Chapter 250 - One Day Earlier
The Chancellor now left the social gathering hall.
The remaining central nobles had vanished completely as well, and only a small number of people stayed until the end.
The two members of the Three Generals, who could not leave their posts, stood on the outskirts, while the Margrave and the White-Haired Knight were inside.
The two members of the Imperial Family who had entered the social gathering hall moments ago watched the Chancellor’s retreating back.
“Uncle. What happened?”
“I do not know the details either, so ask that blood kin.”
The Margrave glanced toward Youngest Son.
Once the Chancellor left, Youngest Son, now standing alone, quietly brought his glass to his lips under their gazes.
“It was nothing significant. It was the sort of thing an outsider must pass through.”
There was no further answer. For some reason or another, there was a reason he could not speak in detail.
The Crown Prince gave an appropriate nod and tugged on the hand of his younger sister, which he had been holding.
“Go on.”
“Yes.”
Princess Exia approached the uncle she had not seen since she was very young.
“Exia. It has been a very long time.”
“Have you been well all this time?”
“How do I look?”
“You look healthy.”
For one thing, even though he wore ordinary clothing, his physique was larger than those of the Three Generals, who were heavily armed in armor.
The Margrave laughed heartily and pulled forward the subordinate who had been standing behind him.
“This is my subordinate.”
“I have heard his name often.”
Exia glanced at his hair, then nodded and continued.
“I heard he is the knight marked by the borderland as the next Margrave.”
“I am Borderland Knight Pale.”
When Pale formally greeted her, she acknowledged it with a light glance.
It was difficult for her to spare any more attention than that for the knight.
That was because, even in her peripheral vision, dark purple hair kept catching her eye.
The owner of that dark purple hair had parted his red lips and was eating lobster with red flesh.
Even here, where only the greatest figures within the Imperial Palace had gathered, he calmly enjoyed the meal he had not finished.
In a social gathering hall where the food had been laid out appetizingly, but no one was actually eating it.
The ones who kept the efforts of the palace chefs from going to waste were that blood kin of the East and the Margrave.
The Princess’s sidelong glances were felt by the Magic Sword as well.
[That woman called the Princess keeps looking at you.]
—I do not know why either.
[It looks like she is telling you to go home if you want to eat.]
Enad had accurately seen through the Princess’s inner thoughts, but unfortunately, Youngest Son had no intention of doing that.
—That will not do. Tonight is my last chance to leave myself in the memories of the Empire’s figures.
[It seems you have left plenty of memories already. Do you need to leave even more?]
—I cannot just vanish because the Chancellor left. It would be rude for a guest to do that.
[And eating alone while everyone else is gathered over there is acceptable?]
Ignoring the unfavorable remark, he emptied his plate. After he even wiped his mouth with a napkin, his blood-red eyes met the smiling Crown Prince’s gaze.
“Dante. Could you come here for a moment?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
When the Crown Prince called him, he trotted over. Exia, on the other hand, moved slightly farther away. She tried to go even farther, but the Crown Prince blocked her path, so she could not.
The Princess’s golden eyes sent him a reproachful look, but he pretended not to notice and looked at the guest.
“I am glad the food seems to suit your taste.”
“Yes. I unexpectedly used some strength, so I must have grown hungry. Perhaps because he is a knight raised by Your Highness the Margrave, he made me move enough to break a sweat.”
“Please come to the borderland next time.”
Pale continued.
“I would like you to give me a chance to recover my honor.”
“I see no reason why not, should the opportunity arise.”
Youngest Son’s blood-red eyes and the White-Haired Knight’s blue eyes collided in midair.
It looked heated at a glance, and that heat was exactly what the Margrave wanted.
“Thanks to Fifth Son, my knight has received a great deal of stimulation. I personally express my gratitude as well.”
“It was nothing.”
Youngest Son treated the Margrave in a tone filled with respect.
At Raymond’s mansion, they had spoken casually to each other with no concern for mutual respect, but he could not do that in a place where members of the Imperial Family were present.
