Volume 8, Chapter 7 – The Flower of the Kingdom

“Well then, Your Eminence, I will take my daughter and be on our way. The House of Wozwahl welcomes you at any time.”

After their conversation ended, Yisi and Laxy walked Duke Wozwahl to his carriage.

The conversation had revolved around three main topics.

First was the king’s illness. According to Duke Wozwahl, the king had fallen ill a month ago, around the time Yisi had just arrived in Gota City. At first, the king merely had a lack of appetite and general fatigue. Such a condition was not uncommon; the current king’s constitution was poor to begin with, and he often fainted for no reason. Drowsiness and forgetfulness were also commonplace. It was usually something that would resolve itself with a period of rest, so the court physician hadn’t paid it much mind, only prescribing some herbs to regulate his body. But no one had expected that in just a few days, the king’s health would deteriorate to an alarming degree. Not only was he unable to leave his bed, but his lucid periods also grew shorter and shorter. Now, he had been in a coma for over a week without waking. Apart from his breathing and bodily functions remaining normal, he was virtually no different from a dead man.

If it had been an injury, they could have relied on the temple’s healing magic to recover, but the king had not suffered any form of trauma; not even a pinprick-sized wound could be found on his body. Furthermore, all his daily meals were tested for poison, which ruled out the possibility of assassination or poisoning.

Some suspected that the king was under a curse from an opposing faction or an enemy nation. The problem was that the royal guards protecting the king had not seen any suspicious individuals before the incident. And because the king was frail and not fond of hunting, he had not gone out. Every day, apart from pretentiously handling official duties, he only met with a few specific people, such as the various dukes and their families, the court physician in charge of his health, his personal guards, and the maids who attended to his daily needs. The dukes and the court physician had practically watched the king grow up and had no motive to act. Under Duke Wozwahl’s investigation, the royal guards and the maids were also cleared of any possibility of curse-casting or poisoning. In the end, the only conclusion they could announce to the public was that the king himself had a problem.

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This led to a highly contradictory situation. Those who were unaware of the investigation process all believed the king had been framed by someone, that it was impossible for the young king to suddenly become unable to wake up for no reason. Meanwhile, Duke Wozwahl and the other duke who had participated in the investigation could only stress over and over that they had done their best, short of finding a magic chanter specializing in mental magic to read the memories of the guards and maids at the cost of destroying their minds.

This was also the reason why the royal family did not use the King’s Tower to stop the rain. Because the only one who could control the tower, the king, had lost consciousness, the tower had naturally lost its control. Although Duke Wozwahl had attempted remedial measures, such as organizing the court magic chanters to magically disperse the dark clouds and temporarily stop the rain, the clouds would just gather again as soon as the magic chanters left. Coupled with the fact that the legion of magic chanters could only disperse a limited area of clouds, this stopgap measure could not solve the fundamental problem, so the plan was eventually abandoned. Human strength could not contend with nature. Duke Wozwahl could only watch helplessly as the torrential rain continued.

The second issue they discussed was how to handle the refugees.

Duke Wozwahl’s answer was also very simple—there was no plan. Although from a humanitarian standpoint, they should be allowed into the city, no one could guarantee that these homeless refugees would not cause public disorder. This was the residence of the nation’s highest authority. If the refugees were to gather out of discontent and commit the treasonous act of threatening the ducal families or even the royal family, the outcome would be self-evident. Not only the refugees but also the nobles who proposed and agreed to let them in would be held jointly responsible.

As for the idea of specifically allocating a piece of land to settle the refugees, Wozwahl and the few other nobles who genuinely cared for the people had considered it. However, the continuous heavy rain made it impossible to start any construction, so the plan was ultimately dropped.

After covering the first two matters as a preamble, Yisi finally raised the most crucial question: her search for a master craftsman of magic weapons to learn the method of forging trigger-activated magic weapons. Originally, Yisi had intended to use Alice as a bridge to visit the legendary master craftsman, but because Alice was too young and didn’t respond to the concept of owing a favor, the plan had to be aborted.

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In its place, however, Alice’s transgression had brought a more direct and reliable contact—Duke Wozwahl. Because of his daughter’s offense, the Duke appeared deeply apologetic toward Yisi. So, Yisi decided to take advantage of the situation and directly asked him how she could meet the craftsman. After Yisi promised not to poach the magic weapon smith, Duke Wozwahl immediately agreed on the spot to be her referrer.

Of course, Yisi still wanted to know the fundamental cause of the heavy rain. The legend the High Priest had told was too exaggerated, and Yisi didn’t believe it was the truth. However, Yisi felt that even if she asked Duke Wozwahl, he would not tell her the answer, so she simply didn’t bring it up, planning to investigate it herself.

In response to Duke Wozwahl’s farewell, Yisi smiled.

“You are too kind, Your Grace. It is I who should be thanking you for helping me so much.”

“Father, may I stay here?” After the Duke entered the carriage, the Flower of the Kingdom, Cynthia, who had remained outside, made a proposal. “It is Her Eminence’s first time in the Royal Capital. I would like to show her around.”

Duke Wozwahl frowned, his expression filled with doubt.

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“Cynthia? You? Giving a tour?”

This father has definitely been deceived by his daughter too many times.

Yisi couldn’t help but chuckle to herself.

Cynthia lifted the sides of her white skirt and curtsied. If not for her rebellious remarks in the temple, Yisi would have considered Cynthia a very polite existence, worthy of the title “Flower of the Kingdom.” But after seeing her refer to the king as a dog, Yisi now naturally kept her distance from Cynthia—appearances were too deceptive.

“Yes. What Alice did this time was too much. As the older sister in charge of her, I also bear some responsibility. To make up for my oversight, please allow me to show Her Eminence a few important locations in the Royal Capital.” To reassure the Duke, Cynthia added a special emphasis at the end, “In any case, I can hardly cause trouble dressed like this. I genuinely wish to help Her Eminence.”

I think it would be more reassuring not to add that last sentence.

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Since Cynthia had her back to her, Yisi could openly gaze at her. Unlike Alice’s pure blonde hair, Cynthia’s was slightly more of a golden brown. If Alice was like a beautiful girl who had just jumped out of an anime, then Cynthia was undoubtedly a more realistic and natural beauty. Her blonde hair paired with the white pannier skirt that nearly touched the ground would be enough to call her a princess-like existence if she wore a flower crown. The low-cut design of the dress complemented Cynthia’s full bust, and the clear outline of her collarbones and the slight cleavage peeking out had a charm that seemed to draw one’s gaze in.

With such a perfect image, it was only natural for her to be called the Flower of the Kingdom. Unfortunately, Cynthia was the same type as me—her appearance gives a good impression, but the moment she opens her mouth, the overall image is shattered. In my third form awakening, I have a sacred, inviolable aura, but as soon as I speak, that sense of sanctity disappears completely.

Duke Wozwahl looked at Yisi.

“What does Your Eminence think?”

“Hmm…” Now that it had come to this, if she refused Cynthia, it would be a slight to Duke Wozwahl. Although Cynthia’s personality was a bit lacking, she was only introducing the city. It was unlikely she would do anything to threaten her. Yisi smiled and nodded. “Then I shall trouble Miss Cynthia to show me around in the rain.”