DYBAR - Chapter 143 < What Hasn't Changed and What Has Changed >

DYBAR - Chapter 143 < What Hasn't Changed and What Has Changed >

Do Your Best And Regret

　

The grand conference room of the Emperor's palace.

Even though the meeting was convened late in the day, the place was full. The nobles felt a strange atmosphere and looked at each other, specifically at the Duke of Madeleine's complexion.

‘It’s about mineral taxes and Saint....'

All the nobles have already seen that two of Vikander's vassals have been imprisoned. The tax rate adjustment itself would have been stopped. Even though there are discussions related to the suspended mineral tax, ‘Saints’ are mentioned on the official agenda.

The nobles quenched their appetites and looked for a chance to ask Duke Madeleine, but he sat without any change in expression.

The only thing that was different from usual for the Duke was that he was accompanied by his two sons. Maybe that's why it was difficult to talk to him anymore.

“Well, the ball....”

One of the nobles who could not stand it anymore was about to speak out.

“Your Majesty the Emperor, the Empress, and the Crown Prince!”

With the lively words of the servant, the door opened and the Emperor and Crown Prince appeared. The former nobleman's eyes widened as he stood up.

The person coming behind the Emperor and Crown Prince was the Empress, whose face was even more haggard than usual. However, the nobles showed courtesy without showing off.

“I see the imperial sun, moon, and little sun.”

“...Even though the meeting was convened at short notice because it was an emergency, everyone attended.”

Urgency.

The words the Emperor used were enough to make the nobles nervous.

After the Emperor sat on the throne, wiggling his eyebrows as if he was tired, the Empress and the Prince sat down one by one and looked down at the nobles.

The momentary silence was heavy. The nobles watched clearly as the Emperor's gaze confirmed the Duke of Elkin's vacancy.

Meanwhile, the Emperor raised his hand and brought the Crown Prince forward.

“Today’s meeting will be conducted under the supervision of the Crown Prince. Prince...”

Until then, the nobles were simply curious about what the story about the Saint was. 

However, as soon as the Prince opened his mouth, everyone in the conference room froze, unable to make even a sound.

***

“...Are you saying that Duke Elkin was imprisoned in the Vikander Territory? Did he also go there to negotiate the mineral tax amount?”

Someone spoke breathlessly into the frozen air.

Negotiation, Vikander, and imprisonment.

The nobles trembled in horror at the list of three words that could not be appeased. It was exactly as Leopold had hoped.

“How could this happen?”

“How dare jr attack the great nobles of the empire...?!”

“B-But is it really true that Duke Elkin headed to the Vikander territory?”

It was also Leopold's intention to cast a little doubt at just the right moment. He watched his chess pieces play comically, trying to hide a smile of contrition.

"You're right. Even if the Duke of Elkin told His Majesty the Emperor that he was heading to the Vikander Territory, something might have happened along the way, right?”

“No matter how incompetent the Grand Duke may be in politics, he must know at least how scary it is to turn nobles, especially Her Majesty’s family, into enemies.”

“Uh-huh! Count! Are you saying that His Highness the Crown Prince is now telling facts that have not been confirmed at the meeting?”

“I heard it.”

The nobles, who had been divided by the Empress's voice, blood in their necks rising, became quiet once again.

Imperial rose.

The face that was always beautiful as if in full bloom beneath the lovely red hair that reminded them of a red rose, today looked like a withered flower.

The voice mixed with the sound of metal spoke so thinly that it seemed as if it would break.

“I personally heard the Duke of Elkin say that he was imprisoned in Vikander.”

“Your Majesty, the Empress. Who did you hear that scary story from?”

A voice that seemed to be suppressing its emotions asked the Empress. The Empress quietly looked at him. It was truly terrifying. The Empress trembled and did exactly what the Prince had told her to do.

“... Olivia Madeleine.”

The Prince grinned at the answer he had been waiting for. At the same time, an uncontrollable wave spread across the conference hall, which was so quiet that even the sound of one's breathing was suppressed.

“Olivia... !”

If only it hadn't been such a desperate cry. Leopold frowned at the mournful cry.

The Duke of Madeleine, who had maintained a stern expression throughout the meeting, stood up without noticing that his chair had been pushed down. And he was looking at the Empress with a strange face he had never seen before and asking.

“Well, the kid...  Did she say that to Her Majesty the Empress?”

