— [ WALTZ OF CROWNS ] —

-『CHAPTER 05』-

Nihilaine

I've used some terminologies here that might confuse some so I highly suggest that you read the [House of Lords] glossary if you can to avoid confusion.

Oh, there won't be updates every Sunday since its my rest day so this will be my last update for this week and it will resume monday. 

Anyways, onward with the story.

 

« Heiress of the House of Novaldein »
— Velestina von Novaldein —

Apprehension and panic instantly marred the faces of the two female elves when the word 'Lightelves' came out of my  mouth. They were merely hostile to me just a moment ago but now, they're acting downright belligerent as if I'm the devil itself, the root of all evils in the world.

Haah...

W-Well in some way, I could really understand their increased wariness since Lightelves are widely believed to be extinct back in Aethos. Its a sensitive topic and everyone considered it a taboo to talk about Lightelves especially the war that occurred between the two races decades ago.

I had once asked my grandfather about it in private but all the he ever told me was that the Elven war were the blight of humanity.

His comment spurred my curiosity so I did my own digging in my free time in regards to what was actually the real reason behind the racial war and based on my findings, it seems that the 'official' reason behind the conflict was that someone uncovered that these Lightelves had allegedly created a spell that could potentially destroy Solaris but as I dig deeper, I eventually noticed some discrepancies upon the 'facts' and once I followed the trail of the money spending done by the House of Lords at that time, all the disjointed pieces began to merge in my mind and I finally have the whole picture laid out to me.

And oh man, it was ugly.

The crux of the matter was that the war were simply motivated by one thing only—Human Greed.

Lightelves belong to a species which were senselessly hunted down due to various reasons but the primarily motivation of their demise was because of the belief that Elven blood can exponentially increase one's own mana and lifespan and thus their population gradually declined to extinction due to senseless hunting during the war.

This asinine belief spurred the invasion of Lightelves territory and sadly about a decade ago, the last remaining Elven bastion in Aethos were finally besieged and was conquered. All of its remaining Elves were turned into war prisoners and were eventually sold to the highest bidder. 

I even vaguely remembered years back when I was young that there was this fad amongst the nobles for which all the House Lords starting from Median Lords and up must at least own an Elven slave or else they wouldn't be considered as 'high class' since Elven slaves are considered the highest pedigree of all slaves. 

However I rarely see a noble nowadays owning an Elf for it seems keeping one for a long time as servants wasn't as beneficial as to when you turn them into magic supplements for by consuming an Elf's heart would propel one's mana and lifespan tremendously. 

Another factor of their extinction might be was the fact that Lightelves have this creed that they follow for which states that death is better than a lifetime of servitude thus enslaved elves instantly kills themselves the moment they get a chance to do so.

It was a desecration of morals.

A whole entire race butchered akin to a livestock just to appease the nobilities insatiable lust for power. An entire race senselessly sacrificed to cater the whims of a selected few in power. 

The general populace eventually realized the real reason behind the Elven war thus it was deemed a taboo to talk about for it was a disgrace that every human didn't want to remember.

Thus the Elven war became known as the blight of humanity.

I exhaled a long woeful breath.

The assassin-like Elf was about to brandish her blade and is about to attack me but then the bespectacled guy whom I just suplex suddenly made a movement and hold out the assasin's shoulders.

"E-Elloheiné, keep your blades down...let me handle this."

"B-But your Excellency, this brute has figured out our race!  Who knows what she might do!"

"B-Brother, I'm s-scared..."

The guy patted the little girl's head and relaxed his expression. He then turned towards me and made that off-putting smile of his once again. 

"Its okay, Faris I don't think lady Valestina Novaldein here is totally unreasonable. Anyhow, greetings Milady, I'm sorry about my actions earlier but I just had to do it in order for me to bestow you our language's comprehension."

My eyes slightly widened.

"You see that particular 'Madjha' requires me to have physical contact with my target hence that's why I did that earlier. I would greatly appreciate it if you could somehow overlook my insolence Lady Novaldein."

He then curtly bowed and placed his left hand towards his chest in an imitation of Arklaundian military salute.

I blinked a couple of times.

"...No offense taken although how did you found out my identity?"

I don't think i was that famous...was i?

I wasn't really into gossips and such so I can't really knew for certain and even though my name is widely known for being the sole heiress of the Novaldein House, people outside of her fiefdom rarely recognize me since I rarely appear in public nor join any social gatherings unfit of my status.

The male elf simply pushed his glasses upwards and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Simply common sense Milady. This ship has the Novaldein's insignia etched onto one of its sails. Your physical appearance greatly conforms to the image depicted as the Iron Lady of Faun. Ashen hair with crimson eyes, so by putting the two together, I can easily assume that you Milady is none other than, Velestina von Novaldein, the granddaughter of the Sovereign Lord Zerxius and the acting overseer of the opulent city of Faun. Its my honor to meet a wonderful hierarch such as yourself Milady."

Silence.

One of my eyebrows rose in curiosity.

"...What's this 'Iron Lady' thing about?"

How come I haven't heard of this?

"Oh, perchance you haven't of it Milady? My oh my~ there's a lot of rumors about you but the term apparently originated back from the Royal Academy. Milady, don't be mad but I hear all of the students there call you as that since you act as if the whole school was your own palace."

Silence.

"Some even say that you ruled with iron fist and that you even  tortured a poor girl to the point that she almost died that's why the Kaiser's son had broken off his engagement with you."

I mentally facepalmed herself.

...Oh yeah.

I guess I really did those things.

Or more specifically, the 'me' before I reincarnated had always been such a villainess that people tend to be overwhelmed by my mere presence alone.

"...Haah,"

I sighed in exasperation before reluctantly shaking my head. 

Let those idle people ran their rumor mill, there's nothing I could do anyway since I'm oceans away from home. I have a much more important matters at hand in the form of three Elven stowaways so I'd rather fix these issues first than worry about what the people from mainland thinks of her.

Now then, what should I do with these Lightelves?

"...Uhmm Lady Novaldein, Admiral Zerxius told me to give this letter to you in case you found out about us."

The male elf cautiously stated as he pulled an envelope right out of his pocket. He then gestured it to her and I warily accepted the item. 

The first thing I did was to scrutinize its seal. 

Novaldein's insignia was clearly etched onto the seal and I could even feel a trace of my grandfather's mana onto it which makes the item seem authentic.

After checking its security, I then opened the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of folded blank parchment. Its the same as the letter I received earlier from the crimson hawk hence I did the exact method as well to reveal its contents.

"My granddaughter Velestina, 

If you're reading these then I'm assuming that you found out about Roan and his companions. You might be curious as to why I didn't tell you about these Lightelves snuck onto your ship but all I can say is that its for your own good my dear lil Velé.

Like I've always told you, sometimes the less one knows, the longer one lives. I've rescued these Elves from a certain dangerous organization and these individuals will stop at nothing to take back these Elves. 

I really do not want to involve you with the matters concerning these Lightelves but I still can't deny the possibility that you will still find out about them given how intuitive you are.

I hope you won't read this paper but otherwise, if you still did so then try as much as possible to hide these elves from anyone. 

Spies might be onboard the ship.

Don't court danger if you can avoid it.

— Zerxius von Novaldein."