Because I'm Embarrassed
Count Consiler started in surprise and asked again.
"Regent? You mean… Baldrova's fiancé?"
"We don't know the full details ourselves, but… the fact that he managed to win over Stefan Pascal, the branch manager, proves he has real ability. That man doesn't switch sides for mere titles."
"Ahh…"
A hollow exclamation slipped from Count Consiler's lips.
Ferda Valdrova.
What image did he hold now?
The worst in history.
All he had done so far was check and threaten the local lords.
Because of that, resentment among the regional nobles had been steadily building.
That greenhorn… was already making a play for the Pascal Trading Company?
The idea that he had joined hands with the Pascal Trading Company without any of them knowing was astonishing enough.
And the second surprise was this:
It wasn't done out of personal greed, either.
If he had been chasing private gain, he could have simply focused everything on Baldrova Castle.
The effort to revitalize trade was meant to develop each stagnant, isolated territory—something far removed from self-interest.
What conditions did he even offer?
The lands under the Grand Duchy of Baldrova held no value.
Dense forests stood before the front lines to hold back the monsters, and even if the trees were cleared for farmland, they could barely harvest a few subsistence crops now and then.
On top of that, the front line was pushed back every year, leaving the soil barren.
Even if you offered those lands for free, people would still hesitate and say, "This is a bit much…" That was the image of the far eastern frontier.
It meant Ferda had presented terms that outweighed every one of those disadvantages.
No lord… could have managed that.
Whether what he had shown was false or absurd did not matter. What mattered was that he had succeeded.
Consiler decided to handle first things first.
"Come inside. Have the carriages sorted out, and take the day to rest and catch up. I'll hear about your plans later."
"Thank you, my lord."
The man blew a whistle, and the Pascal Trading Company's carriages began filing in one by one.
Consiler looked up at the mountain that rose stark against the sky beyond the gloomy forest.
"My Regent…"
His voice swelled with emotion.
Today, Count Consiler called that name as though he had witnessed a superhuman who had broken through the darkness.
He dropped to one knee in that direction and offered his respects.
"My lord?"
Arwen was startled by the sudden action.
But he quickly grasped its meaning, knelt as well, and paid his respects toward the same place.
One by one, then another.
They knelt and paid homage toward the Lonely Mountain.
In the banquet hall, Ruri raised her hand high.
"Tormenta!"
It was the name of a high-ranking wind spirit.
In that instant, white wind coiled before Ruri and took shape.
It looked as if the human form might scatter at any moment, yet it held firm.
The spirit bowed politely toward her.
"You called, Master. You seem out of sorts again today."
"We begin the deep clean again today. Summon every lesser spirit without exception. Open every window wide and annihilate every last bit of air in this room!"
"As you command."
"Fuente!"
Next she called the name of a lesser water spirit.
Mana dripped from empty air and molded itself into a sticky liquid form.
"Chubak."
"Absorb and scrub away every drop of broth and filth those bastards spilled. Leave no stains. I will not allow dog-piss markings in the Great Ruler's residence. Understood?"
"Chubabak!"
The rough sound of water churning answered her.
Reading Ruri's lower pressure than usual, the spirit moved with sharp efficiency.
The water spirit divided again and again, scattering its body to suck the grime from the castle floors and walls.
"Huu…"
Ruri's small chest heaved heavily.
Even now the faint mix of sweat and perfume seemed to linger at the tip of her nose.
No matter how many times she tried to erase it, the scent refused to leave.
Irritating.
Ruri did not like knights.
Especially wandering knights—she liked them even less.
They lied without shame to inflate their own deeds, and they did not stop at blasphemy.
The blasphemy Ruri meant was the endless repertoire of stories about brave knights who faced evil dragons.
It made up seven-tenths of every knight's heroic tales and was one of the stories people enjoyed most.
And though the story was always the same, the name changed every time—a truly miraculous tale.
When wandering knights paid the bards, the poets simply swapped the hero's name for the knight's and spread it around.
That was why roughly half of all decent wandering knights were known as Dragon Slayers.
Dragon Slayers who wet themselves and bolted down the corridor.
There truly were no more disgusting creatures.
Still, she did achieve her original goal.
Over fifty wandering knights had come, and even a rough tally of what they brought exceeded 1,500 corpses.
Looking at the mountains of bodies, some fool had even said, "Isn't this a bit too many?" and the aftermath had been a problem as well.
That part was handled by the second son of the Pascal Trading Company we brought in this time.
Verified laborers and research assistants had poured in and cleaned everything up quickly.
Even so, traces of monster corpses remained at the entrance and where the carriages had stopped, and a faint stench of death still hung in the air.
To think I'd ever find that disgusting smell preferable.
