Chapter 30

Johannes replied nonchalantly.

“Henrik’s little dog, you mean.”

“Haha, yes. To a tedious degree.”

Johannes, who let out a small laugh, pillowed his head with his arm and lay down on the sandy beach. His casual attire without armor, his long-stretched legs, his calmly closed eyelids, and his skin that looked golden under the evening glow. Everything about him seemed serene at a glance. But at the same time, he also looked drained, which made Günter a little anxious.

Günter suddenly opened his mouth.

“…I’ve reached the point where I can recite what he says.”

“Yes.”

“And he has probably memorized my reply as well.”

“……”

“We will be returning. To our homeland, to Itium. Nothing is more important than that.”

Johannes slowly opened his eyes. The sun had almost hidden itself below the sea, and the sky was tinged with evening. Gazing at the fast-moving gray clouds and the stars that occasionally twinkled behind them, he muttered a reply after a while.

“Nothing is more important than that.”

It was a typical Johannes reply. Günter, inwardly relieved, nodded without any particular response. Then, he unintentionally followed Johannes’s gaze to the sky and said to himself, “It looks like a storm is about to pour down.”

Like a fickle goddess, the storms off the coast of Bellares came and went in an instant.

“……”

Johannes made no reply. His gaze remained fixed for a long time on the sky where dark clouds were rapidly gathering.

💎

Below the marble steps of the bone-white temple, a crowd of onlookers had gathered. Most of them were a throng that had flocked to see the ninth princess, who was rumored, grotesquely enough, to be a half-wit. This was despite the fact that the coming-of-age ceremony was held in a deep inner chamber of the temple, where they wouldn’t be able to see even a shadow of the princess.

As the surroundings darkened and the stars began to show off their light, figures in pure white priestly robes started lighting the stone braziers placed throughout the temple. The festival onlookers, for a moment forgetting the long war, cheered.

At the muffled roar coming from outside, Daphne suddenly lifted her eyes. The inner chamber was entirely bathed in an orange glow thanks to the braziers. It was filled with about twenty young ladies chosen by the queen, five or six priests, and temple knights standing in formation, but no one moved much, making it seem as if time had stopped. An elderly priest turned his head to give a warning, perhaps because a few of the young ladies had turned to look at the noise from outside.

『Young ladies, maintain your composure.』

After a little more waiting, Queen Callista finally entered the inner chamber. At the sound of her presence, Daphne reflexively lifted her gaze. The young queen, dressed in garments similar to the priests’, looked quite imposing.

For a fleeting moment, it seemed their eyes met. And right after that, she smiled. It was quite a disquieting smile.

『…….』

It was a smile that felt as if this whole thing was amusing to her. Daphne furrowed her brow slightly. For some reason, her head had been aching as if it would break since a little while ago, so she corrected her thoughts, telling herself she was simply being sensitive.

Despite her wish for tomorrow not to come, time flowed on. Soon, the ceremony proceeded step by step according to the set order.

Callista approached and stood before the kneeling Daphne. Daphne lowered her gaze and waited for Callista to anoint her forehead with holy water and give her a kiss.

It was the moment Callista’s lips briefly touched her forehead and then pulled away. Through her lowered vision, she could see Callista’s lips moving. Daphne’s gaze inadvertently fell on Callista’s lips. Congratulations. The corners of the mouth that had whispered that at that moment drew a vigorous arc.

『…….』

A clear smile. It was the second time. It couldn’t be a coincidence. That smile, as if she were dying of amusement, was purely malicious. It wasn’t because she was being sensitive.

Her head hurt too much, and she was on the verge of losing him due to a brief impulse, a mistake.

But what was so amusing to that woman? For a moment, irritation surged through Daphne, but she suppressed it with willpower.

Joffrey was more sensitive than anyone when it came to his own well-being. If she acted differently from usual, it would somehow reach Joffrey’s ears, and then, even in the most trivial way, it might cause a hitch in her escape plan.

In any situation, Daphne did not forget her plan. Separate from meeting Johannes in the forest, her will to escape had only grown stronger.

“I think I want… I want to see you survive.”

From the moment Johannes Tennan had said that. It was probably the first time he had wanted something from her. At first, he probably had no intention of helping her in any way, but at least now, his helping her was likely because of that. Thus, his wish, like Sione’s words to survive longer than this city, was deeply embedded in Daphne’s head and heart.

So, she could still endure. She had to. Daphne quietly lowered her eyelids. Persistently, Callista’s steady gaze lingered, scrutinizing every corner of Daphne’s face before finally pulling away.

💎

Daphne managed to endure the ceremony safely, but unfortunately, the end of the ceremony did not mean the end of the day. It was followed by Callista’s banquet.

Callista was a queen not recognized by the great nobles of Bellares, but she was still a queen. The young ladies invited to the private greenhouse in a secluded part of the royal palace couldn’t help but be excited. The very fact that they were awake at a time when they would normally be in bed, urged by their nannies, was also thrilling.

The sound of a young, handsome singer reciting ballads instead of a jester, the soft sound of a harp. The clinking of golden goblets and plates filled with sweet wine. And the murmuring of the young ladies, pleasantly drunk. As the night deepened, the excitement in the stuffy greenhouse grew.

Callista attended to the young ladies who approached her one by one to pay their respects. Even while doing so, she occasionally glanced at Daphne.

Each time, Daphne said nothing at all, only staring blankly at the other side of the greenhouse with her eyes downcast. Her pale face stood out starkly among the flushed, half-drunk faces. It was an atmosphere that made it difficult to strike up a conversation. Besides, there was no young lady present who would dare to speak to the princess first.

Callista watched that pathetic figure with interest. Because that was exactly the image of Princess Daphne she had ‘expected’.

Finally, after having spoken with all her guests, Callista addressed Daphne.

『Princess Daphne.』

Daphne, who had been staring blankly into the air, reacted a beat late.

『...Your Majesty, the Queen.』

Callista was very interested in Daphne, but Daphne was not. Daphne’s only thought was to quietly finish the given schedule.

Of course, belying her words to Thisbene that she was fine, she could feel her fever worsening by the moment. The greenhouse was stuffy, yet she felt a chill, and her mind, plagued by an occasional splitting headache, was growing distant.

Callista, oblivious to her condition, kept talking to her. Daphne found it difficult to concentrate on the conversation. She consciously put on a sociable smile, but she couldn’t tell if she was succeeding. Nevertheless, she believed she could still endure. Foolishly, she was letting Callista’s voice go in one ear and out the other when she heard it.

『I understand you.』

『…Pardon?』

Daphne asked back blankly, without realizing it. She couldn’t understand what Callista was suddenly talking about. At that, Callista smiled faintly and whispered in a conspiratorial voice.

『You must have wished for today not to come. Is that not so?』

…How did she know that? Did she notice something? It was the moment Daphne, tense for a second, held her breath.

『But with this, you have perfectly become the bride of Equilla.』

『…….』

Ah, so that’s what this was about. Daphne was inwardly relieved. However, she still couldn’t figure out Callista’s intention in bringing this up. Daphne, pretending to be a docile princess, replied as she would to Joffrey.

『That is not so, Your Majesty. To become the bride of Equilla is my glory.』

At that, Callista’s soft smile became ambiguous. Soon, Callista, as if she understood, smiled brightly again and said.

『Oh, Princess Daphne. You don’t have to be like that in front of me.』

『I do not know what you are talking about….』

『We are but dutiful daughters, and in the end, just our husbands’ vessels for bearing children.』