Chapter 27: Because it is Embarrassing

Count Consilus asked in surprise.

“The regent? Do you mean… Valdrova’s fiancé?”

“We do not know the details, but… it is certain that he has ability if he managed to convince Stephan Pascal, the head of the branch. He is not someone who is easily persuaded by simple titles or positions.”

“Ah…”

An empty sigh escaped from Count Consilus’s lips.

Perda Valdrova.

What image did he have now?

The worst possible.

Until now, the only thing he had done was watch and threaten the regional lords.

Because of that, discontent among the local lords had been accumulating.

‘That brat… was negotiating with the Pascal Trading Company?’

It surprised him that, without anyone knowing, he had reached an agreement with the Pascal Trading Company.

And the second thing that surprised him was—

‘And he did not do it for personal ambition.’

If he had wanted to satisfy his personal ambition, it would have been enough for him to focus on Valdrova Castle.

Trying to activate commerce meant seeking the development of the stagnant and isolated territories.

That was something very far from a selfish interest.

‘What kind of conditions did he offer?’

The territories under Duchess Valdrova had no value.

To block the monsters, the forests spread densely in front of the battlefront.

Even if trees were cut down to create farmland, the most that could be obtained were meager harvests of emergency crops.

Furthermore, every year the front line retreated, leaving the land more and more devastated.

Even if those lands were given away, people responded this is too much and withdrew.

That was the image of the far east.

That meant that Perda had offered conditions capable of overcoming all those disadvantages.

‘No lord… could do something like that.’

It did not matter if what he had shown was a lie or something absurd.

What mattered was that it had worked.

Consilus decided to do what corresponded first.

“Enter. Organize the carriages and rest today. I will listen to the plan later.”

“Thank you, count.”

The man blew a whistle and the carriages of the Pascal Trading Company began to enter one by one.

Consilus raised his gaze toward the mountain that rose over the sky after passing through the dark forest.

“Lord Regent…”

His voice was full of emotion.

Today, Count Consilus pronounced that name as if he had witnessed an extraordinary being who had emerged from the darkness.

Consilus knelt in that direction and showed respect.

“My lord?”

Arwen was surprised by that sudden gesture.

But he soon understood its meaning and also knelt looking in the same direction.

Then one more.

And another more.

One after another.

They knelt and paid respect toward the solitary mountain.

***

Ruri, who was in the banquet hall, raised her hand.

“Torment!”

It was the name of a superior wind spirit.

At that moment, a white wind began to swirl in front of Ruri and revealed its form.

It looked like a human figure that could disperse at any moment, but it remained firm.

The figure bowed respectfully before Ruri.

— You have called me, my lady? Today you also seem to be in a bad mood.

“Today we begin another great cleaning. Summon all the lower spirits without leaving a single one. Open all the windows and completely remove the air from this room.”

— I will obey your order.

“Source!”

The next name she shouted was that of another lower water spirit.

Mana began to drip in the air and took shape like a viscous liquid.

— Chubak.

“Absorb and clean all the broth and filth those bastards left behind. Do not leave even a single stain. We cannot allow them to mark the place of the great sovereign as if it were dog urine. Understood?”

— Chubabak!

The sound of water stirring strongly was heard.

The spirits moved quickly when they sensed that Ruri was more irritated than usual.

The water spirit began to divide repeatedly, dispersing its body to absorb the filth from the floor and the castle walls.

“Huff…”

Ruri’s small chest rose and fell strongly.

The mixed smell of sweat and perfume still seemed to float faintly in the air and irritated her nose.

A smell that seemed impossible to erase no matter how much she tried.

‘How irritating.’

Ruri did not like knights.

She especially hated wandering knights.

Not only did they lie to exaggerate their feats, but they also did not hesitate to insult.

The insult Ruri referred to was the typical story of the brave knight who faced an evil dragon.

That tale formed seventy percent of the knights’ feats and was one of the people’s favorite stories.

And curiously the story was always the same, only the name changed.

Because the bards received money from the wandering knights and changed the protagonist to the name of the knight who paid.

Because of that, approximately half of the wandering knights were known as dragon slayers.

Dragon slayers who ran down the hallway while wetting themselves.

There were no more repulsive creatures.

‘At least they achieved the objective.’

More than fifty wandering knights had come.

And when adding what they brought, it exceeded one thousand five hundred corpses.

They had even said in astonishment “Isn’t it too much?” when they saw the mountain of bodies.

The problem was also what to do with them afterward.

‘But that was solved by the second son of the Pascal Trading Company we brought this time.’

A group of workers and research assistants with verified identities arrived quickly and took care of everything.

Even so, at the entrance and in the places where they had parked the carriages there were traces of monster corpses.

