Chapter 292
Chapter 292
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: A Languid Afternoon (3)
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On the way back after leaving the Emperor's office.
I crossed paths with a woman in a pure white dress in the palace corridor.
Her face was mostly hidden by the wide brim of her white hat.
But I knew right away who she was.
Her exquisitely beautiful silver wolf-like hair, long and flowing.
And those mysterious emerald eyes shining through her locks.
She was Irina, the one I'd met in my past life and now in this one.
"Bale, you're here. Did you just see Father?"
"Yes, Your Highness. It feels like ages since I last saw him, even though it's only been a few days."
Irina nodded slowly in agreement.
Then she approached gracefully, holding a basket demurely in both hands.
"Indeed. This must be the first time since the music hall performance."
The music hall.
I let out a dry cough at the mention.
But Irina showed no embarrassment about that memory.
Instead, she patted my shoulder and left me with a bright smile.
"Wait just a moment? I'll see Father and then we can head back together."
"Understood."
――――――.
She was dressed far more femininely than one would expect for delivering a report.
About ten minutes after she entered the office, she returned with a serene expression.
"Did I keep you waiting long?"
"Not at all. Shall I escort you to the Northern Palace?"
I asked as we walked side by side.
The princess slowly shook her head.
"No, I'm heading to Nostun's public cemetery."
'Cemetery...?'
Ah.
Right, today was the Second Imperial Consort's death anniversary.
"Then I'll escort you there. It's close by, conveniently."
We left the grand heavenly palace together and mounted our horses.
Irina, in her white dress, mounted the white horse effortlessly.
Even in such feminine attire, she exuded the dignity befitting the Empire's princess.
Her ample thighs, covered by the thin dress fabric, caught my eye.
She held firm with that strength, urging the horse forward vigorously.
From the terrace, the Emperor watched her with a wistful gaze.
He knew it was his second wife's death anniversary, his eyes filled with pity.
He could only regret not being able to show his wife how beautifully their daughter had grown.
Still, it wasn't entirely sorrowful.
When Leonhardt's gaze lingered on me riding alongside her.
The corner of his mouth twitched upward ever so slightly.
Pleased with his daughter's companion, he let out a deep breath.
Noticing the Emperor's presence, I glanced up, and he gave a light wave.
*Take good care of my daughter, Bale.*
I bowed my head in acknowledgment of his telepathic message.
Then we rode leisurely toward the capital's north.
―――――――.
Nostun was famous for its gloomy weather, but today the skies were unusually clear.
Basking in the cool autumn breeze, we galloped along the bustling roads.
Citizens who recognized Irina's white horse bowed their heads in greeting as we passed.
The princess waved back with a gentle smile, heading toward a certain hill.
It was an ordinary public cemetery, hard to believe imperial royals rested there.
Even the groundskeeper was a soft-spoken elderly local from Nostun.
"You've arrived, Your Highness."
He recognized her immediately and bowed his small frame.
The Empire's Second Imperial Princess responded with a light nod.
"I'm here to see Mother."
"I just trimmed the grass, so it should be even easier to visit."
The direction the old man pointed to was a single tombstone at the hill's highest point.
Irina climbed the slope steadily in her dress.
"I should have prepared more comfortable clothes."
"No, Bale. I wore this on purpose."
The princess climbed the hill nonchalantly, insisting it was fine.
She stopped before a modest-sized tombstone.
"Mother always loved seeing me dressed like this."
"Consort Istina said that...?"
Irina nodded plainly at my question.
And then...
From the basket I'd thought held a picnic lunch, she pulled out a bouquet of pure white mist flowers.
"Yes. Her one joy was dressing me up in pretty clothes."
She placed the bouquet slowly before the small tombstone.
The inscription read:
*Istina Andalusia. Leon 25 - Leon 55*
"I was always shooting bows or riding horses from such a young age, so she worried."
*Was she concerned because her daughter seemed too boyish?*
I opened my mouth to say I understood.
But her next words were even more tender.
"She knew if I showed talent for the throne race, she couldn't protect me. As a commoner who suddenly became consort after getting pregnant with me, she had few allies."
"Ah...."
Irina tilted her wide-brimmed hat up slightly.
