Despite the stressful nature of her current situation, Euphy couldn’t help but feel a little happy.
She’d been afraid that Aegis would be as cold and lonely as Kos. Instead, between Iphis and Thalia yesterday, and now Moros and Chione today, it felt like she’d met a lot of kind people. Even if she didn’t completely trust them yet, just the potential was a huge source of comfort.
These warm and fuzzy feelings were supplemented by the storm outside and the tea Moros had brewed for her, which she sipped as she swung her legs in her chair, unable to keep them still since she was too short for her feet to touch the ground.
If she had to point out anything wrong with her current situation—other than the fact that a guy had tried to set her on fire last night—it would be that Moros and Chione didn’t seem to share her good mood.
In fact, ever since they all sat down, she kept getting the subtle impression that those two didn’t like each other.
Moros was sitting across from her behind Ianthe’s desk, looking like he’d love nothing more than to fall asleep in her big leather chair. Despite this, he was paying close attention as Chione, who was seated to Euphy’s right, relayed her version of last night’s events.
To be honest, Euphy had been surprised to see Moros this morning. She’d assumed Iphis would come get her, since he was the one who’d checked in with her last night, and her first reaction upon seeing this fellow instead was not a feeling of relief but rather a panicked urge to heal him. Between the dark circles under his eyes, his bloodless skin, and his bluish lips, he looked like the kind of patient who’d get bumped to the head of the line if he showed up at Kos’ clinic, so being informed that he planned to take care of her felt very backwards.
However, he was an adult, and his health was his business. Since he didn’t ask for her help, she’d swallowed her misgivings and followed him.
He was much quieter and less expressive than Iphis, but she didn’t take it personally. After all, he clearly cared about her at least a little bit since the first thing he did after introducing himself was give her some crackers for her blood sugar. Even better, those crackers tasted almost exactly like the bánh dừa nướng1sweet coconut rice cracker her mom used to give her, which made her tear up with nostalgia. Goddess, why was the South so much better than the North in every single way? They even had coconut here, how wonderful was that?
Chione, in contrast, had terrified her initially, but that was mostly because Euphy was afraid she’d upset her. Now that they’d resolved their misunderstandings, she felt much more comfortable with Chione, and couldn’t help but wonder…
At what point in a new friendship was it appropriate to invite someone to a sleepover? Also, would Chione let her braid her hair if she asked? Her snowy white hair looked so soft and bouncy, and there was so much of it that Euphy couldn’t help but feel a little hypnotized every time Chione moved her head. Gods only knew how many hair pins she’d have to enlist to style hair with a silky texture like that, but perhaps Chione had some she could borrow, or maybe she could use a little hair wax?
… Oh, who was she kidding?
Forget braiding, she really just wanted to see Chione’s big kitty form!
Living in the Spine, Euphy had only been lucky enough to spot ghost leopards twice, and both times she’d had to cycle through a ‘if not friend why friend-shaped’ internal debate to convince herself that even if she wanted to pet them, she’d probably get attacked if she tried.
Not that she planned to pet the Princess, she knew that would be inappropriate. She just liked monsters, especially big fluffy monsters with cute faces and squishable paws and oh gods wait, no matter how she might look Chione was a person not an actual cat and she really needed to keep that in mind or she might hurt Chione’s feelings…
While Euphy fretted about whether or not she was a bad person for wanting any of this, Chione wrapped up her summary for Moros.
“… With all that in mind, I will be assuming responsibility for handling last night’s events,” Chione said, her tone cool and confident as she casually pushed her long snowy hair back over her shoulders. “I’ll pay for any damages and accept any punitive measures the school deems appropriate on behalf of the other parties involved, but considering the unique status of mine and Damon’s families, it would be best for you and the university to step back while I’m giving you the chance.”
Euphy blinked.
Did that sound unnecessarily threatening, or was it just her?
As far as she could tell, Chione wasn’t acting hostile in any way. Her smile was polite, her body language was relaxed, and her voice was soft.
That said, Euphy also knew that picking up on subtle aggression was not her forte. She usually just took what people said and did at face value, and then became confused later on when they got upset that she’d done so.
Joseph, her chosen brother from her last life, had tried to address that problem by making her watch period dramas while he translated the bitchy subtext for her, but it was much harder to deconstruct things without him giving her hints in real time.
For example, she knew Cydonian culture expected certain levels of respect based on age, occupation, and noble status, and that you were supposed to pretend the former two trumped the latter even though not a single person alive actually believed it did.
