Ambition (33 page)

“Please stop this,” the old man cried. “Is this what you think of the empire’s—of the imperial family’s—authority? You should be ashamed of yourselves. This is an act unworthy of imperial subjects.”

“The imperial family’s authority? I think I’ve heard of that. It was something they used to have a long time ago.” Mittermeier was talking big now. “But ultimately, it’s the use of force that gives authority its meaning, not the other way around. Just look in there—I think you’ll understand quite well.”

One soldier shouted out joyfully and held a tiny box up high in his hand. It was adorned on the lid and all around its edges with a classical grape arabesque pattern.

“This is it! I’ve found it!”

With a scream, the old bureaucrat ran toward the soldier and tried to grab him, but he was pummeled to the ground by other soldiers first. Faithful to his office, the old man crawled across the floor, blood dropping from a cut on his forehead.

Mittermeier opened the box and, without feeling particularly moved or impressed, stared at the gold-plated seal he found wrapped in crimson velvet within. The two-headed eagle that formed its handle stared back at him like a living creature.

So this is the imperial seal?
he thought.

Mittermeier gave a low laugh, glanced down at the man lying on the floor, and gave orders to have a doctor summoned.

For the imperial capital of Odin, the civil war both began and ended amid subjugation by Reinhard’s admirals.

Count von Mariendorf’s daughter Hilda was already in bed when it started, but once she was told about the disturbance in the city, she threw a robe on over her nightgown and went out onto the mansion’s balcony.

There she could hear all the sounds of the military: the loud and the soft, the strong and the weak—a symphony borne to her ears on the night wind.

While she was listening, a messenger came and said in a fearful voice, “Where did they come from, milady?”

“Armies don’t just bubble up out of the ground,” she said. “Aside from Marquis von Lohengramm’s, there can’t be any force with numbers like these.”

Yielding her short hair to the night wind’s hesitant caresses, Hilda continued to speak, as if to herself. “It looks like some lively times are ahead for us. Of course, things are sure to get a little crazy, but I’ll still take that over stagnation any day.”

… Had he been dreaming?

Reinhard looked around. The room was dim, chilly, and utterly silent. Aside from himself, there was only Kircheis—lying in a case made of special glass—and the cold, dry air. His redheaded friend did not move, nor speak, nor breathe.

So it had been a dream, after all. Reinhard’s shoulders drooped, and he pulled up the collar of his uniform cloak as he closed his eyes.

… Annerose, having received leave from the emperor, had invited Reinhard and Kircheis to a mountain villa in Freuden. It had been the first time they had seen each other in a year and a half. The blond-haired boy and the redheaded boy, dressed in their military school uniforms, adjusting each other’s hats and collars, had come running from their stiff and formal dormitory.

It was a six-hour trip by landcar. This was because flight over the imperial family’s lands was forbidden. There were flower gardens there and mountains capped with snow year-round. But the contrasting beauty of pure white and rainbow colors was soon blotted out by the dark grays of heavy rain that arrived with rolling thunder. The three of them spent the whole vacation cooped up inside the villa. However, that had been enjoyable in its own way. Throwing wood into the fireplace, they had sung every song they knew, while reflections of golden flames danced in their eyes …

Reinhard’s recollections, however, were suddenly interrupted.

“Von Oberstein here, Your Excellency,” said a voice with neither emotion nor life. “An FTL has arrived for you from Odin.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Reinhard answered: “Who is it from?”

“Your sister, the Countess von Grünewald.”

The young man who for hours—for days—had stirred not a muscle abruptly rose to his feet. It was as if a sculpture had suddenly sprung to life. Angry blue flames practically leapt from his eyes.

“You’ve told her! You’ve told my sister about Kircheis, haven’t you!”

The chief of staff took the full force of Reinhard’s boiling anger without even flinching.

“I did. In an FTL just now.”

“How dare you! That’s none of your business!”

“Perhaps, but you certainly can’t hide this forever.”