She showed her pale white face toward the tombstone.
"She thought the best way to survive was for me to grow up feminine and marry into another country."
The princess now seemed unfazed as she grasped the hem of her dress with both hands.
She gave it a light shake and flashed me a wide smile.
"So she really loved seeing me in these fluttery clothes."
I gazed silently at Irina's smile.
Her face, inherited from her mother, was truly beautiful.
But I also knew.
That Irina and the Second Consort's early years weren't as happy as her words suggested.
"She lived a hard life in the countryside, yet she never cared for the lavish life of a consort."
The princess said, looking around the quiet cemetery.
"So when she passed, she asked to be buried here in her hometown Nostun, not the palace crypt...."
"...."
Perhaps the palace felt suffocating even in death.
I looked down at the tombstone with a heavy heart.
"Still, she must have been an incredible woman."
"Really...?"
When Irina asked back, I gently brushed the faint dust from the tombstone.
I took the handkerchief from my uniform jacket pocket and wiped the stone engraved with "Istina."
"Yes. She stayed steadfast in the imperial family she so disliked and raised Your Highness so splendidly."
The princess fell silent at my words.
We just stared blankly at the now-clean tombstone together.
"Moreover, you've become one of the Empire's pillars, so she'd be even happier watching from heaven."
I knelt down.
I neatly arranged the mist flowers before the tombstone and offered a prayer.
*In this life, I'll stay by her side, so please watch over us at ease.*
Irina knelt beside me, mimicking my prayer.
She closed her beautiful silver eyelids gently and clasped her hands.
"...."
After a brief silence.
We rose together.
"What did you pray?"
Irina smiled with her eyes at my question.
"Mother always worried about leaving me alone in the palace when she died."
The princess's radiant silver hair swayed softly.
Her subtle emerald eyes shone through.
Those eyes looked at me with sincere voice.
"I whispered to her that she doesn't need to worry anymore."
The Empire's Second Imperial Princess gently took my rough hand.
"That I now have a wonderful knight to protect me."
Her fresh words made my lips quirk up unwittingly.
I cleared my throat, then declared confidently toward the tombstone.
"Istina, Consort Highness."
Standing straight like a true imperial member.
In the crisp voice I'd used at my knighting ceremony, I vowed to her.
"In this life, I will protect the princess to the very end."
I knelt.
Then, offering utmost respect to the consort from commoner origins, I gave my final bow.
――――――.
As if in response to my farewell, a gentle autumn breeze blew.
A green fallen leaf fluttered down and settled lightly on my crown.
As if the consort herself were stroking my head.
"Mother would like you too, Bale."
Irina said with half-lidded beautiful eyes.
"She said she hoped the man I marry would be an ordinary one."
"I'm a commoner myself, aren't I?"
I chuckled at her words.
The Empire's Second Imperial Princess laughed along and picked the leaf from my head.
"Well, you're also a marquis now-. But I'm a commoner and royalty too, so same fate, right?"
With that, we descended the cemetery together.
Before returning to the palace, we decided to stop by my office for a cup of tea.
―――――.
"Wow, it really feels like forever since I've been here."
"True. I used to drop by all the time early in the year."
We gazed at the shabby three-story building, lost in memories.
From Irina shyly visiting after my knighting to ask why I hadn't chosen her.
To Lea and Lydia, who had personally decorated the entire office.
Following the vivid memories, we headed to the back of the office.
There, the now-empty vegetable garden caught my eye—it had been relocated to my western territory.
A faint afterimage of myself once pondering hard how to grow watermelons there passed by.
"This is where Mok Oron's seed and the Thorrman clansmen farmed, right?"
"Yes, but those guys don't work under me anymore."
Irina gave me a puzzled look.
Her round green eyes resembled a pretty silver wolf.
"Really? Did you fire them?"
"No-. They all got married recently and went independent. They started a distribution company in the western capital."
Of course, as immigrants, there were some issues, but Lea handled them personally.
The distribution network got connected to Samad by Lydia, and they're raking in big money now.
"So you're not farming in your territory anymore?"
"I can grow it myself if needed. No real work left anyway-."
I stretched long and yawned.
