A Fateful Adversary

Kelves finished reviewing the letter he had received from Orleans.

I simply watched.

After he finished reading through it, he handed it to Gloria.

"Mm, Duke Grabahl has been a great help. Without the old man's assistance, things would have been a bit dangerous this time. Please pass that along."

"I will be sure to convey that."

Despite his words, Kelves's face showed plenty of composure.

It was difficult to read information from his expression.

The woman standing beside him, called Gloria, maintained the same expression throughout.

Quite different from Princess Tianis's attendant.

Though Gloria was paying it no mind, for some reason Finn was directing hostility toward her.

"Do you know her, Gloria?"

"No… I don't associate with losers."

She said that with a cool expression. At that moment, goosebumps rose on my skin.

It felt as though the room's temperature had dropped, so much killing intent was leaking from Finn.

She had been glaring hard, but it quickly subsided and ended with just a click of her tongue.

I had wondered if she might actually make a move, but I was relieved she didn't and bowed my head.

"I apologize. My companion was being rude."

"Don't worry about it. I'm still just the crown prince. And there are no prying eyes here."

Kelves said that and leaned back against the chair.

The wood creaked loudly in the room.

I had a letter from Princess Tianis to deliver to the crown prince if possible, but I wondered if it was appropriate to hand it over.

I wasn't an official envoy, and she had said I didn't have to deliver it if it seemed difficult.

The room had fallen into a slightly awkward atmosphere, but Kelves cut through it by speaking up.

"Are you going back by ship?"

"Yes. The land route would be difficult."

"Hahaha. Sorry about the siege. They'll be leaving before long, but the ship will be faster than waiting for that. The storm has settled down too."

He was well-informed.

He already knew that the Azure Sea storm had subsided.

And it seemed almost certain that the siege would be lifted.

He had mentioned they were applying pressure, and it appeared to be working.

"As thanks for risking danger to transport food here, I'll arrange lodging for you. Though it's just commandeered empty houses for you to stay in."

"That's a great help. Thank you for your kindness."

I bowed my head along with Orleans.

Orleans was the main figure here.

As long as I deferred to her, there shouldn't be any problems.

"Well, this much is only natural. Rewarding results with results makes both parties feel better, right?"

"I agree completely. Though it would be even better if you could speak with a bit more dignity."

"Give me a break. I'm still young. If I talked like all those old men, my shoulders would stiffen up."

The atmosphere finally began to settle.

I seized the moment to pull the letter from my breast.

A look of reproach came from Gloria.

Perhaps reaching into my breast without saying anything first was a mistake.

"Actually, this wheat was arranged by Princess Tianis, and I have a letter from her."

"Hmm? It would have been difficult to procure within the Empire, that's true."

I handed over the letter I had been carrying.

I didn't know its contents. It was probably just a greeting and some words meant to curry favor.

"Still as shrewd as ever, that girl. Understood. I'll remember this. Tell her to expect great things once I become emperor."

"Understood."

An empty promise, but it was probably enough.

With that, my work was done.

"Well then, please stay here until the ship departs. It's a nice place."

"We'll do that."

I stood up from the chair and bowed my head.

I had imagined the crown prince would be an arrogant noble, but he seemed reasonable enough.

The next emperor, huh.

I recalled Alexia's former fiance had also said he would become emperor, but I wondered what had happened to him.

If things continued as they were, Crown Prince Kelves would ascend to the throne.

I confirmed the location of our commandeered house and left the room.

The big job was finally done.

All that remained was to return home.

Azu had been nervous the whole time and was taking deep breaths.

Alexia was nervous too.

As a former imperial noble, perhaps meeting the next emperor made her anxious.

Elza seemed normal. She hadn't shown any signs of poor health since then and seemed fine.

"Sorry about losing my cool in there."

"That? He let it slide, so don't worry about it. But what came over you?"

Finn was quite professional for her age.

I had thought she could stay in the background in situations like that.

"I was driven out of the Empire by that smug woman's faction. I got so angry I couldn't hold it in."

Finn had once come to our house badly injured.

I remembered her saying it was the result of a power struggle in the Empire.

So it was Gloria and her associates who had given her a rough time.

Her competitive spirit was considerable.

And being provoked must have pushed her to her limit.

Still, the fact that she kept it to just a bad attitude was good enough.

She seemed remorseful and dejected, so she would be fine next time.

But to think that beauty worked the same shadowy trade.

If she was stronger than Finn, that explained the crown prince's confidence.

His personal safety was secured, and though he was currently under siege, pressure from his ally the duke would resolve that.

Since the besiegers had resorted to a siege, they were probably desperate too, and the empire's turmoil might soon settle.

That confidence may have been behind his demeanor.

When I patted Finn's head, she shot me a sharp look but didn't tell me to stop.

When we arrived at the house, it was a fairly large single-family home.

It wasn't damaged, but the inside was a bit dusty and needed cleaning.

But with everyone working together, it went quickly.

After we finished wiping everything down, the place was sparkling clean.

It also had a great view overlooking the sea from a nice vantage point.

While we were taking a break, Gloria came over.

"I brought food. Sorry it's not much variety."

"Thank you very much."

The basket was filled with nothing but seafood.

"That wheat helped us catch our breath. Even though we can get a fair amount of food from the sea, there are limits."

"Thank you."

Orleans took the basket, but it was a bit heavy and she stumbled.

Azu supported her and disaster was averted.

"If you'd like to look around the city, please feel free. You're guests of His Grace the Duke, so you have our trust."

With that, Gloria swiftly departed.

Finn was sticking her tongue out behind her.