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Chapter 19
“Could it be that the Princess is hiding her divine power?”
“Would you want to hide receiving divine power if you were in her shoes?”
“No way. I’d announce it immediately to enjoy all the things I’ve been denied so far.”
At Cedric’s question, Marcel replied without a single moment of hesitation.
“She received treatment far too harsh to simply let it go.”
At the regretful tone, Cedric turned his head toward the tent where the Princess was staying.
She was a woman who had secretly sneaked out of the Imperial Castle to establish a connection with a trading guild.
Though he had told Marcel otherwise, that fact still bothered Cedric deep down.
The report stating that she had sold purified water grated on his nerves like a splinter.
He had wondered if she might have hired a mage, but upon closer investigation, it turned out to be nothing more than a crude water-purification device.
A single bucket of water that impoverished slum dwellers could buy for one silver.
What if that wasn’t magic or a purification device? The thought had crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
It was a meaningless hypothesis.
Cedric knew the look in the eyes of the resigned all too well. On the day they first met, the Princess’s eyes had been sunken, devoid of any hope.
Since she had gone without an escort for so long, he could easily deduce that she had slipped out of the Imperial Castle by exploiting the blind spots in people’s surveillance.
Having lived in the Imperial Castle for a long time, the Princess would undoubtedly know more about the secret passages than anyone else.
It was the same within the Duchy.
Thinking along those lines made the Princess’s truancy entirely understandable.
Not a single member of the Imperial Family had failed to receive divine power on the Day of Divine Power, nor had anyone ever received it belatedly.
Pondering the Princess’s divine power was a waste of time.
“Nip any idle rumors in the bud ahead of time.”
“Yes.”
Hearing Marcel’s reply, Cedric set off in motion.
Once the road blocked by the landslide was cleared, they had to depart for the next village immediately.
Though the sudden rain had delayed his progress, he welcomed it.
Approaching the tent, he halted his steps upon hearing voices from inside.
“The villagers said they barely ate anything outside of the relief supplies—it’s just so pitiful.”
“With the rain falling this time, the crops will grow.”
The Princess was conversing with her maid over a meal.
“They said it’s only for a month, though. How are crops supposed to grow on just that?”
“I heard the mage talking earlier—they said the artificial water canals are well-maintained.”
At the maid’s lengthy explanation, the Princess let out a sigh of relief.
How can she possibly worry about other people?
Knowing that the Princess was entangled with a smuggling-related trading guild, Cedric had urgently investigated what had happened within the Imperial Family.
While the budget allocated to the Princess hadn’t been entirely insignificant, it had never been delivered to her properly.
Only after reading the report could he understand why she had been forced to leave the Imperial Castle.
After suffering such malicious treatment back-to-back, she still wanted to help others?
“Still, they’ve suffered through a prolonged drought—it would be nice if they could have at least one day to eat a hearty meal with a smile.”
At the lingering disappointment heavy in her voice, Cedric turned right back around.
“Your Grace, is there something you need?”
Just then, an attendant carrying the Duke’s meal spotted him and asked with a puzzled look.
“Tell Marcel to distribute the food brought with us to the village.”
“Food?! You want us to distribute food?!”
At the attendant’s shocked face, Cedric swallowed a groan. His current action was not right.
It conflicted with fairness toward the other villages, and it was completely off-schedule.
To the startled attendant, Cedric specified an amount that wouldn’t impact the schedule.
“I’ll move right away!”
The attendant’s face brightened at the order. At the sight of the attendant turning away with a proud expression, Cedric’s eyebrows twitched.
He would likely feel satisfied if the Princess ever reacted to him like an attendant. Without hesitation, he stepped into the tent.
“You’re back.”
Seeing Cedric enter the tent, Ivanna bit her lower lip hard.
Ever since her request was rejected earlier, she felt too awkward to look him in the eye. Though she had known she would be rejected, the sting of reality was still real.
After finishing her meal, she picked up a book and poured unnecessary tension into the hand turning the pages.
Flip.
Flip.
Pretending not to notice, Ivanna sat in her chair and flipped the pages.
It was a book she had brought from the Duchy’s library. Checking that she was alone in the tent, the Duke headed toward the table.
Shortly after, an attendant brought over the Duke’s meal. Until then, heavy silence filled the interior of the tent.
“Though the road has been restored, it could still be dangerous, so we plan to depart tomorrow morning.”
