MHHC Chapter 53

Strange Hospitality

"Well, you say you went for a brief walk, but you weren't anywhere nearby, and there are wild beasts roaming around… Everyone thought something had happened to you both in the forest. If you'd returned just a little later, a search party would have been organized."

Margaret spewed complaints like a dragon breathing fire. Adelheid sipped her tea in silence.

"Drink more. All of it. We'll be departing soon, so this is the last time you'll be able to enjoy warm tea."

"We're departing soon?"

"They say just a few more small rocks need to be cleared and it'll be done. Really, no matter how much you two adore each other to death… Both of you aren't even in good health."

At Margaret's nagging, Adelheid could see a maidservant tidying the campsite nearby turning bright red. Adelheid hurriedly waved her hands.

"I-it's really not like that. We really just took a walk nearby…"

Adelheid stammered her excuse, her face burning scarlet.

She didn't even understand why she had to make such excuses, but if she didn't say something, Valentin would be branded as the most shameless man under heaven.

Margaret narrowed her eyes and sent a look that said they were both in cahoots.

When Adelheid emptied her tea without leaving a drop, Margaret checked thoroughly and gently pushed her back toward the carriage.

"…Hurry and board the carriage. Since I've already brewed the tea, I'll take some to the master as well."

She felt great relief that Margaret's nagging had ended there as she climbed into the carriage.

A moment later, Margaret brought an enormous quantity of blankets and wrapped them tightly around her entire body.

"It's suffocating…"

"Unless you plan to lie in bed with a cold the whole time, endure it."

"Your Grace. We'll arrive at the capital soon."

Adelheid groggily woke from sleep at Margaret's shaking hand.

Unusually, she couldn't gather her wits even after waking. Perhaps because she'd slept crushed beneath the blankets, her dreams had been tumultuous—a black form chasing her eerily, then suddenly being crushed in a nightmare. Her entire body was drenched in sweat.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

Margaret asked, handing Adelheid a handkerchief. Adelheid nodded.

"Yes. I don't remember it well, but I think so."

"That can happen when you're nervous. Look at the scenery outside and lift your spirits a bit. It's Ingrid's Wall."

Margaret spoke cheerfully as she opened the carriage window.

Outside the window, a massive white wall that seemed to reach the sky—'Ingrid's Wall'—stretched endlessly across the plain from left to right.

Built long ago as the last bastion against the invasion of monsters, the barrier erected by the great sage Ingrid looked like a shield held by a crouching giant.

Beyond that wall lay the fertile lands where the Emperor and central nobility resided—Pragma and southern Bayern.

"The wall must be opening."

Margaret muttered rapidly in an unconsciously excited tone.

Living in the north, opportunities to see Ingrid's Wall were rare, so it was a natural reaction.

Though she'd lived in Bayern for seventeen years, this was only the second time Adelheid had actually seen 'Ingrid's Wall.'

Ba-bwooooooom!

Finally, with a long, resonant horn blast, the entire massive wall slowly opened to the left and right.

Sunlight pooled dazzlingly atop the pure white wall. Adelheid brought the back of her hand to her eyes and narrowed them.

No matter how many times she saw this sight, it remained wondrous—a testament to magic and human will carved into stone.

"The procession of His Grace the Grand Duke of Ansgar!"

Simultaneously with someone's shout, a thunderous roar of cheers poured forth as if to swallow the carriages.

Adelheid flinched in surprise and drew back her head, which had been leaning out the window. She could see citizens swarming near the vanguard knights, holding flowers and flags.

"Eternal victory and glory to His Grace the Grand Duke!"

White petals scattered through the air, and people raised their hands high, cheering.

They waved whatever cloth they could—shirttails, bedsheets, anything that could be brandished.

"Be happy!"

"Blessings! Grant us blessings too!"

Faces beaming with happiness, shouts demanding attention, occasional sobs mixed in among those overcome with emotion—the atmosphere trembled with fervor that bordered on religious ecstasy.

She'd known that Valentin had achieved great merit and expanded the eastern borders, but she hadn't anticipated such tremendous hospitality.

"Look there! Her Grace the Grand Duchess!"

"Your Grace the Grand Duchess, be well!"

Blessings even poured toward her. Adelheid responded to the greetings with a stiffly frozen face, barely managing to wave her hand.

"What on earth… I don't understand this commotion. Was the victory the Grand Duke achieved truly that great?"

When she'd passed through here years ago heading to Ansgar, she hadn't seen even a hundredth of this crowd.

The few who had come out to the roadside then had been mere riffraff hoping the newly married couple might scatter some coins according to old custom.

"That's part of it, but the rumor that he returned from death has enhanced His Grace's reputation."

Margaret answered with a flushed face.

"Right now our lord is being called blessed by Morig, an incarnation of Morig."

"I'd heard such rumors were circulating, but I didn't expect this."

"Actually, this is mild. Besides, it's not entirely wrong. 'Coming back' like that would be difficult without Morig watching over our lord."

She'd looked at him just hours ago as if he were the most shameless man under heaven, but now he was once again 'our lord.'

Margaret continued with a proud smile.

