Ventorino Kingdom - Seeds of Discord (1)
Bukkuru, known as the finest designer in the Ventorino capital, was tense. In fact, this was probably the most nerve-racking moment of her life. The four women who had suddenly appeared at her shop without warning were far too extraordinary to ignore. Still, two of them had visited her before, or at least had sent for her from time to time.
The problem was the other two.
"Waaah! Lady Katarina, it suits you so well!"
"Oh? Heehee, does it?"
"Yes! The gorgeous golden dress really matches Lady Katarina’s white hair and gives her such an elegant air! Right, sis?"
"Ah, yes. It really does. I don’t know much about fashion, but even I can tell that Lady Katarina is truly beautiful."
"Hee, heeheehee. You’re all giving me far too much praise, but I’m happy all the same."
The two beautiful princess sisters of the neighboring Ulsro Kingdom, Mercedes Ulsro and Mari Ulsro, had come together with the royal women of Ventorino.
Four of the five most noble women in both kingdoms were standing in the same shop. If Bukkuru didn’t feel nervous in a situation like this, she had no right calling herself a designer of women’s clothing. Her eyes gleamed as she thought of seizing this chance and establishing a branch in fashion powerhouse Ulsro as well.
"Your Majesty. What do you think of this outfit? As for this dress, it—"
Bukkuru hustled over to Katarina with a dress in her arms and poured her energy into the sale, and fortunately, she managed to win the queen over once again.
Hoo. Still, I should be selling to the princess sisters too….
She let out a quiet sigh of relief in her heart and glanced sideways.
She had always thought Queen Katarina and Princess Clara were beautiful, but what could she do? With those princess sisters of Ulsro standing beside them, the mother and daughter looked a little faded today. Even so, that only helped her find dresses that would suit them better with a calmer eye.
The front of the shop was packed as if people had gathered just to admire the princess sisters’ beauty. The royal guard was blocking the entrance, but if that many people forced their way in at once, even they would probably be in serious danger.
Well, that won’t happen, of course.
After a brief glance outside, Bukkuru turned her attention back to the princess sisters. If she wanted to establish a Ulsro branch, she had to win them over, yet the two young women were too busy praising the queen to even look at the clothes.
Bukkuru wasn’t the only one who felt bewildered.
This is getting a little overwhelming…?
Katarina, who had been receiving their praise, was starting to feel the pressure as well.
In the past few days, Mercedes and Mari had become unusually friendly, and at first she had liked it, but lately she had begun to wonder if it wasn’t a little excessive.
Still, she was taking it positively.
Although she hadn’t heard an outright answer yet, Mari had said she intended to marry her son Alfonso, and that she was trying to make a good impression on her future mother-in-law because of that. Her older sister Mercedes was surely helping her younger sister so that the marriage would go smoothly.
If they become closer to their mother-in-law than to their own daughter, I’ll have something to worry about, heehee.
Another reason Katarina was pleased with their friendliness was Clara.
Her daughter, who had inherited her personality down to the bone, never acted cute even toward her parents, the king and queen. She wasn’t this affectionate. So it was only natural that Katarina found herself unconsciously liking the two princesses.
Besides, thanks to the fact that they had brought Clara along, she was able to go out with her daughter for the first time in a long while, even if they weren’t alone.
Ever since Clara got a fiancé, she had been completely absorbed in him, sneaking out whenever she had the chance for what she called a date. Because of that, Katarina hadn’t spent any private time with her daughter in years before today.
For all her greed for power, she was still a mother. Going out with her daughter made her happy.
"Mother, how about this? Do you think my man will like it?"
Yet the daughter herself was preoccupied with finding clothes for her next date.
"Yes, it suits you very well."
"Right? Ah, I can already picture Lloyd’s handsome face lighting up with a big smile!"
"…I see."
Watching her daughter be so delighted made her feel a little disappointed, but at the same time relieved.
The two of them were hopelessly in love, yes, but their union was not a romance—it had been arranged for political reasons. The fact that her counterpart was the heir to one of the strongest noble houses aside from her own natal family said enough.
They needed that power if they wanted a strong monarchy.
Still, when it came time to arrange the marriage, she had worried about trivial things. What if Clara ended up miserable in her married life? As both queen and mother, she couldn’t help but worry. But seeing the two of them so happy was a genuine relief.
