Clatter, clatter.
A light jolt.
From inside the first-class cabin of the train headed from the royal capital of Lambart to the border town of Abellar, the scenery beyond the window passed by in monotonous repetition.
On either side of the speeding train stretched forests, and even closer between the woods and the rails were the stumps of trees cut down to secure a safety buffer zone, jutting out like scars.
It wasn’t anything particularly impressive to look at.
Which meant that anyone who had been staring blankly at it for several minutes must surely have their thoughts elsewhere.
Princess Estelle of Laurencia gently chided the knight escorting her with a playful tone in her voice.
“Worried about someone you left behind, Josephine?”
“…Huh?”
“I mean Baron Winslet. I heard he suddenly collapsed from illness a few days ago. I wondered if you were thinking about him.”
“Ah, yes… That’s right.”
Caught off guard, Josephine blushed as she answered.
“He said it was a curse transferred during a magical experiment gone wrong.”
“Oh dear, that sounds serious. How is he doing now?”
“He just woke up from a coma yesterday. He was unconscious for three days.”
Estelle nodded slowly.
“Not being able to be with the one you love when they’re sick… that must be hard. I can understand how frustrating that feels.”
“Thank you.”
“But… as someone you’re supposed to be protecting, I can’t help feeling a little neglected, you know?”
When Josephine looked up, she saw Estelle pouting with an exaggeratedly sulky expression.
It was clearly a playful act, and Josephine couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.
“My apologies, Your Highness. I wasn’t focused.”
“I told you not to call me that when it’s just the two of us.”
“Miss Estelle.”
“Hehe.”
Estelle reached across the table and gently squeezed Josephine’s hand.
Then, as if trying to ease her worries, she offered words of comfort.
“I’ll pray for the Baron’s recovery. He’ll shake off that illness and be back on his feet in no time. He’s strong, after all.”
“He definitely will. Thank you.”
From Estelle’s hand came a warm, reassuring heat.
But at the same time… there was a faint tremble, too.
Josephine lowered her head, feeling a pang of guilt.
“I’m sorry for showing such weakness. The one who should be feeling more anxious right now is you, Princess.”
“Me?”
“You’re leaving the land where you were born and raised… and starting a whole new life in a completely unfamiliar place.”
That was, after all, the very reason Estelle was now on this train bound for the eastern border.
To the east of the border town of Abellar lay Libron. It was a neighboring country that had long shared a border with Laurencia.
Estelle had been officially assigned to Libron as a diplomat, and after today, she would never be returning to her homeland again.
That had been the unspoken agreement between her and the royal family.
Josephine asked, concern laced in her voice.
“Have you ever been to Libron, Miss?”
“No. This will be my first time ever visiting another country. When I was very young, I remember going on vacation to nearby resorts with my mother, but those were all close by. I’ve never left the kingdom. After Mother passed away, I was practically confined to the royal palace.”
“I see…”
“Come to think of it, wasn’t your family originally from Libron, Josephine?”
“Well… they say our roots lie there, but I’ve never set foot on Libron soil myself. My family fled to Laurencia during the civil war. That was back in my grandfather’s time. My father was born here in Laurencia, and so was I.”
“That makes sense. It has been nearly half a century since Libron became a republic.”
“And yet… people still attach that ‘Libronian’ label to my family.”
“I’m sorry….I didn’t mean it like that. I was just wondering if you knew what kind of place Libron is.”
“Well, the extent of my knowledge is… that Libron steel is said to be high-quality. The sword I use was made from Libron-forged steel. The blacksmith charged a hefty premium, saying it was hard to come by.”
“Oh, he totally ripped you off. I learned this while studying recently. Turns out, Laurencia actually owns several iron mines in Libron.”
“Really?”
“Well… not exactly owns them. It’s more like we hold the mining rights to them.”
Estelle who had clearly studied hard in preparation for her diplomatic post in Libron perked up with enthusiasm as the topic shifted to something she knew well, even raising a finger as she spoke.
“When Libron was engulfed in civil war, it was our kingdom, Laurencia, that stepped in to mediate between the royalists and the republicans and helped bring the war to an end. As compensation for that mediation, the republican faction that now governs Libron granted Laurencia the mining rights to five iron mines for a period of fifty years.”
“That’s quite the reward. But… if it was for fifty years…”
“Exactly. That lease expires this year. Our royal family has been making extensive preparations to renew the contract. In fact, the first major task I’ll be handling once I arrive in Libron will be related to those mining rights.”
“It may not be my place to say, as a knight, but… I’m certain you’ll do well. You’re an intelligent woman, Miss.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence.”
Estelle beamed with a bright smile.
Perhaps it was because this would be their last time together for a while, or perhaps she was simply trying to distract herself from that reality….whatever the reason, Estelle was far chattier than usual.
