“There’s a good deal to be done yet before we can say all’s well that ends well, but the better part of this affair has been settled. And that will do for now!”
“I love how Your Highness is always looking on the bright side. Ferri might fall for you yet!”
“Ha-ha-ha! That is one of my good points. Um, but don’t cuddle up too close. Stop that! Don’t confuse me! Stop making those adorable faces at me!”
As Ferris snuggled up to the prince, Fourier struggled to muster his self-control. Crusch watched them both fondly, then let out a small breath. “I really am blessed beyond measure—I wonder if I’ll ever be able to repay this happiness,” she murmured. She sounded profoundly moved, as if she feared that she had been given too much.
—It was a mere six months after these events that Crusch Karsten took over the position of duke from her father, Meckart.
She became immensely busy, and the three of them had less and less time to sit and laugh together.
Crusch would find herself returning to this day over and over again.
But at that moment, all of this was still in the future.
FELIX ARGYLE’S CURSE
1
The royal guard were the idols of every knight in the kingdom, the cream of their crop. Only the most elite of the two thousand knights of the realm were permitted to join, and the members of the royal guard were sworn to protect the king and the royal family—essentially, they were the sword and shield that safeguarded the heart of the kingdom. It was said that in former times, family status and personal backing had played a major role in who joined the guard, but today that was not the case. They represented the strongest spirits among the kingdom’s knights.
“Don’t mew think it’s a bit much, asking Ferri to join such a remeowned group?”
Ferris stretched out across the table, pouting.
It was noon, and the mess hall at the knights’ garrison was crowded. Most of them were, in fact, knights, which made the place quite a spectacle.
Those who served the kingdom, rather than working independently, were distinguished by the color of their capes. There were four armies, which wore red, blue, green, and black, respectively. Clusters of the same color moved together, mostly; there seemed to be great camaraderie among men belonging to the same army.
There also seemed to be an unspoken understanding about the seating in the mess hall, with the first army sitting closest to the entrance and the fourth sitting farthest away. Generally speaking, the seats farthest from the doorway were yielded to the knights of the highest stature. And, also according to custom, the farthest seats of all were given to those who had been permitted to prepare to don the white mantle of the royal guard—in other words, Ferris and his companions.
Someone suddenly spoke up from in front of Ferris as he looked disinterestedly around the mess hall. “It won’t serve you to look quite so bored, my friend.”
“Hmm?”
The speaker sat down across from him, studying Ferris through squinted, almond-shaped eyes. His hair was a light purple, and his face bespoke careful cultivation of refinement and masculinity. It couldn’t compare to the face Ferris loved most in the world, but it was certainly handsome.
“Julius Juukulius…right?”
“I’m honored that you know me. And I’ve heard of you, too, Felix Argyle. Your…unorthodox promotion has fueled many a rumor.”
“Huh…?”
The hint of a smile floated on the young Julius’s face. He was looking at the cat ears on Ferris’s head. Ferris didn’t let his emotions reach his yellow eyes; he was used to being gawked at.
Prejudice against demi-humans was common in the Kingdom of Lugunica, so the promotion of a conspicuous demi-human to the royal guard, the elite of the elite, was bound to set the malcontents whispering, even if they were mistaken about his background.
Perhaps Ferris’s feelings had crept into his gaze, because Julius furrowed his brow, coughed, and then gave him a polite nod.
“My apologies. I didn’t mean to stare. I’d heard the talk, but I couldn’t quite believe it without seeing it for myself.”
“Maybe I’ll forgive mew if mew tell me what kind of talk you’ve heard. Let me guess. A monster with bulging muscles and fur all over? It’d be very disappointing if people were spreading rumors like that about cute lil’ Ferri!”
“The captain told me they were a reflection of the demi-human blood of your ancestors. And they are fine ears. I can see why you might try to take a bite out of anyone over them.”
“…Are you trying to pick a fight with Ferri?”
It was a rare person who spoke of Ferris’s ears with anything other than open disdain. And Julius had evidently even heard the details of Ferris’s background from his commander. Perhaps this was his baptism into the ways of the privileged class—Ferris had left his status as the heir to a noble family too early to learn them.
Unlike Ferris, Julius was a knight who was obviously accomplished in swordsmanship. If this went on and things really did come to blows, the cat-boy had no hope of winning.
“But don’t think you’ll get off without a scratch! Ferri is cute, but not that cute!”
“I hate to interrupt you when you’re doing such a fine job of working yourself up, but I think we may have a misunderstanding on our hands. Perhaps we could talk about it?”
“Meowhat?”
Julius didn’t pick up the gauntlet, and his reaction was so unexpected that Ferris could only blink in surprise. At that moment, someone pulled out the chair immediately beside him.
“Didn’t I tell you, Julius? Let me start the conversation, I said. You’re too prone to miscommunications, I said. Especially with people you’ve just met.”
“And I appreciate your concern. But I don’t believe my judgment was wrong. I don’t think we could have avoided a certain amount of confusion no matter who spoke first. Look at him now.”
