The news of the emperor’s passing was delivered to Zenos by the princess’s chief knight. Having led the royal knights for many years, he had developed a resilience that was second nature to him.
Indeed, it had been second nature.
Until he reached the Principality…
“Are you sure you don’t need the palace physician? You seem to be suffering from severe motion sickness…”
“I’m fine. Please, don’t worry. His Highness the Prince’s magic circle was flawless!”
“Hmm.”
Dietrian looked skeptically at the chief knight’s face. Despite his confident words, the knight’s face was pale and yellowish.
The motion sickness was due to the magic circle Callisto had created.
It was clear that the knight had pushed himself to such exhaustion due to the orders of his master.
‘It seems the princess and the prince have taken full control of the empire.’
Judging by the knight’s demeanor, “taken full control” might not even be an adequate description.
“I recall His Majesty being in good health before I left the empire. This has happened so suddenly.”
“Indeed.”
“The princess must be deeply troubled. It’s unfortunate that I cannot convey my condolences in person.”
The chief knight’s expression became peculiar.
Sensing something off, Dietrian stared at the knight.
“Ahem.”
The chief knight quickly cleared his throat and turned his head, then pulled a sealed envelope from his breast pocket.
“This is a personal letter from Her Highness the Princess. She has instructed that it be delivered directly to the Saint.”
“I will see to it.”
Dietrian paused for a moment as he noticed the gold trim on the corner of the letter.
He lightly brushed his fingertips over the gold leaf and then spoke to the knight.
“I’ll ensure that a response is prepared and sent promptly. We’ll assemble a delegation to the Holy Empire as quickly as possible, so take your time to rest and recover.”
“Thank you.”
Even after the knight left, Dietrian couldn’t take his eyes off the letter.
The shimmering gold trim brought back old memories.
The last time a letter with gold trim had arrived for Dietrian was when he received the imperial command for his marriage. That letter also had gold decorations on its corner.
“I wonder what might have happened if I had refused that marriage.”
Dietrian chuckled softly.
Looking back now, that letter had turned out to be the very token that led his life into paradise.
* * *
A red sunset fell over the Zenos Palace.
Dietrian stroked Leticia’s hair as she lay with her head resting on his lap. As Leticia focused on the letter sent to her by the princess, Dietrian placed a cookie in her mouth and asked,
“Is there anything special in it?”
“Hmm…”
Leticia, who was chewing the cookie, wrinkled her nose slightly.
“The princess said she would hold the coronation ceremony right after the emperor’s funeral.”
“We’ll need to send a congratulatory delegation as well.”
“Wouldn’t it be possible for me to go directly?”
Leticia set the letter aside and sat up halfway.
“You, personally?”
“The princess said she wants to see me.”
Leticia handed over the letter. Dietrian raised an eyebrow, not surprised by the princess’s desire to see Leticia, but rather by the dense, tiny writing that filled the paper.
「I truly wish to see you, but it would be difficult, wouldn’t it? I understand it would be challenging for you too. However, my heart is so troubled. If the saintess could be with me, this would have been much easier to handle…」
「Looking back now, I realize why I felt so reassured when you were in the royal palace with me. It was like having a trainer to hold the leash of a mad dog.」
「Ah, I didn’t mean to imply that Callisto is a mad dog.」
「To be honest, that’s exactly how I feel… But don’t you also think my brother is a bit too much?」
How could this possibly be a letter from the princess of the empire to the queen of the principality?
Leticia chuckled.
“Her Highness seems to have nowhere to turn. It’s understandable, given that she has suddenly ascended to the throne.”
“It seems that way. However…”
Dietrian sighed deeply.
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t go. Of course, your opinion matters the most.”
He could understand the princess’s desire to see Leticia, but that didn’t mean he liked it.
“Why?”
“I find it difficult to be apart from you. I don’t want to be separated again. We’ve already been apart twice since our marriage. I don’t want to spend our newlywed days alone a third time.”
Seeing Dietrian speak with a deliberately dejected expression, Leticia burst into a bright laugh. She hugged his waist tightly and said,
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Really?”
“I’m sorry to Her Highness, but I need to stay in the principality for a while. I also need to check on Madam Mano’s condition. And, well…”
Leticia looked up at Dietrian intently. Dietrian tilted his head in curiosity.
“Another reason?”
“What if you miss the baby’s first movement?”
“…!”
“I hope you can return quickly, but the work might take longer than expected. They say that in just a few weeks, I might start feeling the babies move. I want to share that moment with you… Dietrian, are you crying?”
Leticia widened her eyes in surprise. Dietrian’s eyes were slightly red. Embarrassed, Dietrian cleared his throat and whispered,
“It’s just overwhelming. I still can’t fully grasp it.”
