Akatsuki Translations

“Now, where should I start?” -Farsa

In the palace research room assigned to court magicians, Farsa muttered to himself with a wry smile.

The wooden desk he was using for his work was piled high with books and documents brought out from the palace’s storeroom.

Many were items Farsa had looked through once before, but he had prepared them again intending to reconfirm their contents, as there was a chance he might have forgotten anything not of primary importance.

In particular, he had decided he should pay special attention to reviewing information about Zenobia’s brother Leonard, and his best friend, Duke Dampierre.

“Zenobia’s happiness… huh…” -Farsa

Reflecting on the words spoken by Duke Dampierre, Farsa considered their intent. The Duke himself was twenty-three this year, an age considered quite late for nobles to marry.

Even if he had had feelings for Zenobia, with whom he used to be friendly, it would be incredibly unnatural for him to propose to her now, nearly three years after she had reached adulthood.

Moreover, the fact that the Duke had had no interactions with her since Leonard’s death made it clear that his intentions were different from love or affection.

If he took the Duke’s words at face value, it seemed he wanted to make Zenobia happy purely for her sake.

“Despite the presence of others, he brought up the subject of an arranged marriage as if to provoke me… No matter how you look at it, this will cause an uproar that is far from conducive to negotiation.” -Farsa

Rumors of Farsa and Zenobia were already circulating within the palace.

If the Duke’s story were to circulate right after, it would create a rivalry between the two men vying for Zenobia.

Whether their encounter was accidental or inevitable could no longer be determined, but from the way the topic was presented, it seemed the Duke was not pleased with the idea of Farsa and Zenobia being together.

It would be easy to convince Zenobia by arguing that negotiating with the Duke would be difficult if the aim was to oppose Princess Aurelia’s faction. However, if the Duke held ill feelings towards Farsa personally, it would create a very troublesome situation.

Furthermore, while it was possible that the Duke’s statement at that time was merely a bluff or an act, there was no merit in him doing so at the cost of his own scandal.

“What exactly is Zenobia’s happiness? Even if she marries me, isn’t there a higher chance of her becoming unhappy…” -Farsa

Farsa, on the verge of falling into negative thoughts, shook his head trying to deny his own words.

However, considering that he had demon blood in his veins, he couldn’t imagine a bright future.

He had a nagging thought that Zenobia would be happier in the long run with Duke Dampierre, despite the present difficulties.

“What am I rushing for? I should organize information about the Dampierre ducal family and the Ctesiphon marquis family first. Besides, there’s no concrete evidence that Duke Dampierre is acting for Zenobia’s sake.” -Farsa

Encouraging himself with these words, Farsa reached out to the desk, rifling through books and documents one after another.

Records of knight school exercises, applications for training ground use, dance party guest lists, a directory of nobles, reports from informants, a history of the Valois kingdom’s wars, and gossip from the maids. The pile was diverse, ranging from purely factual accounts to content laced with the author’s subjectivity.

The total number of pages was in the tens of thousands, but Farsa intended to go through all of it.

Farsa’s black eyes darted quickly left and right, while the sound of turning pages and the steady rhythm of the pendulum clock filled the room.

The scent of ink and the musty odor of the old books reminded him of his childhood home.

Farsa’s father, a meticulous man, had kept his books well. But often, books in poor condition would make their way to the market.

Still, they would eagerly purchase any that caught their interest, steadily filling up the bookshelves in their home.

Farsa nostalgically recalled those times. He remembered asking his father why he had married a human and how embarrassed he had been when he had to wear an eyepatch coming down from the mountains.

Lost in unexpected nostalgia, Farsa continued his work, reaching for the next book on his desk.

“This is… the first volume of ‘Caught in the Vineyard,’ isn’t it?” -Farsa

Farsa read aloud the title on the cover, slowly flipping through the pages.

The story was a typical romance novel about a class difference. It started with Adolph, the eldest son of a marquis family that owned a vineyard, meeting Sara, the daughter of a viscount family who had come to learn etiquette.

Adolph had a fiancée chosen by his parents from a ducal family, but he fell in love with Sara.

Naturally, Adolph faced opposition from his parents, but he ran away prepared to be disowned, worked as a deputy commander of the knight order in the capital, and lived a modest life with Sara.

However, they received harassment from the disgraced ducal family, which forced Adolph to resign from the knight order.

Moreover, they were burdened with a large debt and almost became homeless when Sara suggested that she should separate from him and return to her family.

Adolph agonized for three days and nights, but ultimately decided to return to his family, unwilling to cause Sara any more hardship.

Unknown to him, a new life was already growing in Sara’s belly.

