CH 12

When I visited the Galleria Empire for the first time, even a small town---far from the imperial capital---was beautifully surrounded by colorful flowers.

They also decorated the entrance to the city with fresh flowers, and the townspeople were replacing dying flowers with new ones.

As I drove the horse-drawn carriage down the brick-paved street, I pulled back the curtain and noticed that various flowers were growing in the planters above.

The whole town was decorated with beautiful flowers, probably because it was in the middle of a particular flower festival.

"Wow, how beautiful..."

As Mariabelle gazed happily out the window, her father, James, breathed a sigh of relief.

The entire family was worried about Mariabelle, who, despite feeling much better emotionally, had lost more weight than she had ever before.

"I wish my mother was here with us..."

Mariabelle felt bad for her mother and brother, who were at the estate.

I thought we'd all go to the flower festival, but that's not possible because it's in another country.

If no one from the Marquisate of Berkeley remained in the country, in the worst case, the king would interpret their actions as an exile.

Mariabelle reflected on the fact that she had been so caught up in the idea of going abroad for the first time with them that she hadn't even considered such a thing.

Normally, her brother should have stayed in the royal capital by himself, but for some reason, he had returned to the estate with his father just as the social season was about to begin.

However, Mariabelle didn't dare to ask him about it.

She could guess to some extent from the rumors she naturally heard, but rumors are just that: rumors.

They will certainly tell her someday when she needs to know.

"Do you know what the Galleria Flower Festival is like?" asked his father, James, sitting across from her in the carriage. His question reminded Mariabelle of something she had once learned.

"Both men and women wear broad-cut hats with artificial flowers as decorations, right?"

"Those flowers are the ones they receive. In the past, they used to display real flowers instead of artificial ones, but they wilted quickly, so they changed to artificial flowers like the ones we have now. At first glance, some of them look like ordinary flowers, so it's quite impressive."

"Well, father, I will give you flowers that look just like the real thing for your hat."

"...I don't want to wear a hat full of flowers at my age, so I'll just need one."

James, with a bitter look on his face, had a well-defined face like an aristocrat.

He looks like he would look good in a hat decorated with flowers, Mariabelle thought, but she didn't say so.

"The color of the flowers has meaning, doesn't it?"

"Yes," he said. "White flowers are for the national celebration, yellow flowers are for family and friends, and red flowers are for lovers."

"Then, I must decorate your hat with many yellow flowers."

"...In moderation"

As soon as she arrives at the inn, Mariabelle will start picking yellow flowers. Just thinking about it made her smile.

James saw this and was relieved.

This trip wasn't meaningless, after all.

Of course, it was to heal Mariabelle's heart, but he also didn't want to leave his daughter in the kingdom.

Naturally, the crown prince's abrupt cancellation of the engagement caused chaos in the royal court.

He might have been able to get it withdrawn with ease if he had been given advance notice, but James didn't hear about it from the king until Mariabelle's engagement was called off by Edward.

The reason James, the father of one of the parties, had not heard anything about it was due to the manipulations of the Duchy of Danzel, which was in conflict with the Marquisate of Berkeley.

The Duchy of Danzel was actively engaged in trade and had been lobbying the king to import more wheat from the West, which was of lower quality than that of the Marquisate of Berkeley, but cheaper.

James insisted that the country should not be dependent on imports for its staple food, wheat, but the king easily supported Duke Danzel's idea, saying that if the people could buy cheaper wheat, life would become easier.

If domestic consumption fell, the Marquisate of Berkeley would also suffer a slight blow, but if that happened, they could start doing business with the Galleria Empire.

This time, I would like to start talking about that in secret with the other aristocrats.

But this was just an afterthought.

Right now, the royal court is a place full of confusion, making it hard to keep track.

Edward's new fiancée, a commoner's daughter, has yet to be educated, and finally, Mrs. Dudley has resigned from the royal court because she has become ill.

However, the truth was that Annette had told Edward that she wanted to quit because she could no longer stand Mrs. Dudley's strict teachings.

Now, only those who play sweet-talking games are left in the palace.

Some of them even said that if he really wanted Annette to be queen, he should make Mariabelle, to whom he could entrust his political affairs, his concubine.

As expected, the king denied this, but James could feel the king's heart swaying even slightly toward the idea of having Mariabelle marry someone else and then divorce her. He wanted to have her as a side consort instead of an official queen, based on the kingdom's law that a woman who has been married once cannot become queen.

Soon after, Simon Lent, Edward's aide, came to ask permission to ask Mariabelle to marry him.

Since Edward had also broken off his engagement with Mariabelle, saying that he had found true love, he would not insensitively ask her to become a concubine now, but one never knows what might happen in the current royal court.

I suspect that there is something behind Simon's marriage proposal.

And although it sounds good to say that Edward is an honest man, he is a bit easily swayed by other people's opinions.

He was not happy to hear that Mariabelle would be happier that way.

The carriage, in which Mariabelle and James were riding, soon arrived at the largest inn in the city.

Taking James' hand as he dismounted first, Mariabelle noticed an unfamiliar figure standing behind her father.

The tall knight with dark hair and blue eyes relaxed just a little when his eyes met Mariabelle's.

It was probably a knight sent by the empire...

Mariabelle's eyes were instantly drawn to his beauty, but she went straight to the inn, believing her father would introduce him to her later.