Even though he should be used to it by now, another wave of emotion hit him unexpectedly. It was the same feeling he had when they were picking out shoes for the children or pondering over their nicknames.
“I hope the day comes soon when you can feel the babies too. But do you think they might appear in your dreams before then?”
“Actually, I did see someone in my dreams. It was when I learned about Irene.”
“Really?”
“Irene was holding the hand of a very young child. I didn’t know who it was at the time, but maybe it was our child.”
“Was it a girl or a boy?”
“Are you really curious? Should I tell you?”
At Dietrian’s teasing question, Leticia found herself torn.
“I’m curious. But at the same time, I don’t want to know! I want to hear it, but… I also want to keep the excitement of waiting. I’m not sure.”
“It might not even be our child, you know?”
“Could it be?”
“After all, Ahwin and Noel will be with us from now on.”
“Oh!”
Leticia exclaimed.
Then, she tilted her head in confusion.
“Both of them said they weren’t thinking about marriage for a while. But could it happen so soon?”
Right after Leticia had become their guardian, Ahwin had mentioned that he would soon propose to Noel.
So Leticia naturally assumed that the two would get married soon.
But for some reason, Ahwin had gone silent. The talk of their marriage had disappeared as well.
She thought about asking why but decided against it. After all, meddling in someone’s romantic affairs seldom ended well.
If something was going on, surely they would speak up first, she concluded.
“In that case, maybe it really was our child. Should I tell you?”
“Ugh!”
“Don’t hold back. Hmm? You’re curious, right?”
His sweet voice sounded almost like the whisper of a devil.
“I want to know! Tell me! Lord Julios never tells me anything.”
In the end, Leticia succumbed to her curiosity.
As if he had expected that, Dietrian chuckled softly.
He gently kissed Leticia’s cheek, her eyes sparkling in anticipation, and said,
“It was a little girl.”
* * *
A few days later, a delegation was formed to depart for the empire.
The delegation was to mourn the death of the emperor and congratulate the princess on her ascension.
Banessa was appointed as the leader of the delegation.
Leticia decided not to accompany them this time.
Instead, she poured her heart into writing a letter.
The empire’s top knight, who had been visibly aging rapidly upon hearing that Leticia would not be joining them, breathed a sigh of relief upon reading her letter.
Banessa found the reaction of the top knight extremely satisfying.
Every time the once-proud imperial knights were seen tiptoeing around Leticia, it felt as though a decade’s worth of tension melted away.
His comrades teased him, saying that Banessa was the most grudging person on the continent.
But regardless of their teasing, Banessa still despised the empire.
Especially the princess.
“The empire avoided proper punishment because the princess became a shield.”
Resentment is like a mark etched onto the soul.
The empire, which had taken his nephew, deserved a harsher punishment.
That was Banessa’s sense of justice.
At the very least, the empire’s nobility should have paid for the sins they had committed.
But the princess, by becoming Leticia’s shield, had allowed them to escape unscathed.
There was no way Banessa could see the princess in a favorable light after she had held Leticia back.
Well, it wasn’t as if Leticia had completely forgiven the empire.
She had simply decided not to involve herself directly in their punishment.
「The empire is Her Highness the princess’s country.」
It was a clear boundary, a decision not to interfere in the empire’s internal affairs.
Julia had remarked that this was, in fact, a greater punishment.
「The Holy Empire would have preferred that Her Grace punish the criminals herself. That way, they would at least have the justification to seek forgiveness.」
She added that sometimes indifference is more terrifying than hatred.
In hindsight, that statement seemed to ring true.
Especially when Banessa recalled the princess, who had clung to Leticia’s hand, tears streaming down her face, just before Leticia’s departure.
“Whatever. They shouldn’t have committed those wrongs in the first place.”
The understanding was fleeting, and the hatred resurfaced once more.
Banessa still occasionally imagined lightning striking from the sky, bringing the empire to ruins.
Lost in these thoughts, he soon found himself arriving at the empire.
The royal knights, who had been waiting for the delegation, approached and bowed their heads.
“We will escort you to the palace. Please follow us.”
The imperial knights’ demeanor was exceedingly polite. Banessa could hardly suppress a smirk, recalling how they had once treated them with disdain.
“Open the gates!”
The royal knights shouted as they approached the firmly closed gates.
With a creaking sound, the iron gates swung open.
The carriage quietly slipped inside the gates.
After traveling a while longer, the carriage finally stopped in front of a rather splendid building.
“This is the palace where the late empress resided. If you find anything uncomfortable, please feel free to let us know.”
Banessa was inwardly surprised at the attendants’ words.
To think they were offering the Empress’s palace to the delegation. It was an extravagant welcome, indeed.
“The princess has instructed us repeatedly to ensure that we take good care of you.”
The attendants, who had been going on and on about the special treatment, eventually withdrew.
