Chapter 155

Exam (2)

If one were to name the humans who represented the Tribal Alliance of the Great Plains, the first to come to mind would naturally be the chieftains who led each tribe. Even so, there was still someone to whom even the Emperor—who could casually speak informally to such figures—had to show proper respect.

“It has been a long time, Your Majesty.”

“Welcome to the Empire, priestess of Urgan.”

If she was a priestess directly connected to a god, then it was only common sense that even the Emperor had to observe basic courtesy.

The problem was that, unlike the Emperor himself, the other party was not the sort of person who particularly cared about such things.

Rania A‘Shan, the priestess of Urgan, swept her gaze up and down over the Emperor before shrugging her shoulders and continuing.

“Have you put on some weight?”

“…….”

“You must have been busy lately.”

…It was hard to refute that.

Recently, the internal power structure of the Holy Crown Kingdom had shifted drastically. On top of that, the one who had been deeply involved in it happened to be rumored to be the husband of Lionhearted, and that rumor was now spreading like wildfire, to the point that it was difficult to suppress. And above all—

“A marriage, isn’t it?”

“…….”

At Rania’s words, dropped as if she had read his thoughts, the Emperor’s mouth shut tight like a clam.

No matter the country, there were always nobles obsessed with expanding their own influence. The surest way to secure such a delicious big catch into their faction was to bind him through marriage.

Before, they had at least been too intimidated by the title of Lionhearted’s husband to even hint at such things. But now that the most important ceremony had been delayed, it seemed the number of fools making premature assumptions was increasing.

Speculations along the lines of, Could there be some kind of problem between the two?

However, the Emperor was not paying much attention to such conjectures.

Because—

“…Well.”

In his view, those were nothing more than baseless rumors that would soon be swept away all at once.

“…Are you certain you can afford to think so leisurely?”

“Pardon?”

And once again, as if she had read his mind, Rania’s words fell bluntly.

By now, having experienced this so often in conversations with her, the Emperor no longer found it surprising and answered calmly, upon which Rania tilted her head and continued.

“Distinguished noble houses are all lining up, are they not? I understand that the daughter of the Northern Grand Ducal House is not merely acting out of political calculation, but holds sincere affection herself.”

…That was true.

Even aside from the Northern Grand Ducal House, it seemed that a small group had begun to follow Aiden almost as if they were chasing a celebrity.

Anyone would admit that it was only natural for such followers to gather around a man who was young, good-looking, and had even proven his abilities. The problem was that he was already a man with a legitimate fiancée—an almost-married man……

What was even stranger was that, even as cries erupted from all directions saying they wanted Aiden Kellermain, Noel was the quietest of them all.

Considering her original personality, she should at least have issued some kind of clarification on an official platform. If she was remaining still, there had to be a reason.

Up until now, one might have thought she was simply too inexperienced, too clueless to understand what was going on.

……And yet, somehow, I wasn’t so sure anymore.

The Emperor tilted his head as he recalled Noel’s expression. Unlike before, she had not been flustered or dragged around helplessly; instead, she had worn a look as if she were holding something in.

It was the same as before in that her heart ached at the thought of her future husband being popular, but the way she accepted it was clearly different. It was as if she had decided to accept it.

A man like that was bound to be popular. She seemed to be accepting that fact and preparing to take the next step.

Soon.

That meant she had realized that, if she wanted to completely slip a leash around such a man’s neck, she herself would have to prepare something special.

This time, it was different……

‘That bastard’s going to go through something big soon.’

The Emperor let out a faint snort as he recalled Aiden, who always wore a foolish expression whenever nothing of note was happening.

Basically, the gap between that man in urgent situations and when nothing was going on was far too wide.

Especially at times, when it came to women’s feelings, he could be so disastrously oblivious that one wondered if he was even human……

Being that absentminded, of course he had no idea what was unfolding around him right now.

If he got eaten by a lion, he wouldn’t have any excuse.

With that thought, the Emperor shuffled through the documents on his desk.

So, for now, he had almost no worries regarding that side of things.

The problem was—

“……Something has already flown in from the Tribal Alliance as well.”

The issue was that proposals were now crossing the continent, arriving regardless of national borders.

If it were a domestic matter, he could somehow block it. But the fact that even foreign nobles were showing interest was a headache beyond what he could easily handle……

“He must be more popular than expected. To think there’s someone who makes His Majesty the Emperor worry enough to affect his health.”

“…….”

Ah, the passage of time.

In the past, no one would have said such a thing just because he had remained seated dealing with state affairs for a long time. But now, the Emperor was at an age where even a slight decrease in activity would bring immediate physical feedback…….

Fortunately, there was at least something the Emperor could more or less throw back at her.

“……It seems you, too, have had quite an eventful time recently, Priestess.”

The Emperor, his tone tinged with amusement, glanced over Rania—at the blemishes, the spots, even the darkened circles beneath her eyes—as he said that.

It was, no doubt, a remark containing a sense of shared suffering from being tormented by endless official duties. Rania, however, merely nodded, as if she could hardly refute it either.

“Is it because of your sister?”

“…….”

“……I heard that, for someone who received divine possession together with you, she is quite unusual.”

