Princess Shu

“I came on my own.”

A woman’s voice replied instead. Marquess Joan and all the knights in the barracks looked towards the door. A young woman came in. Despite her small size, her eyes were intelligent and she had a peculiar air of dignity and confidence. Any nobleman with a good eye could immediately recognize that this woman had status of great importance. 

The woman walked up to Schuden without hesitation. Then, she bowed her head lightly.

“As the defeated in this war, I give my due greetings to the conqueror. I’m Princess Rudbeckia Odile Graun, the representative of the negotiation team from the Eastern Kingdoms Union.”

In the East, the daughter of the previous King was called a princess. There was an invisible rank even among princesses and princes. As Rudbeckia was the younger sister of the present King, she must be more influential than the other royal families who were half-siblings. Schuden had no idea why the East sent a royal of the princess’ level.

“I’m Schuden Garth, the commander-in-chief of Gel. And, Your Royal Highness…”

Schuden gave an indifferent glance at Marquess Joan.

“You ought to give your greeting to someone else, not me.”

“Someone else?”

“Ah, I’m Marquess Khalid Joan, the representative of the negotiation team from Gel.”

“…You’re the representative of Gel’s negotiation team?”

“Yes, Princess Rudbeckia.”

Princess Rudbeckia’s eyes trembled for the first time. Before coming here as the representative, she had memorized all available information about Schuden Garth. She paid particular attention to his records. Schuden always sat personally at the negotiating table.

Even though what happened at the negotiating table was usually confidential, it could not prevent rumors from flowing. According to the rumors gathered in the East, Schuden Garth was a beastly man. There was also a rumor that said the representative of another country fainted after being overwhelmed by Schuden’s atmosphere.

What was certain was that Schuden was a noble who was even proficient in negotiating. So naturally, he personally sat at the negotiating table.

Therefore, Princess Rudbeckia thought it would be the same for this negotiation. Marquess Joan fully understood the wobbly pupils of the princess. If she expressed her desire to replace the representative, he would give his consent.

“Have you delegated full authority over the negotiations? Or is it only partially?”

However, the questions that the princess raised were quite different. Schuden replied indifferently.

“The full authority on these negotiations rests with Marquess Joan.”

“I see.”

Rudbeckia nodded and turned to Marquess Joan. From the moment the negotiating table was established, all matters regarding prisoners of war would be listed under the terms of the negotiations. In other words, Marquess Joan had the right to decide about Leo as well.

“I have a request for Marquess Joan.”

“Is it an official or private matter, Your Royal Highness?”

The princess contemplated for a moment before answering.

“It seems to be both.”

“Go ahead.”

“I’d like to meet with Viscount Leo Canute.”     

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

After two seasons, Garth castle had finally finished renovations. All animal taxidermy, which was the preference of the former Marquess, was removed. The furred animals’ heads on the wall were taken out. The all-golden interior was decorated with a calm blue marble. All the closed spaces were demolished and renovated. Thanks to the renovation, the frigid haunted castle atmosphere disappeared. It had become a beautiful castle that exuded an elegant atmosphere, with ‘elegant’ adopted as its motto. 

In the early summer, the day after Valia got news of victory in the Rief Plain, Valia was walking with Carl toward the front gate of the yard. Robin and the other Garth employees were walking from a distance to avoid disturbing their conversation.

“Why don’t you take the carriage?”

“I like this horse better. Besides, the general butler has already packed up a lot for me. How can I accept more?”

Carl stroked the brown horse’s snout. Besides the horse, Paul had packed up a lot of items for Carl; clothes woven from strong fabrics, plenty of precious medicines, Carl even got portable magic equipment that purified contaminated water so that it could be used as drinking water immediately.    

“But you didn’t take any money.”

Carl chuckled. He graciously received the goods needed for his trip but refused the money he had been offered.

“I can still make ends meet. Just take care of this grandpa when he becomes too old to lift a mace.”

“…Okay.”

Knowing Carl’s character well, Valia did not force him any further. Still, she asked one thing with sorrow.

“Are you really going?”

“You’re alright now, so I should go.”

“You should stay a little longer.”

Valia looked sullen. She was hoping for Carl to meet Schuden before he left, but Carl was not the type to stay in one place for a long time. In fact, staying at Garth castle for this long was a new record. Even when Valia was a child, he never stayed at home for more than a full season.

“That doctor of yours is too overprotective. I thought you had a deadly disease or something.”

The reason Carl stayed in Garth castle for so long was because of the doctor. He felt restless every time Valia was about to go out, so even Carl could not get rid of his worries.

Moreover, Valia seemingly had a really fragile appearance. As the weather entered into summer, Valia dressed lightly with her physique exposed under her thin flowy sleeves. Carl clicked his tongue.

“If I hadn’t seen you wield that mace the day before yesterday, I would have stayed here for another year.”

“…I’m not even that good.”

“Do you really think so? You seem like you can beat up several mercenaries.”

“…Am I that good?”

“You’re too modest about your grip, Valia.”

