CH 150

“Raidorl Zain……”

Mariastella repeated the name in a sighing tone.

It’s a name she’s been hearing a lot for the past few months.

A tragic prince who was born as the younger brother of King Granard of Zain, and was banished to the frontier for some reason.

In the last war, he was the hero who defeated the invading army of the west of the empire with the holy sword Dáinsleif in his hand and brought victory to the kingdom of Zain.

He is also an enemy of Mariastella’s half-sister, Célia Von Althlein, who is being held as a prisoner of war.

“Aaa, don’t worry about Célia.”

Zacharias reassured Mariastella with a wave of his hand from side to side.

“We have already made peace with the Kingdom of Zain. It’s not a complete vassal state but we obtain a reliable ally. They’ve also released Célia. I’m sure she’s on her way to the Empire by now”

“I see……that’s good to hear.”

Mariastella is relieved.

As the first princess, Mariastella is responsible for organising the other princesses, and Célia is her little sister. When Célia lost the war and was taken prisoner, she was worried for her safety.

“Hmmm …… Célia, she’s safe. Isn’t that great?”

In contrast to Mariastella’s relief, a third voice interrupts her, sounding somewhat bored.

The owner of the voice is a woman who is sitting on a soft sofa with her cheek resting on the table. Her golden hair is rolled vertically, and she looks vaguely similar to Célia.

She has a slender body and wears an elaborate pink dress with jeweled ornaments all over.

The name of the woman, who was dressed in the most luxurious way possible for an imperial princess, was Beatrice von Althlein. She was the older sister of Célia, who shared her mother with her.

Beatrice’s face is gracefully elevated by a fan made of peacock feathers, and her pouting lips show no sign of joy at her sister’s safety.

“I don’t care about her. What kind of a man is this Raidorl? I would marry him if he was good-looking and rich, and if he loved only me and let me live in luxury.”

“Well, he’s not bad to look at, but……he’s got a womanizing streak. As the saying goes, even heroes have trouble overcoming the hurdle that is beautiful members of the opposite sex.”

“Oh, well, I’ll pass then.”

Beatrice hides her face with her fan and turns her head in the direction of the day after tomorrow, as if the conversation is over.

Mariastella’s eyes narrow at her sister’s disrespect for the emperor, but Zacharias is unconcerned and turns to the other princess: “Well, that’s a pity.”

“How about you, Eician?”

“………….”

The person asked is a young woman in her late teens. She has flaming red hair that runs down her back and, in contrast to Beatrice, she wears a simple dress with few ornaments.

Her dignified face makes her look like a thin man dressed as a woman – her name is Eician Von Althlein.

She is the daughter of the legitimate queen of Zacharias, an imperial princess who would have stood higher than Mariastella if only by her mother’s status.

“………….”

Standing at the window, Eician  slowly opens her mouth after a long silence.

“I don’t think I should go……I am not a very strong woman. If I were to marry in an unfamiliar place, I would soon fall ill and cause trouble for my husband-to-be.”

“Mmmm ……, is that so? I think the Kingdom of Zain is warmer and better for you than here.”

“No……. It is too much for a weak girl like me to marry the holder of the Holy Sword. A weak girl like me is not strong enough to support the one who will become a hero. Please choose someone else”

Despite the plausibility of her reasoning,……Eician’s face is plastered with a cold disgust.

The way Eician looked at Zacharias was not the way a daughter would have looked at his father. It was as if she was looking at a scorpion.

This is because from the bottom of her heart Eician hates her father, Zacharias, and the legendary weapon that is the Holy Sword.

Eician had a brother who shared her mother.

His brother’s name was Gilbert Von Althlein . He was the first prince of the Empire of Alsatian, but was killed in an unsuccessful coup d’etat against Zacharias when he was about to be removed from the throne.

Eician has a deep affection for her brother and an extraordinary hatred for his father, who murdered him.

And – “If you hate the priest, you hate the vestments”. Her hatred for Zacharias, the owner of the Durandal sword, extended to other sword holders as well.

She had never met this Raidorl in person, but to be married to the same sword-bearer as his father was something that Eician could not forgive even in death.

“I see, you don’t like it either, do you?”

The look from his daughter was clearly hatred and murderous intent, but Zacharias stroked his chin with an indifferent face.

“Then…… Carolia. What about you?”

“Aa, you mean me? I can’t, I can’t! Absolutely not!!”

It was a girl in her mid-teens with brown hair tied back behind her head who rejected her father’s advances with a wave of her hands.

Carolia Steer Althlein. She is the daughter of a concubine who married from a vassal state, and is the youngest of the four princesses present.

“I can’t …..marry a prince from another country who holds a holy sword. …… I can’t, I can’t, I’m so nervous my heart will stop.”

“Oh, …… right. I’m sorry. That’s fine.”

Seeing his daughter like a small animal with a predator staring at her, Zacharias did not ask for more.

After being rejected by three daughters in a row, he shrugged his shoulders in annoyance.

“Oioi, Raidorl may be the young royal brother, but he has the capacity to eventually become the king of Zain. In other words, the woman who will be his consort is the future queen. You don’t have to be so cruel to him!”

Zacharias looks at Beatrice, Eician and Carolia in turn, but…..the three girls casually avert their gaze.

In the first place, the Alsatian Empire is the largest on the continent. If you are a member of its royal family, even if you are the youngest, you will have a much richer life than the royalty of other countries.

There is no merit in marrying into a country of lower rank and becoming queen.

Of course – if Zacharias, as emperor, gave the order, they could not refuse it.

However, the princess knows that the belligerent and ruthless emperor has a strangely human and sweet disposition when not involved in battle.

They knew that Zacharias would not force his daughter to marry a man she did not like.