Episode 35 – My fiance 2

Perhaps it was because he had slept too long, but a slight headache came and he let out a short groan. How long have you been able to sleep this long? Due to the daily attacks of assassins, even a sheet of paper fluttering in the middle of the night would wake him up right away. Waking up from sleep, I was greeted with an unfamiliar hazy sight.

Obviously, the place where I slept was a shabby and small single room, but the place where I woke up was a dazzling room decorated with luxurious furniture and splendid expensive artworks.

“Are you awake?”

I turned my head at the familiar voice. Werner was not wearing a shabby outfit like yesterday, but a luxurious robe with a lion embroidered with gold thread on the finest black fabric. Unlike yesterday, I was able to realize that I was really a magician belonging to the imperial family. I was surprised at the fact that the atmosphere could change like that with just one piece of clothing, but for a moment, a solemn voice came from outside.

“The empress came to visit.”

Suddenly empress mama? I quickly got up and straightened my clothes and hair. But even though Werner said that the empress had come, she sighed rather annoyed and replied.

“Come in.”

Soon the door opened and the empress entered, accompanied by many maids. Unknowingly, I knelt down at the solemnity and dignity felt in my appearance.

“I dare to have an audience with the most noble woman in the Empire.”

As I learned from my father, I greeted properly according to the etiquette. But Werner sighed again and just nodded. It would not be strange to someone to decapitate it for being arrogant, but Empress Mama responded to his greeting with a smile and then came towards me.

“Who is this beautiful little lady?”

“I…I am Glaceon Winterheart, the eldest daughter of the Grand Duchess of Winterheart…”

“Oh, then, since we are Your Majesty’s distant relatives, there is no need to be too polite.”

“but…”

I didn’t know what to do, so I looked at Werner to ask for help. Werner then came towards me.

“Don’t be too nervous. I’ll take care of it even if you commit rudeness to the point of blowing your throat.”

“hehehehe, don’t be too nervous.”

Even with that, I couldn’t shake off the tension easily. After staring at Werner and I in turn, the Empress asked Werner a question.

“Anyway, that’s a big deal. To think there’s a lady who can come to Sir Werner’s office.”

“Because my office is a place where only beauties can enter except for me.”

At Werner’s joke, the empress covered her mouth with a fan and laughed. And the empress bit the people around her with a gesture. I couldn’t figure out the reason, but I tried to leave the office because I felt like I was included in the target. Until Werner stopped me.

“Don’t go out.”

“but…”

“I hate to say it twice.”

I had no choice but to sit down on a nearby sofa, trying to be as quiet as possible. The Empress turned her attention away from me and spoke to Werner.

“I heard that my uncle was rude to Sir Werner yesterday.”

“Yeah… There was an accident like this.”

“As a member of the imperial family and his nephew… I offer my sincere apologies.”

For a moment, my head felt dizzy. Yesterday, I heard that Werner had an accident by burning the clothes of a relative of the imperial family and hanging them high on the castle wall. However, far from reprimanding Werner, the empress instead apologized. It was rare for a member of the imperial family to apologize to anyone.

Werner humbly accepted the apology.

“Yes, I didn’t do anything well either. By the way, I have a request for you, Empress.”

“I help with anything I can do.”

“Can you please not say anything to my brothers and sisters?”

“If that’s what you mean, then I understand.”

After saying that, Empress Mama took out a pouch from her bosom. Empress Mama took out a bulging silk pouch the size of an egg and said with a smile.

“I brought it to express my appreciation for Sir Werner’s hard work and to apologize for this situation.”

“What is this?”

“It’s a snow hawk egg. They say this egg is worth dozens of gold bars?”

I’ve heard of it. A snow hawk, a phantom hawk that lays eggs in tall trees out of reach of humans. There were rumors that the price was worth asking because the number of individuals was small and the place where they lived was unknown.

“I don’t really like birds, but… if it’s the empress’ favor, I’ll gratefully accept it.”

“That’s nice. Then I’ve got a schedule so I’ll…”

“Goodbye.”

As Empress Mama grabbed the doorknob, I also raised the hem of my skirt and bowed.

“It was an honor to have an audience with the most noble woman in the empire.”

Empress Mama responded by waving her hand to me.

“It would be nice to see you again next time, Lady Glaceon.”

When Empress Mama left, Werner approached with an annoyed face and sat down on the other side of the sofa where I was sitting.

“You just take this and ask me to shut up, and you talk for a long time.

“Yeah?”

It would not be strange if someone asked for blasphemy, but Werner didn’t care about that at all and was annoyed with a displeased expression. Her face was 180 degrees different from when she was with Media-sama yesterday. Not a playful face, but an unpleasant face that seemed to have dirt on its collar.

I carefully tried to ask the truth of the incident.

“Um… what are you talking about that the empress’s uncle was rude? I’m sure that Mr. Werner burned his clothes and hung them on the castle wall…”

“That bastard left the old woman and got angry, so I went and protested.”

“So what?”

“By the way, do you know what that bastard muttered? Maybe I muttered it to myself, but I’m rather deaf.”

