Because It's Embarrassing

Count Consilius asked in surprise.

“The regent? You mean Valdrowa’s fiancé?”

“We don’t know the details either, but he certainly seems capable, judging by the fact that he managed to win over Branch Manager Stefan Pascal. He isn’t someone who can easily be swayed by something like status.”

“Ah…”

A foolish exclamation escaped Count Consilius’s lips.

Ferda Valdrowa.

What image did he have now?

The worst in history.

All he had done until now was interfere with and threaten the local lords.

Because of that, the local lords’ dissatisfaction had been steadily building.

‘That kind of youngster… was targeting the Pascal Trading Company?’

It was astonishing that he had joined hands with the Pascal Trading Company without anyone realizing it.

And the second thing that surprised him was this.

‘He didn’t do it out of personal greed, either.’

If he had merely wanted to satisfy his personal greed, he could have focused solely on Valdrowa Castle.

His efforts to stimulate trade meant developing the stagnant and isolated territories, which was far removed from personal gain.

‘What sort of terms could he possibly have offered?’

The territories belonging to the Grand Duchy of Valdrowa had no value.

The forest before the front line was dense to keep out monsters, and even if they cut down the trees to make farmland, they could do little more than harvest famine-relief crops now and then.

On top of that, the front line was retreating every year, leaving the land increasingly desolate.

Even if it were given away for free, the Far East had an image that made people say, ‘That’s a bit much…’ and back away.

That meant Ferda had offered terms capable of overcoming all those disadvantages.

‘No lord could do such a thing.’

Whether what he had shown them was false or absurd was irrelevant. What mattered was that he had succeeded.

Consilius decided to do what needed to be done first.

“Have them come inside. And have the carriages arranged so they can relax and enjoy themselves today. I’ll hear about the plan later.”

“Thank you, Count.”

The man blew a whistle, and the Pascal Trading Company’s carriages entered one by one.

Consilius pierced the gloomy forest with his gaze and looked up at the mountain towering into the sky.

“Regent…”

His voice overflowed with emotion.

Today, Count Consilius called that name as though he had witnessed a superhuman who had emerged from the darkness.

Consilius knelt in that direction and paid his respects.

“My lord?”

Arwen was flustered by the sudden action.

But he soon realized what it meant, knelt as well, and offered his respects in that direction.

And so, one by one.

They knelt and paid their respects toward the lonely mountain.

* * *

Luri raised her hand high in the banquet hall.

“Tormenta!”

It was the name of a high-ranking wind spirit.

At that moment, white wind coiled before Luri, revealing its form.

It took the shape of a human that seemed ready to scatter at any moment, yet it held itself together firmly.

It bowed politely toward Luri.

-Did you call, Master? You seem displeased today as well.

“We’re beginning a major cleaning. Summon every lesser spirit without leaving a single one behind. Open all the windows and eliminate every bit of air in this room!”

-As you command.

“Fuente!”

Next, she called out the name of another lesser water spirit.

Mana dripped from empty space and took shape as a sticky liquid.

-Splurch.

“Absorb and wipe away every bit of broth and filth those damned things spilled. Don’t leave even a single stain behind. We cannot allow them to mark the dwelling of the great ruler with something that smells like dog piss. Do you understand?”

-Splaaash!

The sound of water being stirred roughly.

It read Luri’s unusually foul mood and moved with great efficiency.

The water spirit repeatedly split apart, dispersing its body as it began sucking up the grime from the castle floor and walls.

“Phew…”

Luri’s small chest rose and fell heavily.

The smell of sweat mixed with perfume still lingered faintly, seeming to sting the tip of her nose.

It was a smell that seemed impossible to erase, no matter how many times she tried.

‘Annoying.’

Luri did not like knights.

She especially disliked wandering knights.

Not only did they lie to exaggerate their accomplishments, but they also did not hesitate to commit blasphemy.

The blasphemy Luri was talking about was the familiar tale of a brave knight who had faced an evil dragon.

It made up seventy percent of every knight’s heroic tales and was one of the stories people enjoyed most.

And although the story was always the same, the name changed every time in a remarkable fashion.

When minstrels were paid by wandering knights, they changed the protagonist’s name to that knight’s name and spread the tale.

That was why half of all wandering knights were known as dragon slayers.

A dragon slayer running into the corridor while dribbling urine.

They were a truly revolting breed.

‘At least we achieved our intended goal.’

More than fifty wandering knights had come, and even a rough tally of what they had brought exceeded fifteen hundred corpses.

They had even stared at the mountain of corpses and said, ‘Isn’t this a little too much?’ in bewilderment, and disposing of them had been another problem.

‘The second son of the Pascal Trading Company, whom we brought in this time, solved that part.’

Verified laborers and assistant researchers had rushed in and quickly cleaned everything up.

Even so, traces of monster corpses remained at the entrance and where the carriages had stopped, and a faint corpse odor lingered.

‘I never thought I’d come to believe the smell of those disgusting things was better.’

