Chapter 206
Chapter: 206
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 206
>Chapter Title: Louise (9)
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
In years warmer than usual, flowers sometimes bloom even amid the bitter cold of the Demon Frontier. It's said that their rare, enchanting fragrance drives wolves and lycanslopes mad. So if you ever catch a whiff of flower scent carried on the wind from the Demon Frontier, keep the hounds under strict control and don't step outside unless you must.
Even as her grandmother told these tales laced with stern warnings, young Louise would always scoff.
That is, until the day she caught an unfamiliar, sweet scent while out on a walk.
- ...Max.
The loyal companion who never failed to follow her on walks, even when busy tending to her pups.
That changed only when she saw the clear murderous glint in the eyes of that faithful dog.
* * *
“Max.”
Louise visited the kennels at dawn, waving a strip of raw jerked meat enthusiastically.
But the haughty wolfhound merely glanced at her face before pointedly turning her head away.
Max's pup—also named Max, unlike his dam—refused to warm to her at all.
Whether it stemmed from the enforced master-servant bond or the scent of his mother's blood from his puppy days, Louise couldn't say.
In the end, she trudged home empty-handed, as always.
“Hmph. Been to see that dog again? I thought you weren't going to the kennels lately.”
Her father, who happened to be having a simple meal alone, asked. He'd likely caught the scent of dogs in the air.
Louise poked idly at the cold, congealed stew set out for her before answering offhandedly.
“He hasn't been in the territory these past few days.”
“Is that so? Old Ben wouldn't slack on kennel duty, but that one's good at slipping away. We've got an important guest coming today—hope it's not an issue if he wanders.”
Her father, Sebastian Bartel, served as the territory's guard captain.
He should have been patrolling the Demon Frontier watchposts alongside the frontier count, standing in for the Wolf Knight Order captain who returned late.
But with word of the great young lord bringing a distinguished guest, he was unusually stuck in the territory for now.
In his place, former frontier count Vincent Sigismund had used it as an excuse to bolt for the Demon Frontier.
Officially to escort the not-particularly-martial count, but everyone knew it was just a pretext to avoid the prince. He'd always been uneasy around the Holy Emperor's kin.
“Will Mother head straight back to the Demon Frontier once she arrives?”
At Louise's question, he picked up his sword and shrugged.
“Probably. It's unusually warm this year. The lycanslopes are acting up.”
Faint flower scents drifted in on the warm breeze now and then.
Louise swallowed her creeping unease and shoveled in a mouthful of the bland stew.
“By the way, Louise.”
Sebastian watched her quietly for a moment before hesitating and continuing.
“That... job. How's it going?”
“......”
“The head butler sang your praises. He's not one to do that lightly, so it seems you're doing quite well at the count's estate.”
His eyes flicked briefly to her hands. He knew she'd clung to her sword practice in secret until recently.
Louise could only manage a wry smile in response.
“Yeah, it's fun. Suits me just fine.”
What else could she say if it didn't?
Prince Mores, who finally arrived in the territory, turned out utterly unlike the rumors.
When a neat, tidy youth stepped from the carriage—instead of the brute she'd imagined—everyone was briefly at a loss.
His sullen expression gave a cold impression at first, but when he smiled at the countess, the air around him brightened instantly.
The count's retainers were captivated in a heartbeat.
Even that arrogant Max had been tamed quickly, after all. He was no ordinary person.
‘But Max's real master is me...’
It would be a lie to say she wasn't a little jealous.
“Thank you for the help. You're really strong.”
As Louise carried the prince's luggage to his room—massive trunks slung over each shoulder—a woman remarked as much.
“I'm Edith. His Highness's personal maid. Please take care of us during our stay.”
“Louise.”
No mere maid, with aura like that. Clearly a secret bodyguard in disguise.
But Louise decided to play along for now.
Invited by the great young lord, Prince Mores had surely come to secretly investigate the “herbal tea.” It made sense he'd want a strong guard for any contingencies.
Midway through hauling the bags, though, Louise caught an intensely potent floral scent wafting from the prince's luggage.
“...Rose?”
A flower that didn't bloom properly in the frigid Sigismund territory—one she'd only encountered in perfumes used by the countess or ladies now and then.
“Hm?”
Edith blinked in confusion before nodding as if it made sense.
“Ah, that must be the disinfectant perfume Doctor Gibril sprayed on it. To ward off illness on the journey. His Highness hates it, so he shook most of it off, but some must've lingered. You have a sharp nose, Louise.”
Louise half-listened to the explanation, a vague, groundless dread rising in her.
It wasn't the same as that day's scent, or the cloying herbal tea aroma.
So why did everything feel so ominously wrong?
Her unease soon proved founded.
The prince, who'd attended lunch, was carried back to his room in a daze, pale as death—for reasons unknown.
Louise froze as she detected the familiar scent mingled with his own and the faint rose: the herbal tea.
“...Herbal tea?”
Even unable to open his eyes properly, the prince calmly replied.
“Yeah? Oh, right.”
Louise reeled in confusion.
The great young lord—who'd gone to the capital to investigate the tea's distribution—had invited this guest. She assumed he'd come to resolve the territory's issues together.
Surely he knew the tea's dangers to some degree?
“Why on earth would you...”
But there was no time to ponder.
The prince abruptly gushed an impossible torrent of nosebleed, mumbled for an exorcist, and collapsed unconscious.
Louise bit her lip anxiously.
What to do?
He was the empire's noble prince. If anything happened to him, not just her—the entire count's house would face ruin.
Normally, she'd summon a doctor and priest immediately.
‘But he said to keep it secret for a reason.’
