Chapter 267
Chapter 267
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Royal Audience
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“You must be thirsty.”
Lea wiped her red lips, still stained with golden liquor.
Just moments ago, on the first floor, she had been utterly icy while conversing with the southern royals.
Her face, gazing at me from the shadows of the dark corridor, looked utterly lascivious.
As if she were trying to instill caution in the male she had her eye on.
“Fuu…”
At the sight, saliva gathered naturally in my parched mouth.
I deeply swallowed the traces of her fluids that she had left on my tongue after tasting me.
“…”
I stared down intently at this insolent female beast who kept trying to seize control from me.
She met my black eyes squarely, then asked leisurely.
“What’s wrong? Disappointed that I’m interrupting our alone time?”
Lea crossed her arms alone.
Her heavy flesh was supported by both arms.
Thanks to that, the golden liquor pooled between her voluptuous curves caught my eye.
A pond warmed by her body heat.
“This is punishment for enjoying yourself first without me.”
The Empire’s First Imperial Princess spoke boldly, as if trying to discipline me.
But that was a mistake.
I hadn’t been flustered at all by her surprise kiss.
“…?”
Instead, I approached her calmly.
Then, gripping both her shoulders, I slowly brought my face close.
She, who had been so haughty and noble like an empress.
Her blue eyes flashed at the shadow of my face falling over hers.
However, it was too late.
I had already lowered my head toward the sweet nectar pooled in her voluptuous flesh.
“Hyut……!!”
I buried my sharp nose between her hot breasts.
And with my long tongue, I probed between her skin, devouring the nectar to my heart’s content.
“Slurp…”
Like a fox finding a pond, I explored the princess’s breasts while wearing my mask.
This was punishment for the insolent beast who dared to violate my lips without permission.
“Haa…. Huuaa…”
Lea covered her eyes with the back of her hand.
However, as she watched me lower my head and drink her nectar, a strange thrill coursed through her, roughening her breath.
Her body trembled at the slick sensation of my tongue delving between her sensitive breasts.
At first, she thought her own reaction was shameful.
But gradually, a proud sense of accomplishment welled up at the feminine allure she hadn’t realized was emerging.
Like a mother indulging a child’s whims.
“You’re like a baby…”
She savored this newfound emotion of maternal love for the first time in her life.
Slowly, she raised her hand to stroke the top of my head.
However, that was as far as Lea was permitted.
The moment she dared to touch my head.
“Thank you. My thirst is quenched now.”
I lifted my face with a cold, expressionless gaze.
With her scent all over my face, I wiped my lips with the back of my hand.
“Uh…”
Lea, who hadn’t seized control but merely responded blankly.
I peeled a strand of hair stuck to her cheek and smirked.
While wearing the fox mask.
“It was a delicious drink.”
I flashed a victorious smile as if to show off.
The princess stared fixedly only at my lips, which had drunk plenty of champagne.
“…”
Meanwhile, I whipped my head around to check if anyone was watching.
Then, figuring it was a masked ball anyway, I casually clasped my hands behind my back.
Lea stared intently at my retreating back.
Then, placing her hand on her now-clean breasts, she caught her breath.
“You’ve grown a lot, Veil.”
The princess closed her sharp eyes softly.
And, lifting the corner of her mouth in a sly smile, she murmured quietly.
“But can you be that bold even in the deep night?”
Lea smiled maturely from the shadows, reminiscent of Rozanna.
That maturity felt even more sensual now, infused with the maternal love she had felt today.
However, the princess had no choice but to hide her expression again.
Richard, the Captain of the Knights of Light, who had been searching for us, approached with quick steps.
“Both of you were here.”
At the arrival of her subordinate in his white suit, Lea immediately straightened her disheveled dress.
Then, she faced him once more as the noble princess.
“What is it, Richard?”
“Nothing urgent, Your Highness, but one of the royal guests wishes an audience with you right now.”
Lea and I tilted our heads simultaneously.
“A royal guest? I’ve already spoken with everyone worth meeting.”
“That’s… they say they came hastily from the capital just for today.”
A guest from the capital.
The capital of the Hawson Kingdom was close to this border city of Belair, but still.
Even by carriage, it was at least five hours away.
That meant they had set off immediately after hearing the results of my duel with the South’s Greatest Swordsman.
“I see. The duel results must have shocked them.”
Lea’s lips curved into a faint smile.
Her blue eyes peered at me from beneath the lioness mask, full of delight.
“But if it’s necessary, they should come themselves. Summoning you is a bit rude, isn’t it?”
