It became an issue in itself.
“Did you hear the news? They sent an envoy from Bellatu.”
“From Bellatu?”
“They said they killed the son of Viscount Seal or something.”
“Sending an envoy for such an incident?”
For ordinary people, Winterhold had always been perceived as a fearsome place.
It wasn’t a place where they would send an envoy just because they killed a member of a noble family.
“But the person they’re sending as an envoy seems to be a twelve-year-old kid.”
“Hey, hey. Watch your words. Calling him a kid!”
The man cautiously looked around.
“Don’t you know the rumor?”
“What rumor?”
“There’s a rumor that the Thousand-Year Duke adopted a witch five years ago.”
“A witch? What does that even mean?”
“I don’t know either. They say she killed bandits at the age of seven and ate their flesh. Oh, and some kind of feast of apparitions? They say she drank demon’s blood there.”
It wasn’t Viola who killed bandits at the age of seven; it was Vichen.
Viola simply rescued Tundra, nothing more.
Moreover, she never drank demon’s blood.
She only drank a potion called “Viola.”
However, as rumors always go, it spread and spread and spread.
“Be cautious about what you say.”
“Y-Yeah. I will.”
Rumors about Viola circulated widely.
If Viola herself heard them, blood would boil in reverse, and these rumors gradually spread throughout the continent.
However, there were also those who tried to objectively understand Viola Bellatu a little bit more.
For the past three years, Celine had taken on the responsibility of handling internal affairs within the Empire.
Celine spoke, “It seems that Viola Bellatu has gained quite a favorable impression within Winterhold.”
“It seems so.”
“As the true blood of Bellatoo, she is being evaluated for greatly cherishing the people of Winterhold. The people of Winterhold consider themselves citizens and take pride in it.”
At the age of 37, she had become the second-in-command of the Monarch Empire, replacing the financial authorities.
There was only one person in the world who used honorifics to address the second-in-command.
Nelac Proitz Kali Born, the Emperor of Swords.
He sat at the end of the bed in casual attire and asked, “Did they say that girl is twelve years old?”
“Yes.”
“Since when did the second-in-command start paying careful attention to that girl?”
“It started five years ago during Viola’s Feast of Apparitions. With a splendid entrance, she was instantly recognized as Bellatoo…”
He interrupted as if finding it amusing.
“She is also the one who greatly benefited from occupying the land for the development of the Golden Road.”
“Was it a coincidence?”
“The probability of it being a coincidence is highest, but at the same time, it doesn’t seem like a coincidence.”
“Why is that?”
“That girl secured the maximum amount of cash she could gather and invested it all there.”
The Emperor cleared his throat and coughed.
He looked around.
“Invested it all… quite a risk.”
“There were only two options, what else could be done?”
“A leaking barrel inside will also leak outside.”
“I’m not leaking. Have you seen any leaks?”
“If you can’t speak.”
Celine swept her emerald hair behind her ear.
She walked gently and sat next to the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, I believe it wasn’t a coincidence, for now.”
Then she placed her hand over the Emperor’s hand.
The Emperor’s face turned red.
‘How adorable.’
The Emperor was undoubtedly an exceptional person.
At least in terms of talent with a sword, he was unparalleled, and he even gained the title of Emperor of Swords.
However, due to being fixated on one well, he lacked depth in other areas.
The Emperor, as seen by Celine, fell into the quite adorable category.
“S- Celine, aren’t you in the middle of a report?”
“Was there ever an imperial law that forbade holding hands while reporting?”
“W-Well, that…”
“If you really dislike it, then you should create such a law. The sun of the Empire belongs only to Your Majesty.”
“I-I never said I would create one.”
“Then can we continue the report while holding hands?”
“Y-Yes, you may.”
“Why do you keep stuttering?”
“T-That’s…”
Nelac’s face turned red.
When Celine’s hand touched him, his heart skipped a beat.
“How adorable you are.”
“I am the Emperor.”
“Is there a law that says the Emperor can’t be adorable?”
“Carry on with the report.”
Celine smiled mischievously and continued the report.
