novelraw Chapter 109 : Chapter 109
Chapter 109 : Chapter 109
Chapter 109 Festival (1)
In retrospect, Ellen's response had been gentlemanly.
Even though the person named Ellen was prone to being swept away by her moods, and the false rumors were certainly unpleasant.
It was because it was the festival.
When it's time to play, you have to play. The Wall knights had to do so even more. Ellen knew their hardships well.
That's why Ellen's response had been gentlemanly.
For fear that if she said any more, the knights wouldn't be able to enjoy the festival.
It was a part that showed how important the North's events were to her.
The Elaine of the past life had also been sensitive to the North's events.
The New Year's subjugation and festival were one of the few opportunities for Elaine to directly express her love for the North.
As such, there could be no failures, and there could be no northerners who couldn't enjoy it.
"The scale is enormous."
The territory was already bustling, to the point where it could be felt even inside the annex.
Kubel marveled at the vitality of the North.
"Isn't it your first time? Ah. It must be as good as the first time."
"Yes. I tried to ignore it, so I didn't know, but now that I see it, it's incredible."
Kubel had come to Serzila four years ago.
But he had never enjoyed the festival.
The reason being that he was a mage. The mature Shura had stayed by Kubel's side during the festival.
"It will be even more incredible if you experience it in person."
Harad smiled gently upon discovering Shura struggling to climb onto Kubel's lap.
"Is it incredible?"
"Of course. It's incredible."
Shura's face was clearly one of excitement.
"Shura, you're the star of the festival too."
In all of the North's events, children were the stars. Shura would be loved wherever she went.
"Hehe."
Shura laughed like a child.
Although the new year was approaching, Shura was getting younger.
Her mature personality was returning to fit her original age.
"Kubel, it seems you'll have to play with all your might. With Shura."
"I'll play for the past four years' worth."
"That's a good resolve."
Kubel smiled brightly.
It wasn't because he liked the festival, but because he liked the Shura who would like the festival. It was Shura's first festival.
"What about big sister?"
"She probably won't be there. She'll be busy."
There would probably be no time for the person named Ellen to enjoy the festival.
The past life was proof of that.
The time and effort she put in were as immense as her love for the North.
The Elaine of the past life, who would often disappear, had never disappeared during the festival.
She was busy with work, and Harad was caught by her side.
"She didn't come yesterday either..."
Shura said, as if on the verge of tears.
Kubel, who was stroking Shura's head, suddenly spoke heavily.
"Harad... that... I'm sorry."
"Suddenly?"
"About last time."
Kubel still seemed to feel guilty about the 1st Knights' kidnapping commotion.
"I'll say it again, you've done nothing wrong."
If Kubel had any sin, it was only that he had fed the 1st Knights.
"In fact, you tried to stop them, they just didn't listen."
Kubel had been concerned, but the 1st Knights had not even pretended to listen.
Even if Kubel had been a more frightening person and had gotten his way, those guys would have planned the kidnapping in a different place than Kubel's annex.
"It's frustrating, but those kinds of events are necessary sometimes. The knights stationed at the Wall have to play when they play too."
I'll say it again, it was a festival.
If Ellen hadn't found out, the Harad kidnapping commotion would have been a very impressive festival moment for the 1st Knights.
"You're not bothered by the knights."
Harad read Kubel's expression.
"The knights, I think that's their karma."
Kubel had a surprisingly firm side.
"Then?"
Kubel looked at Harad.
"……."
That was all.
Kubel's mouth opened and then closed.
In Kubel's opinion, it was not a problem he could interfere with.
"If you have nothing to do, let's go see the Grand Heir's face. The festival will be more enjoyable that way."
Today.
Is the day Elaine Serzila returns from the subjugation, and sets out for another subjugation.
* * *
The North calls the New Year the day of subjugation.
But the subjugation actually begins a few days before the New Year.
Because at some point, the festival had started to be held before the subjugation.
The belief that Serzila would not fail in the subjugation had brought the festival forward, and that belief of the North had also brought the subjugation forward.
The New Year of this era was the day that marked the end of the subjugation and the grand finale of the festival.
The main street leading to the west gate was a sea of people.
