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166. Beggar Siblings – Orville Royal Palace

If you were to point out the oldest building in Orville, which boasts a long history, without a doubt it would be the ‘Orville Royal Palace.’

This palace was built when the Acaian Kingdom was established and has functioned as the heart of the empire that has ruled the continent for thousands of years.

As such, the Orville Royal Palace is gigantic.

After numerous expansions, it now boasts hundreds of bedrooms, dozens of lobbies, offices, ballrooms, salons, corridors, libraries, reception rooms, chapels, and galleries, many of which are firmly closed and currently unused.

The Belita Kingdom is simply too small to recreate the glory of the splendid Acaian Empire.

Even if it’s not in use, cleaning still needs to be done. Having worked as a handmaiden in the palace for a whopping five years, the short-hair handmaiden now straightened her aching back and could request permission from the royal guards without even needing an identification badge.

“Oh goodness, this is tough. Should I take a little break? This chapel has way too many decorations…”

– Tap, tap.

As she stretched her back, it unconsciously bent again. Flustered, the handmaiden hurriedly began dusting the floor with her duster. However, realizing that the slow footsteps were not those of the scary Head Handmaiden, she subtly turned her head to check.

“Oh my goodness.”

A ridiculously handsome young man just passed by.

In that instant, she almost mistook him for a prince from some far-off country, but thanks to his neat uniform combining white and blue, she recognized him as a royal knight.

Shortly after, she found herself in the wide kitchen that also served as a bakery. As she placed the knight’s assaulted heart on the chopping board, the handmaidens who had been huddled around prepping ingredients began to speak one by one.

“Hey, did you just find this out? The handmaidens working in the ‘Corridor of Abundance’ have been spreading rumors for a while.”

“Really? How come I never saw him once? He’s seriously handsome.”

The handmaidens swiftly peeled the potato skins. While gossiping about the youth, the youngest knight on record, they poured milk over the mashed potatoes and mixed it.

“Those lucky girls over there! If only I could work near such a good-looking knight, I’d have no other wishes.”

The short-hair handmaiden said. As she poured honey into the thickening batter, she was met with a reprimanding look that seemed to say, “Are you out of your mind?”

“Come on, snap out of it. Messing with a royal knight won’t end well. If anything goes wrong, we’ll be the ones getting kicked out; do you think anyone will care about us handmaidens?”

“Ah, I know, I know. I just wanted to see his face, why are you so dramatic about it?”

With a roll of her eyes, the short-hair handmaiden covered the portions of batter with breadcrumbs and carefully placed them on a tray, making sure they didn’t touch each other.

If baked like this, they’d be complete. As the trays disappeared into the oven one after another, the handmaidens preparing snacks took a moment to relax.

“Then, are you going to the Corridor of Abundance? Where’s your station? I’ll go in your place.”

“Huh? Really? Thanks, I won’t decline. I just need to deliver my share to Princess Chloe.”

“Wait, are you one of Princess Chloe’s exclusive handmaidens?”

“No way. With a princess who’s so scatterbrained, would there even be an exclusive maiden? We rotate duties at the ‘Princess Palace.’ I’m just the one who delivers snacks.”

“Oh my, the rumors are true, then. It really does change her personality around the time of the month.”

“Beats me. She’s a great person otherwise; I don’t know why she does that. Hmm~”

A fragrant smell wafted through.

The handmaidens got busy again, pulling out the freshly baked ‘Mechitade’ and placing it on warm plates. To finish, they sprinkled almond flour and added a dollop of jam.

Finally, dozens of plates were loaded onto serving carts.

The handmaidens quickly rolled the carts out in a line, wafting the sweet smell through the expansive palace, dispersing bit by bit.

“Then I’ll take Princess Chloe’s share. You head to the Corridor of Abundance.”

In the central area of the palace, under the tremendously high ceiling of the ‘Hall of the Skies,’ one handmaiden lifted a plate. That friend vanished up the ‘Crown Princess Staircase,’ another took the ‘Prince’s Staircase,’ and yet another ascended the ‘King’s Ascent’ with a crystal bowl filled with almonds.

