How Wardes suddenly showed his true colors in the middle of the wedding...killing Prince Wales and snatching the letter from Louise’s hands...
which was swiftly regained.
... And how the ‘Reconquista’ had vast ambitions...from uniting all of Halkeginia, to the grand goal of liberating the Holy Lands from the Elves.
However... even with the alliance between Tristain and Germania now secure, Henrietta still mourned.
“That Viscount was a traitor… How can that be? To have a traitor within the midst of the Mage Guards...”
Gazing at the letter she herself wrote to Wales, tears built up and streamed down her cheeks.
“Princess…”
Louise silently held Henrietta’s hands.
“It was I who took away Prince Wales' life. No matter how you look at it, it was I who chose the traitor to be the messenger…”
Saito shook his head.
“The Prince had already planned on staying in his kingdom. It was not Your Highness’s fault.”
“Louise, did he, at the very least, read my letter?”
Louise nodded.
“Yes, princess. Prince Wales read Your Highness's letter.”
“Then, Prince Wales didn‘t love me.”
Henrietta sorrowfully shook her head.
“Then... even after you urged the Prince to escape?”
Henrietta nodded whilst gazing at the letter in sorrow.
Louise recalled Wales' words. He kept stubbornly telling her that “Henrietta didn’t tell me to escape”. It was just as Louise had thought - a lie.
“Ahh, with your death, there is no longer any hope. What about me, my lost love?”
Henrietta muttered softly in her daze.
“Was honor more important than I?”
But Saito came to a different conclusion. Wales remained not because he was trying to protect his honor. Rather, Wales remained so as to not give Henrietta any trouble... and to show the traitors that the royal families of Halkeginia were certainly not to be trifled with.
“It isn’t as you think, Princess. It was because he did not wish to give Tristain any troubles, that he remained in that country. That is how I see it.”
Henrietta looked up at Saito blankly.
“To not give me any trouble?”
“His escape, as the Prince said, would only have given a perfect excuse for traitors to invade.”
“Even if Prince Wales didn’t flee here, they would still invade here given the chance. But, without a reason to invade, peace can be kept. At the cost of his life, he prevented the rise of war.”
“... Even then, he still didn’t want to give trouble. Surely...”
Henrietta, sighing deeply, looked outwards from the window.
Saito slowly repeated the words he had remembered.
“To fight with bravery, to die with courage. That... was what he asked me to say.”
Henrietta replied with a cheerless smile. When a princess, as beautiful as a delicate rose, became like this, even the air itself grew heavy. Saito’s heart ached at the sight.
Henrietta, resting her elbows on the table beside a beautifully engraved marble statue, questioned sadly.
“To fight with bravery, to die with courage. That’s your privilege as men. But what of those who are left behind, what are they supposed to do?”
Saito was struck silent. He had nothing to say. Lowering his head downwards, he awkwardly nudged his shoe against the couch.
“Princess… If only I had tried harder to convince Prince Wales...”
Henrietta stood up and clasped the hand of the muttering Louise.
“It’s all right, Louise. You splendidly accomplished your mission by retrieving the letter. You should not have to be worried about anything because I didn’t ask you to tell him to escape.”
Henrietta laughed with a smile.
“With the obstacle that could have broken the marriage now removed, our country will be able to step into the alliance with Germania safely. In such a situation, Albion will not be able to invade us easily. The crisis has passed, Louise Françoise.”
Henrietta said it as cheerfully as possible.
Louise took out from her pocket the Water Ruby that Henrietta had given her.
“Princess, here, I return this to you.”
Henrietta shook her head.
“Please hold on to it. It’s the least I can do to express my gratitude.”
“I cannot dare to accept such a treasure.”
“For such loyalty, an appropriate reward should be bestowed. It is all right, put it on.”
Louise nodded and put it on her finger.
Upon seeing this, Saito remembered the ring he had removed from Prince Wales’ hands. Taking it from the rear pocket of his pants, he placed it onto Henrietta’s hands.
“Princess, this, is a keepsake from the Prince Wales.”
Accepting the ring, Henrietta gasped in astonishment.
“Isn’t this the wind ruby? Did you get it from Prince Wales?”
“Yes. In his dying moments, he passed the ring to me; he said to give it to Your Highness.”
In truth, Wales was already dead when he pulled it off his finger.... but Saito had said it anyways. He had said it like that, believing that it would help heal the ache Henrietta held in her heart, even if just a little.
Henrietta put the Wind Ruby on her finger. Because it was for Wales, it was too large for Henrietta’s fingers… But when Henrietta muttered the ‘decreasing’ spell, the ring became narrower and narrower, and soon it fit the finger snugly.
Henrietta lovingly stroked the Wind Ruby. Turning towards Saito, she gave a shy smile.
“Thank you, kind familiar.”
A sad smile filled with grief, yet also a smile of gratefulness towards Saito. Such was the nobility of the smile that Saito was dumbstruck by its beauty, and could only mumble incoherently.
“That man, he died bravely. Is that right?”
Saito nodded.
“Yes. It was so.”
Henrietta, whilst staring at the shining Wind Ruby, declared softly.
“Then I… I will live bravely as well.”
On the flight from the Royal Palace to the Academy of Magic, Louise remained silent. No matter how much Kirche asked Louise and Saito what was contained in the contents of the letter Wales had written, the two kept their lips sealed.
“Oi, c’mon, won’t you at least tell me what the mission was? And the fact that the Viscount was a traitor, it’s all so shocking.”
Kirche looked at Saito with a feverish glance.
“But darling fought him, right?”
Saito, having glimpsed Louise's face, nodded.
“Y-yes. But he escaped…”
“Still, that’s quite an achievement! Hey, what was that mission exactly?”
Saito lowered his head. Louise was even more silent, and neither spoke.
Kirche puckered up her brows and turned to Guiche.
“Hey, Guiche!”
“What?”
With an artificial rose in his mouth, Guiche, who was spacing out, turned around.
“Do you know what was in the letter Princess Henrietta sent us to retrieve?”
Guiche closed his eyes saying:
“I do not know well. Only Louise knows.”
“Louise the Zero! Why don’t you tell me?! Hey, Tabitha! What do you think? Well, I think that I am being treated like an idiot!”
Kirche shook Tabitha, who was reading a book. As she was being shaken, her head followed suit and shook as well.
Because of all the shaking by Kirche, the wind dragon lost balance and suddenly slowed down. Guiche, who was sitting on its back, lost his balance and fell down. “Gyaaaaaa!” he screamed as he fell, but since it was Guiche, no one noticed. Mid-way, he pulled out his wand, and using “Levitation”, floated down slowly, avoiding near-death.
Louise lost her balance as well, but Saito softly reached out and held her waist with his hand, supporting her body. Seeing the hand on her waist, Lousie blushed. This morning, when running away from Albion, Saito kissed me. That time I was pretending to be asleep.