247 – End of Preparation
The northern part of the continent is covered in pure white snow.
A figure is walking towards a towering mansion in the middle of a snowy field.
She was a woman wearing thin clothes compared to the extremely cold temperature, and with each step she took, she was moving a considerable distance as if space was folding.
She raised her flushed hand and knocked on the door of her mansion.
“Asilia!”
Her doorkeeper welcomes her warmly.
Sulhwagumje Asilia.
She smiled softly.
“Mr. Berg, how have you been?”
The gatekeeper looks impressed by her question.
“There is no one but Asilia who remembers my name.”
“No. I received a lot of help from Mr. Berg while I was here.”
“Thank you. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, and I’m glad to see that your complexion has improved.”
“It’s thanks to everyone’s help in rehabilitation.”
A graceful smile.
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The doorkeeper bowed her head.
Her every action was full of respect.
It was purely respect for her personality.
“I’ll pick you up right away.”
While crossing the mansion, Asilia exchanged greetings with her servants.
Maid, gardener, cook. No one who encountered her encountered her unwelcomely.
She looked like a considerate hostess of a mansion.
That’s how we arrived at the matriarch’s study.
— Knock.
A graceful knocking sound echoed through the luxurious wooden door.
There was a sound of a chair being dragged inside, and then the door opened.
A woman was holding the door handle, and it was Yergina, Grand Duke of the North.
She looked at Asilia and smiled as if she was seeing her own sister for the first time in a long time.
Considering Yergina’s usually strong and generous personality, this was an unusual occurrence.
“Asilia!”
“It’s been a long time, Miss Yergina.”
“It’s not just that it’s been a while, it’s the first time. You haven’t come here once since you went to the academy!”
Yergina held Asilia’s hand.
During the period when Asilia was rescued from the Northern Grand Duke’s war and rehabilitated in her mansion, the two formed a closer relationship than she thought.
In fact, Yergina was following Asilia like her own older sister.
Asilia hugged Yergina tightly with her soft smile.
Although Yergina was taller, she seemed to be hugged naturally.
However, hugging was the most efficient way to relieve the worries that had accumulated so far.
There were many things to talk about, but there was an important topic between them that needed to be discussed today.
This was the reason why Yergina’s expression became serious.
“Ian, that kid…”
Her voice was full of worry.
Instead of answering, Asilia held Yergina’s hand.
Then he led her to her sofa.
I could feel her gentle consideration in the way she made Yergina sit first and then herself.
Asilia gently opened her mouth.
“You don’t have to worry too much, Yergina.”
“But I heard the news. After she left the Vatican, she was attacked. Isn’t that the work of the Shale Church?”
Asilia nodded her head.
It was a gentle nod, neither too heavy nor too light. It’s the type of nod that just makes the viewer calm down.
This was the reason why Yergina became calmer.
“Ian. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that kid.”
“Miss Yergina especially took care of her students.”
“That’s not what I took…!”
Yergina, who opened her mouth as if in her defense, blushed ever so slightly and muttered:
“That child’s talent is clearly not lacking for the North. That’s all. If it’s just to keep him in the North, he’s willing to at least make a marriage contract with me, the head of the family…”
The moment she first met Ian.
Yergina recalled the confession he had made to her.
Hmm.
With a clear cough, Yergina opened her mouth, blowing away her girlish appearance.
“It’s a shale bridge, right?”
“I think it’s true that her disciple was kidnapped by the Shale Church.”
“If Asilia thinks so too, I’m sure.”
It was Yergina with a worried expression.
Shale Bridge.
She knew very well how vicious and devoid of common sense they were.
Above all, wasn’t her own father a shaman?
Raised to absorb children.
This was why Yergina hated her shale religion.
“… You must have taken them to their home base, right?”
Her words contained a bit of a growl. She felt like a war could start at any moment.
Asilia held Yergina’s hand and calmed her down.
“We still don’t know their location. They haven’t revealed their location once in over hundreds of years.”
“I will send Gasol right now. Don’t you know, Asilia, that the soldiers of the Pierce family never give up?”
“There is no need for that.”
Asilia shook her head, her dark blue hair floated gently and then sank.
Yergina’s eyes were colored with her doubts, and then she regained her composure.
“I trust my students.”
Because Asilia put her words into her mouth full of confidence.
“If it’s Ian, do you think he will somehow reveal his location?”
“Yes.”
Asilia nodded her head.
My own confidence.
This was possible because he believed in his student’s talent.
At the same time, it was possible because he understood the habits of the Shaleam Church that went out of their way to kidnap disciples.
Of course, this is not to say that she simply trusts her Ian and watches in fascination.