“Shut up!”

“Are you afraid? Of your sister, I mean.”

“
What did you just say!
”

“If not, please speak with her. Your Excellency, I haven’t given up on you yet. I find it praiseworthy that you’re blaming only yourself and not trying to force it on me. However, if you continue to dwell in the past and refuse to face the future, then it’s over for you. The universe will fall into the hands of another man. And Admiral Kircheis will look down from Valhalla and be ashamed to have known you.”

Reinhard shot a look at von Oberstein that could have incinerated him where he stood, but afterward he stamped past him and went into his private communications room.

The comm screen displayed the fresh, unadorned beauty of Annerose’s face. The young imperial marshal struggled to suppress a shudder and tried to control his pounding heart.

“Annerose …”

That was all that Reinhard said before he became unable to move his tongue.

Annerose stared at her brother. Her cheeks were white—too white. There were no tears in her blue eyes. What was there was something greater.

“My poor, poor Reinhard …” Annerose murmured. That low voice stabbed the golden-haired youth through the heart. He understood perfectly the meaning of his sister’s words. For the sake of power, for authority, he had tried to treat his other self as a mere lackey and had received horrific retribution for such poverty of spirit.

“You’ve lost everything you had to lose now, haven’t you?”

At last, Reinhard managed to speak. “… No, I still have you. I do … don’t I, Annerose? Don’t I?”

“That’s right. We have nothing left but one another now.”

Something in her tone made Reinhard gasp. And had Annerose noticed the change in her brother’s expression?

“Reinhard, I’m moving out of the mansion in Schwarzen. I wonder if I could have just a small cottage somewhere?”

“Annerose …”

“And also, for the time being, I don’t think we should see one another.”

“Annerose!”

“It’s better if I’m not by your side. The way we’re living our lives is just too different … All I have is the past. But you have a future.”

Again, Reinhard found himself speechless.

“When you’re tired, come and see me. But it’s too early for you to be tired yet.”

She was right. Reinhard had lost the right to long for the past and even the ability to rest when he was tired. Because Kircheis had kept his vow, he now had to keep his vow to Kircheis as well.

He had to make this universe his own. Whatever it took, he had to do what was necessary for the sake of that goal. After all, when he thought of the immensity of what he had lost, it would be a shame if he couldn’t even do a little thing like that in return.

“I see. If that’s what you want, then I’ll do as you wish. I’ll come and get you when the universe is mine. But before you go, please tell me one thing.”

Reinhard swallowed and steadied his breathing.

“Did you … did you love Kircheis?”

And then fearfully, fearfully, he looked his sister in the eye.

She didn’t answer. Even so, Reinhard had never seen his sister looking so porcelain white as she did at that moment, nor had he ever seen such sadness in her face. He knew that he would likely carry the memory of that expression for as long as he lived.

And in that supposition, he was correct.

Von Reuentahl took the job of reporting to Gaiesburg Fortress, but not willingly. After trying for some time to push that duty off on one another, the admirals had at last decided to settle the matter at the card table, and there the young heterochromiac’s luck had completely abandoned him.

He hailed Gaiesburg from Reinhard’s admiralität. Reinhard appeared on the screen right away. The sharp gleam of reason and spirit shone in his ice-blue eyes, and when he saw those eyes, von Reuentahl knew that his young lord had found himself again. Reinhard’s speech was also lucid, and his voice had its strength back. However, von Reuentahl felt that something still wasn’t quite right.

“I’m aware of the situation,” he said. “I heard about it from von Oberstein. On the day that you left.”

“I see …”

“Your distinguished service will be richly rewarded. I’ll soon be returning to Odin as well. Can I get you to send someone to meet me on the way?”

“Yes, milord. I’ll send Mittermeier.”

After palming that duty off to his colleague, von Reuentahl told Reinhard the reason he had called.

“We’ve arrested and interned Duke Lichtenlade’s entire family. Once you’ve returned, we would ask you to pass judgment on them.”

