Truth

Vivienne was in her room, and with her was her mother, Lucilla. They were about to talk about something important.

“You still have not told Father about Avenelle?”

“... No, I have not.” Lucilla sat down on Vivienne’s bed. She had a sad expression on her face. Vivienne knew very well that this had been hard on her mother as well, even more so in fact. “It’s harder than I thought.”

“I see. I also have not told my siblings just yet.”

“You should tell Saviel while he’s here.”

Vivienne frowned, it was not easy to say that their little sister would be sacrificed to the divine, and they didn’t even know the reason for it. It was terrible. “Yes, we should tell them now… Did Grandmother say when?”

“Not yet precisely… Only she knows when it will be. But she mentioned it is close.” Lucilla raised her gaze, and she noticed a small doll on Vivienne’s desk.

Lucilla walked over to the table and picked up the doll. “It looks like Avenelle.”

Viviennes smiled slightly. “It is her, she made it herself. Cute, isn’t it? I couldn’t resist grabbing it from her.”

Vivienne had meant for it to be a cheerful thing, but her mother slowly sat down on the chair as she stared at the doll. She kept staring at it, as if longing for something.

“Mother?”

Lucilla closed her eyes as she clung close to the doll. “Why does this have to happen to my baby girl…?”

“...” Vivienne had no answer to that. But it surely was painful to see her usually stoic mother act like this. It surprised Vivienne that her mother would show this side of her. But it would seem she was just too grief-stricken to keep it together.

Vivienne slowly approached her mother and placed a hand on her back. “Mother… what about we tell both Father and Saviel together? I believe it will be easier this way.”

“... Very well.”

***

The family, except for Avenelle and Alaric who were out, gathered in a room. It was a private meeting room for the family, with the fanciest decorations and an ornate long table at the center. The father, Dominic, and Vivienne’s younger brother, Saviel, sat down with curious expressions.

“What’s going on, Lucilla?” Dominic asked.

Lucilla lowered her head as she placed her hands on the table. “We have something important to tell you. It’s about Avenelle…”

“What about her?”

Lucilla grasped her hands together, they were trembling. Vivienne subtly took in a deep breath, deciding that she should speak it.

“... Avenelle will be offered to the divine, to the Great Hand.”

Saviel’s brow furrowed, directing a puzzled look at Vivienne. “What does that mean?”

“Offered, sacrificed.”

Saviel shook his head. “Since when does the Great Hand demand sacrifice?”

Vivienne took a deep breath and gave no answer.

“Mother, what is the meaning of this?”

Lucilla closed her eyes for a moment. “... This is a special case… I was just told that Avenelle’s life is needed for the divine’s stable presence in this world.”

Dominic clenched his hands, but he kept still. “Who told you this? Who told you that my daughter will be sacrificed?”

“... The Great Mother.”

“Her, huh…?”

Saviel abruptly stood from his chair. “This is absurd!” He flared with anger. “Sacrifice my dear little sister? Meaning to kill her?! We are to kill her with our own hands?! Are you being serious?!”

“Brother, calm down.”

“How can I calm down?!” He slammed his fist on the table, causing a loud thud. “This is Avenelle we’re talking about! I can’t even imagine hurting her!”

Vivienne lowered her head. It was the same for her. Hurting her little sister, her getting hurt, it was unimaginable. She loved her little sister very much, and seeing her in pain was something she couldn’t bear to watch.

“Lucilla,” Dominic called. “Since when have you known about this?”

“... For weeks now.”

Dominic frowned. “And you’re telling us this now?”

Lucilla’s lips trembled slightly. “I couldn’t tell you, I couldn’t… I feared you might do something.”

“... Avenelle, my lovely daughter, so innocent… Of course I’d do something to save her.”

“Except we must not, my love.”

“Are you saying I must do nothing for her?”

“Yes!”

“I can’t do that.”

“You have to. It is the will of the Great Mother and the Great Hand.”

Dominic lowered his head. Of course, there was nothing they could do if it was their will. Besides, resistance would be futile in this. They could not just disobey the Great Mother, especially when this involved the Great Hand directly.

“Then I will ask Grandmother personally about this!” Saviel said.

As he was about to walk away, Vivienne panicked for a bit, and she frantically grabbed his wrist, holding him back.

“Don't, brother! There’s no point.”

“Let go, Vivienne!”

“I know you’re angry, but please compose yourself.”

“I can’t accept this!”

“I know, even I don’t like this. But… this is necessary.”

“Then I will give my life in exchange for Avenelle‘s.”

Lucilla shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way, my son. If the Great Hand wants Avenelle, then it must be her.”

Saviel clicked his tongue, closing his eyes as he held back his tears. “Are we truly not going to do anything?”

“Yes,” Lucilla answered. “Prepare for the day, whenever it may be. Spend time with Avenelle as much as you can… That is all we can do.”

“This is cruel, Mother.”

“... Perhaps. But we must do what is required of us.” She turned towards Dominic. “Do you understand, my love? Be a king.”

“Not a father?”

Lucilla hesitated for a moment. “... Yes. So, when Avenelle returns, act normal…”

***

It had been a tiring few days. I never thought going on a trip would be so mentally draining. The most tiring part was meeting different people all at once. In every town and city, I would have to greet their representatives.

The most annoying of all to deal with were the couple of cities that I had to go through, including the sixth location that I had to conduct the ritual on. Cities were most annoying and tiresome because there were more government officials I had to face.

I needed to say hello and had to talk to them about random business stuff. Even people sucking up, they might be hoping to get something from me. They were much more daring than the other officials I met. If I felt tired, I’d just let Alaric face them.

Oh, and about Alaric, he actually tried to behave. There were a few hiccups, but they were insignificant. He didn’t sleep with anyone at all!

I’m proud of you, dear brother.

And now, all ‌six locations were done. We still had not solved the mystery of why my ritual lasted longer than what was expected, but we’d leave it to the people back home. I wanted to keep it a secret, but with Alaric as witness, and along with the knights, it was impossible to keep it hidden.

I let out a sigh as we were back on the road again. It was the fourth day since our departure from home, and we woke up early in the morning to head out. It was going to be a long way back to the capital city.

I’m just relieved that it’s finally over.

“You should sleep if you’re tired, sister.”

“... Maybe later. It’s hard to fall asleep on carriages.”

“Hm. At least things went smoothly. Just some monsters on the way.”

“Yes. Although, it was kind of annoying to have guards even outside my windows…” When I was sleeping, there were guards all over my room, even on the rooftops! Security was incredibly tight, annoyingly so.

How do I even slip away from those?!

“Hey now, stop complaining about security. With magic, anyone is capable of many things. You’d never know, there may be someone out there that can go through the window and assassinate you.”

“Are there really people who are that skilled?”

“Of course. That is why we can’t be too careful.”

“Hm.”

I looked outside. It was then I noticed something emerging from the forest — no, not something. Someone! And it was not just one, there were many more.

“Brother, who are they?”

Alaric looked in where I was looking, and then, there was a beam of light that came shooting towards our carriage.

“Watch out!” Alaric jumped and covered me with his body.

We’re under attack…?