Chapter 483 - Sibling tension

“Hilde…?”

The Crown Prince stared at his sister for a moment before quickly crossing the space between them.

“Where have you been? We have had people searching the entire palace for you since the attack.” His attention snapped to the towering man behind her. “Sir Holdger, what is the meaning of this?”

The Fifth Sword lowered his gaze to meet the prince’s, but the mountain of a man gave no answer. Neither did Hilde.

The prince looked between the two of them, confusion seeming to give way to frustration. Behind them, the doors had already swung shut again, leaving no sign of the empty chamber they had opened into seconds before. His eyes lingered there before finally turning towards Scarlett, as if turning the question to her.

Leon couldn’t blame him.

Was Scarlett somehow connected to the Second Princess as well now?

“Your Highness,” Scarlett eventually said, once it became clear that no one else intended to break the silence. She looked at the second princess. “Is there a particular reason you asked whether I know this person?”

The princess raised one arm and pointed towards the book resting in Scarlett’s hands.

“Amy said she would take that book. You have it.”

Leon’s eyebrows rose.

He had no idea who Amy was, but this Amy had apparently told the second princess that she intended to take something which—until very recently—had belonged to the emperor himself? And somehow Scarlett had ended up with it?

Scarlett didn’t answer immediately. She studied the girl for several seconds, and Leon thought he caught something he’d rarely seen in her expression. It almost looked like…melancholy, maybe?

It was hard to tell with Scarlett.

Whatever it was disappeared quickly, though, as her features settled back into their usual calm.

“I know of Amy,” she said.

For some reason, her eyes moved briefly towards Leon as she spoke.

“Are you her friend?” the princess asked.

“No, not quite. Our interactions are rather complicated.” Scarlett shifted her attention back to the princess. “While I understand your curiosity, Your Highness, perhaps you should first address the rather more immediate questions your brother has for you.”

The second princess glanced towards the crown prince. Her lips pressed into a thin line.

“Hilde…” he began. “You need to explain yourself. Where have you—”

“Where is Father?”

The question stopped him cold.

For a moment, the only sound in the office was the quiet ticking of the clockwork sphere on the emperor’s desk.

“Father is…” The prince’s gaze drifted towards Leon before falling to the floor. His shoulders seemed to lose some of their bearing. “It’s possible we won’t see him again.”

The princess’ expression didn’t change.

“Hilde,” the prince said. “You should know—”

“No,” she replied almost immediately. “I will see him again.”

The prince paused, then released a slow breath.

“You need to live in reality, Hilde. Losing yourself in dreams helps no one, and Regina isn’t here to hold your hand any longer.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you—”

He stopped himself. One hand rose towards his forehead before dropping again.

“Never mind. There are more important matters we need to deal with.” He straightened and fixed his sister with a firmer look. “First, tell me where you’ve been and how you arrived here. What manner of magic was that?”

The princess shifted slightly, peering back over her shoulder at Holdger. The Fifth Sword remained where he was, silent and immovable behind her.

“We were hiding,” she said after a few seconds.

“Where?”

“I don’t know.”

The prince stared at her. “…Then how did you get there? Was it the same magic you just used to enter this room? Was that yours?”

“Mm.”

“How did you do it?”

The princess gave the smallest of shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“Hilde—” The prince pressed his fingers to his temple and shut his eyes. “Do you expect me to be satisfied with answers like that?”

“No.”

“Then explain it properly.”

“I can’t.”

“Hilde!”

The word came out sharper than he seemed to intend, judging by his expression. He stood there for a moment, jaw working like he was trying to force the frustration back down. Then he turned away with a low exhale. As his eyes landed on Scarlett, his bearing straightened slightly again, and some of the measured calm returned to his expression.

“Baroness, since my sister is unwilling or incapable of answering anything, perhaps you can help elucidate matters.” He pointed towards the old book in her hands. “Starting with that. Did it somehow inform you that my sister was about to arrive?”

Scarlett inclined her head.

“It did, Your Highness.”

“Then you will explain how.” The prince’s eyes narrowed. “After you explain who this ‘Amy’ is. I have never heard that name before. Is she a noble?”

“She is not.”

“Then who is she?”

“I am afraid I cannot give you a particularly satisfying answer.” Scarlett ran a thumb idly along the edge of the book’s cover. “I know her primarily as one of the collaborators who aided my preparations to slay the Dragon of Devastation. Among other things, she was the one who informed me where it could be found.”

The prince waited, clearly expecting more.

Not that Scarlett offered any.

“And her origins?” he finally asked. “Who does she serve?”

“I do not know. Nor do I expect you would have much success attempting to uncover either her origins or her affiliations through conventional means.”

The crown prince’s eyes narrowed further.

“Is she a threat?”

