Side Story.8

“……Adelstein.”

Maia slowly approached the boy, knelt at his feet, and looked up at him.

His expressionless red eyes met Maia’s.

“Your grandfather asked me to give you this.”

Maia, belatedly, carefully held out the keepsake.

“It’s your late mother’s keepsake.”

A simple hair ornament made of brown wood.

“……Your hand.”

But Adelstein, instead of looking at the keepsake, focused on Maia’s blood-caked wound and showed his first expression.

His eyes widened in surprise, then his face twisted in pain as if he were the one hurting.

“I scraped it running in a hurry. But my wound isn’t important, your mother’s keepsake—”

“Why isn’t your wound important?”

At the sudden question, Maia blinked and looked up at Adelstein.

He gently picked up the hair ornament from Maia’s hand, set it on the table, and quietly examined her wound.

“I was lost in my own pain and ignored you. I’m sorry, Maria, you must be suffering too……”

“No, what are you saying?”

Maia frowned, almost scolding.

“You lost your family. ……If I’d gone quietly, sir wouldn’t have died.”

But Adelstein spoke firmly.

“You did nothing wrong. Grandfather wanted to protect you, and he did just that. ……He was always like that, ever since I was little.”

Adelstein smiled faintly as he spoke.

Maia watched the boy’s face in surprise.

This boy was already tending to his own wounds without a single word of comfort.

Should one see this as admirable, as a good thing?

Or……

“……It’s okay to grieve as much as you want.”

Maia hesitated before speaking.

“There’s no choice more self-destructive than forcing yourself to swallow your tears and act as if you’re fine. If I’m making you uncomfortable, I’ll call Aeterna. You can at least talk openly with your brother.”

“……I’ve shed all the tears I could.”

The answer that returned was low.

“Aeterna is probably in his room, crying alone by now. When we were young, I once went in to comfort my younger brother and got cursed out and chased away. There’s no one as proud as my brother, and right now, leaving him alone is the best choice.”

Adelstein looked at Maia with reddened eyes.

His forced smile was now so strong and beautiful that Maia could no longer add any words.

“By any chance…… did he leave a will? If he left any last words, I want to carry them in my heart.”

The speech, once pure and cheerful like a child, had now matured so much that it was impossible to find any weakness.

“He said to tell you: ‘Not all problems in the world can be solved by strength alone.’”

Maia answered blankly.

Adelstein’s eyes sparkled once more.

A single tear slid down his pale cheek.

“I see. ……Thank you for telling me.”

The boy, who had kept his mouth tightly shut, finally spoke.

* * *

A day passed, and morning came the next day.

“I’m going to get revenge.”

Aeterna declared in a determined tone.

“Really? On whom?”

Hyperion, who had joined Adelstein and Aeterna at the table as if he belonged there, responded with apparent interest.

“Of course, on that Uperta bastard……. Wait, why are you even here?”

Aeterna, about to continue, turned to Hyperion with a sudden frown.

“Aeterna, that kid is……”

“I’m called Hyperion Luar.”

Adelstein tried to explain, but Hyperion was quicker.

“Who asked for your name? What gives you the right to sit here like you own the place?!”

Aeterna jumped up angrily.

Maia, sitting off to the side, felt the true meaning of discomfort and looked at Hyperion with anxious thoughts.

If he’s already reached such a level of magic that he talks about true names and such, what if he finds Aeterna’s attitude offensive and threatens us?

“Well, should I say I’ve become interested?”

Luckily, Hyperion didn’t seem upset and spoke coolly.

“What are you talking about? You……”

“There’s a strong stench of blood coming off you and your brother.”

Adelstein and Aeterna both looked shocked.

Maia was the same.

‘A stench of blood? What is……’

Ah.

‘If you truly carry Adelstein’s blood, you should be exuding the stench of bloody mana from the womb. But what you carry in your belly gives off a completely different presence.’

That was a mockery Hyperion had thrown at the now-deposed Crown Princess in a moment that now felt distant.

Was it not just for mockery……

Maia widened her eyes, looking back and forth between Adelstein and Aeterna.

She hadn’t noticed anything unusual, but apparently Hyperion saw something different.

“Born by cutting open the dead birth mother’s belly, the circumstances of your birth left your mana deeply stained with the scent of blood, though it was not your sin.”

“How do you know……”

Adelstein murmured blankly.

They had never told Hyperion anything about the circumstances of their birth.

So it was shocking to hear the boy speak so clearly of things they’d never said.

“I’m the one who first defined and mastered ‘magic.’”