My sharp fangs popped out, glinting in the sunlight.
"Hmm.... Do you really have nothing to do...?"
"Hm?"
When I asked back at her murmur, she forced a smile and shook her head.
"No-. Let's head up."
I blankly watched the princess go ahead.
Her long dress swishing as she climbed the stairs first.
"Did I hear that wrong...?"
I tilted my head and followed up the stairs.
Passing the familiar worn corridor, I opened the office door.
That moment.
――――――.
"Hmm-hmm--."
A woman's humming came from the sofa area.
Irina and I turned to look in response.
"Uh...?"
I locked eyes with Miya, lounging diagonally on the sofa, humming away.
Her black-stockinged toes wiggling leisurely as she relaxed.
Her necktie undone, draped like a necklace.
"...."
When our eyes met, my senior's lips parted.
Her cat-like sharp fangs began to tremble.
She wasn't shouting, but her lip shape screamed "Miyaaaaah......!!"
"Uh, Senior. When did you get here...?"
"Ah, well.... My imperial vice-captain training just ended, so I had some time and thought I'd drop by...?"
Miya flailed her fingers and hastily got up from the sofa.
Irina elegantly gestured that it was fine.
"Vice-captain training must have been grueling—rest easy, Knight Miya."
"Ahaha.... Thank you, Your Highness...."
Miya's tear mole quivered faintly.
She hurriedly crammed her boots back on and began proper protocol.
"Shall I pour you some tea since you're here? Bale, you too?"
"Sure, black tea for both of us sounds good."
We settled gracefully on the sofa together.
Meanwhile, Miya poured tea with practiced skill and served us.
But.
Her hand, setting down the teacup, stood out oddly.
Covered in training bruises and blisters.
"Senior, Captain Camilla's training was tough, huh?"
I said, gently taking her hand.
Flipping her palm, her index finger was rough from gripping the sword hilt so much.
"It's fine. Thanks to it, I'm starting to take over the vice-captain position."
"Looks like you swung it thousands of times. You worked hard."
As I focused seriously on her training story, Miya stared down at me.
Unlike me concentrating on Camilla's regimen, her eyes fixed only on our clasped hands.
Hiding her flushing face, she lightly shook off my hand.
Then she threw an arm around my shoulder and boomed heartily.
"Psh-! Why worry so much!! This is basic for a senior-."
Arm around, pulling my face toward hers in friendly skinship.
Irina set her tea back down.
She elegantly brushed back her silver hair and tossed in a casual remark.
"Knight Miya."
At her serious tone, my senior froze briefly.
Only her bobbed hair swayed slightly.
"Bale is about to become 'imperial envoy' soon—don't you think you're handling him too roughly?"
"...."
The cold gaze of a female wolf with only one mate.
Miya swallowed hard.
But she wasn't one to yield to anyone.
"Ah, during work hours, I'm still his senior, so this much is fine, I think-."
Miya grinned with her signature cat-like graceful eyes.
"...."
Sandwiching me between them, the two stared intently.
In the chilled air, I eyed them alternately with sly fox-like narrowed eyes.
"Ahaha.... Come on, you two, relax and rest-. I don't even need to work hard anymore anyway."
I pulled the golden lion badge from my uniform pocket.
Proudly showing it to them.
"Oh, that's the imperial family's symbol, right? Did His Majesty give it to you?"
Even Miya recognized it instantly—a famous emblem.
Irina covered her mouth, eyes widening.
"Yep, yep-. With this, no boss can dump work on me anymore-."
"Hmm, is that so-?"
Miya gave a peculiar eye smile.
"Then you'll have even more free time from now on?"
"You bet, no need to look at state documents, just cozy bed...."
Mid-ramble alone.
I halted at the odd gazes I felt.
'Huh...?'
Blinking, I glanced at Miya.
She swallowed deeply, sending not her usual friendly look, but a suggestive smile.
But.
That was just the start.
"Ugh...."
A sudden retch from the other side.
Turning my head sharply.
Irina had covered her mouth shyly while sipping tea.
"Lately, my stomach's been feeling so queasy...?"
The Second Imperial Princess, who'd always maintained a pure image, gave a bewitching female smile.