As Lian’s eyes met hers, a thousand thoughts flooded her mind.
The nobles standing before her seemed to vanish in an instant, their constant, concerned condolences and worried complaints to the Duchess…
She could no longer hear them.
In that moment, the world seemed to turn a stark white.
All that remained before her was the gently smiling Meliya and the girl clutching her waist, sobbing uncontrollably.
Lian had so much she wanted to say to the wife before her.
She had rehearsed these words countless times in front of the mirror and in her heart, and she truly could not bear to keep them bottled up any longer.
Lian’s throat twitched. She wanted to shout Meliya’s name and rush forward to embrace her.
But Meliya shook her head and raised her right index finger to her lips —
The gesture instantly snapped Lian back to reality.
She suddenly noticed that several nobles had realized the Duchess was not listening to them and had followed her gaze toward her.
Meliya narrowed her eyes with a smile, then turned back to continue her conversation with the nobles who had previously gone unanswered.
Lian stopped her advance, feeling as though she had just woken from a dream.
She understood the meaning behind that smile… Meliya was reminding her to control her emotions.
Compared to exchanging heartfelt greetings, there were more important matters that had to be completed first.
“Lady Lian, do you have something you wish to say to the Duchess?”
Someone suddenly tapped her shoulder and asked. Lian turned her head to look… it was the Head Maid, Feiyin.
“…Yes.”
It seemed she had been far too obvious.
Even with the Princess’s permission, for a lowly maid to be so visibly emotional and eager to rush before the Duchess at a time and place like this…
If anyone other than Feiyin had seen it, they might have mistaken her for an assassin.
“Then please attend this meeting in my stead. I just received word from my sisters that a large number of citizens are blocking the palace gates, demanding to see the Duchess. I must go handle that for her.”
“Is that really okay? If you, the Head Maid, are not here…”
Lian felt a surge of pleasant surprise at the proposal. It would give her an even better excuse to stay by Meliya’s side… yet she still worried that Feiyin’s absence might negatively affect the meeting.
“Of course it is. I am merely a manager of the Innermost Palace; whether I am here or not makes no difference. Besides, the reason you were able to enter the conference room is because the Lady spoke with the other lords, right? She is the one who wants you by her side.”
Feiyin looked with deep emotion at the young girl who continued to cry even as her mother stroked her head in comfort.
Then she turned back and spoke to Lian. “I wonder if you have noticed? On the surface, she acts as if she fears nothing, but her heart is actually quite fragile.”
“…You are right. I still do not know her well enough.”
Lian had anticipated that the absence of a father had left scars on the child’s heart ever since the day Milin had run away from both her mother and Lian in tears.
But reaching out to touch it today, Lian realized the pain hidden within those scars was so deep and intense… it made her feel the weight of it herself.
“You will have plenty of time to get to know her.” As she spoke, Feiyin bowed deeply and solemnly toward her. “For the fact that you can remain by her side… as the Lady’s friend, I offer you my heartfelt thanks.”
The bow she performed was the grand salute from a servant to a master, the same one they had used in the elevator that day.
Seeing that people nearby were already casting strange looks their way, Lian hurried to help her up.
“You are still joking at a time like this…!”
“I am not joking. I am always serious… as long as it concerns the Lady and you. Though, you may certainly interpret it as a performance to make the lords here trust you more.”
Feiyin patted her skirt and stood up from the floor.
She first walked to the Duchess’s side and whispered a few words.
After the Duchess nodded slightly to her, Feiyin informed everyone in the hall that she was going to handle the crowds gathered at the palace gates.
Finally, she pushed Lian to the Duchess’s side and announced, in front of everyone, that she would be her proxy.
Originally, several nobles were displeased that Lian, a mere welcoming maid, was present at such an important occasion.
However, after the Princess and the Head Maid had successively vouched for her, they abandoned the idea of raising an objection to the Duchess.
Thus, after Feiyin left, Lian was able to stand by Meliya’s side and participate in the meeting alongside the rulers of the Northland.
……
Because Milin had spent the entire afternoon working hard to manage the chaos following the attack, the assessment of the damage was completed quickly — corpses had been recovered, and seventy-six people were confirmed dead, while the total number of minor and serious injuries sent for medical treatment exceeded 500.