Only then did the clues begin to unravel.

“So I smashed the wagon, and after beating it, I burned the clothes with flame magic and hung it high on the wall.”

“If that happened, you should have told the others the details. Then they would have understood.”

Since they are all kind people, they must have understood Werner’s actions. Werner was deliberately hiding the facts. I couldn’t understand his behavior.

“Understanding? Beyond understanding, they must have visited and beaten them?”

“Then why…”

“So I hate it.”

“Yes? What do you mean by that?”

“Okay, let’s tell the truth and let’s say that my older brothers and my older sister mucked up that damn bastard. Then everyone would be so scared that they wouldn’t even be able to open their mouth to me.”

“Yes, then no one will be able to ignore Mr. Werner…Ah…”

I knew because I had a similar experience. My father and mother purged the people who called me half-vampire. But even so, I still couldn’t throw away my anxiety. Because it was not me that they feared, but father and mother.

“So even if this happened, I just told my brothers and sisters that I had an accident. It’s comfortable.”

“But even Empress Dowager considers Werner important to the extent that she came to apologize to Werner.”

“Ha! Do those people think I’m important?”

Werner snorted and started twirling his index finger. Then, various magic crystals formed around his fingers.

crystal of flame

tree crystal

steel crystal

water crystals

crystal of light

lightning crystal

dark crystal

ice crystals

land crystal

crystal of wind

Eventually, the crystals coalesced into one and turned into a mass of magical energy that glowed with a clear light, and then disappeared in an instant like a candle extinguished.

“Without this, I am an orphan with no value whatsoever.”

“What do you mean Werner-sama isn’t worth it…”

“If I hadn’t had this talent…would my brothers and sisters take me? At least I would have sent them to a well-equipped orphanage.”

“If it wasn’t for the halo of those older brothers and sisters, would I have seen the light?”

“If it wasn’t for magic, I would have been begging in a back alley and died lonely. I wouldn’t have been given the right to talk to a noble lady like you.”

Werner had sad eyes. The first time I saw it, it was so pitiful and pitiful. Like a baby fox shivering in the cold, I wanted to cuddle it.

“The youngest of the heroes and the archmage, Werner, everyone says this… but in the end, all they see is ‘the youngest of the heroes’ and the ‘archmage’. In the end, no one sees a person called Werner Alton.”

Because he had the talent of an archmage, he was taken over by heroes, and because he was taken over by heroes, everyone looked up to him. After all, he said that no one saw the human itself.

“That’s the same for me. After all, since I’m the daughter of the grand duke, I’m the daughter of the vampire queen, so be polite…”

“But to my brother and sister, you’re just a pretty daughter.”

Yes, even if my father and mother were not nobles, they would have loved me. But Werner was different. He had no family to love him as he was.

Even though he seemed to be surrounded by the most people, in the end he was all alone when the sun went down and everyone went home. He spent the night alone every night, and at least he was a solitary person who could not be compared to me, who was loved by his parents.

Werner smiled shyly.

“I want to hear what I’m talking about…”

And he handed me the snow hawk egg he had received from the Empress.

“Hey, is it your birthday soon? Accept it, because it’s a gift from me.”

“But this is a gift from the empress to Mr. Werner…”

“It’s a bribe I received from my older brothers and sisters on the condition that I keep my mouth shut, so I can use it however I want.”

I warmly and gently embraced the snow hawk egg he gave me. It was the first gift he gave me.

“Mr. Werner.”

“And why?”

“Someday, I’ll definitely bring someone who sees Mr. Werner as Mr. Werner.”

I didn’t say who it was. He replied with a laugh as if he was having fun, not knowing that the person was in front of him.

“Yeah, be sure to bring her someday. If it’s a pretty girl, it would be nice to marry someone like that.”

—–

Winterheart family home.

My mother saw me pampering the eggs I received from Mr. Werner and said.

“Does my daughter like that egg that much?”

“Your mother is very nice.”

“Really? Then what will the hawk be named after it’s born?”

I suddenly remembered how he put a lot of sugar in his cocoa when he was drinking it.

“Um, I want to be Suga.”

“… oh so…?”

When my father saw the scene, he smiled and came over and stroked my hair. Originally, I didn’t know, but after meeting Werner, I was able to learn that this happiness was not for granted.

“father.”

“Why is that my daughter?”

“Teach me swordsmanship starting tomorrow.”

“Why swordsmanship?”

Because to become a person worthy of an archmage, you had to be armed to a certain extent. And because I didn’t want to be swayed by other people anymore. I wanted to change myself.

“I am no longer a child.”

“My daughters are all grown up… This father is so happy that tears come out…”

My mother soothed my father who was really crying.

“And I have something I want.”

For the first time in my life, I decided to tell my parents that I wanted something.

“Uh… My daughter has something she wants? Really?”

“Tell me anything, because this father will take even the head of the dragon.”

“Yeah, Mom will also have her family members get some kind of treasure.”

My parents made a fuss and boasted that they would get me what I wanted, and for the first time in my life, I said what I wanted.

“I want to have Werner.”