Of the two priestesses in the Tribal Alliance who were directly responsible for communicating with the gods, rumors about the ‘other one’—not Rania—were rather well known.

Mostly for ominous reasons.

Instead of answering, Rania only gave a bitter smile.

Her next words clearly conveyed that she did not wish to discuss it here, and the Emperor decided not to press the matter further.

“……I apologize for visiting so suddenly without any official schedule. However, there is an urgent matter on our side—”

“Aiden Kellermain, correct?”

“…….”

Before she could even state her business, the Emperor cut in sharply, and Rania blinked blankly.

Reading minds was supposed to be the exclusive domain of a priestess, yet it was rare for her to feel as though hers had been read instead.

“……Lately, there have been more than one or two people trying to ‘borrow’ him.”

As he said that, the Emperor gave a wry smile, scribbled something down swiftly, and handed it to the priestess.

“I’m making an exception because it’s you, Priestess. Normally, the defenses are extremely firm.”

“And this is?”

“His current location.”

“……How are you aware of that in real time?”

“I told you. The defenses are extremely firm.”

“…….”

“That fellow usually wanders around absentmindedly. It’s not as though he would actively build such defenses himself, so who do you think is doing it?”

……Hm. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

A groom-to-be whose location was being tracked in real time by his bride-to-be.

“Are those two truly all right to marry?”

Wasn’t it dangerous?

Primarily for Aiden Kellermain.

“Well, I consider it all his own karma.”

“…….”

On that point, Rania could not deny it either.

▣

In truth, most people would likely reach a similar conclusion, but as Elena watched Aiden Kellermain, she arrived at only one.

‘……What?’

How should I put this.

He was a strange person.

The word strange itself carried no particular nuance, but if one had to choose whether it was positive or negative, the current Elena would say she was overwhelmingly inclined toward the latter.

Honestly.

It was the first time I had ever experienced being ignored to this extent.

New Elements and Characters

If someone were to ask Elena Ba Del how attractive she considered herself, then as a mature adult who knew how to be considerate of others’ feelings, she would wave her hands and answer that she was only slightly above average.

In other words.

Even by her own evaluation, even after stripping away every bit of modesty she could muster, the best she could say was that she was above average.

A dazzling appearance forged through bone-grinding self-discipline, the perceptiveness to instantly grasp what the other person liked and disliked, eloquent speech and carefully crafted mannerisms……

She was armed to the teeth with techniques that made it impossible for someone not to like her, even upon a first meeting.

In truth, by the standards of the Tribal Alliance, there was hardly anyone who put in such near-professional effort into dealing with people, but one could call these abilities Elena’s own survival strategies.

The majority of the Tribal Alliance were training fools who only considered growing stronger through self-discipline and honing themselves.

And when only such people gathered, their ability to communicate with outside groups naturally tended to plummet to near-catastrophic levels. There was a reason that the chieftains responsible for external affairs were limited to only a few.

As a chieftain who deeply loved her homeland, the Great Plains, Elena was someone who could never tolerate her home suffering losses in that way. The reason she had desperately polished those abilities was all for the sake of her comrades.

After such painstaking effort, she was not called the only sane person of the Great Plains for nothing……

And yet.

“…….”

“…….”

What was this man who was currently treating me like background scenery while carefully reading a newspaper?

……It hurt my pride a little.

‘……How can he react like that while I’m right here?’

If I spoke to him, he answered every time. He did not step outside the bounds of basic courtesy one human owed another.

“Talking with you is fun. Shall we meet separately later and have a drink?”

But the moment I tried to step just slightly past the line and move into deeper waters—

“No. I’m not interested.”

……He rebuffed me so sharply it almost hurt.

As if to say I should not even dream of it.

He was polite and well-mannered, but the way he put up walls was so fierce it nearly brought tears to my eyes.

‘Wasn’t he supposed to be a playboy, this bastard……!’

From what I had heard, he would chase any woman without caring about the consequences—

Yet judging only by this behavior, he looked like a man determined to guard his fidelity because he already had a fiancée……

‘……As if that’s possible!’

If that were true, his notoriety would never have spread to that extent. He was probably just putting on airs right now.

I needed to dig a little deeper into this man.

“Come on, don’t be like that.”

Elena plopped herself down beside Aiden, who was focused on reading the newspaper, and in a subtle voice draped her arm lightly over his shoulder.

……Even for her, going this far was rare. She felt like she might die of embarrassment, but since she had decided to do this, she would see it through properly……!

“Honestly, I’ve got a lot I’m curious about when it comes to you.”

“I don’t.”

……You damned bastard.

At Aiden’s vacant yet firm reply, the symbol for a well seemed to carve itself deeply into Elena’s forehead for a moment.

But barely managing to rein in her emotions, she opened her mouth again in a subtle tone.

“Well, still—”

“Mr. Aiden. Are you—”

……I shouldn’t have done that.

I shouldn’t have bothered steadying my emotions.

That was the immediate thought that came to Elena’s mind as she saw Noel suddenly enter through the door.

“……Elena, what are you doing?”

At the icy sound of Noel’s voice, Elena stiffened rigidly.