Her expressionless face was cold enough to contrast sharply with the affectionate image she had always been associated with, but because of her chronic illness, she was still frail and posed no threat.
By the time Anix had paced back and forth from one end of the long table to the other several times.
In a sharp voice, she asked as if rebuking him,
“You heard about yesterday’s trial, right?”
Diana’s vacant gaze turned toward him.
At the same time, Anix, who had been pacing to the point of making one dizzy, stopped in his tracks.
Diana’s weak voice clearly reminded him of the current situation.
“From what I have heard, it was quite something. Enough that Father could not possibly handle it without Hedmilton.”
“Th-That is not quite true.”
“You do have a countermeasure, right?”
“Of course. Naturally!”
As if struck right on the mark, Anix snapped his head around to look at her.
The flicker of contempt in his eyes, visible for just a moment, made it unclear whether it was directed at Liselotte or at his own daughter.
But Diana did not even react to it.
She simply smiled faintly and responded gently.
“Since compensation was brought up first by the East, the Princess will not stay still either.”
“I thought she had grown up a bit, but seeing how she handled the trial, her personality has not changed at all.”
Aside from the difference that her viciousness, which stopped at nothing, was now being wielded through the law, she was not much different from before.
She was ruthless, persistent, and did not even bother reading the room.
What Princess would step forward for a crumbling House like House Rovans? And not just that, but stand in court as their representative!
If she had lost, it would have brought disgrace to the Imperial Family.
“It would have been more satisfying if she had just lost.”
Anix bit down on his lip.
If it was that tenacious Princess, she would surely launch a public opinion war next.
With nothing to lose, she tended to act recklessly in public, and now she would brand the North as the victim and drag House Gloria’s reputation through the mud.
Hoo. As he let out a sigh, knock knock, a knock sounded at the office door.
Creeeak. Through the slowly opening door, a bespectacled woman peeked her head in.
“I-It is Mirkena. Your Grace, you have a visitor…”
With Jar having resigned as well, House Gloria was suffering from a manpower shortage.
With Senior Aide Joyron on leave, the clumsy Mirkena had no choice but to become the lead.
But compared to those who had handled the work before, she was far from satisfactory.
Especially.
“Just what you would expect from a former maid?”
Since she had been one of Diana’s personal maids, her lack of professional competence was particularly irritating.
But Diana greeted her with a bright smile.
“What are you saying? Among my maids, she was still the most capable one. With no one to teach her, this much is admirable.”
Despite the endlessly gentle tone, Mirkena’s body trembled like a quaking tree.
Diana, seated, met her gaze and asked.
“So then. You should report who the visitor is first.”
“I-It is Lawyer Miro Elbark.”
Mirkena forced the words out, looking as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
Behind Diana, who gave a pleased smile with her eyes as if saying well done, Anix’s bright voice rang out.
“Ah, tell him to come in!”
Through the door that soon opened, a man carrying a black leather briefcase entered.
Brown pomaded hair and sharp silver-rimmed glasses.
His eyes, drooping more than most, curved so much when he smiled that his pupils nearly disappeared.
Despite his neat attire and posture, there was a sharp edge to him that couldn’t be hidden.
“Greetings, Your Grace. I attended the trial as an observer yesterday, so I am only now able to greet you properly.”
“Yes, yes. Go ahead and have a seat.”
With his expression visibly brightening, Anix gestured toward the sofa opposite Diana.
Guided by Mirkena, the man took his seat, set his briefcase beside the sofa, and greeted Diana as well.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, my Lady. I have heard much about you, but you are far more beautiful in person.”
Diana responded with a bright smile instead of words and cast a quick glance at Anix.
Rushing to sit in the seat of honor, he rubbed his hands together and briefly introduced Miro.
“Aren’t we short on aides? That is why I found someone truly capable this time.”
“To have this opportunity to serve House Gloria, one of the four Great Houses, is deeply moving.”
His calm manner of speech and his proven career as a lawyer.
Along with his reverence for House Gloria, Anix found everything to his liking.
Talents like this were hard to come by.
Especially since House Keilos they were currently at odds with had Liselotte on their side, it wasn’t easy for him to handle things alone.
And since they were bound to keep crossing paths, thinking ahead, he needed someone who could at least suppress that damned Princess’s momentum.
So this time, he gritted his teeth and sought an aide well versed in the law.
And Miro Elbark was a man who met all of those conditions.
They should have been the ones groveling for forgiveness, but instead, with bad news coming in every single day, he was on the verge of developing migraines he had never had before.
‘How dare she make a fool of me… I will make sure to see the Princess bow her head and beg for forgiveness.’
Ahem. Clearing his throat, Anix spoke to him with an affable smile.
“At present, we are short on subjugation members, so we are planning to hire new mercenaries. You can start with that.”
“Yes. Is there anything in particular I should familiarize myself with?”
Miro’s attentive posture was polite.
Behind Diana, Mirkena, who had been standing by, handed him an old-looking sheet of paper.
Worn from heavy use, its edges frayed, the paper contained a brief list of the duties an aide was supposed to perform.
It even looked as though outdated content had been passed down unchanged for at least fifty years.
Yet Miro didn’t point it out.
“Do you have anyone in mind as a subjugation commander?”
“Kaul Rigol. I hear he is a mercenary with good skill, though his temperament is somewhat unruly.”
“I have heard that there is quite a shortage of mercenaries. Will one person be enough?”
“I am told that Kaul alone does the work of five. Training him may be difficult, but the underlings will handle it.”
Listening to the exchange and nodding occasionally, Miro smiled gently.
“Following the wise choice of the Head of the House, I will meet Kaul Rigol today and proceed with the contract.”
“Ah, and…”
Raising one hand to cut off the conversation, Anix asked in an unpleasant tone,
“I would like to sue that insolent former aide. Would that be possible?”
“Of course. Leave it to me.”
Only then did Anix’s expression finally relax.
“Since I have to attend the Imperial banquet this evening, let’s finish it before then.”
Nodding his head with a satisfied smile, he pressed down on the sofa’s armrest with a sharp sound and rose from his seat.
“That way, you will attend as well, won’t you?”
***
“Your Highness, Your Highness. Should we put your hair up or leave it down?”
As the time to attend the Imperial banquet drew near, maids crowded into Liselotte’s room.
Marsha, in particular, was flustered as she compared a ribbon adorned with jeweled accessories in one hand and a plain ribbon in the other.
Liselotte answered while looking at Marsha’s hands reflected in the vanity mirror.
“If you are asking which one is more expensive, the left. If the goal is to look flashy, the right.”
The ribbon in her left hand was a plain ribbon without any jewels.
As a result, Marsha’s eyes widened.
“This one is more expensive?”
“The fabric is hard to obtain.”
“Alright. Then let’s go with the expensive one.”
For some reason, Marsha’s shoulders were especially tense today.
The dress was the same.
The pale blue fabric shimmered with every movement as if diamonds had been set into it.
Unlike the everyday dresses worn in the North, it boldly exposed the shoulders and even featured translucent lace decorations over them.
It was the height of splendor.
Even so, perhaps because she still retained memories of the original Liselotte, strangely enough, this outfit felt comfortable.
“When you were in the Capital, you lived so splendidly, but whenever you went to court you only wore dull clothes… I have been worried about it for so long.”
Marsha’s hands, as she finally braided the fluffy pink hair into a loose braid that fell down her back, were truly impressive.
After neatly tying even the ribbon, she wiped the sweat from her forehead with satisfaction, like a sculptor who had completed a masterpiece.
“Phew. It’s done. Studying those fashion magazines from the Central region really paid off.”