She suddenly spoke again.
“By the way, remember that promise I made to you last time, Josephine?”
“A promise?”
“At Baron Keith D’Alembert’s exhibition. You asked what Baron Winslet meant to me. You were curious, remember?”
“Ah, I remember now.”
“Are you still curious?”
“Are you really asking me that?”
Josephine gave her a teasing side glance, and Estelle responded with a soft smile.
“I’ll tell you. I became a fan of Baron Winslet about five years ago.”
“That was quite some time ago.”
Back then, it was before Josephine had even become engaged to Winter.
Just what had happened between Estelle and him…?
“Back then, I was seriously ill with a fever. I nearly died. The fever wouldn’t break for days, and I was unconscious, just sleeping all the time. Even when I did wake up, I saw hallucinations or mumbled nonsense without realizing it.”
“That sounds truly dangerous.”
“The healers even predicted I wouldn’t make it. Anyway, on the fifth day of the fever, I suddenly came to. My body was burning up, but my mind was clear. And then, all of a sudden, this thought popped into my head.”
“What kind of thought…?”
“I want ice cream.”
“…What?”
“All of a sudden, I just really wanted ice cream. I thought, if I’m going to die, I might as well have something cold and sweet before I go.”
The thought was so innocent that Josephine couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
“Funny, right? I think so too, looking back now. But the story doesn’t end there. There was a big problem. At the time, there was a cattle plague going around, and every single dairy cow near the capital had died. There was no way to get cream, which was the main ingredient in ice cream.”
“Oh no.”
Josephine furrowed her brows in concern.
“So what happened then?”
“That’s when Baron Winslet appeared.”
“Hmm…”
Josephine had been expecting a story about Winter the mage showing up to cure Estelle’s fever with ice magic, or maybe breaking some curse that had been placed on the princess.
But what came next was entirely unexpected.
“Josephine, do you know how Baron Winslet ended up receiving his title?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Back when I was sick, Baron Winslet hadn’t received his title yet. He was granted the barony in recognition of his development of a cold-based magical technique specialized in refrigerated logistics and distribution.”
“Then don’t tell me…”
“It’s exactly what you’re thinking. Thanks to the magic Baron Winslet invented, milk produced in the northern regions could be transported all the way to the capital without spoiling and I was able to have ice cream. That gave me the strength to recover from my illness.”
“Then, does that mean you had never actually met the Baron before?”
“That’s right. The first time I ever saw him was at Baron d’Alembert’s exhibition.”
Josephine let out a disbelieving laugh.
“I’d never seen his face before, and he never saved me directly, but in a way, I was saved all the same. Ever since then, I’ve been a fan of Baron Winslet. I suppose you could call it a kind of internal bond.”
“It’s strange, but it makes sense. Hahaha.”
“I really was saved. It was an incredibly hard time for me.”
In truth, Estelle hadn’t been suffering from a fever at all. She had collapsed after being poisoned by her stepmother, Queen Brigitte. Even after narrowly surviving, the fear of being poisoned again had left her with severe eating disorder.
The first thing she was able to eat while wasting away was a single spoonful of ice cream.
That’s why the memory held such deep meaning for Estelle.
It was too heavy a story to tell Josephine, so she had left out the truth.
All the talking had made Estelle thirsty.
She called over an attendant and requested some tea.
Hot tea and light refreshments were promptly brought in.
Even though she had been practically chased out and forced to travel on short notice, Estelle was still a princess and her first-class cabin had everything she could possibly need.
After taking a sip to soothe her throat, Estelle spoke.
“Now that I’ve shared my story, it’s only fair that you tell me one of yours, Josephine.”
“What kind of story should I tell? I’m not exactly the most interesting person…”
“Don’t worry about that. Even the dullest person has at least one story that can captivate an audience.”
“And what would that be?”
“What else? Their first love, of course!”
“…Huh?”
“I mean your first love, Josephine. Your fiancé. Baron Winslet!”
“You can’t just bring that up out of the blue…”
“Don’t tell me Baron Winslet isn’t your first love?”
“Well, he is, but still…”
As Josephine hesitated, Estelle playfully drummed on the table like a child begging for sweets, chanting, “First love! First love!”
“How did you two first meet? Who confessed first? Was it the Baron, as expected?”
“Well…”
Just as Josephine, unable to resist Estelle’s pestering, finally opened her mouth to answer—
Screeeeech!
With a sudden, jarring noise, Estelle’s body lurched toward Josephine.
At the same time, Josephine felt her head press hard into the back of her seat.
A powerful jolt of inertia.
It didn’t take long for her to realize. The train was trying to make an emergency stop.
But even before the teacup tipped over and the spilled tea soaked into the tablecloth—
Crash!
With a tremendous jolt, Estelle’s body was lifted into the air.
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