Arc 10 - Chapter 11 - "The Reason for the Dragon Gem's Radiance"

「Don't you think Sakura and Tiga are awful? If I'd known it would end up like this, I would have... I would have...!」

「Weren't you thinking of using a sacrament to save someone, all for your own sake?」

「Even if I'd known, I probably would have done it anyway—but the way I feel about it is completely different depending on whether I knew or not!」

Apparently aware of her own headlong impulsiveness and having given herself a proper self-assessment, Filóre wailed as she glared, eyes brimming, at Sakura seated across from her.

Sakura, who had styled herself as an older-sister substitute, knit her brows at Filóre’s words,

「Even if you say it like that, we’re just as troubled as you are, you know. Subaru and Beatrice, you understand, right?」

「I don’t know why you’re dragging me and Beako into this, but I kinda get that this is a situation that was bound to happen.」

「Putting aside who’s responsible, from watching you two go back and forth, it’s easy to imagine Filóre being the one who set things in motion, I suppose.」

Saying that, Subaru and Beatrice, shaking their heads in perfect “good grief” unison, voiced their opinions in response to the question from Sakura, who was sitting right beside them.

Incidentally, as for the seating on the facing sofas in the reception room, on the host side sat Emilia and Otto, with Filóre clinging to Emilia’s arm, while on the guest side Sakura sat alongside Subaru and Beatrice, who had changed seats.

In addition, by the wall stood Petra, who had been there from the start, joined now by Rem, who had guided Filóre in, making the reception room all the more lively.

「That said, the reason the noise level’s shot up is pretty much all on Filóre. Also, why are we sitting over here? These pairings are weird.」

「How could you! Emilia, did you hear that? Subaru is trying to tear apart me and Emilia, her one-and-only friend. Don’t tell me he’s an agent of the Church…?」

「If anyone’s an agent of the Church, it’s obviously you.」

At Filóre, whose expression all but screamed sheer dread, Beatrice sighed. Emilia, whose arm Filóre clung to, gave a wry smile as she stroked her friend’s head,

「Come on, don’t look at Subaru like that, Filóre. Subaru is suuuuper kind, and he’s not going to wedge himself between us. To begin with, my relationship with Subaru and my relationship with Filóre are completely different things, aren’t they?」

「R-right, that’s what I think too. …By the way, is one of them more important?」

「Eh? That’s…」

「On second thought, forget it! Please don’t! The scripture says this, too! 『The trials bestowed by the Dragon are born of love. Just as gold is purified by fire, so too does the soul pass through tribulations of love to emit a radiance worthy of the Dragon’s divine will.』」

Burying her face in the scripture for solace, Filóre looked less like a devout follower of the “Church of the Divine Dragon” and more like someone using its teachings to put a lid on anything inconvenient.

Because she cut off Emilia’s words, they also lost the chance to hear from her own mouth where Subaru currently stood in her favorability, leaving Subaru himself feeling unsatisfied.

That aside—

「About what you said earlier… Filóre taking part in the Royal Selection is, after all, as a stand-in for Priscilla, isn’t it?」

Leaving Filóre, who was turning red and pale all on her own, to the side, Emilia turned the point of her question to Sakura opposite her.

To that, Sakura narrowed her droopy, sleepy-looking eyes just a touch,

「…At the very least, there’s no doubt that Priscilla-chan’s death is one of the reasons. Otherwise, it would contradict the description on the Dragon History Stone.」

「At any rate, the number of the Dragon’s priestesses—royal selection candidates—recorded on the Dragon History Stone is five… As a policy of the “Church of the Divine Dragon,” you can’t engage in conduct that would go against that, correct?」

「Of course, don’t go thinking that just because that premise collapsed, we took the opportunity to march into the castle with our heads held high. Even if a vacancy for a Dragon’s priestess opened with Priscilla-chan absent, the Church’s policy was to keep its distance.」

「And yet, that isn’t how it turned out. The reason for that being…」

Otto deliberately left the conclusion unsaid, and everyone’s gaze in the room converged on Filóre, who had inadvertently created the first ripple that led to this situation.

