Translator: Nox
(11) Lily Palace's Precious One (3)
Adrian, taken aback by the unexpectedly strong opposition, leaned back and said,
"I'm not saying we should kick her out right now. I mean, once she regains her health and finds a way to make a living. We can't keep her here forever, can we?"
"That's the same thing! Where does the princess have to go, and what way to make a living does she have? If that crazy Lucas Pelur hears about this, he'll find her and kill her no matter what. No, killing her would be a blessing. He'll sell her back into slavery. Is there anyone here who doesn't know what fate awaits the princess? Are you really saying this because you don't know what will happen?"
By now, the captains of the royal guard were pulling their chairs back as far as they could from the table. Even amidst all this, Kirshan, who had been silently standing by Floyd's side, spoke up.
"My lord."
"What!"
"I'd prefer it if my hair didn't get any shorter than it already is."
Floyd whirled around at those words, cursed as he saw the ends of Kirshan's hair frizzling and burning, and then shot to his feet. Floyd scanned the captains of the royal guard with blazing eyes and said,
"You pathetic lot."
No one tried to stop Floyd as he stormed out after his outburst. Anyone who tried to stop him in this situation would surely be burned by the flames, even if they were blocked by a Barrier.
The air in the office was still scorching.
As Arsene got up to open the window, Adrian muttered,
"I still have things to say about the drinking water problem. What should I do?"
Hexter crossed his legs and chided him.
"You should have kept it moderate. Now I'm one of the pathetic ones because of you."
"What's so pathetic about it? Am I wrong? That woman will put our Torkan in danger."
"Even so, she's a poor woman who lost her country and her family. If we give her a few coins and kick her out, as our lord said, she'll be hunted down by Lucas Pelur. Everyone knows that."
"..."
"But you're only thinking about kicking her out without mercy, so it's only natural that our lord is angry."
Arsene frowned.
"Hexter, you only criticize us. Do you have any good ideas?"
Hexter had nothing to say to that. He felt sorry for Roxana, but he couldn't say he didn't understand the captains of the royal guard's attitude.
But Hexter had a wife and family, so he could imagine the sorrow and despair of someone who had suddenly lost their family. Even if Torkan became a little more dangerous, he couldn't bring himself to kick out the poor princess like this.
But he didn't know how to make the guys who didn't have families understand this feeling, so he didn't say anything. Adrian chuckled and said,
"See, you have nothing to say either. We can't put the whole country in danger because of one woman. No matter how pitiful she is, we have to think about the greater good. Besides, frankly speaking, did the Kanta Kingdom even have any ties with our Torkan? We never had any exchanges, so it's ridiculous to take risks to help her."
Arsene quietly nodded, and Cain was still having a staring contest with the wall. Adrian said coldly,
"Soon the capital will be in trouble with the drinking water problem. In that situation, we can't add another mouth that only looks for luxurious things."
+++
Floyd was in no mood to concentrate on work, so he put everything aside and headed to his bedroom.
If you had to pick the most desolate place in this Grand Duke's palace, it would be Grand Duke Latean's bedroom.
Usually, the bedroom of the palace's owner is decorated with the best and most luxurious things, but Floyd's bedroom only had a steel bed and a sofa.
Ever since the incident that led to Floyd being called the 'cursed one,' he had rarely slept in a comfortable bed. Floyd's unique constitution caused him to go on a rampage even while sleeping, burning everything around him to a crisp.
It was the same now.
Ever since his conversation with Roxana, a hard lump had formed in his chest. As if trying to burn away that unknown mass, insane flames were raging, convulsing, and going berserk on their own.
"Damn it."
Floyd ignored the flames that were randomly bursting from his body and headed for the window.
From Floyd's bedroom, you could see the Lily Palace.
The reason why the Lily Palace was built in a place where it could be seen at a glance was to keep an eye on the movements of the distinguished guests who came here. Most of those who came to make peace with Floyd were like that, but sometimes there were those who hid a knife under the guise of friendship.
If it wasn't for such a thing, Floyd would never look down at the Lily Palace.
But now, he was staring at the bedroom window of the Lily Palace for a different reason. It felt like that window would open at any moment and Roxana would jump out.
'Go ahead and jump.'
Roxana had asked him not to allow the Adelia Flower. If she died like this, Floyd was thinking of piling a heap of Adelia Flowers on her corpse. So that no matter how much her soul struggled, it could return to the embrace of God and find rest.
When he thought of Roxana taking the posture of a slave in front of him, his stomach churned. He didn't like the lips that were muttering about death with dying eyes, even though she had survived after all this time.
It wasn't that he didn't understand her desire to die.
'Yes, they were kind people. Good parents and good siblings. Unlike me.'