“From what I know, I do not believe that to be likely, Your Highness.” Scarlett paused. “Although, if you wish to know more about that particular matter, it may be more productive to ask Sir Leon.”

Leon’s attention sharpened as his name was brought back into the conversation.

“Sir Leon?” The prince turned towards him. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”

Leon stared at Scarlett.

He genuinely had no idea what game she was playing. He searched her expression for some clue, but she only watched him calmly.

“I’m afraid I don’t know anyone named Amy, Your Highness,” he said. “Baroness Hartford must be mistaken.”

“Am I?” Scarlett arched one brow slightly. “I was led to believe you had become acquainted with individuals connected to her. One of them was named Skye, if my memory serves.”

Leon’s eyes widened.

Skye?

The young woman travelling with Princess Regina?

His thoughts went back to Beld Thylelion and the brief time he’d spent alongside their group.

As Leon understood it, Skye had lost her memories and was travelling under an assumed name. Scarlett had encountered their group in Beld Thylelion and—supposedly—once more afterwards. During their confrontation in Beld Thylelion, after Scarlett had somehow defeated all of them while leaving them largely unharmed, both the first princess and Melody had suggested there was some deeper connection between Scarlett and Skye.

Could this be it? This Amy person?

Leon frowned.

Something about that didn’t quite fit.

There had been something more personal in the way Scarlett reacted that day. At least, that was how it’d seemed at the time. But the entire encounter had been hectic and confusing enough that Leon wasn’t willing to trust his memory completely.

“Sir Leon.” The crown prince’s voice pulled him back to the office. “Can you explain who this Skye person is?”

“Your Highness…”

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Leon’s mouth drew tight.

His eyes moved towards Scarlett again.

Did she know?

Did she know that he had given his word not to reveal the details surrounding the first princess’s activities in Beld Thylelion?

Things had changed since then. A lot had changed. But Leon had still made a promise, and no matter how much he regretted his own failures surrounding the princess, he couldn’t simply throw his word aside.

“I have met a young woman named Skye,” he said slowly. “She and her companions helped me against the Hallowed Cabal once. They were good people, but I can’t speak for whatever connection they might have to this ‘Amy’.”

Even the half-truth left a bitter taste in his mouth. It felt worse knowing that he was keeping his meeting with the first princess from both of her siblings.

But at least what he had said was true, and it was all that seemed relevant to the question at hand. As for why Scarlett had even thought to bring it up at all, he couldn’t say. She was the one who would be at risk if he revealed the truth.

A faint frown remained on the crown prince’s face, but after a moment, he nodded.

“Baroness Hartford, if you are able to provide a description of this individual, I would appreciate it. If she aided in slaying the Dragon of Devastation, then she has done our empire a great service. But her apparent involvement with my sister gives me reason for concern.”

“Unfortunately, I do not know her appearance, Your Highness,” Scarlett said. “She wears a different one each time.”

“A different one…?”

The prince’s frown deepened as he turned towards the second princess.

“Hilde, by Ittar’s light, where did you meet this woman?”

The princess didn’t answer.

Eventually, the prince let out a sigh.

“We will return to this later, Hilde.” He turned back to Scarlett. “Baroness, what was it that the book told you?”

Scarlett lowered her eyes to the worn book in her lap.

“I suspect you will be unable to read it yourself, Your Highness,” she said. “However…”

She reached into the pouch at her waist and withdrew a much smaller notebook along with a pen. Resting it atop the old book, she spent several moments writing before turning the notebook around and holding it out towards Leon, who stood closest.

“I have received only two messages thus far. These are their exact contents.”

Leon took the notebook.

The first entry consisted of only a single sentence.

There is Actuality, there is Memory, and there is emptiness that should bear no shape of its own.

Beneath it, separated by a line, Scarlett had copied a second message.

Our still little amber is safe. Tell our bright topaz not to worry. She will be with you shortly, and she will bring you where you wish to be.

Leon read both twice.

The first didn’t feel like something a person had written at all. It was just a statement of structure. The second, meanwhile, felt unmistakably personal. Even without knowing who it referred to, there was a gentle warmth threaded through it, something protective and familiar that lingered beneath the words.

He handed the notebook to Dame Iyana. She read it in silence before passing it on to the crown prince.

“These…how did you receive them?” Leon asked. “If you didn’t write them yourself.”

“When I originally received the book from His Majesty, it was completely empty,” Scarlett answered. “However, a letter containing that first message appeared shortly before the attack began. As for the second, it was simply written there when I opened the book just now.”

She glanced towards the prince. “Personally, I believe the first message is considerably more significant, though I imagine His Highness will have more immediate interest in the second.”

“They don’t sound like they came from the same person,” Leon said.

“No. They do not.”

“Why?”

Scarlett gave him a curious look. “His Majesty told you nothing about the nature of the book?”

“No.”

