Chapter 170 - Visit from the Grand Duchess

His face twisted, but he did not lose his composure.

"Do not play innocent. The Princess alone would have had a hard time pulling off something like this."

"That is correct. I went to that man's mansion."

"And?"

"He tried to feed me drugged black tea, so I fed it to him instead. Then I got angry and called people in to search the place, and that was how I found out about that filthy den."

"Hm, is that so?"

Waldemar let out an impressed sound, as if he found it interesting.

For a man who had lost his right arm, his reaction was far too calm.

"Did you touch that fellow's trigger? That could not have been easy..."

"I know a great deal about sinister perverts like that."

There was a common pattern mages showed.

Once they passed through the stages of Circles, they looked down on the Circles below them.

Because no matter what the lower ones did, they could not surpass them in ability, they believed a hierarchy had been established.

That sense of superiority always led to carelessness.

Ferda had exploited that opening dozens of times.

"What a pity."

Waldemar muttered as he stroked his chin.

"The day would have come when I had to discard him eventually, but he was still a man with a few more uses left."

Ferda had thought his reaction was strangely lukewarm for a man who had lost his right arm, and now he knew why.

"Shall I tell you what my plan was?"

"I am not curious."

"Originally, you see, I intended to bring over that magical engineering fellow in your territory."

Even though Ferda already knew that, it still grated on his nerves.

The urge to crush that brazen expression welled up inside him.

"I would create an environment where he could conduct research, give him money, and support him so he could freely use precious resources. Do you think that would be all? Nobles from all over would beg him to take their daughters. I would attach wives to him that way, and he would have children. Does that not sound wonderful?"

"You would be creating things he could lose."

"Correct. That is why I would attach them to him. I would hang things around his neck, one by one, that no human could ever discard while in his right mind. At first, he would eagerly accept them, thinking they were good, but before he knew it, his neck would begin to ache under the weight."

Emotion would take precedence, his thoughts would grow dull, and he would become unable to make rational judgments.

The fact that Waldemar was telling him this meant he knew Burnel could not be recruited in any way.

"That was the plan. For him to become my new right arm."

"Is the price Marquis Debelung received for his loyalty to become a boiled dog?"

Waldemar laughed softly.

"Loyalty toward me is meaningless. All that matters is what one can do for this nation. Debelung has nothing more he can do for the nation, while Burnel is a man with much to offer."

He had deserved to die, but that was only from Ferda's perspective.

Akkad's father had thwarted the 3rd Prince's ambitions.

And Akkad had poured his efforts into quarantine for the sake of this Empire.

"Since the subject has come up, let me ask you. Do you think you will be any different?"

His gaze sharpened.

A tension hung in the air, as if a blade might be drawn at any moment.

"How many people stand behind your back? For now, perhaps it is a number you can bear. But looking at your path, your forces will gradually grow. One day, they will become too large for you to embrace them all."

"..."

"In the end, the time will come when you must give something up. Whether you will live as a ruler, or merely as an emotional human being."

"Are you a ruler?"

"I am."

"For that, you cannot seem to hide your ugliness."

Ferda mocked him, provoking him.

"The reason you are this angry is because you could not obtain Olivia, is it not?"

Waldemar's expression shook once more.

In that instant, he had become an infinitely emotional human being.

"Yes. If it were not for that... I would not have become this angry."

Waldemar readily admitted it.

"You have gone this far. If I simply let you go, my dignity will be in tatters."

"So what will you do?"

Ferda did not back down either.

He was curious what other scenario that mouth had drawn, and how Waldemar intended to proceed.

Come at me, then.

I will counter you just as I did Akkad, and tighten the noose around your throat.

It was just as Waldemar was about to speak.

Outside suddenly grew noisy.

Footsteps hurriedly running somewhere.

Noticing them, Waldemar put the conversation aside and flicked his hand at the attendant behind him.

"What is happening outside?"

"I will find out."

Leaving those words behind, the attendant went outside.

"Let us wait a moment."

"Very well. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"..."

Waldemar did not answer.

A short while later, the attendant returned.

When he came back, he whispered into Waldemar's ear.

Ferda quietly pricked up his ears and eavesdropped on the conversation.

"It seems... I was the one acting impertinently."

Waldemar's gaze was far from ordinary.

Within it remained the greed of one who had seen a precious jewel, and the regret that it could not become his.

