Chapter 125 - A Smile and Punishment

The first Start of Spring Festival held in Grand Duchess Valdrova's territory.

Hestia village praised the buds of spring with lively music, laughter, and the smell of alcohol.

The nobles' social gathering held its preliminary meeting after noon, when the sun had tilted halfway toward the west.

Most of those present were young ladies and young lords who had arrived early to expand their connections and were mingling with one another.

The later one arrived, the more it showed how much influence that person possessed.

Olivia arrived just before the evening glow set in and entered the social hall.

Though she was not the host, every person there turned their attention to her.

No one said it aloud, but everyone present, even the host, knew.

The true centerpiece of this place was Olivia Arken.

"You are beautiful again today, Princess."

"I heard you used your influence so that we could attend the Start of Spring Festival. Thank you so much."

The Golden Rose members fawned over her.

Olivia had told Ferda in advance that these girls absolutely had to be allowed to attend the gathering, so naturally, every one of them had been able to come.

Since they were faithful to their roles, rewarding them was her duty.

"Of course. We share a friendship that binds us together, don't we?"

"Until last year, I never imagined I could set foot in a Start of Spring Festival like this... I'm honestly so moved I feel like crying."

"Ah, my makeup is about to run too. At this rate, I might end up looking like a ghost bride."

"A ghost bride? Don't say something so frightening."

The young ladies burst into giggles.

For Olivia, if not for the other young ladies, there was no time more cruel than this.

Because she had to offer admiration and consolation she did not mean, and also endure the gazes of men she cared nothing for.

'Still, this is less irritating than other social gatherings.'

It was strange.

Was it because there was someone she was looking forward to in her heart?

She did not tire as much as usual and could instead play her part with greater liveliness.

Evening came, and Ferda entered the banquet hall.

"The great Consort, Regent Ferda Valdrova, has arrived!"

The music stopped, and everyone bowed their heads toward Ferda.

The young ladies of the Golden Rose chattered without rest.

"So that is Regent Ferda Valdrova."

"He really is young and handsome, just like the rumors say..."

Was it because of his unique air?

More than a few young ladies felt a thrill from him that they could not feel when looking at men their own age.

At the same time, they kept stealing glances at Olivia.

They wanted to confirm with their own eyes whether that gossip was true or not.

Olivia showed no opening.

She wore only the businesslike smile she gave other men.

'Now he will give the banquet address.'

That banquet address was none other than the one she had written for him.

Having attended many social gatherings, she had crafted the finest banquet address while taking the age and status of the audience into account.

Now it was Ferda's role to read it.

The banquet address began.

The moment he opened his mouth, the surprise began.

When a mage's distinct, precise enunciation combined with his solemn atmosphere, he overwhelmed the hall enough to put most orators to shame.

'They said he moved those old men at the Grand Council, and it seems that was no empty rumor.'

All she could feel was how shallow she had been in imagining him delivering the banquet address.

Olivia could not help imagining it.

The sight of that man surpassing the Arken Emperor and reigning as a new emperor.

That sight made Olivia's heart pound.

With his closing words, it ended in a round of applause.

Olivia clapped along as well, then returned to the Golden Rose.

The young ladies, their faces bright red, spoke of Ferda.

"Isn't the Regent truly wonderful?"

"I know. If only he did not have a fiancée, I would be tempted to go and seduce him."

With his splendid atmosphere and even that banquet address added on top, he had properly captured the hearts of women.

Olivia found their reactions oddly displeasing.

Even though everything was going according to plan.

"Oh my, he is coming this way."

The young ladies swept their hair back, pretended to be demure, and began acting as though they were chatting among themselves.

"Thank you for your assistance with the Start of Spring Festival."

Ferda offered Olivia his thanks.

"Not at all. The honor was mine, to be of help."

"Then I hope you enjoy yourself."

The two coolly ended things with only an exchange of greetings.

The young ladies wore faces that seemed to wonder whether they had seen properly.

Olivia tilted her head innocently and asked them.

"Is something the matter?"

"No. Nothing at all."

As if it were nothing.

Their heads must be full of scandal right now.