He couldn't believe it. That girl is meeting the Empress. The child who made that face just by looking at them...

That kid. Not having the courage to say the name one more time, the Duke of Madeleine said 'that girl'.

But the answer came from somewhere else.

“Didn’t you say so, Duke?"

With a dry voice, the Crown Prince entered the sight of Duke Madeleine. The grinning corners of his mouth were beautiful as if he resembled the Empress.

“Right now, Your Majesty is anxious about Duke Elkin’s safety, so do you think it’s okay to only worry about your children?”

A fallen chair was caught at the end of a generous gaze.

Neither Conrad, Jade nor the Duke seemed to have any intention of setting up a chair.

The nobleman next to him put up a chair, but the Duke did not sit down again.

As if defeated by those penetrating gazes, the Prince spoke in a subdued voice.

“Moreover, Olivia. Shouldn’t I have taken care of my fiancee’s safety first? She has now come to the imperial palace with me to receive my protection.”

Jade blinked his eyes. Then, for a moment, he suspected that he might have been under a spell.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to hear such deafening nonsense.

“...Olivia, are you saying she is in the system of her own free will?”

However, it was only when Conrad asked that Jade realized that the Prince's seemingly insignificant words were reality.

The Prince smiled crookedly at his proud face and agreed.

“So, Olivia came to the Islands of her own free will. Do you think I would have forced her to come from her Vikander territory? Little duke?”

Then he spread his arms wide as if in a play and spoke loudly to all of the conference chairs.

“Didn’t you hear it too? The Grand Duke shouted loudly that the royal family and the Madeleine duchy were prohibited from entering the Vikander territory.”

"Hmm hmm."

The devastated nobles each cleared their throats loudly. Then, when the coughing became more frequent, someone pointed out a key question in the Prince's words.

“So, are you saying that the Princess really came to the island directly?”

"Yes. As a Saint, she says she will fulfill the responsibilities and duties given to her.”

“Don’t lie, Your Highness!"

Jade screamed at the top of his voice without even realizing it. Someone took a deep breath and shouted loudly at the same time.

“Lord Madeleine! What an outrageous thing to do to His Highness the Crown Prince...!”

But his words did not last until the end.

The Prince smiled and raised his hand. And he leisurely tugged at the corner of his mouth and took a step in front of Jade.

"Which of my words are lies?”

“Olivia won’t leave Vikander Territory...”

Without stopping to speak, Jade closed his mouth.

Olivia says she won't leave Vikander.

Beneath his firm proposition, Jade felt the inside of his throat tingling unbearably. However, the Crown Prince took his time and relaxed.

“But she followed me to my palace and said she would become engaged to me again.”

“...Even if it’s because of Vikander’s vassals.”

“Then the Grand Duke would be a fool to send his woman away to save his vassals.”

Jade clenched his fist at the cold words.

A murderous demon, a blood demon. He was an unpleasant guy who was causing all the negative rumors, but Jade had seen how he treated his subordinates and how he relaxed in front of Olivia.

So, there is no way Olivia would have obediently followed the Prince.

However, the Prince put a wedge in Jade's suspicions.

“No matter how anxious the Grand Duke is, does it make sense that several days have already passed and I haven’t heard a single rumor that his vassals are trapped?”

No matter how much the system censors rumors, they would have spread and spread through merchants.

Leopold looked at the nobles, ignoring the fact that he had sent a letter to Olivia shortly after he had imprisoned Vikander's two vassals.

And he spoke powerfully and with dignity.

"Yes. No wonder Lord Madeleine asks this question. I’m sure all the nobles know that my relationship with my fiancée has split.”

“....”

“However, Olivia Madeleine knows the responsibilities of the nobility more than anyone else, and she has experienced everything from bad times to major disasters for the imperial family to live up to her name as a Saint.”

The strong, inciting voice touched the hearts of the nobles. Moreover, everyone knew that the Princess's touch had touched the imperial palace banquets in recent years.

“Naturally, she would have had affection for everyone in the empire and hoped that everyone would do well.”

One by one, the nobles began to agree with the story of Olivia Madeleine.

Yes, Olivia Madeleine was actually that kind of person. She is a woman who monitors the well-being of the empire, even secretly taking on the duties of the Princess.

She was actually nice. She is unable to shake off even that evil spirit, Maria Ethel, but she always sticks by the Crown Prince's side.

