Shadowless Night

They were doing the Baltan greeting. Raymond and Haqab had done it earlier, then Pardict and Haqab, and even Ricardis and Haqab. Suddenly, a strange feeling came upon Rosaline. She was annoyed and sad as if she’d lost her dessert. Feeling empty in her chest, Rosaline distractedly chewed the flesh inside her cheek. Pardict had to scold her for stepping on the carpet with her boots.

Ricardis and Ganje sat down across from each other at the table. Both sides had a sizable number of escorts, so it looked like a standoff right before a battle.

Ganje clicked her tongue and shook her head. Even to outsiders, it looked like a signal telling them to leave, but the escorts didn’t budge.

Ricardis tried to convince her that it was okay.

“I’m showing you an unpleasant side, Your Highness. They don’t listen to me because they’re my brother’s people. They’re prideful individuals, the mage unit, but how can they act like this when we’re in Illavenia? I apologize on their behalf.”

Because of Ganje’s remarks, everyone fell silent for a while. They knew her protection detail wouldn’t be as simple as palace guards for the royal daughter, but it looked like Haqab had personally appointed them himself. And she had mage units on top of that?

As Rosaline couldn’t detect it, they weren’t any Fragment-based artificial demon/mage guards. But if they were pure mages, Rosaline wouldn’t know unless they used their magic. 

So this must be the source of Haqab’s faith: a warrior unit of pure mages.

The warriors’ eyebrows leaped to their hairline, and their eyes widened at Ganje’s remarks. Of course, it was only for a moment, and they soon corrected their expressions, but was there a knight in the room who didn’t notice it? The Knights of the White Night stared intently at them.

Ricardis looked at Ganje with a stony face. What is this princess thinking? She didn’t say anything that would benefit Balta at all. What does she want? Ganje’s smile could melt the room, regardless of the frozen atmosphere around her.

“Don’t worry. The warriors have orders not to do harm. They’re just people posted around me, like rabies-fueled mad dogs. I don’t want to spend time around these guys with bad attitudes who can’t even show respect to Your Highness. Please curse away at them. They probably can’t hear you anyway.”

A man who looked like the captain of the escort closed his eyes gently.

Ricardis covered his mouth with his hand, hiding his embarrassment. In politics, where various interests are intertwined, it is typical to show sincerity to the other party, but now… Is she crazy? Her emotions are all over her face. I thought she was a beautifully raised princess, but apparently, she’s a beautifully crazy princess.

“…I am glad that you’re so receptive to my visit. Well… thank you for coming, Princess Ganje. How was your journey?”

Ricardis hurriedly changed the subject while replying to her offer indirectly. Ganje pouted her lips as if regretting that Ricarid had doubted her sincerity when she said he could curse them. But she rolled her dark brown eyes and sipped her tea, contemplating. She soon answered, wrinkling her forehead.

“Balta and Illavenia are similar since they’re both places where people live. There weren’t corpses swarming around, but life in a carriage was boring.”

It was a novel answer he’d never heard before. Ricardis covered his mouth and burst out laughing. Her words were disrespectful to anyone who heard it. However, he immediately understood that there was no malice in Ganje’s words. It was just pure admiration and appreciation, so it was rather funny. He could feel Isserion looking at Ganje with blank eyes.

The leader of the escort had a similar expression to Isserion’s. Are you crazy? He knew the princess was like a colt on a spring day, but he’d never dreamed that her catastrophic mouth would grow wider within the Illavenian enclosure.

Ganje excused herself with a clumsy smile, reading the astonishment on the faces of those around her. She thought it was crazy for others to consider her words rude. She waved her hand to dismiss whatever insult she said about their country.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I have a weak stomach.”

It was worse than not saying anything. 

Ricardis held back his laughter so much that his stomach began to spasm. How funny was this bizarre environment created by Princess Ganje herself and the stark expression of the escort leader, whose facial coloring changed every minute standing behind her?

The captain thought this couldn’t continue, so he announced that Prince Haqab had summoned them and tried to get her out of the room. Ganje was annoyed.

“How do you know if Brother called or not when no one told you anything, and you didn’t go out? Are you telepaths who understand each other even if you don’t talk? Are the two of you made of one body? How unpleasant. Stay away from me.”

She rose from her seat despite her anger. Judging by the fact that she obeyed the captain, despite her dissatisfaction, it seemed that the man escorting her had quite a lot of authority. Ricardis stopped his laughter and looked at Ganje with concern.

