A Luncheon with Teeth

Varkan and I left the separate palace and made our way to the imperial castle, where the luncheon was to be held.

"Is there anything I should be careful about?"

"Your mouth."

"……"

At his blunt answer, delivered without a single second of hesitation, I gritted my teeth so hard I could hear them grind.

"…Not that. I mean etiquette and things like that. It might be different from Delmar, you know?"

"Your mouth certainly is different."

"…I mean besides my mouth!"

I finally snapped, raising my voice a little. Varkan, who had been walking with his eyes fixed straight ahead, thought for a moment before speaking.

"They won't hold a foreign princess dragged here for the sake of peace to a harsh standard. Besides that…"

"……"

Varkan let his words trail off. But I knew exactly what was coming next.

He wanted to say, 'Besides that, to a princess who isn't quite right in the head.'

Well, whatever. Not that it matters.

If this had truly been an occasion where I needed to watch myself, he would have grabbed me and warned me over and over again. Yet not a single person had told me anything about the Castillo imperial family's etiquette.

The guild people, the Grand Duchy's people — all of them the same.

Part of me wondered if they were leaving me far too loose. I nodded anyway.

"Then I'll just act as I usually do."

Varkan replied evenly.

"That won't be easy."

"Why not?"

I tilted my head up at him.

"Because His Majesty is quite a terrifying man?"

"Some people might feel that way, I suppose."

Without slowing his pace, Varkan kept his eyes forward and continued.

"The imperial family of Castillo are the inheritors of the dragon's blood."

"The dragon's blood…?"

Beings of legend and absolute power, said to have subjugated humankind long ago and laid all the world's creations at their feet. Time had thinned that blood, they said, but the vast, ancient pressure etched into the royals' veins — and the remnants of their dragon's tongue — stirred an instinctive dread in anyone who stood before them.

"That's a little frightening, no? You're describing a power that silences people out of sheer terror before they can even speak."

Varkan glanced briefly at me, then turned his gaze back to the front.

"Hm. With you, though, it might not matter."

"Sorry? What do you mean, it might not—"

The very moment I opened my mouth to demand an explanation, the attendant guiding us spoke up.

"We've arrived."

We had finally reached the luncheon hall. The doors, imposing even at a glance, began to swing slowly open at the hands of the knights standing guard.

The hall beyond was dazzlingly magnificent. Chandeliers soaked in sunlight glowed softly from the high ceiling, and along the long table the tableware had been laid out with ruler-straight precision. The hall was still empty, no one having yet arrived, and Varkan and I were the first to step inside.

We were shown to our seats, and after a short wait, the imperial family began to appear one by one.

The gaze of every royal entering the hall swung at once toward Varkan and me, standing at the far end of the table.

The first to enter was Crown Prince Kain. Catching sight of me, he smiled for the briefest of moments before withdrawing his gaze as if nothing had happened.

Then the First Princess and the Fifth Princess entered and took their places.

The contrast between the two sisters was so stark it bordered on strange. Both were beautiful enough that you couldn't look away, yet the First Princess wore a bitter, utter blankness, like someone dragged out to this gathering against her will. Beautiful but utterly lifeless, like a doll — her gaze fixed somewhere in the empty air, dead and unmoving.

The Fifth Princess was different. Perhaps because she'd been born the youngest and grown up monopolizing every scrap of affection there was. Her eyes were unclouded and boldly bright, glittering with curiosity, and they swept over me as though I were something to be studied.

Last of all came the Emperor and the Empress.

I marveled inwardly. The Empress was elegance itself, and the Emperor simply overflowed with majesty.

…This won't be easy at all, will it?

That was the first feeling I had watching the royals file into the hall. The pressure they gave off was unmistakably different from that of ordinary people.

The Emperor took the head of the table, and the royals seated themselves in order down his right side. Varkan and I sat directly opposite them, facing off like a shield raised against that enormous power.

In an instant, a suffocating stillness settled over the hall. Strange to say, even my usually careless lips wouldn't part easily.

After a moment, the Emperor broke the taut silence.

"It was a long journey, Princess. You've been through much."

A few short words. No needless flourishes, nothing ornate — just a brief, weighty voice that seized control of the air in the hall in one stroke.

Ah. So this is what Varkan meant about the dragon's blood.

Feeling an inexplicable pressure, I bowed my head lightly.

"Thanks to your consideration, Your Majesty, the journey was a comfortable one. Thank you for inviting me to such a precious occasion."

The Emperor nodded, and this time the Empress directed a greeting toward Varkan. Brief pleasantries were exchanged with the other royals as well, and then the meal began in earnest.

It was — almost unbelievably — a dull and peaceful meal. I'd expected a battle royale of barbed mockery and pointed accusations, a suffocating war of wits fought with both eyes blazing.

Have I been reading too many novels?

The Emperor and Varkan carried on a surprisingly ordinary conversation about the security of the empire. It was a dry exchange, so devoid of hostility that you'd never guess they were rivals.

The monster situation in the northern Grand Duchy, the tax issues of trading companies moving between the north and the capital, the matter of allied forces encroaching on the empire's borders. Most of it fell into subjects I couldn't care less about, so I quietly let the conversation wash over me and focused on filling my stomach.

