02. For the Princess's Hand
Things were different starting the next day. Everyone in the base treated her with detached politeness, same as usual. But when Slaine came into her room to tutor her, Lemrina listened to what he had to say. That was a first.
In fact, they spent very little time talking about Earth.
"I want you to tell me everything you know about the Orbital Knights," Lemrina had told him.
That was the education which truly mattered to her.
Because of his vow, Slaine was unable to refuse her what she wanted. And so he spent a great deal of time telling her about the late Count Cruhteo, who had been in charge of Slaine's provisioning after Dr. Troyard had died. He had not, Slaine admitted, been a particularly kind master.
"Are they all like that?" Lemrina asked, wide-eyed.
"I wouldn't assume so," said Slaine.
His answers were vague, as if he was unwilling to say what he really thought. Lemrina expected as much. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would willingly gossip about others behind their backs.
Besides, it seemed Slaine hadn't actually met most of the Orbital Knights yet. He had fought on Earth alongside several knights, but they had been felled by Terran forces.
"What about Count Saazbaum?" Lemrina asked.
Slaine explained to her that his father had saved Saazbaum's life and that the count was now returning the favour.
It seemed like an overly simplistic explanation, but Lemrina had to accept it for now.
What a disappointment, she thought. Her knight was close to useless. It figured. He was a Terran - what did he know of the Orbital Knights of Mars?
Noticing the pout on Lemrina's face, Slaine spoke up. "Is there anything I can do for you, Your Highness?"
Her first impulse was to huff and say, "Nothing!" But, well, Slaine was looking at her with concern and she did like to be spoiled. It was not a feeling she experienced very often. That was what made her feel so happy.
But somehow, it made her feel sad as well.
"Can you take me far away from here…?" she murmured softly.
"Hm? Did you say something?"
This time, Lemrina really did snap her head up and say, "Nothing!"
It was just a trifling thought.
"I don't want to marry any of the Orbital Knights," Lemrina told her grandfather for the umpteenth time.
"Silence, Lemrina," Rayregalia rasped. "You disturb my sleep for this?"
Her grandfather wanted to sleep a lot these days. He allowed no messengers into his bed chambers except for those bearing the most urgent of news. Being family, Lemrina was different, but only up to a point. Many times, her grandfather refused to see her.
Today, he had let her inside, probably because his health was a little bit better than usual.
"You still haven't decided who I'll marry yet, have you?" she asked, quickly changing the subject to what she actually wanted to talk about. She knew her marriage was a foregone conclusion; there was no point arguing about that anymore, no matter how much she wished it was not so.
Rayregalia exhaled slowly. His breath sounded halfway between a sigh and a wheeze. "No," he admitted. Then he said, "Count Saazbaum has served me well. I asked him to take you, but he refused."
Lemrina looked up in alarm. So he had picked someone already!
Also… Count Saazbaum? He was old enough to be her father. Eww.
"Why did he refuse?" Lemrina asked, feeling immensely relieved that this backdoor dealing didn't go through.
"Ask him yourself if you want to know."
Lemrina would probably have been infuriated by what her grandfather said if Count Saazbaum himself did not suddenly appear in the room. The entire room was a teleportation device, permitting easy access for a high-ranking count like Saazbaum. Lemrina wondered how many of her conversations with her grandfather he had eavesdropped on.
"You…!" she gasped, unable to keep the revulsion out of her voice.
Count Saazbaum smiled wryly and bowed. "It is always an honour, my princess."
His right arm was in a sling and he held a walking stick in his left hand, so his bowing gesture seemed rather awkward and exaggerated. Or maybe he had intended it like that. Lemrina could not tell.
"You're a beautiful young lady, Princess Lemrina, but I'm afraid I lack the desire to marry again."
He smiled genially, but Lemrina did not smile back.
"Besides," the count went on, sending the emperor a meaningful glance. "The princess has a right to choose her groom for herself, does she not?"
"…I suppose she does," Rayregalia admitted grudgingly.
Her grandfather would never have responded like that if Lemrina had made that suggestion herself. Lemrina stared incredulously at Count Saazbaum, wondering why he would say something like that on her behalf. Surely not for her sake, right?
"However," said Rayregalia, "if she were to make an ill-conceived choice…"
"It must truly be a sad state of affairs if our liege cannot trust his own subjects," Count Saazbaum observed. "For whose sake do we brandish our arms and wage heavenly justice upon Earth?"
