Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: Even a Glass Rose Has Thorns
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Pine Granasia had been lying more and more frequently lately.
She had always been straightforward and clumsy with expressing her emotions, but she couldn't adapt to the changes happening within her recently.
"Huh...? Pine, that guy from yesterday didn't come?"
"Yeah, Licht said he was sick."
She didn't even know the reason herself.
Was it because her chest ached whenever Licht talked about another woman or seemed to miss the Nameless Saintess?
Just seeing someone precious looking close to another person made her heart stop fluttering and freeze over.
The sharp, cold pain stabbing into her chest like an awl...
For a princess who knew nothing of love, it felt cruelly overwhelming.
In truth, this was why Emperor Locke had been worried about his daughter.
Wolves loved only one person for life, just like long-lived elves.
For them, loving someone else wasn't even an option. Once werewolves fell in love, that emotion weighed heavily on them.
But Pine Granasia had no way of knowing that now. Her heart raced differently whenever she was near the Black Knight.
"He had a crazy fever... boiling hot. Licht."
On the day he spoke kindly to her, she thought about it all day long.
But since it all started after they nearly died to the Demon King, she dismissed it as mere worry or gratitude.
Sparks kept flying in her glass-like empty emotions, flames taking root in her frozen heart and slowly expanding their space.
"It was cold... so he probably caught a cold..."
She trailed off, correcting her lie. She didn't want him falling for the Apostle's schemes or getting hurt anymore.
Seeing him sacrifice for others felt like her heart was being torn out, so she stopped it.
Even without knowing exactly what her feelings were, Pine was trying.
They shared similar childhood traumas and had saved each other from them.
Now they were irreplaceable treasures who even shared heartbeats, yet the two involved knew nothing of love.
"My disciple... is sick?!"
"He didn't seem like it. How in just one day..."
Hearing that Licht suddenly couldn't come because he was sick, they couldn't help but question the princess a little.
"Pine, you know our palace has warming magic, right...?"
"..."
Drake, Sophitia, and even Asha Aureus couldn't help but suspect—the situation just didn't add up.
They desperately wanted to check for themselves, but with Pine's eyes flashing sharply in warning, no one dared press further.
"I made him stay back so he wouldn't push himself."
Pine figured even someone as strong as him wouldn't smash through the northern palace to escape.
"Guess I need to train him harder later!!"
Despite the suspicions around her, she brushed it off playfully and asked them to escort her to the defensive line holding back monsters from the north.
A piercing chill stabbed at her lungs, and every breath released a puff of white vapor.
"Here we are. Drake, Princess Pine Granasia."
Asha parted the massive phoenix wings slightly upon arrival, revealing the horde of monsters outside.
"Grrrrraaah!!"
"Grrrrrr!!"
At the foot of the northern mountains,
enraged monsters charged and slammed into the towering walls.
Yeti-like snowmen, wolf- or bear-like beasts from the snowy plains.
Their eyes lacked focus, bodies bloodied, yet they seemed desperate to invade human territory.
Excited howls called more beasts, which attacked the walls in a chain reaction.
"The monsters are coming down toward the northern territories where people live, so we're holding them back like this for now, but..."
As Licht had mentioned before, it seemed the Apostle of Wrath was indeed behind this.
"We won't be safe until we deal with the Apostle."
"The Living Sun is a spirit user, after all. Emotions are her weak point."
They were barely maintaining the status quo—the very reason the emperor had dispatched Licht and Drake for aid.
"Ironblood Heart!"
"It's Duchess Sophitia Coldheart!! Show respect!"
The northerners saluted the reinforcements arriving with Sophitia.
They all looked exhausted from the prolonged battle.
Among them, a brown-haired man with bear ears stepped forward and knelt before the northern archduchess.
"Guard captain, the Apostle didn't show today either?"
"No, Archduchess!"
Even rolling boulders and hurling spears from the sturdy walls couldn't stem the endless assault.
"Thanks to the Phoenix Cradle, no casualties, and food stocks?"
"Enough for a month."
They came relentlessly, day and night, without respite.
"So cold..."
As numbness crept to her fingertips, Pine donned her masterpiece again. Noticing, the golden-haired woman created a small sun.
"Princess Pine Granasia, this should keep you warm."