Her throat tightening under the discomfort of those stares, she then clung to Emilia,

「N-no, Emilia! I never had the slightest intention of becoming your enemy! It was just a string of bad coincidences! A-a-anyway!」

Turning pale, Filóre snapped her eyes wide and fixed them on Sakura,

「To begin with, I protest that the Church’s culture of secrecy is beyond questionable! This is all because they raised me like some sheltered girl up to this very day! Sure, it’s not like I didn’t think it was nice and easy being excused from the studies the other kids had to do, but for that to tear me and Emilia apart… I’m not the one at fault!」

「There, there, don’t snivel, Filóre. I’m not angry, and I’ve never once thought of the other royal selection candidates as enemies.」

「E-Emilia…」

Emilia’s gentle hand stroking her head soothed Filóre’s stormy heart.

Seeing that exchange, Sakura, looking surprised, put a hand to her mouth and said,

「Usually it drags on and on from here, but Emilia, you’re really good at handling Filóre… Do you have any tips?」

「Putting aside jokes like, ‘Any Filóre gets neutralized in the face of Emilia’s soft, fluffy, all-encompassing kindness’… what did you come here for in the end, Filóre?」

From everything she’d said and done so far, it was clear this wasn’t a declaration of war over the Royal Selection. Surely she hadn’t sprinted across the royal capital purely to complain and plead her case.

「Is that so? I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if I had.」

「I’m inclined to agree, but that won’t get the conversation anywhere…」

「Wait. Do you really take me for someone that thoughtless? It’s true I often act without thinking, but today is different. I have a proper plan.」

「A plan?」

「Yes, a plan! I don’t want to take part in the Royal Selection. But I do want to fulfill my duties as a ‘Saintess’ by using the sacred rites. So I’ll have my friend Emilia hide me, and we’ll secretly save the people of Priestella! How about that!?」

「Is this a Saturday-morning cartoon evil organization’s crime plan?」

It was a plan so full of holes a child could spot them. Not that it even qualified as a crime plan since the goal was helping people, but the biggest problem was that Sakura had already found her.

In other words, the scheme had stumbled at the starting line.

「Also, if it got reported that we ‘kidnapped’ a ‘Saintess’ of the Church of the Divine Dragon, that’d be bad news.」

「Lady Emilia can be like that too, but not realizing you’re a walking bomb is dangerous, you know.」

「Eh, does that mean Emilia and I make a good match…?」

「That’s not the part to be getting bashful about.」

Whatever confidence she had was for naught; Filóre’s plan was summarily rejected.

Plus, Subaru felt Filóre was taking the situation a bit too lightly. She’d been trying to steer things toward withdrawing from the Royal Selection—but—

「You can’t just throw away your status as a royal selection candidate on your own. Right?」

「Emilia…」

「I study a lot every day, too. I feel like I understand the kingdom far better than at the start… and the binding force of what’s written on the Dragon History Stone, too. I had my own reasons for wanting to take part in the Royal Selection, but even without them, I don’t think I could have refused.」

Looking at Filóre hugging her own arms, Emilia said this in a serious tone.

That royal selection candidates have no right to refuse is easy enough to grasp. Last night he’d spoken with Garfiel and Petra as well, and the pact with the Dragon in the Dragon Kingdom runs deep and unyielding.

In fact, Felt once tried to refuse participation in the Royal Selection. But in exchange for the custody of Old Man Rom, who had tried to take her away, she was forced to take part.

That amounted to a kind of coercive force: to ensure the Dragon Priestess named in the Dragon History Stone participates in the Royal Selection, the kingdom will stop at nothing.

Emilia was saying the same would apply to Filóre.

「But… but I never wanted this, you know?」

「Yes, I’m sure that’s true. If you hadn’t been able to make the insignia shine, Filóre, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. …But the Dragon Orb did shine, and Filóre was chosen. You, more than anyone, understand what that means.」

「Uu…」

At Emilia’s words—tinged with something almost maternal—Filóre drooped her head weakly.

Filóre is a nun of the Church of the Divine Dragon. Needless to say, as someone who holds faith and reverence for the Dragon, she’s in a position to feel most keenly the binding force of the Dragon History Stone’s words.

One could even call everything she’d said and done thus far a childlike escape from reality.

However—

「In that case… yes, then how about this? Emilia and I form a friends’ alliance. Then I’ll do anything to help Emilia become the King. That way, the Royal Selection…」

「Thank you, Filóre. —But I really, really hate that.」

Quietly, yet with unshakable firmness, Emilia declared it plainly.