For one thing, it was difficult to speak casually to someone the heir of the Empire addressed respectfully.
“That aside.”
The Margrave, who held such a position, suddenly said,
“When will the marriage between you two take place?”
“…….”
“…….”
Many of those present fell silent.
In other words, only the sound of the Margrave chewing meat grew louder.
The very thing they had worried about had happened, and Princess Exia let out a faint sigh before opening her mouth.
“Uncle. I—”
“The Millesdusk side has put it on hold.”
The one who answered before Exia was the other party to the marriage discussion.
The Margrave raised one eyebrow.
“...On hold?”
“That is correct. The Imperial Family is eager for the marriage discussion, but the Family Head entrusted the decision-making authority to me.”
“In other words, you are the one who put the marriage on hold.”
Youngest Son lightly ignored the heated gaze he felt nearby.
The Margrave rolled his golden eyes here and there, then burst into hearty laughter.
“Well, well. To think my niece is the one clinging to him. Still, from what I saw earlier, he seems capable enough of doing a man’s part.”
His large hand thumped Youngest Son on the shoulder. Youngest Son barely endured it before his arm could be knocked loose.
“Then I will take my leave now. I have something to discuss with Pale, so I will take him with me for a while. Is that all right?”
“Of course.”
“I will have him wait in front of the carriage, so return together.”
“I will be leaving the Imperial Palace tomorrow night anyway, so you may take him with you as is.”
The Margrave shook his head.
“Even so, once a mission has begun, it is right to see it through to the end. Pale will want that more as well.”
“Of course.”
After the duel they had fought with their pride at stake, Pale’s eyes toward Youngest Son had changed completely.
Before, they had been the eyes of someone looking at something bothersome and still more bothersome. Now, they were burning with a heat quite unlike his origin.
They blazed as though he had found the rival of a lifetime.
But in the present social gathering hall, that heat would only be a hindrance. Knowing that, the Margrave took Pale and left.
After all, Pale was not the only one here who held such heat toward Youngest Son.
“Let us meet again. Farewell, my nephews and niece.”
“Please go safely.”
“Please take care on your way back, Uncle.”
The members of the Imperial Family also bowed politely to the Margrave. And so, only three were left now.
The other two members of the Three Generals had also disappeared somewhere at some point.
Those left in the social gathering hall until the very end were two members of the Imperial Family and one outsider.
One of those members of the Imperial Family opened fire in a very low voice.
“I am clinging to you, am I?”
The snake remained as supple as ever.
“I never said such a thing. That was His Highness the Margrave’s misunderstanding.”
“But you did not deny it either.”
“Is silence not said to be golden?”
“And yet your mouth is very free right now.”
“There is also a saying that one should regard gold as stone. Right now, I am regarding it lightly, like stone.”
“Pfft...”
The Crown Prince could not hold back and laughed.
“...Older Brother.”
“Sorry. I am sorry. But it was difficult to endure.”
“If it is difficult, could you step away? I have a conversation I must have with this man.”
“I will stand about one step away. Speak comfortably, as though I am not here.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Please do not go far.”
If he went far, I might get slapped.
With a safety officer placed beside him, Youngest Son straightened his back.
The Princess looked at the men with an expression of disbelief, then squeezed her eyes shut as though her head had begun to ache.
“Haa...”
“What is this conversation you wished to have?”
“Are you asking because you do not know? We are going to settle this utterly unpleasant mar... Haa. This relationship.”
As though she did not even want to say the word, she took a detour around it.
However, Youngest Son also had something to say.
“When you say settle it, are you rejecting the marriage discussion completely on behalf of the Imperial Family?”
“…….”
Unlike earlier, the Princess’s voice did not continue immediately.
That was because, unlike the Family Head of Millesdusk, who had entrusted all intentions regarding the marriage discussion to Youngest Son, the Princess had not received such authority.
To begin with, the one who had arranged the marriage discussion was the Emperor of the Empire. The one who had pushed it forward was also the Emperor of the Empire.
