MHHC Chapter 54

Thin Ice

However, the Emperor continued speaking, grinning to himself.

"Thanks to squeezing every bit of war reparations from those thorn-in-my-side Baden bastards, my coffers will be quite abundant for the time being. The north must feel secure having talent like you."

The last words were openly spoken as praise for all to hear. Valentin's knights bowed their heads in unison.

"Truly you are the light of Ansgar."

The Emperor smiled with a satisfied face and waved his hand.

"You all must be tired from the long journey. I've kept you standing when you're excessively fatigued. Go now and rest. We'll see each other at the evening banquet."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

When Valentin bowed his head according to etiquette, the Emperor waved his hand as if he'd received sufficient courtesy.

Then he turned sharply and strode up the stairs, leading the nobles again.

As Adelheid straightened from her slight bow, the Emperor's chamberlain immediately approached.

"Board the carriage. His Majesty has instructed that a separate annex be provided."

"An annex?"

"Yes. It's not far in terms of location, but walking would be somewhat difficult."

People busily mounted horses and carriages again. Belying the chamberlain's words that it was 'not far,' they rode for quite some time.

"Here, we've arrived."

Finally the carriage stopped before a building that looked like a miniature replica of the main palace.

Besides the main palace, there were twelve more annexes in Pragma, and the lodging assigned to Ansgar was one of the buildings located relatively close to the main palace.

Adelheid gazed with admiring eyes at the luxurious garden attached to the annex, the training grounds, and the knights' quarters that could comfortably accommodate even fifteen guards.

"This way."

As soon as she stepped down from the carriage, a servant quickly attached himself and led the way. Adelheid watched Valentin being guided to a nearby room, then entered through the door the servant opened for her.

The room was spacious and comfortable. The furniture was uniformly magnificent, and sunlight poured softly through the large window facing east.

"We greet Your Grace."

The palace maids who'd been unpacking turned and competed to offer her polite greetings.

While they'd been detained by the Emperor, the luggage loaded in the baggage carts had apparently arrived here ahead of time.

"We will serve you sincerely from now on without inconvenience."

"If the lady's maid will follow me. Your luggage has been unpacked in the adjacent room."

Margaret looked back at Adelheid awkwardly, as if uncomfortable with a maid serving her, then quickly followed the maid out of the room at her urging.

In Ansgar, they didn't distinguish between the status of a lady's maid serving the mistress and maids doing miscellaneous chores.

Because hands were so scarce, rather than systematically dividing work, whoever had spare hands at the moment handled tasks.

"Your Grace. Shall I prepare bath water for you?"

At the perceptive maid's suggestion, Adelheid quickly nodded. She'd been feeling sticky from dried sweat anyway.

She wanted to strip off these dirty clothes as quickly as possible.

"Please."

The maid immediately left the room, then appeared with servants carrying basins full of boiling water.

The maids skillfully mixed the basin water with cold water from pitchers to fill the bathtub, then dropped in dried flower petals and fragrant oils.

A pleasantly refreshing scent spread through the air.

"It's ready."

Adelheid refused the maids' hands offering to help her undress, quickly stripped off her clothes, and slipped into the water.

As she immersed her body in the warm water, her nerves—sharply on edge from the long journey—settled calmly.

"How is the water temperature? I'll float some more petals for you."

"Please extend your elbow for a moment. I'll scrub you with the loofah."

The maids assigned solely to attend her bath made gentle requests.

The southern culture of borrowing servants' hands for everything from one to ten now felt unfamiliar. Of course, even when she'd lived in Reichenau, the only maid who'd volunteered for such work for her had been Greta.

'Greta.'

Thinking of the old nursemaid brought a sharp feeling to one corner of her chest.

Adelheid planned to do her utmost to find Greta's whereabouts while staying in the capital.

In the capital, there was a mercenary band with a detailed information network throughout all of Denburg. Through them, she should at least be able to hear news.

If she was lucky, she might even be able to determine her location.

'She wouldn't have returned to Reichenau… So now the question is how to contact the mercenary band. How can I get away from the palace even briefly?'

If the cheeky Yanik were here, he'd be a great help with such matters, but unfortunately he'd remained at the castle to receive training as the next butler.

It was hard to believe that such a frivolous boy was the strict Hermann's nephew.

