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‘You may have been killed by Gadius.’

Imitia didn’t say anything else and promptly closed her mouth, but it was already too late. She realized that what she’d said had been quite inconsiderate the moment the words left her mouth.

That, however, was a lie. She had realized it before that. But putting it into words felt immensely different, and left a completely new impression.

Imitia could not deny that she had given priority to her own wishes rather than considering her friend’s feelings.

Orthus had lived and died as a knight. He had been loyal to the king, and had trusted the king above all else. Telling him that he might have been killed by the king was not something Imitia should’ve done.

Furthermore, this was nothing more than Imitia’s speculation. She had no proof. Just the thought of what her words could’ve done to him made cold sweat run down Imitia’s back.

“I-I’m sorry, Orthus. T-This is nothing more than my speculation…”

Yet,

“I see.”
“Huh?”

Seletina’s attitude did not change too much. It was as if Imitia had asked her what she thought about a meal which Seletina neither liked or disliked. As if she’d told a trivial piece of information.

This reaction took Imitia completely out of guard.

“Y-You believe me?” Imitia asked. To her, what she’d mentioned had been totally believable.

“I do.” Seletina said with an indifferent expression.
“Really?”
“Really. You wouldn’t joke about something like that. And it wouldn’t be a funny joke to begin with.”
“Then why do you seem so cool about it?” Imitia couldn’t understand.

How could Seletina be so unconcerned about the possibility of being betrayed by the king she loved and respected? The answer to Imitia’s confusion though was quite simple.

“His Majesty killed me. If that really is true, then he must have had a reason behind it.”
“Huh?”
“He couldn’t talk to me about it, and he had to kill me… It must have been really hard for him to do that.”

Seletina’s eyebrows twisted in a really sad way as she said this. The tone of voice in which she spoke must have come from a truly melancholy and sincere place of her heart.

Imitia was completely taken aback.

“D-Do you realize what you’re saying? He might have killed you?!”

It was absurd, in Imitia’s opinion, to have someone you trusted kill you and then keep believing in them. Yet, Seletina let out a sad sigh.

“It must have been for a just cause. He is a gentle king after all. If he really did lay a hand on my life then he must have done it with unimaginable sadness…”
“Just… What are you saying? How can you trust Gadius so much…”

To Imitia’s confused question, Seletina replied, “Because I’m a knight, and His Majesty is the master I serve.”

There was nothing more to it than that. Rather, it was Seletina that felt like Imitia didn’t understand this at all. Seletina had an unparalleled loyalty towards the king. It was an honest trust, without any impurity.

Imitia couldn’t help but let out a sigh as she was faced with Seletina’s stupidly honest worry for the king.

“Good grief…” She muttered.
“What was that for?” Seletina asked.
“I’m sure of it now.”
“Of what?”
“Despite being this pretty now, you’re still one hell of an idiot, Orthus.”
“You don’t make any sense.”

Seletina responded with a somewhat of a dismissive attitude to Imitia’s comment. But that is what made Orthus, Orthus. Imitia couldn’t help but feel nostalgic all over again.

“More importantly, Imitia, tell me. Why do you believe His Majesty may have killed me?”

Imitia nodded slowly at Seletina’s words, which were clothed in a firm, serious atmosphere.

◇◇◇

Imitia outlined in detail her trip to the kingdom to check on Orthus after the Elugor Disaster.

It was refreshing for Seletina to hear about Orthus and the condition as well as damage to the kingdom at that time. There were many new things that she learned from it.

Seletina constantly gave little nods to show that she was closely following Imitia’s story.

After going over the information in regards to the damage at the time, and the state of the citizens, the conversation reached the important subject.

Imitia, thinking back to those days, tried her best to be objective and tell the facts to Seletina, as they were.

First, she told her that Orthus may have still been alive when she visited. And that a curse may have been placed on his body. As well as how Orthus had passed away without Gadius allowing Imitia to see him.

Imitia burst into tears as she spoke.

At the time Imitia had been frustrated that she hadn’t been able to save Orthus. She’d been sad that he’d been betrayed by Gadius, whom he trusted so much.

Afterwards life had turned gray for Imitia, and she couldn’t recall how long it had taken her for her to get back on her feet. She’d even thought of taking her life out of grief.

The mental stress had also manifested physically, and she had grown thinner and thinner by the day. She’d only been able to get back on her feet thanks to the caravan. They’d been by her side, and had managed to cheer her up when she’d been rotting.

Five years. It had taken Imitia five years to bring herself to have a decent meal.

However, she shared none of that with Seletina. She didn’t want to cause her unnecessary worry, and most of all she didn’t want her love for Orthus to be known.

The fact that Orthus was now appearing before her as Seletina, was something extremely confusing for Imitia. However, that was trivial.

Seletina didn’t understand just how precious it was for Imitia to have Orthus appear before her right now like this.

Seletina, who had been listening quietly to the conversation, put her hand on her chin and stood lost in thought for a while.

Then, quietly, the conclusion she had reached slipped out of her mouth.

“Could my reincarnation have something to do with His Majesty?”

Imitia’s eyes widened when she heard that possibility.

The curse which had invaded Orthus’ body right before his death, and Seletina’s birth, which could not be explained in any logical way.

Thinking of these two as someone’s doing could be a good place to start…

“Gadius, you can’t have…” Imitia muttered bitterly.

The possibility that Elugor’s king, Gadius, could have had a hand in Orthus’ reincarnation created a brief silence between the two of them.