Poisoned Chalice

The next morning, even as I had intended to sleep at my desk, I woke up to the now familiar ceiling of my room.

Unfamiliar to me however, was the sweet fragrance wafting from the person lying beside me. Invading my nostrils and chipping away at my sense of reason in the process, this scent, Nika's, made it difficult to get up but also prevented me from going back to sleep.

This is not okay like, at all. How did I manage to unconsciously stand up and so casually get in with her ? Or was it Shimka then ? It must be right ? Does she realise how bad this is ? Like imagine if–

"Taiyo-sama, may I enter ?"

Shimka !

"Y-yes, just a second–"

As she opened the door without waiting for me to properly get up, in the end I remained seated, frozen, torn between wanting to quickly get out of the bed and not wanting to jolt Nika awake.

"It would appear your report was correct indeed." It was Vradio. And as he scrutinized me with his usual deadpan expression, I thought I saw a hint of disgust in his glare.

What does he mean ? Did Shimka say something to him ? But what ? Wait, don't tell me–

As I turned to look at Shimka in disbelief, she simply bowed to me and made to prepare breakfast on the teatable as usual.

D-did she...set me up ?

Oblivious or perhaps unconcerned by my worries, Vradio apologized under his breath and made to softly tap on Nika's uncovered shoulder to wake her up.

"Hnng.. Silvia ?" Probably expecting her usual attendant to be the one by her bedside, the second princess, still sleepy, tried to grab her glasses from the chair I'd set up the night before to act as a makeshift nightstand. But upon regaining focus with her vision, she dramatically jumped away to the other side of the bed in surprise.

"W-wha– ! V-Vradio ?! What are you doing in my room ?!" Her shock was understandable, however...

Good thing I got up. Otherwise she'd have been in for another surprise after that jump.

"Good morning Your Highness. I understand your puzzlement however this is not, in fact, your room. Please have a look." Motioning to me, Vradio managed to drive his point home with little effort.

"T-Taiyo.. ?"

I wish you didn't use the informal adress in their presence but...

"G-good morning..."

As it hit her, her face turned bright red with embarrassement and she hid under the covers again. At that, Vradio seemed to reach a conclusion and whispered something in Shimka's ear who then bowed once more to him and to me and exited the room.

I have a real bad feeling about this...


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The rest of the day passed in an uneventful fashion, surprisingly. That being said, it only added to the tension and anticipation I felt since the event of that morning. And more importantly...

"S-Shimka ? Don't you think you're going a bit off-limit here ? I can wash the front myself..rather, let me wash it myself please !"

I was in the bath after dinner and for some reason, after washing my back as she did when she had the leeway to do so in her busy schedule, Shimka was now pressing herself against my back and trying to scrub my thighs, outer and inner, and seemed intent on proceeding to the one thing I could not allow her to touch.

I mean, I appreciate her willingness to go this far. Any straight and single man would, but between the events of this morning, the idea that she might have set me up, and the events on the battlefield, I am simply not in the mood. Not to mention that it sounds dangerous too, for a couple reasons.

As I came to my senses, I realized I was holding her forearms a bit too tightly. So I quickly released them and tried to turn to apologize but–

"I am truly sorry Master." She said as she held my head in place to prevent me from turning around. After a short pause, she continued. "I should have known that after such a long time in an unfamiliar place you would eventually have those kinds of urges catching up to you."

...Sure, but I'm not a beast. I can manage that much on my own you know ?

"But...you cannot do that Master. You cannot lay your hands on a princess..."

"?!" Wait, then.. does that mean Vradio also thinks–

"Hey Shimka, what are you saying all of sudden ?!" I couldn't let this kind of slander, or rather misunderstanding for now, go unanswered. "I only let her in so she could take a nap ! She looked like she was on the brink of death from overwork so I lend her my bed. And I'm confident I purposely fell asleep at the table by the window after I wrote in my diary !"

Faintly sobbing, Shimka asked me in a trembling voice. "T-then why would you wake up in the same bed ? When I came to check on you after midnight you were already there ! And when I figured it must have been an accident and elected to wake you up, I spotted Her Highness' underwear at her feet as well as your discarded shirt on the floor... So not knowing what to do I elected to at least cover the undergarments with the bed sheets and put a fresh shirt over your shoulders but..."

But what ?

"I couldn't find a way to hide the mark on your neck so I didn't know what to do ! ...Please
forgive me !"