"Take care on your way back."

"I will."

Waldemar rose from his seat and released him.

A beat late, Ferda's attendant also came in.

"Regent. You must prepare quickly."

Ferda cut off what he was about to say.

"Is Her Highness the Grand Duchess coming here?"

"Yes, that is... How did you know?"

Of course I knew.

I just heard it too.

Meanwhile, inside the Red Dragon's lair in Grand Duchess Valdrova's territory.

"Lord Ferda... I understand."

Luri had received a message from the spirits.

Valdrova asked.

"Is it good news?"

"Yes. They say everything is going smoothly with the plan as well."

"Hmm, I see."

Valdrova's fingers fidgeted, and her face flushed.

Luri did not like that impatient expression.

It should have been Ferda's role to grow anxious and court her, yet here was a ruler unable to sit still.

She was so restless that the letters she had been writing smoothly became crooked, like a child's scrawl.

Regardless, Luri relayed what she had heard.

"Because special circumstances frequently arise in the far east, its autonomy has been strengthened. Since they have also lost any pretext to interfere with the magical engineering being researched there, they should have no reason to touch Hestia village."

"Could they have touched it before?"

"It was a matter that could have been resolved much more quickly if you had stepped forward and spoken in person, Master."

"Umm...! S-So that was what it was..."

Valdrova turned her head away in embarrassment.

"Of course, if you had moved, Master, the problem would have grown larger."

"Maybe so, since I am not good at speaking, and I am not good at hearing unpleasant things either..."

"That is not what I meant. Lord Ferda's position would have been called into question."

"Why Ferda's?"

Luri answered.

"Lord Ferda is still a novice Regent who has held the position for only a year. Even if he has achieved many accomplishments within that year, there are still people who merely believe he is rising on beginner's luck. If you had stepped forward at such a time, Lord Ferda's influence would have fallen greatly."

"Hmm... To put it simply, does that mean I got halfway there by staying still?"

"No. It means Lord Ferda chose the difficult path and preserved not only his own authority, but yours as well, Master."

Ferda was her fiancé, but he was also Valdrova's subordinate.

The fact that a subordinate had resolved the issue without his superior showed that the superior had ability as well.

That was the society of dragons.

"It is very fortunate that Lord Ferda has handled his work well."

"Yes, it really is. There are many people who like Ferda, and now you like Ferda too, Luri."

"That is... Pardon?"

Wondering if she had heard wrong, Luri asked her again.

Innocent golden eyes looked at Luri and smiled brightly.

"You like Ferda now too, don't you, Luri?"

Her heart dropped.

Luri forced herself to narrow her eyes, which had nearly gone wide as moons, hiding her reaction.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Hm? I mean... When you said Ferda had brought good news, it was obvious that you were really happy, Luri..."

"Since he brought happy news, is it not only natural that I would be happy?"

"For that, you seemed very pleased."

Luri hated humans.

After the 3rd Prince, in particular, she had never trusted any noble scion.

"I was a little worried because you were so wary of Ferda at first. Now I am a little happy because it seems you are seeing Ferda properly and opening your heart to him."

"Ugh..."

Her face prickled with embarrassment, and her expression crumpled.

The first reason was that she had mistaken Valdrova's words to mean she liked him as a lover.

The second was that there was nothing wrong in what Valdrova had said.

That was why Luri disliked her.

That beaming face.

Because she saw through Luri with that face, even the expression Luri had tried to maintain at her own pace broke apart.

'This is who Master is.'

Like an awl hidden in a pouch that would eventually poke through, she was a ruler.

Those eyes possessed insight comparable to Silverwind, the one Luri regarded as her father.

It was only because she did not speak of it and quickly forgot that she seemed dull, with nothing but flowers in her head.

'Master is right.'

To be honest, Luri did have goodwill toward Ferda.

However, it was not as a man and woman.

If asked whether she loved Ferda, she could shake her head.

If she had to define that affection, it would be something close to familial love.

'Family...'

Ferda was like family.

When Ferda was around, she found herself glancing at his face one more time for no reason, and when she grew uneasy, his face came to mind first.

If he said things would go well, she somehow felt that they really would, and it put her at ease.

Until now, the only person who had made her feel that way was Silverwind, whom she had regarded as her father.

'It feels exactly the same as Lord Silverwind...'

