Although she had let the Prince go, the Duchess’s subsequent handling of the situation slightly eased the nobles’ minds.
She placed the Prince under heavy guard and dispatched envoys to the Nolan Royal Family with documents to re-verify the identities of the attendees.
However, when the meeting finally concluded, the Northland nobles still departed with worried expressions and heavy hearts.
This was because the Duchess’s decision regarding the core issue of the meeting—whether to proceed with the Crown Festival—was nothing short of shocking.
“Is this really alright? Letting the Crown Festival proceed as planned…”
In the chilly night breeze, Lian stroked the soft fur of the shawl on her shoulders.
The shawl was made from the pelt of a White Snow Bear from the Foothills Province of the Northland—the same as the one worn by Meliya, who was walking ahead of her.
The two were strolling together through the garden of the Youlin Courtyard.
Moonlight washed over the green vines, silver-plating the flowers that only unfurled at night.
The pavilion standing deep within the garden, where they had once shared tea, was now submerged in darkness.
Only the iron casings of the magic lamps nearby, their flames long extinguished, emitted a faint, cold glint from the shadows.
On this late autumn night, the chirping of insects was sparse, and the usual splashing of the fountains had fallen silent after the gardeners turned them off.
In this stillness, Lian felt as if only the light sound of the woman’s breathing remained.
“Of course. This is my most precious daughter’s sixteenth birthday. How could I cancel her Coming-of-age Ceremony over such a small matter?”
Hearing her question, Meliya stopped. She turned around and flashed a smile at Lian.
“You’re joking.”
“Oh? You can tell?”
“This is no joking matter. You made this decision to stabilize the people’s hearts, didn’t you? But I still think this arrangement is very dangerous for you and your daughter.”
Lian knew nothing of politics or governing a territory.
However, she understood Meliya’s line of thinking—she was taking a risk to prevent even greater unrest.
Previously, Feiyin had even been forced to personally deal with the angry crowds blocking the Palace gates…
If some action wasn’t taken to reassure them, the city would likely descend into even greater chaos.
Furthermore, how to pacify the Demon Race who had come for the festival was another problem.
Milin had ordered the Guard to issue a wanted poster for that Demon girl…
That single move had already caused a considerable amount of unease among the Demon tourists present at the time.
At the end of the meeting, the nobles had formed two hypotheses regarding the current situation: a retaliatory strike planned solely by the remnants of the Demon Race, or a decapitation strike orchestrated by the Duchess’s long-time political rivals in collusion with those remnants.
Due to a lack of evidence, they couldn’t confirm which it was… But in either case, choosing to continue the Crown Festival involved significant risk.
None of the culprits had been caught… and the only person related to the killers had been personally killed by Meliya in her fit of rage.
Lian felt she should have been calmer at the time.
But the thought of Vera and Meliya potentially dying in that attack, combined with the sight of her bruised daughter and her terrified, dazed expression… she simply could not suppress the fury in her heart.
“You’re quite clever. Only by continuing the festival can we dilute the smell of gunpowder between the local residents and the tourists. You saw the attitude of my vassals… they all suspect this is the work of people who have long seen me as a thorn in their side. A significant portion of the commoners likely holds the same suspicion. If this atmosphere persists, chaos will soon erupt in the city.”
Meliya’s explanation matched what Lian had imagined. Yet, she remained deeply worried.
“Even so, you must have other methods, right? You could show your face from the safety of the Honglian Palace walls, or send someone to issue a public announcement…”
“For me, the safest place isn’t the walls of the Honglian Palace.” She walked past Lian, moving through the flowerbeds and trees, and raised her hand to point in a direction Lian knew very well.
“It’s there. Besides, I’ve arranged for the Guard. They will do their utmost to ensure tomorrow’s safety.”
Lian knew exactly where she was pointing. It was the farm serving as the venue for the Final Day of the Crown Festival—it was Meliya’s home… and her own.
“Alright. I’ve answered your question; now it’s your turn to answer mine. Why did you lie about the Communication Pearl and ask me to cover for you? You should know that if I accidentally let a villain go, I might be ousted as Duchess.”