… Which was fucking confusing and seemed to cause nothing but trouble for anyone, but okay.
Since Moros was both Chione’s elder and an official at the school she was attending, Euphy was pretty sure Chione was supposed to at least pretend deference towards him. In light of that, what she said sounded kind of inappropriate. The only way Euphy would have said something like that to someone like Moros would be if she really, really hated his guts. Otherwise, she’d feel too guilty to even try.
Now, on the other hand, a common complaint players had about the game’s Chione was that, no matter how sweet she was towards the main character, she could be a bit tyrannical towards everyone else, and they argued that made her two-faced. However, Euphrosyne always thought they were missing a very important point:
Chione was, very literally, the daughter of a tyrant.
As a Crown Princess, the number of people in the country who outranked her could be counted on one hand. Plus, even if politics and money and public opinion constrained them to a degree, her family still held almost absolute power, and boy howdy did some of them like to use it. Compared to the crazy shit her relatives got up to, Euphy thought it was kind of impressive that the worst Chione did was act bossy from time to time.
There really wasn’t anything stopping Chione from grabbing that title of hers and using it to beat Moros into doing whatever she wanted. In light of that, wasn’t she being pretty considerate by bothering to talk things out at all?
“Is that so…?” Moros replied to Chione, folding his hands neatly on the desk in front of him. “I wasn’t aware that the Princess had experience with, or… considered herself capable of… resolving such complex issues on her own. I admire such confidence.”
Euphy covered her face and winced as beside her Chione’s smile got chillier by a degree.
Moros didn’t bother with subtext.
He just bluntly said whatever he thought regardless of how insulting it might sound, but he did it with such an air of non-judgmental serenity that Euphy couldn’t tell if he was doing it on purpose.
It was hard to imagine that he would. In the game, Moros’ character was like a bodhisattva, perpetually patient and gentle and forgiving no matter what crisis was going on. His unflappable nature, combined with his delicate health, always made him seem like he was far above the petty concerns of mortals, so he probably wouldn’t get offended even if Chione started cursing him out.
In fact, the only character who was ever able to make him angry was Iphis, which was exactly why fic authors liked to have him bully Moros so much.
…
Unbeknownst to Moros and Chione, Euphy let out a small sigh and quietly gave herself a vicious pinch on the thigh. She couldn’t keep thinking about this sort of thing, she’d read fanfic about basically everyone, including Chione…
After this meeting she’d go find the campus temple and recite sutras until she either moved past this issue or attained enlightenment, whichever came first, Amitabha.
Moros continued, “However, since this… incident… involves the health and safety of our students, I must decline the Princess’ generous offer.”
If Euphy was being honest, other than being pretty sure people only referred to one another in third person when they hated their guts, the biggest reason she suspected their dislike was mutual wasn’t his lack of tact, but a fact about him she recalled from the game:
Moros was an anti-imperialist.
That wouldn’t have been a big deal in her old life, but things were different here. A core belief of this country was that the imperial family and the Temple were two halves of the same whole, and that both ruled by divine right. Since most people believed that they were the only thing preventing the country from being overrun with deadly monsters, speaking out against them was not only unpopular, but illegal. While that didn’t stop opposition from growing, it did force it underground.
Most of the references to Moros’ political leanings in the game had been throwaway lines from other characters, or ambiguous things he said himself, but the picture it painted was clear enough that Euphy couldn’t help but wonder:
Wasn’t having someone opposed to the imperial family’s existence arguing over the best way to resolve a scandal with that family’s most sensitive and magically dangerous member kind of a terrible idea?
Still, she supposed it could have been worse. If Ianthe had been handling the investigation, gods only knew how she’d have taken it out on Euphy.
…
At the same time, she did hope the villainess was doing better. She looked so sick yesterday, and now she was absent today, and for some reason that made Euphy feel worried.
“Surely the Provost isn’t implying that the imperial family doesn’t value the safety of Aegis’ students?” Chione asked sweetly, tilting her head and placing a palm on her cheek like she was concerned on his behalf.
“Is there a reason I should?” Moros asked blandly.
Chione stared back at him, her pleasant expression growing stiff.
Euphy sighed again and drank some more tea, sinking down in her chair as she turned to stare at the rain falling in dark sheets outside.
She didn’t really get why either of them cared so much about who took responsibility. Damon had started the fight, but Chione was now on Euphy’s side, so couldn’t she handle him herself? The school’s garden got destroyed, but Moros was one of her clerics and the provost, so shouldn’t he be able to handle that himself?