Luri found that fact unbearably embarrassing.

A man far younger than herself felt mature to her; she admired him, found him comforting, and now even wanted to rely on him.

The more that was true, the stricter she ought to become as Valdrova's attendant, but it was not easy.

'This fact...'

At the very least, Valdrova must not find out.

Because it was a shameful secret she could never speak of, one that could shatter the image of the attendant she had maintained all this time!

"I will inspect your writing practice."

So she turned the subject for no reason and examined Valdrova's handwriting.

It contained the graceful penmanship of a young noble lady.

Near the end it had become crooked, but since that was because she had been shaken by the news about Ferda, Luri let it pass.

"You are now quite skilled."

"Right?"

"See? You can do it if you try."

"Mm-hmm, I suppose..."

Valdrova could not hide her surprise either.

"Learning is this much fun."

Valdrova looked down at the writing she had been handed and smiled happily.

"I want to show Ferda my handwriting. I hope he comes back soon."

"Is he not someone who would praise anything you did, Master?"

"He would, wouldn't he? Hmm... Then should I try to be acknowledged as an armor knight?"

Seeing it from a more objective perspective than Valdrova, Luri could say that was an excellent choice.

However, there was one problem.

"I will not stop you if that is what you wish to do, Master, but it will not be good."

"Why?"

"Think about it. What would happen if you and that person calling himself an armor knight used the exact same handwriting?"

"Hmm... Would he not know?"

"Would he not know?"

"No...?"

"Are we speaking of the same person who counted the number of demonic creatures you killed after he came here as your fiancé?"

"H-He did?"

Luri thought it was a truly chilling course of action.

Unlike her, Valdrova smiled shyly at the fact that he had been watching her so carefully.

Luri could not understand that emotion, but she brushed it aside.

"Moreover, the handwriting you just practiced is used by women of noble status. If a large man uses feminine handwriting, that would be strange in its own way. It would be better for you to practice and use a separate handwriting style for a man."

"Hmm... Then I should keep using this handwriting as it is, and practice a second one."

The fact that she had to learn something all over again bothered her, but the fact that she could receive another compliment made her smile.

'And since they said something good happened to Ferda too, I can talk about that, right?'

She had a feeling they might have a proper conversation between a man and a woman.

When he returned, she would hold a tea party.

And they would talk about many things.

"Hmm..."

Valdrova quietly closed her eyes in thought, then opened her mouth.

"Luri."

"Please speak."

"Do you think Ferda... is satisfied?"

Luri tilted her head.

"By satisfied, you mean...?"

"I have not always been by his side, and we have stayed like this."

"You are still fiancés, and if one were to put it in human terms, he is something like a live-in son-in-law. It is common to be unable to touch one's partner even while staying in the same room."

"I-Is that so?"

"Of course, Lady Valdrova, you have no need to follow such etiquette. If there is something you wish to do, please do not hesitate to tell me."

At Luri's words, Valdrova hesitated and then finally opened her mouth with difficulty.

"That is why..."

She asked.

"What if I went to the Empire to meet Ferda?"

The avenue leading from the outer wall of the Arken Empire's capital to the imperial palace was famous for being the widest on the continent.

The street, spacious enough for eight carriages to move along it at once, was filled with people from sunrise to sunset.

It led to the imperial palace, but at the same time, it was also the great root that reached every road.

The only time that street could be emptied was when the blood of House Arken, the imperial family, was on the move, and not even Waldemar could control it.

That street had been emptied for someone who was not of the imperial family.

On the Serdes Continent, there was only one being acknowledged to stand higher than the Emperor.

"The Red Dragon, Lady Valdrova, is making her procession!"

"Is she not supposed to be in the far east? Why has she come to the Empire...?"

Things had already been in an uproar because of the Demon Followers.

The fact that the Red Tyrant of the far east, whom they had only heard of in words, had set foot here at a time like this was no ordinary matter.

People eventually abandoned their work and headed to the avenue.

A dragon.

After the Dragon-Demon War, exchanges with dragons had become scarce, and these generations had never seen one.

Even if it was a fearsome dragon, no one could stop their desire to see one with their own eyes.

Who knew?

Someone might buy them free beer for telling the story of welcoming that dragon.

In that way, tens of thousands of people gathered to watch the emptied avenue.

"Show your respects!"

Luri's voice thundered through the sky.

