Episode 37
Thick fingers wrapped around my wrist like vines.
Though he wasn’t channeling any magic, a warm sensation spread across my thin skin.
“……His Majesty the Emperor must have told you to get along with the Lady—.”
For some reason, I couldn’t finish my sentence. Only the noisy chirping of crickets outside the window filled the silence.
Still held by the wrist, I quietly looked up at Antonio.
After a few seconds of our eyes meeting, his expression grew a little stern. A heavy silence fell between us.
“I don’t follow vague orders.”
“…”
“Who stands by my side is for me to decide.”
With a voice that felt like a warning, he let go of my wrist.
Antonio turned coldly away from me. He opened the door first and stepped out. Feeling awkward for some reason, I followed him out without saying a word.
A servant from the ducal estate guided us to the banquet hall. Along the way, I kept rubbing the wrist Antonio had grabbed.
It wasn’t like he’d held it tightly. It didn’t even hurt. Yet, it felt like a mark had been left behind.
At the entrance to the banquet hall stood a noblewoman in a deep green dress, surrounded by her attendants.
As soon as Antonio approached, they all quickly formed a line and kneeled in unison to show respect.
Then the woman stepped forward from the center.
Golden hair like honey, piercingly blue eyes, skin pale as marble, long limbs, and an upright posture.
The Lady of Cassia, Theodora. At first glance, I thought she looked just like a queen.
“Theodora of Cassia greets His Highness the Prince.”
Just as the lady placed a hand over her heart and began to kneel, Antonio stepped forward and extended his right hand.
“So you’re the young duke of Cassia. I’m Antonio, commander of Scorpio.”
It was an utterly unexpected handshake request. The lady froze for a moment. Antonio’s actions were a clear breach of imperial etiquette.
A royal was only expected to nod in acknowledgment of a subject’s greeting.
…And he got her title wrong.
Even if she was the sole child of Duke Cassia, calling her a “young duke” was incorrect.
According to the laws of the Tristum Empire, daughters cannot inherit noble titles—even if they are only children.
They must marry a man from an equal or higher-ranking family, and only then would that title be passed to the husband.
In any case, she could never become a duke herself—she would only live as a duchess.
Antonio, it seemed, had no idea. He had likely never been informed of such things while living far away in Saragot.
“It’s an honor, Prince Antonio.”
The lady looked up at Antonio as if she were observing a foreigner. Masking her surprise, she carefully took his hand.
Antonio gave it a firm shake and let go.
She then turned her gaze toward me.
Frankly, I had no idea how I should introduce myself. I hesitated, and Antonio spoke up first, pointing in my direction.
“This is my advisor, Josephine. She’s the one who stopped the hippogriff attack.”
Advisor? I flinched at the unexpected title.
An advisor was someone who assisted a leader and offered strategic counsel…
I hadn’t been here long, and I never imagined he’d introduce me as an advisor in front of high-ranking nobility.
Then again, he couldn’t exactly say I was the hostage princess from Ruby Palace. That would immediately make people judge both him and me.
“Lady Josephine, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope you enjoy the banquet.”
The lady’s eyes curved into a crescent shape. It was a smile so perfect it looked drawn on.
Antonio and I followed her into the banquet hall. In the center of the hall stood a long table draped in a white cloth.
Each seat had a nameplate written in elegant cursive, likely prepared in advance using a list of our knights.
My seat was placed right next to Antonio’s.
Soon, the knights entered the banquet hall in a wave. They all greeted the lady loudly and sat in the seats designated by the nameplates.
The attendants brought out wide crystal goblets filled with cool water.
“Ah, I was so thirsty. Thank you!”
The knights, without hesitation, picked up the goblets with both hands and drank them in big gulps.
I had a bad feeling and looked to the side.
Antonio’s face had stiffened in embarrassment. He closed his eyes and brushed back his hair.
“Sigh… I should’ve taught them before we came.”
…In Saragot, food customs were different from those in Tristum.
Still, I didn’t expect them to drink the finger bowls meant for hand-washing.
Just then, my eyes met Lady Theodora’s.
Her blue eyes were trembling as if an earthquake had struck. Her attendants behind her were also sweating nervously, exchanging anxious glances.
