Chapter 231: A Sisterly Spat
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 231: A Sisterly Spat
I parted ways with Constine at the Grand Temple.
It was as we reached the entrance to share our final goodbyes.
“I will begin making preparations step by step,” Constine said in a low voice. “So that I may vacate the position whenever Your Highness the Consort desires…”
Until then, she promised with a smile, she would do her absolute best to fulfill her role as the Saintess.
For some reason, that smile looked so sorrowful that it left me feeling a bit dejected. I hadn’t expected the atmosphere inside the Grand Temple to be warm and welcoming, but even so, every priest I encountered today had been solemn and cold. I felt a strange sense of pity, realizing it couldn’t have been easy for Constine to live as a Saintess in such a place.
‘Now isn’t the time for me to be worrying about Constine.’
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I had enough to worry about with Loik.
‘To think that the dragon’s life is linked to Loik’s. How heartbroken will he be when he finds out…?’
I was agonized over how to break the news to him.
With my mood dampened, I stepped out of the Grand Temple with Miel. Tiern, who had been waiting with an anxious expression, rushed toward me.
“Your Highness, are you alright? Did anything happen inside?”
I gave a brief nod, but noticed a commotion nearby. As Tiern hesitated, a familiar, shrill voice pierced the air.
“I’m asking you where Janet went! What family is this ‘Lady’ even from?”
Turning my head, I saw a carriage bearing a familiar crest parked next to the Grand Ducal procession. In front of it, hair that was a much more vivid, bright golden than mine fluttered in the sunlight.
It was Ladriel, the daughter of Marquis Frais and my sister—the woman aiming for the position of the Third Prince’s consort.
‘What is she doing here?’
It was an unexpected and entirely unwelcome encounter. I walked toward where Ladriel stood.
“The Terito Viscounty? Good grief, I’ve never even heard of such a family…!”
Perhaps because she felt no need to maintain her reputation in front of Northerners, Ladriel was showing her true, unvarnished self, completely devoid of pretense. The knights and servants of Blenheim were clicking their tongues behind her back as they watched the scene.
‘I suppose they’re all shocked.’
After all, it was likely their first time seeing a “proper” daughter of a Marquis in action. For me, however, there was nothing new about this behavior.
“Regardless, I am the Grand Duchess’s lady-in-waiting. If you need anything, please speak to me.”
I was actually quite impressed seeing Cecilia handle Ladriel.
‘When did Cecilia change so much?’
I knew her etiquette had improved remarkably since she began studying under Countess Asellino, but she didn’t shrink back at all, even in front of Ladriel. In fact, in terms of elegance and dignity, Cecilia was far superior.
“I’ve been asking you this whole time! When is Annette finally coming out?!”
“You keep making me repeat myself. I do not know when Her Highness the Grand Duchess will emerge.”
Perel, standing beside Cecilia, was twitching his lips but couldn’t quite find the right moment to intervene. Finally, I stepped forward.
“I didn’t realize you were so desperate to see me.”
The aides and servants parted to make a path, bowing in unison. I heard Cecilia’s sigh of relief.
Ladriel, who looked ready to unleash a torrent of abuse the moment she saw me, momentarily fell silent, seemingly intimidated by the respectful manner in which the attendants treated me. The maids and knights from the Marquis’s estate who had followed Ladriel also had looks of bewilderment in their eyes.
“What do you want?”
Ladriel frowned at my cold question.
“Is that how you greet your sister after all this time? No hello?”
I tilted my head, genuinely puzzled.
“Were we ever on terms where we exchanged greetings?”
Ladriel let out a gasp of disbelief.
“I heard you’ve become blind to everything since you got married, and I see it’s true. Is playing the noblewoman in the countryside that much fun?”
“Yes. It’s wonderful, actually,” I said with a scoff. “The nature is beautiful, there’s plenty to see, and with the tourists flocking in every day, the money never runs out. Plus, unlike some people, I can go wherever I want, freely.”
“Don’t make me laugh.” Ladriel narrowed her eyes, clearly thinking I was bluffing. “Do you think I don’t know that place is nothing but snow and monsters?”
“Do you just not read the newspapers at all?”
Lately, articles about how well the North was doing were appearing quite frequently, even in the capital.
“How can I trust those articles?” Ladriel said with a sneer. “Who knows if they were paid for?”
Then again, Ladriel herself had once petitioned a newspaper to write an article claiming she was the “flower of society.” My motivation for this pointless conversation plummeted. It was always like this with Ladriel—talking to her felt like a complete waste of time.
“This is why a frog in a well is the most dangerous kind.”
