[285] 4. Teraze's Proposal (2)
"So you can't accept me?"
Uorin scratched her cheek apologetically.
"I want to help, really, but the daughters of my rival Teraje are spread across countless kingdoms. And I'm on the young side—I don't want to stand out yet. Kazra isn't exactly a solid base either. There's no reason to parade around and become a target for my sisters, right?"
Shirone felt a bitter sensation well up inside him. Fourteen. The age of the girl sitting before him.
'She really is remarkable, Uorin.'
He also suddenly realized how foolish he'd been a few days ago.
Now that he knew the true nature of the palace, it sent chills down his spine—what had he been thinking, back then, trying to deal with a woman like this?
"All right. If there's no room for negotiation, then I'll be on my way. I need to find Amy."
Shirone stood as if he didn't need to hear any more.
If he was wrong, everything would go from bad to worse, but there was nothing he could do about that. No madman in the palace would let a man miss the moment he must act, no matter the danger.
"Good luck."
Hearing Uorin's farewell made his heart lurch. He didn't show it and walked toward the door.
He mustn't show hesitation or fear. He had to leave the room as if he had truly given up everything.
'Ataraxia isn't necessary. Is that really so?'
Perhaps it wasn't that important to Uorin.
But if there was even a sliver of advantage, he didn't want to give it away.
Shirone clung to that small hope like a lifeline as he walked.
Even as he grasped the doorknob and began to turn it, there was no reaction from Uorin.
When the door opened, his eyes squeezed shut.
This was the end.
"But if—."
Shirone's step stopped dead.
"If I give you the maximum concession… in other words, if I treat it like an advance on your future."
Shirone slowly turned and looked back at Uorin.
"You could at least get a chance to negotiate with me, Teraje's daughter."
"A chance to negotiate?"
So even if he put Ataraxia up as collateral, the best he could hope for was a seat at the negotiation table? And to get that, he would have to pawn his own future.
"Yes. A negotiation. I can't just help you outright. Like I said, I don't want to put myself in danger unnecessarily. There's one condition. It isn't particularly difficult, but if you agree to it, I'll be on your side."
Shirone raised his chin as if inviting her to speak.
"Stay with me tonight."
"W-what?"
After all the intense mind games, that was the condition she offered—absurd. Why on earth would he spend the night with her?
As if reading his thoughts, Uorin added, "Don't worry. I don't mean it like that. I just mean stay with me tonight. Well… if you happen to get any other ideas, I wouldn't stop you."
Shirone's face contorted.
"What are you even talking about? You're my half-sister."
"That'll only be certain after a paternity test. And honestly it doesn't matter much. Same-sex marriage is common among royals when an entire kingdom comes with the dowry."
Shirone couldn't make sense of it. It felt like solving a string of difficult exam questions only to be hit with a nonsense riddle at the end.
"Why? How does that condition have anything to do with helping me?"
Uorin hesitated, breathed out softly, and for the first time began to tell him her story.
"The Teraje family has long placed women on the throne. For us, men are tools—consumed according to their usefulness. That's why a daughter of Teraje won't keep a man who holds another woman in his heart. If you, Oppa, are going after Amy, then I cannot accept you either."
Shirone accepted that explanation. It wasn't strange that a woman of the Teraje household would have such a rule.
But Uorin was mistaken about Amy. Amy was the friend he loved most in the world.
"I get what you mean. But I don't have Amy in my heart."
A faint smile tugged at Uorin's lips.
"Looks like you like her, then."
Heat rose in Shirone's chest.
"Of course, if she rejects him, nothing will happen. He's actually a proud man; he doesn't force himself on women who refuse him."
If Uorin's words were true, that was a relief. Still, the fire already burning in his chest showed no sign of dying out.
Uorin clapped her palms together.
"Then let's do this. I just want to confirm your feelings. From this moment I will guarantee Amy's safety—and everyone's. I can order people to ensure it. Just stay with me tonight."
He didn't know what threat Amy might be under or why someone had taken her, but accepting Uorin's offer meant a safe exit. It also guaranteed the safety of his family and Reina. There was no reason to refuse.
"Where did you take Amy?" he asked.
"I can't reveal that yet, not until you decide. It's a very simple thing. You just need to trust me. Prove that I come before that woman."
A tremor began in his fingertips and spread through his whole body. Everything tilted in his favor, but he still couldn't decide.
Because he couldn't verify it.
Were humans really creatures so bound to the five senses? What right did he have to trust her words?
There was no proof that Uorin wasn't colluding with whoever took Amy. If she were lying, Amy would be in grave danger.
