Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Tea Party

Ferda is a noble.
He was born into the Rosnova Knight Family.
His title is Viscount, and he was a vassal to Duke Houston.
As an honorable knight family, Ferda had received a strict education in basic etiquette.
Although he was cast out of his family under the pretext of being the Duke’s fiancé, he stubbornly became an Archmage and attained a status no less than that of the High Nobility.
Yet such a Ferda, in reality, was far removed from socializing.
In the Rosnova Family, he had no opportunities due to being an illegitimate child, and when he was an Archmage, he refused to mingle.
“Since I did not even touch what others prepared.”
After nearly being poisoned several times, he did not touch food prepared by others.
Even when his body became immune to poison, it was the same.
Instead of deepening human relations, his strategy was to tear them apart with hatred and discard them.
Thus, this was the first tea party in Ferda’s life.
The time was 1 hour before the tea party,
— This is the gallery where Ferda-nim and the Master will be able to enjoy various leisure activities after marriage. The tea party will be held here.
Ruri guided Ferda to the rendezvous spot first and informed him of things one by one.
Given that escorting was Ferda’s role, she made him aware of the surroundings as much as possible.
Ferda turned his gaze toward the terrace.
— It is a place where the West is visible.
— It is arranged so that you may concentrate solely on entertainment.
The sensation was certainly different.
The Devil’s Land, where even the sunlight appears gloomy, naturally deepens one’s thoughts, yet this place simply felt peaceful.
It was the perfect place to feel leisure while observing the sunset.
— And the tea party will be held here.
Two chairs and a table placed to enjoy the terrace scenery.
Upon it were two teacups matching the number of people, a tiered tray treated with cooling magic, and decorated desserts.
They were splendid and things he had never seen before.
— What are these sweets?
— Macarons, Mont Blancs, pastries… they have various names. I selected 20 kinds from among more than 150 types of desserts that can be crafted by pastry chefs selected from the Imperial House.
— I see.
Thinking that she had taken considerable trouble, he tried to move on, but Ferda suddenly reflected on what she had said.
That she selected them personally means… .
— Does that mean you tasted them yourself?
— Is it not obvious?
— All 150 types?
When he emphasized that, Ruri made an expression of displeasure.
— I know what you are thinking. Do you think I ate them to satisfy my own gluttony?
— Is it not obvious?
Ferda answered honestly.
Since he had seen Ruri deliciously eating honey-preserved sweets in Escolea, he could not deny it.
Ruri furrowed her brow deeply.
— You are having rude thoughts. I made many preparations for this tea party. I worried over whether I had forgotten something, tasted them once more, and strictly selected them to serve. There is no work like this work, and do you not understand it?
All I hear is that she ate 300 desserts.
An expressionless face that would fool ordinary people.
Even the suspicious Ferda would have been fooled by that impassive face.
If only she had not made a fatal mistake.
— You have powdered sugar on your lips.
At Ferda’s words, Ruri wiped her lips with her finger.
White powder came from her mouth.
She glanced sideways at it and naturally popped it into her mouth.
— I only needed to discern whether there was poison or not. The Master will not succumb to poor-quality poisons, but Ferda-nim is human.
— I see.
— You do not believe me. You are not treating me like a pig, are you?
— By no means are you a pig. Your loyalty is like that of a dog… if I had to say.
Ferda nodded slightly.
— Then you are a dog-pig.
— Please let me hit you just once. I beg you like this.
Ruri with her face boiling with anger.
For Ferda, who disliked pain, there was no reason to say such things.
Then Ruri looked at the sun and stepped back.
The appointment time was drawing near.
— I will go bring the Master. Meanwhile…
Ruri cast a fierce glare.
— Please do not touch the tray.
— Do not worry.
Because I am not like you.
Ruri stepped out through the gallery door to bring Valdrova.
Ferda waited in silence for Valdrova.
“This will be the second encounter.”
The encounter in Ferda’s memory was merely seeing her face properly.
At the first engagement ceremony, he only saw her chin, and when she could not control her Blood Qi, Ferda was out of his senses.
This was the first time having a proper conversation.
“First… uh.”
The sudden sensation left him perplexed.
“What should I say first…?”
Ferda touched his lips with his hand.
If it were a normal gathering, he would have simply blended naturally into the atmosphere.
The reason for this encounter now stemmed from Valdrova’s anxiety.
And Ferda had no answer for that.
So he called a man with experience in this area, Jed Swallow.
— That, huh? It is best to simply pretend you do not know.
Jed Swallow.
He was a man who seduced many women while acting as a member of the Swallow Tribe.
— You do not need to explain, just show it through actions. There is no need to unnecessarily ruin the mood with depressing talk, right? Just pretend you do not know and liven up the atmosphere.
Ferda thought it made sense.
It would be good to apologize for having seemed fed up, but he would not want a depressing atmosphere at a tea party like this.
“Pretending not to know might be the most correct course.”
Not bringing the issue to light was also a method.
