Chapter 119
The Imperial Princess’s Visit
The sudden news that an imperial princess would be visiting threw the village of Hestia into an uproar.
When the day finally arrived, people abandoned their work and crowded into the streets.
“Isn’t this our chance to see the Flower of the Empire?”
“Would someone like her even show her face to people like us? I lived practically under her nose and never saw her once.”
“Even so, when else are we going to get an opportunity like this?”
Most people praised Olivia’s beauty, yet very few had ever seen her in person.
Even among those who lived within the Empire, the majority had never laid eyes on Olivia’s face. They gathered with the thought that this might be their first and last chance.
While excitement filled the streets, Luri was even more on edge than usual.
It was only natural, given how thoroughly she had prepared for the arrival of such an honored guest.
‘No, that isn’t it.’
If she wished, she could break through the Empire’s defenses and enter its heartland. There was no reason for her to be this nervous over a mere visitor.
That sharpened gaze was, unsurprisingly, directed at Ferda.
Ferda had a general idea why.
That was why he said to her,
“The only woman who has ever captured my heart is Her Highness Valdrova.”
“Did I say anything?”
Luri snapped her head away and walked off, leaving Ferda wondering what that reaction was supposed to mean.
A short while later, a pair of vanguard guards mounted on white horses emerged from the forest.
A long procession followed behind them, and nearly four minutes passed before a large carriage finally appeared.
Olivia Arken was presumably inside that splendid vehicle.
Ferda had assumed he only needed to wait for the procession to arrive, but then something unexpected happened.
The carriage stopped at the unfinished outer wall.
“Why have they suddenly stopped over there?”
“I have no idea.”
It was a situation Ferda had not anticipated.
At the same time, soldiers began unrolling a long red carpet from the outer gate, extending it in a straight line along the road.
The guards positioned themselves at regular intervals on both sides of the carpet and began controlling the gathered residents.
The sight felt strangely familiar to Ferda.
‘Are they planning a procession?’
His guess was correct.
Olivia Arken intended to transfer from the enclosed carriage that concealed her completely into an open carriage used for triumphal processions.
Ferda frowned as he watched.
“What a troublesome thing to do…”
Muttering under his breath, Ferda turned to Luri.
“Luri. We need to change the plan.”
“What do you mean?”
“Can you take me to the outer gate?”
“Are you planning to rush straight to the imperial princess’s side?”
“I do not want trouble breaking out in Hestia.”
Luri glared at him with a sullen expression, but what else could she do?
In the end, she granted Ferda’s request.
Once they reached a suitable height, Ferda descended using Heaven Stair and landed beside Olivia.
“I greet the imperial princess.”
“I greet the regent of the principality. Did you come all this way for my sake?”
“What exactly are you doing?”
Ferda refused to be swept up in Olivia’s atmosphere and asked the question directly.
Olivia answered while checking her reflection in a mirror.
“What else would I be doing? I am trying to help you, Regent.”
“How is this supposed to help me?”
“I merely intend to generate some talk about Hestia.”
“What kind of talk?”
“The Flower of the Empire entered Valdrova Castle in all her beauty… Would that not be enough to set tongues wagging?”
Her sapphire eyes slid toward him, and she smiled.
“If your intention is to destroy Hestia, then this is certainly an excellent way to do it. I assumed you understood why you never reveal yourself to crowds.”
“Of course. If word spread that an imperial princess had been struck by a stone or a tomato thrown from the crowd, the offender’s entire family would be exterminated.”
Such an incident had actually occurred during a visit by the First Prince, and the noble family involved had disappeared without a trace.
With Olivia, whose beauty inspired admiration from nearly everyone, the consequences would surely be even more severe.
“Do not worry. I am doing this entirely on my own initiative, and I will hold the knights responsible if they fail to prevent anything. Would that not resolve the matter?”
“That would be fine if everything in the world worked out so conveniently.”
“You do not seem to believe me.”
“I do not.”
“You really are far too honest.”
Olivia covered her mouth and laughed softly.
“Then allow me to propose a compromise. Would you ride with me?”
“…Pardon?”
“If someone throws a stone or a tomato, you can block it for me. Would that not solve the problem?”
“……”
Olivia tapped her glossy lips with her folded fan.
“Imagine how wonderful it would be if people said that the regent of Valdrova threw himself in harm’s way for the imperial princess—that chivalry toward the princess still lived within him.”
Ferda wanted to tell her to stop spouting nonsense, turn the carriage around, and crawl back inside her shell.
