🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 06
Rosana Felix looked at herself in the mirror.
The stiff, undecorated dress felt awkward. Rosana absentmindedly pulled the perfectly smooth collar even tighter. The petticoat brushing against her legs instead of the trousers she normally wore made her itchy.
Why was she wearing clothes she never usually wore? Because her assignment had suddenly changed as of last night.
The Emperor of the Isteya-Lorance Empire held many titles.
Among them, the oldest was the title of Marquis de Armella. The Emperor, once a marquis’s daughter herself, held a special attachment to the title that formed her roots, and traces hinting at her family lineage could be found throughout the imperial palace.
One of those traces was the Armella Order of Knights, which served directly under the Emperor and operated throughout the palace and beyond.
And Rosana was one of the knights assigned to guard the inner palace.
Last night, just as Rosana had finished her shift and was preparing to rest, she was summoned by Countess Juliana de Vasquez, the Emperor’s close attendant.
The exhausted Rosana stood before the countess and received her orders: from now on, she would be responsible for serving and monitoring a certain young lady who would be staying in the capital.
‘What kind of person is she? I hope she’s not difficult to serve.’
Rosana stood in front of the guest room and knocked on the door.
There was no response from inside.
Rosana grew slightly anxious. The Emperor had just announced that she wished to have breakfast with the guest this morning, and if that were to happen, they were already short on time. Rosana cautiously opened the door.
“Excuse me, my lady. I’m Rosana, the one who’ll be attending to you from today—”
Before she could finish speaking, she noticed the empty bed. The blankets were a mess, and the indoor slippers still sat beneath it untouched.
But there was nobody in the room.
Nobody.
Rosana’s gaze naturally shifted toward the open window. A pleasant April breeze filled the room, but it did nothing to cool the cold sweat running down her back.
‘Surely she didn’t… run away?’
Just then, she heard rustling from somewhere.
Rosana immediately straightened her posture and sharpened her senses. The instincts of a trained warrior detected someone nearby.
Narrowing her eyes, she listened carefully.
The sound was coming from above.
Slowly, she raised her head. The canopy hanging over the bed sagged unnaturally downward. Beyond the drooping fabric, something was moving rhythmically.
Rosana dragged a chair over to the bed and climbed on top of it.
The young lady she was supposed to serve was curled up on top of the canopy as if it were a hammock, fast asleep.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t sleep.”
How she had managed to climb up there was a mystery, but getting down was another matter entirely. Before Rosana and the girl could even properly introduce themselves, they ended up tangled together and rolling onto the bed in a heap.
As Rosana smoothed out her wrinkled skirt, the red-haired girl awkwardly apologized.
“I’m Rosana. We’ll be living together from now on. Please feel free to speak comfortably with me, my lady.”
At the words “my lady,” Astrid’s brow briefly furrowed. Judging by her strange behavior—choosing that bizarre sleeping arrangement instead of the perfectly fine bed—and her discomfort with the title, she clearly wasn’t someone accustomed to upper-class life.
Astrid suddenly extended her right hand toward Rosana.
“Really? Alright then. My name’s Astrid. Nice to meet you.”
Rosana froze in surprise. Generally, handshakes were considered greetings for men and were not etiquette encouraged for women.
But looking at the hand Astrid offered, Rosana suddenly felt the urge to take it and shake it.
After a brief hesitation, she grasped Astrid’s hand and gently moved it up and down. It felt strangely thrilling, like committing a tiny act of rebellion in the middle of the imperial palace.
This young lady was strange, but because of that, she also seemed interesting.
When her handshake was accepted, Astrid smiled brightly.
“So what are we supposed to do together today?”
“Ah, this is no time for that!”
Rosana snapped back to reality at Astrid’s question. If they wanted to make it on time, she needed to get this girl ready immediately.
Rosana pulled a hairbrush from the basket she had brought and began aggressively brushing down the wildly puffed-up red hair.
Thanks to Rosana pouring her entire soul into the effort, Astrid barely managed to make it to the inner palace dining hall on time.
Astrid had argued a little, insisting she could dress herself and begging Rosana to let her try, but after seeing the construction of the unfamiliar clothes for the first time in her life, she surrendered without protest.
As for her hair, Rosana must have worked some kind of magic on it; the neatly arranged red locks had shrunk to perhaps thirty percent of their usual volume.
Standing in front of the dining hall doors, Astrid sniffed at her elbow.
Instead of the unpleasant salty smell she was used to, there was now a pleasant fragrance, which made her feel oddly happy. Of course, the servants watching her were thoroughly confused.
