A week after her visit with Elizabeth, Westalia went out into the imperial city with Leonardo. He was so busy with his political duties that he hadn’t had much time to see her, but he still took time out of his day to visit her in her quarters.
Today was their first outing together since the extension of the empress selection had been announced. Westalia was wearing a purple dress. Its skirt, which was made of lacy fabric with an airy, almost translucent look, was pleated and trailed gracefully as she walked. The only thing missing was the blue stone earring. She had taken it from Leonardo the night they’d met, but she’d given it back to him after moving her residence to Le Chantier Palace. The earring was very important to him, as it was engraved with proof that he was to be the next emperor.
Besides, she no longer needed the earring as an excuse to see him—they could meet simply because they wanted to—but now that she no longer wore it, her ear was feeling empty.
I got here way too early, Westalia thought as she looked up at the clock tower. They had planned to meet in the city, as Leonardo had business he had to attend to earlier in the day.
After repeatedly looking at the hands of the clock, Westalia finally realized that she was getting excited about the date and smiled wryly. She stood in front of the sign for the shoe shop that they had designated as their meeting spot and played with the lonely earlobe that had previously housed Leonardo’s earring.
It wasn’t long before Leonardo appeared. His eyes widened slightly when he saw Westalia, who was dressed with some panache.
“That outfit looks wonderful on you. You’re gorgeous,” Leonardo said.
“No need for flattery,” Westalia replied. She was somewhat embarrassed by the straightforward compliment, and she looked down as she pushed a wayward piece of hair behind her ear.
Leonardo’s eyes narrowed lovingly. “It wasn’t flattery. You look like a goddess descended from the heavens.”
Westalia was immediately reminded that she’d referred to herself as such on the night they’d met.
His expression changed so little that it was hard for Westalia to tell if he was teasing her or if he meant what he said. Westalia, at a loss for a good response, looked around this way and that, and after a moment of hesitation, she lifted a poisoned needle from her pocket with a flick.
“Stop teasing me or I’ll stab you,” she said.
“I didn’t mean to tease you. And that’s dangerous, so put it away.” Leonardo gently stroked Westalia’s flushed cheek. The places he touched grew hot and that heat gradually spread to other places in her body.
Oh my god, he throws me completely off-balance, Westalia thought. With Paige, say, Westalia could just lightly dismiss her, but with Leonardo, her heart immediately started running amok.
Then, from across the street, a small child pointed at them and said, “Look, mommy! They’re making out!”
“Don’t point!” The mother grabbed the child’s hand and apologized to Westalia and Leonardo, but the mood was already ruined.
“Shall we go?” Leonardo asked.
“Good idea.”
Their destination was the apothecary where Westalia used to work. They could have taken a horse-drawn carriage there directly, but they’d decided to have lunch in town, do some shopping, and walk there at a leisurely pace.
The streets were lined with various stores and there were many people out and about. It was an ordinary scene, but to Westalia, who’d been locked up in a royal villa for so long, everything seemed so colorful and vivid.
The smell of delicious food coming from the stalls wafted to her nose. “Hey, Leo, look at that. It’s so strange looking.” She tapped Leonardo on the arm and pointed to a window display as they walked along the cobblestones. In the window was an oddly shaped, carved wooden figurine.
“It’s a traditional handicraft of the seaside peoples. It’s used in rituals to pray for a good harvest,” Leonardo said.
“Huh. It kind of looks like you.”
“It does...?” The figurine was in the shape of a human being and had a funny face that was incredibly unfriendly looking. Leonardo raised his eyebrows in disapproval at the comparison. The resemblance was so striking that Westalia almost burst out laughing, but she managed to hold it in.
Westalia and Leonardo discussed what to have for lunch and decided on buying bread and soup from a food stall and taking it to eat on a nearby terrace. The bread was flat and rustic, with tomatoes, olives, cheese, and bacon on top.
Leonardo told Westalia that it was a traditional bread of the Archaites Empire and that the common people ate it by tearing it with their hands and dipping it in soup, without using a knife or fork.
Well, it’s like they say: “Do as the locals do.” Here we go! Westalia thought. She’d been taught strict manners during her past education to be queen, so she felt a little lost, but she followed the culture and ate the food, tearing it into pieces without caring if her hands got dirty.
“It’s... It’s delicious!” The bread was crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. The savory flavor of herbs spread throughout her mouth, and the acidity of the tomatoes and sweetness of the cheese blended well on her tongue. Leonardo watched her contentedly as she enjoyed the novel foreign food.
After finishing their meal, the two of them looked around the stalls that lined the sides of the street. At one of the stalls, Westalia spotted hair ornaments made of artificial flowers for sale and stopped to take a look. Among them, the one that caught her attention was the one dyed with Elizabeth Pink.
You can find Elizabeth Pink in every store, she thought. Even though she was enjoying her date with Leonardo, her expression grew serious.
Leonardo looked over her shoulder and followed her line of sight. “Thinking of getting some artificial flowers for the challenge?”
Westalia shook her head. “Bringing back just one or two things wouldn’t be helpful.”
“That’s true.”
Searching for cheap-looking artificial flowers at street stalls in town and buying them in small quantities wouldn’t be enough to win and would only waste Westalia’s precious budget.
Then Leonardo let out a small sigh. “The emperor has high expectations for you. You’ve been given the opportunity to compete for another six months against the woman that the Reyns have been pushing hard for.”
“I understand. I know that even though the Reyns pressured the Orencia family when they learned of the extended selection period, the emperor was adamant about giving us this time.” Westalia thought back to the words the emperor had whispered in her ear after he announced the challenge.
If you want to defeat your rival, you must consider the true reason I chose this challenge, he’d said.
Westalia confided in Leonardo what the emperor had said, and he brought a hand to his chin as he mulled it over.