Daughters
"When princesses draw lines in blood, even emperors must watch their step."
The men who had just entered radiated an aura closer to knights than mercenaries.
"The man at the front—is he their leader?"
Jason, having learned their identity from Valdinian whispers, narrowed his gaze.
The straw-haired man leading them wore an unusually lavish evening coat and a red hat crowned with a peacock feather.
He exuded a bright, breezy charm, like someone you might see laughing on a midsummer coast.
Had they not known better, none would have guessed these were the continent’s most infamous arms dealers.
"Why is Façade here?"
The Katzen nobles were just as startled.
Some among them had fought in Katzen’s conquest wars—wars where Façade had both supplied their weapons and taken the field as mercenaries.
They knew these people well enough.
The men now strolling into the banquet like ordinary guests were, in truth, walking messengers of death.
Façade rarely showed itself, preferring the shadows. For it to appear openly now, and in Valdina’s palace no less—
Did they side with Valdina? What are they planning?
Fourth Princess Angelique scowled—only to be interrupted.
"Façade’s Gallo pays homage to Valdina’s ancient glory."
Gallo walked unhurriedly through the crowd, removed his hat, and bowed to the Queen Mother.
"Façade also wished to attend this glorious occasion—to support cooperation between both nations and to help lay the foundations of continental peace. We humbly ask Your Majesty’s indulgence."
His tone was cheerful, but his manners were impeccably courteous—far more so than Katzen’s delegation, who hadn’t even bothered to properly greet the Queen Mother.
Even in her long seclusion, the Queen Mother had heard of Façade.
Her expression eased slightly as the leader of an organization treated like a sovereign wherever he went chose to present his face in front of Katzen’s nobles—and to do so on her side.
"The honor is mine. When it comes to peace, borders and origins matter little."
Gallo turned away from the dais.
His playful gaze met Angelique’s. He tipped his chin slightly, as if acknowledging that she, too, knew who he was.
The Fourth Princess had dressed herself like Katzen incarnate—heavy symbolism from head to toe.
A tiara glittering with fifteen sapphires crowned her hair, while a medal bearing Emperor Perdiccas’s portrait hung from the ribbon at her shoulder.
Her intent to press down on Valdina with the Empire’s prestige was painfully obvious.
Gallo gave a small, amused twitch and began to move on—fully prepared to ignore her.
Just as his presence was about to slide past, Angelique’s temper snapped.
"It seems a mere arms merchant can’t grasp an ambassador’s dignity. In a great empire, we first seek leave from lesser lands."
She was incensed that Façade’s leader had greeted Valdina’s Queen Mother before acknowledging her.
"When guests arrive, they request the host’s permission. Are you claiming to be host over your betters?"
But Gallo only smiled wider.
"Katzen truly has a fascinating culture. Even when I was in the Empire, your imperial officials always seemed to come looking for me first."
His words skewered her with sarcasm while subtly flaunting his status—someone even Katzen’s bureaucracy had pursued.
For the first time, many Valdinians felt a sudden kinship with Façade’s leader.
"You insolent—"
Angelique’s hand tightened on her fan, but her maid caught her sleeve in quiet desperation.
"Your Highness, please. They say the mercenary in the white half-mask behind him is extremely dangerous. They say that, no matter who you are, one misstep and he’ll cut you down."
The maid, well-acquainted with the legend of the white-masked swordsman Acares, prayed her mistress would let it go.
If that man drew his blade, the maid—whose duty was to shield the Princess with her own body—would die first.
"They say that during the Continental War, one man from Façade was worth a hundred thousand on the field."
Angelique bit her lip, face still flushed from Gallo’s humiliating jab.
She tore her gaze away from Façade and turned instead toward the easier target—the Valdinians.
"Enough posturing. This ‘peace’ you cling to wouldn’t exist without Katzen’s daily sacrifice and slogans."
Her disdainful gaze swept over the Valdinian nobles.
