Chapter : 4. The Woman He Was Grateful For
Meanwhile, Olivia’s large, round eyes curved into crescents as a bright smile spread across her face.
“Then I’d love to go! Should I send my reply by international mail?”
At her reaction, Margo arched a brow and shook her head slightly.
“You really don’t know how arrogant the royal family is, Olivia. The moment you let them know you’re willing to come, the people sent to escort you will already be on their way.”
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t really an invitation at all.
As Olivia blinked in confusion, Margo let out a quiet sigh.
Sending this young lady to Herot aloneâespecially during the Autumn Banquetâwould be asking for trouble.
Maybe I should go with her…
What a nuisance.
Olivia headed straight home.
She was nineteen years old this year. Having graduated early from Herrolington University with the highest honors, she had watched all of her classmates secure respectable jobs while she failed every single application.
Just as the harsh reality had nearly crushed her spirit, the invitation from Herot had stirred her heart once again.
After paying the coachman, Olivia hurried out of the carriage and ran toward the small house whose outer walls were covered with blooming wisteria vines.
She knew her grandmother would almost certainly refuse, but this time she desperately wanted to obtain her permission.
Meanwhile, Suzanna, who had been idly passing the time in her study, heard the approaching carriage and rose from her seat to look out the window.
Just as she expected, Olivia was running across the garden toward the house.
A faint smile appeared on the gloomy woman’s usually expressionless face.
Before long, the sound of small, hurried footsteps echoed through the hallway. The door opened, and Olivia poked her head inside.
“Grandma!”
“Welcome home, Liv. Did you have a good day?”
The moment the door opened, the room’s oppressive atmosphere rushed outward, but Olivia only smiled even more brightly.
“Oh, Grandma. I keep telling you to open the curtains!”
She pulled them wide open, allowing warm sunlight to flood every corner of the study before taking a seat in front of her grandmother.
She hoped the sunlight might also soften the sorrow and helplessness etched into every wrinkle on her grandmother’s face.
Olivia chatted endlessly about this and that, and Suzanna found herself smiling, if only for a little while, as she listened to her granddaughter’s cheerful voice.
After talking for quite some time, Olivia hesitated before carefully taking out the royal invitation and placing it in front of her.
“What is this?”
Olivia answered cautiously.
“It’s an invitation addressed to me.”
Suzanna adjusted the reading glasses resting on the table and accepted the envelope.
The paper felt unusually luxurious.
She quickly removed the card inside.
The moment she saw the magnificent crest embossed upon it, there was no mistaking what it was.
Though merely a commoner, Suzanna had spent many years doing business in Herot. She recognized the royal crest instantly.
Looking up in surprise, she stared at Olivia.
Olivia hurriedly explained.
“I think my name became known in Herot because I was the first female student at Herrolington University.”
“No.”
The refusal came so immediately that Olivia looked at her pleadingly.
“Grandma…”
“No, Liv. If that’s the reason, then absolutely not.”
Olivia was beautiful.
Beautiful enough that anyone would turn around for a second look.
But she had neither a father nor a brother to serve as her legal guardian.
She was also a commoner.
To send someone like her to Herotâright in front of countless nobles?
Absolutely not.
Suzanna’s resolve was unwavering.
Having expected this reaction, Olivia revealed her final trump card.
“Grandma, Professor Marguerite said she’d come with me.”
Suzanna, who had been firmly shaking her head, suddenly froze.
“Princess Marguerite?”
Olivia nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes! She already told the people from the royal family she’d accompany me. I really want to go! Please, Grandma?”
Suzanna stared blankly at her granddaughter.
It had been so long since Olivia had begged her for anything.
While Suzanna herself had slowly become more withdrawn over the years, her granddaughter had been forced to grow up far too quickly. At some point, she had stopped complaining or crying altogether.
Seeing Olivia make that innocent, pleading expression again made Suzanna feel as though someone were squeezing her heart.
After a long silence, she finally asked,
“…Do you really want to go to Herot that badly?”
“Yes.”
The answer came without the slightest hesitation.
Suzanna released a long, weary sigh.
Even then, she couldn’t bring herself to agree immediately.
She stared at the royal invitation for a long time before telling Olivia she needed more time to think.
That night, Suzanna didn’t sleep at all.
At dawn, she quietly gazed at the family portraits hanging across the wall.
Her aged eyes slowly filled with tears.
The little girl who had once smiled so innocently in the embrace of her parents had grown into a young woman who forced herself to smile brightly beside her gloomy grandmother.
Of course you want to go.
You lost your parents in an instant… and had to leave that place behind.
Finally, early the next morning, Suzanna handed the invitation back to Olivia.
She spoke as though making her granddaughter swear an oath.