Her face was pretty too. During the banquet, she really looked like a fairy.

Leopold continued, confirming that the nobles' faces had relaxed.

“When such a Princess saw the Duke who went to negotiate mineral tax rates being imprisoned, she came to her senses and came to the island.”

At that moment, the nobles once again thought about the life and death of the Duke of Elkin. The Duke of Elkin and the Empress with a haggard face went to adjust the mineral tax rate behind the scenes under the orders of His Majesty the Emperor.

And even the Saintess who returned to the imperial palace.

Looking at the nobles who were impressed by the perfect story, the Prince swung his card once again.

“At times like these, shouldn’t the empire be more tightly united? The Saint who ran away from the Grand Duke’s house on her own will be welcomed back with my rain without catching any of my faults.”

At that moment, the nobles blinked their eyes blankly and fell back to reality.

What percentage of the Prince's words are true and what percentage are lies? 

But the nobles were already too tired to calculate such things.

The naturally expected war reparations disappeared like a sandcastle and the mineral allocations that seemed to always be abundant dried up.

The Grand Duke, who held everything, was enough to become the enemy of the nobles.

And the nobles were afraid of change. It was better for the Saintesses to return to the imperial palace and have their own safety guaranteed to some extent, rather than for the imperial power system that had been maintained so far to be overturned at the hands of the Grand Duke.

Moreover, she was now a Princess who was considered a Saint. They hoped that the power of the imperial palace would increase rather than the people's sympathy for Vikander.

After completing the calculation, the nobles continued to cheer.

Except three, the Duke of Madeleine and his two sons.

Leopold grinned, enjoying the boisterous cheers. By now, Olivia would have arrived at the Prince's palace and would be recovering from her travels.

***

At that moment, Baroness Sophron followed the Princess with an anxious gaze.

“Well, she heard that the Princess was going to the Prince’s palace.”

“Do you know? I had prepared everything in the Crown Prince's room in the Prince's palace. You say you don’t even want to get off.”
　
The Lady kept paying attention to the princess and often followed her in stride. Other than the sight of her with a white handkerchief wrapped around her wrist, nothing was different from before.

According to what the knight said earlier, he said that under the white handkerchief, Olivia had a new blue and yellowish bruise made by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince...

Baroness Sophron shook her head as she imagined the terrible appearance. Before she knew it, her face had turned completely white.

It was Baroness Sophron who recommended her to the Crown Prince's Palace, as something bad must have happened with the Crown Prince that day, and she didn't seem to want to keep those memories alive.

Still, why did she come to the Crown Prince's palace? No way, to really punish her...?

Her saliva dried up. Every time she looked at Olivia's silent face, her guilt increased.

“...It’s the same as when I left.”

"yes?"

Baroness Sophron lifted her head. There was no hatred or sarcasm towards me in his simple tone of voice.

“… … His Majesty the Crown Prince has commanded that the Princess maintain the same appearance as she did during her time.”

“Your wife must have had a hard time.”

Unbelievably, her princess eyes were kind. Baroness Sophron lowered her head as she wept bitterly.

While her guilt was consuming her heart and turning it black, Olivia was exploring the interior of the palace with her still eyes.

Everything was the same as when she left.

There are even daffodils on the table in the west hallway and blue hydrangeas on the nightstand in the east hallway.

Even though hydrangea season has already passed.

Olivia unconsciously extended her hand towards the petal and then stopped. She thought she had just coated the flower with wax and hardened it, but she felt a strange energy.

“Did you put a spell on it?”

"Yes. It’s preservation magic.”

Baroness Sophron responded with a nasally sound as if she had no idea that Olivia had sensed the magic. It was natural.

But Olivia took another look at this strange aura. And she muttered into her mouth as if she were sighing.

Preservation magic. 

They use that precious magic to sustain flowers throughout the season. Olivia slowly looked out the window.

A blade of grass, a tree, and even the sparkling stained glass under the round roof.

It was all just as it had passed through Olivia's hands. Like flowers, they are not preserved by magic, they are as real as they are.

So, is it the same for other things?

***

“... I want to rest. I’ll spend the night in my old room.”

I believed that my assurances would turn out to be true, so I commanded. Baroness Sophron nodded her head, her face bright red.

“I won’t let anyone lift it so you can rest comfortably.”

Baroness Sophron pondered and added her own words.

“... As before."

That small voice was happy. I grinned.

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