At the noble ring of that silver-bell voice, Filóre’s throat gave a faint squeak. So that she could see it, Emilia reached into her clothes and opened the hand that clasped the insignia.

At once, the overflowing red radiance of the Dragon Orb bathed the reception room of the Royal Hall in blinding light.

"Like I said earlier, I had a reason from the very beginning for wanting to take part in the Royal Selection."

Indicating the Dragon Orb’s dazzling glow, Emilia spoke for Filóre’s benefit.

Emilia’s initial motivation for entering the Royal Selection was to borrow the power of the Dragon’s Blood kept in the Royal Castle, in order to save her homeland that had been frozen in ice. But as time passed, as she met people and learned things, the feelings with which she staked herself on the Royal Selection began to change.

Even so, that first wish would not shift and vanish.

And—,

"The others are the same. Crusch-san has hers, Anastasia-san has hers, Felt-chan has hers... and Priscilla has Priscilla’s. Each had something they wanted to do, and that’s why they all joined the Royal Selection. No, that’s not it."

"Not it? Not what?"

"Surely, those who can make the Dragon Orb shine have reasons for wanting to join the Royal Selection—things they can only achieve by doing so. If that’s the case, then you do too."

"I... as well...?"

Filóre blinked in a daze, and Emilia gave her a valiant, delicate smile.

She had proposed that, if she became a Royal Selection candidate, she would support the wish of her friend Emilia, but to make that Filóre’s wish didn’t quite sit right.

With a reason like that, she could not be acknowledged as one of those taking part in the Kingdom of Lugunica’s Royal Selection.

"Please, don’t say no right away just because you’re overwhelmed from when you first heard it. Think it over very, very carefully. You probably won’t be allowed to refuse to participate in the Royal Selection. But I don’t want someone who’s joining only because they have no choice to sit in Priscilla’s chair."

—Those were strong words, a will, and also a prayer.

"——"

Filóre blinked at Emilia, who had confronted her head-on with the full measure of her feelings. With tension rising between the two of them, close enough to touch—at zero distance—no one opened their mouth.

In the silence that followed, neither Subaru nor anyone else wanted to wedge their presence in—so that no unnecessary impurities would be mixed into the choice to come.

"—Yes"

It was Emilia, who had been watching Filóre from the closest distance, who sent ripples across the surface of that silence. She narrowed the eyes framed by her long lashes and held out the insignia in her hand to Filóre.

Filóre accepted what was offered on reflex. —Even if it was done without conscious intent, the Dragon Orb on the insignia does not pick and choose when to shine.

"—If I were, by any chance, to participate in the Royal Selection."

Even in Filóre’s hand as she murmured this, the Dragon Orb shone just as it had for Emilia. As it flickered with a light the same color as her own eyes, Filóre declared.

Confronted with the inescapable fate that is the Royal Selection, what banner of conviction would she hold aloft?

"I want to overhaul the relationship the kingdom and the Church have had until now. So that, out of some odd fixation, the people of the castle don’t hesitate to reach out to the Church, and the people of the Church don’t hesitate to reach out to the castle."

"——"

"If I become king, I’ll make this a country where no one hesitates to help others."

It was, at this stage, nothing more than an off-the-rack piece of idealism, still sorely lacking in details.

Even so, it was Filóre’s own wish—to break through and improve the entanglements and frustrations she had grown up with, lived with, and felt as a member of the Church of the Divine Dragon.

And no one would laugh at Filóre, who could hold that up, as someone forced onto a palanquin by those around her and grudgingly made to join the Royal Selection just to make up the numbers.

"...We really should have chased off an unannounced visit, after all."

They heard Otto mutter that under his breath in response to Filóre’s conclusion.

Lightly dressed without hat or mantle, he idly ran his fingers through his unruly gray hair as he thus assessed what had just transpired here.

In truth, one could understand how Otto would feel like saying that.

"We’ve got an ultra-powerful rival showing up at this point, after all."

"I think this is a laughable act of aiding the enemy... and the problem is that the one who encouraged it is none other than our leader."

"Relax. The stronger the opponent, the more Emilia-tan somehow hits her stride."

"If you’re trying to cheer me up, could you say something a little better!?"

"Even I feel like sympathizing with Otto after that. But..."

Breaking off there, Beatrice narrowed her eyes and, as if dazzled, gazed straight ahead—at Emilia and Filóre—and Subaru felt the same.

