— — — — — —
It was almost noon when La Folia finally received a return call from Aldegyr.
"Well?" she asked at once, seated on the sofa in her hotel suite.
After meeting Natsuki Minamiya that morning, she had ordered her knights back home to dig into the background of Kensei Kanase, then returned to the hotel to wait. She had been waiting for this call.
"…."
There was no immediate reply. Only heavy breathing came through the line, as if the person on the other end was struggling to find the right words.
"What's wrong?"
La Folia already felt uneasy, and now a bad premonition crept up her spine.
Something big had happened.
"Princess La Folia," the woman on the other end finally said, forcing an awkward, helpless laugh. "His Majesty has… fled."
La Folia froze.
What?
Fled?
Her grandfather, the king of Aldegyr, Galliard Rihavein, had fled?
"What do you mean, fled? Explain yourself!" Her breathing grew ragged.
How did her grandfather suddenly become a fugitive?
"An hour ago, His Majesty abruptly announced his abdication in favor of Prince Lucas. After that, he escaped to the Dynasty of Destruction."
The woman's tone was… complicated.
La Folia felt even more lost.
"I asked you to investigate a former royal mage named Kensei Kanase. Why did Grandfather abdicate? And why run to the Empire of the Second Primogenitor?"
"Let me explain."
Another voice came on the line.
La Folia recognized it instantly. Her grandmother, Musette Rihavein.
The current Queen. Or rather, the former queen now.
"Grandma."
Hearing that slightly aged voice steadied La Folia's scattered thoughts.
"Kotone Kanase," Musette said calmly. "You remember her, don't you? The auntie who used to bring you adult novels all the time, and ninja movies for little Justina?"
"I do not," La Folia shot back without hesitation.
At the mention of adult material, she refused on reflex.
"Are you sure?" Musette asked meaningfully.
"…Fine," La Folia sighed. "I admit I may have read a few books that didn't exactly suit royal decorum. But rest assured, nothing extreme. Just some rather indecent novels."
"Excellent."
Musette chuckled, then seemed to speak aside to someone nearby, "Did you record that?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
La Folia's expression twisted. Her face twitched several times before she spoke through clenched teeth. "Grandmother, if you still expect me to do anything for you, I suggest you dispose of that recording properly."
There was a brief silence, then a dry laugh. "Knew you'd notice."
"Only partly," La Folia replied, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What's the relationship between Kotone Kanase and Kensei Kanase?"
"They're siblings."
(A/N: To avoid confusion in the Kanase family—Kotone and Kensei are siblings, and so Kotone's daughter, Kanon Kanase, is both Kensei's niece and his adoptive daughter.)
"I see. Then Kotone Kanase and Grandfather…"
"He deceived her."
Cold laughter came through the phone.
"I understand…" La Folia covered her face, utterly done. "I knew Grandfather had a terrible reputation when he was young, but I didn't expect him to still pull something like this after becoming king."
Thinking of Kotone Kanase, then of her runaway grandfather, La Folia took a deep breath.
"So he has an illegitimate child. She's in the Dawn Empire, and on Itogami Island, isn't she?"
"To be precise, a daughter," Musette corrected softly. Her voice carried a trace of bitterness. "If we hadn't interrogated some of your grandfather's old retainers, I wouldn't even have known the child existed."
Interrogated…
La Folia's eyelid twitched. For some reason, she felt a chill.
Grandmother really hadn't changed. Strict as ever. A man keeping a mistress wasn't that rare, but Grandfather's real crime was his utter lack of responsibility. La Folia, a firm believer in harem supremacy, muttered internally before asking aloud, "Do you want me to bring my aunt back?"
Her fleeing grandfather came from a collateral branch of the Rihavein family and still carried the Valkyrie bloodline, a powerful spirit medium.
Which meant his daughter naturally carried Rihavein spirit blood as well, just not as pure as La Folia's.
Leaving such a princess wandering outside the kingdom, especially in the Dawn Empire of the Fourth Primogenitor, was obviously unacceptable.
What made things worse was that they only learned of her existence because Natsuki tipped them off.
At this point, it was painfully obvious who currently held that lost royal bloodline.
Given the situation, La Folia couldn't confidently say she would succeed.
So she spoke honestly. "You may not know this yet, but I've tried to meet the Fourth Primogenitor several times. Every request was refused."
"What does that guy want?" Musette asked bluntly.
"I haven't received any hint at all," La Folia admitted. "That's what confuses me."
Normally, refusals like this came with subtle signals about desired terms.
But from the Dawn Empire, there had been nothing. Not a word.
Surely the Fourth Primogenitor wasn't unsure what he wanted from Aldegyr… right?
"Nothing?" Musette paused, clearly surprised. Then she chuckled. "The Fourth Primogenitor really is interesting."
'You could just say he's pulling weird stunts,' La Folia thought, pouting. Then she suddenly remembered something.
"Actually, the Witch of the Void passed on a message. It might be a hint, but I can't be sure."
"What message?"
"The Third Primogenitor has already landed on the island and met with the Fourth. They seem to be cooperating closely."
La Folia's tone grew serious without her realizing it.
"…."
The other end of the line went silent.
If she couldn't still hear faint breathing, La Folia would have thought the call had dropped.
"No wonder you couldn't be sure," Musette finally said with a bitter smile. "When two Primogenitors meet in secret, that's far beyond a hint."
It was practically a declaration.
The world's balance was about to shift. Two Primogenitors were preparing to act together.
And Aldegyr was being asked to choose a side.
"Grandma…" La Folia opened her mouth, then fell silent.
"I'll think about that matter myself," Musette said. "Your priority is to meet the girl. The Dawn Empire should have already informed you of her address."
She sighed softly. "Try to bring her back if you can. She is, after all, your aunt."
"I understand."
After a few more words, La Folia ended the call.
"…Bring her back. Does that mean Grandmother is leaning toward cooperating with the Fourth Primogenitor?"
She stared at her phone, murmuring to herself.
It seemed a meeting with the Fourth Primogenitor was unavoidable now.
The only question was whether she would see him beside Kanon Kanase, or somewhere else entirely.
.
.
.