Ch.17Crystal Palace Below (1)

Autumn dances on the gentle breeze.

As colorful leaves ride the wind and brush against my cheek,

I pluck the yellow leaf stuck to my face and send it back into the wind.

Gazing absently at the clouds blooming in the high sky—this truly could be called a leisurely life.

“It’s nice.”

As I mumble with a faint smile, Rofena, who had been watching me, smirks and pours tea into my cup.

The Founding Day festival had concluded, and now the only thing left was the upcoming hunting festival.

Airin had finished her duties as the young mistress, and without having to stay up all night anymore, we occasionally came out to the garden like this to drink tea.

“By the way, are you preparing for the hunting festival?”

“Well, it’ll probably just be bears or tigers.”

I was someone who could handle mana.

My body had already far surpassed human limitations.

An ordinary person might not be able to handle such beasts,

but as someone who had reached the Expert level where I could destroy buildings with a single sword, I had no reason to fear.

I’ve cut down people before—how significant could cutting down such animals be?

Cutting down people, huh. The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth, so I took a sip of tea.

As the deep aroma of Darjeeling filled my mouth, I felt the heaviness lift a little,

so I let out a soft sigh and picked up a cookie.

Since I wasn’t good with sweets, Rofena had ordered these specially, and they were quite decent.

“What are these made of?”

“Well, I heard they’re made with coconut.”

Did they have coconut cookies here too?

With their well-developed dessert culture, this world often produced things more impressive than the modern world I used to live in.

This cookie must be one of those things. Well, I couldn’t give up on taste when it came to food, so that was actually a good thing.

“By the way, where is Sir Chris?”

When Rofena asked, I answered with a smirk.

“He’s with the young lady. If I’m here, then Sir Chris is there.”

I hadn’t been officially appointed yet anyway.

It might be more appropriate for Sir Chris to be there.

However, Rofena narrowed her eyes and then pouted her lips, glaring at me.

“Please consider Sir Chris’s age. He’s almost sixty.”

“That’s true.”

Honestly, at that level, age doesn’t really matter.

He’ll probably remain robust until his final days.

Though not a Master, he had reached the Expert level. He should be fine. It’s not just that I wanted to rest.

“The cookies are delicious.”

As I changed the subject and bit into a cookie, Rofena frowned at me.

Sir Chris and Rofena really cared for each other. Anyone watching might mistake them for father and daughter.

“Relax your expression. I’m barely finding time to rest like this.”

“…Alright. But have you heard about that?”

“About what?”

When I asked, Rofena first scolded me for not showing interest in the young lady, then spoke.

“The Crown Prince is hosting a ball. The young lady has been invited too. Haven’t you heard?”

“…I think I vaguely remember hearing something like that.”

I think I heard it in passing. If it were important, wouldn’t Airin have told me already?

Speaking of the Crown Prince, I couldn’t help but frown.

The Crown Prince was the biggest reason for Airin’s death, as he had fallen head over heels for the female protagonist.

Of course, it would have been strange to leave Airin alone when rumors of her planning rebellion were rampant.

But even excluding that, he was someone I found quite uncomfortable.

I might not know what love truly is, but to mobilize the nation’s entire military force to destroy one of the five great families over mere love?

He acted immediately upon hearing the “prophecy” from the female protagonist, without knowing if it was true or if there was any concrete evidence.

If he had any sense, he should have first verified the truth.

He should have checked if Airin really intended to rebel, and even if she had a sword, where that sword was pointed.

A cold anger rose within me.

This wasn’t sympathy for Airin. I was simply appalled by such foolishness.

As the Crown Prince of a nation, shouldn’t he have judged more rationally?

He should have considered the weight of the name of one of the five great families more than love.

Airin never said anything about rebellion until the end.

She only smiled faintly when she saw the sword pointed at her neck.

Even when she ascended the scaffold, and until that cold blade fell toward her neck.

She died without making any statement about rebellion—what thoughts went through her mind as she died?

I probably would never know, and I didn’t want to be in a situation where I would find out.

“…Hmm.”

Truly, I didn’t want to.

I took another sip of the hot tea, but it seemed to cool down as soon as it entered my stomach.

The once sweet cookie now tasted bitter, making me smile wryly as I quietly set down the teacup.

“You don’t seem to like the Crown Prince much?”

“…Well, he’s not known for having a good personality.”

“That’s true. But seeing how popular he is, I wonder just how handsome he must be.”

When Rofena noticed my dark expression, I stroked my chin thoughtfully at her question.

He was handsome, yes. Suddenly recalling the illustration of the Crown Prince from the novel, I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

Initially, I only had the impression that he was handsome, but honestly, wasn’t he more like a parasite?

Of course, I should remember that he later becomes a formidable warrior who reaches the Master level.

Kaisel Freya di Evangelium. The only son of the Emperor whom the five great families must protect, and one born with natural talent for the sword.

For now, that was enough to know. Airin didn’t have the power to do anything yet, and there was still plenty of time.

