Episode 2.
Deren, intimidated by Elisa’s pistol, kept his mouth shut until the carriage reached Roserica Castle. Through the window, the magnificent fortress and well-maintained gardens were visible. Roserica Castle was nothing less than a symbol of abundance.
Since the navy led by Elisa wiped out all the pirates from the coasts and trade routes of Sepia, Roserica had rapidly emerged as the wealthiest territory in the kingdom. The name Roserica became famous across the entire continent as the largest port city.
Thus, Duke Roserica swept up the continent’s gold coins with a rake. All thanks to none other than his illegitimate child.
Even after passing through the castle gates, the carriage ran through the endlessly sprawling gardens for a long while before slowly coming to a halt.
When the carriage door finally opened, a line of butlers and servants was visible. And Deren, as if it were only natural, stepped out of the carriage first.
“Have you arrived, Young Master?”
As the butler bowed his waist, the other servants simultaneously showed their respect to Deren.
However, as Elisa stepped out of the carriage, they immediately straightened their backs and stood stiffly in place. As if Elisa were an invisible person.
The highest-ranking individuals present were, at most, the butler and the head maid. Despite that, they did not dare to properly greet Elisa, who was born the daughter of a Duke.
Watching the servants ignore Elisa, Deren let out a smirk.
However, Elisa did not even snort as if it were ridiculous. Elisa had grown too much to waste her emotions by getting worked up over something like this.
Compared to when she was a child, locked away on the top floor of the west annex, this was truly nothing.
As much as it was familiar, she had become numb, and as she became numb, her lingering attachments vanished. It had been 25 years. From the moment she was born, Duke Roserica had not made even the slightest effort to act as a father to her.
So, hasn’t the time already passed for her to whine while longing for a father’s love or family affection?
What Elisa desired most right now was not their manners or an escort. Elisa wanted to rest. Her body, which had been tense the entire time on the sea, began to relax as soon as she stepped onto land.
Her body, which kept drooping, wanted rest.
She wanted to go to her private residence and lie down rather than Duke Roserica’s castle, but that plan had already fallen through, and now she just wanted to take off this uncomfortable knight’s uniform.
However, due to Deren’s following words, she was unable to achieve even that small wish.
“Follow me. Father said it’s an urgent matter and told me to see you immediately.”
Elisa’s brow furrowed automatically.
“What, what are you going to do if you look at me like that? Why on earth did Father take in something like you? Someone so ungrateful and ignorant of grace…”
Deren grumbled and complained the entire way to the Duke’s office. To Elisa, who knew he wouldn’t be able to utter a single word properly once he stood before their father, the sight was incredibly pathetic.
Passing through the hallway while letting Deren’s words go in one ear and out the other, she soon arrived in front of the Duke’s office.
“Father, I have brought Elisa Shooter.”
As soon as the words were finished, the door to the office opened.
However, the moment she stepped inside, she couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of incongruity.
The owner of the room, Duke Roserica, was standing next to a large desk. Just like a servant of this house waiting to receive the Duke’s orders at any moment.
Furthermore, as soon as Elisa stepped into the room, the heavy wooden door moved. Even Deren could not enter the room. As if still not feeling at ease, Duke Roserica gave strict instructions to the butler.
“Do not let anyone in here until I specifically mention it.”
“Yes, I understand, Your Grace.”
So the butler went out of the room, and the sound of the latch clicking shut was heard.
“For what matter did you call me all the way to—”
Elisa was certainly going to sarcastically ask why he called her to this precious Duke’s residence. However, as soon as she discovered a swaying figure inside the room, she could not finish her sentence.
It was a person who should not be in that room. Only then did Elisa realize why her father, the master of this castle, could not sit in the chair and had no choice but to stand.
“I greet the Eternal Sun of Sepia, Her Majesty the Queen.”
While showing respect through the movements she had learned to the point of boredom from the academy to her enlistment in the navy, there was only one thought in her head.
Why on earth, why is she here?
“Rise, I personally requested this meeting from Duke Roserica because I have a favor to ask of Admiral Shooter.”
A favor. The word “favor” came from the mouth of the owner of the Sepian throne.
To someone who was merely a naval admiral of illegitimate birth.
“You could have summoned me to the capital, why did you personally walk all the way here?”
Despite everything, she had personally traveled all the way to the Roserica territory, far from the capital. Secretly, without the common royal procession or a grand banquet.
In an instant, an ominous premonition crept up Elisa’s spine. It was easy to predict that this would be no ordinary matter.
“I am grateful you say so. Then I can speak comfortably.”
“Please speak. Elisa Shooter is listening.”
I waited for the Queen’s mouth to open while feeling intensely tense.
