Chapter 274
Chapter 274
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Emergency Meeting (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Imperial Garden.
The three imperial princesses had gathered in this space, one that no one but the empire's key figures could dare enter.
An antique round table was placed on the beautiful lawn at the heart of the palace.
They sat in their chairs, each reporting on the achievements they had made in state affairs.
“The Kingdom of Samad will be visiting the capital for the upcoming fireworks festival.”
Lydia was the first to speak.
She usually had a sharp edge to her, but when discussing state matters, her eyes took on an air of worldly wisdom.
“The Eastern Knights will handle security, and we’ve already secured plenty of supplies, so there shouldn’t be any issues.”
However, Irina and Lea paid little attention to her words.
They stared blankly into space, lost in their own daydreams.
“Are you even listening? What’s with those looks on your faces!”
Lydia scolded her two older sisters, fuming.
Her long twin black tails bristled with anger on either side of her.
“You’re all acting like little girls instead of imperial princesses. Have you actually accomplished anything?”
At the youngest’s question, the princesses finally focused their gazes.
They began reciting their accomplishments in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Yeah, the second talks with Bakal went off without a hitch. They’re sending a congratulatory delegation timed with the fireworks festival.”
“The alliance with the south was sealed successfully too. Leon even got a personal apology from the Southern Emperor.”
Talks with the notoriously tough Bakal had gone smoothly, and they were even sending a delegation to her event.
Not only had the alliance succeeded, but they’d extracted a direct apology from that famous Southern Emperor.
Despite these successes that went beyond mere adequacy into perfection, their dazed expressions made Lydia furrow her delicate brows.
“What’s going on…. Why is everyone so quiet?”
The petite youngest princess placed her hands on her hips and asked.
“Hmm. Who knows?”
“No idea. I feel the same as always.”
Lydia felt an instinctive discomfort at her two older sisters’ unusually languid demeanor today.
The same as always? What about this was the same…!!
The sharp red eyes unique to the Third Imperial Princess flicked between them.
Her expression was utterly sullen.
At that moment.
One of the female attendants waiting along the corridor surrounding the garden approached slowly.
“Your Highnesses, shall we prepare tea time as usual?”
The woman in her dignified maid uniform inquired about refreshments for the princesses.
Irina was the first to respond politely.
“Yes, water is fine for me.”
“I’ll have coffee.”
The female attendant received the familiar orders with polite deference.
She turned her gaze to Lea last.
Surely, she would order her usual Earl Grey.
But….
“I’d like some sweets with my tea.”
The unexpected addition made her eyebrows twitch.
Sweets.
The attendant—and Lydia—stared in disbelief as the First Imperial Princess, so meticulous about her self-care, requested something sweet.
Her signature red eyes widened like a cat’s.
“Yes, Your Highness. What dessert should we prepare?”
The female attendant asked again in a calm voice.
Lea looked up at the sky absentmindedly and replied indifferently.
“Biscuits and cream cheese. Strawberries as a garnish would be nice.”
“As you command.”
A sweet choice, uncharacteristic of her usual cool demeanor.
It might have passed without notice from another woman, but coming from the ever-composed Lea, it prompted Lydia to ask in a puzzled tone.
“Have you ever even eaten stuff like that?”
“Tastes change.”
Lea answered in a serene voice.
Seizing the moment, Lydia giggled like a little devil and pointed accusingly.
“Hee hee. You’re already so hefty, and now you’re going to pile on more—?”
The youngest sister had always thought Lea obsessed over maintaining her perfect image.
She gestured toward the First Princess’s ample blouse, which even her uniform couldn’t fully conceal.
“How does that fit with all your talk of ‘self-discipline’?”
“…”
Lea didn’t rise to her sister’s provocation.
She simply gazed down at the arriving dessert, reminiscing about someone, and let out a soft chuckle.
“I don’t weigh that much, Lydia. If you go by the numbers, I’m right at the average for female soldiers.”
“Ha, liar. You look like you’re over 60 kilos—how is that average?”
Lydia boasted a sleek midriff without a hint of excess fat.
Her petite figure, honed by Eastern martial arts and rigorous self-discipline, was on full display.
“I’ve gone through all the standard physical measurements as a female soldier. It’s certified info, no matter how much you deny it.”
“So what were they? Spill the exact numbers.”
Lydia rested a hand on one of her beautifully curved hips and pressed.
Lea lifted her teacup and slowly recalled.
“Piece by piece?”
“Yeah, no embellishing.”
Lydia suspected she’d dodge with just weight, so she demanded precise figures on the spot.
Even Lea paused to think at the question.
“Hmm… 103, 58, 98, I think. That was for my custom uniform.”
“…!!”
Lydia’s face went pale at the three-digit bust measurement.
She could only stare blankly at Lea inhaling the aroma of her tea.
Over 100 up top, but a 58-inch waist.
It was an astonishingly ideal ratio compared to those overwhelming curves.
As if all her food went straight to two places.
“…”
The youngest princess felt a thirst coming on and gripped her coffee cup.
She took a quick gulp and promptly choked.
“What the—why is this so bitter!”
“Coffee’s supposed to be bitter, Lydia.”
Irina chuckled as she looked at her sister.
“I always mix milk in my coffee!”
“Suits you perfectly. Here.”
The Second Imperial Princess handed Lydia a small milk cup from the table.
The youngest stared openly at her approaching sister’s beautiful curves.
If Lea embodied the goddess of fertility and abundance, Irina was like the goddess of the moon and the hunt in form.
Lydia’s appetite vanished, her face turning sullen.
