Bibliophile Princess: Volume 7 (eBook)

Yui (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024
250 Seiten
J-Novel Heart (Verlag)
978-1-7183-0866-4 (ISBN)

Infos

After so long apart, Elianna and Chris are finally reunited at last, but the repercussions of the epidemic known as the Ashen Nightmare still linger. When Elianna works herself to exhaustion trying to sort out the aftermath, her father whisks her away from the royal palace and sentences her to strict bedrest at the Bernstein estate. How will Chris cope with being cut off from his beloved yet again?

In the meantime, a visit to the port city of Kelk to gather evidence of the Odin faction's crimes takes a few of our heroes on a trip down memory lane. Will they manage to track down the crooks who hurt their loved ones and bring them to justice, or will the culprits give them the slip?

Textauszug

Chapter 1: A Melody from the North

I heard the sound of snow crashing to the ground. A glance out the window revealed weak rays of light peeking through the overcast skies. The soft sunlight shining down must have caused a clump of snow to fall from the roof.

I was standing in the corridor of Sauslind’s royal palace. Everyone hurried past as cold air crept into the halls. This was shaping up to be a harsh winter yet. Still, the sounds of spring were right around the corner.

The burdens of responsibility, and the documents to be signed, were piling up, but I had a soft light to brighten my heart. That is, until a certain boorish presence had to go and ruin it.

“Hold it, Chris. I know you want to get back to your office as soon as possible, but your next stop is the second conference room.”

I clucked my tongue at the redhead as he pointed out that I was headed in the wrong direction.

A sense of urgency still pervaded Sauslind’s royal palace. An unprecedented incident had unfolded not long ago, and various matters remained to be taken care of in the aftermath. Unfortunately, it was I—Christopher, the crown prince—who was caught in the middle of it all. I knew it had to be done, but that didn’t lessen my frustrations.

The reason all these royal council meetings were still dragging on was that the culprit behind the incident had been a leading figure in our kingdom. The crimes of those who belonged to his faction were coming to light one after another, and those who feared comeuppance were busy pulling strings behind the scenes. It was proving a challenge just to get a full list of the criminals’ names, never mind deciding on their sentence.

To make matters worse, seeing as the ousted man had been a major nobleman, a huge fuss had arisen as those seeking his privileges and position came forth to replace him. Until we appointed a new leader of his former faction, things were bound to get noisy around the inner palace.

It was no surprise that my sighs were getting heavier and heavier. Most of the time, this was the point where I’d be taking those frustrations out on a certain someone.

“I have a job for you, Glen.”

This came as an anticlimax to the man who’d been bracing himself for the inevitable, and the tension bled out of him. Said man was a platoon leader in my imperial guard, the redheaded knight known as Glen Eisenach.

After he made certain he’d heard me right, I nodded back solemnly and added that he was the only one I could ask, lending a greater gravity to the request.

“Earl Brandt is one of the members of Duke Odin’s faction disputing the charges. He has a weakness, and I want you to uncover it.”

Not a trace of my usual breeziness to be found, I declared that this would be the key to breaking through our current predicament. My dark voice and steady gaze drew an instinctive nod from Glen.

Just as I was about to start in on the next part of the request, however, he came to his senses and cut me off. “Hold it! I’m not falling for that one, Chris. I know your tricks. Let me guess: Countess Brandt is a cheater who enjoys playing with whips and candles? Or maybe she has a thing for man-on-man action? Whatever it is, I’m not doing it!”

I couldn’t stop my exasperation from showing on my face. “Come now, Glen... You think I’d mess with you in a crisis like this?”

My irritation-laden earnestness changed Glen’s tune. He was quick to apologize, to which I responded with a nod, my brow still knit into a frown.

I proceeded to finish what I’d attempted to say earlier. “What I need you to do is indulge the countess’s cross-dressing fetish. It seems she has a predilection for reversing gender roles, dressing herself as a man and putting muscular men in pretty dresses.”

“Not happening!”

I scowled, annoyed by how loud his shout sounded as it echoed through the corridor. A pair of guards and a pair of civil officials took cover, almost as if they were accustomed to our exchanges—the crisis prevention skills of the court staff at work.

I could practically hear the vein popping out on Glen’s forehead as he continued to berate me. Just as I was watching him with a snort, pondering what my next move ought to be, there came a shout.

“Your Highness!”