Floyd had never had such a good family, but he had witnessed the sense of loss of those who had lost good families many times. People who had lost their precious families in unexpected accidents or wars fell into deep despair and wanted to follow the dead.
But in the end, they all survived. They were doing well. They laughed and found other happiness.
All of that is only possible if you are alive.
'I'm alive too. I crawled up from that despair and I'm living like this.'
After a long time, his terrible past came to mind.
His mother, engulfed in flames before his eyes, screaming in pain. Even in the midst of that, his mother hugged him to save him.
In that embrace, Floyd wanted to die and wanted to live. When he saw his mother's body, burned beyond recognition, he just wanted to live. He wanted to survive at all costs and take revenge on those who had made his mother like this.
He had come this far with only that determination.
So you have to do that too, Roxana. The thing you want to get by playing the audacious Sorceress shouldn't be death, but revenge. You have to live with the thought of bringing down the hammer on the guy who made you and your family like that. That's what you should do.
"My lord."
Kirshan's voice was heard from a short distance away. He didn't know when he had come.
"Calm down."
"Did you come to nag?"
"Why are you so angry?"
"How can I not be angry right now? I went to the trouble of saving a pitiful princess, but my subordinates are clamoring to kick her out, and the princess is screaming that she wants to die. Should I be holding a celebration and singing songs?"
"My lord, we're just worried about the safety of Torkan. If you order us to protect the princess of Kanta, we will obey. But it's only natural to worry about the problems that will follow."
Floyd laughed coldly.
"Rest assured. Fortunately for you, the princess wants to die. There's already a bunch of guys who want to kick her out, so won't she bite her tongue soon? When that day comes, everyone will have a party. I'll make a toast."
Floyd pretended to make a toast and said,
"Oh, my benevolent and brave knights who were trembling with fear of the storm that a pitiful and pathetic woman would cause."
Floyd had a habit of being sarcastic when his anger reached its peak. Kirshan took another step back, not knowing when the flames would burst out.
The clever Kirshan guessed that his lord's anger seemed to stem more from Roxana's attitude than from them.
"My lord, the princess of Kanta needs time."
"Time."
"She lost her family and was dragged around as a slave without even having time to grieve properly, so it's only natural that she's not in her right mind right now."
"Does that mean she wants to die? Death doesn't solve anything."
"When you're soaked in a sense of loss, you don't think about solving anything. Not everyone is as strong as you, my lord. So give the princess time to collect herself."
+++
Some of the best cooks working in the Grand Duke's palace were selected to work in the Lily Palace.
At other times, it would have been a great honor to enter the kitchen of the Lily Palace, which served distinguished guests, but this time it was different. The story that the person who occupied the Lily Palace was the princess of a ruined country and had even been branded as a slave had spread among the cooks.
The cooks were dissatisfied with having to use precious ingredients to make high-end dishes for a slave, but they couldn't ignore the Grand Duke's orders, so they made the dishes with all their heart and sent them up.
But on the fourth day that the dishes were returned untouched, the cooks were furious.
"No, what's so lacking that she doesn't even eat a spoonful?"
They tried stir-frying, frying, and grilling fresh vegetables and seafood. Thinking that she might not like the fishy smell, they also cooked with high-quality meat. Thinking that she might not like chewing, they also made soup and cream with freshly squeezed milk.
But Roxana didn't touch any of the food, and the food that the cooks had worked so hard to make was returned as it was and became the property of the servants.
The cooks were more concerned with their pride being hurt than with Roxana's refusal to eat or drink.
"How great of a food did she eat while living as the princess of Kanta that she doesn't touch our food?"
"Were the cooks of Kanta that good?"
"No matter how dissatisfied you are with our food, this isn't the time to be picky. Why can't you get out of the glory of the past?"
While the senior cooks were yelling, Jackie, a trainee cook, rolled his eyes and reached out for the returned food. Jackie was just grateful because he had been able to eat precious food to his heart's content thanks to Roxana returning the food recently.
A senior cook slapped Jackie on the back of the head when he saw him smiling and putting cheese and ham on a soft piece of bread.
"Ugh, you have no shame."
Jackie smiled with the bread in his mouth.
"Why, it's good. To be able to eat this kind of food to my heart's content. I'm glad the princess came to the Lily Palace."
"What princess? That woman is no longer a princess."
"Once a princess, always a princess. Petria said she's very pretty. Her hair is so light and airy that she looks like a fairy. Ah, I want to see her in person."
The cooks clicked their tongues at the immature Jackie and then rolled up their sleeves.
"Fairy or whatever, if she doesn't eat the food we make this time, let's all quit. I don't want to cook while being treated like this."
