===================
Both the second and third daughters headed towards the Marquisate of Hohenberg.
They must have followed that guy.
Barbarossa was not pleased with the sudden departure of his daughters without a word to their beloved father. It felt unpleasant, like being abandoned by his own flesh and blood.
“Hohenberg! Hohenberg! Hohenberg…!! Just hearing the name makes my insides boil!!”
A middle-aged man with a bushy mustache ground his teeth and slammed the table.
Bang!
Ink and pens spilled everywhere.
He couldn’t handle the iron-fisted frustration of the emperor.
If Otto, the head of the Hohenberg family, had seen this, he would have been shocked and thrown himself to the floor. The sight of Barbarossa, burning with rage, was one that belonged in a nightmare.
“Father, please calm down.”
Ahem!
A beautiful noblewoman with chestnut hair gently intervened with a smile.
Barbarossa showed signs of dissatisfaction but began to control his anger.
“Mila and Liza are adults now. Of course, Mila has been one for a while… Anyway, Father, it’s time to stop this overprotection.”
“Overprotection? The Valtarian Imperial Family is being played by the Hohenberg family’s scoundrel…!”
“That’s a hasty judgment. Nothing has happened so far, has it?”
“…….”
The soothing voice slowly quelled the volcanic anger bubbling inside him.
The once-violent emperor was now frozen in place.
If the ministers who always suffered under him had seen this, it would have left them speechless.
It was a miracle only possible because she was the eldest daughter of the imperial family.
Isabel von Valtaria.
The First Imperial Princess of the Valtarian Empire.
A countess of Mobia County and the countess of the Dvner family.
Perhaps because she resembled the late empress Karolina, whom he lost years ago, Barbarossa showed a surprising leniency towards Isabel despite his earlier anguish.
“Your eldest daughter hurried to see you because she was worried you might be lonely, right? Just calm down.”
“Ahem! Since you put it that way, I guess I’ll comply….”
The eldest daughter visiting the imperial palace and acting coy with her father seemed to calm Barbarossa, whose shock of being abandoned by his daughters quickly faded, his ferocious expression softening.
He couldn’t win against her after all.
He sighed heavily and muttered.
If his third daughter, Elizabeta, was the emperor’s “favorite finger,” then his eldest daughter, Isabel, was “particularly painful.”
Because Isabel was born with a physical flaw that rendered her infertile.
Though Barbarossa was always imposing, he felt a constant pang of guilt when it came to Isabel. He believed the severe karma from eliminating numerous political enemies in the past had affected Isabel while she was still in the womb.
“So, the second son of the Hohenberg family has been revealed as a Holy Sword user? I heard he saved Liza from a brutal Meiros.”
“Hero? More like a highway robber!”
Barbarossa vented his anger once more.
Isabel smiled, soothing her father.
It felt like a scene from Beauty and the Beast.
The maids watching their family tea time murmured among themselves.
“Isabel really resembles the late empress.”
“Really?”
Her lush chestnut hair and the gentle warmth in her hazel eyes.
She indeed looked like her.
It seemed she grew more and more like her with age.
Isabel was now thirty, meaning her resemblance to the empress would only increase.
After over a decade of service, the maids reminisced about someone long gone as they gazed at Isabel.
“It’s nice to finally gather for a meal with the family.”
“Mila and Liza will be so happy to hear you came!”
The gentle noblewoman clapped her hands in delight.
A smile blossomed on the emperor’s previously furrowed face.
“Is it true that Alexis is returning from the Holy Kingdom today?”
“He took the train yesterday, so he should arrive late today.”
Her younger brother, who had gone to study in the Gael Holy Kingdom, was set to return today.
Alexis Imperator Valtaria.
The news that the crown prince of the Valtarian Empire was returning stirred excitement in the imperial palace. The Imperial Guard was mobilized, surrounding the platform where the train would arrive.
He was the only prince who would one day inherit the vast empire.
Had the news spread already? The citizens of the palace were buzzing with preparations to welcome the crown prince.
“Mila’s lover will also arrive today… The palace will be bustling.”
“Lover? I never permitted that!”
Barbarossa reacted fiercely to Isabel’s playful comment.
No way.
He wouldn’t allow his daughters to be taken by such a notorious womanizer who had seduced both Mila and Liza… Barbarossa showed signs of an apoplectic fit, declaring he would never ally with the Hohenberg family.
*
Currently, Ludmilla was practically bursting with excitement.
She felt like humming a tune because the First Saintess, previously an eyesore and annoying figure, was temporarily staying in the Marquisate of Hohenberg. She didn’t know the reason, but merely the absence of that mischievous face was satisfying.
Elizabeta felt the same.
She decided to stay in the Marquisate to help the Luinongs, who had begun to coexist with humans. Perhaps it was a strong sense of responsibility that kept the Platinum Princess from leaving them behind.
‘Though I’ve never seen Liza as bothersome like the First Saintess… I suppose I’ll enjoy a little private train trip with Edanant.’
