Sacrificing Flesh to Sever the Bone
Ever since coming of age, Debbie had lived as an instrument of House Castrein, devoid of anything resembling a true sense of self. She had chosen it freely, wanting nothing more than to serve that very purpose.
Her fond declarations of loving pretty, radiant things were genuine. More than anything, Debbie adored admiring the luster of dazzling treasures. It was simply that, if commanded, she would shatter the most exquisite thing in this world without an ounce of hesitation.
Yet the most beautiful girl Debbie had ever laid eyes on in her entire life had only looked at her with a discerning gaze.
"If I ordered you to assassinate Imperial Consort Cleo and Prince Brian tonight, could you do it?"
"That lies beyond my abilities, Your Highness."
"What if I told you to kill the Emperor?"
"……."
"So that's forbidden. And directly harming the direct line of House Castrein is completely off the table as well, I imagine."
With cool, calculating eyes, the princess merely measured the reach and boundaries of the tool she had borrowed.
A sudden curiosity prickled at Debbie's mind.
Titania seemed to understand all too well just how heartless House Castrein could be toward its enemies. She knew precisely where the limits lay for the weapon she held in her grasp.
Just how?
Why would a gently reared princess, who had surely never killed a soul with her own hands, possess the exact mindset of a house steeped in the stench of beast blood and dying screams?
"You don't need to protect me unconditionally," the princess said mildly.
"Unless it's a fatal blow that would kill me on the spot… or an injury that would leave me with permanent, irreversible disability, you don't need to overreact to every little threat or crisis aimed my way. I'd rather not let the other side know we're prepared for them."
"……Are you asking me to leave you exposed to danger, Your Highness?"
"Of course, you must inform me of what's happening in good time. Just don't jump ahead and handle things without telling me first."
Debbie blinked.
Those words meant that unless it was an absolute catastrophe, she was not to intervene immediately, only reporting the incident after the fact.
Why?
Had she not asked for an escort knight and a maid specifically to brace against threats and move about freely?
"It's not as if the Castrein Duchy will protect me forever, right?"
Catching on to Debbie's unspoken doubt, the princess let out a light laugh. It was a smile like a candle flickering inside a hollow glass lantern.
"You only need to move when it's truly dangerous. I'll be having you run plenty of minor errands anyway."
Her approach seemed eerily reminiscent of a brutal strategy: sacrificing a pound of flesh to sever the enemy's bone. Did she really have to act with such desperate severity?
"So let's make sure we don't lie to each other."
In that moment, Debbie realized that this was what the princess had wanted to say from the very beginning.
"House Castrein is what matters most to you, and I have simply rented your services for a fair price. So don't feed me lies 'for the good of House Castrein.' To be specific… don't give me lines like, 'Your Highness is my only master, so I will never return! I will protect you no matter what happens!' Nothing like that."
Looking into the princess's glass-bead green eyes, Debbie understood once more.
She placed no trust in the sentiments of anyone belonging to House Castrein.
I know you would never choose me. So do not deceive me.
It was a cold, unyielding barrier—one erected with a sense of utter finality.
"As long as you keep to that, working together should be simple enough going forward. Don't you agree?"
Debbie quietly bowed her head.
With the Emperor's formal sanction secured, preparations for the Offering Festival wrapped up in no time.
To begin with, there was nobody inclined to dictate what a minor royal like me should or shouldn't pack. And however ceremonial and toothless it had become in recent years, the Offering Festival remained an annual rite. Since the imperial family had to travel all the way to the empire's northern and southern edges in person, there had long been an established pilgrimage route. Barring any major disaster, most retinues adhered strictly to that path.
No imperial royal would ever travel such a grueling distance on horseback, so it was simply a matter of following the well-maintained highway wide enough for carriages.
Of course, there were a few petty complications.
The coachman driving my carriage was a plant from House Castrein. However, the knight appointed as the overall commander of our pilgrimage retinue belonged entirely to Consort Cleo's faction: Gregory Temper.
On the surface, he looked like a remarkably dignified, pleasant middle-aged knight, yet he found subtle ways to disrupt our schedule at every turn.
Warp Tunnels connecting major metropolitan centers were exceedingly rare across the continent. Naturally, the routes leading to those transit hubs were straightforward. Yet he went out of his way to take circuitous mountain paths, forcing us to camp out in the forest overnight. The Imperial Consort's spite was truly as petty as it got.
