The region, which had a mild climate and was perfect for growing crops, serving as the granary of the empire, was utterly ravaged by monster hordes and war. As a result, a massive famine hit the empire in the latter half of the story.
Of course, the House of Castrain, for humanitarian reasons, released its stockpiled food and went to great lengths to acquire more from outside the empire. However, even the House of Castrain couldn’t take responsibility for everyone when two-thirds of the empire’s farmland was gone and most of the farmers had become refugees. Besides, most of the House of Castrain’s territory was in the North.
The South was particularly fertile and had almost no monster attacks compared to other regions, which is why the damage was so much greater there. So even though it looked prosperous and nice right now, I didn’t feel like sightseeing.
“And this is the Cortez territory, right?”
“You’re well-informed.”
“The current Count is probably in the capital, but I heard that the young Count, who is about three years older than me, is in this city.”
The southern metropolis with the warp tunnel, Arthura, the City of Radiant Flowers. It was a major trading hub and the home base of merchants. The young Count was put in charge of managing this entire city to receive his training as the future heir.
He was uncommonly gifted in business for his age, clever, and very quick-witted. In the novel, even after the South was completely destroyed, he somehow managed to survive and went to Vivi, kneeling before her and asking for her help to rebuild the South.
Of course, by the time the South was destroyed, the entire empire was in trouble. A civil war had just broken out. So Vivi, being the cold realist she was, cut him off, saying she couldn’t help him right now. Instead, she announced, “Come and work for me, and you can seize the opportunity to rebuild the South!”
She was basically saying, “I will make you my subordinate, and you can use your talents to help me and use me to do whatever you can.”
The young Count diligently helped Vivi, and after the empire stabilized, he was given the entire southern territory to work on post-war reconstruction.
Of course, given the timing, it was still too early for him to show the solemnity, maturity, and shrewdness he would later display in the story. He must be filled with arrogance, as he was overly loved by his parents and had a perfect environment to showcase his talents.
I smiled broadly. “And yet, he knew I was arriving today and didn’t even come to greet me?”
This meant that he was the kind of person who would completely ignore a princess who was known for being pretty but empty-headed. No, he had already ignored me!
No matter how bad my reputation was and how little influence I had, I was still a princess. If the First or Second Prince had arrived, he would have been waiting for them three hours before the scheduled arrival time to greet them.
He might even have said, “Why don’t you look around a bit?” with a smile on his face. Even if I would refuse the invitation, citing the tight Votive Offering schedule, it was still different from not even bothering to give an empty compliment!
Debby tilted her head, not understanding. “Isn’t Count Cortez not that big of a deal? I don’t understand why the young Count would already be ignoring the Princess.”
From the perspective of a retainer of the House of Castrain, Count Cortez was probably a joke. But not to me.
“Well… I heard he has a good reputation. They say he’s very exceptional for his age. Rumors are already spreading that he’s handsome, smart, and has great business sense, and he’s getting hands-on training for the heir. So he probably thinks I’m a stupid princess! Besides, the Empress is all about luxury goods. The House of Cortez, being the head of the merchants, probably finds it difficult to get close to me!”
Barbara frowned. “I also heard he’s quite popular in high society. Her Majesty the Empress also considers Count Cortez to be a talented person. However, I did hear that the family is particularly fond of the young Count, as he is their only son…”
But then again, the young Count must still be young. To ignore me just because he didn’t want to “bow to a princess who is rumored to be an idiot.” Social etiquette between parents and children is different, isn’t it?
In a way, the current Count Cortez can ignore me. He isn’t in a position to have to bow to someone like me. However, if he sent his son to win my favor, even the Empress couldn’t say anything about it. Besides, since rumors have spread that the relationship between the House of Castrain and me has improved, he should have at least come to confirm the facts.
While I was lost in thought, watching the scenery with nothing much to see, except for some commoners who were sneaking glances at us, the priest who had finished his conversation with Gregory approached me.