“Understood.”
Ivanna nodded at Cedric’s remark delivered midway through his meal.
“And this evening, we’ve decided to distribute the food we brought to the villagers.”
“Pardon?”
The pale sky-blue eyes fixed entirely on her book widened in shock. Didn’t he flatly refuse and say no just earlier?
She couldn’t believe the fact that, even belatedly, the Duke had accepted her proposal.
Wasn’t he an utterly inflexible man?
Ivanna and Cedric’s gazes locked.
“You were worried that the schedule would be thrown off.”
“It is only proper to show appropriate gratitude to those who assisted the family.”
At the Duke’s nonchalant tone, Ivanna’s cheek twitched.
“This evening, the Duchy’s chef intends to treat the village residents to soup and simple dishes.”
It was a scale far grander than she had expected.
Ivanna couldn’t force her mouth to open, at a loss for what to say.
“Thank you.”
“I didn’t do it specifically for your sake.”
The moment Ivanna managed to force the words out, Cedric drew a firm line.
“Still. You reconsidered.”
She could actually feel her cheeks heating up. Ivanna raised her hands to gently cup her face.
Don’t get happy over something like this.
The Duke was merely indulging in a momentary whim. She forcefully pressed down on her swelling chest.
Inviting hurt by harboring useless expectations was the last thing she wanted. Wasn’t this a relationship where love and affection had been abandoned from the very start?
“Think of it however you like.”
With those final words, conversation with him came to a close.
Thank goodness the Duke is a frosty, aloof prig.
The scale, which had briefly tilted, slammed right back into place.
Lowering her hands from her cheeks, Ivanna pulled herself together.
To think she had actually believed a man like that was warm-hearted. Talk about delusions of grandeur.
Ivanna’s hair swayed slightly.
I must never expect anything from that man ever again.
Cursing Cedric inwardly, Ivanna turned the pages of her book so violently that crisp flap, flap sounds echoed through the room.
“…”
Having finished his meal, Cedric stared intently at Ivanna.
They were now sharing food with the townspeople, so why did she look so displeased?
No matter how insensitive he might be, he at least knew how to recognize changes in someone else’s mood.
After all, human beings often prioritized emotions over logic and reason.
Thus, the most important thing in any negotiation was the mood of the person sitting across the table.
Yet right now, the one whose mood should have been sour was himself.
He had gone back on his word. While he told himself it was a level of charity they could easily afford, it was the first time he had ever changed a decision once made.
Because of the Princess, he kept finding himself doing things completely out of character.
Cedric listened closely to the sound of pages turning aggressively.
Judging by how the turning grew progressively slower and gentler, it seemed her mood was improving little by little.
Why on earth do I have to mind the Princess’s mood?
He was the one holding the upper hand in the contractual relationship. Even if he factored in the other person’s mood during negotiations, the fundamental power structure didn’t change.
The final decision rested with him anyway.
Convinced he had done something pointless, Cedric stood up from his seat.
Goodwill or interest had no place between them.
With the time spent living together dragging on, he must have accidentally ended up paying attention to the Princess.
Stepping out of the tent, Cedric strode with long steps toward the landslide site.
He didn’t want to get caught up in useless emotions and commit mistakes ever again.
Attributing it all to living alongside the Princess, Cedric resolved to observe situations with a much colder eye from now on.
* * *
“The river levels have risen, so I suppose we won’t be able to travel further today.”
Folding blankets, Anthony looked over at Ivanna and smiled warmly.
Ivanna shook her head slightly, muttering that she had nothing to do with it, but Anthony smiled knowingly and hummed a cheerful tune.
It had been raining without a break for a full week now.
Following the landslide, they continued their journey without major incident.
The rain, which began to drizzle the evening they moved to the territory, had not stopped for a week.
Even though she hadn’t used her divine power since the first day, the rain kept falling.
At first, thinking she had somehow misused her power, she tried to stop the rain. Causing another landslide like before would just make her a nuisance.
However, she stopped herself upon realizing that her divine power hadn’t drained away.
She couldn’t bring herself to stop rain that was providing relief from a drought.
Even if it overflowed, keeping the rain falling was for the best. It seemed God had finally come to His senses.
Feeling a bittersweet mix of regret that she wouldn’t get to use her divine power and a deep sense of relief, Ivanna let it be.