If there had been even the slightest room for it, they would have been delighted to have something to chew on, but there had been none at all.

Since suspicion had been planted, time would take care of letting that interest fade.

"Come to think of it, the Regent has not smiled even once."

"I thought that if there was at least someone close to him, he might smile along with them."

'Of course not.'

Olivia answered inwardly without joining in.

That man's smile was different from the cheap smiles men spat out when pressed down by their hot blood.

That smile was something even Olivia had never seen.

Did it not possess the ultimate value, wrought from pure love?

Olivia was glad.

The fact that only she knew of that value

meant she was different from these foolish things chasing after men's backsides.

And it was also a moment when she could confirm once more just how noble that man was.

The ball began.

The bees flew toward the flowers, and Olivia was no exception.

Honeybees came flying in without knowing their place.

"It is an honor to meet you for the first time. Though unworthy, I would like to ask the Princess for a dance—"

"Oh my, why not dance with me instead?"

"Pardon?"

"Come along, quickly!"

Another young lady snatched the hand reaching toward Olivia, and the young lord, blank-faced, was dragged by that hand onto the dance floor.

The sight of them swallowing the bees flocking to the Golden Rose was much like a Venus flytrap.

This was the Golden Rose's way of making eyes meet and even leading to engagements.

'I should prepare.'

Once the first dance ended, Ferda would come.

And Olivia only had to refuse him.

Everyone would be watching, and the suspicions would end then and there.

Until that moment, Olivia was calculating the expression and bearing she would assume.

"Oh my?"

"My goodness."

It was starting again.

The fuss of an immature young lady.

Just as she was about to sigh inwardly,

"The Regent is smiling?"

Smiling?

Wondering what that meant, Olivia turned her gaze to the dance floor.

By coincidence, Ferda immediately entered her eyes.

The moment she saw him, a crack briefly ran through Olivia's mask.

'... He really is smiling?'

She wondered if she had seen wrong.

The banquet music flowed, and men and women moved like schools of fish on a lake.

Among them, Ferda could be seen smiling as he talked.

Her eyes reflexively turned toward his partner.

'That young lady... who is she?'

Freckles and black hair.

No matter how she looked at her, the girl was inferior to Olivia in appearance, and her clothes were behind the trends as well.

There was no way she was Valdrova.

As far as Olivia knew, when Valdrova took human form, she was a woman with red hair and two pairs of horns.

In other words, she was some nobody, some extra Ferda had approached simply for the sake of the scenario.

And yet.

'Why is he smiling like that?'

It was strange.

I was the one who danced with him longer than that slut.

Even after dancing for four hours, he did not smile.

Not for me.

Not even once.

Olivia reflexively opened her folding fan and covered her mouth.

The mask around her mouth had shattered.

In her confusion, Olivia tried to analyze herself objectively.

'Am I... jealous?'

No.

That could not be.

Ferda loved Valdrova.

Olivia treasured that love.

It was because she treasured that pure devotion that she admired Ferda.

As the god who moved her heart, that is.

'... I understand.'

She was angry because he had lied.

He had acted as though he was different from other men, but in the end, he too was the same kind of man.

The reason his smiles were cheap for others, but not for me,

must be because he knows I am special.

'That was your scheme, trying to roll me around in the palm of your hand like that...'

Yes.

That was what it was.

In the end, you were the same as other men too.

The music stopped.

Ferda exchanged greetings with that slut and turned away.

Then he came toward her.

Just as Olivia's scenario had laid out.

Olivia herself acknowledged what would happen from here on.

That what she was about to do was an impulsive act, not part of the plan.

That it was something she would do because she was ruled by emotion.

And yet, even so, she could not stop.

Only one sentence repeated inside her head.

"Of course."

You deserve to be punished.

Ferda suddenly found himself in a bewildering situation while everything had been proceeding as planned.

'What is she doing?'

If he asked her to dance, she would refuse him.

But unlike the scenario she had told him, she accepted his request.

Ferda was not the only one surprised.

The young ladies who had naturally assumed she would refuse could not hide their wide eyes behind their fans and were looking back and forth between the two.

'What on earth is she trying to do?'