The princess spoke in a cold voice brimming with professional decorum.
As the next emperor, she firmly disciplined others, if not me.
“Well…”
Richard took a deep breath at Lea’s resolute demeanor.
Then, glancing around, he whispered quietly.
‘For Richard to act like this, they must be quite the VIPs.’
Suddenly, I recalled the two men who had disembarked from the carriage.
The two suspicious figures who had arrived with their faces hidden, already aware of the masked ball.
‘Could it be them?’
“Understood. Then we have no choice but to go.”
Lea nodded at the knight captain’s report.
Then, she ordered me to accompany her.
“Come with us, Veil.”
I followed the two down the grand staircase of the party hall.
The two men in question were seated at a table in one corner of the first floor.
Beside them sat men wearing eagle-crest masks like Duke Luke’s.
I could immediately tell they were escort knights.
Unlike ordinary nobles, powerful mana flowed from their chests.
Mago, who had fixed her clothes in the restroom and rejoined us, also merged with our group.
Since everyone was masked, she joined the imperial entourage without hesitation.
“Where are you going, Veil?”
“There’s a guest here to see Her Highness, so I’m going along.”
When I whispered quietly to the black cat woman, she nodded understandingly.
And followed with somewhat tense steps.
“You’re here, Your Highness. We’ve been looking everywhere—”
“Sorry, my throat was a bit dry.”
Lea glanced up at me with a pleased expression.
I cleared my throat awkwardly, and Mago eyed us suspiciously.
“Please, sit. A distinguished guest has just arrived.”
“Very well, over there?”
The princess sat opposite the two suspicious men, following Duke Luke’s gesture.
Mago and I sat on either side of her.
Duke Luke also joined beside the two men, placing three eagles opposite us.
“Pleased to meet you, Princess Lea.”
A deep, middle-aged voice addressed the princess curtly right away.
It belonged to a man who seemed in his forties or fifties.
“An honor to meet you, Princess.”
The shorter young eagle beside him responded as well.
His youthful voice suggested early to mid-teens.
“I didn’t expect you to come all this way just to see me. I heard your health wasn’t well.”
Lea responded with a polite smile, as if already briefed by Richard.
That smile was the respectful expression the First Imperial Princess reserved only for those she honored.
In other words, the men before her were ‘big shots’ even the prideful Lea acknowledged.
“Sorry for the sudden inconvenience of this cumbersome disguise.”
The middle-aged man spoke politely, considerate even of our side.
He adjusted his black eagle mask and asked our forgiveness.
“But it couldn’t be helped. At my age, leaving the palace suddenly makes the ministers so anxious.”
Leaving the palace.
Only then did my prediction turn to certainty.
“I am the King of Hawson Kingdom, Hodrian.”
King Hodrian.
The ruler of the strongest southern kingdom, Hawson, a man once called the Overlord in his youth.
Not a Sword Master, but a paragon of virtue through brilliant tactics and leadership, guiding the alliance.
As if to prove it, an intellectual aura like a scholar emanated from him.
“You’ve already met Luke, so you know him. This is my son, Juan.”
The southern hegemon, accompanied by his crown prince.
He introduced himself in a relaxed tone.
“The eldest daughter of Emperor Leonhardt, Lea Andalusia.”
Lea placed a hand on her chest and greeted politely.
She also introduced her close aides, us.
“This is my guard knight, Veil Mikhail. On the other side is the Empire’s Grand Mage, Mago.”
Mago flinched momentarily at being called the Empire’s Grand Mage.
But she soon bowed her head politely, following the mood.
“May I ask why you wished to see me so urgently?”
The princess asked in a suitably courteous tone befitting the next emperor.
Hodrian nodded in response.
“Haha… Yes, I should have gotten to the point first. My mistake for being late.”
The king chuckled and grasped the wine glass before him.
With elegant fingers, he swirled the white wine and inhaled its aroma.
“How could I not meet the woman who will soon be empress, visiting my lands?”
As expected of the famed virtuous king, he already saw Lea as the next emperor.
However, his visit wasn’t merely to acknowledge her as a national leader.
“Both to exchange greetings and discuss the future of our two nations.”
“The future of our nations… Isn’t the alliance already formally concluded?”
Lea replied flatly, sipping her cocktail.
The king nodded calmly.
“Indeed, but there’s one uncomfortable point.”
Hodrian’s black eyes gleamed through his eagle mask, as if ready to reveal his true intent.
A savage, animalistic glint, like finishing off a dying beast.