The knights, apart from Antonio, didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong—they emptied their goblets completely.
“Wow! This water tastes amazing!”
Bartol, seated at the far end, exclaimed loudly. He even asked the attendants for a refill.
‘What do we do?’
I forced a smile and glanced at Antonio for help. With our knights chugging the hand-washing water, it wasn’t something I, a non-leader, could correct.
Then Antonio subtly leaned toward the lady.
“Lady Duke, could you play along just this once? This is a cultural misunderstanding between Saragot and Tristum. I’ll make sure to retrain them in table manners from now on.”
He whispered just loud enough for only us to hear.
The lady raised one eyebrow and then lifted the bowl to her lips, pretending to sip.
After a few moments, she set it down again, as if nothing had happened.
It was a clever way to avoid embarrassing the knights from a foreign land.
I followed her example, touching the water to my lips before putting it down. I wasn’t brave enough to actually drink it.
“Simon, bring a clean towel soaked in water. The guests need to wash their hands.”
The attendants returned with damp cloths on trays, and finally, the knights washed their hands.
“Why are there so many?”
When cutlery was laid out, the knights’ eyes went wide.
With four or five different spoons, forks, and knives, they looked overwhelmed.
Soon, the food arrived.
A massive, golden-brown roasted turkey was placed in the center of the table.
Beside it were juicy lamb cuts with crispy skin, pork ribs glazed with herbs and honey, and fresh fruits and cheeses lined the table.
“Well, good food is good food!”
Excited, the knights began eating heartily, not bothered by the cutlery.
Once fine wine was poured, cheers echoed throughout the hall.
I breathed a little easier and picked up my fork—
—but then Lady Theodora aimed a sharp question at Antonio.
“Your Highness, why didn’t you kill the hippogriff?”
I’d anticipated that question.
If I were the lord, I’d probably think eliminating the creature would be the most decisive solution.
“Because I didn’t need to.”
Antonio’s reply was short. Just as it began to feel curt, he spoke again.
“Hippogriffs don’t attack humans first. Not unless some fool gets too bold and provokes them.”
“And how can you be sure of that?”
“It’s in their nature. Haven’t you heard? The most intelligent battle is the one that never begins.”
Antonio answered with a defiant tone.
It was a proverb I hadn’t heard before—maybe it was a saying in Saragot.
“Ahaha, our commander may look like a killer, but he’s surprisingly against unnecessary bloodshed.”
Kallen joked from across the table.
Calling him a killer would’ve offended most people, but Antonio didn’t seem to mind.
Though he was sculpturally handsome, his sharp gaze did give him a fearsome aura.
“Lady Theodora, magical beasts shouldn’t be killed carelessly. Where their blood spills, magic corruption takes root. And over time, that corruption can spawn even worse monsters.”
Antonio warned in a low, grim tone. The lady’s eyes widened.
“Then are you saying we must coexist with the hippogriff?”
“If we retrieve four summoning stones from the Great Continent, we can send it back to where it came from. But they’re expensive—enough to cost a fortune.”
The lady’s face darkened.
“I don’t yet have the authority to handle such large sums.”
“The bigger problem is people. According to the thieves, the egg was meant for a secret auction among nobles.”
“What…?”
Her graceful brows rose high.
“We plan to investigate who’s behind it. If your family is involved, that could become… troublesome.”
“No. If we had wanted the egg, we wouldn’t have gone through a merchant. We’d have stolen it ourselves.”
“That’ll be clear once we investigate. I’m leaving two knights here. One will monitor for suspicious imports. The other will track down the people who tried to steal the egg.”
“Understood.”
The lady took a sip of wine, her expression complicated.
Antonio never mentioned the summoning stone found beneath the hippogriff’s nest.
Was he choosing silence until he identified the culprit?
The “suspicious item” Antonio had referenced was likely that summoning stone.
“Your Highness, may I ask one more thing?”
In the heavy atmosphere, the lady raised her voice again.
Antonio tilted his chin, signaling for her to speak.
“Does Your Highness recognize me as Duke Cassia’s heir?”
At last, the lady asked the question she truly wanted to ask.
I swallowed dryly.
This felt like a kind of test—of Antonio’s values, his judgment, and his allegiance.