As she said that, she sprang up in a fluster, covering her unusually emotionnal face all the while, and left the bathroom.

As for me, I remained there, sitting and dumbfounded, with my heart beating furiously in my chest and beads of cold sweat slowly but surely drenching my forehead and back in a salty mix of fluid and soap.

If I stay here a minute longer I think I'll pass out.
                                                                   
                                                                     
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The following morning I did not wake up.
Not that I overslept or that Shimka had tried but not managed to jolt me awake. No. I had simply not been able to get a single hour of sleep.

"Good morning sir Hero." It was Vradio once again. But this time Shimka was not with him.

Incidentally since the previous night's events I hadn't been able to catch even a glimpse of her.

As a failed to answer his greeting, the head butler poured me tea into a cup and continued.
"I know it must have been a difficult night for you sir, but–" Go ahead, lay on the bad news. At this point I don't even care anymore. "But the king is requesting an audience with you."
The king huh ? Sounds like I'm in for a trial then. Cool.

Still feeling groogy, I languidly brought the teacup to my lips and asked for more details.

"So ? Do I even need to dress up or ?..." In my mind there was no doubt I would be sentenced one way or another. So my intention with that question was to try and approximately gauge the degree of gravity if anything. And if after I was done with breakfast he pulled out shackles and refused to answer, well, then that was it.

"That would be much appreciated, of course. But I am afraid I cannot dive into the specifics regarding your summon. I hope you'll understand." No but it's fine. Was what I would have liked to say, but since he told me to dress up in my Hero costume, there might be a chance for me to crawl back from the hole I was thrown into.

"The venue is the throne room. I will accompany you once you are done changing."

Nevermind, it's over.

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I feel sick..

In the throne room, lining up the red carpet leading to the king, were rows of people I had never seen or heard of before.

Among them though, I spotted a few familiar faces. Tokesa the first prince, Serie the third princess, as well as the other three knight commanders, Richard, Avery, and Xenia.

From them, my instructor in swordsmanship did not even spare me a glance when I entered the room. While Richard, in his case, seemed delighted by the proceedings. Of course he would. And last but not least, standing beside the king was Nicholas. I swear, if my doubts are confirmed with this meeting, I'll murder you.

In a mix of frustration, tiredness and with my habit of usually bottling up my emotions so they would not get in the way of my thinking, this atmosphere managed to completely shatter the shackles of my reason.
If after all my politness and the efforts I made to accomodate to your damned demands as well as your values and etiquette, you condemn me over a misunderstanding, I'm gonna freak out.

"Good to see you answered my summon without resistance, Hyouma-sama."

So no more 'hero' already, huh ?

"I believe you understand what this is about, do you not ?"

"It must be the misunderstanding from yesterday I would imagine." Come to think of it, where's she ?

"As I thought. A misunderstanding you say. But I believe there is evidence of the reports I received on your very skin, isn't there ?" Indeed there was. Or at least someone had made sure there would be.

The king, following my line of sight, guessed what or rather who I was looking for.

"If you are looking for my daughter, I am afraid I had to put her under house arrest for now. She will not attend this gathering."
Yeah right. Of course you would rather not bring the one person who would be able to plead in my defense. Not like she's the one most concerned by the situation as well either, no.

"Well ? I commend you for worrying about she who is not present at the moment, but shouldn't you be focused on trying to deny the evidence I mentioned earlier ? Because if this truly is a misunderstanding, you should be able to provide us with a concrete proof of your innocence, am I wrong ? If so, by all means speak away." The king sounded almost dismissive as he offered me a chance to redeem myself.
I let my guard down. There being no camera or really any means to record past events, allowed them to orchestrate this farce so easily...
For now the only thing I can do is to honestly convey my recollection of the events of that day and hope that Nika has shown faith in me when she gave her own report.

"I will not claim that I have a significant proof to counteract your accusations Your Majesty. However, what I can do is to convey to everyone present my version of everything that happened yesterday with utmost honesty." The room erupted in murmurs, but I was not done. "And my one demande would be for Your Majesty as well as somebody who has come to know me; let's say ser Xenia for instance, to compare my story with your daughter's once I am done. Otherwise I am afraid I won't be able to accept any more accusation."
The bet was consequential and required the few people who I had been involved with to have kept a good impression of me until now, but I saw no other option at that moment. 

The room was almost chaos by that point. With people telling me off for my tone towards their king, people whispering amongst themselves, and finally those who nodded in apparent consideration. And yet, I remained adamant. My eyes fixed on the king's. 

