Chapter 175 – Seal Released (1)
“Then… how about having outfits tailored together with the Grand Duke while we’re at it?”
Although she glanced at me, the question was clearly directed at Loic.
“I thought it might look nice if the two of you wore coordinated outfits on the opera’s opening day…”
“I plan to go to the theater alone,”
I replied quickly.
“The Grand Duke is very busy.”
On the opening day of an opera, almost all the nobles of Blenheim would gather.
From Madam’s perspective, it must have seemed natural that the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess would attend together.
“Ah, I see. My apologies.”
Madam looked as if she regretted bringing it up—
“Let’s do it.”
Loic’s low voice echoed through the room.
Madam’s eyes widened, clearly not expecting him to answer personally.
“You’re suggesting we make outfits for Vi and me to wear together, aren’t you?”
“Yes—yes! That’s right!”
Madam hurriedly explained,
“They don’t need to be made from exactly the same fabric. Just matching the sleeve details or the cravat color with the dress would make the two of you look much more harmonious when appearing in public.”
Loic wouldn’t even be able to attend the theater anyway.
When I looked at him with an awkward expression, he spoke gently.
“Even if it’s not for the opera, I’d like to have at least one outfit made to match Annette.”
At that, even Cecilia pressed her lips together to hide her reaction.
“Alright. I’ll choose the fabric myself, so now you really should go.”
“Understood.”
Loic bent slightly and pressed a kiss to my forehead, then immediately returned to his dignified Grand Duke persona.
“Make sure everything is done to the Grand Duchess’s satisfaction.”
“We will give it our utmost care.”
Loic looked at Madam, who bowed deeply, then turned to Whitely.
“Whitely.”
Whitely nodded as if he already understood Loic’s meaning.
With a satisfied expression, Loic left the room.
Whitely smiled brightly at Madam.
“His Grace said not to worry about the budget at all, so please make a dress that suits Her Highness perfectly.”
Madam and her staff beamed with delight.
* * *
That afternoon, I convened a special meeting for the opera.
After replacing the male lead with Antonel, I was burning with determination to make this performance succeed no matter what.
‘I will never let anyone say the opera failed just because Coachviel wasn’t involved.’
Whether it was Coachviel or Princess Pellianes, I intended to show them exactly how wrong they were.
An unusual group gathered in one place—mages, maids, aides, the theater owner, representatives from the merchant guild, traders, and even the head of the Merchants’ Association.
“You want it to rain inside the theater?”
Enolius asked first.
“No. We just need simple special-effect devices using sound and lighting. When it rains, there’ll be the sound of rain. When thunder strikes, the lights installed on the ceiling will flash. Even that much will make the performance far more immersive.”
The mage grumbled for a moment, then nodded.
Next, I turned to Evan, the merchant representative.
“You watched the preview performance that day too, didn’t you, Evan?”
“Yes, Your Highness. I was truly impressed. Introducing Snow Wine that way was brilliant!”
Still full of excitement, Evan passionately explained the production process for Snow Wine.
“…The wine that will be sold at the theater is currently being prepared with separate packaging.”
“Good. Let’s also add one of Lady Violetta’s lines at the bottom of the package.”
Across from him sat Edem, who oversaw the lakeside shopping district.
“Cecilia, did you organize the list?”
“Yes, of course.”
Cecilia pulled out a sheet of paper.
Listed on it were items like wooden wine cups, feather pens, ink bottles, secret letters, small mirrors, poison bottles, novels, and more.
“These are props that appear in the opera. If there are similar products sold in the lakeside shops, I was thinking we could sell them at the theater together with the Snow Wine.”
Edem initially looked puzzled, but soon nodded in understanding.
“I see what you mean, Your Highness. There’s a shop in the district that sells wooden tableware. Commissioning wooden wine cups from them sounds like a good idea.”
At the far end of the table, Jamer—the head of the Merchants’ Association—looked confused as to why he had been summoned.
“How would you feel about running a discount event in Goldrain during the performance period?”
“A discount event?”
“If people bring their theater tickets to participating shops, they’ll receive about a ten percent discount.”
“But wouldn’t that benefit the customers only, not the shop owners?”
