Baden (3)

The moment the door closed.

Countess Rocaz, Roderick, and Daisy, standing at a distance, visibly stiffened.

Even Alicia, whose eyesight was poor as if she were still in hell, could see their troubled faces—but it seemed the Grand Duke could not.

Reichardt gestured inward with his hand, as if to guide Alicia, who was still staring at the closed door.

Feeling like a guest, Alicia sat down in front of the tea table.

“I am here to discuss the conferment ceremony with Countess Rocaz. His Majesty prefers white, while the Empress favors sky blue. The Lord of Echeveria traditionally chooses light pink, as Echeveria’s Flower Lake is pink.”

Reichardt, seated across from Alicia, opened the chest he had taken from the annex.

“Tea…”

“No need for tea.”

From the nearly cube-shaped chest with considerable height, jewelry cases emerged one after another.

The man pulled out the jewels with indifference, like laying out scribbled notes, from lavish cases adorned with golden filigree.

He showed no concern for scratching the gold.

“This is…”

Alicia had deliberately requested greedy trinkets from the Grand Duke.

But she hadn’t truly expected him to fulfill the request.

She had only spoken to seem like a greedy and covetous woman.

More than anything, she had already been promised many things.

“Open them.”

Her hand hesitated before the dazzling jewelry boxes.

“What are these?”

Reichardt opened the cases one by one in Alicia’s place.

“They’re the ruby set of the Duchess of Marguerite.”

Inside were a tiara, earrings, ring, and necklace adorned with large rubies and small diamonds.

When all four boxes were opened, the brilliance was nearly blinding.

The rubies, among the most vividly colored of gems, sparkled individually, each flaunting its beauty.

“They’re beautiful.”

Alicia spoke her honest impression.

“Wear them at the conferment ceremony.”

“Me…?”

“It won’t be me.”

It seemed like he was joking again, but the atmosphere was too heavy to laugh.

“What should I do about returning them after the ceremony?”

“There’s no need to return them.”

Alicia tried to lighten the mood with a bit of banter.

“Don’t tell me… they’re mine?”

“Yes, they’re yours. The Duchess of Marguerite’s rubies have always been paired with the title of Echeveria. Traditionally, the Counts gifted them to their wives, but since you are the Count yourself, wear them directly. Please wear them whenever formality is required.”

Alicia stopped smiling and answered promptly.

“Yes.”

Her expression, gazing at the rubies, was resolute.

Reichardt spoke with a slight looseness to his lips.

“Is it something to be so serious about?”

Though his tone was relaxed, his face had just been serious.

“Yes.”

Alicia answered sternly.

“How much do you know about the Imperial Family? For example, His Majesty’s siblings?”

It wasn’t a difficult question for a noble lady.

But it also wasn’t easy to answer without pause.

“His late Majesty had five grown sons, including the current Emperor. The second prince, Duke Vels, died in an accident seven years ago. The third prince is Marquis Lennox, the fourth is Count Istebna, and the Grand Duke of Tessen, Your Highness, is the fifth. Among the male siblings, there are no full brothers. The only full sibling is the First Princess, Princess Louise, now the Duchess of Lirin.”

Alicia answered as if it were prepared.

“You hardly need lessons. But we can’t dismiss the imperial tutor. The conferment ceremony is a banquet that introduces members of the imperial family to the new family member and receives greetings in return. Once the dress colors are decided, contact the Grand Duke’s residence.”

“Yes.”

Reichardt diligently conveyed the relevant details.

“The ceremony will be held in the Great Hall.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Do you think they’d cram the imperial relatives into a small space? The Empress wanted to open the grand theater for it, but Josephina barely managed to talk her down into a compromise.”

Reichardt’s expression showed clear signs of stress as he spoke.

The sudden mention of Princess Josephina startled Alicia.

“Yes.”

The scale of the news the Grand Duke was delivering was so immense, Alicia didn’t know which part to react to first.

“The season has changed.”

The topic shifted abruptly.

“It has.”

Alicia gave a meaningless reply to buy time.

What would be best to reveal?

This was a pivotal time in her past life, so she knew many details about the surrounding circumstances.

“I’ll ask a question.”

Reichardt spoke as if launching the first move.

“Wait, Your Highness. What I proposed was not for Your Highness to ask questions, but for me to deliver predictions based on what I know. I may not be able to answer.”

Alicia couldn’t possibly know everything.

She was confident about the trends of this period, but she also clearly understood her limits.

“That’s fine. Even if you can’t answer, I’ll count it as one prophecy.”

“I’m not fine with that. But I can’t just keep receiving questions if I don’t answer. Only one question per season is allowed. I’ll decide whether to treat it as a prophecy after hearing the question. If I still have a prophecy left, I’ll offer one at my discretion for the season.”

At Alicia’s words, Reichardt nodded in agreement.

Since it couldn’t be recorded in writing, they both confirmed again that the other had understood clearly.

Alicia looked at him, signaling he could proceed.

“When will it snow this winter?”

Many significant events occurred during this period.

Quite a few were memorable.