Her words were a slap thrown into every Valdina face.
"Fourth Princess!"
At the insult to her dead son, the Queen Mother could no longer contain herself.
"A king should be slow to judge, not chasing every short-term gain!"
Angelique only lifted a shoulder.
"I speak because your people have lost all standards under foolish leadership. Don’t be upset, Lady Valdina. It’s not as if I’ve said anything untrue."
"You—"
The Queen Mother swayed with fury; Madame Pinatelli rushed to steady her.
"Katzen’s arrogance knows no bounds!"
"And I, Princess of a great empire, am enduring *your* insolence. Hah! Father will be quite aggrieved when I report all this."
Angelique laughed, drunk on her own sense of power.
The Valdinians glared as though they’d like to tear her apart—but none could speak.
This is our sin—for being weak.
The more she saw them grind their teeth in silence, the more exhilarated she became.
Just as Moby said. They can’t lay a finger on me.
Even now, as an envoy, she felt as though she could sway this entire kingdom at will.
If she ever sat on a throne of her own…
"The standards of the Fourth Princess are rather peculiar."
A calm voice shattered Angelique’s pleasant fantasy.
"By your reasoning, does that mean your father—Perdiccas II—was not greedy for swift gain when he usurped the throne from the Emperor’s rightful son, Archduke Castullo?"
The words flew sharply, catching her utterly off guard.
From there, he’d brazenly acted with no intention of ever returning the crown.
It was the whispered story everyone knew—but no one dared speak aloud. And now, Valdina’s Princess had spoken it in the open hall.
"Wh-what did you just say…?"
Angelique stared as if she’d been struck.
Medea stepped through the crowd and came forward.
Youthful features faced the foreign delegation without a hint of hesitation.
Bright green eyes passed over the Fourth Princess and rose to meet Jason’s, before she tilted her head slightly.
"With my limited understanding, I can’t distinguish between a king who drags his people into endless wars, and an emperor so blinded by power that he abandons even his own flesh and blood."
"So, I hope the wise Fourth Princess will enlighten us."
Her even tone threw Angelique’s own words back at her like an open-handed slap.
The Queen Mother, who had nearly risen from her seat to confront Angelique directly, slowly sat again.
Thanks to Medea, she’d been spared that clash. Her eldest granddaughter’s pointed criticism—which crushed Emperor Katzen’s pride in front of his own envoys—cooled her rage.
The Valdinians no longer hid their satisfaction.
"And she dares lecture us on what makes a ‘king’…? She should look to her own house first."
"Who was it that first ‘lost all sense of measure’?"
Snickering whispers rippled through the hall.
Angelique, suddenly transformed into the evening’s joke, shook with rage.
The envoys were equally shocked—but no rebuttal came.
They, too, knew Perdiccas II well. Whatever their private feelings, they understood this much:
Their Emperor would rather the entire incident be forgotten than have his succession questioned on foreign soil.
Better to endure in silence—just as the Valdinians had done.
"How dare you insult your father!"
Angelique, who’d grown up sheltered under her father’s protection and the Empress’s shadow, was far too naive to grasp the political nuance.
Her fists trembled.
It was the first time in her life that she—precious, untouchable Angelique—had been publicly shamed.
"Princess of Valdina, your arrogance pierces the heavens. How dare a small frontier nation mock the great Katzen Empire! As the proud daughter of my father, I will not let this pass—"
Something white landed at Angelique’s feet.
A pair of gloves.
Medea, their owner, stood with her gaze locked firmly on the Fourth Princess.
Among the nobility of the continent, the meaning of throwing one’s glove—or any personal belonging—before another was unmistakable.
A challenge to a duel.
And in an honor duel, one rule reigned above all: no matter the outcome, even if the loser was maimed or killed, both parties must accept the judgment.
The fact that the challenger was the Princess of Valdina, and the challenged was the Princess of Katzen, only made the hall’s stunned silence deeper.
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