"That is not what I mean," Rayregalia intoned. "Lemrina is only fourteen years old."
Only fourteen years old?
So apparently, she was old enough to give birth, but not old enough to make her own decisions?
She opened her mouth and then closed it, knowing that arguing would get her nowhere. At that very same moment, Saazbaum turned to her.
"Does anyone interest you, princess?"
Lemrina hesitated.
"Speak. We shall judge the merit of your choice," Saazbaum declared.
"I don't want to marry anyone," Lemrina said truthfully.
"You cannot expect her to understand," said her grandfather.
Saazbaum tapped his stick against the ground. He continued to speak directly to Lemrina. "So then, do you believe there is no such thing as love in an arranged marriage?"
Lemrina struggled to answer. "It's not really about love…" She did not understand love. "It's just… I just… I don't want to be a tool."
Again, to her amazement, the count actually listened to her.
"Then grasp hold of your fate and make a choice," he said after a moment of consideration. "Your decision will move planets. Do not take it lightly."
"A-all right," Lemrina responded affirmatively in spite of herself.
What the count said made sense… but it frightened her at the same time.
To think she could hold power over the world, but no power over the course of her own life. Or maybe she could control her fate, but doing so would make her lose all other options.
If she had any real options to begin with…
It was all so confusing. Lemrina gripped the sides of her head and wished it would all stop.
But when she opened her eyes, the Emperor and count were still there, looking at her with expectant eyes.
"…I'll think about it," she mustered finally.
She needed more information. She needed more time.
When she was alone, Lemrina began to think about what would happen if she married Slaine.
She did not seriously consider the idea. She only thought of it because Slaine was the only knight she spoke to with any familiarity, and also because he was admittedly very handsome.
Her grandfather would shoot down the idea immediately. He was a Terran. The Martians were supposed to be at war with the Terrans. If she said something like "I want to marry Slaine", her grandfather would never trust her decision-making skills ever again.
In the moon base library, she had access to files of the Orbital Knights, detailing their family histories. She pored through the information on the tablet, typing out copious notes of her own. It was a game of elimination. First, she had to rule out the knights whom she couldn't possibly marry, either because they were too old or because they already had wives.
Ignore looks. Vanity would only make her look simple-minded. Lemrina crossed out a few more names.
Now then, what sort of knight would be "safe" to marry? Probably one who took the war effort seriously. The purpose of her marriage was to strengthen the power of the Vers dynasty. In that case, she should only marry someone with combat experience.
That narrowed down the list to about… fifteen candidates.
It was still too many. And she didn't know any of these people.
Urk. Back to square one.
Lemrina put down the tablet with a groan.
"Your Highness, is something troubling you?"
Someone hovered over her shoulder. It was Slaine.
"When did you get here?" Lemrina asked with annoyance. She did not want to look him in the eyes. After all, even though she had quickly dismissed the idea, she had thought of marrying him. It just felt weird seeing him in the flesh after spending time thinking about him in that kind of way.
"I was looking for you, Princess," Slaine explained patiently. "Is there anything you need or-"
"How would you have reacted if my sister asked you to marry her?" Lemrina asked suddenly.
"That would never have happened," Slaine said calmly.
"Why not? You were lovers, weren't you? How else could she have given you the Aldnoah activation factor?"
"You are mistaken." Slaine smiled thinly. "When I was on the verge of death, the princess resuscitated me. Since then, I have been in her debt."
A debt he evidently never managed to repay.
"So, you never even considered the idea? Not even in your dreams?" Lemrina knew she was reopening his wounds with every word she uttered, but she did not care. Perhaps she even relished it.
"Well, I, er… um… uh…" Slaine spluttered helplessly. He was bright red in the face. That told her all she needed to know.
How cute, Lemrina thought.
She thought she could understand hopeless, fragile fantasies, never to be spoken of aloud.
Lemrina wished she could dwell on her own dreams, but she knew they would crumble the moment she voiced them.
"In any case," said Slaine, coughing. "There's someone here to meet you."
"Oh," said Lemrina, coming back to reality. "Who is it?"
"Count Marylcian and Count Barouhcruz."
Orbital Knights?
Lemrina opened her mouth in mute shock. Impossible! How did they know her?
