Chapter 65: Courtship (1)

Chapter 65 Courtship (1)

translator/editor: astralmech

*

* * *

*

[Mrs. Flambard] "Princess! How did your clothes get so dirty!?"

As Rienne returned from the northern tower, Mrs. Flambard was the first to greet her.

[Mrs. Flambard] "Ah, why did it have to be this one? You only have so many good dresses left to wear, Princess."

Ah, I didn't think about that. I'm sorry.

Mrs. Flambard was the one who suffered whenever Rienne's clothes got messed up. But if Rienne tried to help her, she would always stop her, saying she could never let go of doing the Princess' chores so long as her eyes were open. That included her laundry.

[Rienne] "It's only fruit juice, so just a gentle cleanse should be enough."

But Mrs. Flambard rapidly shook her head, her eyes filled with emotions.

[Mrs. Flambard] "I don't know. If it's fruit juice, it would be harder to get off. It can stain."

[Rienne] "Oh. I didn't realize. I'm sorry."

[Mrs. Flambard] "First, take off your clothes, Princess. Cleaning fruit juice is a race against time. We need to get it off as soon as we can."

Rienne felt even sorrier hearing that.

.......I'm sorry. It's actually been on me for a long time now.

Mrs. Henton was crying a lot. Rienne wanted to offer her a handkerchief, but she didn't have one on her, so she ended up offering up the hem of her dress instead.

The woman seemed surprised at first, but she had no choice but to wipe her face. But thanks to Rienne's help, she managed to calm down quickly.

[Rienne] "I'll get undressed now."

[Mrs. Flambard] "Yes. Hurry on, now."

Mrs. Flambard grabbed Rienne's shoulder, urging her to turn around as she undid the ties to her dress from behind.

[Mrs. Flambard] "I dressed you nicely today very purposefully, but I suppose it cannot be helped. You'll have to wear dark colors for today. Ah, such clothing is too practical to be nice."

[Rienne] "I don't mind. But why did you want me to wear this?"

[Mrs. Flambard] "Isn't it obvious? It's because you look beautiful in this."

[Rienne] "You know I don't really care about that kind of stuff. It's fine."

[Mrs. Flambard] "What do you mean, fine?"

As she dutifully undid Rienne's dress, her hands slowed down.

[Mrs. Flambard] "........You need to reconcile."

[Rienne] "Ah...."

Apparently, even in the eyes of Mrs. Flambard, Rienne and Black seemed a bit distant from one another after yesterday's incident with the torn clothing.

Although, come to think of it, I never apologized to her.

Mrs. Flambard was the one who worked the hardest on them.

[Rienne] "I'm so sorry, ma'am."

[Mrs. Flambard] "What are you apologizing to me for? You should be making up with Lord Tiwakan instead."

[Rienne] "I know but...I ruined the clothing, and I know how hard you work on them."

[Mrs. Flambard] "It's alright, Princess. You worked on them as well. But now, the matter of wedding attire has become a bit of a problem. How do you plan on getting new ones on such short notice?"

That was a problem now.

[Rienne] "It can't be helped. I'll have to sell some jewelry. I have a necklace I'm willing to part ways with. It should fetch a good enough price to commission a nice set of clothing."

[Mrs. Flambard] "Oh, you aren't talking about the sapphire pendant, are you? The one that Her Majesty cherished more than anything in her lifetime?"

[Rienne] "I have nothing left but that."

[Mrs. Flambard] "But, Princess!"

Mrs. Flambard couldn't contain her tears and let out a loud cry.

[Mrs. Flambard] "How could you speak of selling it so easily? It's far too precious of an item!"

The necklace they were talking about was the one Rienne's mother had cared for deeply while she was still alive. It was given to her by Rienne's father after they had gotten engaged, and it represented their union before their wedding.

Rienne tightly closed her eyes, speaking with a purposefully cold and direct tone.

[Rienne] "But we cannot sell the King's sceptre." (1)

[Mrs. Flambard] "Princess!"

[Rienne] "We don't have much time, so we need to hurry. Look for a cloth that would work best, ma'am. And don't worry about the price. Just focus on quality."

[Mrs. Flambard] "Princess, are you really....going to sell it?"

[Rienne] "Yes."

Even thinking about her mother now, Rienne felt guilty.

For that man, all memories of his father would be stained by his death, so keeping something that reminded of her mother felt like a sin in itself. Especially if those memories were happy in the slightest.

[Mrs. Flambard] "Please reconsider, Princess......If we look, we might be able to find something else worth selling."

[Rienne] "Ma'am."

Mrs. Flambard pulled back, hesitating hearing Rienne's voice come off so coldly.

[Mrs. Flambard] "Yes, Princess."

[Rienne] "Go out and call the jeweler. I'd like you to get in contact with them by the end of the day."