"Anyway, now we can finally rest like human beings. We'll spend today at the nearest inn, then enter the palace tomorrow morning—the schedule will be just right."

However, the welcoming crowd didn't disperse as time passed; instead, they packed together even more densely.

Just when they'd become stuck between throngs of people, unable to move an inch, a knight order arrived from the palace.

Margaret, who'd stepped down from the carriage saying she'd find out what was happening, returned a moment later with a completely drained face.

"What did they come for?"

"It seems we won't be unpacking at an inn but will go straight to the palace. Apparently His Majesty issued an order to enter the palace as quickly as possible."

After that, matters resolved very quickly.

The knight order pushed the gathered citizens to the outer edges of the roadside and secured enough path for the carriages to run.

Thanks to this, Ansgar's horses could pass through the central square about three times faster than when the road had been blocked.

After running along the main road for some time, they finally saw the tall iron gates of the palace.

Knights arrayed before the gates verified their flags and withdrew their spears.

"It's the crest of the House of Grand Duke Ansgar!"

"Open the way!"

The iron gates opened to both sides with a clamorous sound. The carriages shot past the opened gates and entered the palace grounds.

Adelheid gazed at the palace interior with eyes mixing tension and curiosity.

Spacious roads with splendidly landscaped gardens on both sides, beautiful milky-white buildings and spires…

Hundreds of glass windows reflected the sunlight dazzlingly. Such a majestic sight was a first in her life—architecture that seemed to breathe with the accumulated dreams and debts of empire.

'Will I look too shabby?'

Adelheid anxiously gripped the hem of her dress tightly.

The clothes she wore now had been tailored with focus on convenience for the long journey.

There wasn't a single decoration to catch the eye, and what little there was seemed to give off a sour smell from being soaked in sweat.

When she cautiously lifted her sleeve to smell it, Margaret noticed and quickly spoke.

"They'll probably give us one of the annexes attached to the main palace. Once you've washed properly, you can change into the dress we prepared for the evening banquet."

Adelheid nodded, but honestly she was half-skeptical.

Seeing the splendid palace reminded her of how light and beautiful the fashionable clothes in Bayern and Pragma were.

By comparison, the clothes Adelheid had newly tailored, though beautiful, all focused on practicality.

The material was thick to endure the northern cold, and the cuffs extended long below the wrists.

She couldn't waste the budget tailoring a new dress that could only be worn for one season, and even then only at the palace.

"We can just have new ones made if necessary."

Margaret muttered in an uncertain voice, watching the noble ladies strolling through the gardens.

Adelheid smiled faintly and instead comforted Margaret.

"Still, I have at least one dress tailored for banquets, so it'll be fine. The other clothes are still close to winter wear, so they won't look too out of place."

"Well, that's a relief then…"

Finally the carriage stopped before the long staircase of the main palace.

Adelheid froze seeing the Emperor and other nobles all gathered at the base of the stairs.

Among them were Count Reichenau, her biological father, and Charlotte as well.

"Adele."

Finally the carriage door opened, and Valentin extended his hand inside the carriage with an extremely courteous attitude.

She grasped Valentin's hand and stepped down from the carriage with as dignified an attitude as possible.

She'd never felt more embarrassed by her shabby, almost squalid appearance.

"I greet Your Majesty."

She stood beside Valentin, receiving everyone's gaze, and bent her knee toward the Emperor.

Valentin displayed etiquette so elegant it was startling.

"Come, come. Welcome."

The Emperor grasped Valentin's hands directly with his own and raised him from his position.

Adelheid immediately noticed that the Emperor's black hair, golden eyes, and eye shape were remarkably similar to Valentin's.

Of course, even using the same materials, Valentin's side was closer to a perfectly sculpted statue—beauty honed by shadow and suffering into something almost inhuman in its precision.

In any case, if a stranger saw them, it wouldn't be strange to mistake them for father and son.

The Emperor smiled contentedly and patted the back of Valentin's hand.

"You made me worry with ominous rumors, but seeing you so unharmed brings great joy to my heart. So, have you been well?"

"Thanks to Your Majesty's concern, I have been well."

The moment Valentin opened his mouth, every noble's gaze focused on him.

Rumors that he'd become an imbecile from the shock of returning to life had already spread rampantly through the capital—whispers that traveled faster than natural gossip, propelled by invisible hands and calculated malice.

Considering the normal time it took for rumors from Ansgar to reach the capital, the speed at which malicious rumors about Valentin spread was excessively fast.

The mastermind behind it required no thought—utterly clear.

'The Crown Prince.'

Adelheid deliberately ignored the gaze boring into her from beside the Empress.

She turned her attention back to the conversation between Valentin and the Emperor.

"I don't know where to stand at such excessive hospitality. For Your Majesty to personally welcome me like this—it's an honor beyond my worth."

"Beyond your worth, you say."

The Emperor's laughter was so great his teeth showed completely.

"I immediately left my seat when I heard during council that the Grand Duke was coming. The Grand Duke is the hero who led the Battle of Northofen to victory. You've already proven your qualifications as a ruler, no less."

At those words, she could feel the atmosphere among the surrounding nobles turn icily cold—a palpable tension that pressed against the skin like winter wind through castle corridors.