Episode 52. Dalhaim, the Acting Baron
Binaeril did not return to Ayaksen.
The closest city to the Thornwinter Wetlands had been Ayaksen, but it was a city where the House of Marquis Siller held strong influence.
So he decided to head southwest, even if it was a little farther.
He walked tirelessly and arrived at a city called Albaten, where he procured a horse.
The journey from Albaten to the capital took a full fortnight.
It was because Binaeril was still unaccustomed to riding.
Binaeril raised his head and looked up at the entrance of Esen Palace.
A magnificent stronghold befitting the words, “Thousand-Year Empire.”
Its scale was unlike the royal palace of Ruben, Binaeril’s homeland.
After pausing briefly in admiration, Binaeril dismounted and walked toward the palace entrance.
Having ridden hard the entire way, even as he walked, it felt as though his hips had detached and were dancing on their own.
“My spine feels like half of it fell out somewhere too….”
—Melodramatic.
“Want to try riding?”
*Can I just walk in like this?*
Naturally, guards clad in imperial armor were waiting at the entrance.
“Who goes there! State your identity and business!”
The palace guards raised their spear shafts threateningly as a filthy beggar boy covered in pale dust approached.
No matter how far the Empire’s dignity had fallen, how dare a filthy beggar try to waltz into the palace…….
Binaeril swept his innocent gaze over the two guards.
He bore them no ill will, but he knew the moment he had inwardly been waiting for had finally arrived.
“I’m here to see Rike?”
“Rike? Who’s Rike?”
“Isn’t that some maid’s name?”
“Hey, who is Rike! And state your name!”
One of the guards prodded Binaeril’s chest with a sturdy spear shaft.
*I can endure this level of humiliation as much as it takes for my own amusement,* Binaeril thought to himself.
“Rike is Friederike’s nickname, and my name is Binaeril Dalhaim.”
He flashed a mischievous grin at the two men.
One of the two guards was aghast; the other suspected the name of the Second Princess had come from the mouth of some random beggar.
But it did not take long for both guards to recall the name “Binaeril Dalhaim,” which the captain of the palace guard had firmly drilled into them.
They were utterly flabbergasted.
Binaeril Dalhaim giggled wildly after a long time.
“Ah, you should’ve seen their faces too.”
A boy laughing as he wiped away tears of mirth.
At his side was a girl with prickly brown hair—Sylvia.
“Isn’t that prank going too far? Their heads are on the line.”
“It’s not like I’d ever take revenge. I was just teasing them for a bit, so what.”
“Because of your ‘little’ tease, they’ll be on edge for days.”
“Hmm~ all right. I’ll apologize if I see them again.”
Sylvia had discarded her usual simple attire and was wearing a dark-blue uniform.
Her bobbed hair, which had grown a little during the journey, was neatly tied back, revealing her long neckline.
Seeing her like this…….
“You really look different.”
Binaeril spoke his honest impression.
“…How do I look?”
“The kind that makes you go, ‘Now there’s someone born to be a general’…….”
Binaeril pretended to cover his ears and changed the subject.
“How was the trip here?”
“Nothing special. I went to the lord of Edenbere and told him to hand over a carriage.
He wasn’t exactly a royalist, but he was a small-minded man who didn’t have the caliber to harm Her Highness. And more than anything, I was there guarding her.
And then, well, I just galloped down the main road and arrived at the palace.”
Binaeril briefly explained what had happened in Ayaksen and the Thornwinter Wetlands.
“The Knight of Platinum? You met Dominic Siller?”
“You know him?”
Sylvia’s face stiffened slightly.
“Of course I do. The House of Marquis Siller is a prime example of the Noble Faction.”
The Royalists and the Noble Faction.
Princess Charlotte Albrecht, who served as the Empire’s Regent, and Princess Friederike, Binaeril’s friend.
The nobles who argued that one of these two should inherit the imperial throne were classified as the Royalist faction.
