Scene 1 : Allen, at the Heavenly Yard of Lucifenia Royal Castle

Chapter 1, Section 1: The Fourteenth Birthday

The executioner lamented.

Ah, how long must I continue to cut off the heads of innocents?

The cabinet minister lamented.

Ah, how long should I continue to indulge the whims of that girl?

The people lamented.

Ah, how long will we have to continue to endure this hunger?

The only one laughing is the Daughter of Evil.

With a satisfied expression, she sits upon the throne.

The princess' command resonates.

"Now, bow before me!"

***

Scene 1: Allen, at the Heavenly Yard of Lucifenia Royal Castle

"Oh, it's tea time already."

When I heard the bells toll three times, those were the words that finally came to my lips.

The sound of the enormous bells of the cathedral of Levin reached the royal castle from afar. Next to me, Charttetto released a big sigh. She seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Even though it was past three o'clock in the afternoon, we didn't appear to be done cleaning the gardens, a task started just past noon. Besides Charttetto and myself, some six other male servants worked hard sweeping the gardens, yet the grounds were uncommonly vast. From the start, this wasn't the number of people suited for such a labor.

Though, since most of the servants were involved in the preparations for the ball to be held that night, even if it was a request from Mariam, Head of Lady Attendants, it didn't seem possible to expect any more people to be allocated to this task.

With a bored expression, Charttetto spoke.

"Aahhh..., I'm beat! Completely exhausted! Hey, Allen, can't we call it quits with cleaning and sweeping already?"

"I'm afraid we can't. The area around the Great Fountain still needs attention. Lady Mariam told us to have things sparkling-clean since the royal families of other countries are coming today, didn't she?"

"They ain't gonna tell even if that's dirty. The ball's at night and all."

"...But, you know, today we celebrate the birthday of Her Highness Rillianne. Lady Mariam wants this place cleaner than ever. We'll be in trouble if she finds out."

Silently, Charttetto started cleaning once more. It was not like I didn't understand her frustration. After all, we were the Princess' attendants, and other servants should've been entrusted with cleaning the gardens. However, Charttetto and I were participating in this task due to the fact that she, when trying to assist in duties such as the preparation of meals and changing clothing, before long she broke the dishes and tore the garments to pieces with her ridiculously excessive strength. As for me, I was entrusted with the task of keeping an eye on such a girl.

Though you could think she should've been sacked by then, in regards to physically demanding work she was better than men; and more importantly, it appeared that her cheerful personality endeared her to Her Highness Rillianne.

There was nothing more important to us than "endearing oneself" to the Princess. In truth, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that being a servant of the Princess meant "risking one's life". If someone displeased the great Princess, it wasn't strange for them to be immediately beheaded. "Being sacked" had a very different meaning inside the Royal Palace in comparison to the world outside.

The previous month, Rillianne had sent seventeen people to their deaths; the month before, twenty eight people had been guillotined. There was an assortment of criminal charges: one person had said a rash remark to the Princess; other person had spilled some water over her gown; yet another had met the Princess's eyes and grinned unexpectedly, and so on. In any case, all those that lacked Her Highness approval were executed soon enough. To her, anyone but herself was no different from a pet, a doll or a toy. When she didn't need them anymore, it was fine to throw them aside. That was her way of thinking.

Charttetto was cleaning the fountain some distance away. With an expression that indicated she had noticed something, she once again spoke to me. I guess we could be said to be childhood friends; we knew each other since young, and so I had more opportunities to speak spontaneously with her than with other servants.

***

"Ah! Allen, big trouble! This is bad!"

"What? You broke the fountain again?"

"What do you mean 'again'?! I haven't broken the fountain yet! ...I just cracked it a bit, though."

"..."

"...Of course I haven't! But it is three o'clock already, and wasn't your turn to bring the mid-afternoon snack to Her Highness Rillianne? It's gonna be really bad if you don't show up."

"...Ah, as for that, Ney traded places with me. I didn't expect us to be done cleaning the gardens by teatime, after all."

Ney, like Charttetto and me, was one of Her Highness' attendants. She was much more competent at the work than us, and had never angered Her Highness Rillianne. As expected, perhaps, from the beloved daughter of the Head of Lady Attendants.

"Heeeey, working hard, kids?"

Suddenly, a loud voice reached us from across the gardens. I traced it back to its source at the main gates: an intrepid man in red armor, flashing a smile as he came in our direction.

"Seems like you have it pretty bad as a servant, Allen."

"It's not as hard as the duties of the leader of the Royal Guard, Commander Leonhart."

"Ah..., that's good to hear. But, won't you call me 'Father' as you used to when we lived together? It's fine with me."

"That's not possible, as you know."

