The Abandoned Princess, Yet She Is Loved - Chapter 71
“The Duchess of Winstaine is in the capital.”
“Yes, that’s correct. I’ve heard she’s currently staying in the Imperial Palace.”
Upon hearing the report, Felixius made a subtle expression. Samuel, with his head bowed, replied politely.
“What’s the reason?”
“Crown Prince Rubens summoned the Duke and Duchess of Winstaine.”
Crown Prince Rubens—wasn’t he the one opposing Vladimir?
“So the Duke of Winstaine is on the prince’s side, huh?”
“Yes, the Duke is currently the commander of the Imperial Knights.”
“Ah, this is going to be complicated.”
Felixius sighed, rubbing his chin.
“She’s now part of the Imperial Palace and tied to the Crown Prince. It’s becoming harder and harder to touch her carelessly.”
“What about persuading her…?”
“How? There’s no way.”
Now that the Duke of Winstaine was the commander of the Imperial Knights, what could they possibly do?
“And… we’ve also confirmed that she entered Panbion.”
“So she’s already awakened to the power. She must’ve gone in to become an Armento. Damn it.”
That power—it was supposed to be his. Felixius trembled slightly. After going to such lengths to find the divine beast, the power had ended up with someone else entirely.
“What if we plant someone close to her to gather information?”
“Information?”
“Yes. To find out how she’s using the power, and how much she can grow. Not much is known about the power of the divine beast, after all.”
Hmm, Felixius’ interest was piqued.
“And if we get the chance, we could even think about getting her blood. If she received the divine beast’s power once, maybe it could be transferred again.”
“Do we have any Armento we can send to Panbion right now?”
“If we look, I’m sure we can find one. The Tower would welcome any Armento with open arms.”
“True enough.”
The Elliden Empire had a solid training system and excellent treatment for Armento, so many of them studied abroad or even emigrated. The Empire, in turn, welcomed them wholeheartedly.
“Let’s do what you suggested for now. Oh, how are the experiments going?”
“We’ve succeeded in extraction, but the amount is small. We’ll need a lot more materials.”
Suddenly, Felixius asked,
“Alright. I’ll speak to Vladimir about it. He’ll cooperate without question.”
“Just say the word.” Vladimir’s face flashed through his mind.
Born a mage, Vladimir didn’t regard Armento as anything special and had no issue with using them as materials.
“I’ll stop by the lab soon and check the progress myself.”
“Of course, my lord.”
“It may be nothing compared to the divine beast’s power, but… depending on how it’s refined, it could still be useful.”
Felixius’ goal was clear: to refine the purest elemental force.
If that were possible, he might attain power to rival the divine beast.
“I’ll do my best, my lord.”
“I’ll reward you properly, so give it your all.”
“Understood, my lord.”
“Nothing ever goes smoothly…”
Felixius sighed quietly and gazed out the window.
—
After finishing the basic training, Grace began her combat training.
“Try forming it into a sharp spear.”
The Marquis of Sertil who was overseeing the training, gave Grace instructions. She focused all her energy on manipulating the quantum force and successfully shaped it into a long, pointed form.
“Now throw it at that straw dummy.”
“Yes.”
Grace fixed her eyes on the target, then threw the spear. It flew and embedded itself in the dummy’s chest.
“It has some decent force. Well done. Take a short break.”
Grace exhaled heavily and braced herself with her hands on her thighs. One round of attack training left her completely drained.
Manipulating elemental power was one thing, but converting it into attack energy was a whole other matter. It required far more focus and control.
As she wiped the sweat from her brow, she watched the other Armento training nearby.
Just as Count Filtners had said, the Armento undergoing combat training were generally older. Some were in their late teens, and others were around Grace’s age.
In one corner of the training ground was a sparring area, always occupied by someone engaged in a duel. The atmosphere there was intense—unlike the basic training that focused on generating and manipulating elements, the dueling Armento exchanged all sorts of offensive techniques.
‘I hope no one dies in there…’
Grace often had that thought while watching them. Or maybe the entire training ground would blow up someday.
“Wanna go for a walk, Grace?”
Grace turned her head. It was Aris Mayenne, the second daughter of the Mayenne family.
Beside her stood Seri Abbott, from a neighboring empire. They had grown closer through training.
“Sure, sounds good.”
She’d been bored out of her mind from training all day, so it was perfect timing. Grace followed them outside.
“The sun feels nice. Just the right amount of warmth.”
“Right? Training all the time gets dull, but getting out like this feels great.”
Aris and Seri chatted cheerfully, and Grace smiled as she looked at them. It felt good to finally have people she was close to in Panbion.
“I’m Grace Winstaine.”
When Grace first joined combat training, the other Armento reacted the same as always—shock and disbelief when they heard she was *that* Duchess of Winstaine. Some even snuck glances at her during training.
But over time, they became used to Grace, and she to them. Occasionally she still caught curious stares, but it wasn’t bothersome.
“By the way, things have been really gloomy in Panbion lately.”
“Yeah. Ever since Mina died, the mood’s been awful.”
Aris and Seri were talking about the recently deceased Mina—a frequent topic in Panbion. The sudden death of such a young Armento was shocking, but the bizarre way she’d been murdered kept the gossip going.
“Why would someone drain her blood like that?”
“Right? Were they obsessed with blood or something?”
Theories like these floated around. Grace listened quietly and nodded.
“Oh, what about going into town together after training today?”
“Ah… I have somewhere to be today.”
Grace smiled sheepishly at Aris’ suggestion.
“Where are you going?”
“Her Highness, the Crown Princess, is hosting a tea time.”
“Oh, the Crown Princess… her tea time?”
Aris’ eyes widened in surprise and admiration.
“I heard you’re close with Her Highness.”
“We speak occasionally. If the chance comes, I’ll invite you to join us.”
“R-really? Me?”
“Yes. I’ll put in a good word.”
“Thank you so much, Madam. Even just saying that means a lot.”
Aris blushed with excitement. Seeing how happy she was, Grace silently promised herself to talk to the Crown Princess about arranging something.
—
“Welcome, Grace.”
“Apologies for being a little late.”
“No worries. Everyone else was just arriving.”
The Crown Princess welcomed Grace with a warm smile and gestured to the seat next to her.
At one end of the table sat Diana and Sarah. Their expressions immediately froze when they saw Grace.
Unbothered, Grace took the seat right beside the Crown Princess.
After witnessing their ridiculous behavior last time, Grace no longer felt anything when she saw them.
She didn’t even remember the time she used to fear them.
“I hope everyone’s been doing well.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Thanks to you, we’ve been well.”
“I know things have been a bit tense lately due to the recent incident at the palace, but I’ve gathered you all today because I have something to announce.”
After a few pleasantries, the Crown Princess got straight to the point.
“It’s about the upcoming jousting tournament.”
Jousting tournament? Grace perked up at the unfamiliar topic.
“To cheer on the brave knights participating in the tournament, I’ve thought of something we can do.”
The Crown Princess smiled as she looked around at the roughly twenty women gathered at the table.
“We will each embroider handkerchiefs to give as gifts, in addition to the awards and prize money they’ll receive.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Your Highness.”
The women unanimously agreed. Any event led by the Crown Princess was considered an extension of the royal family’s affairs, and participating in it was an honor.
“By the way, Your Highness, have you decided on the design?”
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