Admittedly, if you isolate just the events, you'd have to call it a stupid stunt. I can even picture Roswaal hearing the report later and crumpling to his knees—a comical scene.

But it was worth it. In exchange for the arrival of an incredibly powerful rival, without a doubt—

「――I absolutely won't lose to Filóre, either」

――Emilia, who aims to become the King, has undeniably come into her own.

△▼△▼△▼△

「――And that is why I will humbly accept the request to participate in the Royal Selection」

Placing a hand to her chest and making her insignia gleam brightly with the other, Filóre declared it with proud, fearless poise, as if to say she had nothing whatsoever to hold her back.

The location was the Royal Castle—not the throne room where they were summoned whenever something happened, but a conference room apparently used for more compact discussions. In a space about the size of a school classroom stood a round table where roughly twenty people could put their heads together, and it seemed that meetings of the 'Council of Wise Men' and the castle's civil officials were often held here.

「See, on the day the Royal Selection began, after Subaru got kicked out of the room, this was the conference room where everyone moved to and talked things over.」

「Ah, the one in the back while I was getting utterly torn apart by Julius.」

「I still can't remember it yet, but… Subaru, did you fight with Julius? You made up properly… right? That's why the two of you are suuuuper close now.」

「Whether he and I are suuuuper close is another matter, but it was a necessary event for me and Emilia-tan to become suuuuper close.」

To Emilia's hushed explanation, Subaru curled his lips and answered that way.

In this world where Julius's 'name' is still erased, Subaru has no desire to dig deeply into how the parties involved remember his disgrace that day, not even for the sake of self-admonition.

Fortunately, empty seats stood out in today's conference room, so almost none of the people from that day were present. ――After all, this was what's called a top-secret meeting, with attendance from each camp kept to the bare minimum; even from the Emilia faction, only Emilia, Subaru, and his partner Beatrice had been admitted.

That said, one of those extremely few participants—the long-bearded old man who received them—was, in fact, one of the people involved that day.

The elder—Miklotov McMahon of the 'Council of Wise Men'—watched Filóre, who had undergone a downright refreshing change of heart, and

「Hmmm. As the ones who issued the request, we are most grateful for that answer… but may I ask again? Permission was granted, but why is it that Lady Emilia and Lord Natsuki are accompanying you here?」

「This morning, before coming up to the castle like this, I asked them for advice. Emilia is an irreplaceable friend of mine, and Subaru is her knight… If I had my way, I would have brought along everyone in Emilia's camp who supported my declaration of resolve.」

「If you did go that far, both I and the Church would lose our standing, you know.」

As Filóre answered Miklotov's question, Sakura—the only one accompanying her on the Church's side—said this with a troubled look.

Filóre looked dissatisfied with that answer, but it would be odd to have Emilia's whole lineup crowding her big moment, so Sakura's view was the more reasonable one.

However, what snagged for Miklotov as he smoothed his long beard seemed different from the impression Subaru had.

The wise elder narrowed his intelligent eyes, slipped in his habitual “Hmmm,” and—

「Friends, you say. Miss Filóre of the 'Church of the Divine Dragon' and Lady Emilia.」

「…Is that what this is? Like, even though Emilia-tan is a silver-haired half-elf and Filóre is a nun of the 'Church of the Divine Dragon,' you're still saying that kind of thing?」

「Hey, Subaru…」

At the mutter that reached them, Subaru instinctively leaned forward, and Emilia chided him.

But aside from Subaru and Beatrice, none of their reliable comrades were here. Which meant Subaru had to speak up on everyone's behalf and lay it on Miklotov.

As the first knight entrusted with Emilia, he had to stand firm and fight against unfairness.

「Miklotov-san, you should know what Emilia has done over this past year and a half. Even knowing all of that, I want the country's bigwigs to stop looking at this girl through tinted lenses. Half-elf or whatever—can't we be done with that already?」

「Saying “be done with it” does, to some extent, overly disregard public sentiment. From the outset, it has been obvious that, between the Witch and Lady Emilia, there is no commonality beyond the match in appearance and race… and yet the fact that it is only that is, itself, enormous. You understand.」

「Ngh…」

Subaru pressed hard, but Miklotov made him shrink back with seasoned rhetoric. Once again, what trips him up is the bedrock common sense of this world’s people—something Subaru can’t truly feel in his bones.