“What? A frog?”
“Not knowing something isn’t shameful, but insisting you’re right when you’re ignorant is truly embarrassing.” I looked at her with an expression of pity. “I wonder if you’ve even heard of Antonel? Though, I see posters for Cochibiel are still up around here.”
Cecilia covered her mouth, letting out a faint, visible chuckle. Seeing this, Ladriel began to tremble with rage.
“What about Cochibiel!”
“The capital is slow with trends. You’ll probably understand what I mean in about a year.”
I scanned Ladriel’s dress from top to bottom. While her gown was flashy, dripping with jewels, my own was a masterpiece by Madame Ramondria, whose sense of style had recently reached its peak. Ladriel seemed to notice the difference as well, as the tips of her ears turned bright red.
“Did you eat something wrong in the North?”
I sighed at her agitated voice. Honestly, Ladriel was a duller opponent than even Meisel.
“Just tell me what you want, quickly.”
Ladriel huffed, overcome with indignation.
“Follow me to the manor. Father is calling for you.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You don’t want to?”
“If I don’t want to, go tell him yourself.”
Ladriel’s eyes flared sharply.
“If you don’t go, I’m the one who gets in trouble for nothing!”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Do you have no conscience?” Ladriel shrieked. “Are you saying you don’t care at all that I’ll get scolded by Father because of you?”
“You never cared, Ladriel.”
“What? ‘Ladriel’?”
“When I was being scolded and beaten by Father like that, did you ever worry about me even once?”
At the mention of me being beaten, the breathing of Tiern and the knights became noticeably heavy. Ladriel flinched and licked her lips.
“Th-that was… I couldn’t help that…!”
“Why should I pour concern and interest into you when I’ve never received any in return? Who do you think you are? Do you have a conscience?”
The more I spoke, the more my insides boiled. Why was I getting so angry? As I struggled to suppress the surging emotions, I realized the reason.
‘Because now I know.’
Because I had learned what it felt like to be cherished.
When I first possessed this body, I was indifferent to whatever the Marquis’s family said to me. To them, Annette was just someone who was meant to be treated that way. I had accepted the Marquis’s verbal abuse, Ferdin’s indifference, and Ladriel’s mockery as a matter of course.
But everything changed after I met Loik.
I now knew the feeling of someone watching my expression when I was in a bad mood. I knew the sound of those excited footsteps rushing toward me because they missed me. I knew the warmth of a hand that caressed me with infinite tenderness, as if I might break if touched too hard. I knew that low voice that whispered sweetly during the day as if he couldn’t stand how lovely I was, and chanted my name desperately at night, unable to contain his desire.
I had finally realized that I was a person worthy of being loved.
And I also realized that I should no longer tolerate being treated this way. I couldn’t allow others to treat me so carelessly when Loik cherished me so much.
Furthermore, I was here as the Grand Duchess of Blenheim. If I looked pathetic, the North would look pathetic too. For the sake of the people who followed me, I could no longer endure this attitude.
“Do you have to be so calculating?” Ladriel furrowed her brow at the sharp gazes surrounding her. “Just get to the Marquis’s estate! Go and talk!”
Thinking that words wouldn’t work, she suddenly grabbed my left sleeve.
“Take your hand off her.”
Tiern growled fiercely. Even as she flinched at his “mad dog” gaze, Ladriel yanked me toward her.
In that instant, a violent wind seemed to whip up around my left hand.
POW!
With a tremendous boom, Ladriel was sent flying, slamming hard into the carriage. She couldn’t even scream before she slumped to the ground.
It happened so suddenly that no one could react. The horrified knights of the Marquis’s estate rushed over to check on her. She had hit the carriage so hard that it was still rocking.
I struggled to pull my stunned expression back into composure and asked, “…Can someone explain this?”
Why did a blast of wind just shoot out of my hand?
Tiern looked at the collapsed Ladriel and said nonchalantly, “It’s likely because of the defense magic placed on your ring.”
“Defense magic?” I hissed in a low voice. “What kind of defense magic blows a person away!”
How was this defense magic? This was an attack spell!
Tiern looked away as if feigning ignorance.
“The mage said the gemstone needed to be large and sturdy to better withstand attacks.”
No wonder Loik looked so confident when he gave me the ring.
‘That man, seriously!’
I pressed a hand to my forehead as I watched Ladriel, who was still dazed and reeling.
* * *
Loik suddenly hunched his shoulders.
“Commander, what is it?” Norton, who was walking beside him, asked.
“I don’t know. I just felt a sudden chill down my spine.”