While she anxiously mulled over her thoughts, the maids gently kneaded her shoulders, tense from strain, with hands covered in fragrant oil.

Adelheid let out a satisfied groan and gradually sank into the water.

"Your hair is so beautiful."

"And the color, too. How can it be like golden thread?"

"It perfectly matches His Grace the Grand Duke's eye color."

The maids lathered abundant soap bubbles and scrubbed every corner of her hair, then rinsed it cleanly until no soapy water remained. The sticky feeling from not washing properly for days washed away refreshingly.

As she soaked her drowsy body in the hot water while receiving attentive service, sleep crept over her.

"Are you awake?"

Adelheid, barely rising from deep sleep, saw Valentin sitting at her bedside and smiled sweetly.

Having just woken from sleep, it was difficult to distinguish whether what she was seeing was dream or reality.

Valentin made a sound like his breath had caught for a moment, then bent his upper body and buried his forehead against her nape.

"That's cheating."

The veins stood out on the back of his hand gripping the sheet instead of her. Strange patience leaked into his voice, as if desire had deepened at the familiar scent.

"Smiling like that right after waking up is too much."

He tried to cover it with a drowsy laugh, but couldn't completely hide the longing pooled within.

Adelheid lightly stroked his spine, tense like a taut bowstring.

She felt his body stiffen sharply. Finally Valentin raised his head from her nape and muttered gloomily.

"Don't provoke me. You haven't even fully recovered from fatigue."

"That's… I didn't mean it that way."

"Sleep more. I'll stay beside you."

Even while receiving affection that poured like a waterfall, she'd always wondered. If she didn't resemble 'that woman,' or if she didn't make him think of 'that woman.'

Would Valentin have treated her this tenderly even then…

"Adele. What useless thoughts again."

"…Now you even read my thoughts?"

"As if."

"Then how—"

"Because you're biting your lip. It doesn't seem like very good thoughts."

He gently stroked her chewed lip with his thumb.

The soft sensation moved gradually from her cheek to her ear, to her nape. Laughter burst from the ticklishness.

While laughing, she suddenly realized the surroundings were excessively dark.

"Wait… What time is it now? This isn't the time for this. I need to prepare to attend the banquet."

"The banquet is over, Adele."

"Th-the banquet is over?"

It felt like cold water had been dumped over her head in an instant.

She was so startled she tried to get up from the bed, and nearly struck Valentin's chin with her head.

He calmly handled Adelheid's confusion.

"It's fine to rest more. I told them you couldn't attend because your physical condition wasn't good."

"B-but was there no problem? I shouldn't have dared to miss a gathering His Majesty attended."

"Don't worry. I handled everything well."

"…Really?"

"What would I gain by lying about something like this?"

He answered with a slight laugh. Even at Valentin's composed attitude, Adelheid's anxiety didn't easily subside.

The Emperor reacted most sensitively to situations where nobles rebelled against him.

'Once you're wrongly branded, he's famous for holding a grudge for a very long time.'

Therefore, one had to attend invited banquets by any means necessary.

Missing even once without legitimate reason would bring absurd accusations that one was hiding dirty schemes inside.

'Count Reichenau always grumbled that His Majesty was excessively oversensitive.'

She fumbled with her hands under the blankets and spoke.

"He may have said it was fine in front of Valentin, but His Majesty is not a lenient person. Disadvantages might come later."

"They won't. Anyway, what the Emperor wanted to show the nobles was this body."

Valentin said, finding and tightly grasping her hand.

Indeed. Recalling how the two had stood side by side today, the Emperor had reason to especially cherish Valentin.

The Emperor and Valentin looked beyond being blood relatives—truly like father and son.

While Crown Prince Mikhail standing beside him didn't resemble the Emperor at all, Valentin wore the symbols of the imperial family from one to ten like a banner draped over his body.

Moreover, that uncontainable affection from the Emperor.

She thought that the gossipers' chatter that Valentin might drive Mikhail from the Crown Prince's position might not be mere exaggeration after all.

Adelheid chewed her lip harshly.

"Your lip again."

"Ah…"

At his pointing it out, she stopped biting her lip.

Valentin stroked the lip crushed in the shape of her teeth with his thumb. He narrowed his eyes.

"That's a really bad habit."