If there is a time to show resolve and unwavering confidence, it's now. After waiting like this for a few more minutes for the people present to settle down, the king finally responded.

"Very well. As expected of the strategist you claimed to be I must say. Indeed, you came up with a sound argument. So we will do as you say." First hurdle cleared. I thought. "Now proceed with you explanation if you will."

"Thank you very much." Clenching my fists to avoid trembling too much under the looks and mostly the glares of all the bigwigs in attendance, I started.

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First of all I spoke about how the parade following our return had been as much of a wonderful as it was an exhausting experience. And that it had led me to take an early bath in the middle of the day.
Then I explained how after said bath, I went straight to take a nap. If anything, Shimka should not have lied about these two facts at least, surely. 
Moving on, I told them that after a one hour nap, still devoid of energy, I had decided to head to the library to enjoy some peace and quiet.

"–And this is when I encountered Your Highness Nika for the first time again since I came back from Fort Brighton." At the mention of her name, I felt everyone's attention perk up anew. Now I had to be careful how I delievered what had happened from there.
"To anyone who saw her in the state she was in that day it would have been obvious how exhausted she was." 'So what ? Did you think it was your golden opportunity to take advantage of her then ?!' I could hear some barely contained wispers directed at me and causing chain reactions in the audience. 

This is suffocating, it feels like trying to run in a poisonous mist. Not that I have experienced the real deal but... But I had to stand strong. I had no allies in this room at the moment.

"While I am saying this after the fact, and I regret it, I must admit that what I did next was indeed far from mindful of the codes and values of you, people of this world, and that in retrospect I understand that I must have gone beyond my capacity as a foreigner, a guest, and more importantly as a hero."
I stirred the crowd on purpose. Because by saying that, one, I hoped that the ones more apt at weighing the arguments from both sides would consider the fact that I am in fact not a fellow inhabitant of the planet Ecliptica. Two, I invited everyone present to realize that I, for a fact, understood I had my share of responsibility in this affair.
And lastly, it was simply my vain attempt at leading them to expect me to reveal something outrageous while in fact I would simply reiterate what had happened which is to say, nothing.

"I suggested she took a nap in my room." As I said that, the room fell into complete silence for a moment. Some people looked dumbfounded, others looked exasperated, but most importantly for a while no one was looking at me in disdain.
I continued."I assured her I would obviously not join her and we concluded that I would wake her up once I would be done with writing the events since my deployment in my diary."
'So there is proof of his claims'. 'Was the king not aware of the existence of such an important clue ?' 'But I heard the maid who reported this incident was quite certain he had been in his bed from the beginning'. 'It is still his notebook so he could very well have had falsified its content in advance in order to commit the deed'. 'You are right, and why would he wait until now to reveal the existence of this diary ?'
The opinions varied. But the fact that even some of them were willing to consider my innocence was enough to propel me to go on.

"That being said, I will confess that I had in fact intended to let her sleep there for the remainder of that day and for the night that followed if possible. Her exhaustion was simply that worrying." 
'It is true that this girl always seemed to be busy recently. Yes, and I kept on seeing her attendants come and go from her office'. 'I heard that even His Highness Tokesa, her brother, had had to seal off her office to force her to rest.' 
At that particular bit of information, everyone collectively turned to look at the first prince.

Now the center of attention, Tokesa Ispron answered decisively. "That would be correct. Since the day she was appointed at her current position, which she herself had requested, she truly became a workaholic. So much that as one of you mentioned, I have to seal off the access to her office on occasion. And one such occurence did in fact happen on the day we speak of."

Good. The prince's support was an unexpected beacon of hope. And I would not miss my chance to capitalize on its effect.
"On our way to my room however, we met Shimka, the maid assigned to me. So I explained the situation to her and bid her to act oblivious in front of Her Higness', Nika's attendants."
At those words, the whole room erupted once more in murmurs. And the gazes directed at Shimka who stood a step behind Vradio –himself positioned opposite to Nicholas but beside the king's throne as well– turned malicious, almost murderous.
Is there something going on with her ? I would have understood it if they were looking at her in exasperation since this whole circus was only taking place because of her claim, which was now sounding a lot more shaky. Most of them had their schedule to attend to after all. But the blatant animosity in their attitude spoke of almost what I'd call a passive, as if their reaction was only this pronounced because it was directed at her especially.

