Chapter 20
#20. Isn't the Welcome a Little Blinding?
The road leading to the northern region of the Empire.
Even though she was wearing a coat made of the finest silver fox fur, she could not escape the northern cold seeping in through the cracks of the carriage.
'Poor Eleanor. To think she was sold off as though she were being driven from the imperial family, only to end up in a frozen wasteland like this.'
Luluen smiled faintly.
What kind of house could they possibly build with Trient wood that could not even be processed? With no money to buy materials and the promised construction deadline approaching, Eleanor must have been picking up trash and stubbornly trying to pass it off as a building project.
'This kind older sister will make sure you can use proper timber!'
It was a perfect plan: she could clear out Günter's inventory, her source of funding, and even take credit for helping her sister on top of that.
In her mind, she had already embellished herself into a benevolent angel rescuing her poor younger sister.
The imperial construction inspector sitting across from her opened his mouth.
"Haha. Your Highness, I don't think you need to worry so much. The Grand Duchess Eleanor's new-city development project is bound to fail miserably."
"What do you mean by that?"
The inspector pointed out the swirling snowstorm beyond the window and snickered.
"It's the height of summer in the Central Continent right now, so how could it possibly be this cold? Even a merchant obsessed with money wouldn't come here to do business in some backwater that suffers through harsh winter all year round. Even if they finish construction, it will only be full of empty buildings."
"Oh my. Inspector, please refrain from saying things that might cause a misunderstanding if someone overhears you."
Luluen warned him with a frigid look.
"I am going there to help my lovely younger sister's business succeed. I intend to tear down any dangerous buildings that fall short of imperial standards and allow her to use sturdy timber from the Central Continent instead."
"Ah, aah! My mouth got ahead of me! Of course, of course. Her Highness the Grand Duchess will be so moved by how dearly you cherish your younger sister that she will shed tears of gratitude."
The inspector wiped away his cold sweat as he fawned over her.
Luluen's lips twitched with satisfaction behind her fan.
While they enjoyed such a heartwarming conversation, the carriage arrived at the city walls.
"Hmm? Why has the carriage stopped?"
Luluen looked outside with a puzzled expression.
At that moment, her haughty eyes shook as though an earthquake had struck.
"What on earth is this…?"
Dozens upon dozens of carriages and crowds of people were lined up, waiting to pass through Winterwald's walls.
They were not merely impoverished mercenaries hoping to strike it rich. Among the emblems carved onto the carriages were those of several renowned major merchant guilds from the Central and Southern Continents.
'You said they wouldn't come here to do business?!'
Luluen shot the inspector a fierce look, but he was also frozen in place with his mouth hanging open.
After crossing the walls and entering the territory, she was confronted with an even more astonishing sight.
In Luluen's imagination, the people of the North were beggars reduced to skin and bones, wandering the streets.
Even if their food situation had improved over the past few months, how much better could it possibly have become?
But the people striding through the streets were incredibly lively.
"Hahaha! So today, in the forest, I—"
"Hey, move! A carriage is coming through!"
In the middle of winter, beastlike men pulled carts while wearing nothing but their trousers.
Their forearms were so sturdy from eating well that they put even the imperial knights to shame.
Some people even walked along carrying steelwood on their shoulders as though it weighed nothing.
"Inspector… Do people from the North normally wear clothes that short?"
Luluen asked with an incredulous expression.
"Th-that can't be right. However… I heard rumors that those who eat food imbued with the Grand Duchess's magic gain weight and develop bodies capable of enduring even the harshest winter… I naturally assumed it was just nonsense made up by country bumpkins…."
Anyone who heard that would think it was simply nonsense.
It was a desperate scam meant to lure even more adventurers into the North.
A scam that no one was falling for.
But the sight before her was telling her that the rumors coming out of the North were true.
Luluen's heart began to pound.
Something felt terribly wrong.
"Try not to dwell on it… They say people from the North are naturally large."
"Do those look like bodies that can be dismissed as merely a little large?"
At that size, they looked capable of putting up a good fight against bears, not merely wolves, with their bare hands.
Dark-skinned adventurers from the South and merchants from the Central Continent were also mingling with the Northerners and laughing brightly.
They all looked happy.
As though there was not a single worry or problem in the territory.
"Um… Your Highness. Are you really planning to go to the construction site just like this?"
"Yes…"
Luluen irritably chewed at her nails as she recalled the letter she had received from Eleanor a few days earlier.
[I am truly delighted to hear that you are coming, Sister. However, I am so busy overseeing the North's finances that I don't think I will be able to welcome you at the castle. At the time you mentioned, I will be at the new-city construction site, so if you truly intend to come, please come there.]
'Just because I said I would go anywhere, did she really have to summon an imperial princess to a dusty construction site?'
A bastard who had been shut away in a corner of the library without a single friend.
Her older sister was coming to visit, yet instead of rushing out to welcome her, she had the audacity to order Luluen to come to the construction site.
