Глава 13

Percival walks slowly, humming along with the scattered music.

Do you know this song, Guard?

No, but I've heard it before.

...The sun on the meadow is summery warm♪♫Filling our home with euphoria♬♪

We gather together to greet the storm♪♫Tomorrow belongs to Victoria♬♪

The Victorian national anthem.

Our teacher made us sing it over and over until we had it memorized when I was little—before I got sick.

It's been a long time since I last heard it.

I was born in Victoria. By all accounts, I should be Victorian. But what about now?

That sergeant believed he belonged to Victoria to the very end.

He was lucky. He didn't get to go through... everything he would have gone through.

The reason I called myself Reunion—

I was tired of being punched, being thrown out of factories before I got paid, being kept out of even the cheapest hostel rooms, no matter how much money I had on me.

The Reunion Movement showed me another path, besides suffering and dying in silence. That was all I needed.

Even if the price was abandoning my family, my country, and everything else I had.

In fact, I had lost all of it the moment the first crystal popped through my skin. But it took me a long time to get it.

All of us, Ursine, Columbian, Victorian, Sarkaz, Feline, Liberi...

We are all Reunion.

If we have to cross every battlefront, every war zone, every corpse-laden ruin, in order for our deaths to be seen and heard...

Then we'll cross them.

Endless reports.

An avalanche of intel has flooded this lonely battleship ever since it left Norport.

There are signs of trouble from Leithanien to the east, Sargon to the southwest, Kjerag to the west... while everything remains silent in the south.

The messages are suffocating, eating away at my nerves.

My mother seems utterly unmoved, impassively issuing order after order.

But even she cannot resist a frown when she reads the 'congratulations' from her fellow dukes.

This is her life.

She is here, and so this is my Lynncardine.

I am home.

Focus, Delphine. Listen to the reports. This is no time to let your mind wander.

She adjusts the position of her eye patch. Is it to hide the wrinkles?

The weather here is very different from Lynncardine. It's suppressed, heavy, the gloom of rain and fog ever present.

I just want to—

What are you gazing at so absent-mindedly, Delphine?

Nothing, Mother.

It's just...

I don't get to see Londinium from this angle very often.

I know how you look when your mind is wandering.

Are you bored by the chatters from the rear?

No... I'm just thinking about Norport Borough.

Sorry, I didn't expect the situation in Londinium to deteriorate so much, so quickly.

I should have arranged for your evacuation sooner.

We had compiled reports on everything that went on in Londinium, but we weren't able to bring them.

We should be the ones apologizing.

That's alright. A few little troubles don't mean much to the big picture.

Perhaps the Duke of Caster should be held responsible for most of them.

I know. Let's hope my Messenger isn't making things too difficult for her right now.

But the value of that intel to subsequent operations...

Pales in comparison to your value, Delphine. Relax.

I'm here, and Irnclad Galavae is nearby. Everything will be right again once we return to the city.

We'll restore Londinium, and Victoria.

Of course.

Mother, I...

I thought I would die down there.

I wouldn't let that happen to my daughter.

You've done well. You have the patience and attention to detail of your father.

But you don't have to be the one to do all that work. You're my heir, and your place is at Lynncardine.

Our standoff with Leithanien can be trying. You'll need to get used to those matters. Plus... I could use someone to talk to.

I thought I could do better.

...Sorry.

There are many things that a Duke of Windermere must worry about, for which she needs nerves of steel.

But that's not your burden. Not yet.

You can rely on your mother, at least until she's too old to walk.

I understand... thank you, mother.

We'll be home in another four or five hours. I've arranged for all the stuff you left behind at the old house to be set up.

Your pajamas, your pillow, your bed, your bathtub.

That's all stuff from before I came to Londinium—

It's not like you're any taller.

I have some nice things for you as well, but I'll keep those a secret for now.

Get a good night's sleep once we're back.

But don't get complacent. We have a lot to do.

What is it?

I was in Londinium a long time, wasn't I?

I had many friends. Outstanding friends, from whom I had a lot to learn.

We lived in a city in disorder, chewing up and swallowing the lives we once had. But we believed in our cause. I was proud of it.

Then... things changed. One agent after another disappeared, and the Sarkaz took the city...

I was on my own. I had to live with more... common people. For the first time, I learned how they lived, and how they viewed Victoria.

Most of them are dead now. Those who still live huddle in the bowels of this ship, waiting for you to decide their fate.

One hundred meters beneath my pajamas, bed, and bathtub.

Hmm.

I'm really grateful, really, but is it all because—

She does not let me finish.

She puts her hand on my head without patting it, but I know this is her way of showing affection.

You did well, my daughter. You exceeded my expectations.

Go and see the troops below. It'll do you good to talk with them.

With that, Her Grace departs. She's always swift and decisive. I have no chance to say any more.

I scratch my slightly untidy head.

Mother!

We can talk later.

You shouldn't have come here yourself!

The words that come out of my own mouth surprise me.

Was it not because of my call for help that she came?

How could I say that.

It's too... risky!

We can't fully trust the Leithanians, and we don't know what the Sarkaz are planning next!

We've fallen behind on intel—

She dismisses me with a wave, perhaps telling me not to think too much about it.

Her silhouette remains sharp, making me feel like I'm worrying too much, and that she can take handle it all.

Sigh. She's right.

I'm not much taller at all.