The opponent is Shale Bridge.
“What we have to do is make the best preparations possible and go meet Ian.”
That was the reason Asilia came to the north.
◆
The Imperial Palace of the Empire.
A small garden located inside the residence of the 3rd princess.
Sitting at the pure white tea table was Asteria.
She took a sip of her tea, her long white hair flowing.
— Click
The sound of a teacup and saucer colliding.
Asteria put down her teacup and looked across from her.
“A true woman never abandons her subordinates.”
“It’s not enough to not throw it away. You have to hang on to it as much as possible.”
“Isn’t that obvious, Sylvie? Ian is the main lady’s advisor and right-hand man. He can’t become emperor if he gives up. Even if he gets to that position, it’s meaningless.”
Asteria tilted her head as if asking something like that.
Of course, it was confusing from Sylvia’s perspective.
There are definitely a lot of things about Princess Asteria that are hard to understand.
Just hearing such a clear answer made her sigh.
“I’m glad.”
“I think you treat her real wife as a very strange person.”
“…No.”
It was a short hesitation, but that hesitation clearly contained Sylvia’s sincerity. Asteria glanced at Sylvia with a slightly hurt look on her face. Of course, what Asteria said next proved that Sylvia’s judgment was not so wrong.
“However, it will not be easy to convince both Abama and high-ranking officials.”
“That’s right.”
“So now that things have come to this, shall we try to usurp the throne?”
“……?”
Silvia’s eyes widened.
If this were a human being, it might not be a joke.
It was because I had that thought.
“Her eyes got so big Sylvie — she’s not that kind of person.”
No. She is that kind of person.
The proof is that she mentions usurping the throne, even if only jokingly.
Phew.
Silvia sighed in relief and explained the general situation so far to Asteria.
“Raymond’s side has also decided to actively support it. However, the 2nd Prince’s side has not been persuaded. Even on the 1st Princess’ side, Minister of Foreign Affairs Blich has expressed his intention to cooperate.”
Asteria quietly nodded her head.
She was also looking at the circumstances surrounding her Ian’s disappearance, putting aside anything else. She had no trouble following Sylvia’s explanation.
“In the end, about half of the support we could get at the regular meeting was secured.”
Regular meeting. A place to discuss policies to be pursued by the empire in the future.
It is the highest working-level conference in the empire, both in name and reality, in which only the emperor’s lineage and high-ranking officials can participate.
Asteria is the only one who can participate there.
“… You can do it well, right?”
Asteria smiled and nodded her head, but Sylvia felt uneasy for some reason.
◆
“I don’t know if we need to address the Shaleam Bridge as an agenda item.”
The chairman tapped the document in front of him as if he was annoyed.
At the same time, his eyes scan Princess Asteria.
Anyone could see that the eyes were clearly blaming Asteria.
It is clearly disrespectful to look at someone of direct lineage to the emperor like that.
“…….”
However, it was possible here.
This is because lineage and power hierarchy are not proportional.
No matter how rapid the growth of the Third Princess Asteria has been recently, the size of her absolute power is still inferior to other princesses and high-ranking officials.
Of course.
Asteria was not that depressed.
Her voice rang out clearly.
It was a voice without the slightest hesitation.
“A citizen of the Empire has gone missing. We cannot just ignore this.”
“But it is difficult to set complete subjugation as an agenda.”
“I am a citizen of the Empire. Shouldn’t the Empire have protected me more actively? Wasn’t it even during the summit?”
“…Hmm.”
There was obviously no problem logically.
It was an issue with too many political implications to be considered simply based on logic.
“But it makes no sense to start an all-out war with the Shaleam Bridge over the issue of just one citizen being kidnapped.”
It was also overly unconventional.
Princess Asteria’s proposal is the annihilation of the Shale Bridge.
The agenda of mobilizing as much of the empire’s available military power as possible was presented to the meeting.
In a way, it is natural for officials, including the chairman, to feel dizzy. The problem is that there was someone who supported her unconventional proposal.
“I admit it.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Duke, Blitter. He continued.
“Ignoring citizens kidnapped from other countries, even countries that were hostile to us until recently. That means the authority of the empire is being undermined. It is difficult for someone in a diplomatic position to just sit by and watch.”
“But…”
“Besides, isn’t an all-out war going to break out from the start anyway? We’re just preparing accordingly. I don’t think there’s any need to worry about going all out already. What do you think?”
He looked back at the Minister of Defense.
The other person reluctantly nods his head.
“Now, I think it’s worth taking a good look at.”
That day.
A motion was passed that the Empire was considering an all-out offensive against Shaleam Bridge.