To The Battlefield (8)

“It’s an honor, Your Grace!”

The viscountess clasped her hands together, her eyes brimming with tears.

Did she really have to cry?

Even more flustered, I was hurriedly ushered inside by the lady.

“I am truly delighted that you have graced us with your presence. We have prepared a room and bathwater for Your Grace. We also prepared a dress for you to wear at dinner…….”

“A dress?”

The viscountess explained when my eyes widened.

“Though it will only be for a short while, I thought it would be improper for Your Grace to remain in the castle without wearing a dress……. I selected one despite my poor eye for such things. Should it not please you…….”

“N-no. Thank you.”

Still bewildered, I shook my head and followed the lady into the room.

My room was clearly a guest chamber meant for distinguished visitors. Fresh flowers and gleaming crystal ornaments sparkled without so much as a scratch. And the dress hanging to one side was…….

“……A chiffon dress with ribbons. The kind said to be fashionable in the capital.”

“As expected, Your Grace recognized it!”

The viscountess spoke fervently.

“It was crafted with great care by the finest seamstress in the North. When we heard Your Grace was coming, we sent our fastest horse to purchase it. It was originally commissioned by Countess Oxburg, but when she heard it was for Your Grace, she willingly gave it up.”

“Ah, I see…….”

“Of course, since it was not tailored specifically for Your Grace, it may not satisfy a noblewoman of your refined taste…… but it would be a great honor if it could enhance your beauty even a little.”

“Yes, thank you.”

I could only nod with my mouth hanging open.

I genuinely had no idea how to respond. The rude noblewomen of the capital had been bewildering enough, but someone showering me with praise upon our first meeting was equally disconcerting.

Hadn’t they said the vassals disliked Victor? Then why such an excessive welcome? Was this simply how Mort received guests?

“Then I shall see you at dinner.”

The viscountess smiled in satisfaction, bowed, and left the room.

I first set down my belongings and washed myself. After applying scented oil to my clean body, I put on the dress. The white, billowing chiffon dress had so many layers of elaborate lace and ruffles that it was difficult to move.

I had never worn anything this extravagant even in the capital.

The maids quickly slipped gleaming silk shoes onto my feet and placed a tiara on my head that looked fit for a wedding. I felt as though I had been decorated like an enormous bouquet. Completely dazed, I headed for the banquet hall.

As expected, an excessively lavish dinner had been prepared in the banquet hall. Pork and lamb dripping with grease, thinly sliced beef wrapped around vegetables, baked in an oven, and left to cool, and pudding served in chilled stone bowls. It was a spread closer to a feast than an ordinary meal.

The knights seemed just as horrified as I was. Apparently, food like this was never served during ordinary subjugation campaigns.

I awkwardly sat in the empty seat. It was the central place between the viscount and viscountess—the seat normally occupied by the lord of the castle.

When I raised my eyes in bewilderment, Mary, seated at the table in front of me, gave me an encouraging look.

I knew what the person sitting here was supposed to do, but…… I had never done it before.

I had no choice but to rise from my seat. The moment I stood, every eye turned toward me. My voice trembled involuntarily.

“Um……. Before we begin dinner, thank you for this grand welcome, Lord Norvant. Thank you for providing food and, um, lodging, and…… our subjugation force will also do its best to make Mort…… to make Mort safe again.”

It was a truly dreadful speech. I was almost grateful that only knights were present. Even so, the viscount and viscountess applauded enthusiastically. Hiding my burning ears, I raised my glass. After drinking wine whose taste I could not even identify, the banquet began.

I ate with the uneasy feeling that the food might sit heavily in my stomach. The meal was certainly excellent, but honestly, I could not even tell what it tasted like. That was because the viscount and viscountess on either side of me kept speaking without pause.

“You cannot imagine how delighted we were when we heard Your Grace was coming.”

The viscount filled my glass with an emotional expression. Before I could ask why, he spoke excitedly.

“I heard that Your Grace prevented the executions and saved the vassals. I had long wished to visit and offer my thanks, but there were rumors that you disliked receiving visitors…….”

The viscount wiped at the corner of his eye.

So this hospitality was because of that incident.

My feelings grew even more complicated.

They had been criminals regardless, and it was not as though Viscount Norvant himself had narrowly escaped death, so why was he bowing and scraping before me like this?

So I simply spoke honestly.

“It isn’t something you need to thank me for. In the end, His Grace was the one who gave the order.”

“But if not for Your Grace, His Grace would never have changed his mind! His Grace has no mercy whatsoever…….”

The viscount abruptly closed his mouth with a startled expression. Pretending not to have heard, I turned away and placed a piece of roasted beef in my mouth.