So that's the meal wrapping up, then.

And yet.

The empty plates had just been cleared and dessert was being set on the table when the Emperor suddenly looked at Varkan and spoke.

"The contributions of the House of Escar's knights in this war were not small."

The Emperor's voice was low and dignified.

"Had the Grand Duchy's knights not stood at the vanguard, the war would have dragged on far longer. The royal family has not forgotten how the sword of the north shone for the empire."

At the Emperor's words, I nodded inwardly.

So now he gets to it. This luncheon had a purpose after all — clearly they didn't summon us for nothing.

Either they mean to use me to humiliate the Grand Duke, or they genuinely intend to praise the Grand Duchy's service.

All through the meal, however, the Emperor hadn't said a single word about the Grand Duchy's role in the war. I'd found that odd — and now, at last, he'd brought it up.

Right. A box of gold coins beats accusations or mockery any day.

The Grand Duchy's finances didn't exactly seem flush, so I thought it would be nice if he just dropped a chest of gold on the table.

To the Emperor's praise, Varkan answered flatly, without a flicker of emotion.

"You honor us too much, Your Majesty."

The Emperor continued with a benevolent smile.

"And yet — if the north's military strength remains at wartime levels even now that the war has ended, unnecessary misunderstandings may arise, both within the empire and beyond its borders."

"……"

Huh? Feeling the warm atmosphere explode to pieces, I lifted my head and looked between the Emperor and Varkan.

Before long, the Emperor wiped the smile from his face.

"Now that the war is over, I believe it would be wise to sheathe that overflowing martial spirit in the north and begin reducing your forces."

The air in the luncheon hall froze over, sharp and cold.

I rolled my eyes left and right, studying the faces of the royals and Varkan alike. Naturally, Varkan revealed nothing on the surface, but I had no trouble sensing his displeasure.

Varkan let out a faint sigh, then spoke.

"It is not that I fail to understand Your Majesty's concern. But the sword of the north does not point at other nations — it points at the monsters that threaten the empire. And of that fact, Your Majesty knows better than anyone."

"I do know, Grand Duke. And yet there is talk that the ranks of your knights, who stand against the monsters, have grown excessive."

Varkan's head, which had been facing forward, turned toward the Emperor.

"I don't know who has been saying such things, but had they seen with their own eyes the winters of the Grand Duchy and the monsters that surge across the border, they would not have dared."

Then Crown Prince Kain stepped in.

"Grand Duke. His Majesty speaks only out of concern that the situation may grow overheated—"

But Varkan gave him no opening, cutting the conversation off mid-stride.

"The monsters pouring down from the north increase every year, and every year the royal funding decreases. Were you aware of that, Your Highness the Crown Prince?"

"…That is—"

"I assumed there must be a reason. Wars consume vast resources, after all. But the north wages that war every single day. It was also my House that sent the largest number of troops to this war with Delmar. Are you aware of that as well?"

"……"

A brief silence passed, and the Emperor let out a long sigh.

"Very well. The Grand Duke's stubbornness is as firm as ever. Enough — let us leave the hard talk here."

Hah. I was dumbfounded.

I'd expected him to praise the Grand Duchy's service and promise some enormous reward. However bad things were between the royal family and the Grand Duchy, there were appearances to keep up before the world — surely they'd at least go through the motions. There were spoils of war to consider, too.

And instead, what? Reduce your troops?

They've been slashing the royal funding every year too?!

In the original story, these were the male lead's people, so they wouldn't have read as villains — but from my position of actually living under the Grand Duchy's roof, there was no greater villain to be found.

I glanced sidelong at Varkan. Why are you just sitting there listening to this?

To be fair, he had made his position forcefully clear that he would never cut his forces. But he hadn't so much as gotten a single gold coin out of it, which meant this round was as good as lost.

All that effort! And this! After grudgingly taking in a madwoman like me!

For no good reason, I was the one getting angry. The right hand clutching my fork was trembling.

Just then, the Emperor's gaze turned to me.

"I did not speak out of ignorance of the Grand Duchy's achievements. But whatever anyone may say, the one who bore the greatest sacrifice for this peace is none other than Princess Ivelina of Delmar. The Princess is the symbol who brought peace to our two nations. Having entered a foreign country alone and joined an unfamiliar House, how great must her inner turmoil be."

Heh. A hollow laugh burst inside me.

It was transparent to anyone watching — a speech dressed up to whittle away the Grand Duchy's sacrifices by invoking the mad princess.

I didn't much care for Varkan's temper either, but hearing the Emperor say such things so openly left a foul taste in my mouth.

If someone was going to tear into him, it ought to be me.

The Emperor, feigning kindness, gave me a gentle smile.

"If the royal family gave nothing to the Princess who made such a great resolve for the sake of peace, that too would be a failure of duty. If there is anything you need — anything you desire — speak freely. Whatever it may be."

At the Emperor's words, I arched one eyebrow ever so slightly.

Well, well. Look at this.

In that instant, the corner of my mouth began to twitch.

It was because I was forcibly holding back the grin that wanted to climb onto my face.