"...Duchess Asha Aureus."
Seeing her fox-like smile reminiscent of Nex, Pine suddenly recalled Licht's words from yesterday.
"So what about your relationship with Asha and Senior Nex?"
The Nex Pine knew had been kind as a child, but after she shut him out due to her trauma, rumors said he'd become a wastrel.
And because spirits wouldn't appear for him, rejected by his family.
"Are you saying it's okay if Senior Nex and Senior Sharutineth are unhappy?"
When they reunited later with Sharutineth, he'd turned into the gentlest lamb, always joking and pranking—almost unrecognizable.
Was engagement really that important?
Marriage didn't guarantee happiness. Following the Black Knight's words, Pine couldn't grasp why she needed to convince Asha. The white-haired girl pondered.
"If parents can't be honest with their child, that needs fixing."
She tilted her head. The woman before her seemed upright, protecting the north without hiding anything—a Ten Hero.
What secret could such an Asha Aureus be hiding that she couldn't be honest?
"Asha, spirits are born from emotions... right?"
"Ah... Yes, if you're referring to my phoenix, that's correct, Princess Granasia."
Gazing at the fluttering phoenix feathers, Pine felt doubt.
Even Ten Heroes could awaken spirits through emotions— no reason to reject her son like that.
If anything, the one who knew best why no spirit appeared was forcing engagements with other nobles. It felt unnatural, contradictory.
Pine was piecing together the inconsistencies based on Licht's words from yesterday.
"Whoa, there are way too many monsters!!"
Counting the swarming horde below, Drake let out a hearty laugh.
"Gonna have to climb the mountain killing 'em as I go!!"
With that, the Grand Sword Master leaped from the wall, plunging sword-down to split a massive yeti's head in two.
"Who can stop this body?! Hahaha!!"
Silver sword strikes rent flesh and shattered bone, blood spraying instantly, staining the white snow red. The monster pack thinned.
Watching the Dragon Slayer dive straight into battle, the Living Sun sighed, pinching her brow.
"That idiot... still..."
As if accustomed to this, the golden-haired woman clutched her head, while Sophitia coldly calculated and adjusted strategy in real time.
"Asha, Pine, let's head down too. We need to take out the Apostle eventually."
"Yeah, got it. Sophi."
Spirit users became dangerous if they lost emotional control.
They positioned Asha Aureus in the rear, Drake up front, and themselves in the center.
"It'd be perfect if that Licht guy stood front line with the Dragon Slayer... Too bad, Pine."
"Y-Yeah."
Having watched the princess since childhood and grown close, the northern archduchess saw through Pine's awkward lie and gave a subtle hint.
It was obvious she was monopolizing the capable reinforcements—dispatched by the emperor himself after the Demon King subjugation—for her own whims.
"Pine, let's talk later?"
"...Huh? About what...?"
Flustered like a cat caught stealing, Pine's reaction convinced Sophitia.
A girl with snow-white wolf ears and tail, smitten at first sight, unable to suppress her love.
"Just about this new romance novel."
Like the househusband's advice to the Black Knight, the scheming archduchess found leverage to counsel the headstrong princess.
A man who seemed healthy yesterday suddenly "sick," or using her tail to flaunt possession—the glass knight.
Tails were vital for beastkin.
Allowing touching or stroking was reserved for mates, typically.
Pine might not know this, or perhaps knew and deliberately hid it from Licht.
"The Northern Bear Duchess's recommended novel—doesn't it pique your interest? Platinum Wolf?"
"Sophi's taste has always been reliable."
If Emperor Locke saw, he might grab his axe in warning. Seeing her friend flustered in love made her chuckle.
"But what's it about...?"
"A queen protecting a knight in chess."
Being direct could ruin things. Given the situation, it was clear the man her friend liked was locked in her room.
"...What? That's weird."
Better to ease in with metaphors. One wrong step, and she might wield her authority.
"Read it later anyway. It's fun."
"Sure, if you recommend it... might be good."
The black-haired bear beastkin finished thinking, pulled her spear, tapped the ground—ice stairs formed instantly.
"After you, Princess."
"Heh, thanks. Sophi."
The glass knight in heavy armor nodded, focusing on sweeping away the enemies ahead.