Moreover, despite their brief acquaintance, Louise had keenly sensed it.
Beneath the prince's casual words and demeanor lurked an inexplicable power no ordinary person could resist.
She'd follow his orders for now.
With that resolve, Louise discreetly covered the bloodstains with bedding and slipped from the room. She quickly tracked down the prince's entourage and fetched the exorcist he'd mentioned.
“What's going on?”
The young knight on guard blinked in surprise at Louise's sudden arrival with Sir Sharon. Despite his skilled aura, he seemed oblivious to the room's commotion.
[...Tch.]
The exorcist glanced at him upon entering, clicking her tongue in displeasure.
The knight gaped at the icy attitude, but she turned to Louise and commanded.
[Wait outside.]
“...!”
Louise shuddered as their eyes met, a chill surging through her.
In the dim hallway, her eerie silver-gray eyes gleamed alone.
‘...Weren't they black?’
Louise panicked.
When she'd first found her, she'd seemed just a creepy woman grinning unsettlingly.
Now, she exuded a noble pressure like facing the former patriarch—perhaps even heavier—absolutely unchallengeable.
Above all, her eyes.
Eyes that stripped away the world's shallow lights in an instant, peering terrifyingly into the pulsing abyss beneath.
Eyes akin to a god's gaze, now piercing straight through her flesh to her thoughts and soul.
[...So. You'll walk that path in the end, will you?]
Frozen under the overwhelming pressure, Louise heard the exorcist mutter cryptically, finally averting her gaze.
[But what can I do now? It's all that child's choice...]
“......”
[Prepare thoroughly for what's coming from the north.]
With that.
Slam!
The door shut violently before her eyes.
No human could bleed that much and rise in a single day.
Yet that evening, the prince was suddenly hale and hearty—enough to wander the count's estate alone at night.
“Any trouble with the guest overnight?”
Louise, arriving at dawn, sensed subtle changes from the norm and asked the night watch.
“Hm? Oh, Louise. His Highness slept soundly. Quite the trip from the capital—must be exhausted. He skipped dinner yesterday, they say.”
Even these seasoned guards noticed nothing?
Hmph.
Louise tilted her head back and inhaled deeply.
The scent drifting the halls was unmistakably the prince's new one from last night. Especially the faint rose clinging to his clothes—she couldn't mistake it.
And that trail led straight to the patriarch's study on the second floor.
‘No way...?’
On his first day here, of all times, such audacity.
Louise shoved down the suspicion creeping in.
Coincidentally, from then on, Hermann and the great young lord's people sprang into action.
“Louise. Mind helping with something?”
Hermann called cautiously in the hall.
“Pick out two people badly poisoned by the herbal tea—especially those with severe hallucinations. You have a knack for spotting them fast.”
“Sure, that's easy.”
Louise's keen nose outdid others', letting her pinpoint heavy tea users instantly.
She'd been the first to warn of its dangers, and had aided the great young lord and Hermann several times since for their investigations.
“But what for?”
“Taking them to the capital. Evidence of Milo Trading Company's crimes for the courts.”
“That'll stop the tea's spread?”
Seemed too simple. They'd spent so long gathering clear proof of its harms.
Louise frowned dubiously, and Hermann sighed softly.
“His Highness's orders. He's meeting the patriarch directly. Our job's just securing victims and seizing samples from the shops as evidence.”
“......”
As she'd guessed, the prince had come to settle this.
‘But will it really work?’
Sure enough, Prince Mores acted as if the investigation were already complete.
Holed up in his room, demanding the patriarch's immediate presence.
“When's the Sigismund frontier count returning?”
“Er, Your Highness. We've sent for him—he should be here soon...”
“So when exactly?”
“Well, inspecting all the outposts takes time...”
“And when's that?”
“Your Highness...”
Hermann grimaced under the relentless prodding as the prince looked up, unfocused eyes staring blankly into space.
Louise glimpsed a faint silver gleam flicker in them.
“I want to go home soon.”
Hurry, or they'll miss the moment. Can't stay pinned here long.
Not a child, yet Prince Mores whined just like one.
On the evening of the prince's third day.
The Wolf Knight Order finally returned to the territory—trailing prisoners, a massive haul of supplies.
Simultaneously came the patriarch's reply from the Demon Frontier's front lines.
“Confirmed large-scale lycanslope anomaly. Number heading south: around... two... thousand?”
Hermann paled.
“The Wolf Knight Order returns to the Demon Frontier immediately. Guard Captain Sebastian Bartel, mobilize all combat-ready personnel in the territory to the utmost...”
Hermann's voice trembled reading the dispatch; the great young lord continued calmly beside him.
“Your Highness. Reports say a lycanslope lord was sighted among them.”
His face equally grave.
This was an unprecedented calamity for Sigismund territory.
“In the last decade-plus of skirmishes with descending beasts, they've never exceeded a hundred, even at worst. The tea matter can wait—we must rally the territory's full strength now.”
“......”
“Dialog with the patriarch seems unlikely, so Your Highness should hasten back to the capital.”
But the prince's response was unexpected.
Gazing into space, scratching his cheek, he sighed faintly.
“Yeah. Figured as much.”
Prince Mores rose with his usual sullen look.
“Sir Masain. Assemble the resident knights. Have the captain bring Sir Sharon and Sir Valerie.”
As the knights rushed out, the prince began donning his overcoat alone.
Louise hurried over to assist.
“...What do you intend?”
The great young lord asked, alarmed by the ominous air. The prince—
Click.
—buckled on his sword belt last and stated matter-of-factly.
“We're heading to the Demon Frontier too.”