“There’s no need to wait for me. I can do so from here right now and leave it to you to carry out their sentences. How’s that?”

“Very good, milord. What should we do with Duke Lichtenlade himself?”

“We can’t execute someone who was imperial prime minister. Advise him to commit suicide. In some painless fashion.”

“As you wish. And his family?”

“Exile the women and children to the frontier,” Reinhard’s voice resembled the sound made when pieces of ice strike one another. “And execute all males aged ten and up.”

“… As you wish.” As might be expected, von Reuentahl could not reply to that right away.

“Ages nine and under are not to be harmed, then?” he said, perhaps seeking a sort of roundabout indulgence. Von Reuentahl was a courageous admiral who took no pleasure in needless bloodshed.

“I was ten years old when I entered military school,” Reinhard said. “Until that age, you could say I was still not fully formed. So I’ll spare them. If they want to try and kill me once they’ve grown up, let them come. After all, if a conqueror lacks ability, it’s only natural that he be overthrown himself.”

Reinhard laughed. It was an elegant laugh, but it seemed to have a slightly different ring than it had in the past.

“And the same goes for all of you. If you have the confidence and you’re ready to risk everything, go ahead. Challenge me anytime.”

A thin smile brimmed like a heat mirage on his graceful lips. Shivers ran like waves through every nerve in von Reuentahl’s body. He didn’t realize how tense his voice sounded when he said, “Surely you must be joking.”

Reinhard had shed his old skin. Having lost half of his own self, he was now trying to fill that void by acquiring something new. This new change was to be welcomed by some and abhorred by others. But as for whom, von Reuentahl could not say.

When the call ended, von Oberstein came in and appeared before Reinhard. He looked at the young lord as if conducting a scientific observation.

“Your Excellency,
Brünhild
can leave port in one hour.”

“Very good. I’ll head down in thirty minutes.”

“And, Excellency, are you really comfortable with your decision regarding the Lichtenlade family?”

“I’ve spilled a lot of blood leading up to this point, and I’ll likely have to spill a lot more going forward. What does the blood of the Lichtenlade family change? It’s just adding a few more tears to the bucket.”

“I hope you believe that.”

“Leave me now. Go and do your work.”

Von Oberstein bowed silently. When he lowered his head, his artificial eyes gave off a strange, inexplicable light.

Reinhard, having sent his chief of staff on his way, let his lanky frame sink back into his chair and turned his eyes toward the observation screen to gaze upon a sea of stars that he had to conquer.

His heart was starving. Kircheis was gone forever, and now he had even lost his sister as well.

If he ended the Goldenbaum Dynasty, created a new Galactic Empire, conquered the Free Planets Alliance, annexed the Phezzan Land Dominion, and became the ruler of the whole human race … then would that hunger in his heart be sated?

No, it wouldn’t,
Reinhard thought.
Even then, this hunger of the soul would not be satisfied. Most likely, it would not, could not, ever be.

And yet for Reinhard there was no longer any other road still remaining. All he could do to resist that emptiness in his heart was to keep fighting, keep winning, and keep conquering.

For that, he needed enemies. Powerful, competent enemies were the only thing that could make him forget his hunger. Even if he focused his energies for a while on shoring things up domestically, it was easy to see that a military clash with the Free Planets Alliance would be coming as early as next year. And in the alliance was the most powerful and competent enemy of them all.

The powerful enemy of whom Reinhard was thinking was in an extremely bad mood at that moment.

After taking back Heinessen, he had traveled to Neptis, Kaffar, and Palmerend; accepted the surrender of rebel regiments on all three of those worlds; and had just now returned to the capital. That was when somebody calling himself a special envoy for the government had shown up and asked him to publicly shake hands with Chairman Trünicht at a ceremony sponsored by the government. It was an event planned to commemorate the victory of democracy over the forces of militarism, as well as the restoration of order under the Charter of the Alliance.