Nier was somewhat restless during Troy’s absence. When she woke up, Nier subconsciously reached her hand out to hug the man next to her, but she ended up hugging thin air every time. She always subconsciously glances toward the kitchen when it was time to eat, but she quickly remembered that there was nobody to enjoy her cooking.
Though Freya got lots of daughters and wives from noble families to hold tea parties at noon, Nier still felt as though she couldn’t converse with them. Nier had no idea what a normal girl liked. The things she liked were not things girls liked, or rather, other girls were not allowed to like.
Nier roamed the large palace alone. She did have Valkyries and maids behind her, but she still felt incredibly lonely. Fundamentally, loneliness kept her company. Nier was an individual who was highly susceptible to feeling lonely, as the number of people she knew numbered very few, too few, in fact.
Her Majesty had returned to Hilles City. Alice… If she mentioned her, His Majesty would most likely give scold her. Luna was no longer with them. Freya had gone to the North. There was no news from Lucia after she went to the elves. She had no clue how His Majesty was doing, either.
Nier tightened her grip on the spoon as soon as she thought of her husband, nearly snapping the spoon. Nier felt very anxious. She wanted to return to her husband’s side. She was looking forward to the North’s capture so that she could rendezvous with her husband in the North. She wanted to be with her husband even if the North was a field of scorched land. It had been a long time since he had been by her side. She did say that she didn’t want to be dead weight for him, but it had been a bit too long.
Nier looked at her belly that finally took shape. She touched her child gently and revealed a subtle smile. Although her personality had improved a lot, Nier still wasn’t used to smiling. She silently ate the food in front of her. Her appetite hadn’t been too good recently. However, her determination and patience that was developed from her Valkyrie background made her decide to eat more food for her child.
“Princess, these are today’s letters.”
After breakfast, the maid next to her brought a pile of letters over and placed them before her. Nier wiped her hand, and then picked up a letter. As the Princess, Nier always received strange letters. There were all sorts of letters sent to her. There were letters from nobles asking her to mention things to the Prince. The nobles would ask their wives to write her a letter. Lots of things were things that they couldn’t bring up directly with the Prince.
Nier never wasted her time reading a word on those sorts of letters. She threw away any letters from Duke This and Duke That without any hesitation. Nier had no family or friends, while those letters were utterly useless.
Nier’s eyes frantically searched the letters. She looked forward to seeing a letter from the North or the elven lands. She knew that His Majesty wanted to go to the elven lands, but she was angry for the reason that he didn’t even send her a single letter. Nier was in a state of panic. Although Lucia might have met with mishap, there was also the possibility of the two eloping. After all, she hadn’t seen His Majesty in a long time. The last time she saw him was a long time ago. She was very afraid that he wouldn’t come back.
“Finally! There’s finally a letter from the North!” Nier thought to herself.
Nier ripped the letter open. Despite the letters on the envelope being Freya’s beautiful handwriting, a letter from Freya sent from Freya was definitely a letter that His Majesty had come into contact with.
“So is he in the North right now? His Majesty’s letter might even be inside.” Wondered Nier.
Nier took the letter out and shook the envelope out. She then placed the letter down while feeling slightly disappointed. There was no bonus inside. She picked up the letter and opened it. Freya’s letter was extremely simple. There were no emotions inside. It only had three simple sentences, “Please prepare to head to the North, Princess. Wait for the guards. Leave immediately once they arrive.”
The end. That was it.
The three sentences caused Nier to conjure scenarios in her mind. She now knew that she had to head to the North, but she had no idea who she was going with, why she had to go to the North, what sort of place the North was or even if His Majesty was in the North or not.
“Is this Freya’s letter or His Majesty’s idea?” questioned Nier.
Nier looked at the simple letter and hesitated for a moment. She then turned around and told the maids behind her, “Make preparations. His Majesty wants me to head to the North. Prepare all the necessities and be ready to leave at all times.”
The maids nodded. “Understood.”
The Valkyries walked up to her side and gently helped her up. Nier stood up with her hand on her belly. She melancholically looked out the window. Winter had past. The warmth of spring had gradually heated up as it welcomed in summer. The flowers outside the window in the flower garden were densely packed side by side. The flowers outside of Troy City formed a sea of flowers. Those things were all materials for burning. The scene was too beautiful. It would’ve been even better if she could’ve hugged her lover next to her. Nier looked at the flowers outside the window and let out a heavy sigh.
=========
Current time at Hilles City.
“We should get the rights to rule the North. Our human forces were the main force in the war. The soldiers sacrificed were our ruler’s soldiers. We were the main force that brought victory, not the elves. We should ask the elves to let us rule the North. The elves do not have the right to occupy the North!”
“That is right, Your Majesty. We should arrange for a negotiation with the elves as soon as possible while His Majesty is still ruling the North. We should bring the North under our rule as soon as possible. We cannot allow the elves obtain the North. Though we do not understand the North at the moment, not one inch of land is a waste.”
The Empress sat on her throne with her chin resting in her right hand and legs crossed. She sat there in a very domineering, yet lazy, posture. She didn’t say a word, despite all the voices of her vassals below. Elizabeth never made her stance clear at conferences, and it was the same this time. No matter how anxious her subordinates felt after the alliance’s victory, she didn’t utter a word. Elizabeth wouldn’t nod or shake her head.
“That’ll be it for today; you may all leave now.”
Once the time for the meeting was up, the Empress stood up and told her vassals below the meeting was over and ordered them to leave.
The vassals exchanged eye contact with each other. They, too, didn’t know what her plans were.
Politicians don’t consider a victory the most important part. What they considered most important were the fruits obtained after the victory. Normally speaking, the Empress would’ve snatched up the right to rule the North already. However, she had yet to make any moves this time. Nobody knew what she was thinking, what plans she had or what to do.
Previous Chapter l Next Chapter
