Hein Helvishein, the second ranked among the Seven Knights of Heaven.
That is who I am now.
—I am not a knight of Rustiara Fuziaze.
A knight who couldn’t become anyone’s knight. A pathetic man born into a noble knightly family of Fuziaze, living in fear of his family name.
That was me, when I met the young lady. I was eighteen years old, and had recently been appointed to the Seven Knights of Heaven.
I was led into the dim underground of the Cathedral, passed through many sealed doors, and met her in a room lit by a single candle.
At that moment, the young lady was sleeping with her eyes closed.
On a soft bed, covered with snow-white sheets, she was a beauty beyond this world.
I had already received a brief explanation, so I understood that she was the ‘vessel of Saint Tiara’.
I held my breath and gazed at the young lady—at that girl.
“Is this… that ‘Tiara’…?”
“Yes, she is the vow of our country, Fuziaze, and the crystallization of our magic technology. She is the base body for the ‘Rebirth’ magic left by Saint Tiara.”
The man who guided me, Fedelt, answered concisely.
He is a middle-aged man who serves as the Deputy Chancellor of the country of Fuziaze. Currently, the Seven Knights of Heaven are directly under Fedelt’s command, making him my superior.
As his murky eyes suggest, he is a somewhat unscrupulous person, but his loyalty to the country is unmatched—a passable superior.
“Since when has this been happening? She looks like she’s in her mid-teens…”
“No, she is a zero-year-old. Her base body was only recently stabilized. I believe she is about three months old…”
“Three months…? Then why is she so…”
I was surprised.
The girl sleeping before me couldn’t be an infant.
Her height was close to mine. She looked like an adult.
“With current magic technology, it is possible. We needed this ready for the Christmas festival three years from now, so her physical age was naturally raised. For the year of the Shiso’s prophecy, on the appointed day, a sixteen-year-old finished product must be presented…”
“I-I see…”
Fedelt continued his explanation as if it were nothing.
“You were chosen as her tutor for this purpose, Knight Hein Helvishein.”
“Tutor…”
“For now, she will be treated as a descendant of Saint Tiara. She will be given the status of a Living God and prepared for the coming day. …I want you to take on some of those preparations. For this, she must be equipped with considerable power and knowledge. When the Saint descends, if her body is weak and sluggish, the plan will be delayed. The Saint will need to commence work immediately.”
Finally, the story began to come into focus.
In short, my mission was to raise this girl to be a vessel worthy of respect for Saint Tiara.
“Do I just need to train her? That seems doable.”
“No, it’s not just about training. This is where it gets important.”
Fedelt continued, his murky eyes fixed on me.
“Soon, she will develop self-awareness. The question is whether this girl will accept the ritual gracefully when that happens. I want you to guide her in various ways for that.”
The story, which had been coming into focus, was now cast in shadow.
I responded with a question.
“Uh, um, she’ll develop self-awareness? This child? A different girl’s heart, not Saint Tiara’s…?”
“Of course. She is no one yet, but she is also an infant born just a few months ago. There is a possibility that her self-awareness will refuse to be overwritten by Saint Tiara’s self-awareness.”
“O-overwritten? Not coexisting, but overwritten? That—”
Isn’t that equivalent to this child dying?
As I thought this and was about to ignite a faint sense of indignation, I was interrupted by a string of cold words.
“This is the country’s decision, the consensus of Revannism, and the Shiso’s last will, Knight Hein.”
“…………”
My petty indignation was effortlessly crushed by the iceberg of the country’s decision.
“She will become a saint revered by all. This is a blessing, not something to be pitied. The empathy you feel could be seen as treason against the country.”
“N-no, it’s certainly not like that.”
Treason? Just because his position is higher, he can say whatever he wants.
Spitting inwardly, I bowed my head.
“Don’t worry, the girl will gladly become Tiara. We will gladly welcome her. The people will gladly celebrate her. ——It will definitely be that way. If so, no one will be unhappy, right? Making everyone happy. That is your job. That’s why you, who are close to her age and good at fabricating stories, were chosen. I just need you to embellish the beauty of Revannism, the greatness of Saint Tiara, and the nobility of duty and devotion with your talent for creation. That’s all.”
Fedelt concluded his explanation, implying the matter was settled.
However, the explanation was far from sufficient.
He wasn’t going to tell me about her origins, the plan, or that so-called Shiso’s last will.
It’s probably assumed that a rookie, low-ranking knight doesn’t need to know anything.
Of course, I have to comply.
I have to grit my teeth and endure. That is the destiny of a knight of Helvishein.
“Alright, I leave it to you, Knight of Helvishein.”
With that, Fedelt shackled me with his words.
Unable to do anything but stoically accept the chains, I watched as Fedelt turned his back and left the room.
Left alone in the dim room, I approached the bed where the girl slept, letting out a sigh.
…………
—That was the first encounter between the young lady and myself.
And then, I would awaken the girl.
“H-hi. I’m Hein. Nice to meet you.”