Meliya spoke in a playful tone that defied her current age, as if catching the perfect moment of Lian’s hesitation.
“How could that happen? You’re deeply trusted by them. They didn’t believe me at first, but as soon as you spoke, their doubts vanished… Even if the one you let go really was a villain, they probably wouldn’t hold you accountable. Besides, the formula for those explosives was actually written by you… I never imagined you were such an incredible person.”
“My, thank you for the compliment. But even if you’re a sweet-talker, I won’t let you dodge the question.”
“…Then why were you willing to believe me? It was such a major incident.”
“Because you are someone related to him, so I believe you. But I still want you to explain the reasons properly.”
Meliya’s expression turned serious. Revealed in those amber eyes was a gaze that made it impossible to lie or escape—Lian had only seen it once before, when Meliya questioned her in the pavilion.
How much suffering had that girl, who once had such gentle and simple eyes, endured?
How long a road had she traveled for her gaze to become a vortex that could pull people in, a shackle sufficient to imprison them?
Lian didn’t know. But she would not run away.
She was willing to sink into that vortex, willing to put her head into those shackles… because she could no longer lie to the person before her.
‘Since you insist on going back home… then let me protect your side, just like before.’
“Pseudo — Heavenly Silver.”
Having made her decision, Lian reached out her hand, letting a massive amount of Magic Power gather… and transformed it into a form that even a mortal like Meliya could see clearly.
“Is this… armor?”
Meliya appeared somewhat surprised. She had seen the style of that armor before.
“This is Heavenly Silver. Magic and Magic Power are meaningless before it. I encountered a Demon in the mansion today who used Magic to disguise themselves as Milin… so before I brought that Prince over, I used this to test him. The result was that he wasn’t disguised.”
“So that’s how it was… But how do you have this? I remember it being kept in the Holy Nation. And only he should be able to use it…”
“It’s not a physical object, just a copy synthesized from pure Magic Power. And the reason I can do this, the reason I can use this thing…”
Lian felt her throat tighten and her lips tremble.
Her very soul shivered at the words about to leave her mouth. She both deeply anticipated and profoundly feared this moment.
“—is because I am him. Meliya… I am Lian En. I’ve returned. I’ve come to see you.”
Meliya was stunned. She looked at Lian, falling into a long silence.
“…”
After a moment, her face and the rims of her eyes turned red together.
“Pfft… Pfft-hahahahahahahahaha!”
Suddenly, she clutched her stomach and collapsed straight onto the ground, laughing uncontrollably.
Her magnificent robes and the fur of her shawl caught dust and fallen leaves, becoming quite messy.
Lian was shocked by her wife’s reaction, momentarily unsure of what to do. But she quickly snapped out of it and hurried to help her up from the ground.
“W-What are you doing! Why are you rolling on the ground like a child!”
“Ah… hahahaha… sorry… hahahaha…!” Meliya was still laughing. She had laughed so hard tears were coming out.
Lian could only hold her until she grew tired from laughing and slowly stopped.
“Ah… that really killed me… my stomach hurts from laughing. I wondered what you were going to say. It turns out you just wanted to tell me a joke? But don’t you think it’s a bit too much to play a prank like that on an old Aunt like me?”
Lying in Lian’s arms, Meliya reached out and pinched her cheek, just as she had done at the bathhouse that day.
That pinch made her lose it again, nearly breaking into another bout of laughter.
“Haha… a child with such soft cheeks, such a cute and handsome child… actually saying she’s this Aunt’s husband—the Hero?”
“…”
“I remember he wrote in his letters before that your condition is called ‘Chunibyo’ in his world… it’s a kind of beautiful imagination unique to thirteen or fourteen-year-old children. He even said Vera was a Chunibyo patient, fantasizing all day that she was the strongest and most amazing person in the world… You must really admire him, right? After all, you learned such impressive skills from him… but to say you are him? You clearly look eighteen or nineteen years old… Pfft-hahahahaha!”
Looking at her in this state, Lian was speechless.
She could only pat Meliya’s back, hoping this new round of wild laughter would end as soon as possible.
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