Chapter 87
Chapter 87
Translation: godsn
Their sleeves were embroidered with a rose motif entwined with crosses.
Yet they carried an air more akin to knights than mercenaries.
"Is the one leading them their leader?"
Iason froze upon hearing the murmurs of the Valdinans identifying their identities.
The man with straw-colored hair walking at the forefront was dressed in an evening suit more vibrant than ever before.
A red hat adorned with a peacock feather sat atop his head.
He exuded a fresh and cheerful energy, as if he belonged on a midsummer beach.
Had their identities been unknown, no one would have guessed they were the continent's most notorious arms dealers.
"Why is Facade here?"
The Kazen delegation was equally taken aback by their appearance.
Some members of this diplomatic mission had participated in the War of Conquest.
During that war, Facade had supplied weapons to Kazen while also fighting as mercenaries. They knew all too well.
That these men, now pretending to be ordinary guests at the banquet, were nothing less than living reapers of death.
Facade rarely made public appearances, operating primarily in the shadows—so why had they suddenly appeared in the royal palace of Valdina?
'Surely they haven't allied with Valdina? What scheme are they plotting?'
Just as the Fourth Imperial Princess Angelique scowled—
"Gallo of Facade pays his respects to the long-standing light of Valdina."
Gallo strode confidently through the crowd, parting the guests. He removed his hat and bowed to the Queen Dowager.
"Facade wishes to join this glorious occasion today, which seeks to foster cooperation between our nations and lay the foundation for the continent's peace. We humbly request the Queen Dowager's gracious permission."
His voice was cheerful, but compared to the Kazen delegation, who had barely offered the Queen Dowager a perfunctory greeting earlier, his manners were notably polished.
Even the Queen Dowager, who had long lived in seclusion, had heard of Facade.
A figure who commanded treatment equivalent to a sovereign state wherever he went on the continent had approached her first—moreover, showing her respect right in front of the Kazen delegation. The Queen Dowager's expression softened slightly.
"We are grateful for the honor of your presence. When it comes to peace, borders and origins matter not."
Gallo turned.
His playful eyes met those of the Fourth Imperial Princess. She lifted her chin as if demanding recognition.
Tonight, she had adorned herself extravagantly, draping herself in Kazen's symbols from head to toe.
A tiara studded with fifteen sapphires rested on her head, while a ribbon on her shoulder bore a medal engraved with the portrait of her father, the Kazen Emperor.
Her intent to intimidate her counterparts by flaunting the empire's prestige was unmistakable.
Gallo grinned slyly and made to step back.
Just as he was about to be completely ignored, the enraged princess snapped—
"It seems a mere merchant peddling weapons cannot grasp the weight of an envoy's dignity. To seek permission from a minor kingdom before a great empire—how absurd."
She was already displeased that Facade's leader had greeted the Queen Dowager of Valdina before her.
"When a guest visits, shouldn't they first seek the host's permission? Or do you mean another guest, who acts as if they own the place, should come first?"
Yet Gallo remained unperturbed, smiling brightly as he countered.
"The Kazen Empire truly has peculiar customs. Though come to think of it, even when I was in the Empire, Kazen's meritorious retainers sought me out first."
The Fourth Imperial Princess bit her lip at the mercenary's words—words that mocked her while subtly boasting about his company's standing in Kazen.
For the first time, the Valdinans felt an odd kinship with the leader of Facade.
"How dare—"
Just then, the princess's lady-in-waiting grabbed her arm.
"Your Highness, please restrain yourself. That white half-masked mercenary standing guard behind their leader is said to be truly dangerous. They say he cuts people down without regard for status if they step out of line."
Having heard the infamous reputation of the white-masked mercenary Acares, the lady-in-waiting desperately wished her mistress would let this pass. If that mercenary drew his sword, she—the one who'd have to shield the princess—would be the one pointlessly losing her life.
"They say even during the Continental War, Facade's one-man-army was that very man."
"......"
The princess gnawed at her lip. Despite her frightened attendant's warning, the Fourth Princess still flushed with alternating waves of red and purple humiliation from Gallo's insult.
She turned her body to glare at the Valdinans. Rather than provoking the powerful arms dealer who had influence across the continent, it was far easier to take out her anger on these insignificant Valdinans.
"Let's all drop the pretenses, shall we? Without the aid our Kazen Empire generously provides, this so-called peace wouldn't even exist."
Her eyes swept contemptuously across the assembled Valdinans as if they were beneath notice.
"If only your late king hadn't been such a warmonger, your people could have eaten their fill all these years without worrying about freezing through winter. It's truly pitiful how innocent citizens keep dying for nothing but a king's hollow ambitions."
