“I would appreciate your help as well, Lord Sidis,” Lyse said. She took his hand off her shoulder and clutched it in both hands. “I know I’ll be fine as long as I have you and the monsters with me at all times. You’ll stay by my side, won’t you, my lord?”
She thought that Sidis was worried about her blind spots, but she’d be fine as long as he was there to cover for her. And just as she suspected, he readily agreed to this.
“Understood. I’ll do whatever I can.”
“I see how it is. I’ll be sure to have Lyse work her charms the next time Sidis acts up. We’ll all have an easier time that way,” Alcede commented under his breath after seeing how convincing she could be.
Afterward, Lyse and Sidis headed out to catch more monsters.
“Hmm. Not many here today...” Lyse remarked.
Per usual, she and Sidis had come to a patch of barren land northeast of the capital. Even after lingering for a time, however, they only found three monsters. Dissatisfied with this result, they traveled a little farther out in hopes of finding more. After catching what they needed, the couple began the flight back home. From the sky, Lyse could see that it wasn’t just her imagination—the monster population here was particularly sparse.
“There were so many of them on our last hunting trip...”
“I wonder what happened.”
She and Sidis were both curious as to the cause, but neither was any the wiser. They hoped it wasn’t related to everything else going on as they returned home.
The matchmaking continued the next day. Kirstin was hosting back-to-back events so that the participants could maximize their chances to get to know, and maybe even fall for, one another. After all, love was the foundation of all relationships in the empire.
“Since this will be our third formal event, I was hoping to give our guests an excuse to get together outside of the venue,” she proclaimed with much excitement.
Kirstin had planned everything down to her outfit. Her dress today was a deeper, darker shade of green than what she’d worn before. This was a strategic choice, as she believed that “the young men and women should be the stars of the show, while the matchmaker remains in the shadows.” She’d had Lyse, however, dress sharper and brighter than ever in a red court lady’s coat over a white and pink dress. That morning, Kirstin had visited Lyse’s room, rummaged through her closet, and selected her outfit. Lyse was self-conscious about it though, as she believed an assistant like herself shouldn’t stand out so much.
Kirstin put her hands together and smiled. “I’m planning to have you show off your swordplay to everyone today,” she said. “Since they’ll be living in the empire, wouldn’t you say that they should learn to love the sword? I want them to know that it’s important to be able to defend themselves in an emergency until help arrives.”
“I feel the same way,” Lyse agreed.
It didn’t matter if their spouses swore to protect them. The unpredictable and unexpected could always happen—like it had to Lyse yesterday. Sidis wasn’t by her side when she was attacked. She at least wanted everyone to be able to keep themselves alive until rescue came for them.
“Plus, it doesn’t seem that the foreign men truly appreciate how skilled imperial women are in a fight. I need you to show them that we—even our ladies-in-waiting—can do more than gracefully stand and smile,” Kirstin implored her.
The greatest power of all in other nations was political, but that was not so in the empire. There were still those who wielded their connections like weapons, of course, but the greatest proof of one’s power here was their ability to slay monsters. Networks and underhanded schemes meant nothing in the face of a monster attack. Though Lyse thought it was rather uncouth, that was simply the way things were in the empire. Even if the rest of the world wasn’t partial to the idea, imperials were proud to fight monsters and defend their country together.
I couldn’t unlearn that way of thinking myself, which is how I ended up so ostracized back in Olwen...
It was hard for people from other cultures to warm up to the imperial way of living.
“That’s why I’ve arranged for the foreign men to spar with our ladies today,” said Kirstin.
“With swords?” Lyse asked.
“Indeed. And you’ll be participating.”
“You would have me participate?”
Surely it was just to make up the numbers, Lyse thought, but Kirstin beat her to the punch.
“Though it’s true that we’re short a person, I need our guests to understand that women marrying into the imperial family must be able to best a man with a blade,” Kirstin explained.
Lyse understood the implication. “By any chance, has one of the ladies been so bold as to harass a royal or noble?”
“Unfortunately,” Kirstin sighed, looking into the distance. “I’m not sure if she meant anything by it. From what I heard, it may have been innocent enough. In any case, she ran around the palace asking everybody if they were a part of the imperial family and then getting much too familiar with them. Even my son Karl was unfortunate enough to encounter her.”
Kirstin had likely gotten complaints from others, but the matter also concerned her personally. As Karl was a royal with little mana, he wouldn’t be allowed to risk his children being born with even less. Still, he’d be allowed to take a foreign woman for his first wife if he were absolutely fervent about her, as he would inevitably outlive her anyway. Nevertheless, Kirstin didn’t want her son to walk such a difficult path.
“Neighboring royal families have also been invited to spectate today, so make sure to give it your all, okay?” Kirstin’s request was met with an awkward smile from Lyse.