Princess Shu

“…Hmm, Marquess Garth.”

“Go ahead, Your Imperial Highness.”

“Did you have a change of heart? Why are you so quick to accept my proposal?”

“Isn’t a Duke higher than a Marquess?”

“…But you aren’t the type to value such things, are you?”

“Are there any nobles who are not attached to honor?”

“Didn’t you give that honor a good hard kick in the past because it was annoying?”

“I have never kicked it.”

“I think you should put your hand on your chest and think about what happened in the past.”

The Emperor did not understand Schuden’s sudden change of attitude. Even if he looked straight at his face, it was the same as always. His red eyes were no different from usual. Schuden was always cold and expressionless, and he still was like that now. The Emperor decided to think for the better.

‘…I should consider this as a good thing.’

 Actually, the Emperor was a monarch who was eager to confer the title of Duke to Marquess Garth, but Schuden had not even considered accepting such a thing. It was a good thing for the Emperor but it was inevitable for it to raise questions. It had been several years since the monarch stomped his feet asking his subject to accept the title, but now, Schuden was suddenly accepting it quite easily. 

‘Is it because he got married?’

If the Emperor had to pick a difference between before and after, it was definitely this point. The Emperor was naturally aware of the rumors circulating in the Gel’s high society. In the rumor, Marquess Garth was a man who always wanted to give the best to his wife. Though it was quite different from the Schuden the Emperor knew, the rumors brought together by the head attendant were rather sweet, as if they had been planned so he could not ignore them all.

‘Don’t tell me the reason he accepts the title is also because of the Marchioness.’

If Schuden would become a Duke, Marchioness Garth would also naturally be promoted to a Duchess. With that assumption suddenly coming to mind, the Emperor looked at Schuden just in case. Schuden was checking the report document. It was a document related to military supplies expected to be consumed in this war. His face reviewing the details was as beautiful and cold as usual. Just looking at his face, nothing seemed to have changed before or after his marriage.

‘I’m going to have to cut down on the rumors report.’

For a moment, the Emperor blamed himself for being deceived by the rumors and making strange guesses. He had lived his whole life saying that, even if he could not become a sagely monarch who would leave his name in history, he wanted to at least become a benevolent monarch. But it seems that only strange sensibility increased a lot after he got older.

“You have a lot to prepare, why don’t you just stay in the Imperial Palace? I will tell my subordinates to especially pay attention to you.”

“Much obliged, but there are a lot of matters within my household that I need to solve.”

There was a great distance between the high-class residences where nobles lived and the Imperial Palace. Every time a noble went back and forth, a lot of time would be wasted, and the checkpoints they had to go through every time were quite cumbersome. So, if they had a lot of work to do, most nobles would just stay at the Imperial Palace. Even Schuden was like that in the past. However, the Emperor just moved on, assuming that it was matters related to his territory or Knights of Garth.

On that day, when it was late in the evening, Schuden was in his office. In front of him stood an old man. He was the attending physician of the House of Garth. This was the first time Schuden had called his physician to his office. He was a strong man and he had never been sick since he was a child.

“How is the lady’s physical condition?”

“The madam is very healthy. There are no particularly disruptive or weak areas that require reinforcement of energy.”

“Is that so?”

Valia looked weak from the outside, so it was fortunate for Schuden that she was healthy. 

Schuden was unfamiliar with worrying about someone so much. What could he do when it bothered him? The reason he personally called the physician to his office was only because of Valia.

“The lady sometimes can’t sleep until late, why is that?”

“When did she start having these symptoms?”

“Since the beginning of our marriage.”

“Has she been experiencing insomnia lately?”

“She seems to have it less these days.”

“Then, you might consider it to be because of psychological reasons. She must have been very nervous as she was just getting married. Occasionally, some sensitive patients suffer from insomnia for a long time even if the pillow they have been using since childhood has changed. As long as she puts her mind at ease, there will be no problems.”

“Then are you saying that if she’s nervous, her insomnia may come back?”

“Yes, Your Grace. It’s a vague assumption, but it could be so.”

Schuden distorted his expression. Most people get nervous and anxious when the person who was always next to them left their place. It had not been long since she got to fall into a deep sleep.

“Serve her well. If she’s sick anywhere, you can ignore our reporting system and just report to me directly.”

“Yes. I will serve her with all my heart, Your Grace.”

The physician bowed deeply and took his leave. Schuden pondered for a moment with his chin propped on his hands.

“Did you call for me, Your Grace?”

After some time, Schuden asked the aide who was called to his office.

“How do you manage the ‘house’?”

Though Schuden’s question was brief, the aide understood immediately. There was only one house his master was interested in. It was a small house in the Lisa Kingdom where the lady lived before her marriage.

“I assigned two people together. After the Madam came to the Empire, there was no one who approached the house. A robbery had almost occurred a month ago, but the thief was caught and subdued.”

