Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 70. Golden Lion (4)
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“I greet Your Imperial Highness, the First Princess.”
I bowed my head calmly in greeting.
My gaze then drifted down to the princess’s attire, which was relaxed to the point of being defenseless.
Her usual crisp white shirt clung tightly to her figure.
Now, with the buttons undone, it hung loose enough to reveal the mole on her collarbone.
“Your attire is so different from usual that I almost didn’t recognize you.”
Lea noticed my gaze and lifted the corner of her mouth lightly.
“You came to my chambers a few days ago, didn’t you? You should get used to it by now.”
Lea casually buttoned up the loose fastenings.
As a result, her shirt pulled taut once more.
“I always wear such constricting clothes, so it was suffocating. At least when I’m resting, I want to be comfortable.”
Lea fanned herself with the chess manual she held in one hand as she spoke.
“Does that mean this entire area is Your Highness’s resort?”
“For now, you could say that. Though it’ll soon be developed into a city.”
Lea placed her hand on her breast pocket.
She then took out her monocle, which had been squeezed tight by the buttoned shirt.
“Then the land listings that came up today as well…”
I furrowed my brow as I asked.
Lea put on her monocle and pretended not to understand.
“Hm? What are you talking about?”
“It means you put part of the private land up for sale because of that.”
At my persistent question, Lea glanced up.
She smiled with her eyes while covering her lips with the chess manual.
“Oh my. Isn’t that a bit too much of a leap?”
The princess closed the book she was holding.
She set it down beside the chessboard and said,
“That place really belonged to an acquaintance of mine. They suddenly had some ‘business’ come up, so they sold it today.”
“Ah— is that so? This morning, even?”
Her brazen attitude left me at a loss for words.
Yet she didn’t seem to care in the slightest.
“So, I asked them to have you sign the contract in their place when you arrived?”
Instead, she pointed to the cream-colored paper on the chessboard.
“Go on, sign it slowly.”
The First Princess handed me the contract, then turned her head toward the fir forest.
She coaxed my hesitation with a gentle murmur.
“You think it’s a great spot too, don’t you? Is there any reason to hesitate?”
I followed Lea’s gaze and looked around at the scenery.
The whole world brimmed with vibrant greenery.
It was warm and peaceful, nothing like the Empire’s north.
“This place was such a natural paradise that it was originally slated for the Crown Prince.”
Lea crossed her legs.
She gazed leisurely at her fief and continued,
“But in the end, Mother entrusted it to me. I’ve handled state affairs better than that fool.”
I looked at the princess.
With an expression of incomprehension, I asked,
“Then why were you threatened with a curse? If she’s bequeathing such fine land to you, she must hold you dear.”
Lea’s smile faded at the question.
“Well, the reason is simple. Because I’m no longer taking part in Mother’s plans.”
The princess folded her arms alone.
Then, with a face as cold as a ruthless empress, she spoke.
“And that plan… it seems you already know about it too?”
Was it the shade from the parasol?
Her blue eyes gleamed even more coldly.
“That’s why you’ve been cozying up to the other princesses lately, right?”
Ordinary attendants or knights would freeze at that look alone.
But I wasn’t particularly fazed.
“As expected of the First Princess. You see through everything.”
Compared to her cold gaze…
The swordmasters and great generals I’d faced until now had been far more intimidating.
“Indeed. That’s why I wanted to ask Your Highness what you think of that conspiracy.”
She had tried to interrogate me.
But when I countered with a question of my own, the princess lifted her mouth in interest.
“You strike me as quite peculiar every time I see you.”
“Me, peculiar?”
Lea fixed me with her characteristic analytical gaze.
“Yes. Normally, when I prod like this, people get flustered…”
The First Princess removed her monocle.
With serious eyes, she said to me,
“But you always seem so composed, as if you’ve prepared for everything in advance.”
No wonder she was an Imperial commander.
Her insight was incredibly sharp.
“Haha. That’s a misunderstanding. How could I possibly fathom Your Highness Lea’s profound intentions?”
I responded with a formal smile.
In return, the princess answered with a savage smile that transcended formality.
“You’re so sly, it makes me want to bite you…”
“Please understand.”
A sharp fang peeked from the golden-haired woman’s mouth.
However, it seemed not yet time to devour her prey, so it vanished again.
“Fine, it must be my misunderstanding. Let’s get back to the main topic.”
Lea snapped her fingers.
At once, a soundproofing spell enveloped the parasol shading us.
“You mean the Empress’s petty plan to dismantle the Empire?”
“Exactly. Afterward, she’ll revive her homeland, the Ekina Kingdom.”
The First Princess nodded, satisfied with my answer.
She recrossed her legs the other way and said,
“I’ve known about that plan since I was five.”
Five years old.
That meant the First Imperial Consort had been plotting this conspiracy for a full nineteen years.
“But when I grew older, I realized how utterly foolish it was.”
Lea tapped her fingers rhythmically.
“It’s too emotional. To topple the continent’s greatest nation just for personal revenge.”
“Indeed. An absurd plan.”
When I agreed, Lea slowly shook her head.
“But do you know what’s truly frightening?”
“What is it?”
Lea closed her eyes tightly.
She drew a deep breath and said,
“It’s that Mother is currently so powerful she can afford to act on emotion.”
The princess looked down at the queen on the chessboard.
A being that could move freely, slaying all others at will.
That being was the current First Imperial Consort, Rozanna.
“Already, eighty percent of the Empire’s nobles support her.”
Lea stared intently at the chess pieces scattered across the board.