It was better than the smell of the knights’ sweat and perfume.

The smell of monster corpses would eventually fade, but this unpleasant smell showed no intention of doing so.

Cleaning that normally would have taken ten minutes took two hours a day, and she cleaned and cleaned the banquet hall for ten days.

She liked things neat, but she was not obsessed with cleanliness.

That was how overwhelming an impact the knights had left on her.

Only after not a single strand of hair remained on the floor and it had become completely as good as new could she finally relax.

-Master, it is nearly time for you to attend to your other duties. What would you like to do?

“Ah, that’s right. Good work, Tormenta and Fuente.”

-Then I shall return.

-Splaaash!

The wind and water spirits returned to mana and dispersed as they reverted to their original forms.

‘That’s enough cleaning for today… I suppose I should go give my weekly report.’

Luri left the banquet hall and rummaged through the inner pocket of her skirt.

She took the sheet summarizing the information obtained through the Imperial Intelligence Department and descended to the lair.

As always, a red-scaled dragon lay there with her body coiled.

-You have come?

“Yes. Have you been well?”

-Hmm… Yes, I have been well. What have you come to discuss?

“It’s the weekly report. Isn’t today the day I’m supposed to give it?”

-Ah, yes. That’s right.

Luri was accustomed to Valdrowa’s frequent forgetfulness, but her reaction today was different from usual.

‘She seems to be floating.’

She looked as though she were living while lost in another thought.

It was obvious what that other thought was without even looking.

Ferda. That man.

Since it was obvious, Luri did not bother mentioning it and moved on to the main subject.

“They say the situation in the Empire has been becoming increasingly unstable.”

She began with the Empire, the most important subject.

“They are enacting laws centered on granting concentrated privileges to the vested-interest classes, and the lower classes are protesting. Perhaps because of that, they are trying to placate them somehow with entertainment for citizens and food distributions.”

-Hmm… I see.

Valdrowa added a reflexive response.

Luri could tell perfectly well that she was uninterested, but she merely read through the contents of the sheet mechanically.

This happened there.

That happened here.

The news encompassing the entire continent ended, and she moved on to the next topic.

“And now, regarding the current state of the Grand Duchy…”

Valdrowa’s body shifted.

She adjusted her position, lifted her head, and perked up her ears.

-Tell me.

Her voice had become clearer.

And Luri could feel that her eyes had grown more sparkling than usual.

This was unpleasant as well, but Luri maintained her neutrality as she continued.

“Tesalos Walcher’s position is still vacant, but we have secured significant stability for the Grand Duchy itself by signing a contract with the heir of a major trading company.”

-I see.

Her voice sounded wistful, unlike usual.

Just one line saying that things were going well was enough to raise her spirits.

‘Even more so since that day.’

Luri could no longer hold back.

“Are you that happy?”

-What are you talking about?

“Lord Ferda.”

Grrr-

Steam puffed from Valdrowa’s nostrils.

Someone seeing her for the first time might have thought she was angry, but Luri knew the truth.

Valdrowa had been flustered like a young girl.

-Like him? What are you talking about? I do not like my fiancé.

“You don’t like him?”

-Of course not.

Valdrowa added in a serious voice.

-I merely occasionally recall the memory of when he suddenly barged in, and I briefly find myself concerned about his safety. He is a weak human, is he not?

Valdrowa passionately defended herself, as though her interest in him was merely because he was weak.

But Luri thought differently after hearing that.

‘Valdrowa has become awfully long-winded.’

Whenever humans were involved, she would tense up first, but when the matter involved Ferda, her feelings were distinctly different.

With everything else, her default state was a low mood, but now she was buoyant.

To help relieve that emotion even a little, Luri made a suggestion.

“Then how about having a tea party?”

-A tea party?

Grrr!

Another strong puff of breath burst from her nostrils.

-You mean drinking tea, eating sweets, and talking?

“Yes. It is common for human fiancés to meet beforehand and talk, confirming their feelings before the wedding.”

-A tea party… That sort of thing does not suit me. Such things are for young and beautiful maidens, are they not?

“The Grand Duke of Valdrowa, who possesses the greatest beauty on the continent, would suit anything.”

-Hmm…

She rested a claw against her chin and exhaled.

She did not seem entirely displeased.

But something still seemed to be bothering her, because she found it difficult to accept the suggestion readily.

-A meeting… In that case, I would have to meet him in human form, would I not?

“Yes.”

-Hmm… Then I cannot go.

Valdrowa was like someone who had been hungry, only to kick away the meal when someone offered to prepare it.

“What is the reason?”

-I cannot do it because it is embarrassing.

It was a reason wholly unbefitting an emperor.

Luri took one deep breath and asked her:

“…Didn’t you already meet once? As I recall, you faced each other in human form…”

-Yes, we met once.

“And you held hands.”

-Yes, we held hands.

Valdrowa had seen Ferda, and Ferda had seen Valdrowa.

