Chapter 32: After the Past — After She Was Gone ③

The deepest part of the church.
The upper sanctuary, surrounded by overwhelming stained glass.
Beneath the gaze of the sister goddesses revered by the kingdom, Fortuna and Linnamorat, depicted in the stained glass, one man lay buried among red and white rose petals.
His honey-colored hair shone all the brighter as it caught the sunlight, and his skin, untouched by the sun, was pale.
With his left hand, he grabbed a handful of petals, brought them to his lips, and gently kissed them.

The upper sanctuary was a place only royalty and nobility were permitted to enter.
Therefore, there should have been no one here besides the kingdom’s second prince—Neige.

“Hey.”

Despite that, Neige spoke in that position, as if addressing someone.

“What are you angry about?”

Other than Neige’s voice, nothing could be heard.
There was no one who answered.

“The whole country was celebrating, wasn’t it?”
“The marriage of the ‘fated lovers,’ the crown prince and the crown princess.”

“The wicked woman who tried to tear apart the ‘fated lovers’ was exiled by the crown prince.”
“There are no villains left anywhere.”
“So what is there to be dissatisfied with?”
“You as well, and my brother too.”

“No, maybe your anger and my brother’s anger are different kinds.”
“Do you know why my brother is angry?”

There was still no response to Neige’s voice, which carried a hint of amused recollection.

“It’s been half a year since he married Lady Elvira, and yet my brother is still searching.”
“For the former fiancée he threw away.”
“Hm?”
“The reason my brother wants to find her?”
“Who knows?”
“Ask him yourself.”
“Even if you do, he’ll just make a scary face and refuse to tell you.”

Neige let the hand clutching the petals fall limply onto the floor, which was covered in red and white.

“My thoughts?”
“What do you think?”
“…Ahaha.”
“That’s right.”
“My brother probably wanted to punish her according to the law, rather than exile her.”
“Because while awaiting trial, she would have been kept locked in a cell.”

“And if that happened—”

At the words Neige spoke, someone appeared in the hall that was supposed to be empty.
Neige did not look at them, keeping his gaze lifted toward the stained glass depicting the sister goddesses.

“Worried?”
“Worried about whom?”
“Lady Elvira, who continues to play the tragic heroine?”
“Lady Aelia, who was married off as the crown prince’s secondary consort, little more than a substitute?”
“Or—”

Still without looking at them, Neige continued, gazing up at the stained glass.

“Faustina, who was thrown away without any of her efforts ever being rewarded?”

The other person said nothing.
They descended the stairs and left the upper sanctuary.

Neige’s merciless purple-navy eyes shifted from the stained glass to where that person had been.
There was no one there anymore.

—No, there was someone.
Just not the one Neige had been conversing with moments before.

His brother, Bernhard, stood there.
Concern filled the lapis-colored eyes as he looked at Neige lying on the innermost floor, buried in rose petals.
But that concern quickly hardened into severity.
Bernhard strode over to Neige in long steps.

“What were you talking about just now?”

“Something that has nothing to do with you, Brother.”
“Is it really fine for you to be here?”
“Isn’t your precious wife crying from loneliness?”

“Neige, stop dodging the question.”

“…You see, Brother, I’m still angry.”
“You’re my brother, so I’ll face you and talk to you.”
“But only when there’s a reason.”
“Right now, I don’t feel any such need.”

“Neige…”

“Go on.”
“Hurry back.”

“…You know, don’t you?”

“I don’t.”

He didn’t ask what.
Because he already knew what his brother had been searching for all this time.
Neige closed his eyes.
As if to say there was nothing more to discuss.

Bernhard let out a resigned sigh, then turned on his heel.
When he reached the top of the stairs leading down, he stopped.

“Neige… I envied you.”

“…”

“I envied the fact that you were given genuine, unfiltered emotions.”

“…Who knows?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“More importantly, hurry back.”
“By now, she’s probably crying like a child.”

“…You’re right.”

The sound of footsteps faded away.
Neige was left alone.

When he opened his eyes, the sister goddess with sky-blue hair and pale yellow eyes—the same as Faustina’s—was looking down at him.
He closed his eyes again.

“…You envied me, huh.”
“What about a sickly body like mine is there to envy?”

“Heh…”

The corners of his mouth twisted unnaturally as he laughed—darkly and quietly.