I spoke as gently as possible, yet in a friendly manner.
For now, it was to gain her trust as her tutor.
The girl, clutching her aching head, sat up.
“Ah, ugh… H-Hein? I-I am… I… My head…”
The girl understood my words and honestly tried to recall her name.
However, she realized she didn’t know her own name.
“I, I I I… ? I don’t know my name? Ugh, information, various information is… gushing and disappearing…!”
From her words, I deduced the girl’s condition.
She had probably been implanted with everyday knowledge and language through a blood-based spell.
If left alone, she should have grasped the basic things she needed as a sixteen-year-old. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to converse so smoothly with her, who was only three months old.
“No, you don’t need to force yourself. We have a name prepared for you here.”
As I said that, the girl blinked and looked at me. She looked at me with pure eyes, as if she had just seen the light shortly after birth.
To the girl who had seen the light, I bestowed a name.
It was a name prepared by Fedelt.
“Rustiara… Your name is Rustiara Fuziaze.”
I bestowed a name that could only be called a curse.
“Rustiara… I am Rustiara…”
Her cheeks flushing slightly, the girl happily repeated the name.
Resigning myself to it as my job, I continued the conversation.
“…Nice to meet you, Rustiara. Ah, no, should I call you, Lady Rustiara? You are a Living God… In that case, I’ll have to use polite language… Anyway, Young Lady. I am Hein, your tutor from today. If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask.”
I gave the girl only the necessary information.
“Understood, Mr. Hein.”
The girl accepted with a smile.
Then, after a moment of thought, she looked at my face and asked with a curious expression.
“Mr. Hein, I have something I want to ask you right away.”
“What is it?”
I thought I should at least try to answer as much as I could. Therefore, I asked gently.
“Why… do you look so sad?”
However, I immediately understood that “as much as possible” and “gently” were impossible.
“S-sad?”
“Yes.”
Involuntarily, I brought my hand to my face.
Tracing my mouth, nose, cheeks, and eyes with my fingers, I realized my face was contorted.
I understood, but I couldn’t admit it. It was unnecessary for my job.
“That’s impossible… I’m smiling right now. I must be smiling kindly. It’s your misunderstanding…”
“…Is that so?”
The girl repeated, sounding genuinely puzzled.
She was likely confused by information that conflicted with the common sense provided by her blood.
Nevertheless, I persisted.
“Yes, it’s a misunderstanding.”
I don’t pity the girl.
I don’t have sympathy, no emotional investment. …I shouldn’t.
That’s what I thought at the time.
Indeed, I’d decided that…
…………
The moment I decided that, I guess I also sealed my own path.
—I would never be the girl’s knight for my entire life.
The moment I admitted that was at this time.
If I could turn back time even once, I would want to return to this moment.
I want to return and redo it.
No matter how grand my title as one of the Seven Knights of Heaven, no matter how praised as a great knight by all—I want to erase the moment I realized I was a coward who wouldn’t even try to save a single girl.
—Shortly after that, I would fall in love with this innocent girl.
But it was all too late.
By the time I fell in love and wished to be her knight, I was no longer qualified.
Because I had abandoned it myself.
The role of saving her.
The role of protagonist for her.
And I had gained the place of a disgusting villain who only deceived the heroine with false words.
That foolish villain continued to do irreparable things.
Because otherwise, I couldn’t stay by her side.
If I tried to save her, my own role as a disgusting villain would be exposed. If it were exposed, she would surely be disillusioned with me, who had continued to lie with a smile. I was terribly afraid of that.
Not only that.
I’m afraid of turning the country against me.
I’m afraid of losing my current position.
I’m afraid of disappointing my family’s expectations.
Fuziaze, Helvishein, the Seven Knights of Heaven—my father, mother, siblings, friends—everything weighed down my body.
It’s simple.
I cannot die for love.
I was simply a pathetic man.
The only thing I could do was this.
To make her a perfect ‘Rustiara’ with happiness, without making the girl suffer.
To make Saint Tiara her ideal, to make her wish to become a hero, to make her happy to save the country. That is a perfect ‘Rustiara’. That was all that remained for me—all I could do for her.
This will make the girl happy…
This is the only path that will bring the girl happiness…
…………
That’s how I kept making excuses.
Even though I knew it wasn’t right…
I continued…
That’s me.
Hein Helvishein, who couldn’t become the girl’s knight.
Thus, I continued to avert my eyes from what I should do, and for a year, two years, I continued the brainwashing disguised as education. However, on a certain day, when only a little time remained until the promised Christmas festival—the girl said something.
As if a ship sailing through the dark night had spotted something on the horizon, the girl wished.
“…Mr. Hein. …Finally, I want to see the outside.”
It was then that I noticed a flaw in the perfect girl.
I realized for the first time that I myself, unconsciously, had created a flaw.
A little later, the girl Rustiara would meet Christ, a boy with black hair and black eyes—
That is the beginning of the girl and boy’s story.
The beginning of the gears of fate turning.
I can still clearly hear that sound even now.