How could either of them forget that day?

Just as Ferda remembered it vividly, so did Valdrowa.

-That is why I cannot do it.

Valdrowa recalled the emotions she had felt then.

The man who had continued without stopping even while suffering.

When he was bleeding from the nose, he had looked as though he might collapse at any moment.

She had no choice but to polymorph into human form and catch him.

While she had been crying at the sight of his suffering, Ferda had clasped her hands, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her close.

The dragon who had flown over countless battlefields, burning and tearing apart the things that polluted the earth.

The absolute being before whom everyone held their breath and bowed their heads.

The absolute concept and status of overwhelming might, before which no one could even dare speak of the word power.

The moment her waist was encircled, all the legends that made her who she was became a mirage, and her body was filled with helplessness.

She had been drawn until her face was right in front of a man thousands of times weaker than herself, guided by his touch.

That day, for the first time, Valdrowa had become a princess, a woman from a novel.

-It is a pleasure to meet you, my heart.

A man’s touch and warm greeting, along with his handsome smile, were all things she had experienced for the first time.

For someone who had not interacted with humans for hundreds of years, it was information too overwhelming to bear.

That was why Valdrowa could do nothing.

She had frozen in place.

Her mind had turned blank, and even the tears that had been about to fall had vanished.

She had remained frozen for a long while even when he helplessly collapsed against her chest.

Everything she had done then remained intact in Valdrowa’s mind.

‘My heart…’

-Grrr!!

Valdrowa covered her face.

She remembered Ferda’s actions, and at the same time, she remembered her own disgraceful behavior.

Thinking about it once more made her react all over again.

Her heart burned as hot as a furnace of lava.

Something seemed to be tickling her body, making her want to move for no reason.

As she fidgeted, her chest filled with air, as though she had forgotten to breathe out.

Valdrowa slowly exhaled that breath.

Hieeeeeeee…

A long, whistle-like sound echoed through the cave.

‘That sound again…’

It was the sound Luri hated most.

Whenever Valdrowa was immersed in happiness beyond her station, she always made that sound.

It was a hundred times better than being miserable, but that did not make it pleasant.

“I think a tea party would be a good solution. What do you think?”

Valdrowa peered at Luri through the gap between the wings hiding her face.

-What would you have me do?

“Master, you are the embodiment of power. An embodiment of power must know how to express her own will decisively.”

In other words, she was telling Valdrowa not to push the decision onto her.

-Indeed. I must…

Valdrowa scratched her chin with a claw.

She tilted her head from side to side.

She repeatedly flipped her enormous body over as she agonized over the decision.

‘She’s desperate to go.’

Luri had already understood the answer from Valdrowa’s movements.

Her desire was also directed toward Ferda.

But having a desire did not mean everything would go according to her will.

For all that she burned and tore monsters apart without hesitation, she was more cowardly than anyone.

-I simply want to stay here for the time being… I do not yet have the courage to face my fiancé.

“Understood. Then we’ll postpone the tea party, and I’ll take my leave.”

Even if someone pushed her from behind, Valdrowa would ultimately overturn the meal before her.

Luri bowed politely and turned away.

-Luri.

“Yes.”

-Have things been difficult for you lately?

Luri could not understand the intention behind the question.

“No. Nothing in particular.”

-Oh, I see. You smelled so strongly of sweat that I thought you had been unable to wash yourself.

“…The smell of sweat?”

Luri’s sense of smell was exceptionally keen.

But Valdrowa, being a dragon, possessed an even keener sense of smell.

And there was no way Luri would sweat merely from managing the castle.

-Do not push yourself too hard. I do not wish for you to overexert yourself.

“…Please do not worry, my master.”

After returning to her room, Luri tore off her clothes and burned them immediately.

She also vowed to make bathing mandatory before any knight was allowed to set foot inside the castle.

* * *

Ferda was in his office with Mori.

After joining hands with Stefan Pascal, he had solved the supply problem the Empire had been unable to address.

Ferda intended to quantify what they had gained through it.

“How is the progress on the items in the supply plan?”

Mori answered in writing.

-32% of the important supplies have been concentrated in Count Consilius’s territory and delivered. We will gradually continue supplying the other territories as well.

“What is the outlook resulting from the supplies?”

-If we proceed according to the supply plan, it will contribute 30% to stabilizing civilian life, increase the individual combat ability of the troops by 45%, and produce a 30% increase in morale.

“It seems the prospects are excellent.”

Mori nodded.

Ferda had been acting for the development of the territories, so it was something he ought to have been pleased about.

“Something big is about to happen.”

But Ferda was not simply pleased.

Mori tilted his head.

Ferda answered the unspoken question.

“There are people in this world who cannot stand seeing others do well.”

The sort who always spoil things whenever it seems something might finally work out.

And those people were currently among the leaders of the Arken Empire.

People who could not bear to see others shine even when they themselves were incompetent.

Before even a few days had passed, those people steeped in greed came rushing toward Ferda.