Locard smiled comfortably as he realized the purpose of this conversation.
She said it was graduation time, but Locard didn’t think Kalin Ankart would have that much patience.
Didn’t she already talk to him like this?
“That will be up to His Highness the Second Prince to decide. What I can tell you is that many eyes are watching the Academy.”
“Oh, I’ll have to do this. Can I borrow that book?”
“Willingly.”
Locard politely handed Kalin the “Legend of the Tunbar Mountains.” They parted ways politely at the same time.
Locard knew that she had not borrowed the book out of curiosity about this war.
The things he had experienced were probably the same for the Second Prince, and it was preparation to enrich their conversation with the Second Prince Grayon in the future.
Few young ladies would know the circumstances of Tunbar, so such knowledge would definitely make her stand out.
Locard looked through the bookshelf again, picked up an appropriate book, and left the bookshelf. At that moment, he heard a bang on the reception desk.
When he turned around, all he saw was the hem of a female cadet’s uniform running toward the entrance. The banging sound must have been intentional to get his attention.
Locard found a pink envelope on the empty reception desk and picked it up.
“...”
He returned to his room, sat down with his legs up on the desk, and leisurely opened the envelope.
The pink envelope that the female cadet had secretly left behind could not have been anything else.
Locard Kydel, born with the heavy destiny of leading a prestigious family, had been training tirelessly since he could walk.
His childhood could be called harsh, but that did not mean he was unaware of this kind of excitement.
His face lit up with joy as he opened the letter. However, that light gradually faded.
“... Amid weak hope...
She said it was graduation time, but Locard didn’t think Kalin Ankart would have that much patience.
Didn’t she already talk to him like this?
“That will be up to His Highness the Second Prince to decide. What I can tell you is that many eyes are watching the Academy.”
“Oh, I’ll have to do this. Can I borrow that book?”
“Willingly.”
Locard politely handed Kalin the “Legend of the Tunbar Mountains.” They parted ways politely at the same time.
Locard knew that she had not borrowed the book out of curiosity about this war.
The things he had experienced were probably the same for the Second Prince, and it was preparation to enrich their conversation with the Second Prince Grayon in the future.
Few young ladies would know the circumstances of Tunbar, so such knowledge would definitely make her stand out.
Locard looked through the bookshelf again, picked up an appropriate book, and left the bookshelf. At that moment, he heard a bang on the reception desk.
When he turned around, all he saw was the hem of a female cadet’s uniform running toward the entrance. The banging sound must have been intentional to get his attention.
Locard found a pink envelope on the empty reception desk and picked it up.
“...”
***
He returned to his room, sat down with his legs up on the desk, and leisurely opened the envelope.
The pink envelope that the female cadet had secretly left behind could not have been anything else.
Locard Kydel, born with the heavy destiny of leading a prestigious family, had been training tirelessly since he could walk.
His childhood could be called harsh, but that did not mean he was unaware of this kind of excitement.
His face lit up with joy as he opened the letter. However, that light gradually faded.
“... Amid weak hope...
Friendship... Like a bird, my heart... Even if there is little room for that, I will try to harbor a strong hope like a wintering wildflower. Misha Loire... Ha!”
Locard clutched the letter and jumped up. It had been a long time since he had lost his composure like this. Then suddenly, he opened the letter he was holding again.
‘Wintering wildflower.’
That was the part that caught his eye. He knew the wildflower Lorisha that grew without fail in the clearings of the Tunbar Mountains. As soon as he read that phrase, a small, white flower garden unfolded in his mind.
“Ha...”
He held the roughly folded letter in his trembling hands and read out loud only the first letter of each line.
“Ka, i, del, mi, chin, sae, ki*... Ha. How absurd.”
*Kaydel crazy bastard
It was a clever dichotomy. Locard could not believe it even though he was holding the letter with his own hands. He had heard countless curses from the Amata tribe, who were trying to kill him, but this was the first time he had felt this strange.
“Why is the envelope pink?”
Locard could only laugh in vain now. He couldn’t remember whether it was he who discovered the secret of the first letter or who thought of the Lorisja flower first. However, he was certain that this letter was not written by Misha Loire. The letter’s elegant sentences and clever insults could not have been hers.
The culprit was as clear as the sun. Lorisha Loire. Leaving a clue about the Lorisha flower was clearly a challenge or an ignorance. Locard quietly muttered as he burned Misha’s letter.
“Lorisha Loire. I accept your challenge.”
***
Locard arrived at the Second Prince’s Palace late on a weekend afternoon. When he arrived, Whined was administering the Amata treatment to the Second Prince Grayon. The Amata tribe would make tightly packed dried grass, put it on human skin and set it on fire, and it would burn slowly like incense and produce medicinal effects. Locard found this strange, and when the Second Prince's recovery was slow, he told the apothecary's director, Whined, about it.
The Second Prince's sword wound was recovering smoothly, but he sometimes felt severe lethargy and dizziness and could not regain his strength. Locard suspected that the Amata tribe was infected with an endemic disease.
