Chapter 166. Beggar Siblings – Orville Palace
If you were to pick the oldest building in Orville, boasting a long and proud history, it would undoubtedly be the ‘Orville Palace.’
This palace was built with the founding of the Kingdom of Archean and has served as the heart of an empire that reigned over the continent for thousands of years.
As such, Orville Palace was massive.
With countless extensions, it now houses hundreds of bedrooms and dozens of lobbies, offices, ballrooms, salons, corridors, libraries, reception rooms, chapels, and galleries, many of which are currently unused and locked securely.
The Kingdom of Belita is too small to recreate the glory of the splendid Archean Empire.
Even if it isn’t used, it still needs to be cleaned. It’s been five years since she started working as a maid in the palace. The short-haired maid, who could now gain permission from the guards just by her appearance without a pass, straightened her stiff back.
‘Oh my, this is tough. Should we take a little break? This chapel has way too many decorations…’
– Tap, tap.
The back she had just straightened naturally bent again. The startled maid began sweeping the floor with a dust cloth. But realizing that the slow footsteps were not from the terrifying head maid, she slowly turned her head.
‘Oh my goodness.’
An exceedingly handsome young man went by.
For a moment, she wondered, ‘Which country is this prince from?’ His neat uniform, blending white and blue, revealed him to be a guard knight.
Moments later, she was in the spacious kitchen, which also served as a bakery. As they began to gossip about the knight who had struck her weak heart, the maids who were peeling potatoes looked up one by one.
“Hey, you just found out? The maid working in the ‘Corridor of Abundance’ already sang his praises.”
“Really? How come I never saw him before? He was really handsome.”
The maids peeled potatoes with quick hands. While chatting about the young knight, the youngest ever, they mixed milk into the mashed potatoes.
“Those girls must be so lucky. I’d have no other wish if I could work next to such a handsome knight.”
Said the short-haired maid. As she poured honey into the thick dough, she imagined a sweet future but got a harsh reaction.
“Friend, get a grip. There’s nothing good that comes from getting involved with a guard knight. If things go wrong, only we get kicked out. Do you think anyone cares about maids’ plights?”
“I know. I just wanted to see his face. Why are you so serious?”
The short-haired maid rolled her eyes. She carefully placed spoonfuls of dough covered in bread crumbs onto a tray, making sure they didn’t touch each other.
Once baked, they would be done. As the trays went into the oven one after another, the maids took a short break.
“So, do you want to go to the Corridor of Abundance? Where was your duty? I’ll go for you.”
“Huh? Really? Thanks, I won’t refuse. Just take mine to Princess Chloe.”
“Yuck. You were Princess Chloe’s maid?”
“No way. How would anyone be the exclusive maid to a princess with such a scatterbrained mind? In the ‘Royal Maiden’s Palace’, we rotate. I’m just on snack duty.”
“Oh my, so the rumor is true. That she gets strange every month at that time.”
“I don’t know either. Usually, she’s really nice, but who knows why. Hmm~”
A fragrant smell.
The maids became busy again. They took out the freshly baked ‘Metchitade’ and placed them on warm plates, sprinkled almond powder, and set aside a little jam, completing all preparations.
Soon, dozens of plates were loaded onto serving carts.
The maids pushed one cart each, forming a line as they exited the kitchen. Crossing the vast palace with its fragrant aroma, they scattered one by one.
“Then I’ll take Princess Chloe’s. You go to the Corridor of Abundance.”
In the center of the palace, under the towering ceiling of the ‘Hall of the Sky’, one maid picked up her plate. Her friend climbed the ‘Crown Princess Staircase’ and disappeared, another climbed the ‘Prince’s Staircase,’ and another held a crystal bowl with almonds and ascended the ‘King’s Ascent.’
The short-haired maid didn’t need to climb any stairs. She pushed her cart down the corridor under the Prince’s Staircase.