The short-hair handmaiden didn’t need to climb the stairs. She pushed her cart down the corridor that ran beneath the Prince’s Staircase.

Usually called the ‘Path of Prosperity,’ the walls of this corridor were filled with paintings depicting the history of the empire.

Regrettably, the majestic mural broke off midway, but the floor was marked with a yellow line, creating some sort of boundary. The handmaiden tidied her appearance and crossed the yellow line.

Immediately, a vibrant green velvet corridor appeared.

It was blinding.

Though it must have been intentional, stepping out of the somewhat dark corridor, sunlight poured through the windows facing southeast.

The walls were adorned with metal flowers and trees, and this corridor, lined with dozens of vast rooms, was none other than the ‘Corridor of Abundance,’ where the king’s relatives would stay.

Beyond the corridor that ran under the princess’s staircase lay the ‘Comfort Corridor’ where the king’s relatives resided, mirroring it perfectly in design.

“Oh my oh my oh my oh my.”

The short-hair handmaiden was captivated by the imposing figure of ‘that royal knight’ who came in without a warning.

He stood in front of the ‘Corridor of Abundance’ in the courtyard. After staring dumbfounded for a moment, the handmaiden set her cart down and took out a plate.

If only this could convey my feelings to him, how wonderful would that be, but alas, it was not. She respectfully bowed to the elderly man sitting on a bench, soaking up the sun.

“Here are your afternoon snacks, Grand Princess.”

“Oh my, is it already that time? Sir Noel, let’s head inside now. It’s a bit uncomfortable to eat here.”

“…Understood.”

Goodness, how can someone be that elegant?

The short-hair handmaiden firmly remembered the name ‘Noel’ and thought that even his seemingly trivial gesture of extending a hand toward the Grand Princess was splendid.

Wanting to do something to help, or at least to sneak in a word, she intended to say, “I’ll lend you my arm,” but right then,

She felt a cold gaze.

While her head was turned toward the princess, the knight’s eyes were fixed on her.

Having worked as a handmaiden for five years, she had enough experience to read the mood.

He was clearly angry. She didn’t know what she did wrong, but she felt a sense of crisis where she might get beaten out of nowhere.

The handmaiden made her way to the Grand Princess’s chamber one step ahead. She placed the warm snacks and her excitement on the table, then hurriedly fled.

*

“Damn it.”

After barely getting this old man outside, what a situation is this.

Returning to the room, Leo grumbled internally.

It had already been a month since he became a royal knight. He still hadn’t met ‘Klian de Tatalia’ the prince.

This was all due to the tight schedule of the knights.

The royal knights were busy. It wasn’t because there were any urgent matters to attend to, but simply because of a lack of personnel.

There were a total of seventy-eight knights affiliated with the Tatalia royal family, including Leo. With such a number, they had to rotate duties guarding the royals and patrolling the castle, so every knight’s schedule was meticulously planned, leaving Leo with no time to meet the prince.

Thus, Leo came up with the idea to move this princess to a place where the prince might pass by. It was a much better plan than leaving his station without permission and trudging over to look for the prince.

However, he couldn’t wait any longer.

In two weeks, the Prince of Austin Kingdom would arrive in Orville. Before that, he had to meet with Count Peter to secure the achievement of meeting the prince, and he didn’t have time to waste.

He decided he would go meet the prince today.

“Sir Noel?”

Leo’s thoughts were interrupted. The Grand Princess ‘Danijela Tatalia’ was holding out a plate to him.

“…I’m sorry. I lost my train of thought. I’ll enjoy this.”

Leo politely picked up the Mechitade, which was as hard as a cookie. Without even dipping it in jam, he stuffed it in his mouth, and Princess Danijela remarked,

“You look rather anxious.”

“Not at all.”

The old man’s gaze fell on him. Even at such a young age, she sensed that he was troubled, but as a lady of her stature, she chose to remain silent.

Leo had no plans to ask this Grand Princess for any favors, so he stood quietly by the door.

The title of Grand Princess is given to the elder women of the royal family.

It was not a very favorable title assigned to the oldest princess but did not grant her any power either.

The once-powerful Acaian Imperial family no longer existed.