Valia cleared her throat out of shame. It happened in the afternoon the day before yesterday. Valia went to the annex building where Carl was staying to take a walk with him. She called out to her grandfather, but after she went in, the room was empty. She sat down on the sofa, wondering if she should wait. But she noticed the mace lying next to her. It was the mace that Carl always carried with him.

Valia lifted the mace while recalling her childhood memories. When she was wielding the mace, Carl suddenly appeared. There was only one thing Carl said after looking at Valia, who was playing with the heavy steel mace so easily with one hand.

[Seems like I’ve forgotten about your strength for a while.]

“But if you wait a little longer…”

“Marquess, I mean, Duke Garth will come back. And you’re saying that I should meet him?”

“Yes.”

“Well, on second thought, I’ve been talking to a Duchess of the Empire. What an honor.”

“…Don’t make fun of me, grandfather.”

The Garth name had acquired the title of the dukedom. It was only a few days ago that Valia heard of it. While sending a decree to Schuden, the Emperor had also sent one to the Garth territory. Valia had officially become the Duchess.

Of course, the Garth name had always belonged to a great family, so it was only a matter of time before it got a dukedom. Everyone thought so implicitly. However, it was another matter to be officially conferred by the Imperial decree.

Thanks to the news, the Garth employees were in a festive mood. A letter was also sent to every vassal this morning announcing that their feudal lord had been promoted to a Duke. By the day after tomorrow, there would be no one who did not know about the news. Perhaps a small festival would be held. The promotion from a Marquisate to a Duchy was such a great honor.

However, Valia only had a smile on her face. She did smile but she did not look very happy. It was a very calm reaction for being a Duchess. The employees thought their Madam was just as calm as they expected her to be, but Carl thought differently. He easily noticed that his granddaughter was not in a good mood. It was possible because she did not hide her expression in front of Carl.

“Why do you look so dark, little one?”

“I’m worried he’s injured.”

Valia answered frankly. She was somewhat honest with her family.

“You said it’s not stated that he was injured in the news of victory.”

“ Unless he’s badly injured or dead, it’s usually omitted in the news of victory. It’s bad luck.”

“As long as he’s not seriously injured, it should be fine. Even if he’s injured, he’s probably only broken his wrist or a few ribs. What’s the big… Okay, okay, I’m just kidding. Don’t make that face. Your grandpa was wrong.”

Carl broke out in a cold sweat as the silvery-gray eyes were about to turn ashen. 

“No news is good news after all. Don’t worry, I’m just kidding. Your husband is such a famous knight. How could he have been injured?”

“Yes…”

“You’ll meet him again soon, so check it out for yourself. Okay, this part under the chest is the rib and if you poke it with your thumb, you can tell if it’s broken or not. If you grab his wrist hard, you can tell if the muscles are swollen or not…”

Carl had a lot of knowledge from many years as a mercenary. It was a piece of cake for the mercenaries who participated in the war to self-diagnose common injuries.

“Oh, come to think of it, this is the mercenary style. Don’t nobles usually not allow people to touch their bodies? Is your husband also like that? Will he refuse if you try to touch him?”

“Hmm…”

Valia blinked.

Valia had never really touched Schuden’s body properly. She knew that his body was firm and covered with muscles. It was a great body that could make her face flush just by looking at it. But Valia was particularly less courageous, especially in bed.

The only thing she could do was to wrap her arms around his neck while kissing, push his chest when she was out of breath due to the non-stop kisses, or wrap her legs around his waist.

‘I don’t think he’ll refuse… It’s just that I have never done it before…’

Looking back, it was always Schuden who would initiate kisses in bed. Her silk gown was always taken off by him. Valia suddenly realized that fact. She had no courage to do anything else first. By her very nature, she might never be able to be first to initiate. But she could probably pluck the courage to kiss him or unbuckle his nightwear belt…

“Valia? What’s wrong?”

Valia came to her senses at the sound of Carl’s voice.

“Oh… I’m sorry. I was thinking of something else.”

What she thought about was a secret that Valia would take to the grave. Carl was not someone who would question something that others were trying to hide so he just let it slide. He even gave serious advice to Valia.

“Considering your strength, touch him as gently as possible as you diagnose him.”

Time flew, and while they were having such a conversation, the main gate was just around the corner.

“Grandfather, when are you coming back next time?”

“Well.”

Carl tightened the strap around his waist. The reason he often stopped by the Lisa Kingdom was that he was worried about Valia. That was all. However, now she was staying in a house safer than anywhere else in the world and even had a reliable escort. Not to mention that her husband was an undefeated knight.

Carl thought that he had to go a little further this time before coming back. 

Just then, a cool wind blew. Being built on the open plains, the Duchy had blowing winds without any terrain resistance. And so the air was not at all hot despite being in the early summer.

Carl looked at the sky, a sky that should remain bright for a few days. In many ways, the weather was perfect for the first day of a trip.

He said.

“Oh, yes. I will have to come back when you have a baby.”

“What?”