Chapter 6

My best friend confiding in me was, in a sense, to be expected. I have no connection to the neighboring country, nor do I belong to any faction. I am just a friend.

“I think it’s difficult for me to continue living as I am. But the reason I am like this is because of the neighboring country. I have no affection for the country that has taken so much from me. Why should I—”

risk my life for it. Though her lips, clenched tight, did not form the words, I heard them clearly in my ears.

Before she was born, her father was killed, and shortly after her birth, she lost her mother. Born as a male, she was raised as the daughter of a duke to survive. My best friend is a woman of great grace and beauty.

I gently placed my hand on her tightly clenched fist. Normally, her hands, hidden by gloves, were bony and strong, like a man’s. Growth cannot be stopped. She has grown taller, her Adam’s apple is more prominent, and her shoulders are broadening. No matter how gracefully she behaves, she cannot stop the loss of femininity.

My best friend had been taking leave from school due to illness. The decision to give the impression of being frail and to take a leave of absence was made by the Duke. Regardless of my best friend’s inner turmoil, events proceeded. I, too, played a part in the Duke’s plan by frequently visiting the ducal family to pay my respects to my best friend.

I chose to be honest with my best friend.

“If anything were to happen to you, someone who treats me as a friend despite our different social statuses, I would be very sad. But I also think it is sad and terrifying for people to continue dying in the neighboring country. I have not heard good things about the current king, who became king after killing my friend’s grandfather and father. I cannot fathom what he intended to achieve by killing his family.”

The ones killed were my best friend’s grandfather and father. The king who killed them is her uncle. The fact that he became king by killing his family and continues to rule with a reign of terror that tarnishes his reputation is something I cannot understand.

“The current king’s rule is not praiseworthy. If someone were to usurp the throne from him, more blood would be shed. The subsequent rule would face even stricter scrutiny. It is a thorny path.”

If my best friend, whose grandfather and father were killed, were to become the king of the neighboring country, she would have to kill her uncle. Not just her uncle, but to stabilize her rule, she would have to take the lives of the queen, who is her uncle’s wife, and other members of the royal family.

Politics is not a matter of ideals. Often, one must swallow both the good and the bad.

“I don’t know what is right and what is wrong.”

The neighboring country was on a path to collapse.

It is not just due to the weakening of the country by the king’s reign of terror. The exiled nobles from the neighboring country and the high-ranking nobles of this country, who are related to them, are planning to overthrow the king of the neighboring country. The Duke is leading this effort, and our king is tacitly allowing it.

My best friend’s will is of no concern to them. For the sake of a righteous cause, they need a figurehead with noble blood and a legitimate claim to the throne. My best friend is being sought for this purpose. If she were to refuse, someone else might take her place, and I would worry about what might happen to her.

“I just want you to live.”

It is an irresponsible wish from someone with no power. My best friend is the legitimate heir to the throne, the eldest son of the neighboring country’s crown prince.

My best friend was raised as a lady to survive. She is being asked to live authentically and to fight for her homeland, which took her parents. Everyone is making demands of her.

I understand, intellectually, that it is inevitable given her position as a high-ranking noble. She is responsible for the lives of her family and her people. Sometimes, she must be ruthless. To them, who consider themselves and their children as pawns, my best friend is also a pawn.

“I know it’s an irresponsible wish, but I just want you to live.”

My best friend firmly squeezed my hand in return.