It was almost like these two didn’t realize they were on the same side…
“Oh shit!” Euphy yelped, bolting upright in her chair and slamming her teacup back onto the desk with a clatter. “Moros, I totally forgot to mention that I told Chione I’m a Saint. She’s already agreed to join us.”
Euphrosyne found herself barraged by twin rounds of bullet-like ellipses as both Chione and Moros stared at her in the long silence that followed. Their carefully blank expressions seemed to ask, ‘Shouldn’t you have mentioned that earlier?’
Yeesss, she should have, but… sometimes she forgot that everyone else she knew didn’t automatically know all the things she did…
Oops.
“Chione, this is Cleric Moros, he’s with the Golden Shield,” Euphy continued, forging ahead cheerfully despite the awkward atmosphere. “He and Professor Iphis are my primary guardians while I’m here.”
“Oh, that’s… so good to know. I had no idea the Temple was already involved in this matter,” Chione said, lowering her eyes.
For a moment there was such a startling look of anger and bitterness on her face that Euphy thought she’d said something seriously wrong, but in the next instant it was gone, replaced by an expression of gentle understanding.
Oh no, had she embarrassed her?
Feeling guilty, Euphy resolved to try and get better about this stuff in the future.
“We arrived on scene shortly after the incident itself,” Moros elaborated.
“So you’ve already had a while to move,” Chione murmured. “I see. Then should I be treating you as the Provost of Aegis, or as a representative of the Temple?”
“It would be best to continue treating me as your Provost… so as not to risk my cover,” Moros replied in his whispery voice, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses. “And, in light of the upcoming Calamity, I hope you understand that some secrecy on the Temple’s behalf is unavoidable... I ask for your pardon, Princess.”
“Of course,” Chione said, fixing Moros with a bright smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I look forward to cooperating, for the Young Saint’s sake.”
“Regardless, this does simplify… th-things… ugh…”
Moros paused like he was about to cough and brought out his handkerchief, pressing it to his mouth. He took a few deep rattling breaths in an attempt to fight the urge, but soon lost out and began coughing anyway.
They sounded deep and wet, the kind she’d heard before in patients with pneumonia. She was also pretty sure he had at least mild hemoptysis, since earlier she’d noticed a hint of red on one of his handkerchiefs before he’d hidden it. Normally coughing up any amount of blood was cause for an immediate examination, but he still hadn’t shown any indication that he wanted her help, so as long as he didn’t go into respiratory arrest she planned to respect his boundaries.
That said, from a professional standpoint, she couldn’t help but be curious about his curse.
The vast majority of healing magic either encouraged the body to heal itself how it normally would, but faster and more efficiently, or did the same thing but manually guided the process around obstacles it couldn’t naturally account for. Because of that, she lived in a world where almost any injury was survivable as long as the patient was still alive when help arrived, and where bacteria and viruses were barely a concern at all.
The only problem was that she’d been healing for so long that it felt like she could do most of it in her sleep. With only a few exceptions, the challenge it’d posed when she first began to learn was gone.
But curses? Curses were different. Each one was a puzzle, and they came in what felt like endless variations that all required mental acuity and magical agility to solve. Breaking one always gave her an incredible sense of satisfaction, and the more she defeated, the more she felt like she was actually growing as a healer.
Their biggest downside, apart from the suffering they put people through, was the heavy social stigma against them. That was a shame for a lot of reasons, but also because if people didn’t feel pressured to hide them then she probably would have had the opportunity to solve a lot more of them.
Still, considering the fact that Moros worked for the Saint, if Calliope couldn’t help him then there probably wasn’t much Euphy could do, so she bit her tongue and tried not to look interested in his symptoms as she waited for him to catch his breath.
“My apologies, I don’t… usually have to talk this much…” He paused to cough again, then seemed to come to a decision and pulled a vial from one of his pockets. Uncapping it, he swallowed it in one shot, then shivered and made an expression of disgust.
Euphy, catching a faint whiff of rot and licorice, shivered as well and fought down a wave of nausea.
If he just took what she thought he did…
No, no, not thinking about it, it wasn’t her business.
“As I was saying… since the Princess is aware of our situation, I’ll let you both know that it is the opinion of my direct superior, Saint Calliope, and myself… that to prevent bloodshed, it would be best if the Princess was involved in last night as little as possible.”
“Pardon? What do you mean by that?” Chione demanded.
“Wait, really?” Euphy asked.
