Ivanka’s expressionless face abruptly flipped like a hand turning over. Putting on a playful look, she waved her hand.
“That’s enough. And I hate being called Viscountess Tirien, so just call me Chief Handmaiden Ivanka.”
“Are they your entire escort?”
When Crimson gestured toward the six knights clad in blue mantles, Ivanka smiled and nodded. Crimson’s gaze, which had been surveying Ivanka’s procession, halted at the carriage door.
“May I briefly inspect the carriage interior?”
In that instant, Ivanka’s smiling face froze with startling speed.
“What? You would search the carriage of a Palace Inspector?”
Ivanka, her moods flipping like the turn of a hand, abruptly swung her arm and struck Crimson’s cheek.
*Slap!!*
“Hup!”
A sound of sharp intakes of breath came from among the defenders. Ivanka, acting as if that were nothing, pointed straight into the carriage and flew into a rage.
“See, it’s completely empty! What exactly do you intend to inspect?”
“…….”
“I am a Palace Inspector! How dare a mere knight treat me, who bears the congratulatory address of His Highness the Crown Prince and Her Majesty the Empress, like a thief sneaking into the house?!!”
Crimson gritted his teeth, then replied in a strained voice.
“What do you mean? That is not the case. If you are displeased, please—”
“Then kneel!!!”
“…….”
“Kneel at once!!”
When Crimson didn’t so much as stir, Ivanka huffed before bursting into a hollow laugh.
“Ah, so a viscountess isn’t worth kneeling for, is that it? Very well. Soon you’ll be beating the ground in regret, wishing you had knelt, so just you wait. I shall lodge a formal complaint about this to the Duke of Richmond.”
After snarling fiercely, she slipped into the carriage and slammed the door shut.
“…….”
Crimson slowly let out a deep, heavy breath. Gesturing to the bewildered defenders to return to their positions, he quietly mounted his horse.
Moments later, Chief Handmaiden Ivanka’s carriage, adorned with the black tiger crest, passed beyond the walls of Richmond castle.
Ivanka’s eyes flashed as she looked out through the slightly opened vent window. Unlike when she had been throwing a wild tantrum, her breathing was utterly calm.
“I needed an excuse to waste time. This worked out well.”
She surveyed the outside with a cold gaze, then closed the vent window and muttered chillingly.
“This is Richmond now. There must be no mistakes.”
＊ ＊ ＊
The Imperial Palace Inspector.
It was an institution established by the First Emperor Argon the First, who had unified five kingdoms into a single empire in ages past, and in truth, it was a mechanism for centralized authority.
The Inspector was a temporary post with no clear affiliation. Thus, only the Emperor and the Inspector knew what the Emperor had ordered the Inspector to focus upon hearing and reporting. The Inspector was at times a mediator; conversely, at times an instigator of chaos; and at times also a secret executioner.
The Inspector was granted the authority to carry the Emperor’s crest even in places where the Emperor was absent, and as such, received treatment commensurate with the Emperor. When an Inspector visited a region, it was an expected convention for all nobles of the area to come out and greet them. Be they a duke or a knight of minor peerage, none were exempt.
The Hall of the Blue Eagle had been hastily prepared to welcome the Palace Inspector.
Ares sat beneath the great eagle crest, with Eliza’s place prepared slightly below his. The heads and ladies of the noble houses within the castle, along with their heirs, stood in rows along both sides of the long path from the main gate to the dais. So broad was the attendance—from major houses to knights of minor peerage—that the vast hall felt near to bursting.
However, Grace had been struck from the rolls in Taylor and, moreover, held no position in Richmond, so she could not be seated.
As winter had begun and the days grown short, the sky was already beginning to darken; thus, the servants were busy rushing to light the candles within the hall.
It was an uneasy time, and an awkward silence hung in the hall. With the Duke and Duchess remaining silent, no one dared speak.
How long had they waited so?
Hardly had the sound of footsteps been heard when the knight guarding the door turned toward the interior of the hall. As the nobles standing facing forward turned as one toward the door, an imperial knight bearing the black tiger crest soon appeared.
Halting in place, he announced toward those within in a thunderous voice.
“Receive Viscountess Ivanka Tirien, the Inspector appointed by His Highness Crown Prince Jake Dekan, proxy of His Majesty Emperor Venus Dekan, Lord of the Two Seas and Twelve Mountain Ranges and Master of the Blue Flame!”
Hardly had the grand introduction, befitting an emperor, ended before a disgruntled grumble rang out.