“...Then what exactly am I supposed to do? If you are going to go through with it, go through with it, and if you are not, then do not. How in the world did you come to the decision of putting it on hold?”
Because of the adults’ decision, the Princess might have had to simply watch the marriage discussion proceed.
However, the other side kept pulling on the reins, and the process did not gain speed.
The problem was that the other side refusing to let it gain speed was not a family, but a single individual, the man who would become her husband.
“I am not yet the Family Head of the East. Before making a decision that could change my life, I merely wish to solidify my unstable life further.”
“And after that? After you become the Family Head, are you saying you will proceed with the marriage discussion you have put on hold?”
“That is my current plan, but I cannot be certain of anything. It may disappear entirely.”
“Ha.”
The Princess snorted. Then she slowly lowered her head.
“Marriage is something done by two people. Do you understand?”
The lowered head soon rose, and the Princess’s golden eyes glared at his blood-red eyes as if to shatter them.
“It is not something you put on hold, chatter about, overturn, or bring to fruition all by yourself.”
“...I would like to hear what Your Highness wants.”
“It is astonishing that you are only now ready to listen.”
The fist that had nearly risen even before the safety officer’s eyes lowered again.
Youngest Son chose to listen closely in order not to be hit, and the Princess spoke.
“For now, we put it on hold.”
“...?”
“...That was the decision I made, though.”
Both the Crown Prince and Youngest Son seemed to have question marks over their heads. But there was something different about this hold.
“It will be a hold agreed upon by you and me. Also, the period of the hold we have in mind will likely be different.”
“How long are you thinking?”
“Until the East-West war ends.”
As he listened to the Princess’s answer, he naturally grasped her intention. Enad, a Magic Sword much like his master, did the same.
[If it is until the war ends... then it can only mean she will decide after Millesdusk’s victory is certain.]
—On the surface, yes. But there is one more thing.
That one more thing was also noticed by the Crown Prince, her blood relative.
“...Once the East-West war ends, the East will become terribly busy. The West, having become empty land, will become a lawless zone until Millesdusk takes its place there.”
“Older Brother. You said you would not pay attention.”
“Ahem. I am sorry. I could not help myself.”
It was as the Crown Prince said. Once the East-West war ended, Millesdusk would have to concentrate all its attention on digesting the West.
In other words, they might have no time at all to deal with something as troublesome and awkward as a marriage discussion.
Youngest Son nodded.
“If the East is defeated or the war drags on, the marriage discussion will naturally be forgotten. It is a gamble with a high chance of victory for Your Highness the Princess.”
“Five years. If you cannot finish it within five years, His Majesty will withdraw the marriage discussion first.”
“That certainly may be so. The Imperial Family has no time to waste, after all.”
No matter how much they coveted someone, the Imperial Family would seek stability from now on.
She did not know it herself, but before long, the current Emperor would hand his seat to the Crown Prince.
He would also try to find a place for the Princess, and that place would not necessarily be with a blood kin of the East.
“In the unlikely event that I cannot finish it within five years, that is.”
“...In the unlikely event? It takes close to a month just to go from the East to the West. Does time flow more slowly for you alone?”
Youngest Son smiled.
“Who knows? I cannot say how that will turn out either.”
“…….”
After bowing politely to the Imperial Family members, he took a step away.
“I will see you again. Not within five years, but within one year.”
With those words as the last, Youngest Son turned and walked away. The last expression he saw on the Princess’s face was one of her biting her lip.
It was the expression of someone worried about something. A face worried that that man might truly return within one year.
Furthermore, Youngest Son intended to turn that worry into reality.
‘Occupy the West, secure even the Imperial Family behind me, and then strike the North and the South.’
At the end of that, Act 3 would begin. But that was still a distant matter for now.
What was right before him was tomorrow, when he would board the Black Ship.
‘There must be a mountain of things to do.’
The blood kin’s confidence must have risen considerably as well... Before the war, I should put things in order once.