[Mrs. Flambard] "Princess...."

[Rienne] "I want to do everything I can for this wedding. And I don't want you to say anything more."

[Mrs. Flambard] "Very well.....I understand."

Wiping away her tears, Mrs. Flambard helped Rienne get changed into a different dress.

The brown dress made from durable fabric, lacking in decorations, felt rough to the touch. Looking at herself in the mirror, somehow Rienne felt like she looked very boring and clumsy.

*

* * *

*

[Black] "...........Goddammit."

Black spat out his words, absolutely oozing with frustration. Noticing his clear agitation, everyone in the room stared down at the person sitting in front of him.

That person was Klimah.

He had no idea what was going on, and his shoulders were pathetically slouched.

After he had disappeared, trying to go back into hiding, Klimah was discovered and apprehended in an empty mansion, just off the coast of the Ebet River.

Up until ten years ago, the Spelding family, a fairly prestigious noble house, had called that place their home, but they ended up leaving Nauk after proving unable to withstand the long drought.

And naturally, with their empty mansion left unattended, it fell into disrepair and ruin. The bigger the house was, the more obvious the desolation was when it inevitably fell apart.

Under Black's order to detain Klimah, Phermos came up with a plan to lure him out rather than scouring all of Nauk looking for him.

That's where the empty mansion came into play.

Phermos had the place set up as if the Tiwakan were using it as a new fortress. He set up guards, sentries, put up the flags—the works. Then, he spread the word that the Tiwakan were taking prisoners there.

And despite their initial worries that the rumor wouldn't spread fast enough, Klimah arrived there early the next morning.

Feeling satisfaction in his plan going accordingly, Phermos took in Klimah and brought him before Black, just as he'd asked.

And Black got to hear everything that Klimah told Rienne in great detail.

[Black] "I thought that might be the case, but-"

Black muttered to himself, rubbing his forehead.

The Tiwakan mercenaries standing in the room with him threw awkward glances at each other. They knew him well enough, and their guts were telling them that, somehow, his current appearance was more unapproachable than when he was wielding a sword.

[Black] "Shit......How do I fix this?"

[Phermos] "This.....isn't necessarily a bad thing, my Lord."

Unable to bear the harsh air of the room, Phermos spoke up on behalf of everyone.

[Phermos] "Even if the Princess knows everything about the past, she's still in agreement with the wedding. And the fact that she continues to deny ever meeting the servant means she has no intention of taking issue with the past."

[Black] "And if she does?"

[Phermos] "Sorry?"

Black glared at Phermos with a sharp gaze—like a shard of ice being shot straight at him.

[Black] "If this ends up causing a problem for her, then that changes everything."

[Phermos] "Oh...."

At that moment, Phermos realized his own foolishness.

The marriage itself was no longer a question for Black. The wedding was going to happen no matter what transpired now or in the future. It was an indisputable fact at this point.

But now it was a question of how harmonious their marriage would be going forward.

[Black] "The Princess already knows she can't avoid this marriage."

Which meant, from her perspective, the best thing for Rienne to do was to pretend she didn't know anything about the past, quietly covering things up.

Then, the six families would never learn the full story, thus having no reason to target Black in the same way they had 'killed' the young Prince Fernand, and Black wouldn't have to trouble himself over them.

[Black] "But, though she knows it in her head, her heart might not be able to keep up." (2)

Black could still remember how Rienne looked back then, destroying the wedding clothes as she clutched a pair of scissors by the blade in her bloodied hand.

The action was intense and vivid, but her eyes were empty. So empty and devoid of emotion that it actually shocked him, and he couldn't stop thinking about it. But no amount of thought could reconcile the memory in his mind.

[Black] "Should I have stayed quiet about the engagement from before......? No, that wouldn't have been of any use."

Just like he was completely blindsided by the reappearance of Henton and Manau, he couldn't guarantee that the past would just stay hidden. It could pop out from anywhere, at any time.

He thought he was finally getting closer to Rienne, doing his best to narrow the distance between them, but now it felt like she was further from his reach than she was at the very beginning.

Black let out a sigh, standing up from his seat.

[Black] "I have no choice. I just have to start over."

Seeing that he looked a bit calmer now, Phermos and the other mercenaries felt the tension being released from their chests.

The man they followed, a man who was like a God of War to them, was quick to pass judgement. He always knew exactly when to push forward and when to pull back. So, if it was unavoidable, he needed to go back.

But things were different from before.

As he said, Rienne had no way of escaping this marriage arrangement. As soon as the Grand Council was over, the families that were tied to the Treaty of Risebury would quiet down and the Kleinfelders would disappear from this land.

There was nothing that could interfere with his marriage to Rienne now. Not a single place she could escape to nor allies that could help her run away from this.