“I see. Then yes, your impression is correct. They read as though they were written by different hands because, in every way that matters here, I suspect they were.”

“Meaning?”

“This may be simplifying matters somewhat, but it is my belief that this book served as a means for His Majesty to communicate with Eidolon. And I doubt the title ‘Two-Part God’—that His Majesty himself used, according to you—is without meaning.” Scarlett paused, seeming to consider her next words. “It would not be the first time an entity such as this could not be neatly contained within a single personality or existence.”

“What?” Leon crossed his arms. “What other entity are you talking about?”

“The one the Cabal seeks to free.”

Scarlett shook her head before he could ask more.

“But that is a subject for another time.”

“Wait, Scarlett—”

“As I mentioned, what interests me now is the first passage.” She tapped one finger lightly against the book in her lap. “That tells us considerably more about what Eidolon actually is.”

Leon considered her for several seconds before letting out a breath and motioning for her to continue.

He didn’t know what ‘Actuality’ or ‘Memory’ were supposed to mean in this context. He could understand the late empress being some sort of memory, considering what he and Dame Iyana had seen, but clearly Scarlett knew more than that.

“Much of this is conjecture based on circumstantial evidence,” Scarlett said, “but I have already discussed it with Senior Wizard Ward, who is as close to an expert on the matter as one can reasonably find, and she appears to be in broad agreement. As such, for the purposes of this conversation, I believe it is useful to think of reality as being divided into three layers of abstraction.”

She lifted one finger.

“The first is the reality we inhabit. The physical, the metaphysical, and everything that exists as part of the world as it presently is. That is ‘Actuality’.”

A second finger joined the first.

“Then there is that which has already happened. What is remembered, what has left its mark, and what continues to linger after it is gone. That is ‘Memory’, and it happens to be a subject His Majesty and I discussed during my audience with him.”

Scarlett paused briefly before raising a third finger.

“And then there is simply everything outside those two. The supposed emptiness that should not bear a shape of its own. It would seem that one name already given to that is ‘Void’.”

Leon’s brow furrowed. “Hence ‘Eidolon of the Void’.”

The other name His Majesty had used back then.

Scarlett gave a small nod. “Precisely. That does appear to be the connection.”

Leon fell quiet, trying to fit that explanation together with what he had seen.

“What about the hollow things that attacked the palace?” he eventually asked. “Were those part of this ‘Memory’ as well? They looked like they were trying to copy people and creatures. If that’s what they were, wouldn’t Eidolon be more closely tied to Memory?”

“I do not know,” Scarlett replied. “I do believe the ‘hollows’, as you called them, were tied to Memories, yes, but that does not necessarily mean Eidolon originates from Memory itself. Ward and I discussed the matter while we were trapped, and we thought it more likely that Eidolon was simply utilising a medium that already existed. The condition of those hollows would seem to support the idea that it has limitations when using Memory, however. I have encountered phenomena involving Memories on several occasions before when Eidolon was not involved, and they did not manifest like that.”

Leon thought back to Vail’s reaction when she had seen the woman wearing the empress’s face.

‘No point taking a name from something that doesn’t even exist. Wrapping itself in memories to pretend. Pathetic.’

“That does make sense,” he muttered.

If Vail had been right, then the Memories themselves weren’t Eidolon. It had simply been wrapping itself in them.

Leon turned towards the crown prince.

“Your Highness, do you have anything to add? Or any—”

The question died on his tongue.

The prince was still staring down at the notebook in his hands. His eyes hadn’t left it, and there was a strange tightness to his expression that Leon hadn’t noticed before.

“Your Highness?”

The young man blinked, then slowly raised his head.

“Were you listening?” Leon asked.

The prince’s lips pressed together. “I heard you, Sir Leon. I can’t claim to understand everything Baroness Hartford just explained, but I’m sure I can have someone go through it with me in more detail later.” His eyes dropped to the notebook again. “For now, though…”

He looked towards Scarlett.

“This second message. It appeared just now? While we were speaking?”

Scarlett inclined her head slightly.

“I cannot say for certain, Your Highness. But given the timing, that would appear to be the case.”

“Then whoever wrote it may have been listening to us.”

“That is one possibility, yes. The book itself may act as more than a means of receiving messages. It could provide whoever is on the other end with some awareness of its surroundings. It is a concerning possibility, but not one I have ignored. There are measures I can test later if it becomes necessary to prevent such observation. For the moment, however, I doubt there is much danger of revealing anything to this entity that it does not already know.”

“That is a concern, yes. But it isn’t why I asked.”

The prince fell silent. His attention wandered across the office.

“Mother,” he said, his voice quieter now. “If you can hear me…can you speak to me? What is happening?”

A crease appeared between the Second Sword’s brows. “Your Highness. As I said, I don’t think that was your mother.”