As the black hair from the illustration flashed in my mind, I turned my gaze toward the sky.

#

“Evan, can you come here for a moment?”

My brief rest in the garden was interrupted as a maid called out to me while I was on my way back to Airin for guard duty.

A maid with a distinctive mole under her eye—I believe her name was Lize.

When I nodded readily, she handed me a letter with a shy smile.

It was elaborately packaged, seemingly made of quite expensive paper.

As I looked at the letter with a puzzled expression, Lize covered her mouth with her hand and replied.

“A noblewoman asked me to deliver this to you earlier, but I forgot. I think she was the daughter of Viscount Pritzel.”

“…Where is that?”

“Probably in the northern part of the empire, not far from here.”

So she must be one of the attendees from that tea party. I sighed faintly while holding the letter.

I wasn’t sure if I should be pleased or troubled by this.

It was probably another love letter addressed to me. While I might have been pleased at first, after receiving dozens of them, I now felt indifferent.

Someone might point a finger and call me deceitful.

“You don’t look happy. Getting tired of it?”

“…Honestly, yes. I’m not interested in those people anyway.”

When I frowned, Lize chuckled as if finding something amusing and patted my shoulder.

“Hang in there. This is your prime time.”

I just shrugged at her words.

With this, I’d have about 50 letters piled up in my drawer.

By now, I could guess the content without even opening them.

Probably flowery expressions, like “If there were a jewel carved from all the forests of the world gathered together, it would be like your eyes.”

Receiving such sticky courtship was a first for me and quite surprising at first, but now I was just numb to it.

They were all either praises of my appearance or admiration for reaching the Expert level at such a young age.

In the end, they were just love letters sent in a moment of infatuation.

I had no interest in such people, nor did I have time to pay attention to them right now.

As a knight guard, if I were to pay attention to anyone, it would solely be Airin.

Besides, weren’t all those at the tea party frivolous?

They were only interested in the scandals happening around them,

not engaging in any substantial conversation, so there was no way I would come to like such people.

And as for appearance, hmm.

Could anyone really match Airin’s beauty?

No matter how much she was called a villainess in the novel, her appearance was just as famous as that title.

Snow-white hair that seemed to be made from gathering pure white feathers,

eyes like jewels carved from the clarity of the sky, and skin as white as her hair and as smooth as silk.

Every description of her appearance was nothing but praise.

And I didn’t think much differently from those descriptions.

Perhaps I would reconsider when the female protagonist appears,

but for now, being constantly by Airin’s side, there was no possibility of me falling for someone based on looks.

*Crackle*

[Are you well? I tried to hold back a little, but somehow it’s not easy to suppress my bubbling feelings, so I’m writing this letter… Your eyes that seem to hold the forest… So, I wonder if you could accompany me to the upcoming ball…]

I had just opened the letter and was chuckling at how it matched my expectations exactly when I sensed a presence behind me.

Turning my head, I saw Airin at the end of the corridor.

As she fixed her gaze on me as if approaching, she came over and looked at the letter in my hand before speaking.

“Another letter in your hand. Did you receive a confession?”

“…I’m not particularly interested.”

“It must be full of praises about you. What did they compliment this time, your eyes? Your nose?”

“My eyes.”

When I answered indifferently, she glanced at the letter and turned away with a sneer.

“You must be happy. Receiving attention from so many young ladies—other young men might be jealous if they saw.”

“I have no interest in others. I’m already busy enough just focusing on you, young lady.”

When I said that, Airin stared at me with a somewhat blank expression before narrowing her eyes and speaking.

“…Don’t confuse people.”

What was there to be confused about? I looked at her for a moment before remembering something I wanted to ask.

Given what was written in the letter and what I’d heard earlier, wasn’t the Crown Prince hosting a ball soon?

If she were to attend, I would naturally accompany her, so it wouldn’t be bad to ask in advance.

“Are you planning to attend the ball hosted by the Crown Prince?”

“A ball. Yes, I heard something about that.”

She didn’t seem particularly interested.

But it would be impossible for her not to attend an event hosted by the Crown Prince, so she probably had to go even if she didn’t want to.

Airin seemed to have the same thought as she sighed and looked at me.

“I’ll need someone to go with me to the ball.”

“…You can’t go alone. Dancing requires a partner.”

“Come with me.”

What did I just hear? For a moment, I looked at Airin in disbelief,

but she continued to gaze at me with the same expressionless look and spoke again.

“I’m asking you to be my partner.”

My face froze at those words.

As if time had stopped, my gaze fixed on Airin’s expressionless face was filled only with bewilderment.

There wasn’t a trace of deceit in those rippling blue eyes.

Her gaze, looking directly at me as if what she had just said was the absolute truth, seemed to pierce through me.

But that’s precisely why I couldn’t help but be flustered.

A ball partner? Asking me for such a thing?

At first, I thought I had misheard. I thought she had misspoken.

But the meaning of her repeated words hadn’t changed at all, so I could only look at Airin with a bewildered gaze.

I wished someone could explain this situation to me.