RTTE 06

Chapter 6

“……”

Aksid lightly pressed his lips against the back of Lumiere’s hand.

His manner was so perfectly courteous that it made it seem almost absurd that he had just heard such a rude remark.

The already frozen atmosphere grew even colder.

The Grand Duke had treated the Emperor as though he did not exist, yet had shown the Princess impeccable courtesy.

A moment later, he straightened his broad back and turned his gaze.

His eyes were eerily calm.

“D-Did I say anything wrong? Shouldn’t you first kneel before His Majesty the Emperor and show your respect? You’re nothing more than the ruler of a Grand Duchy—how dare you…!”

The frightened noble shouted, his face flushing red.

The Emperor gave a deliberately generous smile and said,

“If one knows proper etiquette and decorum, one can be called civilized. Why else would they be called barbarians?”

“…How strange. I have never entered into a relationship of sovereign and subject with the Emperor, yet you speak to me of etiquette and decorum.”

His voice was flat and emotionless, yet it carried a heavy weight throughout the hall.

Displeasure flickered around the Emperor’s eyes.

“How dare you speak so insolently before me? It seems you’ve spent so long buried away in the borderlands that you’ve forgotten your place.”

At the Emperor’s words, the killing intent of the Grand Duchy’s knights surged sharply.

How could the Imperial Guard—little more than an honor guard in comparison—possibly endure the murderous aura of men who crossed the line between life and death every day?

The tension tightened.

The imperial knights, their faces pale, slowly placed their hands on the hilts of their swords.

That was when—

“…Your Majesty, I’m disappointed. Were you truly so eager to send me away from this palace?”

Lumiere’s clear voice cut through the razor-sharp atmosphere.

“What?”

“You omitted the reception due to a state guest.”

The Imperial Guard, who should have gone out to receive the delegation, were gathered inside the Grand Hall in full armor.

That meant they had not merely failed to prepare a proper reception.

They had not even escorted their guests into the palace.

In other words—

Come in, finish your business, and get out.

The ruler of an allied nation had personally visited for an imperial marriage, yet they had humiliated him as though he were an envoy from an enemy country.

And now they dared to lecture him about etiquette and decorum.

Wasn’t that laughable?

“Hahaha! Are you already trying to act like the Grand Duchess? As your only brother, I suppose I should be pleased by your enthusiasm, but…”

The Emperor slapped his knee and laughed heartily.

Then his expression hardened.

“You dare tell me to treat the ruler of some insignificant little country on the frontier as a state guest?”

A cold, murderous gleam appeared in Lumiere’s eyes.

He was a man who had walked a difficult path carrying a duty upon his shoulders.

He was not someone who deserved to be treated with such contempt.

They enjoyed peace because of the Grand Duchy, and yet—

Who did they think they were to insult him?

“The North is humanity’s foremost line of defense. If the Grand Duchy did not exist, the Empire would be engulfed in war. It is only proper that he be treated as a state guest.”

And besides, this was an official visit for an imperial marriage.

“Tsk. No matter how grandly you dress it up, isn’t he merely protecting his own land? Anyone listening would think I ordered him to do it.”

“Your Majesty must be confident that you could hold the front lines even if Winterheim’s army withdrew.”

Winterheim was a military power recognized across the entire continent.

The only reason monsters could not cross the northern barrier was because the Grand Duchy stood firm.

Did the Emperor truly not know that?

“Are you saying my army is inferior to the Grand Duchy’s army?”

At the Emperor’s cold question, Lumiere smiled with faint mockery.

“Of course not. I am merely offering His Majesty one final piece of advice as a Princess of Wizer.”

“You can’t even manage your own affairs, yet you dare lecture me? You truly have gone completely mad.”

Veins stood out on the Emperor’s hand as he gripped the armrest of his throne.

The entire hall fell silent, as though everyone had stopped breathing.

Yet Lumiere’s violet eyes did not waver in the slightest.

“You may dismiss it as the nonsense of a mad Princess. However…”

She paused and quietly looked at her half-brother, the man who had trampled upon and tormented her throughout her life.

A few years from now, that fool would fall when those who could no longer endure his tyranny and brutality rose in rebellion.

