In Body and Soul

"Imperial harem?!"

"That’s right," Lirilien replied, her bright smile unwavering. "I’m sure that was also my mother’s intention."

"That you’d be part of a harem along with her...?"

"Not a harem... your harem. I don’t know how harems worked in the worlds you say you remember from your dreams, Your Imperial Majesty, but belonging to a harem means being in the emperor’s most intimate circle of trust, closer even than the court’s advisors. That’s why my hope is that you’ll eventually deem me worthy of that position."

I had always understood harems as battlegrounds for power and influence struggles, where concubines were also kept as hostages to prevent their families from rebelling against the emperor... but I suppose that isn’t the case everywhere, especially if we’re talking about other worlds...

"First of all, Lirilien, let’s drop the ‘Your Imperial Majesty.’ Until I recover my memory, I can’t honestly claim to be Zendal di Ameritia... especially when, even after thousands of years, the continent is still called Ameritia."

"But! Your Majesty!..."

"Lirilien, I don’t want to create a pile of expectations I’m not sure I can meet... including yours."

Lirilien lowered her head. She looked so dejected I almost regretted being so direct, but it was something I needed to make clear from the start.

"Understood, my lord!" she said, recovering far faster than I’d expected.

"My lord?"

"I understand you don’t wish to call yourself emperor, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are what the sanctuary has been protecting all this time, the secret behind the gates. I knew it from the moment I first saw you. You are my lord, the one I’ve been waiting for thousands of years. I beg you, at the very least, don’t take that from me..."

That was when the chamber doors burst open and a girl with hair as red as fire stormed in... only for them to be shut again almost instantly by another young woman, her hair the color of aquamarine, hurrying right behind her.

"Zendal! If you keep bullying Lady Lirilien, I’m going to get mad, even if it’s you!"

"Merite! Show some respect! You can’t talk to my master like that!"

"Zendal or Endal or whoever you are. No one bullies Lady Lirilien under my watch," Merite replied, hands on her hips and chest puffed out.

"What happened to all that fear you had at the start?!"

"That disappeared when we hugged in the river!"

"When you hugged?! When my master had to haul a dead weight through the river, you mean!"

"You two. You are in the presence of Zendal di Ameritia." Lirilien, who had stood and positioned herself at my side, spoke with the same poise and authority she had shown the first time I saw her.

"Our apologies, Veilkeeper, Master!" Coletto quickly bowed her head, forcing Merite to do the same with her hand.

"..."

"...First of all, what’s with this ‘master’ thing?" I asked, trying to sort my now also tangled thoughts... as if they were competing with the chaos of my memories.

"Master, you said you wanted... me, if you won the duel... for which I also take this chance to sincerely apologize." Coletto began fidgeting with her fingers, looking a little embarrassed. "We haven’t made a pact yet, but I’ve already received the Veilkeeper’s approval."

"The entire sanctuary and its inhabitants already belong to you, my lord," Lirilien stated without the slightest change in her expression.

"I think that’s a bit more extreme than what I had in mind... Look, only the three of you know about my past. That’s exactly what I was discussing with Lirilien. Until I recover my memories, I’m not going to call myself Zendal di Ameritia. I’m simply Zendal."

"Even so, simply Zendal! If Lady Lirilien says you’re our lord, then you’re our lord, and you have no right to complain!" Merite exclaimed before receiving a hard knock on the head from Coletto, yet she didn’t give up. With teary eyes and her head lowered, she pressed on. "Lady Lirilien has guarded the gates for thousands of years... this is what she’s been waiting for her whole life..."

"Merite..." Lirilien still maintained the composure and elegance she had regained once the younger spirits had entered, but her voice now carried a faint tremor. Even Coletto gave me a pained look.

"Ugh... it’s true I wanted company in this unfamiliar world, but there are limits... Fine, fine! I can be your lord, as long as you’re content with me being just Zendal... not some mythical hero of the past. And no spreading my name around, that’s forbidden too!"

"A living being is not just their memories, my lord; your aura speaks for itself. I will remain by your side until the end of time," Lirilien declared, not kneeling but prostrating herself before me in the greatest gesture of respect and reverence possible.

"My master, I have been yours since you defeated me and spared my life (and since I discovered you weren’t a demon...), not of the mythical emperor, but yours," said Coletto, imitating Lirilien’s gesture and prostrating herself behind her.

"I wasn’t saved by some legendary emperor, hero, or whatever; I was saved by you, Zendal. And if you’re also someone Lady Lirilien wants to follow, then I’ll just do the same!" Merite exclaimed, prostrating herself beside Coletto.

"Looks like nothing I say will make you change your minds..." I leaned on my arm, resting my head on my knuckles and letting a smile slip. "This is your last chance to back out. My inner self is more possessive than I’d like to admit; once you’re mine, nothing will be able to take you from me, not even death."

Not even death? Why did I say that... and, more importantly, why doesn’t it feel like just a figure of speech?

"We are yours, in body and soul," Lirilien affirmed without raising her head.

"In body and soul!" Merite and Coletto echoed in unison behind her.

My attempt to scare them didn’t work... On top of that, it felt as if my past self had spoken through me at some point, and even that didn’t unsettle them... (It unsettled me, though; for a moment, I thought, What on earth am I saying?) But they accepted it without the slightest flinch...

"Master, the Veilkeeper of course, but is it alright for us to be your confidants as well? We’re skipping over all the greater spirits..." asked Coletto.

"I don’t plan on talking about my past with anyone else," I said, folding my arms to signal there was nothing more to discuss.

"You are the sanctuary’s most promising ones, Merite, Coletto. Just think of it as being recognized a little earlier than usual," Lirilien added with a warmer expression than any she had shown so far. "What matters now is planning how to establish our lord’s new kingdom. The greater spirits will have plenty of chances to distinguish themselves in that endeavor."

...
...

"...A kingdom?" I asked before losing my balance in the pose I had taken to try to look smug.

"Of course. You can’t start an empire without a kingdom," Lirilien replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"And what about what we discussed regarding Zendal di Ameritia?"

"We are not going to reclaim the primordial empire of Ameritia," Lirilien replied with the warmest smile. "This will be a new empire, the empire of simply Zendal."

My pleading gaze fell on Coletto, who had suddenly earned the title of the most level-headed among the three women.

"Mmm, we need to think of a name for the new kingdom, one worthy of my master," she said, resting her hand on her chin and instantly losing that title.

"To conquer the world! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Merite exclaimed, raising her hand in the air with a deep, measured laugh that I could hardly sum up as a mere “cackle.”

...

Why do I have the feeling that what I have acquired is nothing more than just trouble?