However I had no time to waste pondering  her situation at the moment, so I kept going, undaunted. "She complied easily and said that she would even refrain from entering the room unless I called for her. After that, and assuring her I would not need dinner that night, I let Her Highness inside and gave her the modest garments I had come wearing in this world for her to change into. And waited outside." At that point there were no more whispering or disparaging me. Some people were still glaring at Shimka, but most of them were simply listening intently to my speech.

"Once she was done, and looking embarassed upon realising what she had authorized me to do for her, she nevertheless accepted the gesture and went to lie in my bed which I took as a show of confidence on her part." Come to think of it, she must trust me quite a bit to not only accept my offer but to also fall asleep both in unfamiliar clothes and in a man's bed, no less.

"After that it is as I said before. I spent a few hours compiling the event of that day as well as my first battlefield experience. Once I was done I tucked away my notebook in the bed's drawer, brought a blanket to the tea table, and fell asleep there."
Now done with my version of the facts I made one last attempt at pleading for my innocence.
"And I will say it again, I have absolutely no recollection of getting up at any point. Not even to use the bathroom. And this mark on my neck cannot possibly come from Nika as she was obviously in no state to fool around."

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From that point on, and while the king was busy consulting Vradio as well as his children –the ones present at least– it was up to the people around the room to deliberate and discuss the issue orally with one another.

At least the atmosphere is now breathable. There are still people eyeing me with suspicion but it's mostly a manner of gauging my reactions, which is fair. Though I must say, this hickey she left me is an unexpected saving grace. Thanks to that they cannot simply say I forced myself onto Nika. Had I been heartless, I could even have claimed to have been abused myself for that matter. Though obviously that would have proved even more difficult to defend.

I wasn't yet confident Shimka had left this mark herself, or rather I had yet to come to terms with it, but I was nonetheless secretely grateful for her miscalculation. Oh right, I guess I could tell them about that too.

Clearing my throat in a dramatic manner to redirect some of the attention towards me, I lifted my arm to ask for permission to talk.

"What is it ?" The king asked.

"While we are on the subject I would like to bring something else to your attention if you don't mind." At that, everyone's focus was once again hanging onto my every word. And the king gestured for me to proceed.
"For the past month in the castle, that is to say before my deployment, my attendant, Shimka, has grown very assertive towards me. Obnoxiously so I must say."
Sorry Shimka, the truth is I very much enjoy your company and those intimate moments, but the same way you used my trust against me, I'll have to use what I can to get out of this situation.

"Yesterday in particular, I had to stop her from trying to touch me where she shouldn't after she had offered only to wash my back." At those words, this time it was the majority of people present who turned with resentment towards the maid. But I wasn't done.
"Not only that but prior to this attempt on that same day; as I was trying to relax in my room in the afternoon, she came in claiming she needed to clean the windows and furnitures and proceeded to do so wearing an unusually short skirt." Which ironically had been one of the reasons why I had not been able to fall asleep later on. Since she would have obviously noticed any stain on the bed sheets the following morning. Tough times...
"And lastly during dinner, when she would usually only stand there beside me and wait for me to finish, to my surprise she offered to feed me with a spoon."

To calm the crowd who'd erupted into chaos once more, the king clapped twice from atop his throne. "Your claims have been heard and recorded sir Hero." He assured me. "Now before I dismiss all present and consult with my daughter with the help of Fourth Commander Xenia, I would like my children to voice their own opinions. It is their sister we are talking about after all. Would that be okay with you ?"

Even if I wasn't okay, it's not exactly my place to refuse the demand of a king who just allowed me to try and defend my dignity against accusations. "Of course Your Majesty." I answered, kneeling.


The first one to step up was Tokesa Ispron, the first prince. However aside from what he had already said earlier about him being aware of his sister's fatigue, he kept it short and non-committal. It seemed like he did not want to take part in this affair at all.
Then there was Serie. She spoke of her impression of me from all the time we had spent training since our first meeting and had mostly good things to say about me. That being said, she did confess having reservations about a single man of my age appearing seemingly unbothered by his involvement with this many women at once. So she did not dismiss the possiblity of me being guilty entirely.

Moving on came Felmera Ispron, First Princess of the kingdom. Twirling her golden locks around her finger all the while, she fixed me with her narrowed, emerald eyes as she spoke.
Her take went along the lines of; 'there is no way my straight-laced younger sister would be found in such a disgraceful and outrageous state. And I cannot imagine her letting her guard down so much so she would not be able to fight back if that man had tried anything'. Apparently her seriousness –which I had yet to witness for myself– was a well-known fact around the castle. Unfortunately for me however, she wasn't done talking.