On the other hand, the Noble Faction opposed the birth of the first Empress, believing that the next throne should pass to one of the Empire’s high lords.
Put simply, they were the enemy.
“I didn’t know that.”
“These days in the palace, if you bring up any noble’s name, nine times out of ten they’re with the Noble Faction.”
In the current political climate, the Royalists were relatively at a disadvantage compared to the Noble Faction.
Sylvia explained that at least Princess Charlotte, the First Princess and Regent, had involved herself in politics and gathered supporters down to their very souls.
In contrast, there were so many notable figures in the Noble Faction that they were hard to keep track of.
“Duke Dukes, Marquis Siller, Marquis Papen, Count List, Viscount Hartmann……. At least try to roughly remember these names.”
Binaeril’s head spun at the dizzying barrage of names.
He let most of them go in one ear and out the other as he replied.
“Aha. I understood perfectly.”
“…I don’t think you did?”
They were currently on their way to have an audience with the Second Princess.
Before that, Binaeril’s appearance had been so filthy that he had been given a bath and clothes befitting palace etiquette.
An attendant greeted them and guided them to the Second Princess’s reception room.
Sylvia stepped two paces forward and bowed her head in greeting.
Binaeril raised his hand, trying to greet Rike.
“Yo, long time no s—…!”
Sylvia forced Binaeril’s head down and drilled the proper etiquette into him.
Binaeril had to follow the etiquette like a marionette under Sylvia’s direction.
From above, he heard Rike’s faint, stifled laughter.
He raised his head to see a rare friend he had not met in a long time.
A hometown returned to. The Princess Friederike he met again in the palace was beautiful.
To the point where he wondered if the Rike he remembered and the woman before his eyes were truly the same person.
Her red-tinted indigo dress gave off a profound light under the midday sun.
Her upper body, showing off straight collarbones, tapered sharply below her waist before spreading out abundantly from her hips.
“Hello, Binaeril?”
Friederike lifted her chin slightly and greeted Binaeril from a forty-five-degree angle.
It was because the maid who had adjusted her attire had told her that it looked the most beautiful that way.
“Is your neck sore?”
“Why are you holding your neck so awkwardly?”
“Huh… Hmm?”
*That wasn’t how it was supposed to go…….*
“And why are your clothes so flashy. Do all imperial princesses dress like this?”
Sylvia rushed forward and smacked Binaeril across the mouth.
“This brat has no filter in front of Your Highness!”
“Ow, ow! I’m sorry!”
“I didn’t want to wear this, but my sister and the maids nagged me so much to dress up…….”
It was a lie.
The maid remembered how Rike had scrambled to choose the most recently fashionable dress the moment she heard the report from the main gate earlier.
*How adorable.*
Though it seemed her efforts had not quite reached the other party.
“Is that so? I don’t think it was like that in Ruben. So the Empire really is different?”
Rike laughed awkwardly.
“Well, I suppose it would be different. We’re at opposite ends of the continent…….”
The three were cast into an odd silence.
It had not even been that long, yet the change in meeting place made things unbearably awkward.
But then, a commotion broke out outside the Second Princess’s room.
Even through the palace’s thick doors, the sound of scuffling outside came through clearly.
“Your Grace the Regent, just a moment……!”
“What do you mean, ‘just a moment.’ I came to see my sister. Move aside, now!”
The possessor of bright blonde hair that looked exactly like Friederike’s.
Regent Charlotte Albrecht.
It was the entrance of the First Princess, the Emperor’s proxy, the unprecedented female Regent of the Empire.
“Oh? Rike? Why are you wearing such an uncomfortable dress in the middle of the day?”
“Ah, Sister!!”
Friederike let out a shriek.
“You surprised me. Rike screaming like that. She’s not usually like that.”
Charlotte Albrecht sent away all the maids, leaving only the four of them.
Herself, her younger sister, Sylvia, and Binaeril.
