36 — Agnes' Rationale

Night falls once again, as the whole group is lazing around in one of the empty homes. Lorelai, Anneliese, Florian and Iaomai are all chatting, while Agnes is off sitting in the corner. Iaomai finished carving her crutch, and now she can move around again. Joezand approaches his sister, sitting next to her. She looks at him blankly, none of her usual hostility.

"I found it." Joezand says. "The demon's in a cave a few yards outside of town. Me and Lorelai found the hideout, so I explained the situation to her. I still need to tell the others about it, though."

"Iaomai already knows." Agnes says. "I told him."

"Really couldn't keep it for yourself, huh?" Joezand sighs. "Well, that's fine, he'd know eventually. But don't think I haven't noticed you sneaking around and whispering. What are you planning?"

"You'll know soon enough." Agnes says. "Now scram, I want some alone time to think. Go sleep with your maid or something."

"D-Does everyone know about that now? Come on." Joezand leans back, looking deflated.

"Oh. Wait, did you actually? I was just..." Agnes trails off. "Hm. Poor girl. Having to get stuck with you? She deserves someone better."

"I'm the best person there is, though. There just isn't anyone better!" Joezand exclaims in faux egoism as he smirks at Agnes. "Not that I'd expect someone like you to understand true greatness."

"Ew. Stop, that doesn't work with you. I'm the only one who's charming while being rude."

"Charming? That's how you describe yourself?" Joezand chuckles. "You might just be the only one. Try asking anyone else what they think of you."

"As if I'd put any weight on the opinions of anyone other than my own." Agnes gestures to her crutches. "See this? People watch me walking on them and think I'm some kind of useless, bumbling poor thing instead of the competent leader of a rich duchy. Why would I give 'anyone else' any mind?"

"That's different. People who know you know you're competent. Even in combat, since you can use some pretty useful magic." Joezand says. "But since you act so nasty, you come off as unpleasant. Even to people that know you."

"Nasty? I do not act—"

"Come on, there's no way you don't know." Joezand interrupts. "You're smart, Agnes. You know you're smart. So you know you're a pain to be around and talk to. So far, this has been one of the only times I talked to you that didn't induce a migraine on me."

"What do you get out of telling me this, exactly?" Agnes asks. "Do you get off on preaching and thinking you're better than me or something? Because you're not." She rolls her eyes. "You're a useless, decadent little failson that used to expend funds from the treasury to throw parties with some random poors and when finally you got some pushback, you ran away like a little kid."

Hm. Now, it does make sense she wants him to hold accountable for past Joezand, but... He's not past Joezand. It's a little bit frustrating to be treated as such. And it's even more frustrating that he can't even tell her why she's wrong.

"And I still changed, so what do you have to complain about now?" Joezand argues. "I just wish I would get a single conversation where you're, like... normal. Not trying to piss me off for no reason. Because I know you don't really hate me."

"You can claim that you're different now or whatever, but that doesn't immediately absolve you of the terrible person you were before you were found. It was bad, Joezand. You think I hate you for no reason? I hate you because you were genuinely, disgustingly awful." Agnes says. "You pushed me off the stairs once! And when that broke my leg, you started mocking me saying I didn't use it anyway. I was bedridden for months!"

"O-Oh, that's..." Joezand looks downward. Past Joezand... really used to be a prick, huh? What did Anneliese see in him? She was talking about how kind he was, but everyone else just tells him how bad of a person he used to be. "It was an awful thing to do. I'm sorry for that."

"You better be! I wasn't even that bad with you. I was nice! I helped you whenever I could. I even—" Agnes stops herself and sighs. "Whatever. It already happened. I'm fine now. I'm feeling nice, so I'll give you one."

"One... what?"

"One question." Agnes says. "Ask me something and I'll not be rude. At least on purpose. Then you can stop bothering me about it."

"Alright, I'll try to keep it non-intrusive then." Joezand says. "Why did you decide to learn magic? And why divine magic, specifically?"

"First off, that's two questions." Agnes replies. "I didn't have much else to do, to be honest. I usually just studied economics, politics and all that. I needed something to break the monotony, so I tried reading Gray Complex, which I thought was a pretty useless read. Turns out I'm not too big on fiction, so I started reading magic books as entertainment. I ended up getting into it, so I just chose divine because it was the hardest to learn."

"You studied and learned how to use magic for... fun. Wow, that's not what I expected at all." Joezand says. "Is there anything you like to do besides reading?"

"I told you. You only got one." Agnes smirks, getting her crutches to help her stand. "I know I'm pretty interesting, especially to someone memoryless, but I can't reveal everything right away. Maybe tomorrow you'll get to know more. Tootles!"

"W-Wait, wait. Then tell me what you were doing." Joezand says. "You seem less energetic ever since we've arrived, staying off to the side with that weird look on your face. I just want to know what's on your mind."

