The Saintess Party's Absence (2)
The surviving remnants of the ‘Wolves of the Sword’—roughly forty men—had launched an assault on the Hohenberg estate, only to suffer heavy casualties in return. Ten of them, including their leader, the Bronze Wolf Zeves, were captured. As remnants of a criminal syndicate that had plundered countless kingdoms, including the Valtaria Empire, they would undoubtedly face public execution.
The Hohenberg family sent all captured criminals to the capital under escort.
“Bangya! Bangya! Shooook! Shooook!”
“……”
A girl with lime-green hair was darting around the office in a frenzy, eyes sparkling as she mimicked gunfire with her mouth. She had dozed off during the bloody skirmish, yet now she was reenacting the battle with boundless energy, apparently having heard the tale from someone. A heavy sigh escaped my lips at the sight.
“I heard from the guard uncle! Edan took down all the thieves who were stealing Nong-jjuk Candy!”
“Uh, well……”
How was I supposed to explain this? It was too bothersome to correct her, so I gave up.
“I told you to finish sorting the documents by afternoon, yet here you are playing around……”
Thanks to this playful little rascal, the paperwork showed no progress whatsoever. I closed the drawer containing the pistols with a sharp click and muttered under my breath.
“Young Master Edanant, a letter has arrived from the imperial palace.”
“Wh-what!”
The butler, dressed in a vintage tailcoat, presented the letter bearing the imperial seal. It reminded me of the previous missive that had demanded an enormous indemnity. Cold sweat trickled down my back as I stared at the envelope. What if the Valtaria imperial family had revoked the original sum and now demanded several times more?
—Come to think of it, I miscalculated.
—78 billion is far too little.
—I’ll need at least 160 billion.
—I won’t take no for an answer, so hand over 160 billion.
A deep dread pressed down on my mind. I could almost see imperial knights storming the Hohenberg estate, slapping seizure notices and collection demands on every surface. My hands trembled as I opened the letter.
“It’s from Princess Ludmilla.”
The letter was from the Valtaria imperial family—more precisely, from Princess Ludmilla.
There are many matters I wish to discuss with you in person. Come to the capital.
It was the same request she had made during her visit to the Hohenberg county. A sigh of relief escaped me; this was not about the indemnity but an invitation to the capital. The tension drained from my body so suddenly that I collapsed into the chair like a puppet with its strings cut.
“Wh-what happened?! Did someone send you a lucky letter? If you don’t forward it to someone else, something terrible will happen! If the problem is that you have no friends…… send it to me first!”
“……It’s nothing.”
Rue’s anxious voice rang out at my sudden collapse, her lime-green hair whipping about as she stared at me in alarm, clearly worried her guardian had suffered some calamity.
I met her gaze and spoke.
“How about we go on a trip together? To the imperial capital, perhaps……”
“A trip?”
“There’ll be mountains of sweet desserts waiting! I’ll buy you as many as you want.”
“Ooh! Then I’m going!”
As expected of the simple-minded fairy, she was instantly swayed by the promise of sweets. I intended to bring Rue along to prove my case to Ludmilla. The diabetic fairy, blissfully unaware of my ulterior motive, beamed with innocent joy. A twinge of guilt pricked at me, but I brushed it aside, promising myself I would buy her all the desserts she desired later.
But leaving right away won’t be easy.
Although we had repelled the assassins with minimal damage, the atmosphere in the Hohenberg county had grown tense. Time was needed to repair the castle and console the citizens. Moreover, those harboring grudges against the Saintess Party would likely grow bolder after this raid, making it unwise to leave the county undefended. If I were absent, casualties would surely occur.
The sudden attack made it difficult to depart. Unless the Valtaria imperial family offered protection, of course—but our relationship with the palace was far too strained to ask for such a favor.
“No, I’ll have to decline for now.”
“Eek! Why decline?! You crushed the expectations I’d been nurturing like bean sprouts! You deliberately raised my hopes just to smash them! Mean Edan!”
I pushed the shrieking child away and picked up a pen. I would write to Princess Ludmilla explaining that an immediate visit to the capital was impossible.
Three days after sending the letter, an unexpected development occurred: Princess Ludmilla arrived at the county in person.
* * *
The Valtaria’s Red Dragon had arrived. Upon receiving word of the division commander’s visit, the county’s knights were immediately assigned to escort duty. Hastily assembled, they adjusted their uniforms repeatedly, swallowing dryly in fear of committing even the slightest discourtesy. Since Princess Ludmilla was visiting as an honored guest this time—unlike before—they had prepared everything with utmost care.
“I rushed here after hearing the urgent news. Is the Hohenberg family all right?”
“Of course.”
“The assailants were survivors of the ‘Wolves of the Sword,’ I hear.”
“It seems word of the Saintess Party has begun to spread in secret.”
