Volume 2 Chapter 81 Maribel Danofen II
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
As Maribel climbed into the carriage, her golden hair swayed, revealing her nape.
(Owl’s feather…?)
”Kian? What’s wrong?”
”…No. I will close the door.”
”Yes, please do.”
He closed the black-painted carriage door.
The interior was newer and more comfortable than the carriages he had ridden before.
As Kian sat across from the golden-haired young princess, he sensed Shield Cain, the horseman, lumbering to the front of the carriage.
”It’s not like a horse, but will it sway?”
”I wonder. I’ve never even seen a carriage pulled by a Bloodsucking Kind.”
”Somehow, I feel a bit excited!”
Maribel said with a gentle smile, just as she always did.
However, Owl’s feather he had spotted on her nape earlier was troubling him.
She comes from noble blood, so she possesses a great deal of magic power, and wears expensive rings, bracelets, and hair ornaments to protect herself from curses and assassinations.
Even if Owl is a powerful magician, it seems impossible to continuously control her with hypnotic suggestion──
’That princess over there is not being controlled. It seems she is merely under some kind of magical shadow influence.’
(How is that different from being brainwashed or hypnotized?)
’For example, how do you feel when you hear the exhilarating music of battle?’
(It depends on the quality of the music, but I would feel excited.)
’What if you heard a beautiful love poem from a bard?’
(I would feel romantic, I guess.)
When Kian answered this, ‘glasses’ nodded, “Hmm.”
’Magic is a powerful word. To be stirred by speeches or songs can be considered the most primitive form of magic. Princess Maribel is under a spell that encourages her to bare herself──acting boldly and true to her nature. The feathers of Owl allow one to sense a phantom shadow through them. By channeling energy (ki) through the feathers, she has become more positive and proactive than usual.’
(In other words… is it the same kind of state as when I’m weaving black history while wearing ‘glasses’?)
’Indeed. It’s an enhancement support spell, so magic resistance likely hasn’t activated, and Princess Maribel probably accepts i
(I see… so that’s why she seemed a bit different at the ball.)
’Just as you exposed yourself, she was revealing her true self. Didn’t I tell you? That princess, while pretending to be innocent, is actually very careful and cunning──a true noblewoman.’
(……)
”Kian?”
As he fell silent during the conversation with ‘glasses’, Maribel peered down at him with a worried expression. Leaning forward, her pale pink dress loosened at the chest.
Under the faint orange light of the mineral hanging from the ceiling, her chest appeared shrouded in shadow.
A flat chest.
However, there was the slightest feminine curve, with soft flesh naturally drooping down due to gravity.
A strand of hair, like golden threads, fell delicately over the front of her dress.
(Is this calculated, or is it unconscious?)
”…No, it’s nothing.”
”Perhaps you feel awkward being with me?”
”That is not the case.”
”I’m feeling it. I fear you might dislike me over tonight.”
”I’m merely an outsider, so I was quite lost at the ball, just staring blankly. To my embarrassment, I only felt that Your Excellency and others were speaking in a different atmosphere than usual.”
”Hehe. Even though it’s the border court, everyone is an actor, you see. The side of me that Kian usually sees is merely one aspect.”
”Your Excellency,”
”Please call me Maribel.”
”Your Excellency Maribel, what compelled you to treat Sir McCutchen in such a manner? Was tonight entirely at your discretion?”
”It’s a difficult question. It can’t be explained in a word or 2. This is because you are unaware of my circumstances and the affairs of the noble class on the borders.”
Outside, Shield Cain sets the carriage in motion.
Clatter-clatter-clatter.
Thanks to Renaud’s family maintaining the street, the carriage begins to move with far less shaking than expected.
Blending with the sound of the wheels turning and the wood creaking, Maribel began to speak softly.
”First, regarding tonight, I did not act for the sake of avenging my father’s enemies. I had no intention of taking the lives of Waterman or Katze either. When I was asked by Eleonora, I claimed that the chaos caused by Owl and Archbishop Homolka’s actions were all my responsibility, but that was entirely a lie.”
”So, are you saying that Mr. Owl, Archbishop Homolka, and Lady Natasha were merely used as vessels to wrest power from Sir McCutchen?”
”I believe they think they used me. Owl’s situation is unique, but both Homolka and Natasha are undoubtedly assisting me to seize power from McCutchen. Do you know who the head of the religious world in our country is?”
”It’s the king. In the borderlands, it is practically the Margrave. This system has continued since hundreds of years ago when the western countries gathered to create the Western Church to combat the minions of darkness.”
”That’s right. The Pope of the Western Church in the center and the Archbishop stationed in this border area are merely subordinate institutions of the king. Appointments and dismissals are made by the political leaders. They also have lands in the Holy Domain from which they collect taxes, but the religious leaders are individuals influenced by the political world. They cannot easily oppose the king, for they could be removed at any moment.”
For Homolka, who was placed in such a position, McCutchen, who was making a big show of politics by borrowing the influence of the Danofen family, was the object of jealousy and hatred.
If Homolka had been a less greedy person, McCutchen would not have been betrayed.
However, Homolka’s desires extended beyond being the top of the border’s religious world.
His swollen desires ended up burning the old steward.
”Once this matter settles, Homolka demanded that the land and troop limits that the border’s Western Church can hold, as well as the spending limits for Church Knights’ armaments, be raised. I accepted those conditions and drew Homolka to our side. Natasha is somewhat similar. She was born into a middle-class merchant family, graduated from the royal capital’s academy after hard study, and started serving as Head Magician under Godfrey. However, McCutchen disliked her and refused to offer her many rewards. Natasha’s goal is the land she can collect taxes from and the noble title I can give her. Although it’s merely a lower-rank title, she desires this title more than anything.”
”Does she want that noble status so badly?”
”Oh, Kian. Are you the one to say that? The person unjustly exiled from the country due to a fortunate birth?”
”──. I’ve been an adventurer for a long time, so I don’t have a territory.”
”That’s a lie.”
Maribel said this as she stood up from her seat, placing her hands on Kian’s knees and leaning forward.
In the swaying carriage, the deep blue eyes of the blonde princess sparkled.
The smell of sweat after a day of moving around.
Perhaps due to her nervousness at the ball, a slightly stronger scent wafted from her armpits.
Her rose-colored lips whispered at close range.
”Before, you told me that you won’t serve those who cannot give you what you desire. That makes perfect sense. Owl, Oswald, Renaud, and Aisha all obey me at least on the surface because they have their desires. I gave up on McCutchen because it couldn’t provide that. ──It’s quite simple.”
”──────. Are you trying to seduce me with your charms?”
”Well, if it’s Kian, I wouldn’t mind giving you my virginity.”
”You’re joking. I’m a Lower-rank adventurer. I’m no different from the thugs out there.”
”Are you serious? You are the first son of Azrael’s Twelve Divine Generals, and you possess the power to stand equal with the 3 knights of the proud ‘Knights of the Sun’ of our nation.”
”That’s an overstatement.”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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