“Are you the miko…”
Says a human man, a subordinate of the seventh prince. He has brown hair and looks young, and tells me his name is Sadnid.
He recovered faster than most people, probably because he’s a knight, and came to talk to me as soon as he could.
There are beast people here just in case, including Mister Nirushi. Reimar and Freinet are by my side too.
A knight from the kingdom of Migha.
A lot of emotions go through my mind when I look at someone with this title. My feelings on this matter are definitely complicated.
“…I’m Lerunda. Nice to meet you.”
“…Yes. Do you hate Prince Hicked?”
This question is so sudden. I don’t know how to answer.
…Prince Hicked thinks that if you are with beast people, he may be killed the moment you two meet, and he is fully prepared to face that. But we were all following orders. What we did was terrible but… It doesn’t matter what happens to us knights, but please don’t kill Prince Hicked. I know this might be a terrible thing to ask but… You can cut off my head, but please spare Prince Hicked.”
Pleads Mister Sadnid.
He says he doesn’t care what happens to him, and to just spare this prince called Hicked Migha.
…I’m just sort of troubled by this.
I don’t feel hatred. I do have mixed feelings, but they’re not about whether or not to kill.
Still, I get it. Sometimes I forget how special the miko is. People say that being hated by the miko causes a lot of trouble…
I look at Mister Nirushi and the others.
His expression looks very stiff. He had a look like this on his face when we first met too.
That was when his village was attacked by the kingdom of Migha, and they had to run. He was very distrustful of humans like Miss Lan and me.
But now he looks scarier.
Mister Sadnid kneels and lowers his head. Mister Nirushi looks at him and speaks.
“…It doesn’t matter to us if you were ordered to do it, you did it. You were the ones who drove us to despair.”
Mister Nirushi says that even if they didn’t do it because they wanted to, they were still the ones who did it. His voice sounds cold, and he continues speaking while gritting his teeth.
“I won’t forgive the kingdom of Migha. Of course I feel a lot of hatred. Still, you were the ones who brought our people back, so I’m not thinking about killing you. I won’t forgive you, and people might think I’m soft, but people’s lives are finite. Once they die, that’s it. You people can live a long life with that pain.”
He says he doesn’t like them and doesn’t forgive them, but they’re still the ones who rescued those people. He’s not going to kill them, but he tells them to live with the pain.
“…I’m not thinking about, whether or not to kill, so don’t worry.”
Mister Sadnid raises his head after we speak.
“…I’m really sorry. And thank you.”
He says while crying.
“…Mister Sadnid, what is the prince like?”
I ask.
I only saw him once, when he reached out and touched me. I remember him being very shiny.
I don’t know if I’ll ever see this person again, since he’s in the kingdom of Migha, but I get the feeling that I will. Mister Sadnid also thinks so, because he’s pleading with me not to kill him.
“…Prince Hicked is a kind man. He used to be completely unable to go against his father, the king, but at a certain point… After he became engaged, he changed. Before, his kindness just led to him suffering as he carried out the king’s orders.”
He says the prince is kind, and was suffering because he couldn’t go against someone else. He had to do things he didn’t want to do. That must’ve been very mentally exhausting. The prince went through a lot of trouble too.
“…But lately he’s become strong too. He grew, and he’s doing his best to do what he wants and leave no regrets. We follow him because he’s very serious about taking action.”
I can tell he really respects the prince.
If he didn’t do terrible things to beast people, I would probably just think of him as a person that’s respected for being kind and strong. If we met in a different way, we would probably be friends.
I think as I listen to Mister Sadnid.
—Girl and new arrivals – Part four
(The miko hears the knight’s plea and learns more about the prince.)
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ah yes hatred, pain, and grievences are not easy to extinguish. to those looking in from the outside they may think just forgive already but to those who were directly affected it is not such and easy task. logic and emotions often do not get along with each other. you can logically know that clinging to hatred in the face of the potential for positive change is the wrong choice but the heart isn’t so keen on letting go.