“The Empire offering alliance so charitably doesn’t sit well.”
The southern virtuoso spoke with conviction, having calculated everything during the five-hour carriage ride.
“Our Hawson Kingdom is the strongest in the south, yet eagerly accepting the Empire’s sudden alliance looks poor.”
The amiable atmosphere shifted to diplomacy, turning tense.
Unaccustomed to it, Mago swallowed hard.
“Historically, our alliance held firm against the common enemy, the Empire. So what reason compels us to break that and ally with you?”
I watched the situation with sly eyes, silently beside the king’s words.
On the surface, the king seemed displeased with allying with us.
He had approved the alliance himself, hence this event.
‘But picking a fight now?’
I glanced around.
Mago’s tense face, Richard’s pale stiffness.
Everyone was intimidated by the king’s skepticism.
‘Even Her Highness Lea might be a bit flustered.’
I gazed worriedly at the princess.
But she was different.
“You make a valid point, King Hodrian.”
The princess, relaxed as if grasping his intent.
“Our alliance proposal must feel like absorption or vassalage, causing displeasure.”
She set down her wine glass and spoke flatly.
“I fully understand that sentiment.”
“Understanding…? ”
“Yes.”
The twenty-two-year-old princess slowly adjusted her lioness mask.
Then, parted her fresh red lips.
“With your lifespan nearing its end, you must be greatly worried about the kingdom’s future.”
Lea boldly brought up the king’s weakness.
His ‘lifespan.’
“…”
The southern ruler fell silent for a moment.
He merely furrowed his thick brows in displeasure.
Hearing such words from youthful vigor opposite his own.
“How urgent must it have been for you to threaten my brother and seek a lifespan-extending elixir.”
Duke Luke flinched at her side.
“That was my unilateral decision, Princess…”
“Enough, Luke. Be silent.”
The king gently rebuked his anxious son.
Then, apologized himself.
“That was regrettable, a reckless and rude act. But know this.”
Hodrian slowly removed his mask.
Revealing a middle-aged face hard to believe was in his seventies.
A noble, handsome visage that aged less than time suggested, like an elf.
“My son had absolutely no intention of harming him.”
However, unlike his youthful face, his vitality was fading.
Faint mana gathered at his left chest, and irregular heartbeats proved it.
“I understand. The situation was dire, so it couldn’t be helped.”
Lea accepted the king’s apology flatly.
Like pitying cornered, aged, sick prey.
“With your young heir to lead after your death, half-brothers, and scheming lords waiting to exploit the moment.”
The First Imperial Princess’s blue eyes gleamed.
Like the king baring his honesty by removing his mask, she revealed her face.
“You must have been very anxious. Thus, this alliance feels especially crucial.”
At Lea’s words, the king’s expression softened bit by bit.
The princess continued logically, as if to reassure him further.
“We on our side are striving to understand Your Majesty’s feelings. To prove it, His Imperial Majesty plans to avoid vassal alliances or toxic clauses.”
Guaranteeing a fair alliance.
Hodrian’s face began to relax.
“In fact, our Leon has formed a fully equal alliance with Bakal. Trade is booming, and all are satisfied.”
“I’ve heard. A certain knight shone brilliantly for it.”
Lea chuckled at his words.
Gazing at me steadily, she said.
“Yes, my guard knight here was the one who shone.”
With the king before her, Lea introduced me honestly.
Southern royals’ burdensome gazes turned to me.
“Indeed… Your aura is extraordinary. You’re the Grand Master who defeated Arthur.”
The king hadn’t discerned my power like the emperor or South’s Greatest Swordsman.
But he nodded, sensing my unique presence.
“An honor to meet one of the only two such figures on the continent.”
Never dreamed I’d hear a king say it was an honor to meet me.
I was dumbfounded.
“Th-thank you.”
“I heard from Captain Archimond. You didn’t just overwhelm Arthur—you taught him the ‘qualities of a captain.’”
Turns out, I was one reason the king came here.
Intrigued by tales of sincere advice to a potential enemy leader.
“It was just a comment pitying his untapped talent.”
Lea watched pleased as the conversation centered on me.
She whispered softly in my ear.
“You’ll need to get used to occasions like this from now on.”
As if elevating me as her consort.
Her fingers gently stroked my thigh soothingly.
Now, she was bold and seductive even before a foreign king.
‘Somehow, it feels like my life’s about to get busier…’
The cozy sofa receding into the distance.
The life of lounging comfortably forever seemed to slip away.