“I remember what you said, Dame Iyana. But even if it isn’t her, it has her memories. Only my mother ever called me her topaz. And Hilde her amber.”

“Your Highness,” Leon said. “Keep in mind that Eidolon is the enemy here.”

“Only if we judge it by what happened during this latest attack.” The prince looked at him. “My father clearly saw the matter differently, or at least knew more than we do. He saw some other threat. Is determining what that threat was not part of what we’re trying to accomplish? If there truly is a part of my mother here, then I would at least like to hear it out.”

Leon paused.

He wasn’t completely wrong. But it seemed reckless.

The prince waited another moment before turning his attention back towards the room.

“Mother?” he tried again.

Nothing answered.

He looked at Scarlett. Scarlett glanced down at the book in her lap, checking its pages, then gave a small shake of her head.

The prince exhaled slowly and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, exhaustion weighed down his expression.

“…I’m sorry, Sir Leon. Dame Iyana, Dame Leandra. Baroness Hartford.” He rubbed a hand across his face. “I think this has simply become more than I can reasonably deal with on the two hours of sleep I have had in the last day and a half.”

He looked between them.

“And I’m clearly not the only one who needs rest. We will continue this tomorrow, after I have had time to gather my thoughts and go through what my father left me.”

“That’s probably for the best, Your Highness,” Leon said.

It was a lot to put on him at once. More than Leon would have wanted dumped on himself.

The prince shifted his focus to Scarlett again.

“Baroness Hartford. There are clearly still questions surrounding you, your activities, and some of the people you associate with. Under normal circumstances, I would order you to remain on palace grounds until those questions had been answered. However, my father trusted you enough to leave that book in your possession, and I’m not going to disregard his judgement without cause.” The prince’s expression hardened slightly. “You may leave the palace, on the condition that you return when summoned and make yourself available for further questioning. Is that understood?”

“Your Highness—” Leon started.

The prince raised a hand before he could continue, not looking away from Scarlett.

“I understand, Your Highness,” she said evenly. “You have my word.”

“Good.”

Leon held himself back from speaking.

That wasn’t the decision he had expected.

He wasn’t entirely comfortable letting Scarlett simply walk out of the palace. But arguing with the prince so soon after Scarlett had forced him to assert his own authority seemed like a poor way to begin supporting the man as regent.

The prince turned towards the doors. Dame Iyana and Dame Leandra moved with him, the latter favouring her injured side as they prepared to leave.

“Hilde, come. We are leaving.”

The doors opened, but the prince made it only a few steps before noticing that his sister wasn’t following.

He stopped and looked back.

“…Hilde.” Weariness threaded through his voice.

She shook her head. “I am not staying.”

“Where? Do you mean in the palace? If so, you are. This is not up for argument.”

“…You can’t force me.”

“I—”

The prince caught himself. His hand rose to the bridge of his nose, pressing there for several seconds before falling away.

“Where would you go?”

The second princess didn’t answer immediately. It almost seemed like she realised that she didn’t have an answer. She looked around the room, then towards Holdger behind her. The huge knight offered no help. Eventually, her attention came to rest on Scarlett.

She considered her for a few seconds.

“I want to go with her.”

Leon couldn’t help but stare.

Judging from the silence that followed, he wasn’t alone in his shock. Even Scarlett looked caught off guard.

“No,” the prince said. “Absolutely not.”

The second princess didn’t so much as look at him.

His mouth opened, then closed again. He stared at his sister as frustration slowly returned to his face.

“Hilde, you were never like this before. Why are you suddenly fighting me on everything?”

That finally got a reaction.

The girl looked at him. Something shifted in her expression. It was too faint for Leon to put a name to, and for a moment she seemed about to say more.

Then whatever it was disappeared.

“…I’m tired,” was all she said.

The prince stood there for several seconds.

He looked towards Dame Iyana. Then Dame Leandra. Leon. Even Holdger earned a brief look, as if someone in the room might somehow provide an answer.

Eventually, his attention settled on Scarlett.

“Baroness. Would you even be willing to take Hilde with you?”

Scarlett’s lips thinned.

“I cannot say that taking responsibility for the second princess is something I would welcome, Your Highness. Particularly in my current condition.”

“I thought as much.” The prince turned to his sister. “Hilde, that settles it.”

The second princess said nothing.

Scarlett kept watching the girl.

A quiet sigh left her.

“However, if Her Highness is determined to leave the palace regardless, I can accommodate her for a day or two. Sir Holdger may accompany us, naturally.”

The prince looked back at her. “You’re certain?”

“Only if it would make matters easier for Your Highness.”

“…Fine. Two days, Hilde,” he said. “That is all you get.”

The princess nodded. “Okay.”

With little more to be said, the crown prince finally departed with Dame Iyana and Dame Leandra.