As Schuden was preparing for his wedding, there was one thing he instructed his aide to do; to protect Valia’s house. There would be nobles who would try to dig up the traces of Marchioness Garth who suddenly came from a foreign country, so he partly ordered it for that purpose. The House of Dean had no relatives other than Valia. She had the old man as her fosterer but he was a wandering mercenary. After coming to the Gel Empire, her house in the Lisa Kingdom would be empty. 

Schuden said.

“Send someone there. There’s something to be brought from that house.”

“Yes, Your Grace. What is it?”

“Bring the pillow the lady used.”

“Pardon?”

The aide asked back involuntarily at the unexpected word. However, there was no change in Schuden’s red eyes. The aide hid his bewilderment and asked the question again.”

“Are you talking about…the pillow that Madam used?”

“Yes, if it’s difficult to tell them apart, just bring them all.”

“…Yes, sure. Please tell me about the schedule too.”

Schuden looked into the air for a moment. He had exactly one week left before he was sent out. But he would be by her side in the meantime, so it would be fine.

“Bring it to the lady after I leave.”

“Yes, Your Grace. I will send someone to the Lisa Kingdom right away.”

The aide bowed his head. He came to carry out Schuden’s orders with an ambiguous expression on his face. Since he was appointed as Garth’s aide, he had never made a retort at his master’s order. But it was the first time he felt as puzzled as he was today.

‘Why is he asking to bring a pillow?’

And one that’s been used, at that.

The aide did not understand it, but it was Schuden’s order anyway. The aide immediately sent someone to the Lisa Kingdom the next day.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

A war between the Gel Empire and the Eastern Kingdoms Union was foretold. Gel appointed Marquess Schuden Garth as the commander-in-chief and the Eastern Kingdoms Union fought back with war hero Viscount Leo Canute as the commanding officer. A war between the Empire that had long reigned as the continent’s leader and the Kingdoms Union that had emerged as a new power. It was a battle for continental supremacy.

The Empire was, of course, in turmoil. When the nobles of the capital met, they were engrossed in stories of war. Marchioness Joan’s tea party was no exception.

“Marchioness Garth, don’t worry too much.”

“Yes. His Grace is an undefeated knight. He has never lost a war.”

“His Imperial Majesty also knows this well, that’s why he appointed His Grace as the commander-in-chief.”

The noblewomen at the tea party were concerned that Valia would worry. Diana was no exception, after the tea party was over, she held Valia’s hand tightly.

“Valia, I’m not just saying this but His Grace will be fine. I assure you. Neither the knights in the Empire nor the knights on the continent will be able to snap off His Grace’s sword.”

“Thank you for your concern, Diana. I’m just hoping he doesn’t get hurt.”

Valia’s answer and smile had touched Diana’s heart. Who would not be concerned when their family went to war? Diana was also getting a little worried after receiving a letter that her younger brother was going to the war.

But above all, Schuden and Valia were a newly married couple. Even at the Imperial banquet, they had a relationship good enough to stay together. But how anxious would they get having to be apart for a while?

‘I should visit her manor every week. She will be more anxious if she’s alone.’

Not knowing what Diana was up to, Valia had other thoughts as she climbed into the carriage. She knew about this war. This war, which took place before Valia entered the Imperial Palace of the Gel Empire, was a huge war that was recorded in numerous historical books as the ‘war of hegemony.’

The solidarity between the ambitious King and the Eastern Kingdoms, along with the appearance of an outstanding war hero named Leo Canute, made the Eastern Kingdoms Union greedy. They developed a desire to defeat Gel, the only Empire on the continent, and to rise to a new powerhouse. The confidence gained after winning the war with the North also played a part in this.

The high-quality minerals that were taken over by defeating several Northern kingdoms were smelted to make various war weapons. They even had soldiers who were recruited tremendously due to the war with the North that had been going on for over ten years. The Eastern Kingdoms Union considered that now was the best time to win the war against Gel.

Change before stability.

Inner strength would be solidified after all the conquests were finished.

The number of munitions, mercenaries, and knights gathered in this war was indeed large. Numerous military experts predicted that this war for hegemony would be as long as the war between the East and the North. 

That expectation was wrong half a year after the war started though.

‘That man eventually died.’

Leo Canute, the secret trump card of the Eastern Kingdoms Union. He died less than a year after the outbreak of war. It was none other than Schuden Garth, the young Marquess from Gel, who took his head.

After that, the war quickly ended. The Eastern Kingdoms Union signed the surrender document and was forced to pay large sums of compensation in return for their defeat. Not only fertile farmland but also important commercial lands were taken away.

Since then, people starved to death, and numerous war refugees would arise in the Eastern Kingdoms Union. The smell of rotting corpses was said to reek just outside the capital of the Eastern Kingdoms Union.

The war of hegemony, which gave the victor supreme glory, left a disastrous scar on the defeated kingdom. Valia was one of the victims. To be precise, it did not affect her directly, but it left a major wound on Carl’s right arm.

‘Grandfather also participated in this war in the past.’

Carl would be hit with the poison arrow that rotted his flesh because of this war of hegemony.

‘I’m glad he’s not participating this time.’