I shook my head.
“If people who watched the opera visit Goldrain with their tickets, the number of visitors will increase significantly.”
After Goldrain’s exterior repainting project, the shops there had drawn more attention than expected.
As a result, the dull appearance of the surrounding shops became even more noticeable.
In the end, the remaining shop owners had no choice but to repaint their buildings at their own expense.
Thanks to that, more customers were gathering in the brightened Goldrain—but sales had not yet fully recovered.
“This won’t be mandatory. Only shops that apply will participate. In return, participating shops will receive a small flag or mark. And we’ll print a list of those shops on the back of the ticket.”
“Understood.”
Last was Alchent, the magazine publisher and owner of the theater.
“Alchent, can the printing house you work with make posters as well?”
“Of course, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“I want to make a very, very large poster.”
“How large do you mean? If they’re using older printing presses, they can usually handle posters up to about twice the size of standard theater posters.”
“I want it to be as tall as Antonel.”
“…Pardon?”
“I want a poster that shows his entire body at full scale.”
So that no one would even remember the ‘C’ in Coachviel.
“That would require creating a separate magical device…”
At my words, everyone simultaneously turned to look at Enolius.
“W-what is it? Why are you all staring at me like that?”
Enolius frowned.
“…Honestly, I should revise my contract at this rate.”
But judging by the way he flapped his ornate robe sleeves while grumbling, that was his way of agreeing.
Satisfied with how smoothly everything was progressing, I smiled.
* * *
After the meeting, as I returned to the main castle under Norton’s escort, I noticed gardeners planting new saplings in the front garden.
“Is that Blueine?”
Curious, I stepped closer.
“Greetings, Your Highness.”
The gardeners removed their hats with bright expressions.
“We just received them from a merchant caravan today.”
One of them lifted the seedling so I could see it clearly.
“It’s beautiful.”
Blueine was a blue flower with thin petals that looked almost transparent.
The gardener explained that, following Loic’s instructions, they had searched extensively for rare flowers.
“We showed it to the Grand Duke earlier as well. He said the blue color resembles Your Highness’s eyes and seemed very pleased.”
“Really?”
I examined the flower with a ticklish feeling.
“They said it glows on its own at night, didn’t they?”
The gardener nodded.
“It absorbs sunlight during the day, then emits light at night to melt the surrounding cold. The merchant said it should survive even the northern autumn.”
“What a remarkable flower.”
The petals, faintly translucent from the light they held, were beautiful.
As I reached out to examine them more closely, my hand was cut by the stiff paper wrapping around the seedling.
“Ah!”
Startled by the unexpected pain, I flinched—
And suddenly, flash, light burst from my fingertips.
“Gasp!”
A bright white halo of light, forming clear concentric circles, wrapped around my hand.
“Th-this is…!”
The gardeners staggered back in shock.
‘Why is my hand doing this all of a sudden?!’
Panicking, I desperately begged it to stop in my mind. After a moment, the light faded.
I stared at my now perfectly fine hand, then looked around in disbelief.
The gardeners’ mouths were hanging open.
Even Norton—normally expressionless—had visibly shaken eyes.
‘Is this holy power?’
I stood there helplessly, unsure what to do—
“It seems the story about the flower glowing was true.”
Norton said, desperately trying to maintain composure.
“What?”
No, the light definitely came from my hand—
But the moment our eyes met, I understood what he meant.
“…Yes. Who would have thought the flower would glow like that.”
As I said this, I glanced at the gardeners.
Swallowing nervously, they saw the sharp look in Norton’s eyes and hurriedly nodded.
“Y-yes, that must be it!”
Norton leaned toward them with a threatening expression.
“You know very well that anything you see or hear while serving Her Highness must never be spoken of.”
“O-of course!”
“We won’t say a word.”
“If even a suspicious rumor spreads within the castle, you will be held accountable.”
The gardeners trembled in fear.
“Your Highness, the wind is cold. Shall we head inside?”
Norton asked politely, his face already calm again.
“Yes, let’s do that. Thank you for your hard work.”
Clutching my hand awkwardly, I turned away.
‘This is an emergency. A real emergency!’
It seems the seal is finally starting to break.