“Ah, honestly. I told them to just introduce me as Chief Handmaiden, but they just had to tack on that wretched viscountess title.”
The nobles’ eyes went round, and they craned their necks.
When the imperial knight in silver armor stepped aside, a woman of short, stout build appeared. The large ruby necklace at her nape sparkled magnificently in the light of the ceiling’s chandelier.
Ivanka lifted her chin slightly and puffed out her chest. Then, deliberately looking not to the front but at the vassals of House Richmond lined to either side, she walked.
When those among the long line of vassals who met her eyes offered light bows of courtesy, Ivanka beamed, her eyes smiling brightly.
“Hmph. Yes, indeed. Ahem, yes, yes.”
Eliza watched this, tilting her head with a cold sneer.
“She’s certainly in high spirits.”
Ares watched Ivanka with the exact same expression as Eliza, but his gaze drifted toward the black tiger crest as if pulled by a magnet.
Facing the roaring tiger embroidered in gold upon the black carpet in this way, he was suddenly overcome with a sensation of spacetime twisting violently.
The world seemed smeared before his eyes, his focus growing hazy, while every sound passing by his ears was devoid of meaning. Just as the occasional void sought to seize him without warning, her voice came not through his ears but from somewhere deep in his chest.
‘Ares.’
With Grace’s voice, his blurred focus sharpened and the world grew clear. The sounds that had passed meaninglessly by his ears likewise gained meaning.
“Why is Crimson Isaac standing there?”
At Eliza’s low murmur, Ares’s gaze shifted swiftly. His dark eyes narrowed slightly.
Crimson, who had walked in behind the imperial knight, should by rights have gone to stand beside Count Isaac. After all, he was the Count’s heir. Yet he did not go to his father’s side, instead remaining standing behind Ivanka’s procession.
While Count Isaac, and even Lady Isaac beside Eliza, watched their son with worried eyes, Ivanka arrived before the dais and raised her head. She widened her round eyes even further, looking back and forth between Ares and Eliza. Then, as though she had met the most exalted person in all the world, she bent her knee deeply, her face overcome with emotion.
“It is an honor to meet you, Your Excellency the Duke of Richmond, and Your Grace the Duchess. I am Ivanka, Chief Handmaiden to Her Majesty the Empress.”
Ivanka rose, clasped her hands, and smiled broadly at Ares, her eyes curving.
“His Highness the Crown Prince and Her Majesty the Empress sincerely congratulate Your Excellency on your safe return. They said that thanks to Your Excellency’s martial feats, the Wall of Death has remained at peace.”
At those absurd words of congratulation, Ares’s lips twisted into a crooked smile.
Ivanka also beamed, her eyes smiling, toward Eliza.
“Your Grace, how delighted you must be.”
Eliza too stared at her for a moment, then lowered her eyes and snickered. Then, as if brushing dust from her clothes, she flicked the hem of her dress with her hand before looking at Ivanka again and speaking.
“Yes. Thank you. Do convey my gratitude.”
Ares felt like applauding Eliza. He wanted to learn how she could make every tone, every word, and every gesture so contemptuous and disagreeable.
As if that were not all, Eliza leaned her arm languidly against the armrest and smiled.
“Did they send an Inspector all the way here merely to deliver such congratulations? I am so moved I scarcely know what to do with myself. You must have toiled greatly, traveling so far in silence.”
Words laden with thick, solid bone seemed to lash Ivanka.
Ivanka fell silent for a moment, her usual smile still in place. She drummed the back of her opposite hand with the index finger bearing a large ruby ring, tapping so incessantly it was dizzying to watch, then closed her eyes tightly before opening them again.
Then, all at once, she donned a grave expression and nodded.
“Yes, quite right. Her Majesty the Empress and His Highness the Crown Prince wished to send a most sincere message of congratulations. So much so that they saw fit to appoint an Inspector for the purpose.”
Ivanka glanced fleetingly at the black eagle crest borne by the imperial knight.
“You are no doubt well aware of what the Inspector signifies.”
“I trust you do not think me ignorant of what the Inspector is. I detest beating around the bush, so speak plainly, Viscountess Tirien.”
Eliza, who had no patience for preambles and flowery phrases, coldly cut Ivanka off.
With her words cut short and addressed by a name she despised, veins bulged on Ivanka’s forehead. She wiped away the affected smile she had worn throughout and revealed her true face.
“Since you bid me speak plainly, so I shall.”
She turned and pointed at Crimson.
“Execute him.”