Every citizen of the Empire placed both hands on the ground and pressed their foreheads to the earth.

This was the etiquette used for the Emperor's procession.

After all, one who stood above the Emperor had set foot in the imperial capital.

Contrary to the expectation that she would arrive in a carriage drawn by six white horses, what stepped onto the street was a pair of small, delicate legs.

A wide-brimmed hat, and thin red cloth hanging from it.

The silhouette of sunlight barely piercing through revealed the figure of a woman.

The woman adorned in red walked with dignity.

Those who had set foot there thinking it would be a mere story for a tavern found that not one of them could raise their heads.

It was as if the instincts they possessed had become dictators in that moment and were ruling their bodies, pressing their heads down with the heels of a boot.

The Grand Duchess walked along the center of that long avenue with only one attendant.

The final destination they were heading toward soon came into view.

The Regent and her fiancé, Ferda.

He was waiting with knights and a carriage in attendance.

Ferda straightened his posture more properly than ever.

Within that figure visible only as a silhouette was the Red Dragon, Valdrova.

There was the person who made his heart flutter so.

Unlike his expectation that he would tremble, his body was calm.

As she drew closer, Ferda respectfully knelt and bowed his head.

"I greet the great Grand Duchess."

Valdrova answered Ferda's greeting.

"Raise your head."

Her atmosphere was settled in a way unlike her usual self.

She exuded dignity as a king.

"You are the one who shall become our companion."

"... Yes."

"We have received word that you would return bearing good news."

"I am unworthy of such words."

Through the red cloth, she held out her hand to Ferda.

"Now, let us return together."

Ferda looked down at that hand for a long while, then carefully took it.

"Yes, my king."

Led by her hand, he rose from his place and escorted her.

Valdrova walked elegantly and boarded the carriage.

The Empire's reporters were busy sketching Ferda and Valdrova, unwilling to miss that picturesque sight.

The door of the Grand Duchy's carriage closed, and it began to move.

The moment it left the city gate, the space that had been dominated regained its freedom.

The commoners who had lowered their heads could breathe again, and only then could they barely rise from where they were.

Every one of them thought the same thing.

Would anyone believe them if they explained the fear they had experienced?

The Grand Duchy's carriage had left the city gate.

Ferda looked at Valdrova's face.

She had already removed the wide-brimmed hat, so her face could now be seen clearly.

Valdrova noticed Ferda's gaze and smiled.

"Hehe, what is the matter? Your expression looks as though—Ghak!"

Valdrova's words were cut off.

Ferda had lunged at Valdrova sitting across from him and seized her by the throat.

"Shut that mouth."

Ferda's voice trembled.

That trembling came from rage.

"Speak. Who are you?"

"A-Are we not ourself? Your fianc—"

"There will not be a second time."

Ferda's eyes were glowing blue.

"Her face is still vivid in my mind. You cannot confuse me with a bitch like you."

She was a ruler, but she was a being far removed from this kind of ruler.

She absolutely did not have sharp eyes and a lithe build like the Valdrova here now.

It might suit the words sovereign dragon or tyrant, but it was not Valdrova.

"Who are you?"

If she spouted any nonsense, she would truly die.

Valdrova screamed.

"Eeeek! I am Penelope! Please spare me!"

The red hair turned pink, and the two pairs of horns returned to those of a demon.

It was Penelope.

Contrary to his expectation that seeing that face would calm his anger, his fury only grew larger.

"You insolent demon bitch."

Ferda ground his teeth.

"You dared impersonate her without knowing your place?"

The reason Ferda was angry was not simply because of the impersonation.

It was because, when her figure had drawn closer and closer, Ferda had mistaken her for the real Valdrova.

Only later had he suspected that every element was unlike Valdrova, and in the end, when Penelope opened her mouth, Ferda's suspicion became certainty.

The time it had taken to reach that certainty made him unbearably furious.

"T-Th-Th-Th-That is!? I was asked to do this too, you know!?"

"Who asked you? There is no way she would have asked a bitch like you to do such a thing."

"Surprisingly, she did?!"

Ferda could not believe it.

Ferda raised his head and looked at Penelope.

She closed her mouth and sighed through her nose.

Ferda could not understand.

"Why..."

Ferda asked like someone who had seen the world collapse.

"Why would she ask someone like you to do that?"

"Uh, um... Well..."