The Wind Calms the Fire - Chapter 41

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 41
Carrion was not alarmed.
He understood the Emperor’s peculiar taste—to seize every situation by the throat and make it dance at his whim.
The Emperor often summoned nobles who crossed his will to audiences precisely like this.
Nor did he feel any humiliation.
He had harbored no expectations to begin with.
Carrion spoke calmly.
“Your Majesty. I had companions during my journey to the Capital. Envoys sent from Zephyros, the southern desert kingdom.”
The Emperor’s eyes opened.
“The Kingdom of Zephyros has endured a grave crisis of late and has resolved to save itself. They wish to bow before your supreme authority, which holds dominion over the continent, and to beseech your mercy.”
“Enough.”
The Emperor rose abruptly to his feet.
The attendants who had been massaging him quickly withdrew and bowed their heads.
The Emperor waved his hand toward them.
It did not take long for all to vanish with precise, synchronized movements.
“You mean to tell me you brought them all the way to the Capital on nothing but their words?”
Carrion knelt on one knee again.
“I have acted with reckless judgment born of narrow vision, and I deserve your rebuke. Upon receiving the mandate of Supreme Commander and touring the Northeast, I came to realize that your majesty’s glory ripples across the entire continent. I believed their intention to submit voluntarily and bend the knee, and thus I harbored no suspicion.”
The Emperor, whose eyes had narrowed as he regarded Carrion, felt the corners of his lips lift.
The flattery of those who grovel as though they would offer their very guts had long grown stale and held no novelty.
Yet praise from one ordinarily sparse with words carried the ring of sincerity.
“What honeyed words did these men use to beguile you with their silver tongues?”
“Zephyros stated that it would submit to the rule of the Empire. The envoy delegation was modest in composition, and I detected no treachery. Among the fifteen or so members, only two possessed any skill with arms. They sent a princess as their representative.”
Compared to the Empire’s magnificence, the southern desert kingdom was small and insignificant.
Yet it was the sole place that had ever inflicted upon the Emperor the bitter sting of defeat.
Thus did he gauge the power of Zephyros greater than it truly was.
Not fearful, precisely—but troubling.
One began to suspect their hidden designs.
But if they had sent a princess as hostage, the matter took on an altogether different character.
“Rise.”
“I am deeply honored.”
“Why did they seek you out?”
“The first reason, they said, was that the distance from their kingdom to the Imperial Capital is great, and they knew not how to petition for an audience with your majesty. The second reason was…”
Carrion hesitated, and the Emperor pressed him.
“Speak without concealment. What was the second reason?”
“Among those of sufficient station to meet your majesty directly, they believe only I am worthy to convey their true intentions untainted.”
The Emperor’s eyes widened, and then he burst into laughter.
He laughed with such force that he struck his own knee.
The Emperor maintained secret surveillance of all his princes.
Naturally, he also watched the movements of the Fourth Prince, whom he had sent down as Supreme Commander of the Northeast.
Over the past six years, as reports reached the Emperor of the Fourth Prince’s deeds, he would sometimes chuckle and sometimes shake his head.
The man was so inflexible, so dogged in his rigid adherence to duty, that the Fourth Prince had earned a fearsome reputation throughout the Northeast.
In a ruthless realm of power, uncompromising rectitude is no virtue.
The Fourth Prince would not live long.
Someday his brothers would devour him.
Yet for now, the Emperor found the Fourth Prince the most pleasing of his sons.
Not in the sense of wishing to hand him the throne.
He was pleased because he was predictable.
“Are they under your watch?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I have lodged them at my residence in the Capital.”
“Soon I will convene the Grand Assembly.”
The Grand Assembly was the Emperor’s summons—calling forth all the highest ranks: senior imperial officials, nobility, and clergy of the realm.
“On that day, let the kingdom’s representative come forward, kneel, and present the Surrender Document. If they do so, I shall accept Zephyros’s sincerity. Until then, you must speak of this to no one.”
“As you command, Your Majesty. I shall convey your will faithfully.”
Having concluded his audience with the Emperor, Carrion hastened his steps.
He longed to escape the Imperial Palace as quickly as possible.