I wished I could simply eat without thinking about anything. Without thinking about Victor.

As I chewed absentmindedly, the viscountess interjected.

“Your Grace, the dress suits you wonderfully! It feels as though the entire castle is glowing with your beauty.”

“Ah……. Thank you.”

“Your Grace attended the social season in the capital, did you not? What sorts of gatherings are fashionable there these days?”

I blinked in surprise.

Gatherings? Wherever I went, I had only stood alone by the wall.

But I could not simply make something up carelessly. It would be considered a flaw if a noblewoman who had participated in the capital’s social season knew nothing about current fashions.

Pushing aside my unpleasant memories as much as possible, I began to speak.

I told her about the Imperial Palace’s lavish masquerade balls, garden parties overflowing with roses, and how it was currently fashionable to build large salons in gardens or wear clothing inspired by the Eastern Kingdom.

The lady could hardly contain her admiration.

“My, my. A salon built from glass—I could never have imagined it. It must have been truly beautiful!”

“……Yes, it was.”

“There are not many noblewomen of sufficiently high status here to travel back and forth to the capital, so news always reaches us late. But now that Your Grace is here, everything will change, will it not?”

“What do you mean, change?”

“Your Grace will become the mistress of every salon in the North!”

The viscountess spoke excitedly.

“Ever since the grand duchess two generations ago passed away, Northern high society has always been desolate. Banquets were rarely held on time, and there were no proper salons where people could gather. But if Your Grace hosted gatherings, would not all the women of the North flock to attend? To think I was the first to gift Your Grace a dress—it is truly an honor!”

The lady fussed excitedly and beamed at me.

My thoughts suddenly became tangled.

Naturally, the vast Empire had separate social circles depending on the region. The gatherings of the wealthy southern territories were said to be so lively that their fashions even spread to the capital.

But I had never learned anything about Northern high society. I had assumed it was because House Mort, its center, focused solely on training knights, but apparently it was because there had been no one to lead society for a long time.

And these ladies seemed to expect me to take on that role.

Me? I was supposed to lead high society?

My mind suddenly went blank.

Forcing a smile, I emptied my plate as quickly as possible, hoping desperately for the meal to end.

Fortunately, dinner ended early. Since it was the first day of the expedition, the knights finished their meal without even having a single drink.

Though in truth, holding a banquet at all during such an urgent subjugation campaign made no sense.

As the banquet broke up amid the commotion, I quickly stepped into the corridor. Before I could even call them, Mary, Leonard, and Raul followed close behind. Mary swiftly led us into a small reception room beside the banquet hall.

Once the door closed, I could breathe a little easier. As I sighed, Leonard offered a belated compliment.

“You look beautiful, my lady.”

I flinched in surprise, then examined myself in the mirror hanging on the wall. There I stood, excessively adorned and completely out of place among the plainly dressed knights.

Mary tilted her head and murmured.

“Yes, you are pretty, but this is a little…….”

“Isn’t it excessive?”

At Raul’s blunt remark, Mary glared daggers at him. However, she could not deny it.

I first removed the hair clip that had been squeezing the back of my head for quite some time. My long hair spilled down over my shoulders.

As I sighed, Leonard asked me.

“Did you speak with the viscount and viscountess? About why they held such a banquet.”

“It would take a while to explain.”

I told them in detail about my conversation with the viscount and viscountess.

I explained that the viscount had mentioned the previous executions and thanked me, that the viscountess had gifted me the dress and mentioned Countess Oxburg, and that she apparently expected me to host social gatherings.

After hearing the story, Leonard unexpectedly grew serious.

“That is surprising. Countess Oxburg is one of the two leading figures who divide Northern high society between themselves, along with Countess Helvant. I did not realize Lady Norvant had any dealings with her.”

“Marianne Julburg has recently grown quite close to Countess Helvant. Since Lady Norvant is on bad terms with Lady Julburg, she must have joined the opposing side.”

Mary interjected. Leonard furrowed his brow.

“……Wait, by Marianne, do you mean Lady Marianne Rimpelt? Did she marry Baron Julburg?”

“Yes. Baron Julburg may be scum, but he is wealthy, isn’t he? He must have been the perfect match for an extravagant young lady.”

“But the baron was engaged to Lady Carola Arnburg, was he not? He even fought a duel with her younger brother, Ion of Arnburg.”

“Well, apparently that man openly brought a woman into his mansion’s bedroom! And that woman was Elena Grace, Count Elvart’s mistress! So Duke Arnburg became furious and─.”

“My word, how could he behave so outrageously…….”

I stood beside Raul, who stared blankly with his mouth hanging open, wearing the exact same expression. I understood none of what they were saying and simply wanted to go lie down in bed.