"Hm." She looks him up and down, then at the rest of the group. They're just chatting, not really paying attention to her or Joezand. She leans against the wall, allowing her to reach into her pocket and show him a crumpled-up piece of paper. "Read this. Quietly, under the table. Don't make any facial expressions. Don't exclaim in surprise."

"Geez, okay, okay." He says as he starts to read.

'Dear Florian,' the letter starts. 'I am hereby announcing that Prince Joezand and Duchess Agnes, together with some servants, shall be visiting the village of Kivul in a few days. Joezand has prospects to rule this village to start building intimacy with the prospect of overseeing a territory. Your presence isn't required, but would be welcome.' A bunch of pleasantries follows, which he skims until the end. 'Be sure to bring Yago with you if you decide to come. Love, Empress Agatha.'

"What the—"

"Shush. I told you, don't react." She takes the letter back. "You know what that means, right?"

"Did Florian... sell us out?"

"Maybe. But I'm formulating a different theory." Agnes says. "Maybe Florian never even got the letter at all, and it just got intercepted by bandits. Or maybe... by the demon."

"Wait, but then... How would he know to be here? He'd still have to be working with the bandits, right?"

"I have some theories, but I need to be sure before I present any of them." Agnes says. "Once I gather enough info, I can come back here and explain everything perfectly so that even your worthless brain can comprehend." She smirks. "I'm getting some sleep now. It's already late."

She leaves as Joezand sighs. She really is insufferable when she wants to be. But it's nice to know she can be bearable, too. Talking to her about reading was fine, if nothing else. Not grating, at the very least.

The letter worries him, though. He's not sure what to make of it. Could Florian really have sold them out for bandits? Why? It's not like he needs money. The family has enough already.

So, is... something else going on?"

He decides to go to an empty house to get some sleep as well.

— — —

He wakes up. Looking at the window, the dark sky tells him it's still the middle of the night. There are no clocks or anything in this place, but he can assume it's already way past midnight. Glancing at his bed, he sees Anneliese softly snoring. The corners of his mouth turn upward slightly as he runs his fingers through her hair affectionately. Slowly getting up so as not to wake her, he decides to go outside to get some fresh air.

The starry sky overhead and the smooth breeze fill him with energy, as he walks aimlessly around the city. Apart from the similar houses and the well in the middle, there's not really anything interesting here. He thought he hated books and training, but it was at least something to do. He goes to the village outskirts, before entering the forest, scouting around. He passes through the bloody soil until he starts to hear...

Sobbing.

He quietly inches closer to the source of the sound, peeking into a clearing. There are several wooden markings, much like a graveyard, and in front of one of them was Karla. Crying. The wood from this one specific grave was brand new, but he didn't need that to guess that it was her husband's resting place. Joezand stands there, watching for a bit until it seems like all her tears are used up.

"You don't need to pretend." Joezand says.

"What?" She turns around, her eyes reddened and puffy. "O-Oh." She relaxes when she sees him.

"W-What do you mean?"

"Earlier today you were cheery and smiling while making us lunch." Joezand says. "I know you don't want to worry your daughter, but from what I've seen... she doesn't really need it. She seems to be dealing fine with it."

"I'm not doing it just for her." Karla says. "I'm doing it for me, too."

"How so?"

"I can't be sad all the time. I can't be miserable all the time." Karla argues. "Losing him was awful, but I can't be depressed for my whole life. I'd rather separate things. This is my time allotted to be sad, and in here I can be as small as I need. I can bawl my eyes out and cling to the wood and beg him to come back. When I'm done, I have to be strong. I have to keep going."

"I see." Joezand says. "I still don't think you should force yourself to act all happy, though."

"I am a happy person in general, though." Karla says. "Before he died, I was always cheery. You just happened to meet me at the lowest point in my life. Trust me, I'm not forcing anything. You don't need—" Her eyes widen and her face goes pale. "C-Careful!"

'Behind you!' The voice of Sunnaria reaches his brain. He moves superhumanly fast, grabbing his rapier and cutting behind him.

Steel meets steel in a loud clink as a bind is formed.

"F-Florian?"

He sees his brother, holding his massive sword with his hair in front of his eyes.

"Tsk. Your reaction time is better than I expected." Florian replies in a deep voice.

Joezand jumps back, protecting Karla. He looks at his assailant.

He knows Florian didn't look like this. His... proportions look wrong. He seems like he gained height, his hair doesn't look the same. One of his arms is bigger than the other. His body is... seemingly changing as he stands there. One arm seems to just grow and contract inexplicably.

"Nothing personal." Florian says, his voice weird and echoey. "I just need your soul." He says.

As he raises his sword, jumping towards Joezand.