‘Everything has proceeded according to plan. All is well.’
Serving as Zephyros’s intermediary was a precarious position—one in which he might yet seize glory or incur the Emperor’s wrath.
A single misstep before such a suspicious sovereign meant ruin.
He needed to provide the Emperor with a reason that would satisfy him—a reason why Zephyros had chosen Carrion as its intermediary.
‘The Fourth Prince lacks shrewdness and is rigidly honest.’
Whether that was true or not hardly mattered; what counted was that people believed it.
And Carrion had made use of that belief.
If even the Emperor accepted the excuse I fabricated, no one else will raise objections.
* * *
The carriage carrying Lea and Peni arrived at a manor in District 3.
It was far more modest than Carrion’s residence, yet the atmosphere was entirely different.
Flowers filled the wall surrounding it, giving the impression of a home tended with care—a place where people actually lived.
After knocking at the gate, a servant emerged from within.
“Who are you?”
“I’m looking for someone. Is the mistress of this house named Livia?”
“She is, but—”
‘This is the right place.’
Lea exhaled with relief.
She had memorized the address that Nella had mentioned in her previous life.
“When I returned to Nortia, the girl who served as my attendant remained in the Capital. She married there and built her own household. She often sends me letters, so I know her address. Go and find her.”
“…Is that all?”
“What else do you need?”
“You should tell me what sort of person she is.”
“She was a crybaby and far too soft-hearted to be cruel. When you mention my name, she won’t turn you away.”
“How might she be of help to me?”
“Well, I heard she married a rather decent man. She should be able to tell you something about high society.”
At that moment, Lea had not dared voice what she thought.
‘How can someone’s circle of acquaintances be so narrow?’
After ten years, how was it that only two people from the Capital remained in her circle?
Moreover, one was a debtor from decades ago, and the other was a former servant—strictly speaking, not even an Empire citizen.
Lea decided not to harbor great expectations for this meeting.
At least the encounter with Droen had yielded substantial results.
Through him, she could inquire about finding someone to teach her the customs of high society.
“Please tell the mistress that I’ve brought a reply to the letter sent north. I must deliver it in person.”
“Yes, please wait.”
The wait was not long.
Peni spotted her first and whispered urgently.
“Your Highness, look there.”
Someone was rushing out from within, moving hastily.
A middle-aged noblewoman with dark brown hair arranged in an elegant updo immediately opened the gate and seized both of Lea’s hands.
Her blue-green eyes were glistening as though tears might spill at any moment.
She spoke in a trembling voice.
“You’ve brought a reply from her?”
“Yes…”
“How is she? Is she in good health? Look at me, forgetting myself like this—leaving such an esteemed guest standing in the street. Come inside at once, come!”
Led by the noblewoman’s hand, Lea murmured a faint protest, but before she knew it, she found herself seated in the parlor across from Livia.
Before Lea stood fragrant tea and a generous spread of fruits and sweets on a serving tray.
In the interim, Livia seemed to have steadied her emotions, and now she smiled with a more composed expression than before.
“Forgive me for my outburst upon our first meeting. Even with age, it seems I cannot always master my feelings.”
“Not at all. I’m grateful for your warm welcome.”
Livia was precisely as Nella had described her.
Her kindness and gentle nature were written plainly upon her face.
She seemed exactly like what a well-reared young lady would become in her advancing years—someone who had never witnessed hardship in her life.
Yet she and Nella had been brought to the Empire’s Imperial Court as hostages and must have endured countless trials during their time here, so she could not be as fragile as she appeared.
“Is she well?”
“Yes, she is doing well.”
‘Presumably.’
“Will you give me the letter you’ve brought?”
“First, I must offer my apologies. There is no letter. In truth, I’ve come with an impertinent request. Having no connections in the Empire, she suggested that you might introduce me to society.”
Livia, who had been watching Lea intently, broke into a knowing smile.
“If you had produced a letter, I would have jumped to my feet at once. She would never write one with her own hand.”
Indeed, Livia knew Nella as well as any former servant might.
“How did she describe me?”
“As someone without a cruel bone in her body—that you wouldn’t turn me away if I came seeking help.”
“You don’t think me foolish?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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