And that doesn’t apply only to Emilia, the silver-haired half-elf.

“Inevitably, the fact that you, a nun of the Church of the Divine Dragon, would become a royal selection candidate will be met by the people with great astonishment. It would mean bending long-standing custom on our side as well. It was a most vexing decision.”

“…Yes, I believe I understand that. But—”

“Hmmm. But what, I wonder?”

“— Then why, in that case, go so far to put me into the Royal Selection?”

The question Filóre voiced was, too, only natural.

From the way Miklotov put it, you could glimpse that the Royal Castle was by no means eager to welcome a royal selection candidate from the Church of the Divine Dragon.

“I, too, am a nun of the Church of the Divine Dragon… I fully understand that we are to strictly uphold the inscription of the Dragon History Stone. But even with Priscilla Barielle… even if she has passed away, the fact remains that we began the Royal Selection with five who held the qualifications of priestess. That should not count as bending the inscription.”

“Or has the inscription of the Dragon History Stone been updated? As if rewritten to say that when one of the five priestesses is lost, you find an alternate priestess and bump her up?”

“No, we have received no report that the inscription of the Dragon History Stone has changed. However, in this matter it is less our will than what should be called the sentiments of the populace.”

“The populace—”

“—their sentiments?”

Subaru and Emilia cocked their heads, question marks written on their faces at Miklotov’s answer. Then Miklotov lowered his voice slightly,

“It will become known in time, but please keep this confidential for now. It seems rumors are circulating among the populace. —That the ‘Saintess’ of the Church of the Divine Dragon saved Duke Karsten.”

“—!”

“On this matter, the Royal Castle had imposed a gag order. Of course, information seeps out like raindrops even from a sealed room… but it is even spreading in concrete terms that this ‘Saintess’ shares the same distinguishing traits as the Princess of Lugunica who disappeared.”

“That’s practically the whole thing leaked wholesale!”

Miklotov’s face clouded as if struck by a bitter blow, but if that was the truth, it meant the Royal Castle’s information control had failed in embarrassingly shoddy fashion.

“I hate to say it, Filóre, but… were you so happy you saved Crusch-san that you went around in high spirits bragging about your feat?”

“Satisfied now?”

“Don’t you dare be! And I did no such thing! I have discretion, you know! Sure, I may have told those close to me, wanting to use it as material to persuade the people of the Church. But would I go around blabbing it in the streets?”

"Hmm, Beako?"

“I’ll call it a gray as close to black as can be, I suppose.”

Subaru was, by and large, in agreement with Beatrice’s scathing assessment.

It was a shame for Filóre, stamping her feet in frustration, but no matter how much she insisted she hadn’t done it, she still gave off the vibe that she probably had—that was the impression she’d left up to now.

In any case, whoever it was that caused the rumor to spread—

“Then maybe the fact Filóre made the insignia glow is part of the rumor too? And because of that, everyone’s fuming that it would be strange not to add Filóre as a royal selection candidate?”

“It has not gone that far yet. However, the news of Lady Priscilla’s death will soon be made public. When that happens, if Miss Filóre’s existence is known, voices wishing for her participation in the Royal Selection will naturally overflow out among the populace.”

“So before it comes to that, you’re getting the groundwork laid in advance…”

If Filóre’s entry was the set course in any case, then pushing the talks forward early would keep things running more smoothly for everyone, I suppose. Even understanding that adult sort of arrangement, it still gave Subaru pause to think that Filóre had no right to refuse.

If they hadn’t been able to talk it through with Emilia beforehand, Filóre would have ended up joining in the worst frame of mind, with none of the mettle a royal selection candidate needs.

“Now, now, don’t make such a grumpy face, Subaru-chan. One way or another, things came together nicely, so who cares about the process?”

“…And that’s fine with you, Sakura-san? To begin with, Filóre wasn’t even supposed to be sent outside the Church—in other words, her taking part in the Royal Selection wasn’t planned, right?”

“—Whether it wills it or not, a leaf has no choice but to be tossed about by wind and water.”

“——”

At Sakura’s sudden, lowered tone, Subaru couldn’t help but be taken aback.

There was a poignant sense of emptiness in those words—a hollow resignation, like a withering old tree with a gaping hole yawning in it.

It almost felt as if she wasn’t talking about Filóre at all, but voicing her own resignation—Sakura’s, personally.