The walls of this corridor, usually referred to as the ‘Path of Prosperity’, were filled with paintings depicting the empire’s history.
Unfortunately, the magnificent painting was interrupted midway, but instead, a yellow line was drawn on the floor, creating a kind of boundary. The maid tidied her appearance and crossed the yellow line.
Soon, a corridor covered in verdant green velvet appeared.
It was dazzling.
This was intended, but once you exited the dim corridor, sunlight poured from the southeast-facing windows of the corridor.
The walls were adorned with metal flowers and trees, and this corridor, lined with dozens of spacious rooms, was the ‘Corridor of Abundance’, where the king’s relatives resided.
Passing the corridor under the Crown Princess Staircase, you’d reach the ‘Corridor of Comfort’ where the king’s in-laws stayed, perfectly mirroring the living space.
‘Oh my goodness.’
The short-haired maid pushing the cart was entranced by the sight of the ‘guard knight’ who approached without warning.
In front of the Hall of Abundance, he stood in the garden. After a moment of staring blankly and walking, the maid stopped the cart and took out a plate.
How nice it would be if this were my feelings for him, but it was not. She obediently sat on the bench and respectfully bowed to the old man who was basking in the sun.
“Here’s your afternoon snack, Grand Princess.”
“Oh my, has the time already passed this much? Sir Noel, let’s go inside now. It’s a bit uncomfortable to have a snack here.”
“…Understood.”
My goodness, how elegant she is.
The short-haired maid firmly remembered the name ‘Noel’ and thought even the small gesture of him extending his hand to the Grand Princess was wonderful.
Wanting to help, or perhaps wanting to intrude and say a word, she tried to say, “I’ll support you,” when she felt a cold gaze.
Her head was turned towards the princess, but the knight’s eyes were on her.
Having worked as a maid for five years, she had eaten enough of the proverbial ‘sign-reading rice.’
He was clearly angry. She didn’t know what mistake she had made, but there was a risk she might be caned.
The maid went ahead to the Grand Princess’s room. She placed the warm snacks and her fluttering heart on the table and quickly fled.
* * *
‘Damn it.’
He barely managed to bring this old woman outside, and this is what happens.
Returning to the room, Leo grumbled internally.
It had already been a month since he became a knight. He still hadn’t met Prince ‘Clyaan de Tatalia.’
This was due to the tight schedule of the knights.
The knights were busy, not because there was an urgent matter to handle, but simply because there were not enough of them.
Including Leo, there were only seventy-eight knights affiliated with the Tatalia royal family. Because they had to rotate guarding the royal family and patrolling the royal castle with just these numbers, the schedules of all knights were very meticulously planned, and Leo had no chance to visit the prince.
Thus, Leo thought of a method to move this princess to a place where the prince might pass by. It was a much better method than deserting his post to recklessly search for the prince.
But now, he couldn’t wait any longer.
In the week after next, the prince of the Austin Kingdom would arrive in Orville. Before that, he needed to achieve the task of meeting the prince, securing Count Peter’s favor, and he had no time to waste.
He had to meet the prince today.
“Sir Noel?”
Leo’s thoughts were interrupted. Grand Princess ‘Danizela Tatalia’ was holding out a plate to him.
“…I apologize. I was momentarily lost in thought. Thank you for the food.”
Leo properly picked up the Matchtade, which was as hard as a cookie. As he ate it without using the jam, Princess Danizela spoke.
“You seem somewhat anxious.”
“No, I am not.”
The elderly woman’s dazed eyes met his. She noticed some concern in the young man, but like an elder, she chose to remain silent.
Since Leo had no intention of asking for help from the Grand Princess, he quietly returned to the doorway.
‘Grand Princess’ is a title given to the female elder of the royal family.
It was an unwelcoming title given to the eldest princess, but it did not grant any particular authority.
The powerful Archean imperial family, which once exercised great imperial power, no longer existed.