Her reproach was like pouring ice water over the Valdinans' heads.
"Fourth Princess!"
When she insulted her dead son, even the Queen Dowager could no longer hold back.
"One should not rashly judge monarchs, nor pursue only immediate gains," she declared in a voice trembling with age.
Yet the Fourth Princess only shrugged impudently in response.
"I merely lament how a ruler's foolish decisions make their people lose their way. The Dowager of Valdina shouldn't take offense—was anything I said untrue?"
"You... you...!"
The Queen Dowager staggered as rage overwhelmed her. Pinatelli quickly supported her.
"Kazen is truly arrogant!"
"And here I am, as a princess of the Great Empire, tolerating your disrespect! Hahaha, my imperial father would be indignant if he heard this."
The princess cackled as if savoring the effect of her poisoned words.
The Valdinans glared at her with murderous eyes. Yet they could say nothing.
'To have to endure this humiliation with open eyes—this is the crime of being a powerless nation, a crime indeed!'
Seeing the Valdinans grit their teeth in suppressed rage only exhilarated the Fourth Princess further.
'Just as Mother said. They can't lay a finger on me.'
A thrill ran through her at this taste of power—the power to shake a nation at her whim. If she could do this as mere envoy, what if she sat upon the imperial throne...?
"The Fourth Princess's standards are quite curious."
A calm voice shattered her pleasant reverie.
"By your logic, was it not your own father Perdiccas II who seized the throne from Grand Duke Castulo, the Late Emperor's rightful heir? Does that not count as pursuing immediate gains?"
And with that, the words struck the Princess's weak point like a sharp blade.
After the previous Emperor's death, there wasn't a soul on the continent who didn't know the story of how Perdiccas II, the uncle, had seized his nephew's throne through sheer power and justification.
And the shamelessness of never once considering returning the throne afterward—that too was common knowledge.
A scandal everyone knew but dared not speak of had now been laid bare by the lips of Valdina's Princess.
"W-what did you just...?"
The Fourth Princess's mouth fell open as if she'd been slapped across the face.
Medeia stepped forward, parting the crowd with her presence.
Her youthful face, still carrying traces of childishness, met the diplomatic mission head-on.
Her piercing emerald eyes swept over the Fourth Princess—then lingered on Iason. She tilted her head slightly.
"Forgive my dull mind, but I fail to see the difference between an Emperor who burdens his people with war and one so blinded by power that he forsakes even the bonds of blood. Perhaps the wise Fourth Princess could enlighten me?"
Once more, that composed voice quoted the Fourth Princess's own words and struck her across the cheek.
The Queen Dowager, who had nearly risen from her seat in fury to descend the dais and confront the Fourth Princess directly, now settled back down.
Thanks to Medeia stepping in, she had managed to preserve her dignity.
Because the sharp rebuke from her great-granddaughter—one that had effectively trampled the Kazen Emperor's face into the dirt—had cooled her rising fury.
The Valdinans, too, made no effort to hide their satisfaction.
"Honestly, who do they think they are, preaching about what makes an Emperor? They should sort out their own mess first."
"Tell me, who here has truly forgotten the righteous path?"
Whispers and stifled laughter spread through the crowd.
In an instant, the Fourth Princess had become an object of ridicule, her body trembling violently.
The diplomatic mission, too, was stunned into silence, unable to muster a retort.
Though their anger burned, they knew their liege, Perdiccas II, all too well.
Their Emperor would far prefer that this entire matter—especially the mention of how he had forcibly taken the throne from his nephew—be buried rather than demand an apology from this Valdinan Princess. So, no matter how their insides boiled, they could only endure.
Just as the Valdinans had been forced to endure the Kazen delegation moments ago.
"How dare you insult my father!"
But the Fourth Princess, raised in the Emperor's doting embrace and the East Imperial Consort's shadow, was still too naive to grasp her father's deeper intentions.
She clenched her fists.
This was the first time in her pampered life she had ever been publicly humiliated.
Her face burned crimson with shame as she raged.
"Princess of Valdina, your arrogance knows no bounds! How dare a backwater minor kingdom deceive the Great Kazen Empire?! As my father's proud daughter, I will not let you—"
Then, something flew through the air toward the Princess.
A single white glove.
"......"
Its owner, Medeia, stared directly at the Fourth Princess.
In noble society across the continent, the meaning of throwing one's personal item—especially a glove—at another was unmistakable.
A challenge to a duel.
And as this was a duel of honor, there was an explicit rule: regardless of injury or death, the outcome must be fully accepted.
The only thing shocking the crowd now was the fact that the challenger was the Princess of Valdina—and her opponent, the Princess of Kazen.