“I greet Your Highness Princess Titania. I am Priest Cronen, the head of the Southern Temple.”
He had a pleasant face. But I couldn’t trust him just because he talked to Gregory before greeting me.
“You must be very tired from your long journey. However, the temple is still a bit further away. If you don’t mind, please get back into your carriage.”
“Yes.”
I obediently nodded and got back into the carriage. Lysianthuses, who had said he was going to look around for a bit and had been riding a horse next to my carriage, grumbled as he came closer.
“This place is boring every time I come here.”
“You’ve been here a lot?”
“A few times.”
“I heard the House of Castrain puts a lot of effort into the Votive Offering, but I didn’t know they cared about the South, too.”
“Two years ago, the South had a massive drought, and the temple cried that they couldn’t properly hold the Votive Offering.”
I searched my fuzzy memory. Lysianthuses’s profile, visible through the open carriage window, was impassive.
“Well, something was wrong with the weather that year. It wasn’t even winter, but hailstones fell in the North in the middle of summer. And the South had a continuous drought. It was a good thing that the central part where the capital is was mostly fine, but I was here then, too.”
“…If that was the Votive Offering then, I guess Prince Briam participated?”
“Yeah. But it was worse than not participating at all.”
Ah, I remembered now. Around that time, Prince Briam and Empress Cleo had caused a huge fuss. The imperial family didn’t care about the weather in the distant South or North, which weren’t even in the capital. However, Empress Cleo seemed to have hoped that if the continent’s abnormal weather calmed down after her son returned from the Votive Offering, it would create a good rumor about her son.
But, ironically, right after Prince Briam completed the Votive Offering that summer, the weather got even worse. The capital suffered from an unusual rainy season and floods. There was no need to say more when even Titania, who lived cooped up in the imperial palace, was surprised and asked, “Why is the weather so strange these days?” On top of that, monster hordes began to stir.
It was a complete mess!
The House of Castrain tried their best to fix the situation. The southern tip and the capital were not their direct territories, but they had to clean up the mess. No matter how much the North tried to stop the monsters, other regions couldn’t stop them at all, and the monsters were even flowing into the North…
So, the Grand Duke of Castrain stepped in himself. He negotiated with the Emperor and temporarily gained control to calm the chaos in the empire and drive out the monsters.
Suddenly, a memory stung me, and I looked into the air. Raymond, who was a knight back then, was so busy with mid-term reports to the imperial palace and handling various matters under the Grand Duke that he needed more than ten bodies. And Titania was being a nuisance to him, complaining that he wasn’t coming to see her, even though he was so busy… It was shameless to whine at a person who was working overtime and only sleeping three hours a day, asking, “Why don’t you come to see me?”
‘I was such a fool back then.’
“Prince Briam couldn’t be sent alone, so Empress Cleo came with him, bringing over twenty servants and thirty carriages. She was disgusted at the thought of a precious imperial family member shedding blood, so they used animal blood to fill the spot where imperial blood was supposed to be used.”
“Ugh… It’s not something I should apologize for, but I’m sorry to hear that… Even though he did something like that, Priest Cronen is still talking to Sir Gregory first?”
“The South is a place where wealthy nobles have a lot of power. There are many followers of Archpriest Marzide.”
“And the North has many followers of Archpriest Illian?”
“Well… since a lot of people are torn to pieces by monsters there, there are more people who prefer, ‘let’s just save people who are dying,’ rather than, ‘only selected, noble nobles can receive treatment,’ and other nonsense like that.”
When the Saint passes away, one of the existing Archpriests becomes the new Saint. Archpriest Marzide, who was on the side of the Empress, was closer to the noble faction, and Archpriest Illian, who was on the side of the ducal family, was a commoner. To be more precise, they were the faction that believed, “Let’s treat everyone equally regardless of their status. Isn’t that what God’s teachings are?”
“Since it’s next to the barrier and there’s a temple, monster attacks are rare.”
Suddenly, Lysianthuses looked at me with a complex expression.
