Chapter 107

The door to the office closed, and silence settled heavily over the room as though weighted down.

In the rigid stillness, quiet enough that even their breathing could be heard, Grace sat on the sofa.

She had not allowed any servants inside, nor had she offered tea out of courtesy as nobles normally did.

Calypse knew there was something rather strange about the situation. Grace seemed well aware of it too.

Watching her carefully, he remained standing beside the sofa until she gave him permission to sit.

“Ah, forgive me. Please, sit.”

Grace, who had been silent as though lost in thought, belatedly realized what she was doing and hurriedly motioned to him.

Only then did Calypse sit down. The leather compressed beneath his weight with a sharp creak of friction.

Grace was not particularly talkative even under ordinary circumstances, but when necessary, she was someone who never hesitated to express her intentions.

As I thought. King Argen did something to her.

To think he had dared lay a hand on the Queen.

On top of yet another atrocity that could no longer be overlooked, the fact that an immediate conversation was difficult made Calypse sigh.

...I suppose I have no choice but to keep drawing answers out of her.

Calypse exhaled and was just about to speak again when—

“Wolf.”

Grace’s frighteningly dry voice abruptly stopped him.

...Wolf?

It was far too sudden, completely unrelated to the context.

Wolf. Why a wolf...?

Calypse tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, trying to infer what meaning might be hidden behind the word.

“Lion.”

Another completely unexpected word came out.

“...A lion?”

When he asked again in bewilderment, Grace nodded with a more solemn expression than ever.

“Lion.”

“......”

A lion, she said.

Her Majesty the Queen of the Frozen Kingdom.

“Hmm. Yes. A wolf and a lion.”

For a moment, he worried that perhaps Grace’s mental age itself had somehow regressed.

Fortunately, that was not the case.

Though she could not explain the situation in proper sentences, her pale green eyes still gleamed with intelligence.

She was still the Grace he knew.

“I’d like you to ask me questions the way you did earlier.”

This time, Grace initiated the conversation herself.

Calypse thought for a moment.

What exactly is her condition?

He had assumed she had become vacant, like someone whose will had been extinguished, yet she seemed remarkably proactive now.

Apparently, it was not that she was completely incapable of expressing her thoughts.

How should I phrase the questions...?

Judging from their previous exchange, she seemed unable to say anything related to Kreutz, including Aisha and Calypse himself.

He should establish that first.

“Are you unable to say the word Aisha?”

A glint flashed through Grace’s eyes.

“Wolf.”

At the word she gave in response, Calypse’s eyes narrowed.

“What about your attendant’s name? Can you say that?”

“Lion.”

This time, it was lion.

What in the world does that mean?

Calypse was still pondering the meaning of the words when—

“I’d like you to make the questions a little more basic.”

“Yes?”

Grace sighed in frustration and asked with a faintly weary expression,

“Ask whether I’m a woman.”

“Were you perhaps a man?”

“I’m a woman, so shut up and ask.”

“Understood.”

Wanting to finish this bizarre question-and-answer session as quickly as possible, Calypse immediately asked,

“Your Majesty, are you a woman?”

“Wolf.”

“...Then are you a man?”

“Lion.”

At the different answers depending on the question, Calypse’s gaze sharpened.

Grace’s expression also brightened.

After a brief silence, Calypse spoke again.

“To make certain, I’ll ask once more. Is Marquis Schletz your father?”

“Wolf.”

“Is Viscount Andante your father?”

“Lion.”

Grace finished answering with an unequivocal expression, then smiled.

“That’s right. That’s what they mean.”

She looked almost pleased that he had understood so quickly.

Wolf and lion meant none other than yes and no.

When asked whether she was unable to say Aisha’s name, she could not answer yes, so she had said wolf instead.

She isn’t called an exceptional mage for nothing.

Even in a situation that could easily have driven someone to despair, she had quickly devised a solution.

For this moment alone, Calypse slipped free of the grim atmosphere and gave a low laugh.

“Your Majesty. You are remarkably quick-witted.”

“There’s always someone who flies above the one who runs. Now ask what you actually want to know.”

She crossed her legs leisurely and gestured for him to continue.

In the slightly lighter atmosphere, Calypse nodded.

Then—

“...Was it His Majesty Argen who cast dark magic on you?”

“Wolf.”

An eerie glint flashed in her pale green eyes as she answered.

He had truly gone so far as to lay hands on his own wife.

