IYTTEPAAK Chapter 29

4. The Silver Sparrowhawk's Talons

More than half a month had passed since the first contest.

Heinz and Julis had taken their five days of punishment and still kept their lives. Only Jerome still had half a month of his sentence remaining.

Jerome's mistress, Cehera, had spent the same period confined to her quarters under a house-arrest decree. The remaining seven princesses who'd survived unscathed had earned the privilege of returning to hell.

I was one of them, and so I applied myself, as a princess properly should, to my social calendar. Today I was hosting a tea party, having invited the daughters of the empire's most powerful noble houses.

This season, the most fashionable spot in the imperial palace was the Camellia Garden. Over a landscape blanketed in soft white snow, lush camellia blossoms flaunted their vivid red.

The pavilion at the garden's center had been specially fitted out as a glass conservatory, so one could admire the view without shivering in the cold.

"I thought the only one who could hold a tea party in the conservatory pavilion this time of year was Her Highness the Golden-Green Princess."

"His Majesty's favor toward Her Highness the Silver Bird grows by the day."

"Placing first in the last contest surely helped. How magnificent she looked, saving the Golden-Green Princess."

The distinguished guests chattering in the conservatory numbered four in total: the two sisters of House Arondight, the Marquess of Osbond's daughter, and the Earl of Gawain's daughter.

The Duke of Arondight was Domynick's father, and the second-most powerful political figure in the empire after the Emperor himself.

The Marquess of Osbond was the clown the Mad Emperor doted upon without end.

The Earl of Gawain was Arondight's hunting dog, currently racking up accomplishments as the capital's chief of security.

Even with the daughters of these sycophant families arrayed evenly before me, I could smile like a flower without a flicker of nausea.

I, of all people, held the very worst bloodline as the Mad Emperor's daughter.

"The first contest was decided by vote. If we're being precise, wouldn't I owe my first place to the four of you?"

The mood at the table went sour. None of them, after all, had voted for me.

I hadn't made enemies of these particular girls, exactly, but it's simply that a beast, after all, knows its natural predator on sight—wouldn't you say.

They laughed off the awkwardness and pressed on with conversation.

"Sir Heinz and Sir Julis have both returned, but there's been no word on Sir Jerome. No news is good news, I suppose?"

"If, heaven forbid, something's happened to Sir Jerome, whatever will become of Her Highness of the Room of Early Summer?"

The Duke of Arondight's younger daughter and the Earl of Gawain's daughter traded lines back and forth, then both turned their eyes toward one side of the table—toward the Marquess of Osbond's daughter.

Mebril, the Marquess's daughter, had been blowing gently on her teacup; she blinked wide, then broke into a bashful smile.

"Oh, who knows? I don't take an interest in politics, so I couldn't say."

If her brother the Marquess was the clown, his little sister was an idiot living in a field of flowers.

House Arondight's eldest daughter, Annemarie, cleared her throat to redirect the conversation. Cehera's circumstances weren't a fit topic in front of me, and Annemarie seemed to be the only one at the table with any sense of that at all.

Annemarie's gaze drifted to Regen, standing at attention behind me.

"Sir Regen, what did you choose for your first-place reward? You were granted the right to select a single treasure from the imperial vault, weren't you?"

"I chose a sword."

Regen lifted the sword sheathed at his hip slightly, still in its scabbard, for her to see.

"It looks rather plain, doesn't it?"

"So it appears. But it's a masterwork—its balance and center of gravity are exceptional."

"Wow! Sir Regen, you're so very knight-like."

That last remark came from the Duke's younger daughter, Rosemary.

Calling a knight "knight-like"—she probably meant it as praise. In substance, an insult.

The comment revealed, plain as day, that she believed the rumor: that I'd chosen Regen for his face. It was a remarkably careless thing to say.

Before Annemarie, the elder sister, could hurry to signal her, Rosemary caused another disaster.

"I do envy the princesses. I'd like to have a knight like that too."

"Like to have, would you."

"Yes, yes! I've heard a personal knight obeys whatever order his princess gives him? How far does that go? Would he kiss your foot if you told him to? Die gladly, if you ordered it? How romantic!"

I looked at Rosemary without a word.

Silence was a perfectly good way to express oneself—Annemarie's face had gone the color of ash at her sister's impertinence.