This level of casualty was considered quite fortunate given that nearly 10,000 people had been gathered in the Civic Square at the time.
Many people in the square, including several of the nobles here, had seen Milin step forward to destroy the massive fragment that would have otherwise fallen into the crowd. Consequently, they showered the Princess with unreserved praise.
Afterward, the nobles cautiously sought confirmation from the Duchess regarding the reason for the Royal Princess’s absence and her personal safety…
This was also one of the issues Lian was most concerned about.
After rescuing her daughter from the mansion, she had spent the entire afternoon trying to contact Sephy using the Communication Pearl — but there had been no answer.
Even though she was burning with anxiety, she could only stay by her daughter’s side to help control the situation on-site.
“Vera had already returned to her residence when the attack began. She sent someone to report that she is safe. As for why she was unable to attend the meeting… it was a safety consideration due to her being unwell.”
Hearing Meliya say this personally finally allowed Lian to set her heart at ease for the moment.
But unlike her, who knew Vera’s physical condition, the nobles all responded with solemn and worried expressions upon hearing the news.
As loyal vassals of the Northland, they knew exactly how powerful that Royal Princess was — a former member of the Brave’s Party who held the “Sword” Holy Title bestowed by the Holy Nation.
For a state of being “unwell” to prevent her from attending… it was likely more than just a simple illness.
“I have already sent people to look after Vera’s health and ensure her safety, so please rest easy. Now, there is another important matter to inform everyone: based on the analysis report from the site of the attack, the explosion that destroyed the mansion was not caused by Magic — because the mages of the Guard did not detect any residual Magic Power.”
Meliya did not let everyone dwell on their anxiety for too long.
She passed the site analysis report that Lian handed her to every noble participating in the meeting.
“No residual Magic Power? How could such a massive explosion possibly…”
Her statement threw the crowd into a state of confusion.
Reasonably speaking, a Spell capable of producing such massive scale and devastating power would certainly leave behind residual Magic Power that could be perceived by mages with magic aptitude — this was not just a rule of casting drafted by the Sage for humans, but the fundamental law of how Magic Power and Spells functioned.
Even those High Demonkind who were masters of Magic Power could not violate such a fundamental law.
The information that no residual Magic Power could be detected now pointed to only one thing.
“This was not an explosion caused by Magic Power,” Meliya said quietly.
She then signaled Lian with her eyes to bring out the sample Milin had obtained from the City Defense Force investigating the scene and place it on the table.
It was a small cloth bundle. Lian untied the ribbons of the bundle and showed the contents to everyone: it was a pile of coarse, sand-like, pale yellow granular solids.
“…This is explosives.”
Marchioness Stone, who came from a family of miners in Foothills Province, immediately recognized the true nature of the substance.
This was one of the great inventions of the Sage and the Duchess that had driven the Northland’s industrial revolution — a miraculous substance capable of causing mountain-shattering explosions without the use of Magic Power.
The Foothills Province she supervised was a territory famous for mining, and the mines in her land had escaped their past poverty precisely because of the benefits brought by this substance.
“Yes, Grandma Stone,” Milin spoke up. “The uncles from the City Defense Force found this at the scene. So, they had me bring it over.”
“It is impossible for this to have leaked from Foothills Province… Our control over this substance is extremely strict. Even if a tiny bit leaked out of the mines, those involved would face the gallows.”
Marchioness Stone clarified her position to Meliya with an extremely serious tone.
“I understand that this did not leak from Foothills Province, because it is the same in Cyrus.” Meliya smiled at her to put her at ease.
“The formulas are different. I am quite clear about the formulas I wrote: this is the formula that Cyrus sells to the other Four Territories. I deliberately adjusted that formula so its power would be a bit weaker than what you use in the mines of Foothills Province… That is why there are these kinds of residues.”
“You mean…”
“I cannot say for certain if there are explosives of this formula being sold on the black market in Cyrus. But if this wasn’t bought there, and instead came from the market economies of the other Four Territories… it means they really might have wanted to kill me and Vera, doesn’t it?”
Compared to the terrified expressions of the others, Meliya’s smile appeared remarkably calm.