The important thing was, ultimately, ensuring that Grand Duchess Valdrova did not feel anxiety.
Ferda gathered his courage and waited for her.
— The Master is entering.
Ruri’s voice was heard from outside the door.
At the same time, the door opened.
Ferda brought out his prepared greeting and welcomed her.
— Welcome—.
Ferda’s words were cut short.
As much as he was Ferda, he could not help feeling taken aback at the sight.
Red hair with golden eyes.
Her face, so beautiful that even a single painting would be a sacrilege to contain it.
It was not there.
“A Dragon Knight?”
What entered through the door was a single Dragon Knight.
A helmet and armor designed to stimulate the innate fear of humans.
Of course, instead of that fear, bewilderment took its place for Ferda.
At the same time, he felt a sense of déjà vu from that armor.
“Where did I see it… ah, it was at the engagement ceremony.”
It was the armor he saw when he stepped out after spilling the engagement wine and receiving a scolding.
That means the one inside is definitely Valdrova.
Why did she come out wearing that armor?
Ferda looked at Ruri, who was standing behind her.
Their eyes met.
Ruri watched silently and then shook her head.
It was a gesture that said please do not ask.
Concluding his thoughts, Ferda bowed politely once again.
— It is a pleasure to meet you, my King.
Then, both hands were gathered demurely and the dragon-headed helmet nodded lightly forward.
Her behavior felt like that of an awkward young lady who had just debuted in high society.
A metallic clatter.
She stepped onto the carpet with rigid movements and sat across from Ferda.
The chair creaked—.
The chair cried out.
Despite the considerably heavy armor, the chair held up well without breaking.
“As if nothing happened…”
Ferda recalled Jed’s advice and opened his mouth.
— I am truly delighted that you proposed this meeting first.
Nod.
The only response was a single nod.
An awkward silence surrounded them.
Everything came to a halt centering around that silence.
A cold sweat ran down, and breathing grew difficult.
Ferda tried to steer the conversation, opening his mouth with difficulty.
— It is an armor worthy of the Dragon’s Aspect.
Nod.
She responded by nodding her head once more.
— How have you been?
— …..
He brought up a topic that could not be avoided without conversation.
Valdrova made a circle with her index finger and thumb.
— It was fine. That is a relief.
Nod.
Ferda felt like he was dying.
He wanted to sigh and ease the tension, but he did not even dare to do so.
His tense chest boiled, but it only made him feel suffocated like a hermetically sealed pot.
Meanwhile, Ruri poured tea into the cups, thoroughly playing her role as a backdrop.
I need to replenish the moisture in my parched throat.
Ferda picked up his cup.
“Now that I think about it, did the helmet have a hole for drinking?”
He suddenly observed how she would do it.
She simply sat there, her gaze cast down at the floor.
— Can you eat and drink wearing that armor?
— …..
She brushed her helmet, then tapped the lip area.
And suddenly lifted her head as if realizing something.
As if she had not thought that far ahead.
— How about taking it off?
She shook her head vehemently!
She refused vigorously.
One could perceive a determination not to show her face no matter what.
Ferda, who tried to continue the conversation as if nothing were amiss, also began to find this awkward atmosphere difficult.
“She proposed a tea party, yet she neither eats nor drinks…”
If only they had conversed, it would have been less awkward, but she even refused to converse.
“As expected, she is angry.”
Valdrova had made Ferda believe she was fed up with him until now.
After making her feel anxious, he is acting frivolous here.
He is truly a hopeless bastard.
That is why Ferda decided to apologize to her.
— I am sorry.
A clatter!
Valdrova’s armor shook violently.
— That I caused the Grand Duchess worry, and then acted with such levity… It was a pathetic thought. I should have apologized first… .
— …..
— You may criticize me. Since I was the wrongdoer, whatever you say—.
— I-it is not that!
Ferda was startled.
A loud sound resonated from inside the helmet.
There was a discrepancy in her tone, but what surprised him was something else.
The voice itself.
What erupted from the helmet was a warrior’s voice, deep and low.
— T-that is…
Valdrova also seemed surprised by her own voice, covering the mouth area of the helmet.
— T-that… me, not speaking… it is not that I am angry, and it is not that Ferda did anything wrong.
The head of the fearsome Dragon Knight twiddled with her fingers as if she were embarrassed.
— T-that… I just c-could not speak with Ferda… I just c-could not answer… t-that is all…
— Ah.
Ferda then remembered one thing.
It was what Ruri told him at the engagement ceremony.
“Anthropophobia.”
She finds humans difficult.
Right.
Even knowing that, why did I think she was angry?
I was too focused on my own matters and forgot what she had.
— I am sorry. My thoughts were shallow. Please forgive me.
— No. I am the one who is sorry… Calling you here and keeping my mouth shut… .
— No, I… .
Only repeating apologies to one another, the conversation suddenly cut off.
In the depressed atmosphere, Ferda did not dare open his mouth.
He secretly searched to see if there was any magic that could break this silence.