That was why he told Whined about the enemy's treatment. Whined Royman was originally an alchemist, and in return for being guaranteed the freedom to study alchemy, he was in charge of the imperial apothecary. He was a quiet person, but he was enthusiastic about new experiments and studied new treatments diligently. Today was the day he would test his research method on Grayon for the first time.
Locard looked at Grayon, who was carrying the burning herbs here and there on his bare back and felt a renewed sense of relief at the fact that Lorisha must have delivered those ingredients.
Whined said quietly,
“If it’s hot, let me know right away, Your Highness.”
“It’s okay.”
Grayon turned around to face Locard and said curtly,
“You were the one who suggested this method. Don’t make a strange expression and just sit down.”
“No, it’s not because of Your Highness... No.”
Locard sat down on his chair and even began to doubt whether Lorisha Loire, who was so evil, could have played around with herbs.
“Director Royman, did you inspect the herbs thoroughly?”
“I only used the best herbs, and I tested them for poison at every stage of processing. I did everything from start to finish by myself, so don’t worry.”
“As expected of you, Director.”
Thinking about it, it was a groundless suspicion. The third lion's daughter—who insisted that she was an illegitimate child—had no use killing the Second Prince.
"Are you sure you have enough herbs?"
Locard's voice was so nervous that Whined looked back at him with a slightly puzzled expression.
"There are enough ingredients. If this treatment is effective, I will secure plenty."
Through Loricia Loire?
Locard barely suppressed the words that he would personally visit the herbalist for the second prince's health.
His pride would not allow him to go to Lorisha Loire first and ask for advice. He had to make her come to him first and beg him.
'How can I repay you for this...?'
Grayon's voice broke his thoughts.
"How's the academy?"
When the Second Prince started talking, Whined quietly closed the door and left.
Locard knew that Grayon was not curious about his school life.
“I’ve been watching a few promising prospects. But you know, they’re only first-year cadets.”
“I heard the daughter of Count Ankart is outstanding. She’s on par with you.”
Grayon made an expression of interest as Locard’s face turned even more nervous than before.
“Kalin Ankart. She’s outstanding.”
“But?”
Grayon frowned slightly, tired from turning his head while lying face down.
Locard replied, imitating the plates of a scale with both hands.
“She’s already approached me. She’s carefully weighing me.”
Grayon smiled with satisfaction. It was a pleasure to know that an ambitious honor student had chosen him first.
“Have a good time.”
“I don’t like aggressive women.”
“I thought you liked it?”
“...”
Grayon narrowed his eyes at Locard’s silence. It wasn’t because of the pain of the procedure.
“Locard. Are you going to only pick out easy-going people for me?”
Was that an endemic disease?
After the injury, Grayon had become increasingly impatient and suspicious. Locard sometimes felt that it was more difficult to deal with than fighting.
However, he knew one important fact. He must not appear to the royal family as a threat or as a weakling. It was a way to get what he wanted, which was his survival at stake.
“Didn’t you want blind loyalty?”
“That’s why I’m suspicious of you now, Locard.”
It was a very sensitive question, but Locard answered it with a relaxed attitude.
“Have you already forgotten what position Viscount Ankart took on the Amata War?”
Viscount Ankart had been encouraging the anti-war faction in the war debate that arose when the Amata announced that they would stop exporting iron ore to the Empire.
The argument of the opposition faction was that the Tunbar Mountains were so rugged that no outside force had ever won there, but it was not hard to understand the Viscount’s intentions.
If the import of iron ore from the Amata in the north were cut off, the Empire would have no choice but to rely on imports through the maritime trade routes in the southeastern seas for insufficient supplies. It promised enormous profits to Viscount Ancart.
Locard believed that those who prioritized personal interests over the Empire could be the subject of temporary alliances, but not blood allies.
He already knew the fate of those who tried to satisfy their desires using the Emperor as a stepping stone.
The purge of the Emperor during their grandfather’s reign was more than enough to prove how miserable the fall from the very edge of absolute power was.
Grayon was no less cruel and decisive than his predecessor.
Locard had no intention of being held accountable or harmed in that gap.
Grayon answered cheerfully, whether he knew Locard’s intentions or not.
“That is her father’s position.”
“How could you be so sure that she would take a different stance?”
"I don't hate women with money. Look at my stepmother. She used her maternal grandfather's business connections to rally the nobility, and then she started a school to train her own administrators. Look at the power it has over the nobles and officials."
Grayon jokingly spoke, perhaps tired from his neck that had been turned to one side, and then straightened up.
Locard smiled faintly.
He understood why Prince Grayon envied the support of the Empress that Orleans had. However, the Empress and Kalin Ankart were different cases.
The Empress came from a long and distinguished family, but Viscount Ankart, who was from the provinces, had not yet set foot in high society. That was why one gold piece from the Empress’s family and one gold piece from Viscount Ankart were worth different things.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment