Chapter 33

Do You Like Playing with Fire on Summer Nights? (3)

It was the summer when Theore turned fourteen, before her regression. He pestered the Emperor, saying the Imperial Palace was stifling, and the Emperor allowed the young prince to stay at Carnian Castle, which was situated by the sea. It wasn’t a special event, as it was a castle traditionally used by the Imperial Family for summer retreats. However, the Emperor was too busy to remember his summer vacation, and Legina was also preoccupied with preparing for her upcoming birthday banquet, so Theore had no choice but to go alone. Accompanied by a few attendants and knights to serve him, Theore, sent off by his anxious father and sister, moved to Carnian Castle alone and began to revel in his own paradise.

At first, Theore enjoyed his retreat quietly. Of course, his standard of ‘quietly’ was markedly different from ordinary people’s, but in Theore’s view, he was acting incredibly ‘quietly.’ However, it soon became clear that this was merely a process of ‘exploration.’ Theore, after confirming that nothing he did was reported to his father or sister in the capital, truly began to run wild. Just listing the troublemaking he committed in that short time would be enough to fill a book. So, it was perhaps natural that an unmanageable incident erupted. The problem was that the scale of that ‘naturally’ occurring incident was greater than expected. He had, somehow, completely burned down Carnian Castle. By the time the attendants and knights, who had been preoccupied with cleaning up Theore’s other messes, came to their senses, the entire castle was already ablaze, and all they could do was escape. The only fortunate part was that no one died, but the beautiful summer retreat castle of Carnian, nestled by the sea with its white sandy beaches, was thus completely incinerated and vanished into the annals of history.

Legina intended to re-enact that event now. To claim the shocking incident that Theore had caused throughout the Empire as her own, Legina had sent Una early this morning to collect fireworks ingredients, and as a bonus, purchased a large quantity of oil and firewood without disclosing their purpose.

“Today, I’m going to be the princess who burned down a castle while trying to show her beloved man a beautiful fireworks display.”

These were not words to say with a bright smile, but Aaron held back for now. Seeing her intensely excited violet eyes, the words he needed to utter caught in his throat, unwilling to come out.

“It’s like an initiation ceremony to let the common people know I’ve become a troublemaker, perhaps?”

“It will be a grand initiation ceremony.”

“You think so too, right? Like, I seem immature, don’t I? And also like a terrible princess who does pathetic things, blind with love?”

Legina clenched her fists, looking at Aaron, who simply averted his gaze, unable to answer. This plan was utterly perfect, so much so that even Aaron, a man who upheld honesty as a virtue, could not refute it.

There were three reasons why she had carefully and meticulously chosen Dirian Castle as her target for burning down a castle. First, it was very close to the Imperial Palace. When Theore burned down a castle before her regression, the news reached the Imperial Palace immediately, but it took quite some time for the rumors to spread among the common people. From Legina’s perspective, who had to stop those rumors, it was a very grateful situation, but this time, the rumors had to spread quickly among the people of the capital without any interference. Rumors that began to spread from the heart of the Empire spread faster than those from the outskirts. Legina targeted precisely that point.

And second, Dirian Castle was a place where an incident occurred before her regression. A large number of people who regularly visited this place to collect wood or manage the castle went missing. Not only that, but an unknown disease spread in several small villages around the castle, killing quite a few people, and a long investigation later revealed that the origin of the disease was this castle. She didn’t know exactly what happened, but the first person to fall ill and die contracted the disease after visiting this castle and spread it. Ultimately, the village and the castle were burned, and afterward, the disease vanished as if it had never existed. Burning the castle in advance, since it was going to spread disease and be burned anyway, was Legina’s second objective.

Finally, the third reason Legina chose Dirian Castle was its geographical advantage: it would be easy to extinguish the fire if one broke out. Since it was a castle built in the middle of a lake, if the flames threatened to spread, they could simply be extinguished with the water from the lake. Furthermore, the trees growing around the lake were Kiripson trees, rumored to be strong against pests and fire. There was no reason not to burn down a castle built in such a heavenly location, which could prevent harm to the common people even if the entire forest accidentally caught fire.

“For those reasons, I plan to burn this place down cleanly, so help me, my lord.”

Aaron hesitated for a very brief moment at Legina’s confident demand, having even sent the carriage back. He knew the princess intended to become a troublemaker to annul her engagement, and he knew she had started this absurd contract relationship with him for that purpose. But since when did troublemakers plan and act so concretely? Anyone could see this was a plan meticulously calculated to achieve a specific outcome, yet the beautiful princess before him was convinced that if this plan succeeded, she would be called a troublemaker.