“It’s because you’re saying unnecessary things, Sister.”
“My, she’s changed so much since I last saw her. She even knows how to blame her older sister.”
Pretending to be startled, Charlotte rushed to her sister and hugged her tight.
“Come here, my sister whom I missed so much, let me hug you!”
“Ah, Sister! Please!”
Friederike’s face turned red as she pushed her sister away, repeatedly stealing glances at Binaeril.
Curious about the overly enthusiastic greeting, Binaeril asked.
“Didn’t Rike arrive first, so you two already met separately?”
“I’ve been busy, so I only managed to steal a quick glance at her without time to talk. But…… Rike?”
*Uh-oh.*
Binaeril panicked, wondering if he had made a slip of the tongue.
*Am I not supposed to call her so casually?*
But Charlotte did not point that out.
Instead, her eyes welled up with tears as she clasped Binaeril’s hands.
“I’m so moved! Our Rike has made a friend!”
“E-excuse me?”
“Our Rike was always gloomy, timid, shy, and bashful, so I worried she’d only ever hang out with Sylvia at Elfenbein and not make a single friend. But a friend! And a boy at that! Which means, that is, a boyfriend!”
Charlotte could not see, but Binaeril could clearly see Rike trembling beyond the Regent’s shoulder.
“Be quiet!!”
Perhaps because her anger had reached its limit, a faint trace of mana filled her cry.
The attendants outside the door were startled and checked the situation inside.
It took a little while longer before they could start a proper conversation.
“How is the Headmaster?”
“He is well.”
The four finally managed to sit down calmly and drink the tea and refreshments the attendants had brought.
“I should pay a visit to give my thanks.”
“Both of you are so busy that it can’t be helped.”
“Once this matter is settled, let’s stop by Elfenbein together, Sister.”
“Once this matter is settled.”
That meant after one of the two sisters safely succeeded to the throne and dealt with the rebelling nobles in one way or another.
No one present knew how long that would take.
“By the way, how is Father?”
Rike asked her sister.
Regent Charlotte slowly shook her head.
“Not very well. It’s a miracle he survives each passing day.”
The Emperor’s death would undoubtedly become the spark that ignited war.
It was a waiting game without a set date, but there was much to do before the Emperor’s passing.
“First, we must invite the nobles and hold a banquet.”
“A banquet?”
Rike and Sylvia probably understood to some extent the ways of high society, but Binaeril did not.
Binaeril came from a far eastern country, and even when staying at the main family estate, he had lived a life far removed from the social activities of the nobility.
Their father was dying, and an important task before his death was a banquet?
“Yes. A banquet. A very large one. So that many nobles may attend.”
When Binaeril could not ask more and only rolled his eyes curiously, Charlotte kindly continued the explanation.
“To put it simply, it’s a performance to say that the bloodline of House Albrecht is alive and well, so don’t even think of stealing the throne…… not even an eye crust’s worth.”
“Hmm….”
“Of course, it’s also to show Rike, whom people haven’t seen in a long time, but Binaeril Dalhaim, your debut is also an important agenda.”
“Huh? Me?”
Charlotte rose from her seat, placed a hand on Binaeril’s shoulder, and solemnly declared.
“Binaeril Dalhaim. As the Regent of the Empire entrusted with governance, I command.”
Binaeril was taken aback by her sudden behavior.
Regent Charlotte brought a finger to her lips to silence Binaeril and continued the decree.
“From this moment, I appoint you, together with Sylvia Porzia, as official guards to the Second Princess.
By my authority as the Emperor’s proxy, I raise Binaeril Dalhaim to the station of Acting Baron, and the investiture shall be held in the near future.”
Official guards? Acting Baron?
Leaving the dazed Binaeril behind, Rike stood, lightly held her dress, and greeted him.
“I look forward to your protection, Acting Baron Binaeril.”
At times like this, they truly were a pair of sisters who got along disgustingly well.