It was better than the knights' sweat and perfume.
The smell of monster corpses would fade someday; this unpleasant stench showed no sign of leaving.
Cleaning that normally took ten minutes had stretched into two hours a day for ten straight days as she cleaned and re-cleaned the banquet hall.
She liked things tidy, but she was no germaphobe.
That was how strong the "effect" the knights had left behind had been on her.
Only when not a single strand of hair remained on the floor and the boards looked brand-new could she finally put her mind at ease.
"Master, it is nearly time for your other duties. What will you do?"
"Ah, right. Good work, Tormenta, Fuente."
"Then we shall take our leave."
"Chubabak!"
The wind spirit and water spirits reversed their forms, returning to mana and scattering away.
That will be enough cleaning for today… Time to deliver the weekly report.
Ruri left the banquet hall behind and rummaged in the pocket of her skirt.
She took the papers summarizing the intelligence obtained through the Imperial Information Bureau and descended to the lair.
As always, a red-scaled dragon lay coiled in a nest.
"You have come?"
"Yes. Have you been well?"
"Hmm… Yes, I have been fine. What have you come to speak of?"
"The weekly report. Today is the day for it, is it not?"
"Ahh. So it is."
Ruri was used to her frequent forgetfulness, but today's reaction was different from usual.
She feels… floaty.
As if she were living half-lost in other thoughts.
And what those other thoughts were needed no guessing.
Ferda. That man.
Since it was obvious, Ruri skipped any mention and moved straight to the point.
"It is said that the situation in the Empire has recently grown unstable."
She began with the most important topic—the Empire.
"They have enacted laws centered on concentrated privileges for the established powers, and the lower classes are rising in protest. So they are somehow papering it over with entertainment and food rations for the citizens."
"Hmm… I see."
Baldrova inserted the reflexive interjection.
Ruri could tell perfectly well that she had no interest, yet she continued mechanically reading the contents of the papers.
Such-and-such had happened there.
This-and-that had happened here.
When the news spanning the entire continent ended, she moved on.
"And regarding the current Grand Duchy…"
Baldrova's body stirred.
She shifted her position, lifted her head, and pricked up her ears.
"Speak."
Her voice had cleared.
And her eyes seemed even brighter and more sparkling than usual.
This, too, was something Ruri disliked, but she maintained her neutrality and spoke.
"Tessalos Wolcher's post remains vacant, but by contracting with the heir of a major trading house we have secured significant stability for the Grand Duchy itself."
"I see."
Her voice was strangely dreamy, unlike usual.
Even a single line of good news had lifted her spirits.
It's been even more so since that day.
Ruri could no longer hold back.
"Are you that happy about it?"
"Happy about what?"
"About Lord Ferda."
Krrrng—
Steam puffed from Baldrova's nostrils.
To a stranger it might have looked like anger, but Ruri knew better.
Baldrova was flustered like a young girl.
"Happy? What are you saying? This one does not 'like' her fiancé."
"You don't like him?"
"Of course not."
Baldrova put on a serious face and added,
"I simply recall now and then the moment he suddenly intervened, and I worry a little about his safety. He is a weak human, is he not?"
Baldrova passionately defended herself, insisting her concern came only because he was weak.
But Ruri thought differently after hearing those words.
Lady Baldrova's words have gotten longer.
When it came to anything involving humans she tensed up first, but matters involving Ferda felt completely different.
If her default state was a low, heavy mood, right now she was floating.
To ease that emotion even a little, Ruri made a suggestion.
"Then how about holding a tea party?"
"A tea party?"
Krrrng!
Another fierce snort of steam.
"You mean the thing where you drink tea, eat sweets, and talk?"
"Yes. Human fiancés commonly meet beforehand to talk. To confirm their feelings before the wedding."
"A tea party… That does not suit me. Such things are only fitting for young, lovely maidens."
"The Grand Duchess Baldrova, who possesses the greatest beauty on the continent, looks fitting no matter what she does."
"Hmm…"
She rested a claw on her chin and exhaled.
It did not seem as if she entirely disliked the idea.
But something still held her back, making it hard to accept readily.
"A meeting… Then I would have to face him in human form, would I not?"
"Yes."
"Mmm… Then I cannot go."
Baldrova, who had been starving and was now being offered a full meal, kicked the table over.
"What is the reason?"
"Because I am embarrassed. I cannot do it."
It was a reason unworthy of a sovereign.
Ruri took a deep breath and asked her,
"…Have you not already met once? I understand you faced each other in human form…"
"Yes, we did face each other once."
"You even held hands."
"We held hands, yes."
Baldrova had seen Ferda, and Ferda had seen Baldrova.
How could either of them forget that day?
Just as Ferda remembered it vividly, it remained vivid in Baldrova's mind as well.