Will Haqab… hurt her? 

It seemed he could not stand still as she handed over a lot of information to Illavenia. Haqab didn’t seem to care about blood ties. Wasn’t he the one who cut off his brothers’ heads, including two of his full-blooded brothers, without hesitation? Since they’re in Illavenia, he won’t do anything about her immediately, but…

Perhaps noticing Ricardis’ complicated thoughts, the standing Ganje laughed.

“Don’t worry.”

“…”

“My brother… Haqab…”

The captain of the escort opened his mouth again. How dare you casually speak His Highness’ name?! Is this princess for real?!

“…He will never kill me.”

A cold expression appeared on her face, which had previously been full of smiles the whole visit. It was brief, and Ganje soon shrugged, brushing away everything that clung to her. Smiling again, she put a hand on her cheek and looked at Ricardis with a pitiful expression.

“This meeting was short. I think it’s the saddest moment of the year. I hope to see you again soon.”

Ricardis knew what was going to happen next. He intercepted Ganje’s words.

“Till then, take care.”

Ganje laughed. The maids and the escorts surrounded her, and she soon had to leave. She poked the escort captain’s hand, which had grabbed her arm, with the sharp edge of an accessory. The captain grunted with pain.

***

The banquet continued day after day. Attendance was not compulsory, but since the hall was a site where various information and exchanges took place, it was advantageous to keep coming. For the same reason, Ricardis also had to show his face at the banquet. As the time spent talking to people increased, he became more and more exhausted.

“I hope Illavenia… collapses… without a trace…”

Every night the Prince of the Empire uttered this, hoping for the destruction and collapse of his country. He deliberately didn’t bring Rosaline too. No escort was as reliable as her, but no one could make him as anxious as her.

Furthermore, aside from the numerous expected events Rosaline would engage in, there were many other elements of concern. Due to the fame of Rosaline’s name, people everywhere coveted her. Even if they didn’t know the secret to Blessed Night, they wanted her as a powerful weapon.

He thought about using Rosaline as bait to lure them in gently but quickly rejected that plan because the lure was so vivaciously alive that no one could anticipate where she’d bounce. Occasionally, he would meet Haqab at the banquets, and the Baltan Prince smiled quietly at the absence of someone that should be behind Ricardis.

Ricardis was present as usual today. Looking around, he found Calyx talking to people in the distance, and for a moment, he made eye contact with him. Calyx looked at Ricardis with pity as he watched Ricardis dancing with the 27th woman.

When Ricardis was about to cry, Calyx’s eyes became even more sympathetic. It was the expression of a puppy on a rainy day. It turned out that a 28th woman was approaching Ricardis.

Isserion, standing behind Ricardis, whispered, “This is Jiel, the Princess of Hilisago.”

Ricardis whispered back, “Just looking at her makes my head spin, Isserion. She approached me five times yesterday, asked me to dance six times, and stepped on my foot seven times. I can’t forget it.”

Ricardis greeted the Princess of Hilisago with a gentle smile.

“The beautiful melody has a natural flow. Isn’t that right, Your Highness Ricardis?”

Urging him to quickly ask for a dance, the Princess of Hilisago spoke in circles. When Ricardis tried to hold his trembling smile and reached out to her…

The banquet hall became noisy, and several attendants trotted to their masters. Ricardis found his senior knight, Lewon, looking for him, and his eyes narrowed.

Something… is going on.

As Ricardis moved from his position with his head slightly cocked, the Princess of Hilisago clicked her tongue. Looking back, Ricardis trembled as he saw the eyes of a beast that had lost its prey.

Lewon approached and whispered into Ricardis’ ear, “The delegation from Lagos has just arrived.”

It was apparent what he meant. The civil war in Lagos was over.

“That cleared up faster than I thought.”

Ricardis’ gaze scanned the inside of the banquet hall. He found Haqab in the distance, leaning against the wall and watching the situation leisurely.

From mouth to mouth, people clamored, “Lagos… Ploeto…” 

As the ambassadors carried the news to each other, Haqab must have also noticed the arrival of the Lagos delegation. Even so, not a shade of his complexion changed, nor did a single one of his movements tremble. Haqab seemed to have no doubts about the victory of Baiferm Ploeto, with whom he shared a close relationship.