However, she showed no sign of backing down.
He disliked her forceful attitude, but he could not afford to be stubborn either.
As he had already said, he was in a position where he had to chew even on a fine-looking fruit with nothing inside.
“Very well.”
“Hehe. Then climb up beside me.”
And so Ferda boarded the imperial princess’s carriage.
The guards and knights appeared unable to hide their astonishment, but none of them dared say a word.
The procession began.
They crossed the long open stretch of road and entered the heart of Hestia.
“Gasp!”
“It’s the imperial princess!”
“The Flower of the Empire!”
The residents, who had never imagined she would hold a public procession, stared in shock.
Some gasped as though they might stop breathing, while others cried out in admiration.
Not only the men, but even the women gazed at her with longing eyes.
“Your hand.”
“Pardon?”
“Wave to them. Even if you cannot smile, you should at least do that much.”
Olivia waved skillfully toward the crowd.
Whenever she saw children watching with sparkling eyes, she greeted them with an even brighter smile.
‘Impressive.’
Watching her from beside her, Olivia truly seemed to shine.
Golden hair and blue eyes.
She wore a dress that revealed her splendid, voluptuous figure, the sort of sight that could easily stir lust. Yet the smile on her face created an atmosphere all its own, and that atmosphere overwhelmed everything else.
She was a beautiful rose preserved inside a glass case.
A goddess of beauty.
Everyone loved her, worshipped her, and showered her with praise.
Ferda could feel at once that she was someone who received the love of all.
While lost in those thoughts, his eyes met Olivia’s.
She smiled.
Perhaps it was only his imagination, but for some reason, that artificial radiance seemed even brighter than before.
It was enough to create the illusion that she was in love with him.
‘So that is how brightly one must smile.’
It was an expression Ferda might never be capable of making.
He turned his gaze back toward the crowd and checked whether any pests had gathered.
As expected, no one displayed hatred toward her, and the procession reached the inner castle without incident.
“Show your respects!”
Inside the inner castle, knights dispatched from Count Consilus’s territory for the ceremony dropped to one knee before the imperial princess.
Ferda stepped down from the carriage first.
As courtesy demanded, he extended a hand toward Olivia.
“Allow me to escort you.”
“My apologies, Regent. Her Highness does not take the hands of unrelated men—”
The explanation stopped midway.
Olivia had already placed her hand in Ferda’s, rendering the knight’s words meaningless.
She had always avoided the hands of the men assigned to escort her, using chastity as an excuse, so they had naturally assumed she would do the same this time.
Holding Ferda’s hand as though it were the most natural thing in the world, she spoke to him familiarly.
“Would you introduce me to the people in the castle?”
“Of course.”
Ferda introduced not only the knights, but also the people closest to him.
Burnell was among them.
Even Burnell, who normally shut himself inside his laboratory, had abandoned everything and rushed outside.
True to form for a researcher who had never so much as held a woman’s hand, his face turned bright red the moment he saw Olivia.
Olivia regarded him with open admiration and addressed him as though she already knew him.
“Marquis Burnell. I have heard of you. They say you achieved something extraordinary in Halim.”
“Y-Yes. Th-That is correct!”
“The Empire has been keeping a close eye on you. I would like to request close cooperation on matters of national security, but… ensuring the safety of the Far East must naturally come first, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Of course, but when the time comes, I will be of great help to the Empire as well!”
“Hehe. I look forward to it.”
This woman was up to something.
Burnell was completely spellbound by the princess’s smile.
And he was hardly the only one.
The Golden Rose of the Empire was a woman every man wished to see in person at least once.
Who could remain unmoved when finally standing before her?
Perhaps because of that, Ferda suddenly remembered a certain woman-crazed being and whispered to Zed.
“Where is Penelope?”
“We tied her up tightly and locked her away.”
“Why?”
“The moment she saw the princess, she said, ‘Just one bite.’ What else was I supposed to do?”
Ferda silently paid tribute to Zed’s lightning-fast judgment and took his place beside Olivia.
With that, the image-building continued, and they entered the castle without trouble.
Luri’s gaze was more piercing than ever.
Her expression openly declared that she disliked the situation even more than usual, and her hostility was plain to see.
An ordinary person would have been crushed beneath that pressure, but Olivia spoke to her without the slightest sign of tension.
“You are Lady Luri… Silverwind, correct?”
“That is correct.”
“Sometimes I find it rather confusing. Whenever I hear that Lady Valdrova’s most devoted attendant is a descendant of Silverwind, I mean.”
