Chapter 42………….
In truth, when Yulken was summoned by Hilia, he thought, “So, the moment has finally come.”
For better or for worse.
And so, he steeled his mind and headed toward the Crown Princess’s office.
But when he actually saw Hilia’s face, something was strange.
She was looking at him with a gentle, almost overly warm smile—brimming with goodwill.
At him of all people, Felix Yulken—the very one who was often told his tongue was like a porcupine’s!
He was confident and well accustomed to making others feel unpleasant and uncomfortable.
But when it came to himself being made uncomfortable, he was unbearably weak.
And Hilia’s gaze was far too strange, too unusual.
“This is our first real meeting… isn’t this excessive kindness?”
The lavish refreshments, the tea she served him herself…
Enough to make Yulken momentarily anxious.
“…Surely she hasn’t fallen for me at first sight, just because of my looks?”
That would be a disaster.
Of course, Yulken was confident enough in his appearance.
But he was also well aware of the gap between himself and his master, whose beauty seemed hardly human.
“Still, people do have different tastes, don’t they?”
That much was logical.
And yet here was Hilia, looking at him with eyes overflowing with kindness during their very first proper greeting.
“Don’t tell me… I’m actually Lady Delphine’s type or something?!”
If she herself heard that, she’d probably burst into laughter and roll on the floor.
But Yulken didn’t know.
He didn’t know that in his previous life he had failed in an attempt to assassinate Ludwig.
He didn’t know that his sharp curses toward Ludwig and Evangeline had actually earned him Hilia’s favor, back when they’d been “neighbors” in adjacent prison cells.
He couldn’t know that this sumptuous tea table was the result of that.
So, with nothing else to go on, the only explanation Yulken could find was “love at first sight.”
And that left him sweating cold bullets, nerves taut.
“No, no way! Even if she looks like some sweet, fluffy cotton-candy beauty—”
Felix Yulken resolved to himself:
“I absolutely cannot allow myself to be swayed by some sudden, baseless affection!”
The reasons were everywhere around him.
“No matter what, even if I don’t recognize her as the Crown Princess, she is still married to His Highness Arpad!”
The conclusion was simple:
“Adultery is forbidden!”
Coming from a low noble family, having watched his mother suffer because of his father’s affair, Yulken despised adultery.
“Even if His Highness’s talk about a love marriage was a lie—it still doesn’t matter. I won’t allow it!”
He didn’t realize that thought was already sounding like an excuse.
While Yulken was wavering between embarrassment and bizarre suspicions, Hilia suddenly pointed out something he had not expected.
“Why is it you never address me as ‘Her Highness the Princess Consort’?”
“…You think I’m unfit to sit in this seat, don’t you? That I’ll only be a hindrance to His Highness Arpad.”
Yulken, who had been busy with nonsense thoughts a moment ago, snapped back to attention.
“Ah, right. I came here to declare war, didn’t I?”
At last, he recalled his true purpose.
Felix Yulken opened his eyes wide, and truly began to face the woman before him.
The awkwardness and discomposure melted away. He reverted to the secretary he always was.
Smoothly, he deflected her attack.
“I don’t know what you mean, madam. We’ve hardly exchanged a few words yet…”
Hilia chuckled lightly.
“Even so, not once have you addressed me as ‘Her Highness the Princess Consort.’”
“…Have I? I didn’t realize. Thank you for pointing it out.”
Yulken answered with a flawless smile—yet still refused to use the title.
That was his stubbornness.
“Even if she’s a bride that His Highness Arpad dragged here in a fit of madness, if she wants recognition as Crown Princess, she has to prove her worth!”
That was Yulken’s creed.
And Hilia pierced straight through it, as though reading his palm.
“It’s because I haven’t yet proven myself worthy of being Crown Princess, isn’t it?”
“……”
At this, Yulken asked bluntly:
“…Do you perhaps read minds?”
Hilia laughed brightly.
“No. It’s just… the secretary’s meritocracy is famous. And your own abilities are exceptional.”
Yulken shamelessly nodded.
“That much is true.”
Humility was something Yulken refused to practice.
“For someone competent, false modesty is not courtesy—it’s an insult!”
So he believed.
And also—
“If I put on humility I don’t feel, how humiliating must that be for those who truly lack ability?”
He held that conviction as well.
As if aware of even this, Hilia spoke gently:
“I don’t intend to force it. It’s only natural that to reach a noble position, one must prove ability.”