"Well, whatever happens, happens. You know, even if she does get motivated, being a year and a half behind the other girls, it might not even be a real contest."

"Hey, Sakura! Why do you have to throw cold water on my motivation like that! If I’m doing it, I’m going for the win… my tenacity is nothing less than a ‘Dragon’!"

"I was wondering—how does the Church of the Divine Dragon view a style like Filóre’s, that casually plays around with the ‘Dragon’?"

"Irreverent, perhaps."

"Irreverent!!"

It was a harsher take than he’d expected, and he accepted that, as he thought, it wasn’t a recommended attitude. Filóre, through and through, holds to a stance far from the usual image of a Saintess.

At any rate, with most of his doubts answered, Subaru more or less grasped the purpose of this top-secret meeting and why the participants were so extremely limited. Put simply, before an official proclamation, this was an internal notice to confirm the parties’ intentions and policies.

And just as he reached that conclusion, another concern suddenly occurred to Subaru.

That was—

"Hey, if Filóre is going to be a royal selection candidate too, then like me with Emilia-tan and the other candidates, are you going to appoint your own knight?"

"Ah, Subaru, you might be misunderstanding that."

"Misunderstanding?"

"Um, it just so happens that we royal selection candidates all have knights with us, but it’s not an absolute rule. After all, neither I nor Anastasia-san had a knight’s contract with Subaru and Julius from the very beginning, right?"

"That’s true for me, but Julius was Anastasia-san’s knight from the start."

"Oh, is that so. I need to remember that properly—for Julius’s sake, too."

While Emilia made small corrections for the effects of the 'Name' erasure, Subaru accepted that explanation. Indeed, at first Emilia was accompanied by her backer Roswaal, but Subaru, as a knight, was absent—or rather, he hadn’t earned that trust yet.

So a royal selection candidate might not necessarily need a knight.

"Still, if you can have one, I think it adds prestige. What will you do? Someone by Filóre’s side who seems to meet the conditions… maybe My Friend?"

"‘My Friend’… that means Tiga, right? But that might be good. Filóre seems suuuper close with Tiga, too…"

"Eeh—Tiga as my knight? That doesn’t feel special at all."

At Subaru’s suggestion, Emilia pressed her hands together before her chest in hearty agreement, but from Filóre herself came an unbelievable barrage of booing.

"Sure, Tiga’s handy, so even if he were appointed a knight he’d probably handle it without a hitch, but he nags a lot, and at the slightest thing he immediately suspects me, and I think he lacks the respect and loyalty a knight needs. Besides, even now, when he isn’t a knight, he still tags along after me everywhere, so that wouldn’t change; there’s no point in going out of my way to appoint him. Rejected! Rejected!"

"Well, it’s your knight, so do as you like there… Huh? In the first place, how are knights usually appointed?"

In Subaru’s case, he was invested as a knight by Emilia’s own hand and thereby took his current position as her knight—but how was it for Reinhardt and Julius?

Welcoming a knight shouldn’t be limited to royal selection candidates, but how are the contracts in that area structured? Only now did Subaru feel ashamed of his own ignorance.

"Hmmm, indeed. In many cases, it is customary for the knight to seek a master and swear fealty in order to be appointed. However, if one is a renowned knight, it is not unusual to entreat them to serve you, with promises of a high stipend and favorable treatment."

"Oh, I didn’t expect Miklotov-san to be the one to explain it. …By the way, Miklotov-san, do you also employ your own knight?"

"In our house as well, there are many who have long come and gone and in whom we place our trust. Speaking generally, those to whom an excellent knight dedicates his sword do, after all, command a certain respect."

"That… well, that makes sense."

In fact, the status of having the ‘Sword Saint’ or the ‘Finest of Knights’ as one’s foremost knight must have served as a considerable mark of prestige on the names of Felt and Anastasia.

The fame of one’s foremost knight is also an important barometer in the Royal Selection. —Is Subaru truly proving a strength for Emilia as her knight? And will Crusch, who dismissed Felis from the post of foremost knight, now consider taking a new knight?

"——"

Don't take it. Yes—thinking that, clinging to it like that, if you asked the person directly involved, Felis, he'd call it Subaru's arrogance of wanting everything to go his way.

The unavoidable rift that had opened between the two—given time to cool off, they might find a different answer. So until then, I want it left vacant.

