Episode 29
Rurik fell silent. He acknowledged that his younger sister was nearing marriageable age and that the Grand Duke of Babenberg was, in his own way, an excellent suitor.
‘But the war has just ended…’
The reason Rurik had lived as the imperial family’s pawn without complaint until now was entirely for his only sibling, and the Emperor surely knew that.
‘Wasn’t it precisely because of this that he kept Louise, who is treated like an outcast, by his side instead of marrying her off for political gain?’
To think that Louise’s turn would come immediately after his own mission was finally over. Rurik could not accept that. Even if it wasn’t necessarily right now, Babenberg was unwelcome.
‘His Majesty is in a position where he pays defense funds to Babenberg, so the Grand Duke must seem like a desirable son-in-law.’
But Rurik was different. Babenberg was the Empire’s shield. In other words, it was the land that would be devastated first if the northern barbarians’ invasion could not be stopped.
‘In one short lifetime… isn’t experiencing the loss of family once enough?’
Rurik wished for Louise not to suffer such a wound again. That’s why, even if the house was somewhat weaker, he had privately given points to Crown Prince Ernst of Flavi, who had cared for Louise as diligently and humbly as a servant.
‘Flavi is also close.’
On the day Crown Prince Hart succeeded the throne, it was highly probable that he himself would be assigned a border region and leave the imperial capital.
‘If Louise becomes the Queen of Flavi, I intend to request to be assigned somewhere like Muassac, not far from there.’
Rurik was even prepared to discard such premature desires. As he firmly closed his mouth, the Emperor chuckled.
“Don’t you think the Empire, and I, owe a debt to the northern barbarians?”
“…I’m not sure I follow your meaning.”
The Emperor smiled wryly at his blunt second son.
“I mean, had it not been for them, would that Babenberg have been satisfied staying in the northern wasteland?”
Rurik knew he should keep his mouth shut, but his lips parted on their own to state his case.
“Before this trip to Heim, Chirlila asked to accompany me.”
“…Is that so?”
“She’s a child with an active disposition, isn’t she? It seems she’s interested in Babenberg…”
“My son.”
The Emperor called out almost mockingly.
“With the Empress watching so keenly, do you think it’s easy for me to refuse Cyrila’s request either?”
Then he explained.
“Who knew the previous Grand Duke would die so young? The current Grand Duke, Calisteon Bail Babenberg, was raised as a Sword Master, just like you.”
That was true.
“A monarch may join hands with yesterday’s enemy for the national interest, but those who wield a sword do not take their eyes off their target until they claim it with their own hands.”
But hearing the courtship towards Louise described in such a metaphor would surely make the Grand Duke deeply resentful. While Rurik was not pleased with Babenberg as Louise’s marriage prospect, he had never doubted the Grand Duke’s sincerity.
‘If he had political ambitions, he wouldn’t have chosen Louise.’
Chirlila, of course, and even Zenais, who inherited the same red hair and red eyes as him, attended the Academy around the same time as Callisteon.
“…Yes, I understand.”
But there was no look of acceptance on Rurik’s face as he answered, and the perceptive Emperor immediately noticed his second son’s resistance.
“You must be tired. Return and rest.”
Thus, the conversation between father and son ended without bridging their differing views. Although it wasn’t a particularly fair conversation from the start.
On his way back to the detached palace, Rurik encountered his sister’s maid, Phoebe Nilo, in the garden.
“Your Highness.”
She hastily bowed and spoke as if making an excuse.
“Her Highness the Princess wished to rest for a while, saying she was tired from the journey, so I left her alone.”
“…I see.”
He replied curtly and continued on his way to the detached palace. He had briefly considered visiting Louise, but if she was tired from the journey, it was probably better to let her rest.
‘She’s spent her whole life confined to the detached palace, so it’s no wonder her stamina is weak.’
He couldn’t expect his sister, who had lived like that, to be as robust as he was, having spent half his life on battlefields. Before he knew it, he had arrived at his room. Although it sometimes felt unfamiliar because it was left empty for longer periods, it was the only place where he could hide and feel a sense of stability.
“You have returned, Your Highness.”
A servant greeted him, prostrating himself as if lying flat. Then he approached, removed Rurik’s cumbersome cloak, and took off the decorations from his uniform. Rurik blankly watched the servant’s work for a moment before commanding.
“Dispose of that belt.”
The servant paused, looking puzzled, but dared not ask why.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Rurik shook his head and commanded again.
“Burn it. Not just that, burn all the items brought from the recent battlefield, except for the truly precious ones.”
“As you wish.”
After changing clothes, the same servant brought several other servants, and they busied themselves sorting through the items and moving them outside. Rurik’s gaze, which had been watching them vacantly, finally landed on the sword scabbard hanging at his waist.
‘Items from the battlefield…’
If there was one most important item among them, it was this sword. In Rurik’s childhood, his mother, the Second Imperial Consort, wore different clothes from the Empress and lived in a different palace from his father.
“Our poor Prince. To lose the status of firstborn son by just a few months’ difference.”
“Don’t say that. Even if he were the firstborn son, what could he do, being the child of a commoner-born Consort? It would only cause heartache.”
The servants behind him said such things, as if pitying him. So, from the time he was a toddler, Rurik realized.
‘Although the age difference with my brother Hart is less than a year… he and I are as different as heaven and earth, as he is the Empress’s son.’
After his mother passed away, the gap between them grew immeasurably wider. Then one day, the Emperor said:
“Although you are the second son, they say your swordsmanship surpasses the Crown Prince’s. I cannot pass the throne to you, but I wish to bequeath this sword to the son who demonstrates the appropriate ability.”
What the Emperor showed him was a sword gleaming with a golden light.
“It is called the demon sword ‘Velich’. They say when Tibelic Studites, the first Magic Tower Lord, established the northern border, he melted down the heart of a magical beast to forge it.”
It was only natural that the young Rurik was captivated by the shining sword.
‘Receiving the sword… meant being acknowledged by Father.’
It didn’t take very long for Rurik to obtain the Sword Master qualification before Hart and receive the sword. He now gripped the sword hilt, which had become as familiar as his own skin, tightly once before releasing it. As he did, a dark shadow flickered in his crimson eyes, but no one saw it.
“I had no idea one experiences all sorts of symptoms like that during pregnancy! How fortunate that Lord Ren is here!”
Later, Phoebe returned and chattered in a low voice about the pregnancy symptoms she had heard from Countess Sellar.
“Fortunately, it seems suddenly feeling dizzy and fainting like Your Highness isn’t a very abnormal thing. But they said it’s important not to move alone since you could fall. Understood?”
“I know, I know.”
As I nodded vaguely, Phoebe pouted.
“They said the belly starts showing visibly around the fifth month. When we see the physician, we must find out the exact number of months.”
“Mm-hmm…”
Hearing the word ‘physician’ made me suddenly nervous.
‘This time, we’re not going to some shabby physician like before, but meeting one who deals with nobles…’
I wonder if it will be okay since Ren is going to conceal my eye color? Phoebe, noticing my worried expression, quickly added, seemingly to reassure me.
“Of course, Your Highness is slender, so you probably have a month or two more leeway than others.”
Then, lowering her voice even further, she grasped my hand.
“So, even if it’s difficult to tell Prince Rurik, you must somehow leave the palace before then. Understood?”
