North x Northwest

Volume 4     Chapter 111

Side story 2 – Edgar’s Chapter 1: The Forest

Liloa caused a stir wherever she went. Her noble birth, her beauty, and her endless suitors were only among the many reasons. It was to the point where Edgar wondered how he hadn’t known her through those sooner. He did learn about her, though, but for a completely different reason. And, in fact, that was the reason which meant the most to him.

‘Liloa already knows everything.’

When responding to ridicule and contempt, Liloa opened her mouth and recited providence. 

‘Of course, no one understood her words. Liloa’s greatness, even defending minority races, was dismissed as feminine sensibility.’

Edgar felt as if he had met a being from an unknown realm. Providence, which had always been unimaginable to him, wandered so openly in front of his eyes. He thought about reaching out to Liloa in due course. But because he considered himself to be a terrible human being, he felt too ashamed to approach her while carrying the burden of his shame. He simply couldn’t dare to. For the time being, he kept his thoughts hidden inside his head and wondered.

‘When will I be able to tell her about this joy I’m feeling?’

A few months later, Edgar was commissioned as captain. The last time he caught sight of Liloa before departing for Nazaro, she was embracing the wind as she rode on her horse named Koud Bhan.

***

Eventually, Edgar felt no longer the need to remain an admiral. The western pirates had been destroyed, putting an end to his motives for adopting the admiral’s title, which was to obtain the relics stolen by the pirates. The remaining ruins either sank into the sea or were unable to be recovered by ship. In order to find smuggled goods that had already been distributed to land, his fleet had to travel into the mainland. Since the admiral was someone who needed to be attached to the sea day and night, Edgar felt he would waste the rest of his life away if he kept playing that role.

He was, however, reappointed. Despite the fact that there were conditions that allowed for his solo departures, as well as other favourable terms, his dissatisfaction remained. He would never have accepted it if his recent accomplishments hadn’t made him feel free. And so the time for his next departure grew nearer which was luckily for the imperial family, but unfortunately for him.

Sitting on his desk, Edgar looked at the fruits of his years of dedication. It was a massive mural made up of dozens of pieces occupying one whole wall of his study. It tied together the loose ends of his research which had begun in disarray. He was relieved that he had finally found a satisfactory answer after a long period of struggle.

Edgar spent several days staring at the mural. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he remembered someone he wanted to see this with. 

‘No, I think it will even be more interesting to see what kind of life she’s leading.’

Edgar finally made up his mind to face Liloa. 

‘Yes, her.’

He tried to recall the name of the woman who had come to mind. However, it was hard for him to remember. 

He knew his memory of her would return soon, but he didn’t want to wait leisurely any longer. After leaving his residence, Edgar rode his horse to the nearby army attaché as it wasn’t far away and he wasn’t in a hurry either. Edgar gaited his horse slowly, remembering his impressions of her.

‘If I remember her name, my memories of her will be sharper…’

Somewhere in the military officer’s garden, he grabbed somebody’s attention.

“That woman.”

“…What?”

“That woman. I heard that she served as a platoon commander in Pontenbach.”

The sergeant gave a relatively normal answer to Edgar’s sudden and seemingly random question.

“I’m sorry, Sir Edgar, but there’s more than one platoon in the elite Karabinae.”

“Didn’t I say I’m referring to a woman?”

Edgar passed the bewildered man and entered the library. He found a war journal containing rank charts and put it on a desk. At that time, a soldier who was organising books approached him hesitantly.

“Um, were you talking about her?”

The soldier flipped through the pages. 

“Is she the one?”

“…Officer Liloa.”

“…”

It wasn’t until then that Edgar remembered how he used to see her. The woman who ran like she was on hilly fields, how lively she was in the wind…

“Yes… Liloa.”

“Ah! So it was Officer Liloa then, must have been right. Haha.”

“Where is she, Officer Liloa? Is she out on the Eastern front?”

The sergeant replied as if he had heard something very strange.

“No. Obviously… she should be in Sesbron, right?”

“Sesbron?”

“In Mireille’s duchy.”

