“A delegation from the imperial palace will probably arrive in a few days.”

“A delegation, but why……”

“It seems the news of Duke Ansgar’s return has reached the imperial palace. A grand banquet will be held to celebrate the victory. As it’s for Duke Ansgar, an invitation will come for Adel as well.”

“Ah.”

Adel nodded, but in her heart, she only thought about not wanting to go to the imperial palace. Count Reichenau had her receive the same education as Charlotte until she turned fifteen. Everything from dancing and etiquette that a lady of society should learn, to ancient languages and herbology.

Of course, it wasn’t because Adel wanted such an education. But Charlotte always tormented her, saying a maid’s daughter didn’t know her place. It was common for her to forcibly drag Adel to small social gatherings of young nobles to humiliate her, or make her stand by and listen to insulting remarks, or dismiss the maids and specifically make Adel serve her.

If she goes to the imperial palace, she will inevitably face the memories of those times at least once.

‘Of course, Father… will come too.’

Thinking of him made her heart sink.

Count Reichenau was an indifferent father to his daughters, and especially didn’t intervene no matter what Charlotte did unless she threatened Adel’s life. His interest was solely focused on whether Adel showed exceptional talent in healing arts or holy power.

If she didn’t improve from the previous month, severe punishments were given, and there were times she was locked in a cold storage room until she could draw out something resembling healing arts or holy power.

If the count hadn’t given up on the delusion that Adel had great power latent within her, she might still not have been able to escape that terrible house.

Just the thought of having to face those two soon made it hard to breathe.

“How long will the banquet period last?”

“It will continue through the victory ceremony, commemorative hunt, and ball. It should take about a week to ten days at most. The problem is……”

Padre’s voice lowered even further.

“It seems Crown Prince Mikhail is taking the lead in organizing this event. Apparently Duke Ansgar is behind him.”

“By Duke Ansgar, do you mean Lord Oscar?”

Adel’s eyes widened at the unexpected information. Padre nodded with a grim expression.

Well. It did seem strange that someone who was so active as to even plan an escape for Grita and her had suddenly disappeared. But still, who would have thought he’d be at the imperial palace.

“There are rumors circulating in the capital that the Duke’s mind is not sound after being revived. Apparently Duke Oscar is actually encouraging rumors implying there are issues with Valentin’s memory and behavior.”

This was not surprising at all. Oscar was originally a person who had his eye on his brother’s position. He had barely managed to conceal his dark intentions by reluctantly staying on the outskirts out of what little respect remained for his brother, but this time he literally missed that position right before his eyes. His already short patience must have completely dried up.

So it was a natural progression for Duke Ansgar to go and attach himself to the Crown Prince, whom he despised.

Padre opened his mouth with concern.

“In terms of succession to the imperial throne, Duke Ansgar is right after the Crown Prince, isn’t he? The reason for holding a victory banquet at this time is clear…… As you know, they likely intend to brand the Duke as an incurably incompetent person in front of all the nobles.”

“But His Highness has no problems with his cognitive functions.”

“At least it’s certain that his speech hasn’t fully recovered to be articulate yet, right? Once rumors start circulating, they’ll become unstoppable. Naturally, public opinion will form to pass the Ansgar duchy to the younger duke.”

Worry shadowed Padre’s gentle eyes. The eyes of the priest who had cared for her since she was very young were creased with fine wrinkles.

“So the more satisfied you are now, the more carefully you need to observe your surroundings and prepare.”

“Thank you for the advice. If it weren’t for you, Padre, I wouldn’t have known……”

“If you’re truly grateful to me, please stop by the Grand Cathedral when you come up to the capital Prague. His Holiness the Pope is also very worried, though he doesn’t say so.”

“I’ll do that.”

Though recalling the greedy gaze of the old Pope made her whole body feel frozen, Adel just nodded without showing it. As Adel got out of Padre’s carriage, the coachman cracked his whip on the horse’s rump as if he had been waiting. Soon, the long procession of priests began to leave Ansgar Castle.

Adel watched the procession for a long time until the tip of her nose turned red, then turned towards the castle, pulling up her cloak.

“Augh…… It’s cold, so cold. Your Grace. Shall I prepare tea in the reception room?”

