped what Bernhard wanted to ask, Ciel drained his teacup in one go.
Even though it was hot.
He took the teapot himself and poured more tea, then turned his attention back to Bernhard.

“But I don’t know.
I have no idea where Faustina is.”
“….”
“In the first place, she was about to commit a crime—even if she did not carry it out.
You exposed that, and you intended to punish her.
What would you do even if you knew where she was, after she was disowned by her family through the combined influence of the Queen and the Duke?”
“I want to bring her back…”
“Why?”

Still wearing his fixed smile, Ciel waited for Bernhard’s answer.

“…Because Faustina abandoned me.”

“?”

The unexpected words made Ciel blink repeatedly.
Vered, who had been gazing at the stained glass, also turned his eyes toward Bernhard.

“…Abandoned you?
Where, exactly?”
“…You wouldn’t know, Uncle, always being here in the church.
No… no one around us has noticed either.
Everyone thinks I chose Elvira.
But that’s not what really happened.”

Ciel kept the rim of the teacup to his lips as he tried to process the meaning of Bernhard’s words.
Faustina abandoned Bernhard?
Not Bernhard abandoning Faustina?
He did not choose Elvira?
Then why had she become Crown Princess and now stood at his side?

—Good grief.

Even as he thought this, Ciel already knew the answer and merely shrugged.
Vered seemed to think the same and spoke up.

“Ciel, it’s about time.”
“Already?”
“Yes.”
“Sorry, Crown Prince.
It seems we’ve run out of time.”
“No… I’m sorry for taking up your time.”

With a dark expression, leaving his tea untouched, Bernhard started down the stairs from the upper chapel.

“Crown Prince.”

At the Bernhard who was about to descend, Ciel spoke these words.

“I will refrain from asking why you are searching for Faustina.
But forget her now.
She tried to commit a crime, you exposed it, and you saved an innocent girl.
You then joined with that girl, and were blessed not only by the people, but by the goddesses themselves.
…You are the happiest man in this kingdom.
Forget, be happy, and lead the people.”

“…Excuse me.”

After seeing Bernhard bite his lip and clench his hands so tightly they might bleed, Ciel drank his tea.

“Bad taste.”

Vered sat down in the seat Bernhard had just vacated.

“You were clearly irritated, weren’t you.”
“What are you talking about.”
“He threw her away and now wants to pick her back up.
He’s exactly like the king.”

Ciel’s fingers holding the teacup twitched.

“Pushing someone away, being pushed away in turn, and only then realizing what mattered most.
Since they’re parent and child, it’s only natural they’d be alike inside and out.”
“…What are you trying to say?”

The smile he had worn until moments ago vanished, replaced by irritation, as Ciel fixed Vered with sharp blue eyes.

“I’m not telling.”
“…I thought so.”

After finishing his second cup of tea, Ciel stood up.
He placed both his and Bernhard’s teacups on the tray and lifted it with both hands.

He headed for the stairs to descend from the upper chapel.
Vered walked alongside him.

“Well then, shall we go eat that burnt pie?”
“Ah, that.
I cried while throwing it away.”
“Then let’s make one together.
If everyone makes it together, it’ll surely turn out delicious.
With more people, we can make more varieties.”
“Yes, yes.
As you command, Ciel.”

They descended to the lower chapel, exited the church, and circled around to the back, walking along a path surrounded by trees.

Vered cast a glance at the carriage bearing the royal crest as it sped away through the front gate.
Ciel usually called his nephew Bernhard by the nickname “Bell,” yet today he had not called him that even once.

“…Seriously.
Father and son really do end up suffering the same fate.”