“Allow me to explain…”
Moros opened a leather folio that had been sitting on the desk and slid it towards them. The page it displayed looked like a record of estimated damages.
“The incident took place not too far from a party… and not only was our famous garden set aflame, but the subsequent counterattack destroyed one folly, shot out through the rest of the maze itself, then the outer wall, and… the forest beyond, where it only just missed shattering the wards.”
Calculating the kind of strength it would take to blast a spell that distance, Euphy breathed out in awe. “Holy shit, that’s so badass.”
Surprised by Euphy’s reaction, Chione turned her face to hide a blush while Moros just nodded.
“Yes, it was very impressive… both the spell’s destructive range and the six figures in property damage it incurred.”
“So? What’s the issue?” Chione asked, her blush fading as she frowned at Moros. “No one got hurt, and I already offered to cover the cost.”
Euphy gave Chione an envious glance.
It must be nice to be rich, huh…?
“Yes, but that won’t change the scale of what happened…” Moros flipped a page, then gestured at the list of names on it. “With so many nearby witnesses eager to give testimony, and such a high cost, this just… isn’t something the Temple can cover up immediately. The Board of Governors has already been informed, parents will soon be finding out, and… Prince Laertes has gotten involved.”
“What, that asshole again!?” Euphy cried out, then remembered Chione was next to her and said, “Erm, sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Chione waved her off and asked Moros, “What do you mean my brother’s gotten ‘involved’?”
“He and his knights were… the first on the scene. They’ve all provided written witness statements, and… the Prince has personally ordered me to perform a thorough investigation into what happened, on the grounds that it endangered both himself and other students. If he hasn’t already, he may also involve other authorities, be it the Kastri Guard… or his mother.”
“Shit,” Euphy and Chione hissed in unison.
“Furthermore, he says the only person he saw enter the garden before the incident… was Euphrosyne.”
“Fucking princes, man!” Euphy snapped, throwing her hands in the air. “So, what, does he want to blame it all on me?”
“That would be… the best case scenario.”
“How, exactly?” Chione asked, her impatience growing more obvious.
Euphy nodded quickly in agreement.
Wasn’t Moros supposed to be working with her? How was making her the scapegoat supposed to help her!?
“Because Prince Damon gave his testimony a little while ago, and admitted that his… knights met him outside the garden after the incident. Because the Temple cannot guarantee their silence, it is best to assume his presence may get leaked. So far… the only person who wasn’t directly witnessed at the scene is the Princess.”
“So, what, you want to remove me from the equation to simplify things?” Chione asked, raising an eyebrow. “My knights are also aware of what happened, do you trust them to keep quiet?”
Moros gave Chione a thoughtful look, then let out a ragged sigh and said, “If I am not mistaken, as a spirit, you could guarantee their silence with a contract, could you not?”
Chione froze, growing pale. Then she turned to look at Euphy, shock and hurt in her red eyes.
“I… I’m sorry…” Euphy murmured, shrinking back into her chair.
She’d told the Temple pretty much everything once they’d caught her, in part because they'd reasonably pointed out that everyone would be in big trouble if something happened to her before the Calamity hit.
She’d felt bad about sharing other people’s secrets, but a lot of lives were at stake…
“Please don’t misunderstand, Princess,” Moros interjected, gesturing for Chione to look at him instead. “Saint Calliope has been aware of your true identity since the two of you first met, which was a few years before… Euphrosyne remembered her past.”
“What?” Chione asked, her confusion and stress evident. “Then why hasn’t the Temple intervened?”
Moros blinked, then tilted his head right, then left, as though trying to shake his thoughts on this matter together. Finally, he said, “The short answer is that the Temple is forbidden from meddling in… matters of imperial succession. The Goddess permits spirits to join the Covenant, and thus… we have no grounds on which to oppose your candidacy—”
He paused to start coughing again, though Euphy noticed that, since taking the potion, their severity had lessened.
“Do you really expect me to believe that?” Chione asked once he finished.
“Whether you do is your prerogative… But regardless, since you have also been chosen as a hero we now have an even greater motivation… not to act.”
“Fine… I suppose that will do, for now,” Chione grumbled through gritted teeth. “But I still don’t understand why my involvement is such an issue!”
“Ah… didn’t I just show you?”
“What? No, that didn’t tell me anything! Tears of the fucking Mother, are you going to get to the point or do I have to shake it out of you!?” Chione shouted, the last dregs of her patience slipping away as she surged to her feet in anger, her hands contorted like she wanted nothing more than to wrap them around Moros’ neck.
