There was a large training area at the headquarters of the Imperial Army, from which Westalia and Paige could hear the sound of clashing wooden swords. When they arrived at the training grounds, Westalia called out to a trainee to ask about Gasparo. When Westalia gave her name, the trainee’s eyes grew wide and they beckoned their friends over, quickly causing a bit of a commotion.
“Whoa! Aren’t you one of the candidates in the empress selection?” the first trainee asked.
“Yes, that’s right,” Westalia replied.
“I might be new, but I’ve got a lot of confidence in my physical abilities! I’ll definitely be of service to you, Lady Westalia!” a young woman said.
“I have an excellent record with the sword, and I am confident that I can protect you!” said a young man.
“Please let me be your escort!” All of the trainees cried out, their voices overlapping.
Westalia and Paige exchanged anxious glances.
They’re totally job hunting, Westalia thought. To knights, being part of the empress’s personal guard was the highest possible honor. It was the most prestigious of placements and it would be much better to be handpicked by the empress herself than to have to make multiple grand achievements to be placed in her guard.
Paige forced herself between Westalia and the young knights. “Lady Westalia is an officially recognized candidate for empress. Don’t you think it’s disrespectful to act so familiar with her and beg her for a job?” she admonished them.
Westalia let out a small laugh.
“My lady?” Paige asked.
Westalia couldn’t stand it anymore and she broke out in a full smile, covering her mouth with her hand to cover her giggles.
“It’s not so bad, honestly. It’s really validating my need for approval,” she said.
“This makes you happy?! I suppose you are that kind of person...” Paige muttered.
This was what Westalia dreamed of. The empress was supposed to have a large number of noble and strong knights at her beck and call. At the sight of Westalia’s delighted expression, the young knights took a step backward and Paige pinched her brow in dismay.
“Unlike the other candidate, I have no money at all. I’d be happy to hire you...if you’re willing to work for free,” Westalia said.
The trainees left as quickly as a receding tide.
“W-Wait!” Westalia called after them. She and Paige stared blankly at the dust floating in the air behind them.
“Jeez, you scared our witnesses away! Listen, I’ll talk to them, so why don’t you go find something else to do?” Paige said, chasing off after the knights.
Westalia looked back toward the main administrative building of the Imperial Army. The building had a solemn exterior and evoked a sense of history. Just as she was about to go inside and look for someone who might know Gasparo, a familiar man came out from the entrance.
“Leo!”
He turned at her voice, and their eyes met. Westalia instantly went on alert and took several steps back. Leonardo smirked at her reaction and walked over to her briskly. Next to him was Dion, who bowed slightly to Westalia.
“No need to be so alarmed,” Leonardo said.
“What are you doing here?” Westalia asked.
“I heard you were coming here, so I came by on official business. Here,” Leonardo said, handing over two papers to her. One was a list of knights who had been friends with Gasparo Lanchester before his death. This would save Westalia a lot of trouble in searching for those who had been in contact with him.
“You work as quickly as ever,” Westalia said, impressed.
“It’s not that big of a deal. Look at the other paper.”
“What? Is this a petition?”
“In Gasparo Lanchester’s own handwriting, submitted five years ago to the Orencia family.”
The petition asked that Elizabeth Pink should be investigated for its toxicity. Then, in messy handwriting, was a note that added his wife was suffering from poisoning caused by wallpaper dyed with Elizabeth Pink. The Imperial Court had kept the petition for five years.
“This petition was never circulated through the Imperial Court, but it does prove that Gasparo was aware of the toxicity and had raised his concerns about it.”
“So why didn’t he tell Paige about it? She was his daughter,” Westalia said. Paige had had no idea that the toxins released from the Elizabeth Pink wallpaper were what had caused her mother’s illness.
“Your knight is honest and shortsighted. And not very wise either. If she had known the truth, she would’ve gone on a suicide mission in a fit of anger and plunged straight into danger.”
“Oh, yes...that does sound like her.”
“Perhaps it was a fatherly kindness, not wanting to put his daughter in danger,” Leonardo said. Gasparo had understood his daughter’s temperament well enough to not want to involve her in Elizabeth Pink’s darkness.
“More to the point, I wonder if the petition really didn’t make any waves in the court,” Westalia said.
“What do you mean?”
“If the court really didn’t believe it, why would they keep the document? I heard that Gasparo had a strong sense of justice. So, His Majesty, in his wisdom, must’ve realized that Gasparo was telling the truth. Perhaps he even tried to have Elizabeth Pink analyzed. But remember what happened when we asked Daniel for the analysis?”
“He refused.”
No one wanted to be on the receiving end of the power that a preeminent ducal family wielded. A single, simple analysis report could get you killed, in the name of destroying evidence.
The corners of Westalia’s lips curved up. “Just as I thought, the emperor does want me to uncover the dark truth behind Elizabeth Pink.”
Due to the power of the Reyn family, even in five years, the Imperial Court had been unable to touch the Elizabeth Pink issue. The emperor was being quite smart in using the empress selection, a once-in-a-lifetime national event, as the way to solve this issue.
If you want to defeat your rival, you must consider the true reason I chose this challenge. That was what the emperor had told Westalia on the day he announced the final challenge. The emperor’s greatest desire was to protect the throne while he was alive, and to do that, he needed to deal with the threat posed by the Reyn family.
Making the challenge artificial-flower gathering meant that it could function as a trump card for disqualifying the Reyns. Westalia knew that the Rias Corporation was wrapped up in shady dealings, but that wasn’t enough to shut down the production of artificial flowers prematurely. That being the case, it was up to Westalia to come up with the next strategy for dealing with Elizabeth Pink. It was a fact that the color was the greatest weakness of the Reyn family.
Dion, who had been silent up until that point, finally spoke up. “What’s exposing the truth about the color going to do? I don’t think you have the luxury of playing a hero of justice right now. Or have you already given up on the empress selection?”
“Absolutely not. Elizabeth Pink is my way to victory.”
Dion didn’t seem convinced. “So you’re going to work to disqualify Elizabeth? You’ve been allowed to continue participating in the selection process, despite your background. Why would she be disqualified?” Dion asked.
One of the most important aspects of the empress selection was that all women in the country were eligible to participate—regardless of their family backgrounds.
“What do you mean by ‘my background’? I’m innocent.”
“You entered the country illegally.”
“Well...”
“Stole my horse and earring.”
“Uh...”
“Cheated at the casino.”
Westalia was silent. Leonardo’s words struck home, each statement more damning than the last.