"Though I say that, I have both heard and read that overly serious people also tend to have an awful lot of unfulfilled desires. And while it is not my intention to incriminate my dear sister, I must say, if only for the sake of avoiding speaking with too much bias, that I cannot not rule out the possibility of said desires, hers or our Hero's, even both at the same time, to have translated to the situation that was reported." Which is of no concern to me as long as there was consentement by the way. She added from behind her fan.
Lastly it was the second prince's turn. "Felvis, you who is supposed to succeed this throne, what are your thoughts on the matter, and what would be your decision ?" The king turned to his son.

After looking thoughful for a moment, Felvis Ispron ultimately opened his mouth. "I want peace for my kingdom." He started. "And to achieve that I do not want my people, beginning with family, to feel suffocated in their daily lives. As such, the first matter I want to address after listening to the various pieces of information pronounced until now, is the problem of overwork from which my older sister seems to suffer." With the same shiny blond hair as his older sister the first princess, and with the practiced gait of a performer on stage –completely in his element– Felvis moved to stand atop the stairs and spread his arms open.

"'Has my sister ultimately given in to her base instincts?' , 'Has the hero from afar lost himself in depravity after acquiring too much power ?' or 'Was the maid at fault after all ?' None of that matters in my eyes. What matters to me are the consequences. 'Is my sister traumatized ?' 'Does she have any bruises ?' 'Will she be able to resume her work without issue ?' 'Has someone taken over her tasks accordingly in the meantime ?' Those are the questions whose I require the answers of right now. The rest she ought to be able to solve on her own, in my opinion. She is old enough to look out for herself. And her intimacy is hers by definition, so who she slept with, who she sees or who she gets along with are none my, of our concern. Wouldn't you think ?"

At his question, the room erupted in cheers and clapping. People celebrated the soon-to-be king and his open-minded take on an issue that should never have been one in the first place, bringing the whole debat to a close and most importantly allowing the nobles and busybodies alike to finally return to their obligations.

As for me, once the king nodded from atop his throne to indicate we were done here, I gestured for Shimka to follow me and headed back to my room.

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As I entered and went to sit at the tea table by the window, Shimka remained in a bowing posture by the door.

"I do not know what to say Master... My behavior has caused you nothing but troubles. Had His Highness Felvis not spoken those words, in the worst case scenario you could have been imprisoned and me fired... I wholeheartedly apologise to you."
This time she was sitting in dogeza, which somehow did not feel out of place, probably thanks to her looks. That being said, the whole tear-jerking apology part was no longer of any concern to me. I had much pressing business to attend to that would require her help.

"Lift your head Shimka, I'm not mad anymore." Now that she was done whiping her own back in guilt, I could move on to what I would have her do for me.

"Listen Shimka, to be honest right now I doubt I will be able to trust you anymore. And while your words seem genuine, without acts to further prove your will to make it up to me I think I won't be able to allow you to stick around for much longer." These were my honest thoughts. But there was obviously more to them.
This whole affair had infuriated me of course, and it had driven me to conclude that nobody was to be trusted by default in this castle. But it had also served to confirm some of the suspicions I had been nurturing since the issue with Nicholas.

Somebody or maybe even a whole faction must be behind this. From what Ive observed, the old strategist, Nicholas, doesn't seem intent on taking over the role of commander of the second platoon. As for Shimka, far from looking or sounding determined to succeed Vradio, she doesn't seem to have any kind of amibition of her own. In conclusion, I am confident that in both cases there is a greater power moving the threads in the background.

"I am ready for anything, Master." She answered, her tone resolute.

"Stop undressing, can't you tell this is worst possible solution to the issue at hand ?"

"My apologies, I simply meant it as a joke." She bowed to me, her face as expresionless as always. The vixen. I can't let my guard down for a sec' !

"Whatever... Now what I want you to do is to investigate something for me." I asked her, keeping a straight face and looking right into her eyes. "It means what you think it does. I will have you bring back information about your colleagues and superiors." I paused. "The same way you were able to betray my trust, now I want you to betray everyone's."

This was a gamble without a doubt. But if she really had a bad reputation among the population of the castle for some reason –as indicated by the looks the received during the trial earlier– then she might be willing to do it for me.