The young man who had spoken so easily to Julius turned his gaze to Ferris. He had blue eyes, and hair so red it might have been a burning flame. Ferris unconsciously stiffened.
“Might you be…Reinhard van Astrea?”
His appearance was too distinctive for it to be anyone else. At Ferris’s question, the red-haired young man gave an affable smile and said, “Ah, I see I needn’t introduce myself. That is indeed my name. To elaborate, I, like you, am a member of the royal guard. As is Julius there.”
“Since you are new, it’s natural to have some reservations about what you hear from your fellow knights,” Julius said. “But we have our captain’s word to go on. I’m willing to accept his evaluation as is.”
“Um, I’m afraid I’m not sure what mew mean.”
Reinhard and Julius appeared to be friends, and there was an unfettered intimacy to their conversation. Even so, Julius seemed to be holding something back. Not that Ferris, totally left out, cared in the least.
More important to him was the question of why these two were paying any attention to him at all. Especially the Sword Saint, Reinhard. From what he had heard of Reinhard’s personality, Ferris wanted to believe he was not the type to drive out a newcomer.
“What do you want with Ferri that would make you go out of your way to come here? You’re not here to…to bully me, are you?”
“Oh, hardly. Could we wear the white of the royal guard while taking part in such nefarious activities? We’re just carrying out our captain’s orders.”
“You mean Captain Marcus?” Julius’s roundabout words made Ferris think of the captain, a man with a face like a boulder. What could the two of them have come to do to him on that man’s orders?
“Well, to be brief,” Reinhard said, “we want to be sure that what you were afraid of doesn’t happen to you. Julius and I are about your age, and we thought you might be able to turn to us for advice, since we’ve been in the royal guard for quite a while.”
“Oh, I see,” Ferris said, resting his chin on his hands. The captain
had charged the two knights with looking after him. The boy had a volatile mixture of factors in his background: his cat ears, his less-than-stellar ability with the sword, and the fact that he had entered the guard through his connections. No doubt it had weighed on the captain to be entrusted with such a knight.
He would only be there for a year, and there was a probationary period attached—but all the same, it was a tremendous burden.
“Judging by your reaction, it looks like you understand the position you’re in,” Julius said.
“If it were happening to someone else it would all seem like a joke, but it’s a lot more trouble when it’s happening to me,” Ferris said. “By the way, what exactly did the captain tell you two about Ferri?”
This caused Reinhard and Julius to go wide-eyed, then they looked at each other and lapsed into thought for a moment.
“That you’re a favorite of the fourth prince,” Julius said, “and that you got into the guard because he forced the issue.”
“I also heard that you got a very strong recommendation from the healers at the royal castle, as well as the royal academy of healing,” Reinhard added. “I simply hope your abilities haven’t been exaggerated to justify the captain’s accepting your unusual promotion.”
Their answers told Ferris, to his disappointment, that the reputation that had preceded him was more or less as he had expected.
At the same time, he was sure he could feel more eyes than before fixed on their little group from all around the mess hall. He didn’t seem to be the only reason people were looking their way. Even the Sword Saint Reinhard didn’t account for all the looks. There must have been something about Julius as well.
“Surely the captain isn’t just trying to keep all his biggest problems in one place…?” Ferris muttered. But he couldn’t shake a bad feeling as his thoughts turned to the probationary period with the royal guard that was about to begin.
2
There was, of course, a complicated story behind how Ferris had come to join the royal guard, and with an evaluation period attached, no less.
Ferris was now eighteen, and he would have been more than happy to live out his life under his mistress, Crusch. She herself had indicated her approval of this, and the two of them were so close that they often shared nearly the same thoughts. The real problem, however, was one of their other customs.
Ferris—his real name was Felix Argyle—typically wore women’s clothing, but he was biologically male. As such, if he was going to serve Crusch, it would be more socially appropriate for him to do so as a knight than as a servant or aide.
It so happened that, due to a particular series of events, Ferris had been appointed Crusch’s knight, and she had accepted him as such. All he really lacked was practical experience of knighthood.
Of course, if his mistress recognized Ferris as her knight and performed the ceremony of investiture, there was no formal problem. But Crusch, Duchess of Karsten and head of the family, was of too high a station to take on a knight with no history. Crusch was a woman, and a woman whose behavior in the past had led many to look down on her. If, on top of that, she were to accept a knight with no proven skills or actual ability and based solely on the length of their acquaintance, even more unfavorable rumors were bound to circulate.
In order to avoid that, Ferris would need to establish himself as a knight whose résumé would not be an embarrassment to his mistress. The fourth prince of the nation, Fourier Lugunica, gave them some help in resolving this problem.
“Your becoming Crusch’s knight is important to me as well. I should hardly even need to exert myself to get you in with the knights. I’ll just… Ahem! Perhaps I can simply speak to Marcus or someone. You just relax and wait!”
Fourier had graced Ferris with a heartfelt laugh and then rushed out of the room before anyone could stop him. Shortly thereafter, Ferris’s appointment to the royal guard had been decided, and he embarked on the year of service that would allow him to gild his legend.