When I put on an oblivious face and squealed cheerfully—"Whoa, this is my first time sleeping outdoors! I can hear all the crickets!"—Gregory's courteous smile twitched with visible stiffness. Was he hoping I'd throw a royal fit, screeching, 'How dare you make my noble person camp in the woods!'? That was undoubtedly what he had been baiting me to do. But I held my ground, smiling brightly from start to finish.
Naturally, that wasn't the only headache.
For instance, Lisianthus was supposed to be my personal escort knight, yet he was barred from riding in my carriage. If it had ended there, it might have been tolerable, but Gregory deliberately reassigned Lisianthus to the absolute rear of the convoy. His flimsy excuse was that since the young Castrein was so exceptionally skilled, he belonged at the rearguard where enemies were most likely to strike from behind.
Lisianthus's temper flared instantly. 'What kind of bullshit is that? Titania's carriage is right in the middle, so why the hell should I ride in the back?'
Gregory had only smiled oily and grated on his nerves. 'Haha, Sir Lisianthus, your refined character is just as famous as your martial prowess. While your lack of experience can easily be covered by your skill, guarding a noble person rarely goes as smoothly as one imagines, does it?'
And that very afternoon, Lisianthus managed to singe off the tip of Gregory's beard with a burst of fiery aura.
After that petty squabble threw the entire escort into chaos, I was left on the receiving end of several dozen disgruntled glares from the imperial soldiers. Sighing heavily, I was forced to pacify the situation by sending Lisianthus to the rear for the time being.
Only after weathering all those absurd tribulations did our party finally enter the grand city housing a Warp Tunnel. After smiling and waving to the swarming crowds gathered to catch a rare glimpse of an imperial royal, we were finally able to step into the transit gate.
Warp Tunnels were miraculous relics of ancient engineering. First, the magic crystal required to serve as the gate's core had to be extraordinary—requiring an elemental stone the size of an adult man's head. Furthermore, the wavelength of the surrounding land had to synchronize perfectly with the crystal's frequency. Designing the spatial coordinates, inscribing the grand arrays, and constructing the gate consumed unimaginable sums of coin and manpower.
Most surviving Warp Tunnels had been erected during the reign of the First Emperor; since that golden era, no one had dared attempt to build a new one. Even activating a single tunnel required staggering amounts of wealth and personnel, but having one made all the difference. Wherever a Warp Tunnel stood, that settlement was undeniably a metropolis.
The moment I exited the tunnel and passed through the arcane gate, the spectacle before me drew a low gasp from my lips.
"Isn't this almost the southern border? It's practically as grand as the capital……."
Though Titania had rarely stepped outside the Imperial Palace, it wasn't as if she had never seen the world. Every year on the Emperor's birthday, the entire imperial family paraded around the capital in open carriages, waving to the crowds and tossing gold coins and flowers to the streets below. Limited though that memory was, it had left an impression of the capital's grandeur etched into my mind.
Yet this southern city lost nothing in comparison to the heart of the empire. Vigorous crowds bustled through paved avenues, trade wagons brimmed with exotic cargo, and pristine thoroughfares stretched in every direction.
Even so, our final destination lay at the southernmost edge of the empire.
I glanced at Gregory, who was conversing with the temple officials sent to receive us, and took the opportunity to inspect our surroundings.
Smoothing the wrinkles from my dress after my long carriage ride, Barbara chimed in, "Well, having a Warp Tunnel naturally makes this place the undisputed center of the South. They say there isn't a treasure in the world that can't be bought either in the capital or the auction houses of Artula. Ah… I did hear the Havilios Fief is nearby, and while it's supposed to be a pleasant place to live, it carries a bit of a rural reputation."
"If it interests you, shall we take a stroll and look around, Your Highness?" Debbie asked.
I shook my head. "No, that's all right."
"Truly, Your Highness? From what I heard, you have rarely had the chance to venture outside the palace walls." Debbie studied my expression. Barbara, too, glanced at me with subtle pity lingering in her eyes.
"I've been rattled around in a carriage for over a week straight. Do you really think I'm in any mood for sightseeing? Let's just head straight to the temple."
"Your Highness truly doesn't act like a child at all……." Debbie's voice carried an odd, contemplative lilt.
I merely shrugged my shoulders.
Truth be told…
In the original novel, the southernmost region of the empire was obliterated during the mid-to-late acts.
While the Northern Barrier held by House Castrein managed to keep its skeletal structure standing until the very end, the South had met an entirely different fate.