It was not precisely “just the two of us.”
Lue, Edanant’s partner, was also with them.
Let’s set the little kid aside for now.
In Ludmilla’s eyes, only Edanant was visible.
So, she decided it was a situation just between the two of them.
‘What a handsome face. Is it because he’s the brother of the legendary nobleman known as the Peerless Nobleman? I’ve seen many sons of prestigious families, but none come close to Edanant’s charm.’
She gazed fixedly at Edanant.
Currently, Edanant was stroking the sleeping Lue while looking out the window, allowing her to appreciate his striking appearance to the fullest.
Was it the spell of infatuation?
Ludmilla placed Edanant even above Maximilian, who boasted extreme plausibility.
If he heard that, he would have undoubtedly shown a ridiculous reaction.
But Ludmilla fixated on Edanant with almost obsessive admiration.
“Didn’t His Majesty mention that he loves hunting?”
“Th-That’s right… he enjoys it to a fanatical degree.”
Edanant turned his head to ask Ludmilla.
Suddenly, Ludmilla, having gotten distracted for a moment, stumbled over her words and lifted her head.
Did he catch me staring?
I thought I hadn’t gazed too overtly…
Nervousness flooded her, like a child caught sneaking a peek.
“Ah! You’ve mentioned you possess a natural talent for hunting!”
“You flatter me.”
“Then it’s the perfect opportunity to earn points with the emperor! Don’t worry; I know mucho about him!”
“…….”
Ludmilla’s red eyes sparkled as she exclaimed.
She even placed her hand on her chest to boast once more.
Gaining the emperor’s favor wouldn’t be too bad either, right?
Edanant was taken back by the strangely vigorous Ludmilla but nodded.
“First, we need to meet the emperor when we reach the Imperial City…”
“……!”
As Edanant and Ludmilla faced each other in their seats, they simultaneously wore stunned expressions before turning away.
It all happened in an instant.
Edanant grabbed the sleeping Lue.
And Ludmilla turned her shoulder and looked straight ahead.
Skreeeeech—!!!
The sound of an abrupt halt echoed.
Then the monorail, leading to the Imperial City, followed with the noise of metal grinding.
A powerful shock swept through the train.
Suddenly, the suppressed kinetic energy exploded, causing a jolt.
As Edanant held Lue with one hand, he lurched forward. He ended up unintentionally colliding with Ludmilla.
“Ugh…!”
Their faces almost touching.
If Edanant hadn’t grabbed the seat, their lips might have collided.
It almost turned into a situation that couldn’t be reversed.
Ludmilla’s face flushed bright red.
Heat rushed to her face as if she would explode at any moment.
The shock that rocked the train soon quelled. The train operator likely detected the sudden situation and hastily pulled the brakes.
Caught in an unexpected circumstance, Edanant and Ludmilla remained stiffly intertwined. Only the sound of their uneven breaths echoed.
If they bowed their heads now, their lips would meet…
The blonde princess swallowed hard and quietly stared at Edanant. The same went for Edanant. Only silence floated in this particularly charged atmosphere.
“Whoa…! Ah, what’s happening?!”
Suddenly, Lue woke up and screamed.
Rubbing her head with both hands, she shed a few tears.
“Your Highness, are you alright?”
“I-I’m fine! Ahem! Seems something has stirred up!”
Edanant opened his mouth.
Ludmilla awkwardly cleared her throat and replied.
The train running on the monorail came to a sudden stop.
Something had clearly gone wrong on the journey to the Imperial City.
Edanant and Ludmilla staggered as if they had synchronized their movements, feeling the loss of strength in their steps. Ludmilla, on the brink of losing her lips, stumbled to the floor.
“Your Highness…! I’m so sorry!”
A middle-aged man in a black uniform appeared along with the staff.
He was the train operator.
“What happened?”
Ludmilla, shaking off the dirt, asked while trying to hide her flushed face.
But the operator and staff seemed to think Ludmilla was suppressing her anger, trembling as if they were about to make a serious apology.
“I-I don’t know the exact details, but we received word that a mysterious explosion caused a break in the monorail.”
“Could it be another cultist’s doing?”
The break in the monorail had occurred.
The train operator’s quick judgment in pulling the emergency brakes was accurate.
If they had dawdled, a horrifying disaster of the train derailing could have occurred.
“Perhaps it isn’t the cultist’s fault.”
“What do you mean?”
Edanant said with a tense voice.
To which Ludmilla replied.
“To conduct a cunning plot to merely destroy the monorail is too flimsy and cowardly for cultists. If they were real cultists, they would have blown the whole train to bits.”
“…….”
It was overly petty and cowardly.
To have aimed at the Empire’s Red Dragon with such a half-hearted tactic?
No,
Maybe we are not the target at all.
We might have been unintentionally caught up in someone else’s assassination plot…
He let out a heavy sigh as he lifted Lue into his arms.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.