His comrades chuckled and made a few remarks.
“Giving us the Empress’s palace, huh? Looks like the empire folks have finally come to their senses.”
“They’d better. If they still hadn’t, they’d be beyond saving.”
“Banessa, what’s with that look? Something bothering you?”
“Yeah, you’ve been scowling like you’ve bitten into something bitter.”
Unlike his laughing comrades, Banessa was frowning.
“I know I’ve always been one to hold grudges, but I must be more twisted than I thought. The more these imperial bastards grovel, the worse I feel.”
He wanted to grab them by the collar and tell them to kneel and beg, rather than deal with this false kindness.
Banessa, who was scowling as he gazed out the window, shook his head.
He was here as the representative of the delegation.
“I can’t just act on my temper. Be good. Be good.”
* * *
“You must be tired from the long journey.”
As soon as they settled in, the princess herself came to the Empress’s palace where the principality’s delegation was staying.
“I heard that the saintess is expecting twins. The Holy Empire wanted to hold a celebration, but given the circumstances, that wasn’t possible.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Banessa responded with appropriate courtesy, bowing his head slightly.
Until they arrived at the capital, Banessa had dreaded the thought of even seeing the princess.
But now, seeing the princess in person for the first time in weeks, he felt something different.
The princess looked extremely fatigued, almost gaunt.
Dressed in black mourning clothes, her pale face appeared as white as a sheet of paper.
Despite her upright posture, she looked like a fragile ice fortress on the verge of collapse.
She seemed so precarious that Banessa felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of harboring ill feelings.
Putting aside his complicated thoughts, Banessa retrieved a letter from his robes.
“Her Grace asked me to deliver this to Your Highness.”
“Thank you.”
Banessa’s eyes widened as he watched the princess take the letter without a second thought.
The moment the princess received Leticia’s reply, she hastily broke the seal.
After brushing away the wax fragments, she unfolded the letter.
She began reading it with an unwavering gaze, not blinking once.
For the first time, warmth touched the princess’s previously stern expression.
“The saintess herself has responded.”
The princess’s voice even carried a hint of excitement as she spoke.
After a brief moment, the princess carefully tucked the letter into her bosom as if it were a treasure.
With a much more relaxed smile, she spoke again.
“The saintess has made a special request regarding the delegation. Please consider the palace as your home and make yourselves comfortable.”
With that, the princess and her attendants departed the Empress’s palace.
Banessa couldn’t tear his gaze away from the princess’s retreating figure for a long time.
* * *
As Banessa had observed, the princess had indeed been utterly exhausted of late.
After learning that the emperor was targeting the saintess, the princess made a decisive choice.
She resolved to strip the emperor of his crown completely.
The emperor raged against this decision.
“Hand over the throne to you? Don’t be ridiculous! Do you think I’ll give up this position? To someone like you!”
And so, the princess made the emperor “dead.”
While his life was spared, she confined him deep within the palace, rendering him completely dead in the eyes of society.
Callisto opposed his sister’s decision.
“Why take the harder path when there’s an easier one? If it’s difficult for you to do it yourself, let me handle it. You have nothing to worry about. I’ll make sure he never sets foot on imperial soil again.”
Callisto was right. Leaving the emperor to him would certainly be the easier way.
But the princess was resolute in her decision.
No matter how much it was for the empire, she couldn’t let her brother stain his hands with their father’s blood.
If anyone were to deal with the emperor, it had to be her, not Callisto.
After all, the next emperor would not be Callisto but her, Princess Dana.
Yet, she was occasionally gripped by fear.
“Is my choice the right one? Am I doing the right thing?”
Sometimes, the empire felt like a rotten apple to her.
An apple that gleamed on the outside but was rotten within.
If she were an ordinary person, she would have discarded the rotten apple.
But she wasn’t an ordinary person.
As a ruler, she had to find a way to make new growth emerge from that rotten apple, by any means necessary.
“So tired.”
The princess pressed her throbbing temples.
“If only the saintess were here, things might have been better.”
Leticia, who was far more extraordinary than she was, would have somehow restored the rotten apple to its original state.
“But it’s too late now. Nothing can be done.”
A bitter smile formed on the princess’s lips.
“At least the saintess hasn’t completely abandoned the empire.”
The princess clutched Leticia’s letter tightly, as if it were her salvation. Even though Leticia had been gone from the empire for some time, the princess often had nightmares where Leticia abandoned the empire entirely.
If Leticia ultimately couldn’t forgive the empire, and if even Callisto left to follow her, then…
“I would be left alone in the empire.”
Standing there, staring blankly at the letter, the princess closed her eyes.
“I haven’t been abandoned yet. Not yet.”
Even though she felt as if the ground beneath her feet was growing more unstable, the princess forced herself to ignore that feeling.
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