Yes, Subaru had been getting sentimental, fully prepared to be called arrogant.

"...Just now, Lord Miklotov said this, didn't he? That for an excellent knight, you should raise your voice and beg them to come to your side if you have to."

"—? That's quite a different level of enthusiasm from what Betty heard, I suppose."

"...I also felt like even the nuance was different by that point."

Clenching her fist tightly and suppressing her emotions, Filóre murmured. Spurred by Beatrice’s reaction, Subaru, too, pulled himself out of sentiment and back to reality.

Perhaps her ears were exceptionally tuned to her own convenience, because Filóre reworked Miklotov’s remark into her own interpretation—and on top of that, a faint flush rose to her cheeks. It seemed her feelings were so stirred that her cheeks were heating up, but—

"Could it be, Filóre, that you have someone in mind you want to make your knight?"

"—! How did you know... because we’re best friends?"

"Yeah, maybe. So, what kind of person are they?"

"Just saying this upfront, but Reinhardt is already sold out."

"And obviously, Subaru is permanently reserved by Betty and Emilia."

With the attention of Subaru’s trio—and of Sakura and Miklotov, who were sharing the room—focused entirely on her, Filóre gave a meaningful little "Heh heh" of a smile, then, meeting all their gazes, she briskly flipped open the thick scripture in front of her.

"Listen. The scripture says this: 'The hand that swings the sword is human, but the one that handles life is the Dragon’s will. The chosen knight’s footsteps turn even trails of blood into a road of silver'!"

"Uh, and that means?"

"In other words, the one fit to be my knight is someone recognized by the 'Dragon'!"

He sensed a somewhat self-serving interpretation, but when it came down to a knight acknowledged by the 'Dragon,' Subaru couldn’t think of anyone but Reinhardt.

With enough stretching, you could say Emilia, who cleared the first floor’s 'trial' of the Pleiades Watchtower, also met that condition.

"A royal selection candidate becoming another royal selection candidate’s knight would be a nice subversion, but since Emilia-tan has me, that plotline’s a no-go."

"Emilia as my knight... I-I admit that would be a captivating notion. But my expectations and hopes are different. Please, don’t lead me astray anymore."

Unable to decide whether to tell her not to waver over something like that or to say it was only natural to waver if the comparison point was Emilia, Subaru said nothing to Filóre.

Setting Subaru’s consideration aside, Filóre gave a small cough,

"All right? Are you ready? As I said, if I, the 'Saintess' of the 'Church of the Divine Dragon,' am to stand as a royal selection candidate, then my knight must be recognized by the 'Dragon.' And to my knowledge, there is only one person who meets that condition—"

Once she put that title forward, there was only one person who inevitably came to mind.

Ironically, it wasn’t just someone set to vie with Filóre for the throne, but someone fated to compete even over which of them held the status of being a true surviving member of the ルグニカ royal family.

None other than the first knight serving Felt, the 'Sword Saint,' Reinhardt van Astrea—

"—Lord Heinkel Astrea."

——.

——————.

——————————.

"Huh!?"

Feeling like he’d just been given the wrong answer, Subaru’s throat let out an involuntary, awkward sound. Yet Filóre, having declared it, wore a smug expression, and Emilia and Beatrice beside him, just like Subaru, were wide-eyed in open surprise.

It was an Astrea, yes—but a different Astrea than the one they’d had in mind.

"...Uh, Filóre?"

"D-Did something happen? I mean, everyone’s reactions are kind of strange, aren’t they?"

"It would be strange. Please, let me hear it one more time—who is it that’s fit to be the 'Saintess' of the 'Church of the Divine Dragon’s' knight?"

"Honestly, I’d rather not have to repeat myself over and over, but... Lord Heinkel Astrea."

Filóre tilted her head, repeating the name that wouldn’t change no matter how many times they heard it.

From her point of view, it was Subaru and the others’ reactions that made no sense. And of course—because, in her mind, the person named Heinkel Astrea was—

「—I wish to appoint Sir Heinkel Astrea, one of the lineage of the 『Sword Saint』 who overcame the 『Dragon's Blood』 that drenched his body and became an immortal knight, as my knight」

Indeed, Filóre, who had become the sixth royal selection candidate, boldly declared that, as the First Knight of the sixth—herself—none other than the 『Sword Traitor』 Heinkel Astrea was the only fitting choice.