Glen and the guards were the first to react to the man calling to me from across the corridor, soon after which the civil officials recognized the face of one of their colleagues. Everyone’s guard went up once they noted the air of tension about him. It seemed Sauslind wouldn’t be returning to ordinary life just yet.

With a frown, I asked the man what had happened.

Wheezing as he caught his breath, the slow-footed civil official yelled back from the other end of the corridor, “Come quick! It’s Lady Elianna!”

My hackles rose in an instant, and I took the liberty of closing the distance between us. The civil official looked ready to bolt, though I couldn’t tell if it was the look on my face that had spooked him or the intensity with which Glen and his men rushed after me.

Whatever the case, he stood his ground, seeming to remember his mission at the last second. A strangled cry escaped his throat when I met his nervous stammering with murderous intent. Alas, I found it difficult to restrain myself.

“What happened to Eli?”

She was my spring melody, my one and only treasure I’d left behind in my office.

The civil official continued to stammer, shrinking in on himself, but he eventually found the courage to resume talking. “Erm, she’d seemed under the weather since around noon... That is, she was a bit unsteady on her feet... U-Um!”

Though cowed by the way my murderous aura grew with each word he spoke, he managed to finish his report. Yet what he had to say raised my bloodlust to nothing short of an all-time high.

“We asked Doctor Harvey, the court physician, to take a look at her, and he said it was likely a symptom of overwork. The test results showed that it wasn’t anything contagious. However, upon hearing the diagnosis, her father, Marquess Bernstein, erm...absconded back home with Lady Elianna! He’s refusing all visitors for the time being! So ends my report!”

That day, the sprouts of spring vanished from the Sauslind royal palace. The future records of my close aides would tell tales of how it was transformed into a demon lord’s castle, a bitter ice and snow sweeping across its grounds.

Sauslind Kingdom was still abuzz over a major scandal that would leave its mark on history. A resurgence of the deadly disease known as the Ashen Nightmare had occurred, which had begun with a delegation from our long-standing enemy, the kingdom of Maldura. The king had fallen ill, and his subjects were soon to follow. Riots had broken out in the northern region far removed from the royal capital. Tensions in the regions that bordered Maldura had grown to the point where hostilities could break out at any moment.

There was disease and war. Dilemmas to the north and west. Casualties all over the kingdom. A mounting fear of infection. It was a large-scale crisis that had shaken Sauslind to its core.

Yet one woman’s efforts had brought the matter to a close. She had discovered and produced a cure for the illness. She had quelled both the disease and the impending war—an undertaking and achievement sure to go down in Sauslind’s history. Her name was Elianna Bernstein, the fiancée of Prince Christopher, first in line to the kingdom’s throne.

These accomplishments had made her into the woman of the hour, so it was only natural that she would be afforded the same protection as the royal family. So too was it a given that she would be confined to the royal palace, where security was tightest, in light of the ongoing unrest.

It soon became clear that two men didn’t approve of the current state of affairs—those being Marquess Bernstein, Elianna’s father, and Alfred Bernstein, Elianna’s older brother and the heir to the marquisate.

As soon as I heard what had happened, Glen had to stop me from rushing straight to Elianna’s side. Since her life wasn’t in any sort of danger, he urged me to go to my next meeting instead.

It was there that I ran into Alfred, who informed me with a smile, “My sister has gone home to rest for a time. It was Doctor Harvey’s diagnosis that too much stress pushed her past her limits, and our staff has been quite concerned for her well-being. We decided to bring her back with us.”

With a crafty smile, he continued, “Oh, right. We’re very grateful that the royal family and leading authorities have demonstrated such concern for Eli’s safety. Given the circumstances, we also helped ourselves to the imperial guards assigned to watch over her.”

Alfred insisted that security wouldn’t be an issue, whether she was targeted by the remnants of Duke Odin’s faction or by vengeful elements of the military, which was currently undergoing sweeping reforms and purges. Why? Because he trusted me to make the necessary arrangements to prevent that.

I felt a vein pop out on my forehead for the first time in a while. I heard his implicit request loud and clear. It went without saying that the girl who had rescued the kingdom from a national crisis ought to be given the tightest security possible—even if it meant the royal family...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 18.1.2024
• Reihe/Serie: Bibliophile Princess
• Reihe/Serie: Bibliophile Princess
• Illustrationen: Satsuki Sheena
• Übersetzer: Tara Quinn
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Historische Romane
• Schlagworte: cute • Light Novel • Medieval • Politics • Princess • Romance • strong female lead
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-0866-3 / 1718308663
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-0866-4 / 9781718308664