I greeted Ludmilla in my father’s stead while he remained bedridden. Persuading him not to rise had been no easy task; had I not assured him that my relationship with Princess Ludmilla was close enough to handle matters, he would have insisted on appearing.
The Central Knights of the imperial palace followed behind her, likely dispatched by the imperial family to guard the princess. Their specially crafted full-body armor and weapons—clearly the product of an astronomical investment—stood out even to the naked eye. They were on an entirely different level from the county’s knights. The crowd’s attention focused on the resplendent armor emblazoned with golden lions.
“In the end, what we feared has come to pass,” Ludmilla murmured beside me, her delicate brow furrowed.
The spread of malice. The evils that had fallen to the Saintess Party were stirring once more. The malice directed at the Saintess Party across the continent was proof enough. We had tried to track the Saintess Party to prevent disaster, but the evils had begun to move first.
“The Holy Kingdom will act in earnest. They have been the Saintess Party’s most ardent supporters, after all. They will react most sensitively to the spread of malice. If we fail to stop it, the Holy Kingdom will bear the full brunt of the damage.”
“The Holy Kingdom’s delegation has already paid a visit.”
“Since the Second Saintess Beatrice has disappeared…… the First Saintess, who had stepped back from active duty, will likely seize the initiative.”
“……Hmm.”
The moment I finished speaking, Ludmilla let out a low hum. At the mention of the First Saintess of the Gael Holy Kingdom, her beautiful face subtly shifted. It was a look of vexation, anger, and displeasure—expressions ill-suited to her usual dignified and flawless demeanor. I found myself puzzled by such overt emotion.
Why is she reacting like that? As if I’d touched a nerve. The First Saintess’s name was……
Who was it again? The First Saintess of the Gael Holy Kingdom. Like Ludmilla, she had only been mentioned indirectly in the story. Recalling information about her took considerable time. My contemplation, which began while crossing the garden, only reached its conclusion as we approached the entrance.
……The White Dragon of the Holy Kingdom.
Javelin Albyon Russell. The successor to the White Dragon that guarded the goddess Gael. I could roughly guess why Princess Ludmilla’s mood had soured.
In the myths, the Red Dragon and the White Dragon were bitter rivals, like oil and water. I don’t know the reason, though.
Unfortunately, I was no expert who had memorized every outdated myth from the original work, so the precise relationship between the Red Dragon and the White Dragon remained unclear. I could look into it later—or perhaps ask Ludmilla casually. With that thought, I guided her to the entrance of Hohenberg Castle.
“We have been waiting.”
“It is an honor to serve you, Your Highness the Princess.”
The butler and maids, their attire impeccably arranged, had been mobilized to welcome the princess. Lined up on either side of the red carpet laid at the entrance, the servants presented a grand sight. The Red Dragon had arrived. The household had clearly spared no effort to demonstrate the Hohenberg family’s continued strength. Despite the broken engagement that had strained relations with the imperial family, the servants were determined to make a good impression on the princess visiting as an honored guest.
Ludmilla responded to the welcome with a faint smile.
“Thank you for receiving this uninvited guest so warmly. I feel rather embarrassed.”
The bright chandeliers, the finest carpets, the mirror-like floors, and the servants standing with perfect posture—it was clear they had prepared in haste. Perhaps feeling apologetic, the princess scratched her cheek with an awkward laugh.
“The drawing room is this way.”
“If you’ll excuse me for a moment.”
I escorted Ludmilla to the drawing room. The moment both parties were seated, the maids brought out refreshments for the guests.
“Hm?”
While we sat sipping black tea, the mischievous girl suddenly poked her head in, her adorable face appearing out of nowhere. Drawn by the sweet aroma, perhaps? She was no different from ants swarming crumbs. It didn’t matter; I had planned to call her to the drawing room anyway.
Ludmilla’s eyes widened when she met the gaze of the lime-green-haired girl. She had likely recognized Rue, the mascot of the Saintess Party. They had probably crossed paths at least once by chance.
“The girl who traveled with the Saintess Party. So you were the one looking after her?”
Ludmilla asked as she set down her teacup. Rue tugged at my collar and spoke up.
“Edan, who’s this auntie?”
“……”
Uh. Uhh…… What did she just……
My grip loosened without thinking, and the black tea in my cup spilled onto the carpet. Auntie. Who’s the auntie? The cheerful question echoed in my ears. The face of this year’s twenty-seven-year-old spinster, branded an auntie by a cute little girl, stiffened rigidly. Her blatant change in expression confirmed that the voice in my ears was no hallucination.
“Ah, oops! I wasn’t supposed to call an auntie an auntie……! Sorry, I forgot for a second!”
Good grief. I rubbed my face and let out a sigh, my gaze fixed on the carpet now soaked with black tea.