Yannik asked affectionately as he took Adel’s outer garments. Margaret, who was following behind Adel, gave Yannik a look for his rash behavior, but seemed to agree with the suggestion.

Margaret gently recommended:

“You might catch a cold, so it would be good to have at least a glass of warmed wine with honey.”

Indeed, the weather had suddenly turned cold. When Valentin returned, it was close to early winter, and this morning frost had started forming on the garden shrubs.

Though it melted away instantly when the sun rose, in the back garden where sunlight rarely reached, unmelted frost was piled in every shadow. Adel replied while looking out the window:

“I’ll have tea a little later. More importantly, I’d like to see His Highness…… Where is he?”

“He’s still at the training ground. It seems he’s enjoying sparring with the knights after a long time. Shall I guide you there?”

“Yes, please.”

Adel nodded quickly. She had been concerned about ending the conversation with Valentin hastily earlier in the morning while seeing Padre off. Now that they were in the same boat, so to speak, she thought they needed to coordinate their words more thoroughly.

Moreover, if Padre was right, the victory banquet at the imperial palace was right around the corner.

‘Even if he can’t help stuttering, his etiquette must be perfect.’

It was natural that ‘The Dragon of Bitzleben’ would not be proficient in human etiquette. So a little workaround was needed. The only effective way to adequately cover up lacking etiquette was to dress in the latest fashionable clothes.

While the clothes Adel had purchased over the past few days were sufficient for herself, Valentin’s clothes, which would be standing next to the emperor, absolutely had to be tailored anew. Having been on the battlefield for the past 3 years, the state of his wardrobe was probably as poor as hers.

“Yannik. Could you please tell Hermann that I have a few things to discuss with him?”

“Of course. I’ll escort you to the training ground and then run straight to the butler. Oh, watch your step. The frozen ground seems to have thawed already and it’s very muddy.”

Adel grasped Yannik’s outstretched hand and hopped over the mud puddle. As they got closer to the training ground, boisterous voices grew louder. It sounded like both sighs and cheers.

Everyone seemed quite excited about something.

‘Are they making bets?’

The interior of the training ground came into view over the high wooden fence. Among the crowded knights, she could spot Valentin at a glance.

He was facing off against a burly knight, holding a wooden sword in one hand. Around them, shirtless knights were sprawled out exhausted. Steam was rising from their sweat-drenched upper bodies.

“Oh my……”

Yannik let out a long sigh at the sight. Margaret said coldly:

“It seems we’ll need a lot of warmed wine.”

Margaret’s expression was terrible. She clearly thought all the knights were just hot-blooded fools. Well, when illness spread in the barracks, it was the serving staff who died.

Adel glanced sideways at Valentin. Until just a few days ago, even his gait had been clumsy, but now his sword stance looked quite convincing.

‘I don’t know anything about swordsmanship… but I can tell he’s very relaxed.’

In contrast, the knight facing Valentin seemed quite tense and intimidated. It seemed the cause was that all the previous challengers had been defeated. The knight who had been circling sideways with his sword pointed like a bird of prey eyeing its prey suddenly charged with a yell.

Adel was startled by the terrifying speed. Though it was a blunt-edged sword, it looked more like a fight to the death than a sparring match. But Valentin deflected the knight’s attack without even blinking, completely at ease. Rather than the swords clashing head-on, he seemed to use the flat of the blade somehow.

Valentin’s sword neutralized the attack by wrapping around the knight’s sword like a living snake. Even to Adel’s eyes, ignorant of swordsmanship, it looked like an amazing trick. The knights let out sounds that were either groans or incredulous laughter.

“Hmm……”

In the brief moment she watched, swords clashed several more times at incredible speed. While the knight’s sword couldn’t even graze Valentin’s clothes, Valentin seemed to be getting more and more relaxed as time passed.

At the moment when the knight, frustrated by his repeatedly blocked attacks, hastily launched an attack with his full weight behind it.

Valentin avoided the attack just by slightly leaning back his upper body, then suddenly twisted his sword hand upwards. Then he struck the wrist of the staggering knight hard with the hilt of his sword.

“Ugh!”

The wooden sword the knight had been gripping rolled across the ground with a thud, thud sound.

“……”

Silence fell over the heads of the onlookers.