The smell of the bodies could still be faintly perceived.

‘I never thought the smell of those disgusting things would seem better to me.’

It was better than the smell of sweat and perfume from the knights.

The smell of monster corpses eventually disappeared.

But that unpleasant smell did not seem to want to leave.

A cleaning that would normally finish in ten minutes took her two hours a day for ten days.

Cleaning and cleaning the banquet hall again and again.

Ruri liked cleanliness, but she was not someone obsessive.

Simply the impact the knights had left had been too great.

Only when not a single hair remained on the floor and the floor looked completely new could she finally relax.

— My lady, it is already time for you to continue with other tasks. What do you wish to do?

“Ah, right. Good work, Torment, Source.”

— Then we will withdraw.

— Chubabak!

The wind and water spirits turned back into mana and dispersed.

‘Today’s cleaning ends here now I must go present the weekly report.’

Ruri left the banquet hall while checking the hidden pocket inside her skirt.

She took a document with a summary of the information obtained through the Empire’s Intelligence Department and descended to the lair.

As always, a dragon with red scales was there, coiled.

— Have you come?

“Yes. Have you been well?”

— Hmm Yes, I have been well. What have you come to talk about?

“It is the weekly report. Today is the day I come to present it, is it not?”

— Ah… right.

Ruri was already used to her forgetting things frequently, but today’s reaction was different from usual.

‘She feels… distracted.’

She looked like someone who lived lost in other thoughts.

And it was not necessary to see what those thoughts were.

Perda. That man.

It was so obvious that Ruri did not mention it and went directly to the main matter.

“They say the political situation of the Empire has been becoming unstable lately.”

She began by speaking about the Empire, the most important matter.

“They have enacted laws focused on granting intensive privileges to the ruling classes, and the lower sectors are reacting with discontent. Because of that they are trying to calm the situation with entertainment for the citizens and food distribution.”

— Hmm… I see.

Valdrova responded automatically.

It was evident that she did not have much interest, but Ruri continued reading the contents of the document mechanically.

Here such a thing happened.

There another thing happened.

After finishing the news that covered the entire continent, she moved on to the next point.

“And regarding the current situation of the Duchy…”

Valdrova’s body moved immediately.

She adjusted herself in her place, lifted her head, and sharpened her ears.

— Say it.

Her voice became clearer.

And her eyes seemed brighter than usual.

Ruri did not like that either, but she maintained neutrality.

“The position of Tesalos Wolcher remains vacant, but a contract has been signed with the heir of a large trading company, which has secured great stability for the Duchy.”

— I see.

Her voice sounded different from usual, almost nostalgic.

With a single line saying that everything was going well, her mood had risen.

‘Since that day it is even more evident.’

Ruri could no longer endure it.

“Do you like him that much?”

— What do you mean?

“Perda.”

Gruu—

Steam came out from Valdrova’s nostrils.

For someone seeing her for the first time it would seem that she was angry, but Ruri knew the truth.

Valdrova was agitated like a girl.

— That I like him? What does that mean? I am not saying that I like my fiancé.

“You do not like him?”

— Of course not.

Valdrova added with a serious face.

— I only remember sometimes the moment when he suddenly appeared. And I worry a little about his well-being. Is he not a weak human?

Valdrova defended herself passionately saying she only worried because he was weak.

But Ruri thought something different.

‘Valdrova is speaking more than usual.’

Whenever the topic was something related to humans, she first showed tension.

But when it was something related to Perda, the feeling was completely different.

Normally her state was gloomy.

Now she seemed to float in the air.

To relieve that state a little, Ruri made a proposal.

“Then, how about organizing a tea gathering?”

— A tea gathering?

Gruu!

Valdrova expelled air through her nose again.

— You mean drinking tea, eating sweets, and talking?

“Yes. It is common for human fiancés to meet beforehand and talk. Confirming their feelings before the wedding.”

— A tea gathering… that is not something that suits me. Those kinds of things are for pretty young girls.

“The Duchess Valdrova, whose beauty is the greatest on the continent, would look good in any situation.”

— Hmm…

She rested her chin on her claws and sighed.

She did not seem entirely displeased.

But there was still something preventing her from accepting.

— A meeting… then I would have to appear in human form.

“Yes.”

— Hmm… then I cannot go.

It was like someone hungry rejecting the banquet that had been prepared.

“What is the reason?”

— Because it is embarrassing.

It was a reason not at all worthy of a sovereign.

Ruri took a deep breath and asked.

“…Have you not already seen each other once? I understand that you met face to face in human form.”

— Yes, we saw each other once.

“You also held hands.”

— Yes, we held our hands.

Valdrova saw Perda.

And Perda saw Valdrova.

