Ch#150
Imperial Palace.
Pides, the imperial prince of Talochioum, entered the sunlit reception palace.
The woman seated at the oval table lifted her gaze.
It was the empire's crown princess, Ardiana.
"......Ardiana. You've been waiting?"
Ardiana rose to her feet.
"I haven't been waiting long."
At her calm reply, one of Pides's eyebrows twitched.
He stared at Ardiana for a moment before roughly pulling out a chair.
"Fine then."
Despite his words, his fist was clenched tightly under the table.
"By the way, you don't look well. Are you feeling ill somewhere?"
Ardiana smiled faintly.
"As you can see, I'm perfectly healthy. I'm more worried about Your Highness's well-being. You must be busy attending to state affairs."
Pides sneered.
"I'm fine, so don't worry. If anything, I'm too healthy—unnaturally so."
Ardiana made no reply.
Instead, she clasped her hands on her lap with a smile.
Displeasure flickered in Pides's eyes.
'Why are you always unscathed? Every single time.'
Ardiana had always been an obstacle to Pides.
Pides was the son of a commoner the emperor had lusted after, while Ardiana was the only daughter of the noble empress.
'Just look at how the state ministers scheme against me behind my back.'
Pides was the emperor's most beloved child.
Yet scandals always followed him.
Most concerned his mother and his birth.
'Is that true? That Her Imperial Majesty the Empress was once the chief lady-in-waiting to the late Empress?'
'That's right! The late Empress was the one who brought Her Imperial Majesty into the palace in the first place.'
Pides's mother, Ravennia, had been a beautiful woman.
She was a commoner, a survivor rescued from a village on the outskirts of the capital completely burned by monsters.
It was the empress who had saved her as she lay dying.
During an incognito visit to survey the attacked area, the empress had come across her by chance.
The empress brought the injured Ravennia back to the palace and had her treated.
Then she kept her close and cared for her.
Though that kindness did not last forever.
'How deeply the Empress favored the Empress Dowager. Enough to appoint her chief lady-in-waiting over all the noble daughters.'
Unlike the empress's trust, however, Ravennia became pregnant less than a month after becoming chief lady-in-waiting.
And gave birth to Pides.
The emperor's first child, one the empress herself had yet to bear.
'They say even the late Empress was remarkable. Despite such humiliation, she visited the emperor daily to plead. Begging him to consort with her too and grant her an imperial heir.'
Yet the empress was a woman of cold reason.
She worried about the chaos that would befall the empire if she and the emperor had no legitimate heir.
'I won't beg for your love. But I do not exist merely by the name of empress. The empress is the foundation of the nation, and bloodline is the stability of the empire.'
'......Hah.'
'If Your Majesty sires children only with Ravennia, there will surely be controversy in the future. Over the child's legitimacy.'
'Is that how you see it?'
'......Your Majesty, please consider the future of the nation. I earnestly beseech you.'
One year later.
The empress became pregnant.
But she could not raise the child she had borne with her own hands.
Shortly after giving birth to the princess, she fell ill and passed away.
Even so, the child who was born, Ardiana, was the imperial family's crown princess.
The emperor did not merely dislike such an Ardiana—he loathed her.
'Even your gaze resembles your mother's. Always holding your head high as if looking down on me, the sovereign.'
The emperor did not hesitate to insult Ardiana in front of the state ministers.
It was only natural that he remained indifferent to her throughout her upbringing.
In contrast, the emperor's favor toward Pides only grew day by day.
'If I could, I'd hand Talochioum to you. If not for the opposition of the state ministers......'
He pitied Pides, his firstborn who could not inherit the throne.
And perhaps to wash away his own guilt, he elevated Ravennia to empress.
'Please support Pides well. Who knows what might happen? If Ardiana falls ill or gets injured......'
Most of the words Pides had heard growing up were like that.
If Ardiana fell ill.
If Ardiana got hurt.
If Ardiana died.
Then he would inherit the throne.
So it was perhaps only natural that Pides sought to kill Ardiana.
But there was a problem.
'Why is her life so tenacious? How many assassins have I sent already?'
The first time he poisoned her snack.
Ardiana survived, overcoming the poison at just eleven years old.
Afterward, he sent assassins, but she survived again.
Ardiana continued to evade death countless times thereafter.
A few years ago, she even reached adulthood.
As time passed, Pides's worries only grew.
Killing Ardiana became increasingly difficult with each passing year.
'Does she have some sorcery to escape death?'
As he pondered, dinner was served.
A servant approached and said,
"His Imperial Majesty will not be attending. He wishes to dine intimately with Your Highness this evening."
"Understood. Leave."
Pides irritably dismissed the servant and picked up his utensils.
Ardiana had already begun eating.
Watching her cut her food reignited his dissatisfaction.
Pides said mockingly on purpose.
"How's that association of yours going?"
Ardiana looked up.
For the first time since the meal began, a hint of hostility appeared in her eyes.
"......It's going well."
"Hiding your identity properly?"
"I am."
"Good. We royals can't go around boasting that we're serving the interests of those lowly sorts."
Ardiana made no reply.
Pides watched her with a sneer.
'I won't give you anything. I won't yield any merit.'
A few years ago.
He recalled the incident when Ardiana had stepped forward claiming mercenaries needed protection.
The emperor and Pides thought she was being insolent again.
The problem was that some state ministers thought differently.
'Your Majesty. Her Imperial Highness is right. The need for Holy Knights and mercenaries to unite grows daily. We need a system to mobilize them efficiently.'
Only after clashing with the state ministers did the emperor permit the association's establishment.
Judging it a humiliating role, he tossed the position of Association President to Ardiana like a discard.
Yet Ardiana rejoiced.
The moment Pides saw that, he felt something twist inside him.
'Ardiana. You're not thinking of leading that vermin group in your own name, are you?'
'......I don't know what you mean.'
'You are a princess. It makes no sense for the empire's princess to guarantee the profits of lowly mercenaries. Operate under an alias. Or stay hidden behind your veil forever.'
Ardiana was to remain forgotten, unknown to anyone.
She would be eliminated by Pides someday anyway.
Pides wanted no part of her to hold him back.
And he wanted to ascend the throne smoothly in the near future.
"There's some assembly under the Clock Tower today, isn't there?"
Ardiana paused and stared at Pides.
"Keep your conduct proper. Otherwise, I'll tell Father and have you removed from that position on the spot."
Ardiana swallowed a bitter smile and smiled as always.
"I'll keep that in mind."
* * *
A few hours later.
"Ahem!"
Tie stood in the middle of the Clock Tower square, clearing her throat.
Right beneath the towering Clock Tower.
Two people in sky-blue cloaks stood awkwardly.
Basto said,
"They must be Sori Association executives, Tie."
Tie nodded.
Then she marched forward confidently, looked at one of their faces, and widened her eyes.
'Whoa......!'
Above the mask covering nose and lips.
Sky-blue eyes sparkling like jewels gazed at Tie.
Tie gulped and unwittingly murmured,
"It's the princess!"
At her words, bewilderment spread in the other's eyes.
