He was going to go anyway, but somehow.
“She’s an interesting young lady.”
“Pardon?”
Without saying anything, he got into the carriage and rested his chin on his hand. Everyone around him was smiling, but there were exactly two people who were not smiling, even out of courtesy.
One was Nathan Valencia.
The other was Rachel Ingrave.
Rachel Ingrave, in particular, did not show it, but for some reason, she seemed uncomfortable around him. Yet at the same time, there was also the contradiction of her following him worriedly when he headed toward the garden with the Borza Kingdom’s delegation……
‘She really is interesting.’
Above all, she usually only showed an expressionless face.
So seeing her genuinely smile, even if only once in a while, felt strangely precious.
“……”
“Your Majesty?”
“Nothing.”
Terrius waved his hand at the chief chamberlain and shifted his attention to the delegation that had just arrived. This came first.
That day, the Minister of Foreign Affairs reported that the King of the Borza Kingdom wanted to come to the capital himself to apologize and seek peace.
The Emperor approved, and it was decided that this would happen after the north had been dealt with.
With temporary peace returning to the capital, public attention had gradually shifted toward the north.
The northern region of the Olsher Empire.
Nathan Valencia was inspecting the entire northern region with the help of the Deputy Minister of Inspections.
For generations, the Duke of Valencia had held the position of Minister of Inspections, overseeing every department, noble, and minister.
The problem was that he was a Duke who had hastily inherited the title after only one or two months.
“……I’d rather stand on the battlefield.”
Nathan was becoming exhausted from the endless stream of work. Had he ever been buried under this many documents in his life?
Before his mother passed away, until he was around thirteen, he had been involved in both military and academic studies. But after that, he had lived his life holding nothing but a sword. Of course, as a mercenary captain, he had handled requests, money, and various other tasks, but he had been in a position where he only needed to check things and give orders.
“……”
But there was one benefit to all this.
It kept him from having useless thoughts.
Rachel Ingrave.
The woman who had caught his attention from the moment they first met was now on the verge of occupying his entire mind.
—She is someone I hate. No matter how much I begged and begged, telling her that I wasn’t the one and that it was unfair, she never once looked back at me.
She had said that Rachel reminded her of someone she hated so much.
He was a Valencia and a high-ranking noble, possessing every condition that she disliked.
“……I guess it makes sense that she would keep her distance.”
That was why, from the beginning, she had stared at him blankly.
Avoided him.
And never gave him an opening.
On top of that, he had persistently questioned her about the ability she wanted to hide and pushed her into a corner. Perhaps she had come to hate him even more than the person she had said she hated.
“……”
Just as his red eyes sank deeply—
Knock, knock—
Count Carlisle, the Deputy Minister, entered after knocking and bowed his head.
“Duke. I think you should take a look at this.”
“What is it?”
Nathan rubbed his throbbing temple as he looked at the documents handed to him by the Deputy Minister. As he casually read the words, a strange light appeared in his red eyes.
The Great Mage who had supposedly been urgently recruited by the Borza Kingdom to break through the barrier of the Olsher Imperial Palace.
There were traces showing that Marquis Tauren had secretly investigated him.
「Gender is presumed to be male. His speech makes him seem young, but his rank appears to be high, making his age impossible to estimate.」
It was not very useful information.
“There hasn’t been any movement in another country yet, has there?”
“No, Duke.”
“……”
If this was not an attempt to interfere in another country’s internal affairs,
then what on earth did this Great Mage want?
Nathan lightly rubbed the corner of his mouth before standing up.
“We should look around Tauren Castle, just in case. There may be some traces left behind, so let’s check.”
“Yes, Duke.”
The most troublesome Tauren territory had also been dealt with. Once the problem of the Great Mage was resolved, he would be able to return.
‘……I wonder if the Emperor is protecting her properly.’
He suddenly thought of Rachel, who was in the Imperial Palace. Sometimes, arrows were more likely to be aimed at the weak than the strong—
“……!”
At that moment, Nathan shot a lightning-fast gaze through the window. His previously relaxed eyes sharpened intensely. The Deputy Minister shuddered at the powerful aura that swept through the room.