Calypse suddenly thought of Ariana and frowned.

She had originally been a spy sent by Duke Pose to approach and use him.

She had left once her mission was complete, and when they met again, she had looked at him with something strangely close to pity, but...

Why? You were the one who ruined my life, so why did you look at me that way...?

“Ah.”

Realizing he had drifted into unrelated thoughts, Calypse slowly closed his eyes.

In any case.

Argen and Grace were different.

Their marriage had been political, but they had always appeared close and had been admired by the people of the kingdom.

And yet they had not been close at all. The moment she seemed likely to interfere with his plans, he had gone so far as to use forbidden magic on her.

Calypse had already hated King Argen because of what he had done to Aisha.

Now he found the man repulsive.

“I believe you are better suited to the throne than to being Queen. Do you think so as well?”

If Grace wanted him dead—

“Wolf.”

Calypse would have been willing to carry out that order with his own hands.

***

Bong, bong, bong—!

Without warning, emergency bells rang throughout the vast Frozen royal castle.

“An outside attack! Everyone to defensive positions!”

“The knights of House Schletz are assembled before the castle gates!”

The defenses of the Frozen royal castle, which had never once been breached, collapsed with almost absurd ease.

Because the faction leading the rebellion belonged to none other than Queen Grace’s own family.

“Tell King Argen—!”

At the very front of the knights filling even the heart of the city, the aged Marquis Schletz roared.

The fury and madness in his voice overwhelmed the atmosphere so completely that his age seemed meaningless.

“If you do not remove the dark magic cast upon Her Majesty Queen Grace this instant, you will be summarily executed on charges of attempted regicide and the illegal use of magic!”

At those words, the royal knights who had been moving in perfect order to suppress the rebellion faltered.

“Attempted regicide? Marquis Schletz is the one who has arrayed troops in front of the royal castle!”

“Illegal magic? He’s saying dark magic was cast on Her Majesty Grace?”

“His Majesty the King did that?!”

Unfortunately, the King of this country possessed envy and jealousy in abundance, but not enough wisdom to match them.

Not once had he considered how his wife might respond.

And so the knights, completely unprepared for such a situation, fell into confusion and scattered in search of superior officers who could give them orders.

Meanwhile, inside King Argen’s office—

“Let the King hear this—!”

“Aaaagh!”

At Marquis Schletz’s faint voice carrying through the enormous windows, Argen screamed in anguish.

She should never have been able to tell anyone.

He had bound her with every forbidden word he could think of so that she could not reveal it, so how in the world had that woman managed to tell them?!

He could do nothing but scream.

Unlike him, Calypse and Grace had planned ahead.

Following their orders, the knights of House Schletz who had been waiting in advance subdued the royal knights.

And the King, who had requested a private meeting in hopes of pressuring Calypse, had instead found himself captured.

Even if he wanted to request aid from the surrounding Houses, he could not send a message with Duke Kreutz standing directly in front of him.

One disaster after another.

“There’s no proof! No proof—mmph!”

Unable to move forward or retreat, Argen began shouting like a child.

“There’s plenty of proof.”

A large hand, veins standing out across it, clamped over his mouth.

Calypse bent forward and seized Argen’s face as though he might crush it in his grip.

“In fact, we don’t even need much. One thing will be enough. We simply ask Her Majesty the Queen to say my name in front of the people of the kingdom.”

“Mmph! Mmph!”

“What do you suppose everyone will think when the famously brilliant Queen cannot say a word? Marquis Schletz will be quite interested.”

“Mmph...!”

“You crossed the line long ago, but this time you were simply too stupid.”

Calypse clicked his tongue as Argen’s eyes widened in shock.

Then, at that very moment—

“W-what is happening?”

Voices came from beyond the reception room door.

They belonged to nobles who were still inside the royal castle.

“There’s a rebellion! You must evacuate immediately!”

“A rebellion? What do you mean, all of a sudden?”

“Where is Duke Kreutz? Shouldn’t the Duke be defending the royal family at a time like this?!”

Hope flared in Argen’s eyes as he heard them.

Help... I-I have to ask them for help...

His face went beyond red and began turning purple.

Just as he twisted desperately, trying to force out a shout—

“How convenient. We can use them as witnesses.”

A faint smile escaped Calypse as he watched him struggle.

Then he grabbed Argen by the back of the neck and walked toward the door.

Bang—

The door flew open.