“What happened? And why did you say ‘obviously’…”

The first sergeant, who followed Edgar inside, intervened.

“Ah, about Officer Liloa. As far as I know, she’s been missing for over a year now. According to some people in Sesbron, she was supposed to head to Malisuro for recuperation, but her carriage was attacked by bandits. She got dragged away and disappeared without a trace. Strangely, there was no ransom demand… It’s said that they took the woman alive, but there were no signs of her ever returning.”

“…”

“I have always wondered about what happened. After all, wasn’t she a stunning woman? Nobody speaks openly about it, but everybody knows, it’s almost like an open secret. That’s why even the duke’s family claimed to be on the lookout for her. There was no body, therefore no burial, but there’s no definitive answer as to whether she is dead or alive. It’s believed to be in a state of ambiguity… There was a lot of gossip about her at that time…”

“That’s nonsense. She’s from the Karabinae. I’m sure she knew how to defend herself with a gun.”

The sergeant shrugged.

“Well, she was still a woman.”

“…”

End of side story 2 – Edgar’s Chapter 1: The Forest

 ***

Side story 2 – Edgar’s Chapter 2: The book of inferiority

Edgar glanced at the letter with the rose-patterned seal in the hand of his butler. It appeared to be an invitation from a certain noble house. Social circles, not only within Sesbron but all over the empire, knew that the Marquess of Roahn seldomly attended social events. It was also quite common for their invitations to be rudely turned down by the Marquess by ignoring them. Edgar was known to behave differently around Imperial Clairaut officials, however, those who were unrelated to the military could only see him at official occasions that the admiral was required to attend.

In any case, there was no way the servants within the Retiro estate weren’t aware of the admiral’s opinion on the public. Nonetheless, Butler Grits appeared in Edgar’s study, holding an invitation. This prompted Edgar to question the circumstances of this event.

“What is it?”

“This is not an invitation to a mere social gathering.”

“From whom?”

Grits raised his glasses and double-checked the sender.

“It’s from the Duke of Mireille.”

Edgar, who had fixed his eyes on his book again, looked up. He reached out his hand, and Grits handed the letter, surprised by this unprecedented gesture.

Edgar tore off the duke’s rose seal.

[ “Dear Marquess of Roahn, Admiral of the Mondovi Peninsula, Edgar Eichendorff-Retiro. I know a story that will please you, as you’re someone who admires history and is inquisitive about other human beings. Your close friend, the Duke of Mireille, Rene Mireille.” ]

***

An hour had passed since he started staring at the letter. Mireille didn’t elaborate on the specific purpose of the meeting, making it no different from an invitation to a social gathering. 

‘However, in comparison to when he first opened his salon and the invitation was basically an advertisement for his collection of ancient relics, this one is too concise, and it could compel one to come and see.’

It was possible that Mireille has some idea about Edgar’s eccentricities and seeing the minimal card he had sent, he was probably taking his chances.

‘It worked.’

Edgar suddenly became curious about Mireille. 

‘I have never spoken to the Duke, nor have I seen him properly, but even so, there must be something about this unforeseen rush. Mireille is a clever businessman, and wasting time and manpower is something that he would never do.’ 

Edgar thought that Mireille had something certain.

‘It’s definitely something interesting…’

He slightly smiled when unusual and absurd thoughts passed his mind. He wasn’t sure if ‘interesting’ was the correct word, but Liloa was the first thing that came to him.

‘Of course, she’s not someone who can be described as merely ‘interesting’…’

Edgar attempted to articulate what he had in mind for Liloa but failed. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find the right word to describe her.

‘I’m sure that even if Mireille died and came back to life, he wouldn’t see her as such.’

Edgar held Liloa in high regard, but it was a connection that she never knew.

‘Liloa. Liloa Mireille*.’

 – – – – – 

Footnote:

* Married or engaged: We have already corrected ourselves about the marital status between Lil and the Duke. And to be honest, we don’t clearly know at this point in the novel if they were merely engaged or indeed married. So for now we like to keep that option open and will inform you if we have a definite answer.