“I will help you, my lady. That is why I came. However, I cannot guarantee the subsequent evaluation.”

“The evaluation will be made by those who witness the burning castle. The village is close by.”

“I hope it proceeds as Your Highness wishes.”

Aaron sighed and nodded, whereupon Legina took out a small bundle from beneath a pile of firewood. It was another item she had prepared in advance through Una for this moment.

“My lord, would you mind turning around for a moment?”

“Yes.”

Aaron obligingly turned his back, and by the time he raised his eyebrows at a rustling sound, Legina’s voice announced that she was ready. Turning around at her reply, Aaron found Legina changed into sturdy-looking boots and comfortable-looking trousers.

“This, the skirt can be easily detached.”

“Is that so? Ladies’ clothing has many peculiar features.”

That was the extent of his comment. Legina, not seeming to expect any further remarks, folded her discarded shoes and the detached skirt neatly and stuffed them into the bundle. She planned to change back before people arrived at the scene of the fire. Legina carefully hid the bundle behind a nearby tree and returned, then picked up a few piles of stacked firewood.

“First, I’d like to move these so the fire catches well.”

“Do you intend to do it yourself?”

“It’s my work.”

“I will help.”

“Thank you for your help.”

Legina, thanking him with a fresh smile as she looked at Aaron, who was carrying more firewood than she was, began to walk into the castle. The castle gates had been opened in advance, so the two had no great difficulty in moving the piles of firewood inside. After carrying firewood for a long time, arranging it to catch fire easily, the two then divided buckets of oil between them and roamed throughout the castle. It was only the first floor, but even if only this part burned well, it seemed there would be no problem for the upper floors to collapse and burn.

“Still, I should sprinkle some oil in the basement, shouldn’t I?”

“The flames will rise.”

“Will two buckets be enough? It would be best to start from the bottom and work our way up, sprinkling as we go.”

The two, each holding one of the remaining buckets, began to cautiously descend into the castle’s basement. Since they were carrying buckets of oil, they couldn’t light torches. Instead, dense dust and countless cobwebs greeted them as they moved slowly, allowing their eyes to adjust to the darkness.

“Wait, Your Highness, please stop.”

“Hmm? My lord? What’s wrong?”

“Have you visited separately recently?”

“Here? No?”

Legina, who had been cautiously descending the dark stairs, tilted her head at Aaron’s sudden words and turned her eyes to where his gaze rested. In her gradually adjusting vision, she saw a small footprint.

“…Even if it’s a place that has fallen out of people’s interest, is there someone daring enough to enter the Imperial Family’s domain?”

“It appeared recently.”

Though it was too dark to see clearly, small footprints were left in various places on the stairs leading from the first floor. Traces of someone coming and going not just once, but multiple times. Legina felt a chill run down her spine, recalling the incident that occurred before her regression. At that time, the cause of the disease that spread in the village below the castle was never identified. It was because the castle burned down, leaving no traces suitable for research.

But what if someone had actually created that disease? And what if they had created it in an abandoned castle where only royalty could enter, without any fear? The time the incident occurred before her regression was the summer when Theore turned fourteen. If the events unfolded in the same way, there would be about three years left until then. If her hunch was correct, the one who created that disease must have been preparing it for a very long time.

Would she be able to confront that person if she went down into this basement? Legina’s violet eyes, contemplating this, sank in darkness.

“I have to go down, my lord.”

“It could be dangerous.”

“This is someone who dared to trespass into the Imperial Family’s domain. It is only right that I personally confirm their identity and punish them.”

“I will go first. Please follow carefully behind me.”

“Understood.”

Aaron, reading the determination in Legina’s eyes, nodded obediently and stepped in front of her. The two silently continued down the stairs. The descent was so deep that its end was not visible even after a long time, and just as they felt a slight dizziness, a small door, with light leaking from it, greeted the two, as if to prove someone was coming and going here. Aaron raised a finger to his lips, signaling silence, then drew the sword from his waist. Swoosh, the drawn sword made a soft sound and seemed to emit a chilling blue light even in the darkness.

“My lord.”

“Yes.”

“Be careful not to get hurt.”

“Yes.”

The two, exchanging brief words, mentally counted “one, two, three” and then kicked open the door, lunging inside.

– Mochinuna.