Astrid was guided to a seat at the far end of a long table.
‘So the Emperor eats this early in the morning. Is it because she’s busy? Doesn’t it upset her stomach? What kind of food will they serve?’
As she sat there thinking idly, some commotion arose outside the doors.
A moment later, the doors opened from both sides and the Emperor entered.
Standing beside her, Countess de Vasquez shot Astrid a sharp look. Startled, Astrid quickly rose to greet the Emperor.
The Emperor walked to the seat opposite Astrid and sat down, dismissing the attendants with a gesture.
“Good morning, Sasha. You may sit.”
Apparently standing when the Emperor entered had been the correct answer. Astrid gave a small bow and sat back down. Seeing this, the Emperor smiled at her again like one would smile at a child.
As soon as the two were seated, servants began bringing dishes one after another.
Only then did Astrid properly look at the table.
There were several forks and knives laid out. After a moment’s consideration, Astrid simply chose the fork and knife she liked the size of best and began eating the food placed before her.
“About twenty years ago—before you were born.”
The Emperor began speaking without any preamble. Astrid hurriedly swallowed the thin slices of meat she had been chewing.
“You’ve heard of the Battle of Aledo, haven’t you?”
Astrid nodded. She didn’t know the details, but anyone living in Isteya or the surrounding nations would hear about it at least once in their life.
The battle that secured victory in the war against Railton twenty years ago, and the event that allowed modern Isteya-Lorance to rise from a united kingdom into an empire.
“You became Emperor because you won that battle, right?”
The Emperor nodded and continued.
“Yes. The Battle of Aledo. The one who led that battle to victory was your father, Fausto. It was an overwhelming triumph. To honor his achievement, I granted him the title of Count. That was the birth of House del Ponto.”
She added briefly, “Though there was no fief attached.”
The Emperor spoke as if simply listing trivial facts, but to Astrid, each short sentence landed like a shock.
Dad went to war?
And he became a noble because of it?
And he never told me any of this?
Seeing Astrid’s wide, round eyes, the Emperor smiled bitterly. Judging by that reaction, it seemed her dear friend truly had never told his daughter anything.
“That’s why you are a del Ponto, Miss Astrid del Ponto.”
Astrid had no idea how to respond, so she awkwardly poked at the food on her plate instead. Watching her, the Emperor smiled, though she added in a stern tone:
“If you intend to live in my land from now on, you have much to learn.”
After finishing her meal first, the Emperor left the dining hall, leaving Astrid behind. As Astrid rose to see her off, the Emperor patted her head and added cheerfully:
“Being Emperor is troublesome. There’s always work to do.”
Astrid finished the rest of her meal in a daze, barely aware whether the food was entering her mouth or nose.
Too much new information had been forced into her head in less than a single day. It made her dizzy. It even felt as if her land sickness were beginning to creep back again.
When she stepped outside the dining hall, Rosana was waiting for her.
“I want to take a walk and sort out my thoughts. Is it alright if I go outside?”
“Of course. I’ll guide you to the inner palace garden.”
The garden was far more beautiful in the morning than it had been at night.
The sun was steadily warming the cool morning air. The contrast between the warm sunlight against her skin and the cool breeze brushing her clothes eased Astrid’s mood.
Perfectly trimmed shrubs divided the garden paths like low hedges. White and yellow flower buds hung here and there among the bushes, adding color to the scenery.
“The roses should fully bloom around next week.”
“I see.”
Noticing Astrid staring closely at the buds, Rosana spoke up.
‘So these are roses.’
Flowers were rare on the sea. But here, everywhere she looked, shy buds lifted their faces eagerly toward the sun, waiting for the day they would bloom.
To Astrid, it all felt unreal.
The Emperor had said Astrid was practically her daughter. Did that mean she would continue living here from now on?
Astrid lifted her gaze from the flowers and looked around.
The buildings were beautiful, but they blocked every direction of view, making her feel as though she were trapped inside layers upon layers of walls.
The hedge surrounding Astrid. The walls surrounding the hedge. The buildings surrounding the walls. And beyond even those, the massive double walls she had seen on the carriage ride here.
To someone who had spent almost her entire life at sea, even the vast imperial palace felt like a closed space.
“So I’m really going to live here from now on?”
Astrid tossed the question into the air without expecting an answer, but Rosana answered anyway.
“Didn’t Her Majesty mention it? Once preparations are complete, you’ll move to the del Ponto residence.”