And once there were no more flies buzzing around, then he could focus entirely on winning Rienne's heart.

[Black] ".........The problem is that I don't know how."

Swallowing his sigh, he felt a bitter taste enter his mouth.

[Black] "I have to go back."

He couldn't stay stuck in the same place forever. Whether he liked it or not, he needed to confront this in the best way he knew how, even if that meant pulling back.

[Phermos] "What about the servant?"

[Black] "Ah....."

His head was filled with so many thoughts about Rienne that he completely forgot Klimah was even here.

[Black] "That depends. What do you want to do?"

Black asked as he approached Klimah.

[Klimah] "I.....I just want my mother to be safe."

[Black] "Your mother will be staying at Castle Nauk for the time being. Until the Kleinfelders are dealt with, it's the safest place for her to be. Do you wish to join her there?"

[Klimah] "I......."

Klimah sat with his mouth agape. It was clear he'd never been asked for his opinion before, and thus never considered answering this kind of question.

[Black] "Or you can go back to the Temple."

[Klimah] "The Temple....."

[Black] "You can if you like there. If not, then you don't have to."

[Klimah] ". . ."

Those words only made it harder for him to answer. It had been too long since he'd thought about what he wanted to do on his own, rather than what he was ordered to do.

[Black] "Think carefully about it. You have plenty of time. Until then, just stay with your mother and talk with her."

[Klimah] "Talk with my mother......Ah, yes! I will."

For a moment, it looked like Klimah's expression brightened up a bit.

[Black] "Clean this up."

Nodding once, Black gestured to Phermos.

[Phermos] "Yes, my Lord."

And just like that, everyone started making their preparations to return to the castle. The hustle and bustle of the mercenaries was a familiar scene—like people hurrying to get home after a busy day.

*

* * *

*

And funnily enough, the timing was perfect.

Having gone out to meet the jeweler just as Rienne had requested, Mrs. Flambard ran into the Tiwakan party returning to the castle.

[Mrs. Flambard] "No......Isn't that the servant?"

While secretly admiring Black's straight posture as he sat on his horse, Mrs. Flambard noticed someone else that surprised her.

She'd also heard around that the woman who ruined the wedding attire was the servant's mother.

Apparently, this whole mess was related to Lord Tiwakan's family that disappeared some odd years back. Rienne avoided speaking in specifics, but whatever it was, it warranted the woman avoiding punishment despite what she'd done.

[Mrs. Flambard] "Will the servant be entering the castle as well? I thought he killed the High Priest."

Mrs. Flambard tilted her head, walking towards Black.

The situation regarding the servant was none of her business, but she felt like she needed to say something. About something else, that is.

At this point, Mrs. Flambard was absolutely certain that Black was sincerely trying to court Rienne. She'd told the Princess this many times already, but Black kept doing things no man would do unless he held true sincerity for a woman.

[Mrs. Flambard] "Lord Tiwakan."

Black's expression changed the second he noticed Mrs. Flambard approaching him.

[Black] "What's happening?"

A weird sense of tension flashed across his expressionless face. It shocked Mrs. Flambard enough that she impulsively took a step backwards after seeing it.

[Black] "Is the Princess okay?"

For a second, she wondered what would cause his eyes to turn so tense like that, but hearing him say that, she quickly realized why Black's expression had changed so suddenly.

Oh. He thinks something bad might've happened to the Princess.

Because there was no real reason for Mrs. Flambard to ever speak with him first unless something happened to her that required his attention.

[Mrs. Flambard] "The Princess is in the King's Office. Nothing in particular has happened."

[Black] "Oh....."

And just like that, the tension went away.

Now he looked much more human than he did before. Mrs. Flambard patted a hand on her chest before continuing on.

[Mrs. Flambard] "Do you have a moment to spare? I have something I'd like to speak with you about. In private if possible."

Black, whose expression seemed like it was probably the coldest among all men in existence, simply nodded his head calmly.

He dismounted his horse, handing the reins off to Phermos.

[Black] "Take the servant and go in first. Lead him to his mother."

[Phermos] "Yes, my Lord."

With their orders, the mercenaries left with Klimah in tow. As soon as he verified the emptiness of their surroundings, Black turned his head.

[Black] "You can speak now."

[Mrs. Flambard] "Ah...yes. What I wanted to say was......."

* * *

T/N: (1) A king's "sceptre" is that fancy rod that royalty will often carry for official ceremonies and portraits. It's supposed to represent their sovereignty. Or at least that's what Google said.

(2) This is actually a loose reference to something he said way back when- about how there's a difference between hopelessly accepting one's unavoidable circumstances versus actually being happy. He's kinda thinking Rienne might've destroyed the wedding attire because she's in the mindset of the former (all because she knows the truth now)