“Hold on. Irina, have you ever been measured too?”
Taking the opportunity, Lydia asked her second sister as well.
Irina recalled the recent measurements from her tailor.
“Hm? My measurements?”
She pondered, elegantly brushing back her signature silvery tresses.
Blinking her long-lidded eyes that caught the sunlight, she answered.
“Probably… 90, 55, 94? Don’t remember the weight.”
Nines across the board for bust and hips.
Lydia’s eyes twitched beneath.
She’d gotten some pretty good numbers herself recently for an Eastern-style bridal gown!!
But her sisters’ figures made hers seem downright pitiful by comparison—brutally so.
“Y-you’re all so vulgar!!”
The princess huffed and downed her milk-laced coffee.
White foam clung to her lips as she shouted.
“Your imperial dignity has been utterly stolen by one vixen!”
Irina rested her chin on her hand, amused by Lydia’s outburst.
“What are yours?”
She giggled behind her palm like a seductive wolf.
Lydia clenched her fists and shot back lightly.
“None of your business!!”
Fuming, the princess snatched one of Lea’s biscuits.
Thinking perhaps these numbers came with Western meals, she bit into it deeply.
With her leopard-sharp canines.
“Hee hee… So cute, Lydia.”
“Wonder if Veil rates her highly for this side of her.”
Before he came along, their meetings had always been stark.
The table held only state documents as they eyed each other coldly, locked in rivalry.
Lately, though, their atmosphere had shifted dramatically.
Sweet dessert crumbs began to drift down onto the papers like snowflakes.
The princesses were gradually revealing more human sides to themselves.
“Shut up, you lumps of flesh!”
“You’re the one undermining your own talk of dignity, Lydia.”
Irina watched the eldest and youngest glare and bicker.
Unknowingly, a faint smile crept onto her lips.
She didn’t mind spending time like this with her blood kin every now and then.
As if to hide her signature fresh smile, she looked up at the sky.
The empire’s skies were bluer and more radiant than in the past.
“Haah… Nice.”
Irina exhaled deeply.
When she lowered her head again.
She caught Lydia throwing a pointed question at Lea.
“By the way, Lea, you were pretty blatant about it.”
Blatant.
Lea paused mid-spread of cheese on her biscuit and asked back.
“About what?”
“Don’t play dumb. You dumped all the major diplomatic events on us and headed south with Veil.”
Ever perceptive like the ruler of the East, Lydia had seen through the eldest’s intentions.
Arms crossed alone, she continued.
“Isn’t that a bit too obvious?”
Irina, having caught on too, stared at Lea.
The empire’s First Imperial Princess adjusted her uniform cap and spoke.
“You misunderstand. I simply chose our top asset, Veil, to instill discipline in the Southern Kingdom.”
She crossed her thighs clad in black stockings with a sensual motion.
The compressed flesh gleamed in the sunlight.
“The opponent in the friendly bout was the South’s Greatest Sword.”
The reputation of the South’s Greatest Sword.
Lydia knew it, and Irina—who knew Archimond—recognized it too.
“If Richard had gone, we couldn’t have settled the superiority. My choice was the rational one.”
“They sent their best for a friendly match. They’re definitely wary of us.”
Irina immediately grasped Duke Luke’s intentions and said so.
Her intelligent eyes flashed as she rested a hand on her soft chin.
“They had no choice. We went from cold war to suddenly proposing an alliance first.”
Lydia gripped her coffee cup tightly with both hands and added.
As ruler of her region, she understood the habits of those in power.
“Winning a war against us is impossible, so they wanted to showcase their nation’s strength through one-on-one duels.”
“Exactly. And they failed spectacularly.”
Lea chuckled in agreement.
Gazing toward the corridor where he had left, she seemed to recall the duel between Veil and the South’s Greatest Sword.
“Veil was impressive back then. Far better than coiled up sleeping all day.”
Irina and Lydia nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, Veil’s coolest when he ‘moves’ on his own.”
The two younger sisters nodded too.
The Second recalled his back as he faced dozens of elite knights alone to protect her.
The Third remembered him slaying Captain Hammus and single-handedly crumbling Hakim’s army.
But their reminiscences couldn’t last.
Lea dropped a profoundly meaningful line right in front of them.
“So I rewarded him.”
Reward.
The princesses all wore puzzled expressions at the word.
“Reward…?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
As they asked in unison, the First Imperial Princess picked up a biscuit slathered thickly with white cream cheese.
She placed it to her red lips.
The empire’s eldest savored it deeply before swallowing.
Fresh white cream smeared her lips.
Lea wiped it away with elegant fingers.
“There is such a thing.”
The cool First Imperial Princess, who’d seemed hopeless at romance.
Now flashing her sisters a feminine smile for the first time, she sent chills down their spines.
Especially Lydia.
A few weeks ago, Irina had come back from a concert with him wearing a similar smile.
Seeing it on Lea too made her feel utterly off.
“You don’t mean…”
“Lydia, that outfit you gave me fit perfectly.”
Lea giggled at her youngest sister.
“The largest size was still a bit snug, so I wore it secretly underneath to stretch it out…”
The First Princess brushed biscuit crumbs from her beautiful curves.
Then, with sensual eyes, she expressed her thanks.
“Thanks to you, it was very enjoyable.”
Realizing Lea had beaten her to Veil, Lydia bared her sharp canines.
Her neatly tied twin tails bristled like she was about to pounce like a lioness.
“You perverted harlot…!!”
Lydia, who’d been so eager in that department.
Seeing her older sisters take the lead flushed her face beet red.