The Third Princess' First Day at the Palace
Eris had been at the palace for two months, and Anelia for one.
The day of the Third Princess's arrival was finally upon us.
“I greet Her Imperial Majesty.”
The same formal procedure that had unfolded for the two previous princesses continued, and Bruneah took her place in the third annex.
As she moved toward the annex, a red-haired girl blocked her path.
“So you’re the third princess.”
“Eh?”
“You look just as foolish as my second sister.”
“W-what…?”
“Ah, you must be Her Highness the First Princess, my sister Eris.”
“How rude! Address me as Her Highness the First Princess!”
Eris stared up at Bruneah, who was a full head taller than her, and felt nothing but pride.
“Nice to meet you, sister.”
Bruneah felt exactly the same way.
Despite the overwhelming pressure Eris tried to unleash, she stood tall and unyielding.
“Even if you call me ‘sister,’ I still want to be called ‘Your Highness’!”
“Sister, please call me whatever feels comfortable.”
“Grr… this insubordinate wench!”
Even under the torrent of insults, Bruneah simply smiled gently.
Eris’s pride stung at the sight of the mature, grown-up smile aimed down at her, so she added another barb.
“To think the northern barbarians weren’t even given proper etiquette training!”
“…Your words are going too far.”
The gentle smile vanished from Bruneah’s face, replaced by an icy chill.
The surrounding air suddenly grew frigid, as if wrapped in the cold aura that radiated from her.
It was one thing to insult her personally.
But to slander the North? That was unforgivable.
Even if the speaker was the First Princess.
The sight of Bruneah, a peerless beauty already mature beyond her years, speaking with such cold dignity sent a chill down Eris’s spine.
Eris, who lacked the courage to endure the fury of a 2-Core Lower Knight, immediately switched tactics.
“C-cough. I was wrong. The words ‘northern barbarians’ were a mistake.”
“Thank you for your apology, sister.”
The icy mask on Eris’s face melted away the moment she heard the apology.
The storm of hostility vanished, replaced by a warm, sunny smile.
“I have a schedule, so I must go now. You should rest as well.”
“Yes.”
Eris dashed away in a hurry, and in the gap Anelia, who had been frozen in panic, bowed and fled back to her own palace.
Bruneah walked with measured steps toward her annex.
“Whoa…”
The path to the third annex was lined with well-tended landscaping and lush green grass.
Unlike the perpetually snowy North, Adelin enjoyed mild weather year-round.
As she entered the private chamber, the maids had already packed all her belongings.
“This suit probably won’t see much use.”
A gray fur coat hung on the rack, a gift from her father that seemed pointless to wear.
Bruneah hung it on a side wall like decoration.
Now dressed in the pristine white armor of the White Knights, she stepped out of the annex.
Her destination was the training ground of the Imperial Guard, located in the eastern corner of the palace.
“Ricarton-nim!”
Spotting Ricarton, Bruneah sprinted over in a flash and leaped into his arms.
“Whoa, Your Highness Bruneah.”
“It’s been so long!”
“You’ve grown so much. You’ve gotten heavier.”
“I-I’m heavy because of the armor!”
“Hahaha.”
Ricarton gently stroked her silver hair, and Bruneah smiled bashfully.
Someone watching them from the side couldn’t help but scowl.
“H-how dare you… right in front of me…”
Eris, who had only just begun to draw her sword, froze in shock.
“Kuaaa—!!”
Instead of drawing the sword, Eris exhaled a burst of flame from her mouth.
Ricarton muttered quietly, watching the scene.
“…She really is spitting fire.”
***
Her second disciple.
Bruneah, who had heard Eris was studying under me, had come to request lessons as well.
Already a 2-Core Lower Knight, she had been offered a position in the Imperial Knights, but she had chosen to learn the sword from me instead.
Now both princesses stood side by side, swinging their blades.
Whoosh, whoosh—
Clang! Sshik, clink!
While Eris hacked at her own neck, Bruneah swung the Snow Flower Sword, the standard style of the North.
Eris kept glancing sideways at Bruneah as she swung.
“I thought she’d be intimidated… but it actually feels like a stimulant.”
At first I had considered teaching them separately, but I realized they could benefit from mutual influence.
“Oops.”
Eris, distracted by Bruneah, tripped and tumbled forward.
Klang!
“Sister, are you okay?”
“K-ugh… I’m fine.”
Eris’s face flushed bright red as she struggled to her feet.
Of course, embarrassment hurt more than pain.
“Ah, blood.”
Bruneah quickly wiped the nosebleed from Eris’s nose with her pristine white handkerchief.
Who’s the older sister? Who’s the younger?
“Ah, Captain. Her Majesty is calling for me.”
“Hmm? Understood. You keep teaching her until I return.”
“…Eh? Me?”
I set the palace guardsman who had come to fetch me as a temporary tutor and headed straight to the throne room.
The Empress sat on the imperial throne, gazing down at her ministers.
Standing directly behind her, the empty seats left by those purged during my time in the volcanic region stood out clearly.
“Everyone, listen.”
The Prime Minister spoke.
“The Empire has been in chaos ever since the Black Knight appeared. Day and night, the Imperial Knights have pursued him without rest.”
“Not a single trace was found.”
The creature left no magical residue in the World Garden where it had appeared, making pursuit impossible.