Kubel put Shura on his shoulders and held her legs tightly.
The crowd was so great that even Kubel, who could strangle a bear to death, was staggering.
The cheers were even greater.
The northerners also had great voices. There was even a proverb that said that even the deaf could hear in the New Year.
The New Year referred to there was Serzila's New Year.
From afar, Elaine was leading the front of the procession.
Elaine was not on a horse, and she was bare-bodied with only a single sword. Snow and ice were caked on her clothes.
She had just finished the subjugation of the Eastern Great Plain, and was about to set out for the subjugation of the Western Snowy Mountain.
Two subjugations.
Although the Magical Beasts outside the Boundary are weak, the great plain and the snowy mountain are too vast.
It was not an easy task to suffer for days on end in that frigid land.
As proof, behind Elaine, the attire of the soldiers and rear knights forming the procession was clean.
The reason being that the personnel for the snowy mountain and the great plain subjugations were divided.
The personnel for the great plain subjugation were resting, and only Elaine was setting out for another subjugation with new soldiers and knights.
'It's a tight schedule.'
Historically, if there was only one heir, that Serzila would only choose to perform the more difficult subjugation between the great plain and the snowy mountain.
But Elaine presided over both.
It wasn't because she was born with Innate Strength.
It was because that was the perfect heir Elaine had in mind.
-Well. Not that I'm really the type to live recklessly.
The words of Grand Duke Elaine, who had once regretted not living as she pleased, were indeed not wrong.
Recklessly.
That Elaine, who is about to turn 21, has resolved to do so, and yet she cannot abandon the subjugation.
It might be because that resolve is not yet old, but who knows.
Even if Elaine were to live completely recklessly, that appearance would not change.
Then and now, Elaine was that kind of person.
Waaaaah!
The cheers grew even louder. Elaine, who had entered through the east gate, was getting closer.
Harad, who had frowned at the cheers, saw Elaine.
The perfect Grand Heir.
The perfection referred to here does not just point to innate talent and honed skills.
Her character was just as important.
Gentle, and benevolent. Such a character is only admirable in an individual.
It is not a virtue for a ruler.
Even more so in the harsh Serzila.
The ideal Serzila is by no means admirable.
Is there a reason why Elaine was called the Iron-Blooded Grand Duke in her past life?
That position is a very ruthless one.
Therefore, the ideal heir had to represent that ruthlessness.
"Hut."
Kubel, who was about to wave his hand in welcome, flinched.
The Elaine who had come to Kubel's annex laughing and eating was not there.
What was there was the ideal Serzila.
A person so cold that it seemed she would swing her sword at the slightest approach was receiving cheers.
The ideal Serzila that Elaine had in mind was this cold-blooded person, from whom it seemed molten iron would flow instead of blood if she were stabbed.
And in reality, she was right.
To the continent, and to the northerners, Serzila was such a name.
What the North wants from their master is not a soft heart like a pushover.
It is a pressure that no one dares to raise their head to.
'Still, it's better than then. Is it because she's still young?'
The Elaine of the past life also had such an image publicly.
No, it was much worse than that.
At that time, she was truly worthy of being called iron-blooded.
That's why there were not a few times when he felt a sense of disconnect when they were alone.
It was a sense of disconnect that only Harad could feel.
The continent had wagged their tongues at Grand Duke Elaine, calling her a ruthless cold-blooded person. The North had either cheered for or submitted to that harshness.
-I want to disappear like this.
-What?
-I don't want to do it, being the Grand Duke.
Without knowing Elaine's heart.
"……Oh dear."
The fire was burning his sleeve.
Harad put out the fire by rubbing it with his palm.
Fortunately, no one saw. Everyone on this street was looking only at Elaine and cheering.
"Here!"
Shura shouted from among them.
It could have been buried in the cheers, but Elaine turned her head towards Shura.
She didn't do anything in particular.
Elaine just cast a glance at Shura. It was a very cold gaze.
'No less than a mage.'
Elaine had a talent for controlling her expression.
Shura waved her hand, unconcerned.
In Shura's other eyes, she must have been seeing the cheerful Ellen, not that cold Grand Duke.