“Oops, I need to be careful. I got engrossed in reading when I meant to skim. But I wonder, isn’t it embarrassing to have your past turned into a story? If it were me, I’d refuse with all my might.” -Farsa

As he uttered a habituated monologue from his days of seclusion, Farsa set the finished book on his desk.

The reason why such a romance novel was here was because the protagonist of the story was based on the Marquis of Ctesiphon.

The story naturally ended with the birth of the child Leonard, who was in Sara’s belly, and the three of them living a happy life together.

The scene in which they vowed their unchanging love in the vineyard, which was also the title of the story, was especially popular and was frequently performed in the capital’s theaters.

However, there had been no more showings since Leonard’s death to the present day.

Although the story had some embellishments, the main plot was based on a real story, and if Farsa were in the same position, he would surely be writhing in embarrassment.

Just as Farsa was about to return to his work with renewed focus, the room’s door was abruptly flung open and an intruder appeared.

“Hey, you! Explain yourself!”  -Cecilia

With these words, the woman with long golden hair intricately braided on both sides and sparkling emerald eyes drew near. Dressed in an immaculate white armor that signified her purity and wielding a longsword adorned with decorations at her waist, she was every bit a knight. Anger made a vein pop on her forehead as she forcefully grabbed the collar of the man in front of her. Her name was Cecilia de Montmorency, the vice-captain of the White Lily Knights, who had been Aurelia’s bodyguard until a few hours ago.

Despite Cecilia’s evident anger, the man she cornered, Farsa, remained utterly calm.

“It’s difficult when you suddenly show up and start yelling without clarifying what you’re upset about. I don’t recall being close enough with you to understand incomplete sentences.” -Farsa

“Well, of course! I’d rather die than get friendly with the likes of you!”  -Cecilia

With her words, Cecilia shook Farsa fiercely, causing his head to swing back and forth. He uttered some unintelligible words, yet was convinced that the only thing that could get Cecilia this riled up was something to do with Zenobia.

Cecilia and Zenobia had known each other since their knight school days, and their paths had crossed again after the death of Leonard. Zenobia of the past was a pricklier character, engrossed in her hatred for mages and devoting herself to the sword in an attempt to avenge her brother’s death. Even when men approached her, Zenobia would put them in their place with her skill, a trait that had Cecilia completely smitten. Initially, Cecilia was antagonistic towards Zenobia, but something had happened between them. Farsa didn’t know the details, or rather, he hadn’t asked because he didn’t want to get involved in a long conversation.

With a sigh, Farsa asked, “So, why did you come to see me, the man you’d rather die than befriend?”

“The reason I’m here is obviously about Zenobia! Why is she suddenly talking about marrying some man out of the blue? I managed to keep a calm face in front of Her Highness and Zenobia, but I was on the verge of screaming out in frustration!” -Cecilia

“I think it showed on your face, though. And you probably weren’t paying attention to most of the handover meeting, right? Anyway, as you can see, I’m busy with my research and I don’t have time to deal with you. Can you please leave?” -Farsa

Farsa, who was reading a romance novel, used his busyness as an excuse to refuse Cecilia’s demands. Although it might seem like a rough way to handle things, this was the usual way they interacted.

Cecilia’s one-sided accusations had led to numerous confrontations over Zenobia. Normally, Cecilia was a diligent vice-captain who did her job properly. But when Zenobia was involved, she became a troublesome opponent. Farsa would engage with her when he had nothing better to do, but he currently had no such luxury. Of course, since Farsa preferred to spend his free time reading, there had never been such an opportunity.

“Why are you leisurely reading a book? Are you okay with Zenobia being taken by such a man?”  -Cecilia

“I’m not okay with her being taken, but it’s not a simple matter. Even now, I’m researching to see if there’s a way to solve this.” -Farsa

Farsa handed a pile of documents labeled “Training Ground Visitor Roster” to Cecilia. They were just records of the names and dates of people who used the knight school training grounds in the royal capital. On seeing these documents, Cecilia made a face as if she had bitten into a bitter bug.

The White Lily Knights had transcribed these documents on Aurelia’s orders. They were supposed to be kept at the knight school. Aurelia, who had just seized the role of auditor of the knight school, saw this as a good opportunity. She had all the documents that were not allowed to be viewed by anyone other than knights copied, and successfully collected them all. While conducting knight training and audit duties, Cecilia and her team had been working all night to transcribe, and they had been complaining that they didn’t want to read any more text for a while.

“Don’t hand me such a detestable thing! What does checking these records even mean? Don’t tell me… you’ve lost your mind because Zenobia dumped you?” -Cecilia

“I haven’t been dumped, and I’m not crazy. For example… if you look at the records from when you and Zenobia were in knight school, you can see that there was a period when you were following Zenobia around.” -Farsa

“W-what… what nonsense are you talking about?” -Cecilia

Ignoring the clearly flustered Cecilia, Farsa began to explain as he showed her several pages.