“As a result, we discovered that the following families are connected to the Black Knight and have issued appropriate punishments. Rosewellfield, Sorteia, Yazlik, Ieroica, Sensia, Charleo…”
The names listed were mostly those of families closely tied to the Central Dukes.
Seriel had seized the opportunity to use the Black Knight as an excuse to sweep away the nobles who opposed her.
The Central Duke’s face, eyes tightly shut, looked utterly devastated.
Using the Black Knight as pretext, he had nearly cut me down, but instead his own retainers had been cut down.
The representative of the Eastern Duke, who had lost many eastern nobles, also wore a dazed expression.
“From now on, we will conduct thorough investigations and surveillance regarding the Black Knight. Anyone even slightly connected to it will be punished severely under the imperial crest.”
A cruel warning followed.
If anyone crossed a line, or if Her Majesty’s eyes fell upon them… their next move would be their last.
All the nobles except the Imperial Loyalists could only sigh in silence.
***
I carried Seriel to the imperial garden.
Her face was hidden, but the air around her felt strangely joyful—perhaps the flickering of her magic, or the warmth of her breath.
“You seem happy?”
“My noble kin were sliced away like so many pieces of meat. What joy is there in that?”
This was inside the palace.
Even with soundproofing spells cast across the entire imperial grounds, ears were everywhere.
One had to be careful with words.
Of course, I could detect every living soul within a few hundred meters with my magic, so no one could eavesdrop.
“It seems no one will rise anytime soon.”
“…Hmph.”
That sounded pleasant to me.
The nasal sound was a touch higher than usual.
“Ah, Your Majesty!”
Even today, Anelia sat at the gazebo in the imperial garden.
The way she gracefully bowed while holding her hem showed she had received proper etiquette training.
“This is the finest black tea from the South, Borun. Would you like to try it?”
Anelia opened the box on the table, and Seriel gave a curt nod without emotion.
The stumbling had improved noticeably.
Thud!
“Ah, a-ah! S-sorry!!”
Anelia, whose hand slipped and knocked the teapot over, panicked.
…She would need a little more time.
“It’s all right.”
I gathered the spilled tea into my palm.
A single baseball-sized drop formed instantly.
I instantly cooled it and sent it flying toward the flowerbed.
“Waaah, y-you’re amazing!”
“It’s nothing special.”
“Even a 2-Class Mage shouldn’t be impressed by something like this.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Seriel’s single word made Anelia’s shoulders droop.
I was the expert at setting the mood, yet she kept interrupting.
“Your Majesty used to be impressed too. When I first cast lightning magic—”
“Shut up.”
“Yes.”
Slurp—
A slender hand poured the tea.
A fragrant aroma filled the air.
I watched.
Seriel’s eyes grew a little wider as she sipped.
“…Ricarton.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll have to cut the necks of the servants who’ve been bringing you tea.”
“…Please don’t.”
Anelia, who had scored points with her mother, smiled bashfully after meeting my eyes.
***
“Hah, hah…”
Eris lay sprawled on the ground after finishing the second form of the Fierce Dragon Sword.
Bruneah was still swinging the Snow Flower Sword beside her.
Even wearing full armor, sweat poured down her face in sheets.
“Just doing the movements slowly takes this much effort.”
Bruneah was moving at only a quarter speed.
By the time she finished the first form, her forearms were trembling under the weight of the sword.
At her size—able to lift a boulder with one hand—the sword had never felt this heavy.
“I thought I had perfected it, but…”
As she followed the form slowly, small misalignments appeared between the path her mind remembered and the one her body remembered.
She had unconsciously been taking the easier route.
“As expected, Ricarton-nim is truly amazing.”
He made it seem effortless even without a manual.
Rubelion had taught her the same sword multiple times, but she had never truly understood it.
“The form is fine. Your Highness’s sword is too hasty. It’s like you’re being chased by something.”
Exactly. It had been hasty. She had been running from something.
The demons were moving south day by day, while the northern knights suffered constant manpower shortages.
Support from the central government and provinces was woefully inadequate.
To improve the North’s conditions and receive proper payment for acting as a barrier against the southern demons, she would have to become the Crown Princess.
Her dominant thought was that she must grow strong as quickly as possible to be appointed Crown Princess.
Since swordsmanship and martial arts were what she did best, she had decided the fastest way was to become stronger with a sword.
“Even if I rush now, I might feel strong, but I will take the life of the princess at the critical moment.”
She needed to know how to handle that, but all the northern knights could do was repeat and drill sword forms until they were perfect.
Because the Snow Flower Sword was only truly completed after brutal training.
The northern knights naturally assumed perfection came through endless repetition.
Of course Bruneah believed in herself, but when the greatest sword masters and knights of the North spoke as one, she had no choice but to obey.
“Haah, haah…”
In just two hours, all the months of worry had vanished.
They had completed the endless repetition they spoke of in only two hours.
“If I tell him, everyone will be happy, right?”
Looking at her trembling hands, Bruneah smiled with satisfaction and sheathed her blade.
Bruneah’s inner evaluation of Ricarton continued its steady climb.
Meanwhile.
“How dare you leave me again, you damned bastard Ricarton…!!”
Eris’s inner evaluation of Ricarton was plummeting day by day.