Slaine looked at her evenly. "Time is of the essence," he said cryptically.
Lemrina gripped the sides of her wheelchair, her mind racing even as her body remained immobile. "Take me to them, Slaine," she commanded.
He wheeled her over to the hangar. When Lemrina walked through the hangar on her own two feet, she saw two large Kataphrakts come inside through the barrier: a red one and a blue one. Apparently, the red Kataphrakt belonged to Count Marylcian, while the blue one belonged to Count Barouhcruz.
Count Marylcian was the first one to come out of his Kataphrakt. Lemrina had been looking through his file only minutes earlier, so she recognised him immediately. He was a blonde-haired young man who seemed to have paid a good deal of attention to his curls. He had been one of the fifteen eligible candidates on the list, she recalled.
She barely even took notice of the dark-haired, withdrawn Count Barouhcruz, because Count Marylcian spoke up animatedly the moment he laid his eyes on her.
"It is truly an honour and a pleasure to meet with you, Your Highness Princess Lemrina."
Who had approved of this meeting? Lemrina swung her eyes over to Count Saazbaum, who was standing with his back to the wall, watching the exchange with a slight smile on his face.
Figures.
"Likewise," said Lemrina, turning back to Count Marylcian with a curtsy. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Count Marylcian?"
"My princess," said the count with a sweeping bow, "I understand that you have been hidden away from the public eye for your own protection."
He stepped off his Kataphrakt and landed on the ground in front of Lemrina with a flourish.
"As a knight, I eagerly await your formal debut," he went on.
Yes, but what did he want? Lemrina gazed at him with half-narrowed eyes.
Beside Count Marylcian, Count Barouhcruz knelt formally, not saying a single word.
Count Marylcian did all the talking. "My princess," he said once again in that same unctuous tone, "is it not necessary for a man to protect you? These are dangerous times."
"I am being protected by Count Saazbaum and his men," Lemrina said evasively. But actually, she knew exactly what Marylcian was talking about. "Are you proposing marriage to me, Count Marylcian?"
"Ah, my princess, you should have allowed me to speak those words first!"
Lemrina clenched her mouth tightly as the count brought out a colourful bouquet from behind his back. "What are these?" she asked.
"Earth flowers, I suppose," Count Marylcian drawled carelessly.
"They're hydrangeas, Your Highness," Slaine said behind her. "We went over this in our lessons."
Count Marylcian threw a glare at Slaine. Next to Marylcian, Barouhcruz muttered, "Hydrangeas… so that's what they're called."
"I brought these from Earth," said Count Marylcian, "as a gesture of my good will and hard work."
Lemrina took the hydrangeas and examined them carefully. She had never held flowers in her hand before. They certainly had an exotic look about them, like something that could only have come from Earth.
At the same time, she wasn't really looking at them. She knew all the men in the room were gazing at her expectantly, waiting for her response.
Once again, Lemrina glanced at Saazbaum. He must have let slip news of her existence to the other knights, perhaps so that her formal debut would not come as a complete shock. Or maybe he had done this to see how she would respond to a real proposal. It was obvious Count Marylcian was attempting to take advantage of her lack of public exposure in order to secure her favour first.
Things were moving too quickly for comfort now. Lemrina glanced at Slaine next, but his features betrayed no emotion.
Finally, she turned back to Count Marylcian. She had seen the way he had reacted to Slaine's casual explanation about the flowers. He was a prideful man who would probably not respond well to rejection.
And even if she did manage to reject him, what about all the other knights?
Think, Lemrina, think…
"So you have been fighting on Earth," she said slowly and carefully, in order to buy herself time. "How goes the conquest?"
"Extremely well, my princess! Why, I could bring you down to Earth and show you my conquered territory, if you'd like!"
"Oh, yes," said Lemrina, her heart palpitating quickly as she pasted a smile on her face. "But how does it compare to the other knights? Is the land truly full of resources useful to Mars?"
"Er, well, I…" For a moment, Count Marylcian was stumped. It was clear he had not anticipated this question. Lemrina thought she already knew what he would say, but if her expectations were wrong, then she was ruined. "But of course! My territory is far superior! I am far more accomplished than all those other knights."
I see.
All of a sudden, Lemrina no longer feared this knight. How could she fear someone whose motives were so obviously transparent?