“The remaining twenty percent must be the Imperial Chancellor, the other royals…”
Then, she delicately lifted a knight with her fingertip.
“And you.”
She contrasted my black hair with the knight’s color.
I watched her impassively.
“In such an overwhelmingly lopsided situation, what can I do?”
Lea soon placed the knight back on the board.
But the game was filled only with enemies.
The lone knight standing there looked utterly pathetic.
“Then, does that mean Your Highness will ultimately side with the Consort?”
“Who knows. If I want to establish my own kingdom, it’s better to join the majority.”
“But will the Consort so graciously accept Your Highness, who’s still walking the tightrope?”
I hurled a dagger at her relaxed demeanor.
But the princess smiled as if she’d anticipated it.
“You’re right. Even after independence, maintaining amicable relations would be difficult.”
Lea rose from her chair.
She extended her palm toward the vast private lands.
“That’s why I’m preparing like this, isn’t it?”
The western lord pointed to the wide plains with her finger.
“From there to the western frontier, sturdy walls will be built. Inside, systematic facilities will rise.”
Her face sketched visions of her own kingdom.
It was the visage of a young sovereign brimming with passion.
“I’ve already finished all preparations against Mother. The people will continue their peaceful lives as before.”
Lea said proudly.
Then, she quietly approached my side.
“But to achieve all this, I still need a symbolic ‘presence.’”
Her hand rested on my chair.
Looking down at me with the mature eyes of an empress, she said,
“And right now, I’m searching for that presence.”
I silently met her eyes.
At that, Lea scanned me up and down with her trademark analytical gaze.
As if looking down at prey.
“I’ll prepare everything…”
Was it because the curse had lifted?
Color had returned to her hitherto pale skin.
“So you just need to bring your body.”
I gazed up steadily at the now-healthy Lea.
Then, with profound pity, I said,
“Your Highness is afraid of the First Consort right now.”
Afraid.
At that single word, the skin beneath Lea’s eyes twitched momentarily.
“What did you say…?”
No one had ever looked at her with such pity before.
To have her first experience with some ignorant commoner knight was humiliating.
“You’re planning a perfect escape, but trembling in fear of being caught.”
Lea bit her quivering lip.
She forcibly maintained a blank expression.
“Sir Veil, that’s a most offensive remark. Can you bear the weight of those words?”
The princess bristled, ashamed that her fear of her mother had been exposed.
‘That’s understandable.’
I knew from the past that Rozanna had raised her children harshly.
Solely for her revenge, she had thoroughly brainwashed the Crown Prince and princess, inducing hatred for their father.
Lea had overcome that brainwashing upon reaching adulthood and risen to her current position.
But the instinctive fear from childhood lingered still.
“This isn’t an escape. It’s merely evacuating a sinking ship.”
Thinking me insolent, Lea breathed raggedly.
She thrust her flushed face close and said,
“And I’m giving you a chance to escape with me.”
The Empire’s First Princess seized my necktie.
She lifted it like a leash and said,
“You insolent knight.”
It was the look of a tamer seeking to subdue a beast that had caught her fancy and begun to thrash.
At that, my lips curved upward involuntarily.
“To bestow such a grand opportunity—truly, I am grateful.”
And…
I leaned in toward the princess instead.
“But I won’t obtain the life I desire through escape.”
Our breaths mingled in the closeness.
Riding that breath, I whispered to her,
“I’ll seize it myself.”
Seize.
Lea’s blue eyes roiled fiercely at those words.
Long ago.
The day her father returned from war and gifted her a chessboard as her first present.
She recalled hearing the word “seize.”
「Lea.」
The Conqueror King knelt personally before his tiny daughter to meet her eyes.
Still clad in his armor, he faced her.
「I didn’t know what you’d like, so I prepared it myself.」
The little golden-haired girl accepted the chessboard from her father.
Clutching it preciously to her chest, she asked,
“Father, will you always come back to the palace now…?”
Her round, blue eyes, so peaceful and serene.
The emperor smiled warmly at them.
「I’m sorry. The war isn’t over yet, so I can’t stay.」
Her father gently stroked her hair.
But the daughter seized both his hands.
When she opened her palms…
The hideous scars, swollen and torn, were laid bare.
“Do you have to conquer everything? Couldn’t we retreat a bit and live in peace…?”
Seeing the wounds, Lea murmured sadly.
The Conqueror King laughed heartily and told his daughter,
“At an age when you should be spoiled rotten… you think so deeply.」
The emperor stood.
His massive frame loomed over the princess.
「But, my daughter. Peace isn’t easily obtained.」
Her father donned his helmet.
With a sacred, noble expression, he said to her,
“The moment we show weakness, our enemies deem us easy prey and attack again.」
The nine-year-old girl had thought her father merely greedy for land.
She gazed up at him blankly.
「Thus, peace must be seized for oneself.」
The emperor left those final words and departed from the princess.
To safeguard the Empire’s peace.
「―――.」
Lea snapped back to reality.
She looked at the knight standing in her father’s former position.
“Princess, are you all right?”
“Huh…?”
Lea staggered as the tension released.
I supported her to the chair.
“Your complexion looks poor.”
“I’m fine.”
Lea placed a hand on her chest and took a moment to breathe deeply.
She picked up the chess manual from the table and hid her face behind it.
She was ashamed to have shown an unprincesslike expression.
“…”
Once her heart had somewhat calmed, she peeked only her eyes over the book.
She stared piercingly at the man gazing down at the chessboard.
“You… just what…”
The man from her long-forgotten memory.
And the man before her now were so eerily similar.