"That is why I cannot."
Baldrova recalled the emotions of that moment.
The man who suffered yet would not stop.
When he was bleeding from the nose, he had looked ready to collapse at any second.
She had had no choice but to polymorph into human form and catch him.
While she grieved at his pain and tears welled in her eyes, Ferda had taken her hand in return, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her close.
The dragon who had flown countless battlefields, burning and tearing apart everything that defiled the earth.
The absolute being before whom all held their breath and bowed their heads.
An absolute concept, a phase of power so overwhelming that no one dared speak the word "strength" in her presence.
The instant that arm encircled her waist, all the renown that had made her who she was became a mirage, and her body filled with helplessness.
Drawn by the touch of a man thousands of times weaker than herself, her face was pulled to within a breath of his.
That day, for the first time, Baldrova had become the princess, the woman from the novels.
"A pleasure to meet you, my heart."
The first male touch she had ever felt, the warm greeting, and even that handsome smile.
For one who had not interacted with humans for hundreds of years, it was too much information to process.
So Baldrova had done nothing.
She had frozen on the spot.
Her mind had gone completely blank, and the tears that had been about to fall vanished.
Even when she fell helplessly against his chest, she had remained frozen for a long while.
Those actions from that time remained perfectly intact in Baldrova's mind.
Heart…
"Krrrng!!"
Baldrova covered her face with her wings.
She remembered Ferda's actions, and at the same time she remembered her own disgraceful state.
Thinking of it again made the reaction return.
Her heart burned hot as a forge of magma.
Something tickled through her body, making her want to fidget for no reason.
As she shifted restlessly, her chest filled with air as if she had forgotten how to breathe out.
Baldrova slowly released the breath.
Hiiiyuuuuuu…
A long whistle-like sound echoed through the cavern.
That sound again…
It was the sound Ruri hated most.
Whenever she was steeped in happiness beyond her station, she always made that noise.
It was a hundred times better than unhappiness, but that did not make it good either.
"I believe holding a tea party would be a good method. What will you do?"
Baldrova peeked at Ruri through the gap in the wings hiding her face and asked,
"What do you think this one should do?"
"Master is a phase of power. A phase of power must be able to express her will decisively."
In other words: Do not dump this on me.
"True. That is how it should be…"
Baldrova scratched her chin with a claw.
She tilted her massive head this way and that.
She flipped her huge body over and over, racking her brains with endless deliberation.
She's dying to go.
The answer was already clear from Baldrova's body language.
Her desire, too, was directed at Ferda.
But having desire did not mean everything went according to her will.
The one who burned and tore monsters without hesitation was, more than anyone, a coward.
"I simply wish to remain here for the time being… I still lack the confidence to face my fiancé."
"Understood. Then we will postpone the tea party, and I shall take my leave."
Even if you pushed her from behind, Baldrova was the type who would ultimately overturn the entire table.
Ruri bowed politely and turned away.
"Ruri."
"Yes."
"Have you been having a hard time lately?"
Ruri failed to grasp the intent behind the question.
"No. Not particularly."
"Ah, I see. I only asked because you reeked so strongly of sweat that I thought you might not even have time to wash."
"…Sweat?"
Ruri's sense of smell was excellent.
But the dragon Baldrova's was even better.
And there was no way Ruri would sweat merely from managing the castle.
"Do not overdo it. This one does not wish for you to strain yourself."
"…Do not worry, my master."
The moment she returned to her room, Ruri tore off her clothes and burned them.
And she vowed to make full-body washing mandatory for every knight before they set foot inside the castle.
Ferda was in the office with Mori.
After joining hands with Stefan Pascal, he had solved the supply problems the Empire itself had failed to resolve.
Now he was quantifying everything they had gained.
"What is the progress status of the items on the supply plan?"
Mori answered in writing.
"Thirty-two percent. Critical supplies have been concentrated on Concilus County and completed. We will gradually extend supply to the other territories as well."
"And the outlook from the supplies?"
"If we proceed according to the supply plan, it will contribute thirty percent to civilian stability, increase individual combat capability of the troops by forty-five percent, and raise morale by thirty percent."
"So the potential is at its peak."
Mori nodded.
It was something Ferda, who had been working for the development of the territory, should have been pleased about.
Yet he was not simply happy.
"Something big will happen soon."
Mori tilted her head.
Ferda answered the unspoken question.
"There are people in this world who cannot stand to see others do well."
The moment something starts going right, there are always those who throw a wrench in the works.
And those people currently occupied the upper echelons of the Arken Empire.
Men who, even if they themselves were incompetent, could not bear the sight of others succeeding.
It would not even take a few days before the greed-soaked ones came running straight at Ferda.