But it seemed Elaine didn't even want to look at Shura coldly as a pretense.
Elaine turned her gaze.
At the end of it was Harad.
And so, when their eyes met.
"Tsk."
Elaine frowned.
"……?"
* * *
The west gate opened again three days later.
The wide-open Elaine was covered in blood, and on top of that, she was covered in so much snow that the caked blood was not visible.
She looked exhausted, but it was only on the outside.
Innate Strength does not get tired from a mere subjugation.
On the other hand, the soldiers and knights following behind her looked genuinely exhausted. In Elaine's opinion, they were the stars of the subjugation.
She had to refrain from showing it.
Plausible words and gestures are only frivolous.
Dignity is given by silence.
The subjugation party went around the main street of the territory, which was in the middle of a festival, once.
Perhaps Harad would call it a formality, but it certainly had meaning. The festival becomes even more lively.
It was not an event that required a speech.
Because to Serzila, subjugation is a light matter.
Trivial matters are passed over lightly.
If one adds unnecessary words, it will give birth to other words.
"You've worked hard."
It was when she entered the Inner Fortress that Elaine opened her mouth.
"They worked harder."
Elaine wiped her face with the towel Arika gave her and looked back.
Through the closing Inner Fortress gate, the faces of the exhausted soldiers could be seen. The rewards for the subjugation would be paid out sufficiently.
"The festival? Are there no problems?"
"No issues have been raised."
There's no way.
There must have been, but Arika must have solved them.
There were quite a few last year.
At that time, Arika was not there.
"You've gone through a lot. Thank you. Thanks to you, this year is easier."
"Please get some rest."
"This is a body that doesn't need rest."
Elaine showed her body.
It was true. Although she had finished two subjugations, her body did not know fatigue.
"The subjugation ended a day earlier than scheduled."
Normally, the subjugation ends on the New Year.
But there was still half a day left until the New Year.
The setting sun was quietly burning behind the blizzard.
"How about enjoying the festival."
Go and play as Ellen.
That's what Arika was saying. Elaine smiled faintly.
"Why bother. I've played a lot usually. This is time that has been permitted for me to work."
As much as deviance was permitted, there should be no waste in other times.
"Didn't you say you would do as you please?"
"I am. This is my pleasure."
"……."
"It's a joke. I will, but that's my story. I can't include the North in it."
One cannot act as one pleases from beginning to end.
That mindset had to be in the realm of Elaine's personal domain.
"It's an official matter. It has to be perfect."
She has no intention of affecting the outside world.
"If you smile, there will be those who look down on you."
In a public setting, Elaine had to be Serzila.
"How are Kubel and Shura?"
"They are enjoying themselves very much."
"That's good."
Elaine smiled with satisfaction.
On the New Year in the North, all northerners had to be vibrant. The festival was there for that.
"Harad is playing with Shura."
"……I didn't ask."
"You said it with your face."
Elaine's eyes widened.
Arika was originally not one for jokes.
She was an excessive follower of the perfect Grand Heir.
She was a person who believed that no matter what Elaine did, there would be a great intention hidden in it that she could not dare to understand.
"……You've changed a lot too."
The Arika in front of her was not.
Half a year. In just half a year, the rose-colored glasses had come off.
"Is it Harad's influence?"
"……No."
"Then?"
"This way, your face looks much better, Your Highness."
"So it is Harad's influence after all."
Elaine smiled bitterly.
Harad, the dream, and Mores Palaz came to mind.
There is no one in the North who will dislike the Grand Heir for changing.
Once, when she had told Mores that she would try to live as she pleased, he had answered so.
It was just as he had said. Arika did not dislike the changed Grand Heir. On the contrary, she tried to accommodate her.
It was not because Elaine was perfect, but because she was following Elaine because she was Elaine.
Mores's words came to mind.
"Do everything you want to do..."
To grasp everything you desire.
"Arika."
"Speak."
Arika smiled bitterly.
She could guess what would come next. And so she fumbled to take out the Ellen clothes she had prepared.
"I'm sleepy."
"What?"
"The dream..."
Elaine collapsed.
-Did you roll around with a woman?
In the dream.
-You son of a bitch.
Grand Duke Elaine was furious.