“Duke? What is it?”
“……No, it’s nothing.”
Was it his imagination?
Nathan continued looking beyond the window for a while, then tilted his head and left the room. He had definitely felt someone’s gaze, but it was strange.
“Urgh.”
Sein Marcus, who had hurriedly stopped casting his magic, coughed up blood.
“Crazy. He noticed magic being cast from here. Is that thing even human?”
Atop a tree about four kilometers away from Tauren Castle.
Sein had only intended to take a quick look at Nathan Valencia. He had heard that a high-level swordsman had discovered traces of the Great Mage’s interference.
Just in case, he wanted to check whether Nathan had noticed anything.
‘They said he was one of the five strongest people in the Empire.’
Judging from what he had just seen, he seemed more than worthy of being counted among the very strongest.
Sein roughly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and sighed. The magic he had been about to cast was a spell that allowed him to see a designated location as if it were right in front of him.
If Nathan could even notice a spell that merely showed a location—
“Can’t be helped. Damn. Should I just leave that guy alone?”
There were plenty of interesting things in the world anyway. It hurt his pride a little to retreat like this.
……But that was how the world worked. Even someone like that would eventually show an opening.
“I’ll keep a special eye on you. Just show me an opening. I’ll make sure you pay dearly for the internal injury you gave me.”
Just as Sein was irritably erasing the traces of his magic, a small magic circle appeared in the air and flashed.
‘Ah, I had this.’
Sein snapped his fingers. What appeared in his hand was a pink letter.
Aisha Labelyn.
For some reason, Aisha was calling him over, saying she wanted to practice magic.
“The Emperor is safe, so your goal hasn’t changed.”
It was a shame. If she had lost that love of hers, he wanted to see how she would react.
No.
He both wanted to see it and did not want to see it.
“……”
After thinking for a while, he wrote a reply.
「You’re still arrogant, my disciple.
Still, since it’s a request from my disciple, I have to go.
I’ll make a special visit, so make sure I receive the best treatment. Otherwise, I’ll get angry.
P.S. I think it will take a few weeks to finish what I’m doing now. Wait for me.」
Sein Marcus
The man likewise added his signature at the bottom and used magic to send the letter straight to the Labelyn mansion.
“All right, then.”
Just in case, he should check the Borza Kingdom’s side as well. If someone was as powerful as that, even if he had perfectly erased his traces, there was no telling where they might notice something.
Flash—
Soon, without leaving behind even an afterimage,
Sein disappeared using teleportation magic. No one noticed.
***
About two weeks had passed since Rachel began staying at the Violet Palace. During that time, there had been a slight change in Rachel’s peaceful daily routine.
Just like before, she woke up around noon and ate her meal.
When she went out to the garden or terrace, a guest would come to see her after a little while.
“You’re here again, Lady.”
“I greet His Majesty the Emperor.”
……It was the Emperor, Terrius Rogdan di Olsher, who had been visiting this place almost every day since that time. His sculpted face showed clear dissatisfaction.
“You are always here. If you like gardens, I told you that you could come to the garden of the Sun Palace. Why have you never come even once?”
“I’m grateful enough just to be in the Imperial Palace thanks to Your Majesty’s kindness. I’m truly satisfied with being here, Your Majesty.”
After learning that Rachel was always out in the garden, the Emperor had become restless because he could not lure her into his own garden.
Rachel could not understand why. She also did not know why the Emperor had suddenly started showing interest in her.
‘……Maybe everything has been taken care of smoothly, so he’s bored?’
Thinking that to herself, she offered him the seat across from her. The Emperor sat down with a slightly sulky expression.
“I suppose I should invite you next time. You’ll come then, of course, won’t you?”
“It would be an honor far beyond what I deserve. But I think you would have a much more enjoyable time if you invited Lady Aisha instead of me.”
“……”
The Emperor’s eyes hardened slightly. Pretending not to notice, Rachel brewed tea herself. Meanwhile, Becky brought some snacks and set them down.
Bitterness from the tea, and something easy to eat.
Pour—
Of course, it was not as though she had no interest in the Emperor’s garden, which she had never seen even once.
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