That said, marrying a princess off to bring in the Antifeol ducal house was a double-edged sword. If things went wrong, the throne could easily slip away from Marc’s direct line and into a collateral branch instead.
To prevent that…
Alfonso and Mari absolutely had to marry.
That was why Katarina had insisted so strongly on a marriage alliance.
Still, things do seem to be going well. That’s a relief.
Just as she was drifting into those pleasant thoughts, commotion suddenly rose outside the shop. Katarina, pulled out of her happy delusions, frowned.
"What is it?"
"Ah, I’m sorry. It looks like my squire has arrived."
Mercedes offered a light apology.
"Your squire?"
The queen immediately thought of the three squire-knights she had recently seen with Mercedes, but she couldn’t think of any reason why the noise outside would be connected to them.
"Hmm, even so…."
"Th-those three you’re thinking of, Lady Katarina, aren’t the ones I mean."
"Oh? You have more squires?"
"I do have one male squire. Because of certain circumstances, he can’t enter the royal castle, so I thought I’d take this chance to see him. It seems he arrived a little earlier than expected."
"Can’t enter the royal castle… ah, I see."
Katarina was deeply involved in all sorts of affairs within the kingdom, so she immediately understood what sort of circumstances Mercedes meant.
A half-demon with dark red hair.
At the time, she hadn’t paid him much attention, but suddenly, she became curious. Still, if Mercedes had gone out of her way to call him here, that meant she cared about him to some degree.
Now she understood why they had deliberately gone out as a group of four. They must have brought him here because they thought there might be a chance to get him into the royal castle.
Their intentions were obvious.
Heehee, how adorable.
"You must really cherish that squire, don’t you?"
"Huh? Ah… yes, I do cherish him, I suppose."
"Oh?"
For a moment Mercedes looked flustered, then laughed and readily agreed.
The queen’s interest in the half-demon squire deepened. What on earth was her reason for valuing a male half-demon squire so highly? Since he was a male squire, all sorts of possibilities ran through her mind.
"I’m very curious what sort of boy he is to make Princess Mercedes cherish him so much."
"He has many strengths, but the most remarkable one is certainly his swordsmanship."
"Swordsmanship…."
What, so it was just admiration for a capable knight…?
She had thought there might be some much more interesting reason.
Her interest plummeted at once. Katarina was just about to hide her disappointment and steer the conversation elsewhere when the next words froze her in place. The shocking revelation left her momentarily speechless.
"He’s an exceptionally gifted boy. He’s only in his mid-teens, but his sword skills are about on par with mine. Well, he is, after all, a disciple of Countess Bernstein, so that’s only to be expected."
"…About on par with you? Countess Bernstein’s disciple?"
"Yes."
"……."
Her fading interest came roaring back to life.
He was no ordinary one to be dismissed just because he was a half-demon.
Even Mercedes herself was famous as a genius knight who had reached a formidable level in her early twenties. Her status as a princess certainly played a part in that reputation, but even so, it was an astonishing feat for a knight of a generation that had never experienced war.
A swordsman capable of matching Mercedes. And not only that—one far younger than Mercedes, still in his mid-teens.
Add to that the fact that he was a disciple of Countess Serenia Bernstein, one of the most renowned knights on the continent. Then his talent wasn’t merely promising; it was the sort of talent that could reasonably aspire to become a future Sword Master.
"Now that is interesting. Could you bring that boy inside for me?"
"Of course."
Mercedes nodded and stepped outside the shop. Her appearance only made the crowd outside even noisier. That was to be expected; most of the people gathered there had come to see her and Mari, after all.
After a short while, the door opened again and a man and a woman walked inside.
"…Ah…?"
The moment Katarina saw them, she understood.
The reason the street had grown noisy at first had not been because a half-demon had appeared.
It had been because of a face so handsome that the dark red hair barely registered at all.
She was certain of it. No, it had to be that way. Otherwise she couldn’t explain this pounding heart, this stare that refused to look away, this sweet scent that had suddenly reached her nose.
"……."
The boy, Valdes, approached her with a brilliant smile and knelt on one knee in a courteous motion.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Queen Katarina. I, the lowly half-blood Valdes, greet the lady of this kingdom."
"……Ah, yes. I-I see."