“Admiral Shooter, you must get married.”
Elisa could not help but doubt her ears.
Elisa could not respond to the Queen’s words immediately and stared at her blankly. Then, a voice scolding Elisa was heard right away.
“Elisa Shooter, how dare you show such a lacking display in front of Her Majesty the Queen! Do you intend to tarnish the name of Roserica!”
However, the Queen raised her hand and blocked Duke Roserica’s shouting.
“I understand the Admiral. Such a sudden and groundless marriage. Duke, do not push your daughter too hard.”
There was no sense of reality at all. It felt as if all of this was just a ridiculous play.
However, it was still too early to be that surprised.
“A royal marriage proposal has come for the Admiral.”
“If it is a royal marriage…”
“Schultz Tugrahan. That man has proposed to you.”
The moment she heard that name, it felt as if she had been hit on the head.
Schultz Tugrahan. It was the name of the founding king of Shulid, the kingdom bordering Sepia.
What was happening to her right now? If it were a dream, it would be a truly terrible nightmare.
Rumors about him were widespread even in the neighboring country of Sepia.
The possessor of insane military power who achieved independence for the Kingdom of Schultz, which had been destroyed by the Empire’s cavalry, after thirty years. The blood-soaked monarch who cut down all the ministers of his own country who rebelled against him.
Those were the modifiers attached to the name of Schultz Tugrahan.
“Why would the King of Shulid want me…”
It was an absurd thing. Schultz Tugrahan was the King of Shulid. For the king of a country to propose to a mere illegitimate child… It was a ridiculous story even to her, the one who received the proposal.
As if reading Elisa’s thoughts, the Queen spoke.
“To be more precise, he did not propose to the Lady of Roserica, but to Admiral Shooter of Sepia.”
“Ah…”
Only then did everything make sense. Tugrahan of Shulid did not need a wise, benevolent, and high-born queen.
What he truly wanted was a powerful navy.
He needed a naval admiral who had elevated the Sepian Navy, which was often ignored by pirates and the navies of other countries, to the masters of the Celeway Sea in a single stroke.
As the flustered Elisa could not find the words she should say, Duke Roserica looked at her with disapproval and handed her an envelope.
“Open it yourself if you cannot believe it.”
Elisa unconsciously glanced at her father, but there was only the same cold and chilly gaze as always, as if evaluating whether an object was useful or not.
As she tore open the outer envelope with a strange seal, two letters written in a crude and rough handwriting appeared. One page was written in the continent’s common language, and the other was written in the Shulid language.
Truly, the King of Shulid had proposed to her.
Elisa had never even seriously thought about marriage.
Despite being born and raised in the castle of the Duchy with Duke Roserica as her father.
She had lived her whole life as the most famous illegitimate child in the kingdom.
Most nobles did not even consider an illegitimate child, whose birth was not even blessed by God, as a marriage partner, and wealthy commoners seeking to raise their status did not even dare to look at her, the daughter of a Duke.
The value of Elisa Shooter’s name in the marriage market was that ambiguous.
And above all, Elisa herself had no intention of living that way. Dead-like and quiet inside the luxurious mansion of an unknown noble. Just as her mother had.
It was a stroke of luck in her misfortune for Elisa. Because no one wanted her, Elisa Shooter was able to become a naval admiral.
However, there was one thing Elisa had overlooked.
That was the situation within the Kingdom of Sepia, located in a mere corner of the vast continent. She overlooked the fact that there are numerous nations on the continent. And among them, there are countries that recognize and accept the existence of illegitimate children as if it were nothing.
That was why the Queen had come secretly to the south. Only then did Elisa realize who had brought this marriage proposal to her. It was a marriage arranged by the royal family itself. Elisa barely managed to compose her expression.
“What answer has Her Majesty the Queen given to that royal marriage?”
“What answer do you think I would have sent to the King of Shulid?”
The blood-soaked monarch who founded Shulid was not satisfied with a powerful army capable of threatening the Estroa Empire and was trying to obtain Shulid’s powerful maritime military force through marriage with her.
And perhaps, in exchange, he might have promised the Queen of Sepia immense rewards and compensation.
“……Does Your Majesty wish for me to embark on a long journey to Shulid?”
The Queen, letting out a smirk, shook her head.
“No way. I have no intention of strengthening even the maritime military power of Shulid. Admiral Shooter. Furthermore, I do not want to lose you. To lose the Admiral is no different from losing the Sepian Navy.”
“It is undeserved praise.”
“No, it is not undeserved at all. Compared to the achievements the Admiral has made. Therefore, the Admiral must marry a noble of Sepia. Even a day sooner.”
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