“Chione, it’s okay!” Euphy cried out, reaching to grab her hand both to comfort her and to hold her back if necessary. Looking at Moros, she continued, “Provost, I’m also lost. I know Laertes is a pain, but how’d we get to ‘bloodshed’ from there?”
“What? Isn’t it… oh!” Moros said, squinting down at the folio. “I see, I only thought about showing you the diagram, I didn’t actually do it… my mistake, I’m a little behind on… a few days of sleep...”
He sighed and gave himself a sharp rap on the forehead with his knuckles.
Euphrosyne, who’d only a few minutes earlier forgotten to tell everyone they were on the same team, felt a sudden and deep spiritual connection with her new guardian.
“You… only thought about doing it?” Chione whispered furiously under her breath, as though this was a deeply punishable offense she’d be sure to make him pay for in the future. However, holding hands with Euphy seemed to calm her somewhat, and she didn’t let go as she sat back down with a flounce of white hair and a huff.
Aww…
Chione really liked holding hands, didn’t she?
How cute.
Moros flipped through a few pages before landing on one that contained a rough aerial sketch of the clearing they’d fought in. The damaged areas were marked in red ink that stood out against the white paper, and here and there estimated measurements were annotated.
“As you can see, the path of attack with fire, and the spell that countered it… are directly across from each other, and… not very far apart. Both of you reported that Prince Damon’s spells were aimed at Euphrosyne, but… Princess, weren’t you right there with her?”
“… Damn. I see,” Chione murmured as understanding dawned on her face.
Still stuck in the dark, Euphy asked, “Is that bad?”
“Your cleric believes people will think my fiancé was using you as an excuse to try and kill me instead,” Chione explained, tapping where their positions were marked on the diagram with a manicured nail.
Oh?
Oh, shit.
She’d been so wrapped up in her certainty that Damon wanted to kill her that she hadn't thought about what other people might think.
“Which story sounds more appealing?” Moros asked, shrugging one hand carelessly. “That Prince Damon carelessly risked the Princess’ life to kill a commoner… or that she was his real target all along?”
“Cleric, I don’t think your fears are unfounded,” Chione said, kneading Euphy’s hand in her own like a stress ball, “However, the moment my brother discovers Damon was there he will suspect my involvement, especially since he’s witnessed the aftermath of my magic before. I can guarantee you that he won’t hesitate to go to my father.”
Euphy blinked a few times.
Yeah, most dads would probably be pretty pissed to find that their daughter's fiancé had maybe tried to murder her, and since the father in question was the Emperor…
Ah. So that’s where Moros had gotten ‘bloodshed’ from.
“That is why we have asked Prince Damon to testify that you stood him up if asked… and he has already agreed to do so,” Moros replied, steepling his fingers on the desk in front of him.
Euphy asked, “Wait, really? How the heck did you convince him to do that? He doesn’t exactly strike me as, er… smart. Or reasonable.”
Once again both Moros and Chione gave her twin blank stares, and she got the feeling that she’d been on a different wavelength than them this entire time.
“Euphrosyne, whether or not the Prince intended to just harm you, or to kill you… divine law considers attacking a Saint a capital offense,” Moros said gently, speaking even slower than normal as if he expected her to cut in and say she already knew. When she didn’t, he continued, “Young Saint, if he were anyone else, there would be no discussion… he would simply be executed.”
“W-what?” Euphy asked, sure she hadn’t heard him right. “You’re joking, right? But he didn’t even know I was a Saint!”
“Whether or not that is true, the Temple… arrested him last night. He is in our custody, and has no choice but to cooperate.”
“What!? No, hold on,“ Euphy said, desperately looking to Chione for backup. “Princess, he’s your fiancé, say something!”
Yet, despite hearing that her fiancé was facing execution, Chione just shrugged and lowered her eyes.
“What can I say? I was hoping to wait for a good time to ask you for mercy on his behalf… But I gave up on that when you revealed the cleric’s identity. Saint Calliope doesn’t owe me any favors.”
Wait.
Was that why Chione looked so upset earlier?
Then why hadn’t she said anything? Did she just assume Euphy knew what would happen to Damon, that she’d be fine with it?
Euphy took her hand back, ignoring Chione’s unhappy expression. Squeezing her temples, she tried to get her nerves to calm down, but all she could think of was that two weeks ago she’d been someone whose needs everyone could ignore, and now suddenly people wanted to kill on her behalf?
What the fuck was she supposed to do with that?