Katarina answered a beat too late, and even then with the utmost formality. For a woman who had so easily dropped into casual speech with the princesses of a neighboring kingdom, speaking politely to someone beneath her in rank should have been unthinkable.
But the queen didn’t even realize it.
"As I heard, you are a beautiful woman indeed. It is an honor to meet you like this."
"I-I’m… pleased to meet you too. Yes… no, I-I’m also g-glad to meet you."
Startled, she hurriedly switched back to casual speech, but by then her face was already turning red. Whether it was because she was embarrassed at having used polite speech without noticing, or because of the boy’s compliment that she was beautiful, even she didn’t know.
Haa, what’s wrong with me? How old am I, and besides, that boy is a half-demon! A-and I already have a husband….
As she thought that far, Katarina suddenly faltered.
Why was my husband the very last thing I thought about…?
Unlike the rumors and her public behavior suggested, she still loved her husband even while cheating on him.
She was only having an affair because he had cheated first, and because this was her way of taking revenge for the fact that he still occasionally met other women.
Part of the problem was that Katarina didn’t know how to be coquettish with men, nor did she really understand how to express love. She was excellent at reading a man’s desires and using them, but on the other hand, she had no idea how to reveal her own heart and approach someone.
As a result, Marc believed Katarina saw him only as a political partner, and that misunderstanding was what created the cracks in their marriage.
Why? Why am I…?
"Your Majesty?"
"…Ah, yes. N-no, I mean… y-yes, what is it?"
"Nothing. I only asked because you seemed somewhat ill at ease, Your Majesty."
"I-is that so. Hmm, I-I’m fine."
"I’m glad to hear that, then."
"R-right."
Feeling that continuing to speak with him was dangerous, Katarina turned away and headed toward her daughter. If she wasn’t careful, she might genuinely fall for him. And that was not what she wanted.
Her infidelity was something she intended to use only as a tool to provoke her husband’s jealousy whenever he was seeing another woman. That was why she had never so much as touched her affair partner with any real intimacy, much less formed a deep relationship.
Unfortunately, heaven had no intention of helping her.
"Wow, he’s insanely handsome."
"Huh?"
"I mean that half-blood boy. I think he’s the most handsome man I’ve ever seen, even more than our Lloyd."
"……."
Of all people, her daughter brought up the very subject Katarina wanted to avoid. If she suddenly changed the topic or tried to retreat, it might make her look suspicious. So the queen had no choice but to go along with her daughter’s words.
"I see. He really is unusually… beautiful."
"At that level, I’d say he’d be worth keeping around even if he weren’t such an amazing swordsman. It’s a shame he’s a half-demon, though."
"……."
"Mother?"
"…Yes, right. He really is… beautiful. And apparently he’s good with a sword, too…."
Clara tilted her head at her mother’s strange reaction.
Katarina had thought that if she reacted too oddly, her daughter might notice something, but unfortunately, Clara wasn’t perceptive enough for that. She was intelligent enough, yes, but her noble status had sheltered her so completely that she rarely bothered to read the atmosphere around her.
As a result, Clara simply decided, with a touch of filial concern, that her mother wasn’t feeling well.
Clap, clap.
"Now, Mother looks a little tired, so I think it’d be best if we headed back to the royal castle for today."
Clara clapped her hands to draw everyone’s attention and said it aloud. Katarina nodded as well and agreed with her daughter.
Leaving a disappointed Bukkuru behind, everyone in the shop came out together.
With the royal guard added to the mix, a sizable procession headed toward the castle—only to stop once more.
The reason was Mercedes and Valdes.
"I have a little business to discuss with my squire, so please return ahead of me."
"Sis, will you be long?"
"Yes, I think it’ll take a little while."
"……."
The two of them turned and began walking off in another direction. Or rather, they tried to.
"Hold on a moment."
"Lady Katarina? Why is that?"
"…You can just have that discussion on the way back to the royal castle together."
"But…."
"As for the matter of his status… I… will take care of it."
"!!"
At the queen’s words, not only Clara but also the maids and the royal guard were all stunned. It was a small thing, but it was still the first time in the kingdom’s history that such a thing had happened.
"……."
As everyone stared at Katarina in astonishment, only Valdes, standing behind Mercedes, smiled quietly.
Very quietly.