Olivia smiled brightly while Luri answered stiffly.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but I already know what the Empire thinks of my master. I have ears.”
“Yes. It is a difficult matter. On behalf of House Arken, I promise that I will work to improve it.”
A promise made in her capacity as an imperial princess.
Luri scoffed inwardly.
“This is something I have wished to give you for some time. It is only a modest gift.”
Olivia gestured behind her.
One of the accompanying knights stepped forward and presented a box.
Inside were traditional sweets.
They had been made by the finest pastry chef in the Empire.
Sweet, but not cheap-looking, with a refined appearance suited to an adult palate.
“Oh.”
Luri’s eyes sparkled so brightly that the vigilance she had shown moments ago seemed almost unbelievable.
“I thought bringing only one box might be discourteous, so I prepared three.”
“Th-Then I will gratefully accept your kindness. Since I cannot possibly eat them alone, I shall serve them when entertaining guests.”
“That is a wonderfully considerate decision, befitting Lady Valdrova’s devoted attendant.”
Luri responded smoothly, while Olivia’s skill at wrapping everything in flattering words was far from ordinary.
Ferda, who knew Luri well, saw the situation differently.
‘She is dying to taste them immediately.’
She merely wanted to eat them on the spot while preparations were still underway instead of waiting until the day’s work was done.
There were two additional boxes, so she could simply eat more later.
‘She truly is an impressive woman.’
She had even managed to lure a child with food.
Quietly impressed, Ferda escorted Olivia to the reception room.
“The village is called Hestia, correct?”
After eating one of the sweets and taking a sip of tea in the quiet atmosphere, Olivia introduced a topic of conversation.
“Hestia… Was that not the name of the woman who guarded the hearth?”
“Yes. It is a rather obscure name. I am surprised you know it.”
“I only know because someone once told me. I cannot help but admire the breadth of your knowledge. How did you come to know such names?”
“I would not have known either had I not happened to hear the story.”
“Most people would not remember even if they heard it by chance. Thanks to you, I have developed a taste for books about ancient mythology. What have you been reading lately, Regent?”
“I…”
Under Olivia’s lead, the conversation continued without pause.
As Ferda watched her, he felt something strange.
‘She feels different from before.’
Until now, whenever he spoke with Olivia, he had always felt as though he were speaking to someone wearing a mask.
But this time, he could not feel the mask nearly as clearly.
‘Has her acting improved that much?’
After exchanging trivial conversation for a while, Olivia shifted to a more constructive subject.
“I would like to discuss Marquis Burnell.”
Of course.
Olivia had finally revealed her true intentions.
“Please, go ahead.”
“To be direct, I would like to recruit him as an engineer for the Empire. You would, of course, be properly compensated. Could you not consider it?”
Was this woman joking?
Ferda nearly snapped at her, but his gaze briefly shifted toward the knights.
There were ears listening, so he declined politely.
“He is a valuable asset of the principality.”
“So that is your answer after all…”
Olivia maintained her smile as she nodded, then turned her head.
“Captain of the Guard.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Would you leave us for a moment? It seems the regent and I need to speak privately.”
“…Understood.”
Her words suggested that a serious discussion was about to begin, and the knight commander withdrew.
Yet even after he left, Olivia merely sipped her tea without beginning any grave conversation.
Left with no choice, Ferda asked her directly.
“What did you wish to discuss?”
“Discuss?”
Olivia innocently fluttered her eyebrows.
“Ah, did you mean that little performance? I merely needed an excuse to send the knight commander away.”
“Why?”
“He keeps trying to monitor my every movement. If I say that high-ranking figures need to discuss something privately, he will understand and withdraw.”
“Then what you said earlier was…”
“An act, of course.”
She savored the fragrance of her tea as she continued.
“The imperial capital is currently debating how to suppress the principality’s growth.”
“I have heard roughly what the situation is.”
“In that case, would it not create a useful narrative if the imperial princess appeared to be taking action to transfer your chief engineer?”
It certainly would.
However, Ferda did not trust Olivia completely.
“Are you certain you have no personal interest in bringing him to the Empire?”
“Of course. Why would I do anything that would please those people?”
Ambition flared in Olivia’s eyes.
At that moment, she was neither the Flower of the Empire, nor a jewel displayed at auction, nor a butterfly longing to be free.
She wore the face of a politician.
“We agreed that Hestia would become a capital great enough to replace the Empire itself, did we not?”