Olivia was cool-headed.

In matters like this, she was more calculating and had sharper instincts than Ferda.

That meant she knew that when a scandal broke out, the one who took the greatest blow was, above all, the woman.

A man could quickly meet another woman, but the moment a woman was branded a temptress, she lost her lifespan.

There was no way Olivia did not know that.

'Is there something I do not know?'

He wondered if there might be a rational reason he could not notice.

He needed an explanation for that.

"Would you escort me?"

Olivia held out her hand, covered in a silk glove.

Then he had to take that hand.

He had to dance with Olivia here.

He had to, and yet,

at the same time, his heart felt heavy, as though he were doing something terrible.

That weight and obligation collided, throwing Ferda's hand into confusion.

Was it right to take her hand and dance here?

Just as he was about to place his hand over hers,

"Show your respect!"

A ringing voice thundered out.

The one who said those words was not a staff member dispatched from the Empire, but Luri.

She, who had not carelessly interfered in a human banquet, overwhelmed the banquet hall.

There was only one moment when she stepped forward.

Valdrova's appearance.

"Her Highness the Grand Duchess has arrived!"

The doors opened.

Ferda doubted his own eyes.

It was not the dragon armor he had seen countless times while living in this castle.

She was about 160 centimeters tall.

Red hair and two pairs of horns.

A splendid dress with a red base to match her hair, accented with gold.

She walked in gracefully, stepping across the carpet.

Everyone bowed their heads, expressing respect and awe to the immortal.

Ferda looked at her in a daze.

It was a moment that felt like receiving an audience with the goddess of beauty.

Valdrova, who had been walking forward along the carpet, turned her steps toward Ferda.

She came straight toward him.

"..."

Valdrova stopped right in front of Ferda and said nothing.

Instead, she merely held out her hand to him in silence.

The hostess was asking the host for a dance.

Ferda's predicament deepened.

Olivia had already asked him to dance.

According to etiquette, he had to put Valdrova off until later.

But if he said that now, it felt as though that hand floating in the air would fall in vain.

"Please enjoy some private time with Her Highness the Grand Duchess."

Fortunately, Olivia stepped back obediently.

Ferda took Valdrova's hand.

Valdrova did what she had always feared.

Strength adjusted to the proper level.

He could tell how grueling the training must have been for her to control it.

He escorted her to the place where the dancing was held.

Ferda carefully placed his hand on her body.

The warmth felt from her soft hand.

And her trembling.

Even though he had only taken her hand, Ferda realized it.

Valdrova knew about the gossip involving Olivia.

'I see.'

Coming here like this was not courage shown before others.

She had been driven out of her sanctuary.

By the emotion called anxiety.

And the source of that anxiety had undoubtedly been created by Ferda.

'I hurt her.'

Guilt tormented Ferda.

The voice that turned the Shadow Circle breathed into Ferda's ear.

As if there was no need for a lengthy explanation, it merely laughed at him.

Even though the moment he had most longed for had clearly arrived, Ferda could not feel joy.

He could only think about what expression lay beyond that mask.

'I need to match the beat...'

He could not hear the music, so his steps kept tangling.

The same was true for Valdrova.

Throughout the dance, they showed the worst possible harmony, constantly stepping on each other's feet.

One hellish minute after another passed, and the song ended.

They should have let go of each other's hands and exchanged bows, but Valdrova did not let go.

Instead, she rose onto her toes and whispered into Ferda's ear.

"... Mr. Ferda."

Ferda's heart dropped somewhere far below.

It was her actual voice, not the voice through the modulator.

That trembling sound carried moisture like dew at daybreak.

"Please speak."

"This hand... you must not... let it go."

She pleaded faintly.

"I... might run away somewhere right now. I am certain that if you let go of this hand... I will show a side unbecoming of a ruler. I might... disgrace you, Mr. Ferda."

That uncertain voice gradually began to tremble more violently.

Ferda knew what he had to say.

"I will guide you."

Ferda held that hand tightly and walked out of the banquet hall with her.

He did not bother greeting the guests.

Etiquette, appearances, and such things no longer mattered.