Alicia composed her face carefully to avoid smiling as she began to speak.

“I believe I can fulfill my duty this season. It won’t snow this winter. Instead, there will be an extraordinary snowstorm from the last week of March to early April.”

It was a prophecy spoken with confidence.

As if she had already witnessed the future.

Reichardt rose to his feet without commenting on the strange sensation it gave.

“I’ll take my leave.”

The man who had finished his business walked away without once looking back.

“Your Highness.”

At Alicia’s call, Reichardt stopped in his tracks.

“Speak.”

As he was leaving, Alicia stood up and voiced the question she had kept in her heart.

“Your sleeve buttons are unusual. What are they?”

Alicia secretly swallowed her saliva.

Her expression lit up as if she had seen something delicious.

She hoped the gulping sound wouldn’t escape her throat.

Reichardt looked down at his own cuffs.

“They’re ornamental buttons passed down to the Grand Dukes of Tessen.”

“To the Grand Dukes of Tessen?”

What was attached to the man’s sleeve was something Alicia definitely recognized.

Just breaking the outer shell and eating it seemed like it would give her strength.

Could it be that he didn’t know what it really was?

“There are some like this in Tessen, but they’re hard to find.”

At Reichardt’s words, Alicia suddenly wanted to rush to Tessen that very moment.

“Tessen…”

Alicia’s eyes sparkled brightly for a moment.

Her shining gaze burned as it turned to Reichardt.

“……”

His stare was so intense, it felt like it had a voice.

Tessen!

Reichardt naturally avoided her piercing gaze.

“By the way, is it true that there’s a golden chamber in Lilizet Villa?”

As Alicia tried to stop him with a question, she suddenly realized something.

Tessen was a land of gold and diamond mines.

Despite being remote, it attracted attention because of its western border and enormous mineral resources.

Though people called it a cursed land, a land of death, visitors kept coming.

Even the imperial family’s largest gold supplier was Tessen.

A land of gold and death.

It wouldn’t be strange for it to also have a magic stone mine.

“There is no golden chamber.”

Reichardt replied while looking into Alicia’s eyes, which brimmed with anticipation.

“I thought so…”

There was no way such a place could really exist.

It was natural that something like a golden chamber didn’t exist, so Alicia wasn’t too disappointed.

But she still couldn’t help feeling a twinge of regret that it wasn’t even a possibility.

“There’s no golden chamber. But there is a room of yellow diamonds.”

Reichardt spoke calmly after observing Alicia’s disappointed face.

A deep silence fell between them.

Momentarily speechless, Alicia quickly blurted out one of the questions she had long held.

“Is it true that in Tessen, diamond roughs roll in the stream and small gems are scattered all over the roads?”

“No. There is some fine gold in the downstream river connected to the swamps. But you need to know how to read the terrain where gold settles, and you need proper tools to extract it. I’ll take my leave.”

While Alicia sat dazed in shock, Reichardt left the reception room.

“Gold rolling on the roads…?”

It was only long after she was alone that Alicia finally spoke.

Only then did she realize she had not given the Grand Duke a proper farewell.

She had been so surprised by his sudden arrival that she hadn’t even greeted him—something she only realized come dinnertime.

The emperor’s office was an extremely private space.

Very few people were allowed in.

The late emperor, known for his warmth toward his children, had opened his office to them, but the current emperor did not.

Even when meeting with the chancellor, he summoned him to the audience chamber.

Since the current emperor’s ascension, his siblings who had received noble titles rarely received invitations to the office.

“Enter.”

The Imperial Chamberlain led Reichardt into the emperor’s office without asking any questions.

The emperor’s office was modest—especially for an emperor.

More than modest, it felt cramped.

Three of the room’s four walls were lined with bookshelves, excluding the side with the door.

In the middle of this library-like space was a large table.

The emperor sat at a table adorned with ornate carvings at each corner.

The bookshelves and table filled the room so thoroughly that almost no space remained.

Four elegant chairs were placed against the wall with the door.

Two of the chairs had backrests, while the other two did not.

“Sit.”

Without even greeting his younger brother, the emperor spoke.

In front of the emperor and the large table was a single-seater sofa chair decorated with velvet.

The velvet-covered, wide-backed chair was an unexpected show of consideration.

“Have you seen the request form I sent?”

Without offering thanks, Reichardt slouched into the small sofa chair.

“You want reinforcements for the western border troops. That’s very sudden, Grand Duke of Tessen.”

Tessen’s soldiers had to fight many things.

In winter, the fierce cold of the north.

Throughout the year, the suffocating dust storms blew from the west.

Nomadic tribes rooted in the northwestern plains.

Clans and their members, bound not to land but to ideology, belief, or profit.

And even those whose existence could not officially be acknowledged.

“It’s already winter in the northwest. Highly mobile tribes will come to plunder food supplies.”

“Aren’t there already enough troops stationed in Tessen?”

“The more soldiers, the better in Tessen. Alchemist clans tend to move around the end of the year and New Year’s, causing frequent incidents. You never know what might happen. Also, next year, the moon Rua will rise right after the New Year.”