As the empire fell apart, the royal family fled to the east, and the last remaining emperor became a king. Even that was maintained by making political marriages with many noble families and handing over imperial territories to keep his throne.

The royal authority had plummeted.

Afterward, the Belita Kingdom thrived under great noble families like the Tatian family, and the nobles wished for the royal authority to remain weak.

Numerous methods were proposed to restrain the royal authority. One was to limit the number of royals.

Human groups are usually stronger in numbers. The more people think of themselves as royalty, the stronger the king’s influence becomes, thus the nobles passed a law recognizing only those within the sixth degree of relation to the king as royals.

Reigning but not ruling royals.

In truth, the Tatalia royal family could now be described as just one of the many noble families constituting the Belita Kingdom.

Well, they might still be one of the strongest families, but…

At any rate, given the current circumstances, it was impossible for Grand Princess Danijela Tatalia to hold any power. She was merely an elegant elderly lady sitting in a corner, and Leo didn’t pay her much mind.

The very fact that a rookie knight was assigned to guard her gave a good indication of how low her status in the royal family was.

Leo stood idly, waiting for the shift change.

Then, the Princess Danijela, who had been sitting bored on the bed, stood up. She took out a Nesonato from somewhere and began to pluck it string by string with care.

An instrument too challenging for an old woman to handle. But perhaps due to her long years of experience or the sorrow from her groom running away on the day of her wedding, the Nesonato made a sound that wasn’t unpleasant to listen to.

“…It’s lovely.”

“Thank you. If it’s not too much trouble, would you come over and listen?”

She regretted saying that.

She felt a bit of regret but sat down willingly. Leo, too bored, did not refuse when she urged him to try playing the Nenato.

The old lady advised how to strike it for a better sound, and the young man added vigor to the elderly lady’s performance.

That was certainly a heartwarming scene.

*

After the shift change, Leo exited the room of Danijela Tatalia.

It was a delightful time; he saluted and stepped out along the Path of Prosperity, where he spotted the Prince’s Staircase.

The prince is up there.

There was no reason to climb those stairs, nor was he allowed to, but Leo ascended nonetheless.

“Sir Noel? What brings you here?”

A royal knight sitting in a small lobby in front of the prince’s office recognized Leo and asked.

Coincidentally, the knight guarding the prince was Leo’s mentor, a man in his early thirties, who was known for being a devoted husband.

He was a figure who, through any means, would slip away from work for a night out, serving as a role model for Leo, who was trying to sneak out of the palace to see his younger sibling.

Yet, that wasn’t helpful in this situation.

The prince’s office door was closed, and to earn an achievement, Leo would need to get through that door at the very least.

Knowing this was a foolish act… but he could wait no longer.

With a grin that seemed desperate, Leo spoke.

“I just stopped by while heading back to the barracks after a shift change. It’s nothing really, but…”

“There’s no time for this, is there? If you don’t hurry, the knight in the training ground will have other things to attend to. I appreciate your visit, but you need to…”

“Wait! What are you doing?!”

“What are you doing here?”

Stealthily approaching, Leo burst through the office door.

He merely wanted to glimpse at the prince’s face.

This wasn’t an unforgivable crime, and it didn’t seem like it would be an issue for a rookie who had just made a silly mistake.

He would probably get scolded by his mentor later, but he could always say, ‘Though I’m a royal knight, I just felt like I had to see the prince once,’ while pretending to be drunk.

[ Achievement: Meeting Klian de Tatalia – Gained slight favor from all nobles serving the Tatalia royal family. Gained slight favor from Klian de Tatalia. ]

As Leo expected, and as {Tracking Skill} had indicated, the prince was indeed in the office.

The problem was… he wasn’t alone.

“Who the hell are you?”

There was a Swordmaster.

No, it would have been better if only Count Hermann Forte had been there.

In the prince’s large office, sitting across the table from Count Forte was a nobleman with his legs crossed. Leaning casually against the edge of the table with a wine glass in hand, he gazed over at Leo, who just so happened to be someone Leo absolutely did not want to meet.

Thin but bushy eyebrows, icy blue eyes that seemed frozen, and colorless lips.

It was Marquis Benard Tatian.