His silver hair shone brilliantly in the sun, as if he wore a halo, and the young boy declared proudly.

“There’s no realm I do not know, and nothing I cannot accomplish.”

A lake, as if studded with stars from the night sky, shimmered gently in his dazzling eyes.

“I’ve become interested in you two. Do you understand now?”

Certainly, he had a right to be arrogant.

He truly was noble and great.

But……

Maia bit her lip in frustration.

In the Book of the Founder, it was written that Hyperion laid down all authority and arrogance before the Founding Emperor and treated him as a close friend.

“……I see.”

Adelstein answered dazedly, his face filled only with vague awe, with not a trace of affection or curiosity.

“Right, now you understand a little?”

Hyperion replied with another smug retort.

“……Magic? You mean you can wield that savage demon’s power?”

Aeterna muttered with a face full of disbelief.

Hyperion’s eyes cooled.

“I even explained kindly, but you still want to challenge me……”

“Wait! Then does that mean you’ll help us?”

Adelstein hurriedly interrupted Hyperion, who was speaking to Aeterna in a much harsher tone than before.

Perhaps because Adelstein was more respectful than his brother, Hyperion answered in a slightly softer manner.

“No.”

“……Pardon?”

“Why would I?”

‘……What is he doing?’

Maia let out a breath in disbelief.

He says he’s interested, but now he won’t help?

“If you want my help, prove you’re worth it.”

Hyperion demanded with a raised lip.

“You said you’d avenge your grandfather’s death? The one who commands those who killed your grandfather is a notorious tyrant in this continent. Try defeating such a powerful one with your own strength, without my help.”

“What, you have the power to help but refuse to intervene…….”

“I don’t reach out to those without value.”

Aeterna retorted angrily, but Hyperion cut him off without care.

“If you meet my condition, I’ll help you from then on. If you have a goal, I’ll help you achieve it without reservation.”

“Brother! Don’t listen to this nonsense. We don’t need your help! I thought maybe you’d help since you can use magic, but I have no intention of begging some arrogant jerk who toys with us.”

Aeterna shot back aggressively, and Hyperion smirked as if it was all amusing.

Caught between them, Adelstein finally spoke up.

“My reason for seeking revenge is first, my grandfather’s tragic death, and second, my disgust at the cruelty of this world.”

“!”

Maia shivered at the voice that came from the boy’s lips, looking at his deeply sunken face.

The Book of the Founder recorded a similar phrase.

It was said the Founding Emperor took up his sword and set out into the world because he was deeply enraged by its cruelty.

“But that’s only my personal feeling. I have no right to demand your help. So there’s no need for conditions. I won’t ask for help. I won’t try to prove my worth.”

“……Are you saying you don’t need my help?”

Hyperion frowned slightly.

Adelstein replied with a faint smile.

“My desire for revenge against Uperta was never about borrowing your power. I don’t want the original reason to become corrupted.”

Adelstein firmly rejected Hyperion’s offer, but still thanked him gently.

“Now that I think of it, I’m late in expressing my gratitude. Thank you for waking me from my pain and sending me home.”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t help……”

For the first time after meeting Adelstein, Hyperion looked genuinely flustered.

Adelstein simply bowed to Hyperion and smiled again.

“If you hadn’t come, I’d still be stuck there.”

Hyperion looked at him as if he couldn’t believe how naive he was, but Adelstein turned to face Aeterna.

“Aeterna, you’re my brother, so I think you feel the same as I do. Even if death is the only thing waiting at the end of this road, you’ll go with me, right?”

“……Of course. If you die, I die too.”

Aeterna frowned and blushed, speaking sharply.

Adelstein smiled brightly and turned to Maia.

“Maria. Just as with this person, I have no right to ask for your help. But things are bad. We have no one to help us.”

He knelt on one knee and looked up at Maia, speaking resolutely.

“So I beg you. Maria, will you join us?”

“……Adelstein.”

A choice was placed before her.

Her falling into the past was an anomaly that wasn’t supposed to exist.

Maia firmly believed that.

But she remembered.

The words Adelstein and Aeterna’s grandfather had spoken as he freed her and helped her escape.

‘I saved your life this time, so from now on, help my grandsons.’

She owed a debt she could never repay.

And more than that, her heart desperately wanted revenge.

Revenge against the evil man who drove good people to a cruel death out of vile greed.

“You’re asking for an obvious answer. I received a favor from your grandfather that I can never repay.”

Right now, even if her choice twisted the past, Maia couldn’t stop.

“With all my strength, I will help you, Adelstein.”

Maia knelt, met Adelstein’s eyes, and vowed resolutely.