With clarity came relief. Lemrina relaxed and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them.
She knew what to do.
"I apologise, Count Marylcian," she said with another curtsy. "I cannot yet make my decision. You see, it is in my interest as a monarch to pave the way for a better future for Vers. And so I must make my decision very carefully. I can only marry the strongest knight."
"B-b-but I am the strongest!"
Count Marylcian looked hopelessly lost for words. Even Count Barouhcruz seemed speechless, and he hadn't even said anything.
"I believe your words," Lemrina assured Marylcian, "but I also need to see it through action. Do you not understand, Count Marylcian? This is an opportunity for you to prove yourself before the entire empire."
"What are you suggesting, Your Highness?" asked Count Barouhcruz quietly.
Barouhcruz was the wily one. Lemrina focused upon him with renewed attention. In that moment, he saw and appreciated her for something more than a bastard princess, and she saw and appreciated him for something more than an Orbital Knight.
She smiled. "It would be most unfair to the knights of this realm to tell it only to you. So I shall make my debut today. Is that quite all right, Count Saazbaum?"
"It is," said Saazbaum in a measured tone, looking at her carefully. "Let the will of heaven be done."
"Good."
Lemrina closed her eyes.
When she opened them, she was no longer in the moon base hangar but in the throne room at Vers. The room itself was empty and hollow, and if she spoke up here, her voice would echo against the high ceiling with no response. But here, all eyes of the red planet and blue planet were upon her.
The throne was cold to touch. Rayregalia sat upon it only very occasionally to make his announcements. When Lemrina sat upon it, the seat felt cavernous, as if it held the power to swallow her whole even as it propped up her crippled body before the world.
She had been so full of indecision until minutes ago, but now, when push came to shove, she knew that she had to act quickly to preserve the peace and her own life. Perhaps losing all her other options made it possible to act.
She was a princess of Vers. This much was within her capabilities.
Lemrina opened her mouth and began to speak.
"My name is Lemrina Vers Envers, second princess of Vers and granddaughter of Emperor Rayregalia Vers Rayvers. I speak now to the people of Vers. For my protection, out of fear for what those accursed Terrans eventually did to my sister Asseylum, I stayed hidden from the world. But today, I end my cowardice and stand before you as the true heir of the throne of Vers.
"Nothing fills me with greater delight than the thought of avenging my dear sister. For this, I extend my eternal gratitude towards all thirty-seven clans of the Orbital Knights, whose efforts to subjugate Earth serve the good of this empire.
"I wish to strengthen the ties of our glorious empire. To that end, I propose to marry the strongest knight of Vers. It is my hope that together, we shall create a bountiful future that will end poverty on Mars."
It was lies, all lies. But they were lies twisted to serve the purpose of her personal truth, for the sake of making the planets move. If she had to pit man against man for the sake of securing her own position, then so be it. Let it be done.
She took a deep breath. The last part was the most important, she knew. She had to phrase it just right.
"And so I propose to hold a tourney in my name. I will give my hand in marriage to the winner, to the strongest war leader among the Orbital Knights. For the sake of Vers, for the sake of the princess's hand, I urge every knight to fight and show me his true capabilities."
Lemrina finished speaking.
The throne room was empty. For the moment, she had no idea how the rest of the world had reacted to her speech. What had her grandfather thought?
What would her sister think?
Lemrina had no way of knowing. She closed her eyes, and in that moment, all she could see was her sister's beautiful, beaming face as she announced that she was going to bring peace to Earth and Mars.
When Lemrina opened her eyes, she was back in the moon base hangar, surrounded by war machines and gazing upon the faces of the men she had left behind.
Slaine, she noticed, was grimacing. He had no love for war.
Count Marylcian was plainly shocked and also eager. He had taken the speech on face value.
Count Barouhcruz was silent and contemplative. He had seen Lemrina's speech for what it was - an act of political scapegoating.
And Count Saazbaum… Lemrina never forgot Count Saazbaum's face afterwards. He was smiling approvingly, like a kindly uncle impressed with his niece's talent. He evidently thought her speech was a good move. A sensible move, given her unstable position and how little she trusted the Orbital Knights. Pit them against each other and against Earth, so that they would not think of turning against her.
But underneath the approval, there was a knowing glint in Saazbaum's eyes, as if Lemrina had played right into his hand.
