“Countess Quartz, you made it just in time. I was starting to get worried”“How can I disappoint your grace? The merchandise was just a little hard to transport through the teleportation circle since it’s so fragile. Are you sure you wish to gift this to her majesty?”“I haven’t changed my mind. I’m sure her majesty would like my gift”“And what gift would that be?”“I greet his grace, the Grand Duke” Countess Quartz curtseyed. His red eyes bore down on them both and neither of them dared to meet his gaze. “I purchased a gift from Countess Quartz for her majesty”“And you are?” his gaze shifted to the Countess. “I’m the branch manager of the Merchant Association in Traisen, your grace”“So, you spent the funds of the castle without my knowledge?”“How could I commit such a blunder, your grace? I spent my own funds to purchase her majesty a gift as I have always done”The Grand Duke took his time to remember that she belonged to the wealthiest family in the kingdom and she owned a bu
The next person to present their gift was Adelie. She came as a representative of the Temple of Ducroft, presenting a holy artifact excavated from the ruins of the very first temple of Ducroft. The Queen was pleased with the gift but the people of high nobility knew she wouldn’t keep the gift. It had to be returned to the temple because it was a holy artifact. Presenting it was a symbol of the good relationship between the royals and the temple. After a while, Alana came to present her gift. She was surprisingly escorted by Lord Orland who focused the attention of everyone on her. Lord Orland was another unmarried high noble who was overshadowed by Sebastian. Not only was he handsome, but he was also related to the future crown princess. It made no sense for him to be escorted by the irrelevant third princess but it was happening right before their eyes. The only one amused by this was Natalia. In her past life, this never happened. Rather, the one who escorted the third princess to
{In as much as Madaline and I are not direct enemies, you still have to be careful around her. It looks like she has contracted someone powerful} “I would try as much as possible to avoid a direct confrontation. There’s nothing I would benefit from that. The first thing to do is avoid contact with Adelie” {She is quite dangerous. Dealing with Angels is hard, even for fae like us} Alana couldn’t fantom just how Adelie got herself involved with angels. She did have fairy blood but that was enough for the angels to throw her away. Just how did she get the power of the angels? It didn’t make any sense. “Your highness, I have come to escort you to the gift-giving banquet” “......Lord Orland?” She opened the door, staring at the one person she never expected to be there. There was a part of her that expected it to be Fredrich but she was just as surprised to see the young lord standing outside her door. There wasn’t a single servant in the entire back palace so the impression he would
“So, what are you going to do when the celebration ends?”“Truthfully, I’m not sure. Life goes on, I guess”“Natalia, do you want me to ask for a divorce in exchange for our support?”“Hmm, that might not necessarily work. He would want to hold me as a hostage to ensure your continued support. You know what you should do; Appoint someone to take over your work in your stead while you go to your future wife’s kingdom under the guise of courting her and establish a trade route there. They need it now more than ever so you need to become an asset there. When the time comes, we can leave here without regrets”“That’s a wonderful idea that comes with a terribly short duration”“I’m sure you can do it, Bastian”“Did you know his majesty spoke about an extermination campaign? It’s been a long time since we have done something like that so he wishes to make it a big affair. Most of the nobles would be coming to your territory and I’m sure the royal family would stay in the Castle on the Edge.
“Your holiness, why have you delayed your official appointment? The celebration ended a week ago and soon, everyone would be busy preparing for the Extermination Campaign”“I haven’t received a sign yet. We need to wait for more, ArchBishop”“But your holiness, this is the first time in 200 years that a saintess has been chosen. It’s important for the church of Ducroft to appoint a Saintess so we can establish ourselves as a powerful entity in the kingdom. We will soon be swept up into the noble faction because of their donations!”“If we rush the appointment, they won’t need a prophecy to tell them our intention. We have to make people believe staunchly in the power of the church. We need to reinforce ourselves as the standard. People now think of the church as an afterthought but with the foundation I have laid down, it won’t be long until they give their all to Ducroft”“I understand your plan, your holiness but everyone is impatient”“It’s your job to address their concerns. I wil
The journey back home was more peaceful than Natalia expected. She fully braced for his attacks but they didn’t even ride the same carriage. He disappeared, just like their wedding, leaving her time for herself. Since she had fully resolved the cases, Corren handed over the household duties to her. Since it was something that she had done in her last life, it didn’t take time for her to get accustomed to it. Aside that, she sent a message to Amaika to accompany Sebastian to Polivia and a letter to Sebastian to allow Amaika to come along. In both lives, the two really never got along so she hoped they would be civil on this very important trip. They were following the princess back so they would hopefully be civil. The letters were sent in a safe manner that couldn’t be intercepted by anyone, burning them with magic. The Adamantine family had several ways of sending secret messages. Some of them were old, simple and complex while the rest were recently devised to make up for the mist
The mansion definitely looked different from the last time she was there. It was clear that it had a feminine touch, an elegant one at that. It looked a lot homier and less depressing. The darkness was limited to the outside as the inside was warm and inviting. She didn’t talk about it but it was clear that the Duchess was proud of what she had done. “The butler would direct your servants to the room you would be staying but for now, you can join us for lunch. Everyone here is excited to receive our dear princesses. The dining room is this way” she gestured, leading the way. All three women were surprised that the Grand Duke was still following them. While the second princess thought it was because of the good relationship between the Grand Duke and his wife, the Grand Duchess and the third princess knew better. “I would have to apologize in advance as I won’t be joining you for lunch today. I still have a pile of paperwork waiting for me back in the office but I will be joining yo
To be successful on a hunt, you have to study your prey, remain hidden and wait for the right time to attack. The cover of the night was the right time to attack but it wasn’t good to mindlessly attack. You have to wait until the prey was extremely comfortable before you made a move. “Let’s set up camp here. You there, you’re on the first watch” a rather rude voice said to the only man who had been walking the entire distance. They had traveled more than 5 miles, stopping to rest a few times and no one cared to acknowledge how tired he was, treating him like he was air. However, he didn’t say anything, nodding to acknowledge his request. He walked away from the party, finally letting down his hood. Long rough dark blue hair flowed out, reaching down to his waist. Reaching into the purse by his waist, he pulled out a pink ribbon and wrapped it around his hair. The long spear-shaped ears that were covered by the hair finally came out, covered by a bit of blue fur. Purple slit eyes obs