House Arondight might soar as high as it liked, but I was still the third-ranked princess.

So long as I held the Silver Bird chamber, no one in House Arondight—save the Duke and Domynick—could treat me carelessly.

And besides, the only guest I'd originally invited was Annemarie, the elder sister. Her sibling had begged so earnestly to see Regen that I'd granted permission and let her sit in—but since she couldn't mind her tongue, the responsibility for that would fall squarely on her elder sister.

Annemarie hurried to smooth things over.

"Your Highness, forgive me. Rosemary isn't feeling well—I believe she ought to go ahead to the carriage."

"S-sister?"

"You have my permission."

I ignored the younger sister's flustered protest entirely, exchanging words only with the elder.

Once Rosemary had been led away by attendants, nearly dragged, Annemarie forwent her chair and knelt on the floor instead.

"Your Highness, forgive me. Rosie is still young and foolish, and she's committed a rudeness."

"She's seventeen. Hardly an age where youthful foolishness is still an excuse."

"It is out of place for me to say so, but the fault lies in the Duke's household's poor education of her."

From here, Annemarie's tongue ran needlessly long.

"As you may know, Rosie lost her mother young, and our father, as the empire's chancellor, has been too consumed with public duties to give her the attention and love she needed. Just recently, Father was a full week learning she'd caught the flu. Warped by neglect though she is, her nature is good at heart—I beg Your Highness's mercy."

The other two noble ladies leapt in to fan the flames on Annemarie's behalf.

"Oh my, I had no idea Lady Rosemary had such a sad story behind her."

"How heartless of the Duke. His indifference must have wounded Lady Rosemary terribly."

Absurd theatrics. I offered a single flat line.

"A father, indifferent to his child—so what."

"......."

My own father was the Mad Emperor.

The table went silent as if doused in cold water. I savored their unease the way one savors tea, then added:

"A joke."

"H—hah, ha, ha."

"Ho ho ho!"

Power is good. Even the truth, spoken in earnest, can be wrung into laughter.

Having played along and laughed with them, I deliberately singled one person out.

"Lady Nadia of Gawain, no need to be so tense. Am I making a guest uncomfortable?"

"N-no, Your Highness. It's only that this is my first tea party with you, and I worried I might commit some error."

"An error, hardly. You're the guest I asked to be introduced to through Lady Arondight, so make yourself at ease. Come, sit a little closer."

"Thank you, Your Highness. Please—call me Nadia freely, as well."

"I will, then, Nadia."

Annemarie's expression, while I cultivated this new intimacy, was worth watching.

It clearly didn't sit well with her, seeing a princess take more interest in a duke's family's dog than in a duke's own daughter.

The instant her eyes met mine, Annemarie smiled again, as though she'd never worn that displeased look at all.

"House Gawain has been quite the rising star lately. They've won a great many honors recently. You know of them too, don't you, Lady Osbond?"

"I don't take an interest in politics, so I really couldn't say... In fact, it was only today that I learned there was even a house called Gawain."

Annemarie's asking Mebril for her opinion had plainly been deliberate. Mebril's blunt tactlessness made Nadia's expression stiffen.

And when it comes to cunning, I'm no less capable than Annemarie. I stepped in, pretending to save Nadia face.

"This is a good chance to learn something useful, then. House Gawain was raised to an earldom not long ago, after a large-scale rooting-out of traitors. One of those traitors was... House Belpha, the viscountcy, wasn't it?"

"......."

I kept my eyes on Nadia's flinch and continued.

"Your brother was engaged to the Belpha daughter, I believe. What a bone-deep act of resolve that must have been. His loyalty to His Majesty rivals even the Marquess of Osbond's, one might say."

"......."

A ravening hunting dog and a butcher of men. About the right level for each other, wouldn't you say.

I reminded her of her guilt, like pressing in a brand.

"The Earl is famous for his resourcefulness, but everyone who matters knows Lady Nadia's role in the last rooting-out of traitors was no small one either. I do hope you'll continue serving the empire well."

"I— I'll keep that in mind, Your Highness."

I straightened from where I'd leaned toward Nadia and cast my gaze somewhere far off.

"I'm afraid I'll have to let you go now, Nadia. It seems someone's come to collect you."

"...What?"