With the empire divided into four, the royal family fled to the east, and the left-behind emperor declared himself a king. Even then, the king maintained his throne by marrying into many noble families and ceding imperial lands (territories of the emperor).
Royal authority had fallen.
The Belita Kingdom became dominated by great families like the Tatián Marquis, and the nobles hoped royal power would not grow stronger.
Various methods to limit royal power were proposed, one of which was restricting the number of royals.
The rule of humans is stronger with numbers. The more people who acted as royalty, the more influence the king had, so the nobles passed a law acknowledging only those within six degrees of kinship to the king as royals.
A royal family that ruled but did not govern.
The Tatalia royal family and the Belita Kingdom now were practically just another noble family.
Well, at least the most powerful family…
Anyway, given this situation, Grand Princess Danizela Tatalia had no power. She was simply an elegant old woman confined to her quarters, so Leo didn’t worry much about her.
The mere fact that a newcomer knight was assigned to guard her was enough to indicate how insignificant she was to the royal family.
Leo stood idly, waiting for the shift change.
But suddenly, Princess Danizela rose from the bed where she had been sitting idly. She retrieved a Nesonato (a string instrument similar to a ukulele) from somewhere and began to gently pluck its strings.
It was a burdensome instrument for an elderly woman to handle. However, perhaps due to her years of experience, or the sadness of her runaway groom on her wedding day, the Nesonato produced a pleasant sound.
“…It’s nice.”
“Thank you. If it’s not trouble, would you come closer and listen?”
Soon regretting it, but sitting down obediently. Leo was just as bored, so when she suggested he play the Nenato (a cylindrical percussion instrument similar to a djembe), he didn’t refuse.
The old man advised that it sounds better if played like this, and the young man added cheer to the elderly noblewoman’s performance.
It was undoubtedly a heartwarming scene.
***
Leo, who had finished his shift, left Danizella Tatalia’s room.
“It was a pleasant time,” he said, and as he followed the path of prosperity, he saw the Prince’s stairs.
The prince is up there.
There was no reason to climb those stairs, and he shouldn’t have, but Leo climbed them.
“Noel? What’s going on here?”
The guardsman sitting in the small lobby in front of the prince’s office recognized Leo and asked.
Just then, the guard escorting the prince happened to be Leo’s superior, a man who must have been in his early thirties and was known to be a notorious wife-lover.
He had worked hard to get out of duty and head out on a leave of absence, becoming a model for Leo, who was also trying to visit his brother.
But that was not a helpful situation.
The door to the prince’s office was closed, and to achieve something, at least he had to open that door and get closer.
Leo knew it was a crazy thing to do… but he couldn’t wait any longer.
He said with a cheeky smile, “I stopped by on my way back to the parade ground after the shift change. It’s nothing, just…”
“You don’t have time for that? The knight training at the parade ground won’t go somewhere else unless you do. It’s nice that you came to visit, but you should… Hey! What are you doing!”
“What’s this place for?”
Leo stealthily approached and suddenly opened the office door.
Just to see the prince’s face once.
It’s not like it was a capital crime, and it didn’t seem like it would be a problem if a new recruit did something a bit stupid.
He might get scolded by his superior later, but he could just confess while drinking, saying, “Still, I wanted to see the prince as a proud guardsman.”
[Achievement: Met Clyaan de Tatalia – Gained slight favor from all nobles serving the Tatalia royal family. Gained slight favor from Clyaan de Tatalia.]
As expected by Leo and as tracking art informed him, the prince was in the office.
The problem was… the prince was not alone.
“Who are you?”
There was a Swordmaster.
No, it would have been better if it had just been Count Herman Forte.
In the spacious office of the prince, on the opposite side of the table from Count Forte, sat a nobleman with his legs crossed. He was staring at Leo with a wine glass at his lips, and it had to be someone Leo never wanted to meet.
Thin yet dark eyebrows, ice-blue eyes that seemed frozen, and bloodless lips.
It was Marquis Benard Tatian.
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