"Why hesitate? I am Uorin Teraje. I don't lie, and isn't this exactly what you wanted? If you prove you have no feelings for another woman, I will favor you. I'll spare no support to foster your talents, and when you become emperor one day, you could be the world's greatest mage."
For Shirone that sounded like a dream. And Uorin had the power to make that dream a reality.
Even archmages were lining up to serve under her. Such a colossal opportunity lay before him.
Lost in thought, Shirone finally made his decision.
"I'm going to Amy. I won't accept your offer."
Uorin sighed as if exasperated.
"You're really going to throw away an incredible chance to ally with the Teraje? More importantly, you can protect the family you hold so dear. And yet you'd let it all be for nothing over a woman?"
"That's right. That's what I intend to do."
Uorin fell silent, stunned. Yet on Shirone's face there was neither resignation nor regret.
"But Uorin, for humans that's everything. The world that's real is only what you see and feel. Even if you really are going to save Amy, if I can't confirm it, then that world doesn't exist for me. I can't leave the visible danger facing Amy to some invisible safety. That's why I have to go to Amy."
Sadness flickered in Uorin's eyes.
"You live so hard. You make the easy choice difficult."
Shirone gave a wry smile. He often thought the same. But that was the shackle of intellect: once you know something, you are obliged to act.
"I know it was a huge opportunity. I know how far you would go—how much you'd sacrifice—to help me. I don't doubt you. But I have to go."
Uorin walked up to him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and buried her face against him.
"You're so foolish. I'm sorry I can't do more. I like you personally. I'll pray for luck in your future."
She took a step back and then told him the information he had wanted.
"Try the gallery. It's the only place you can avoid people's attention. It's where you go whenever you're trying to seduce the women."
A new flame ignited in his chest. As Shirone finished preparing to leave, Uorin took something from her pocket.
"Wait. Take this."
Shirone caught the small object she tossed him.
He opened his palm and found a red, glowing orb. The color looked like a ruby, but it lacked the cold hardness of a gemstone.
"What is this…?"
"It's payment for an El Crouch porcelain doll. It's worth well over one hundred million gold."
"No. You didn't have to give me—"
"I know your sincerity, of course. But reason and feeling are separate. Now that our negotiation has failed, I can't owe you a favor, can I?"
Hearing her, Shirone had no choice but to accept.
On a human level he had liked her, but politically they were now strangers. Clearing financial ties was best for both their futures.
"All right. I'll put it to use after graduation."
Shirone slipped the orb into his pocket and headed for the door.
He paused and turned back to Uorin. She had helped him in many ways: saved his parents' face at dinner, supported his claim to attend the magic academy, introduced him to objects at the gallery, and in the Colosseum had hinted at the palace's true nature.
Now she'd even provided escape funds as the master of porcelain dolls. In a situation where the palace was pursuing him, one hundred million gold would be a tremendous help.
"Thank you. From the beginning until now. Looking back, I wouldn't have lasted this long without you."
"Heh. Even in hell, there's drinking water."
Uorin answered with a Kazra proverb.
Even in hardship there is hope—yet flip it around and it means a glimmer of hope can intensify the pain.
"Haha! That makes sense."
Realizing his predicament, Shirone laughed hollowly and left the room.
"Phew."
When the door closed, Uorin breathed deeply and began pacing the room with her hands clasped behind her back, something she didn't usually do.
"Arian Shirone…"
She stopped and quickly turned to the door.
A cold smile curved her lips; her eyes glinted with the manic delight of a child given the finest toy.
"He's no ordinary sort, is he?"
Uorin burst into a tinkling laugh, marched back to her seat, and flopped into the chair. Legs crossed, chin propped on the table, she stared intently at the door Shirone had left through.
Less than ten percent of what she'd told him had been true.
Everything else was a lie. She had no intention of favoring Shirone or guaranteeing Amy's safety.
The idea that he was proud and would never force himself on a woman was false.
She was the kind of person who would remove a target by any means necessary.
If Shirone had stayed with her tonight, his life would have been utterly ruined.
"Humans have no faculty for trusting others. Right, Cleo?"
Meow.
Her cat answered. It likely didn't understand her words, but that didn't matter.
Humans can't truly rely on one another.
Yet most people ignore that simple truth because it isn't pretty.
Those who accept the truth and those who don't—that tiny difference is what divides every ruler from every ruled, she thought.
Uorin leaned back, stared at the ceiling, and smiled faintly.
"If you keep refining yourself like that, maybe one day you'll reach it."
The cat didn't answer.