— T-that…
Valdrova, who had managed to speak, brought up a topic of conversation with difficulty.
— The reason I am wearing this armor…
Ferda waited for her to finish speaking.
— Ruri… said that my expression shows everything.
Ferda tilted his head at that answer.
— What do you mean by your expression showing everything?
— When I am in human form… she says everything shows on my face. So… I was not sure what expression I would make upon seeing Ferda…
She hesitated and finally finished her words.
— So I put it onnnn.
The end of her words trailed off in an embarrassed sigh, and Valdrova covered her mouth with both hands.
— It is really… s-stupid… right?
The deep warrior’s voice trembled delicately.
Observing her behavior, one could feel with certainty.
How difficult it was for her to hide her emotions.
“Truly…”
Being unable to hide means being pure.
Because she is so pure, even if she wears armor and emits low sounds, she could not hide even the essence she felt in her heart.
“Beautiful.”
That is why she is beautiful.
Ferda answered her question.
— That is not true. I am also trembling right now, at this very moment.
Valdrova lifted her head and looked at Ferda.
It felt as if her eyes were scanning him.
— Lie.
Valdrova said that.
— Pardon?
— You say that, but it does not seem like you are trembling much… I am stuttering and all, but Ferda looks fine.
— It is because I want to look good. I am forcefully pretending not to tremble.
— Is that so?
She reacted as if she could not understand.
Since Valdrova revealed her embarrassment, now it was Ferda’s turn to reveal his.
— The reason I have not seen you lately is because I was also afraid.
— Of what?
— Darkness dwells in the mana within me.
— Darkness…?
— Yes. Darkness dwells in my mana. So I worried that Darkness might harm Your Highness. That is why…
Ferda’s eyes turned toward her again.
His blue eyes shone like sapphires.
— I did not have the confidence to face you.
— …..
There was no answer.
Valdrova, upon hearing those words, twiddled her fingers and repeated the act of clenching and unclenching her fist.
An action as if she were repressing overflowing emotions.
— Ferda…
And a restrained voice.
— Were you worried about me?
— Yes. Was I presumptuous?
— No. That is… a little… because I am happy…
Only then was it revealed.
That all those actions belonged to a delicate woman.
— Does that make you happy?
The menacing helmet nodded lightly.
— Until now, except for Ruri, I never thought anyone worried about me… People believe I am strong. In reality, I am. But… Ferda fears that I might get hurt? So… that is strangely… nice.
She placed her hand upon her chest and collected her emotions.
— What Ferda gave me that time…
The day she suffered from uncontrollable Blood Qi,
— What I felt… was a sensation I had never experienced even once.
Valdrova recalled the memory of that day with a voice immersed in emotion.
— Something warm and comforting circulating inside my body… I think if someone hugged me, it would feel like that. Something like that could not harm me, right?
— Is it… so?
— Yes.
Hands twiddling again.
Legs squirming.
Unlike the solemn tone, the childish actions stood out too much.
— Just being like this makes me so happy. This moment before Ferda is so happy… It is so happy that…
Valdrova’s voice cut off abruptly.
— Ah.
As if realizing something she was not conscious of.
— Are you all right?
— T-that… I am sorry, but… c-can I… s-stand up…?
— Yes?
— T-that… I… t-this is… m-more… m-more… I… I will sc-scream… so it will be a nuisance… I a-am s-sorry… s-sorry…
Valdrova, trembling uncontrollably, did not know what to do,
— I am sooorryyy!
With an apology, she threw herself onto the terrace.
Ferda and Ruri merely watched in silence toward that spot.
At first glance, a dizzyingly distant height from the ground.
Yet no one thought that Valdrova would get hurt.
Ruri, who had only been standing as a backdrop, opened her mouth.
— Well, with this, I suppose we can say the tea party was a success.
She popped a dessert from the tiered tray into her mouth.
Ferda looked toward where she fell and reflected on her words.
“True.”
And suddenly he realizes.
“Valdrova was such a trivial woman.”
A pure woman who could not even properly look at her fiancé’s face.
Such a woman acted forcefully as the King under the weight she bore.
“Yet the world is not easy.”
He knows it too.
As if even that triviality were too much for her, things attempt to suppress her.
Monsters swarming,
The corruption of the Empire,
Her past,
All of it tested her and oppressed her constantly.
“I swore it.”
To protect what she loves and grant what she merely wished for.
That the name of Valdrova would finally be reborn not as a synonym for fear, but as a name of joy.
For that, what Ferda needed was resolve.
“Sometimes with audacity.”
Ruthlessly if necessary.
The fear that he might harm Valdrova could no longer make him hesitate.
The sense of duty turned into fuel and ignited his fading heart.
The next day, Ferda called Jed and spoke to him about his plan.
Upon hearing that tale, Jed asked this.
— Are you in your right mind?
It was a considerably rude remark, yet surprisingly, it was the phrase Jed chose after much deliberation.
Ferda’s plan was just that absurd.
— Are you going to rob the Imperial Vault?