How could she forget the memory of that day?

Just as Perda remembered it vividly, it also remained vivid in Valdrova’s mind.

— That is why I cannot.

Valdrova remembered that moment.

That man who did not stop despite the pain.

When he was bleeding from the nose it seemed he might collapse at any moment.

She had no choice but to transform into human form with Polymorph and hold him.

While crying as she watched him suffer, Perda took her hand and pulled her toward him, wrapping his arm around her waist.

A dragon who had crossed countless battlefields, burning and destroying everything that stained the earth.

An absolute being before whom everyone held their breath and lowered their heads.

An existence whose strength was so overwhelming that one could not even speak of power before her.

But when that man wrapped his arm around her waist, all that glory became an illusion and her body lost its strength.

A man thousands of times weaker than her brought his face close to hers.

That day, for the first time, Valdrova became the princess and the woman of novels.

— It is a pleasure to meet you, my heart.

The warmth of a man’s hand, a warm greeting, and also a beautiful smile.

For someone who had not had contact with humans for hundreds of years, it was too much information to endure.

Because of that Valdrova could not do anything.

She remained frozen.

Her mind became completely blank and even the tears that were about to come out disappeared.

Even when he collapsed weakly against her chest, she remained motionless for a long time.

All those actions were still alive in her memory.

‘My heart…’

— Gruu!!

Valdrova covered her face.

She remembered what Perda had done.

And at the same time she remembered her own embarrassment.

Just thinking about it made her reaction return.

Her heart burned like a lava furnace.

Something tickled her body and she felt the urge to move.

And when she became agitated like that, she forgot to breathe and her chest filled with air.

Valdrova slowly expelled that air.

Hiiiuuuuuuu…

A long sound similar to a whistle echoed through the cave.

‘That sound again…’

It was the sound Ruri hated the most.

Whenever she filled with happiness beyond what she could contain, she made that sound.

It was a hundred times better than unhappiness.

But it was not pleasant either.

“I think a tea gathering would be a good option. What do you wish to do?”

Valdrova looked at Ruri from between the wings with which she covered her face.

— What do you think I should do?

“You are the incarnation of power. The incarnation of power must know how to express her will firmly.”

In other words, she should not pass the decision to her.

— That is true… I must do it…

Valdrova scratched her chin with her claw.

She tilted her head again and again.

She turned around with her enormous body while thinking and thinking again.

‘She is dying to go.’

Ruri had already understood the answer from Valdrova’s gestures.

Her desire was also directed toward Perda.

But having desires did not mean everything would turn out as she wanted.

Even though she was capable of burning and destroying monsters without hesitation, deep down she was the most cowardly.

— For now… I want to stay here for a while… I still do not have the courage to face my fiancé.

“I understand. Then we will postpone the tea gathering. I will take my leave.”

Valdrova was the kind who flipped the table even when someone pushed her toward the food.

Ruri bowed and turned around.

— Ruri.

“Yes.”

— Have you had a lot of work lately?

Ruri did not understand the intention of the question.

“No. Nothing in particular.”

— Ah, I see. I thought you had not even had time to bathe because you smell quite a lot like sweat.

“…Like sweat?”

Ruri’s sense of smell was excellent.

But Valdrova’s, being a dragon, was even better.

And Ruri did not sweat simply from managing the castle.

— Do not overexert yourself. I do not wish you to push yourself too much.

“…Do not worry, my lady.”

When she returned to her room, Ruri tore off her clothes and burned them.

And she decided that before any knight ever set foot in the castle again, it would be mandatory for everyone to wash first.

***

Perda was in his office together with Morida.

Recently, after joining forces with Stephan Pascal, he had managed to solve the supply problem that not even the Empire had been able to resolve.

Perda wanted to convert the results obtained into quantifiable values.

“How is the progress of the supply plan elements going?”

Morida responded in writing.

— 32%. The most important supplies have already been completed by concentrating them in the territory of Count Consilus. Gradually we will continue supplying the other territories.

“What are the prospects due to the supply?”

— If the supply plan continues, it will contribute 30% to the stability of civilian life, increase the individual combat capability of the troops by 45%, and produce a 30% increase in morale.

“It seems the potential is maximum.”

Mori nodded.

It was something that should make Perda happy, since he had moved for the development of the territory.

But.

“A big problem will arise soon.”

Perda did not seem so happy.

Morida tilted her head with curiosity.

Perda answered that silent question.

“In the world there are people who cannot stand seeing others prosper.”

When something begins to go well, those who try to ruin it always appear.

And those types right now occupied the top of the Arken Empire.

People who, even if they themselves were mediocre, could not stand seeing others stand out.

Not even a few days passed before the greedy ones threw themselves against Perda.