“No matter what happens, you must never leave Princess Marguerite’s side. Never wander off alone. Stay with her at all times.”
The instant those words left her mouth, Olivia threw both hands into the air with a joyful cheer before wrapping her grandmother in a tight embrace.
“Yes! Yes!! I promise I will!!”
Although she patiently endured the endless stream of worried lectures that followed, Olivia’s eyes sparkled with excitement the entire time.
Herot…
She had wanted to go there for so very long.
Several days later, Olivia boarded a ship bound for Pulder together with Professor Marguerite.
Because sea monsters were active during this season, they couldn’t take the direct sea route. The voyage would take nearly two weeks.
Even so, Olivia’s smile had never been brighter.
Meanwhile, around the same time, the sea monsters in Herrolington Bay were making their final violent assaults of the season.
Spring and summerâtheir mating and spawning seasonsâwere nothing short of disastrous.
By contrast, autumn and winter were so peaceful that monster attacks became exceedingly rare.
The Magic Dome destroyed every sea monster that entered its attack range without exception.
The Magic Dome developed by Wilhelm Company was truly revolutionary.
The mages simply had to continuously pour their mana into the charging terminals that powered it.
Of course, that was hardly an easy task.
White waves erupted across the sea as several small krakens hidden beneath the surface were blasted over, floating belly-up upon the water.
“Damn it! Is nobody going to relieve me?!”
Pierre shouted while clutching his trembling legs.
He had been supplying mana to the Magic Dome’s core for several hours straight.
Because Noah Astrid, commander of the Navy Special Operations Unit, had been tied up with endless interviews and hadn’t returned to headquarters lately, Pierre, the deputy commander, had been forced to shoulder nearly all the responsibility.
Damn it… I’m seriously dying here!
When the hell is Noah Astrid coming back?!
“That’s enough cursing me in your head, Pierre.”
Someone’s presence appeared behind him.
Before Pierre even realized it, the hand he had barely managed to keep pressed against the charging terminal was gently pushed aside.
Dressed not in his navy uniform but in a sleek black suit, Noah removed his thin summer gloves, tucked them into his pocket, and placed his bare hand on the charging terminal.
Mana surged from his body.
Without sparing the exhausted Pierre so much as a glance.
The Magic Dome, whose firepower had begun to weaken, immediately roared back to life, launching a renewed barrage fueled by Noah’s fresh mana.
The towering columns of water were on an entirely different level.
The victorious cheers of the sailors echoed loudly from the shoreline.
Pierre slowly got back to his feet.
“Seriously… why are there so many interviews? I thought I was going to die handling everything by myself.”
With his free hand, Noah skillfully pulled a cigarette from his pocket.
“If you don’t cut back on those, you’ll die young.”
“Mind your own business.”
Ignoring Pierre’s advice, Noah stared expressionlessly at the dazzling bursts of magical explosions.
He had just come from threatening his father, the king, not to contact him for a while if he insisted on sending him to yet another public event.
Fortunately, that female student from Pulder was coming to Herot.
That gave him the perfect excuse to step away.
“I’m grateful to her.”
“Huh?”
“At any rate, today’s my last interview for the time being. And you’d better get used to the navy without me, Pierre.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“I’m quitting this soon anyway.”
Pierre’s face twisted instantly.
“So you’ve decided you’d rather make money than defend Herot?!”
Noah answered with a mocking smile.
Even while pouring an immense amount of mana into the Magic Dome, not a hint of fatigue appeared on his face.
Soon, a blue flag was raised from the shoreline, signaling that the coastal monster extermination had been completed.
Noah removed his hand from the charging terminal and turned around.
With movements so flawless they bordered on obsessive, he elegantly slipped his gloves back on before crushing out his cigarette.
He glanced briefly at the utterly exhausted Pierre as he walked toward the stairs.
“If I earn enough money and pay plenty of taxes, wouldn’t that contribute even more to the nation’s defense?”
As Noah descended the spiral staircase, he loosened the top button of the shirt that constricted his neck and stretched his stiff muscles.
“At this year’s Autumn Banquet, keep an eye on the young ladies making their debut. You should be getting married sometime next year.”
Just as Noah had declared he would no longer participate in interviews, his father had immediately played the marriage card.
“I’ll handle my own love life, Your Majesty.”
“I know more than enough about your romantic affairs. But surely you don’t intend to spend your entire life merely enjoying casual relationships?”
What exactly does he think he knows about my love life?
Is he talking about those ridiculous society gossip papers that claim every woman who makes eye contact with the crown prince is my lover?
Even faced with his son’s icy attitude, the king merely shrugged.
Remembering his father’s expression, Noah clicked his tongue and muttered a curse as he continued down the stairs.
He had only one goal.
To free himself completely from the suffocating royal family…
…and finally live in peace.