He was doomed anyway.

There was no reason for her to care about him.

But everyone gathered here needed to understand one thing clearly.

The peace they enjoyed had not been given to them for free.

“Your Majesty, even at this very moment, countless people are bleeding on the northern front lines as they fight against monsters. So please, do not forget the long years of sacrifice made by your allied nation.”

After finishing her words, she looked up at Aksid, who stood beside her as though guarding her.

A faint trace of suspicion had appeared in his black eyes.

Well, had he ever seen anyone from the Empire speak of the Grand Duchy’s sacrifices before?

He quietly watched her, as though trying to peer into her true intentions.

Then he asked in a low voice,

“Have you finished saying your farewells?”

“Yes. Let’s leave now.”

Lumiere took hold of the Grand Duke’s arm and turned around.

She did not look like someone being cast out.

Instead, she walked with such confidence that it seemed as though she were leaving entirely of her own will.

The imperial knights instinctively stepped forward to block their path.

At that moment—

An invisible force crushed down upon the Grand Hall.

An aura far too heavy and savage to belong to an ordinary human.

Overwhelmed by that ominous and terrifying presence, the imperial knights froze as though standing before their natural predator.

“Move.”

At the Grand Duke’s low command, the knights instinctively recoiled.

And without further interference, the two of them left the Grand Hall.

…Useless fools.

The Emperor tightly gripped the armrest with a hand that trembled faintly.

To think they could not even handle a single barbarian.

He wanted to have their heads cut off immediately.

But he swallowed his rage.

The moment he punished his knights, it would become an undeniable fact that the imperial family had been overpowered by those barbarians.

His face twisted with rising fury.

Then, before long, he gave a contemptuous snort.

The Princess would be used as nothing more than a tool to produce an heir before she died.

The Grand Duke would meet a miserable death in the land of monsters.

They were destined to die together anyway.

The smile disappeared from his face.

He gave his order coldly.

“Execute every maid in the Princess’s residence.”

The reason the Princess, who should have remained a pathetic object of ridicule in her miserable appearance, now looked so healthy—

must have been because of their assistance.

Then those who had ruined the picture he wanted deserved to be held accountable.

…Far away.

From the empty residence their mistress had left behind—

piercing screams rang out.

Silence settled inside the carriage.

Aksid was looking out the window, but all of his attention was directed toward the woman sitting across from him.

White hair that flowed softly like sand through one’s fingers.

A slender body that looked as though it might weigh almost nothing.

The Princess was so beautiful that he could not understand why she had been burdened with such rumors.

But what puzzled him even more was—

Why isn’t she afraid of me?

He had expected her to fall into despair the moment she saw him.

Instead, she had smiled brightly at him.

She had taken his hand without hesitation.

She had even become angry on his behalf over the imperial family’s disrespect.

…Could it be that she hasn’t heard anything about me?

Or was she merely pretending not to know?

He tried to gauge what she was thinking, but he could read nothing from her softly smiling face.

“Um…”

Flinch.

Had he been staring at her too openly?

When the Princess gently opened her mouth, he awkwardly looked away.

“You must have been very displeased, weren’t you?”

“It’s fine.”

He had not expected proper treatment from the Empire in the first place.

Honestly, leaving immediately without having to endure an uncomfortable and troublesome ceremony was preferable.

“I’ll apologize on their behalf. My brother has always been like that.”

She gave a bitter smile.

It was a smile carrying the weight of long resignation.

“By the way, your way of speaking has changed since earlier.”

“…The Grand Hall was an official setting, so I used formal speech according to protocol. But I have no intention of using awkwardly formal language with my wife.”

“You really don’t have to go that far…”

“It is the courtesy I ought to show.”

Aksid glanced at her.

Only after speaking so stiffly, in the same manner he usually used with his subordinates, did he realize how harsh he might have sounded.

He could have spoken more gently.

But Lumiere simply smiled as though she did not mind at all.

“I see. Then I look forward to working with you, Grand Duke.”

That smile again.

The bright, beautiful smile she had given him when they first met.

The words that had been circling endlessly in his mind slipped out before he could stop them.

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“Of what?”