“At first when you two enrolled, the times you used the training grounds were different. But then one day, you started to come to the training grounds right after Zenobia. This pattern continued almost daily, which is beyond coincidence. However, from the day you became part of the same team as Zenobia in the training exercises, even though the timing was the same, Zenobia was sometimes first and sometimes last. This suggests that after the exercise, you two became close enough to train together. Friendships from student days often persist even if the status differs, and such records can reveal connections that are not outwardly apparent. Conversely, if you were avoiding each other, that would also be clearly evident. Of course, this only makes sense for serious students who frequently use the training grounds.” -Farsa

“Y-You’re really nasty, bringing up the past like that! Besides, we’re talking about Zenobia right now, so don’t try to distract me!” -Cecilia

Holding back the urge to say that she was the one trying to distract him, Farsa let out a small sigh. He wanted to diplomatically get rid of her, but it seemed that she wouldn’t leave unless he took her seriously. He mentally apologized to his deputy, who would undoubtedly be saddled with work tonight, and decided to deal with the troublesome female knight in front of him. Based on experience, dealing properly with Cecilia, who had stormed into Farsa’s office, rarely ended quickly.

“Alright, let’s sit down and talk. I can only offer you coffee, I’m afraid.” -Farsa

“Eh? Ah, uh, uh, that’s fine.” -Cecilia

Upon Farsa’s sudden change in attitude, Cecilia, slightly startled, obediently sat in a nearby chair. While Farsa was preparing coffee, she curiously looked around the study and began rummaging through the mountains of books and documents piled on the desk.

“Oh, this is a story about Zenobia’s father. I’ve read it so much that it’s falling apart. Once, without realizing that her brother had passed away, I brought it up, and she came at me with a ferocity I’ve never seen. The Zenobia of that time was sharp and beautiful, like a finely honed blade ready to slice anything it touched.” -Cecilia

Cecilia reminisced about the past with a blissful expression. She seemed to have a slightly different sensibility from ordinary people. Still, Zenobia had said that Cecilia was her best friend, so there must be something Farsa didn’t understand.

Most of the members of the Valois Kingdom Knights were graduates of the knight school in the royal capital. Regardless of status, the students at the knight school were subject to rigorous training, and nearly half dropped out before graduation. Exercises conducted away from the royal capital often involved real-life combat against monsters, and camping in the mountains or forests was not uncommon. Through these harsh conditions, the bonds formed between classmates were strong, and friendships often transcended age, status, and faction. Conversely, there were those who became estranged after knowing each other’s true nature.

“From my point of view, she was so sharp that she seemed like she could break easily.” -Farsa

Zenobia, with her exceptional talent, had easily completed the knight school’s training and had never truly faced a crisis, making her incredibly fragile. As Farsa reminisced, he placed a steaming cup of coffee, a ceramic milk pot, and a small bottle of sugar in front of Cecilia, then sat down on a chair a little distance away.

“Hmph, what do you know? Zenobia is my ideal. It’s unacceptable for her to retire for something as trivial as factional issues. And I can only become the captain by defeating Zenobia in a one-on-one battle.” -Cecilia

As Farsa watched Cecilia snort and pour plenty of milk and sugar into her cup, he thought she resembled the old Zenobia. She was childish yet determined, always striving to match her goals and always seeking equality with those she looked up to. Despite Zenobia being superior in every way – status, position, and swordsmanship – Cecilia was still here, undeterred. The fact that she had served as the acting captain and Aurelia’s assistant while Farsa and Zenobia were away from the capital proved she was no mere vice-captain. If there was a flaw, it was that she was more devoted to Zenobia than to her princess, Aurelia, but since Aurelia was aware of this, it probably wasn’t a problem. Aurelia, who led people like Farsa and Cecilia, who were far from loyal, could be said to be magnanimous in some sense.

“When I look at you, I feel silly for worrying.” -Farsa

“What? I don’t need your praise. Instead, you should use your cunning brain to figure out a way to deal with Zenobia. I’m disgusted to collaborate with you, but I’ll cooperate with anything for Zenobia’s sake.” -Cecilia

“Anything, huh? Then, can you tell me what Zenobia was like during your meeting?” -Farsa

If Cecilia, who despised him, was willing to cooperate, Farsa couldn’t refuse. With an unexpected ally, Farsa felt a glimmer of hope. While he still didn’t know Zenobia’s happiness or Duke Dampierre’s true intentions, he would act to pull in the invisible thread. And since Cecilia had said she’d do anything, Farsa had no intention of holding back. His creed was to use anything usable and act efficiently.