The Truth Comes to Light

♪Allegro — Present♪

With the red carpet between us, the king and I faced each other as we listened to the emergency broadcast.

Tch. Looks like they found out I was a fake. Just then, King Sonnet’s attacks had settled down for a moment, and we were locked in a stare-down.

The camera was pointed this way too, so I might as well confess. I’d already done the bare minimum I owed Moderato.

I decided to undo my transformation and return to my original form. King Sonnet showed no particular reaction.

I see. His heart had already been eaten away so badly he couldn’t even react anymore.

Those Noah Society bastards sure do go overboard. Maybe I shouldn’t compare them, but compared to this, Moderato was way more conscientious.

The Babel Society bastards probably have a similar sense of ethics. Good thing I crushed them ahead of time.

“Exactly. I am not Prince Poet! My name is Allegro! I’m the escaped convict who’s been causing such a fuss. I came here to lend the rebel army a hand, but I have another goal too. And since there happens to be a camera here, I’ll have this broadcast to the entire world.”

After confirming that the king still had no intention of attacking, I cast a spell.

It was magic that restored voice traces. Even while fighting, I’d been doing my investigation properly. Pretty cool of me, if I do say so myself.

I replayed the conversation left before the throne.

“Miss Serenade is dead!”

“I knew it. Forcing the Garnet Prince onto a woman’s body was too much!”

“What should we do? She was Lord Sonnet’s school friend. No, more than that, I heard she may have been his lover.”

“We pin the blame on someone. Preferably someone inconvenient for us.”

“Did you see the entrance ceremony at the Miravenia Ministry of Magic? There’s an insolent young man there.”

“The man who humiliated Serpent? Perfect.”

“Anyone who seems likely to obstruct the Noah Society must simply be erased.”

♪Sonnet — Student Days♪

It was evening on a spacious beach. I was on a date with my beloved Serenade.

Security guards stood at a distance. I hated that they had to involve themselves even in something this private.

But I was someone who would one day have to ascend the throne. I couldn’t afford to be selfish.

“Serenade. I may become king someday. If possible, I want to welcome you as my queen.”

“I’m sorry, Sonnet. I love you dearly. But I have a dream. A dream I could never fulfill if I became royalty.”

“I see. You want to rise through the Ministry of Magic, right?”

“Yes. Not through marriage ties, but through my own ability. This is the age of instrumental magic. I’ll show the world that women can do it too, and leave everyone speechless.”

“That’s very like you. I’ll be cheering for you.”

“Thank you.”

Somehow, I felt like a small, insignificant person, bound hand and foot by authority. Like a grain of sand in the vast ocean.

“Hey.”

“What is it?”

“No. It’s nothing.”

I had meant to ask her about the rumors that the Noah Society had made suspicious contact with her, but I felt it didn’t suit the mood of the moment.

♪Sonnet — Meeting Serenade’s Body♪

“Why! Why couldn’t I save you! There should have been a chance! Uwaaaaaah!”

The morgue. Serenade’s body. I hurled my feelings at something that had nowhere to go.

“Forgive me for disturbing you while you are exhausted, Lord Sonnet, but this matter must remain confidential. If the public learns of it, the royal authority will be shaken.”

One of the ministers spoke to me.

“You used her as experimental material! Even though the technology was incomplete!”

“This was something she herself desired as well. She wished to obtain great power and make her own ability known.”

“You think you can say whatever you like because the dead can’t speak!”

“In any case, this is a time for patience. Millions of subjects rest upon your shoulders. You must cast aside personal feelings.”

I couldn’t say anything back.

That meant, in effect, that I myself had killed her.

♪Sonnet — Present♪

At Ars Prima Academy, we studied classical magic.

Those with an aptitude for classical magic resonate even more strongly with the Garnet Prince.

That was true of me, and of Serenade too. But the Allegro before me seemed different.

That was why he had not lost his sense of self quite so completely.

In other words, I still had a chance of winning.

No. Why am I even fighting in the first place?

The secret I protected, even at the cost of abandoning my mourning for Serenade, has now been exposed.

Were all the days I spent as king, after throwing away even my memories of her, nothing but a lie?

Serenade.

I…

You…

Ugaaaaaaaaah!

“This is terrible! Lord Sonnet has lost his mind!”

It seemed I was rampaging, having lost all control of myself. The few remaining soldiers whispered about me.

“Give the order to attack!”

“We can’t! Even if his true colors have been exposed, we can’t draw a bow against the king! And besides, we still haven’t defeated the fake!”

“But at this rate, we’re all going to be wiped out!”

What had I been living for all this time?