And on at least that point—that Ludwig and Evangeline failed that standard—Yulken and Hilia were in agreement.
That alone was enough for Hilia to view him favorably.
“Then you must also understand that I cannot follow your orders blindly.”
But Hilia wiped away his excuse with a smile.
“That’s a separate matter. Whether or not you recognize me as Crown Princess—you will obey my commands.”
“……”
Felix Yulken—at twenty-seven, for the very first time in his life—was struck speechless.
Yulken looked uncharacteristically at a loss for words.
“Incredible. This is the same man who could chatter even with his head on the guillotine.”
Hilia didn’t miss the opening.
She slid the prepared documents across the desk toward him.
“Read this.”
“…Why this, all of a sudden?”
He looked as if he were trying to cling to his pride—or habit.
Holding stubbornly to the thought, “I cannot acknowledge Hilia so easily.”
Breaking that stubbornness was simple.
She smiled and proposed:
“Shall we make a wager?”
“…A wager, all of a sudden?”
Felix Yulken—whose tongue was sharper than any blade, whose expression was sour and unpleasant—looked thoroughly dubious.
Hilia, studying his scrunched-up face, declared with confidence:
“I’ll wager one million castels that after reading this document, you’ll address me as ‘Her Highness the Princess Consort.’”
A million castels—about a month’s salary for Yulken.
“But… you don’t yet hold authority over the Crown Princess’s budget, do you?”
In other words: Where would you get that kind of money?
Also: Don’t waste the palace budget on something like this.
Hilia, fully aware, only smiled.
“Why, I’m the head of House Delphine.”
“…Ah.”
Yulken nodded.
It was already well known that Hilia had brought Delphinger under control.
Yulken in particular knew more than most.
“Contrary to rumor, she solved it without any help from His Highness Arpad.”
Of course, this was because Yulken didn’t know that the Mercenary King Gerald was actually Arpad.
So from his perspective, it looked as though Hilia had resolved Delphinger entirely on her own.
“That rude Mercenary King, who even ignores summons from the Crown Prince’s palace—how on earth did she hire him?”
Naturally, that’s also how the outside world saw it—just as Hilia intended.
Since the Delphinger incident, Yulken had quietly begun to reevaluate Hilia.
Had he not heard of her achievements beforehand, he might have refused her summons with all manner of excuses.
Or, even if summoned, he might have dismissed her words or sabotaged her commands in indirect defiance.
The fact that he was now seriously cautious—that itself meant he had come to recognize her somewhat.
Though of course, Hilia would never be satisfied with just that.
She lifted her chin, beaming radiantly.
“So? Will you take the wager, or not?”
For a moment, Yulken stupidly admired her beauty.
“To look beautiful even from this angle with her chin raised… she really is—”
Then he shook his head in alarm.
“No! Not like that!”
Hilia, oblivious to his foolish thoughts, began to pull the document back.
“Well, if you don’t want to, I suppose there’s no helping it.”
But the document didn’t move.
Yulken was holding the other side.
“I never said I wouldn’t.”
“A million castels? No reason to refuse such easy money.”
Besides, Hilia had pledged the Delphine family itself as guarantor of the wager.
From Yulken’s view, it was a sure win.
“As if there exists a document that would make me call her ‘Her Highness the Princess Consort’ at first glance! Impossible.”
He truly believed that.
Hilia, laughing pleasantly, released her hold on the document.
That smile nearly stole Yulken’s breath again.
Barely keeping his composure, he lowered his eyes to the papers.
And in the next instant, his eyes flew open so wide they looked ready to pop out the back of his skull.
“Th-this is…!”
Hilia smiled with a light like spring sunlight on cherry blossoms.
And kindly added:
“Of course, the detailed evidence will have to be gathered by you yourself. And there’s no guarantee that these are the only ones.”
“But—this…!”
Yulken’s hands trembled violently, crumpling the paper.
Hilia asked, knowingly:
“But still, it’s useful, isn’t it?”
She already knew the answer.
And at last, the response she wanted spilled from Yulken’s mouth:
“Of course, Your Highness the Princess Consort!”
Since the day of the forced marriage, this was the very first time Felix Yulken—the most competent among Arpad’s aides—had used that title.
Hilia smiled triumphantly.
“Good. With this, the cleansing of the Crown Prince’s palace is complete.”