Which was not to say everything had gone entirely smoothly.
Around the time of Ferris’s entry into the unit, Captain Marcus had addressed him with a stern look and said, “You are here at the urging of His Highness Fourier, as well as a number of other strong recommendations. The Duchess of Karsten has also recommended you to me. In light of all this, I’m willing to grant you entry to the royal guard…but not without conditions.”
As they spoke there in his office at the garrison, the captain proposed the probationary period—in effect, a time during which Ferris could experience the life of the royal guard, but then throw in the towel and run back home if he wanted to.
“If, during that time, I decide you won’t be of any use to me, then you’re not staying in my unit. However, if you get kicked out during the probationary period, I’ll ensure that it’s done in a way that doesn’t leave a blot on your record. I can’t speak for the feelings of the prince or your other backers, but it would be better than having to spend the whole time being publicly regarded as a stain on the guard. I trust you accept my proposal?”
Marcus had been blunt and did not try to hide the fact that he had been put in a rather delicate position. Ferris liked him immediately. It was a tremendous relief to see the truth in someone’s eyes and not have to worry about politely beating around the bush.
“May I ask just one thing?”
“What?”
“Once the probationary period is over, it’ll be considered part of my twelve months of service, won’t it? To be honest, I can’t stand to be away from Lady Crusch even a month longer than I have to be.”
“—”
Marcus was left dumbfounded by Ferris’s declaration, if only for a moment. There was an instant when he looked tired, but then his face was once again that of a ferocious soldier.
“I like your nerve. You’ve got a lot of guts for such a small boy—you might surprise us yet,” he had said roughly.
“So I was kind of scared at first…but being a knight has turned out to be sort of more boring than I expected.”
“You’ve only been here a few days. It’s a little early to think you’ve seen everything knighthood has to offer,” Julius said. “It’s true the royal guard doesn’t take the field as often as some of the other units, but we must devote ourselves fully to whatever we’re given to do. We have to be ready at all times.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re tough, I know.”
Ferris waved a hand, trying to soothe Julius. He had only brought up the topic to pass the time, but when they were on the job, Julius always and only thought about the task at hand. It had been about ten days since Julius had started keeping an eye on him, but even what Ferris had seen to that point suggested how difficult things could be.
Although…
“Nobody would be upset if mew relaxed just a little more,” Ferris said.
“When I hold the sword I am naturally relaxed,” Julius said. “But when I set it aside, then I must be a knight. You could do with a bit more of that yourself, Ferris.”
“Bleh! Mew’re so uptight!”
Ferris made a face, and Julius sighed. But soon they were both smiling again. They were already close enough to exchange banter like this. Julius could be rather unbending while he was performing his professional duties, but when he wasn’t working he could be quite interesting to talk to. His somewhat overwrought fixation on his position as a knight felt like a manifestation of a certain unbecoming childishness. But all this was why Ferris liked him. He had much more trouble with…
“Ah, there you both are. I’m glad I didn’t miss you.”
“Meowhat?”
Reinhard squeezed in where Ferris and Julius were chatting at their usual place in the mess hall. He gave Ferris a pat on the shoulder with an easy motion and smiled at Julius. Ferris’s ears went flat against his head.
“Grr, ambushed again. Reinhard, you really just come out of nowhere. Ferri’s senses aren’t used to being tricked so easily. Are you sure
you’re human? It’s kind of scary…”
Ferris’s demi-human ancestors had given him more than his looks; he also had exceptional sensory organs. His cat ears in particular could detect tiny changes in his surroundings, so much so that he could practically tell when someone had turned to look at him. Yet Reinhard was the exception to end all exceptions. Ferris had never once heard him coming.
“It’s the way I was born, my dear Ferris. I’m afraid we’ll both just have to live with it. More importantly, you have a summons. His Highness Fourier is asking for you. Since you seem to have some time to kill, you should go see him. Show him how well you do your duty as one of the Knights of the Royal Guard.”
“…Were you listening?”
“Certainly not intentionally.”
Reinhard at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. Ferris felt a touch of annoyance. The mess hall was a little emptier now than on some days, but there was still plenty of chatter. Ferris and Julius were seated at the far end; not even Ferris’s ears could have picked up a conversation at that distance.
“If His Highness has asked for you personally, it would be best to hurry,” Julius said. “You don’t mind if I accompany you, do you, Ferris?”
“…Oh, sure. Umm…what about you, Reinhard?”
“I’m delighted by your invitation, but I have other plans,” Reinhard said apologetically. “I’ll be taking a little trip to our border with the Empire. I’ve been asked to have a look.”
“Wow. It’s not often they send mew out, Reinhard.” Ferris gave the other boy a perplexed look. Julius, rising from his seat, gave Reinhard a knowing nod.
“Don’t worry, I can keep an eye on Ferris by myself. You see to your own mission.”
“Mission makes it sound awfully serious…”
“He simply means I should approach it with that mind-set. All right. I’ll leave everything to you.” Reinhard nodded at Julius, who waved as the Sword Saint left the mess hall.
The Dream of the Lion King Page 11