'Fine. I don't want to keep pretending to be a kind older sister either.'
Thinking it was just as well that she could get straight to the point instead of beating around the bush, Luluen steeled herself with spite.
***
By the time the carriage journey that had begun at dawn came to an end, the sun was beginning to set beyond the window.
The sound of the icy wind striking the carriage windows was eerie.
"They say people are made to work even at night in the North, don't they? The people of Winterwald must be suffering terribly when they can't see a thing."
When Luluen clicked her tongue and taunted the Grand Duke, the inspector opened his mouth as though he had been waiting for it.
“Who can deny it? Since they are putting up buildings with nothing but monster corpses, the construction process must be complicated and take twice as long. Where on the continent does anyone build houses with tree monsters and slime residue? I will shove the imperial building code in front of the Grand Duchess and open her eyes!"
"Hmph."
Luluen elegantly gathered her skirts and stepped out of the carriage.
That was when it happened.
Fwoosh!
A powerful light swallowed the entire night sky.
"W-what…!"
"Your Highness! Take shelter inside the carriage! It's a mage's terrorist attack! No, it might be an attack by a Northern monster!"
The escort knight who had rushed out first to take Luluen's hand shouted in alarm.
Startled, Luluen turned around and struck her forehead against the carriage door.
Thud!
"Agh…!"
Far from taking shelter in the carriage, Princess Luluen fell spectacularly backward, and a thin trickle of blood ran from her forehead.
It was the first calamity she had ever experienced in her life, having walked only along the silken paths of the imperial household.
The inspector, who had flattered Luluen as though he would gladly give her his liver and gallbladder, was too frightened to even come out of the carriage.
Only the princess's maid, who had remained silent throughout, hurried outside and warily surveyed the surroundings.
"Sob! Seria! Help me up…!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The princess hurriedly got to her feet and looked around.
Despite the guard's commotion, the surroundings were strangely quiet.
The laborers at the construction site were focused on their work as though everything were perfectly normal.
"Hey! Come over here and pour the slime!"
"Yes, sir!!"
Luluen rubbed her forehead and slowly raised her head.
Her mouth fell open.
The sun was floating in the night sky.
The cold northern air that had been seeping into the carriage was nowhere to be felt now.
It was as though she had come on vacation to a resort in the South.
A dazed voice slipped between Luluen's trembling lips.
"In the North… does the sun rise even at night?"
The inspector, who had crawled out surprisingly quickly, spoke instead of the dumbfounded knight.
"I have heard the rumor that the Grand Duchess Eleanor lights up the night with sun magic, but…"
Of course, she had often heard that her poor younger sister ran all the way to construction sites to use her magic.
When lords hurriedly repaired city walls, they sometimes had the construction sites illuminated with torches or light magic stones.
But even then, it remained dark, and accidents were common.
Luluen had naturally assumed that whatever Eleanor was doing would be little different.
What could someone like her possibly accomplish with magic?
But no matter how she looked at it, that thing floating in the sky was a real sun.
'Impossible… If His Majesty the Emperor had known something like this was possible…!'
He would have raised her as a strategic weapon instead of sending her off to marry into the North.
If it became known that the Emperor had persecuted and discarded someone with such power simply for being a bastard, he would regret it bitterly, shedding tears of blood.
'How irritating….'.
She had intended to look down on Eleanor while playing the part of a benevolent angel.
Blood was flowing from her forehead, and her dress was stained with dirt.
She looked even more miserable than Eleanor had when she was pushed down by Luluen.
That was when it happened.
Step. Step.
Backlit by the sun blazing in the night sky, a platinum-blonde woman came walking lightly toward her.
Even though she wore a simple outfit without any ostentatious decorations, an unmistakable noble dignity radiated from her.
The Grand Duchess of Winterwald. Eleanor.
A black-haired giant walked affectionately beside her, matching Eleanor's pace.
The ruler of the North and the living god of war, Kylan Winterwald.
His blue eyes looked down on Luluen as she stood there dazed.
"Welcome, Your Highness Princess Luluen. Did you enjoy Winterwald's scenery on the way here?"
It was a greeting with thorns.
Luluen hurriedly brushed the dirt from her dress as she returned the greeting.
"It is an honor to meet the North's great shield. And Eleanor… Oh, I'm so, so happy to see you again after all this time. Have you been well?"
Luluen tried to smile.
But she could not hide her trembling voice.
Eleanor looked at Luluen and gave her a bright smile she had never once shown at the imperial court.
"Yes, Sister. I have been truly happy, receiving so much of His Grace's love."
Under normal circumstances, seeing Eleanor, a bastard, smiling so brightly would have made Luluen want to slap her.
"Yes… I'm so glad…"
But Luluen was overwhelmed by the radiant sun shining overhead and the Sword Master's imposing presence as he gently draped an arm around Eleanor's shoulders, and she could not even meet their eyes.