My foster father Leonhart scratched his head, his expression showing he found my behavior stuffy. When I observed his scatterbrained demeanor, it was hard to believe that he was once a member of the brave trio called The Three Heroes.

"It's been a year since you started to work here. How's it been? Are you doing alright?"

"Well, it's passable. How about you, Commander Leonhart?...and Jermeille, is she doing well?"

"Jermeille...? In her case, the problem is she's too full of energy. Yesterday she was loitering about town, brawling and raising hell..."

"But Jermeille won the fights, for sure."

"That she did, and without even one scratch...If I were to tell her to act more like a young woman...She wouldn't take it."

He commented with a bitter smile, as we stood around chatting.

"Lord Leeeon, what brings you here today?"

Charttetto, who had been listening to our conversation by my side, interjected.

Just as she and I were childhood friends, she and Leonhart had a close relationship.

"What brings me...? Security for tonight's ball, of course; I've come to carry out my duties as Commander of the Royal Guard."

"Oh, really...? And here I thought you had come to rummage through the storehouse for liquor again!"

"I've never done that! And in the first place, recently I've been staying away from liquor."

"Eh? The booze-loving Lord Leon is rejecting alcohol? How come?"

Charttetto replied, seemingly surprised.

I also found the fact that Leonhart was abstaining from drinking liquor just a bit startling. I thought back at the time when he took me in as his foster son, and we lived together with his foster daughter Jermeille. As far as I could recall, there wasn't a day that went by that Leonhart and Jermeille weren't drinking.

"...Because of the poor crops lately, foodstuff shortage is getting serious. The people are suffering from hunger. The Commander of the Royal Guard shouldn't be indulging himself in such luxuries."

"...I'd like the Royal Family and the nobles to hear those words."

Charttetto muttered. In contrast to her previous remarks, at that moment her voice carried a darker tone.

"Lately, Her Highness Rillianne has been in a foul mood. That must be the cause, right?"

I enquired, and Leonhart shrugged.

"Well, despite the foodstuff shortage, the castle's reserves are still plentiful. It's understandable that the situation here is different from the one with the populace, but... Her Highness Rillianne and His Excellency Minis are mostly ignoring matters."

"You're the only one capable of advising the princess, Lord Leonhart..."

Charttetto said, with a somewhat amazed expression.

"On top of everything, what do you think she said? 'If they don't have bread, let them eat snacks.'"

"That's because Her Highness Rillianne loves her mid-afternoon snacks."

"That's not the problem here...The princess doesn't understand the value of things. She doesn't realize that the food her people put on the table everyday is far worse than the feed of her beloved horse. That sheltered girl's not even capable of looking around her."

***

The conflict between Leonhart and Rillianne hadn't been born that day. Though Leonhart was unkempt and an incorrigible boozehound, he was serious when it came to his duties as Commander and devoted towards the people. Rillianne, extravagant and self-indulgent, was heinously ignorant of the world around her and paid no attention to the daily lives of her subjects, so their clashes were a common sight in the royal palace.

"Her Highness Rillianne is thirteen years old –and today turns fourteen; even though she is still young to administer the affairs of state, she should think more about her subjects..."

I more or less understood what Leonhart wanted to say. It was truth that the princess' eyes didn't turn towards her people. In that case, it was preferable that the retainers around her attended to the affairs of the state with utmost care. However, that was unlikely to happen thanks to the incompetence of Minis, who had only reached the position of Prime Minister due to his parentage.

"Oh, well...Speaking of which..."

Leonhart sat up straighter, and changed the subject.

"Before coming here, I passed by the stables...Is Rillianne out at the moment?"

"That shouldn't be the case...I think. She would never go outside the palace on the day of her birthday party..."

A sense of impeding disaster came over me.

"I see...But, she wasn't there in the stables. Josephine."

Leonhart said with a doubtful expression.

Josephine was the name of Rillianne's beloved horse.

"She couldn't have been stolen, could she?"

I questioned Leonhart, and he replied:

"Impossible. Today, security is especially tight. For someone to trespass so easily into the palace..."

"But what if by strengthening the defenses against trespassers...we aren't paying enough attention to fugitives?"

Leonhart's face changed color.

"Hey, don't tell me that..."

At that moment, we heard someone shouting from inside the palace. That was...Ney's voice!

"Princess Rillianne! Where are you?! Princess Rillianne!"

We looked at each other, and then rushed towards the voice. We entered the palace and found its owner just after she passed between some mirrors.

I took in a breath and composed myself before speaking.

"Ney, what's wrong with Her Highness Rillianne?"

Ney seemed on the verge of tears as she replied:

"Allen...what should we do...Princess Rillianne is missing."

***