Book 2: Chapter 4
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The outer chamber should be called a palace or a castle as opposed an outer chamber. As soon as I entered, I was shocked when I found that the large chamber which was decorated resplendently and luxuriously. I had to go up flights of stairs to reach my room which was on the fourth floor. No, you didn’t misread that. This whole palace, this so-called outer chamber only had a single room which was mine. The other rooms were showrooms, living rooms or music rooms. There were also all sorts of pointless sets of armour and paintings hung up as decoration.
I’m living alone in this huge castle?! There are housekeepers and servants, but they all live underground. They don’t come up to the surface unless there’s something that requires their attendance.
I looked at the massive room before me that was like the size of two classrooms and flipped through the books on the table. I don’t know who prepared them but they were primarily literature books. The bed was much more exquisite and luxurious than the one at the elf nation. When I jumped onto the large mattress, it was like I got swallowed up by it…
Will I be able to wake up tomorrow if I spend the night sleeping on this bed…?
I lay on the bed, sighed and spaced out while looking at the roof above me. Humanity’s empire is a bit different to what I imagined. Actually, it’s more accurate to say that as a human myself, I find it hard to understand this place. I mean, for a mother who went to war with a neighbouring country for her kid, shouldn’t she be excited at the sight of seeing her son? This empress however virtually gave me the cold shoulder thereby putting me in a dilemma. On one hand, there’s a huge difference to what I expected. On the other hand, I’ll have a large degree of freedom while here.
Moreover, I just can’t feel at ease here. There’s the majestic empress and the cold female bodyguard. I think I’ll go nuts if I don’t find some sort of entertainment here. I don’t get much freedom in the elf nation, but running around in the palace with Lucia is fun. However, my Lucia isn’t here with me.
I’ve only got a cold female bodyguard…
Knock. Knock.
“Come in.”
I sat up as the door got pushed opened. The black-haired female bodyguard flicked her hair, looked at me, bowed and said: “Your majesty, her majesty has invited you to lunch with her. Please come with me.”
“Umm, Nier!”
Nier turned her head around and asked: “Is something the matter, your majesty?”
“Well, uhh… Is my outfit appropriate?”
I was wearing the clothes placed on my bed which really matched the empress’s tastes. It was a sky blue and white military uniform but slightly modified. It seemed like everybody here wore boots, but they were quite comfortable when worn. I don’t really know how to wear clothing made during this period properly. I just tried it on. I don’t know if it suits the occasion or not.
Nier looked at me and then walked up to me from the front. She reached out and adjusted my bow tie by my chest. I raised my head and my eyes made their way to Nier subconsciously who was very close up to me. Nier’s face is really pretty. Perfect actually, as if it were a statue with her features carved that way deliberately. But at the same time, her face lacked the compassion a statue lacks. Her eyes didn’t look as serious as the empress. She should look radiant if she were to smile like Lucia when she’s happy. She probably never uses perfumes, but she had an elegant fragrance on her.
“Done. Please pay attention to the position of your buttons and bow tie next time.”
Nier took a step back and turned around. Her army sabre hanging on her waist swung through the air dangerously as she turned. I was distracted for a moment. My sensitive senses given to me by the elves made me notice a drip of blood run down her scabbard dangerously. It wasn’t a large drop of blood. It was just a thin layer of blood, but that was evidence that Nier had just killed somebody.
I called her again: “Nier! What’s with the blood on your sword?”
Nier turned her head around and casually replied: “A maid entered her majesty’s room prior to receiving permission, so I killed her.”
I stared at her flabbergasted: “You killed her just because of that?!”
Nier looked at me and righteously said: “That’s right. Is that not enough? She barged into her majesty’s room without permission and even saw her majesty in that state, so I had to kill her to prevent her from spilling what she saw. I believe that was the right thing to do. I also believe that you don’t have the authority to criticise me because we Valkyries receive our orders directly from her majesty. You have no right to question us.”
Killing someone is no big deal to her. Killing people for her majesty was as normal as it gets. Her world view, philosophies and values are completely different to mine.
“……”
Alright, I’m speechless… What else can I say? If that’s what her majesty commanded you to do, then it also means she agreed to it. In other words, she’s as savage as my mom told me… I knew mom wouldn’t lie to me! My mom wasn’t maligning her, it’s the truth!!
I’m about to go and have lunch with a wolf!!
“Please come with me, your majesty, we’re running late and making her majesty wait.”
“Okay!!”
I was scared… This was no longer about freedom but my life itself!! Humanity is scary! I want to return to the elves! Mom doesn’t let me go out, but she’d only spank me if I angered her. She wouldn’t even think of killing me! I stayed with the elves for only a month and mom only got angry once. She didn’t burn Lucia to death either. But in just an hour after arriving here, someone’s already been killed!
Right now in the dining hall…
The empress paced back and forth in the dining hall, biting her thumbnail as she looked around the dining hall. The head chef looked at her anxious expression and asked: “Are you feeling really nervous, your majesty?”
“Yeah… My son is about to get here… What do I need to prepare…? Hmmm… The wine has been prepared, right…? The dishes are ready as well, right…? Oh… That’s right! I… I need to get him some auspicious meat stew… And there was also… Right! Wine… Wine… What shall I wish him…? I… I wish you the best of health? I hope that you grow up soon? No. No. He’s already eighteen years, two months and fifteen days old already… He’s already an adult…”
“The prince has arrived…”
“Kyaaah!!”
The empress who was in deep thought got a fright from the sudden voice that spoke out. She rushed towards the main seat and settled down. She took a deep breath, gently rubbed her face and softly said: “It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared… Don’t be nervous, he’s your own son. He’s your son. Calm down, calm down… What should a normal mother do?!!!”
That’s right. The empress has always been a swordswoman. She led the cavalry against enemy armies many times when she was eighteen years old. Her accolades from war are incomparably glorious. Her accomplishments far supersede the emperors before her.
However, she has no idea how to carry out the duties of a proper qualified mother.
“This is the dining hall. I hope you and her majesty enjoy your meal.”
“Aren’t you coming in with me?!”
Nier gave me a weird look and said: “It’s your lunch with her majesty, I can’t enter. If you need me for something, just call for me.”
No… That’s not it… I’m not asking you to eat with me. The thought of eating alone with her majesty scares me and makes me tense.
At that time, I had no idea that right now, behind this white door inlaid with gold and pearls, was somebody who was even more tense and nervous than I was…