“This child possesses exceptional insight and analytical skills. They also cleverly resolved the issue with the Storm Fortress. It seems that Jeremy, known as the ‘Mystery Master,’ is also interested in Viola.”
The Emperor nodded his head.
In truth, his heart was pounding so much that he couldn’t fully focus on the report.
“Your Majesty, are you listening to me?”
“I am listening.”
Celine rested her head on the Emperor’s shoulder.
Her hair emitted a pleasant fragrance.
The Emperor gripped his pounding heart and squeezed his toes tightly.
He found it much more comforting to face an army of ten thousand on the battlefield than to deal with the affairs of the Selal House.
“The key is how we handle the matter with the Selal House this time.”
“Why is that?”
“Based on my estimation…”
She spoke cautiously.
“My expectation is that… Before Lady Viola arrives at the Selal House, the heir of the Selal House will be found dead. If luck is against us, Viola might become a murder suspect, accused of killing the heir of the Selal House.”
***
Zenon kneeled and sat down.
“Lady, your shoelace has come undone.”
Viola looked at Zenon sitting quietly.
Zenon gently tied the knot of the leather shoelace again.
“You’ll have to ride for a long time and traverse rugged mountain paths. I taught you to tie it like this so that it won’t come undone, didn’t I?”
“I never learned.”
She had only taught him unilaterally.
‘No, why do I need mana manipulation for tying shoelaces?’
Viola couldn’t learn this knot, which involved infusing mana and using a special technique to finish it.
‘I’ve never been good at tying knots.’
She used to hear nagging from Kang Hanjun every day.
“You still can’t tie shoelaces properly?”
“I don’t know. It’s difficult.”
“Tying shoelaces?”
He laughed as if amused.
“You excel in studying, so you’re not a fool. Why can’t you tie shoelaces properly?”
“Argh, stop teasing me!”
“Well, it’s okay. Everyone has their flaws. But I never thought there would be someone who can’t tie shoelaces.”
“Oppa!”
Stop teasing me, I’m frustrated too! Just as I was about to say that, Kang Hanjun bent over.
“Ah, fine. I’ll do it for you.”
Since then, he always tied Arin’s shoelaces.
Viola cheekily said, “You can do it for her.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
Strangely, I didn’t really understand the knotting technique.
No matter how much I learned, I kept forgetting.
It would be better not to learn at all than to learn and not be able to do it.
Not being able to do something after learning it is a different problem than not learning it at all.
“If Viola can’t do this either, it would be strange.”
Viola needs to be close to perfection in every aspect.
That’s the direction Viola pursues.
That’s why she decided not to intentionally learn the knotting technique.
She didn’t want to expose any unnecessary flaws.
But Zenon seemed a bit strange.
He had a brighter smile than usual.
A hint of sunshine seemed to rise on his face, tinged with a little lie.
“I’m glad.”
Huh? What?
“I’ll always be there for you, by your side, Your Highness.”
Is this something to be so happy about?
Viola chuckled inwardly.
“I’m glad I have your permission to be by Your Highness’s side.”
With Zenon’s help, she mounted the horse.
Although she couldn’t tie the knot well, she had become quite familiar with horse riding.
“It would be nice to go by carriage… The road to the Se’al Jajakryeong is too treacherous for a carriage ride.”
There was a road, but following it would take at least a month.
So they chose a path that traversed the mountain range.
“As you know, Your Highness, to reach the Se’al Jajakryeong, we have to pass through eight large and small mountain ranges.”
“I know.”
“There will probably be several attacks along the way.”
Among them, there would be bandits and enemies of Bellatuga.
“From the start, Your Father’s title was the Thousand-Slaying Duke.”
It was a name given because he had killed a thousand people.
At least to a thousand, he was an enemy.
“If we consider their family and friends as well…”
The number would increase exponentially.
So young Bellatuga, who had not yet grown, was always plagued by threats.
Overcoming that danger was also Bellatuga’s mission.
In reality, no one had been assassinated.
It was a testament to how everyone in Bellatuga had managed to navigate that danger themselves.
