~Chapter 56~
“My mother brought it back for me after the Empress’s tea party.”
“Lady Herring?”
“Yes. The Empress gave it to her as a hair ribbon, but she thought it was meaningful and gave it to me instead.”
Conrad gave a soft, amused laugh.
“Meaningful, huh.”
“I-I had no idea it was a magic artifact. It was just the first gift the Empress ever gave, so my mother tied it to my sword hilt for me, thinking it was special.”
“Same for me,” Patrick added.
The two had grown up as childhood friends, so their families were close and knew each other well.
Both of their mothers had attended the Empress’s tea party and received the enchanted hair ribbon as a gift.
Since the cloth worked well as a sword decoration, their mothers had passed it along.
“Is it really a magic artifact with healing magic on it?”
Herzen, who had sidled up next to Conrad, stared wide-eyed.
Looking around, he noticed several knights had the same strip of cloth tied to their hilts.
“If that’s the case, then maybe those knights…”
“Their mothers must be among the ladies who built a good relationship with the Empress,” Conrad confirmed.
Herzen blinked in surprise.
“Wait—come to think of it, my wife went to the Empress’s tea party, too…”
“Then there’s one at the Countess Rashica’s estate as well,” Conrad replied, his gaze darkening.
The satisfaction he’d felt just moments earlier vanished, replaced by irritation.
“Your Majesty, may I take leave right now? There’s something urgent at home!”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Herzen, clearly plotting to rush home and search for the artifact, wilted at Conrad’s refusal.
Other knights were just as excited. If the Empress had made enough enchanted items to give one to every lady at the tea party, her magical power must be extraordinary.
“I heard Her Majesty the Empress was a mage, but still…”
Everyone understood the unspoken part.
Even in Fredericks, where some could use magic, it was rare to find a mage who could craft such useful enchanted items in large quantities.
Even simple healing magic was precious to knights.
After all, even if you defeated a monster, a critical injury could still be fatal.
To them, a magical item with healing spells was as good as a second life.
“So everyone got one except me, huh.”
Conrad’s muttered complaint made the knights freeze. The emotion in his voice was impossible to miss, and the others grew awkward, some even hiding their sword hilts.
“Your Majesty! Please, let me leave early just this once! You don’t have any real emergencies right now, do you?”
Sensing Conrad’s mood, the knights fell silent—except for Herzen, who, almost matching Conrad’s level as a swordmaster, had the nerve to keep whining.
He sensed the danger but decided to tough it out.
“Your Majesty!”
“Herzen.”
“Yes!”
When Conrad called his name, Herzen’s eyes lit up with hope. But as Conrad strode over, that hope was short-lived.
“Count, you can go home after you finish a full report on the subjugation squad’s organization and put it on my desk by tonight.”
Herzen clutched his head in despair.
“Your Majesty! That’s not fair! I can do it tomorrow…”
“Tonight. On my desk.”
“Your Majesty!”
Herzen’s desperate cry echoed across the training grounds, but Conrad—lost in thought—paid him no mind.
“I’m the only one who didn’t get one.”
The knights, sensing the tension, busied themselves elsewhere—swinging swords, lifting weights, or just avoiding eye contact.
Conrad checked each sword hilt, grinding his teeth.
“Eight. There are eight just in this group.”
There were twenty-eight noblewomen at Regina’s tea party. If each got one, there were twenty more out there.
“And I’m the only one she left out.”
His low voice carried a chilling note across the grounds.
Meanwhile, completely unaware that her enchanted gifts were the talk of the training grounds, Regina was buried in paperwork in her office.
“It’s just too perfect—these numbers match up exactly.”
She’d noticed it before, but comparing documents year by year made the sense of something being off even stronger.
Regina spread several documents out on her desk, focused intently.
No matter how carefully she looked, though, she found no clear evidence. She let out a quiet sigh.
“Why don’t you take a break, Your Majesty?”
The chief lady-in-waiting offered gently.
“Then maybe I’ll have some tea.”
“Right away.”
The lady-in-waiting threw open the office window, letting the hot summer breeze brush against Regina’s face.
She pulled her eyes from the documents and glanced outside.
Regina’s office sat at the highest point in the Empress’s palace. The clear blue sky stretched out before her, and she stood, moving to the window.
“Beautiful.”
The sky looked the same in Fredericks as it did in Permang—endlessly blue and bright beneath the summer sun.
She remembered days long ago, surrounded by her mage division in the Permang palace, laughing as they researched magic circles.
‘Are they all right?’
She doubted Hereis would have left them in peace.
‘As long as they’re alive.’
No matter what state they were in, as long as they were alive, she could see them again.
Regina pictured each mage’s face, her blue eyes wavering.
“If I ever make it back…”
She would rescue them.
If any had died by Hereis’s hand, she’d take revenge.
‘Someone has to pay for the Empress’s death, too.’
She’d lost the one person she could rely on in the Permang palace and had been forced to shoulder the blame for that murder. She couldn’t let those responsible walk away unpunished.
Regina’s gaze sharpened, rage simmering beneath the surface. If Hereis stood before her now, she’d unleash a killing spell without hesitation.
The sudden swell of emotion made her close her eyes and steady her breath.
‘Calm down.’
She needed to stay composed—her own magic, blended with the power she’d absorbed from Conrad, required careful control.
If her emotions ran too wild, that delicate flow could go astray. Right now, she was dangerously close.
“Whew.”
When her magic settled back into place, Regina opened her eyes.
‘That could’ve ended badly.’
She glanced around the office, then tugged the bellpull.
It was better to soak in a bath and calm her mind than to keep staring at documents that refused to give up their secrets.
“Did you call for me, Your Majesty?”
“Draw me a bath.”
The attendant bowed and left, just as the chief lady-in-waiting entered with a cup of tea.
The lady-in-waiting watched Regina closely. Regina inhaled the tea’s aroma but didn’t lift the cup.
“Is the tea not to your liking, Your Majesty?”
“No.”
She didn’t touch the cup, just watched the steam drift into the air, suddenly aware that the chief lady-in-waiting was still in the room.
“You may go.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
The chief lady-in-waiting was new—sent from the Emperor’s palace—but Regina couldn’t bring herself to fully trust anyone yet.
Too many people in the palace still owed loyalty to Chloe. It would take time to weed them all out.
‘After looking at old records, I know I have to be even more careful.’
Every one of Conrad’s former fiancées had met their end after he left for subjugation campaigns. Regina knew all too well she might still be the target of an assassination attempt.
“No way Chloe’s just going to sit quietly after losing control of the finances.”