“Viola!”
In the case of someone like Vichen, who was running towards her waving his hand, he would have swung his sword innocently, saying, “Hehe! Weaklings die!”
Clash!
The blades clashed.
Tundra parried Vichen’s strike, preventing the blade from reaching her.
“Tch. It’s you again?”
Vichen retrieved the dagger that had landed in his hand, seeming disappointed.
Viola had a hunch.
If it weren’t for Tundra, she would have been killed several times.
But outwardly, she spoke coldly.
“If you want to kill me, you’ll have to step on my dog first.”
“Yeah.”
Upon seeing Vichen obediently nodding his head, Viola let out a sigh.
Whether he’s lacking or kind-hearted.
“If I didn’t have a mission, I would have gone with Viola.”
After saying that much, Vichen waved his hand again and moved away.
He ran very fast, but a cloud of dust flew up behind Vichen.
Viola became curious.
“Why did he come all the way here if he’s busy with his mission?”
Running that fast consumes a lot of stamina.
There must be a reason to move quickly despite the stamina consumption.
It implies that he’s extremely busy, so why bother coming all the way here just to prick her once and leave?
“Did I look like someone he wanted to prick?”
She couldn’t think that he simply wanted to see his younger sister.
***
Just before departure, Viola turned her head as if something had come to mind.
“Why are you like this?”
“I remembered something I left behind.”
“Should I go get it?”
“I’ll go myself.”
Zenon can’t bring it back.
It’s not an object that was left behind, but a person.
“There might be a lot of attacks.”
After hearing Zenon’s words, Viola felt uneasy.
So she decided to bring Hikson along.
Hikson, Zenon, and Tundra.
With them, she could feel relieved.
“Huh? Me? I’m not sure about that…”
“Why?”
“Well, you see…”
Hikson hesitated and then reluctantly opened his mouth.
“When I was younger, I kind of teased you.”
“Why?”
“Well…”
Hikson scratched the back of his head coolly with his large hand.
“Confessed to my first love.”
“Were you dating?”
“No?”
“So, you confessed to someone you liked even though you weren’t dating?”
“But we were young back then.”
Hikson continued to avoid Viola’s gaze.
He couldn’t lie, but it was embarrassing for him as an adult to reveal the truth.
“Did you apologize?”
“Well, um, too much time has passed, so, um, well…”
“You didn’t apologize.”
Hikson broke out into a cold sweat.
It happened over 20 years ago.
Wouldn’t it be even more awkward for both of them to pretend to know about that incident now?
“If the person who was hit remembers it this much, it leaves a bruise on the person who hit them in their heart.”
“Hey, do you really think that applies to guys?”
“Whether it’s a man or a woman, it hurts when you get hit.”
Hikson shrugged his shoulders.
“No matter how much time passes, deep bruises in the heart don’t heal no matter how much you apply ointment. It’s the same for you, sir.”
Hikson couldn’t meet Viola’s eyes.
In fact, Hikson knew too.
There was a big bruise in Hikson’s heart as well.
He pretended to be okay, but he wasn’t okay at all.
No matter how much time passed, his daughter’s face became clearer and clearer.
“So, sincerely apologize. I’ll give you that chance.”
In the end, Hikson decided to move together.
Three days had passed.
Zenon wiped off the blood-stained dagger and looked up with a puzzled expression.
“It seems like the frequency of attacks is higher than usual.”
Hikson agreed.
“They seem to be quite well-trained.”
There had been a total of seven attacks in the past three days.
Since they entered the mountains two days ago, it could be counted as seven attacks in two days.
“They’re not just ordinary bandits. Viola, did you secretly go somewhere and kill people?”
“No, I haven’t done such a thing.”
Viola got lost in her thoughts.
“Zenon might know the reason.”
He might know, but he might not tell.
It could be to silently validate her qualification as Bella II.
“If that’s the case, I… I have to give an answer.” As she reached that thought, new possibilities began to emerge.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
This chapter was translated by Bree.
Next chapter will be released on July, 13. To read chapters in advance support us on Patreon!!
