5. Heart-Pounding Night

She’d heard the news that Kartran’s delegation had arrived, but Elizabeth didn’t attend the banquet. No matter how much she’d resolved herself, she didn’t think she could sit there smiling as if nothing was wrong before them.

Elizabeth had holed up in Phivoigne Palace with the excuse of feeling feverish, but once night fell, she couldn’t bear the stuffiness and went out to the garden secretly from her maids.

The peonies that had delighted her throughout spring had already all fallen, leaving only lush green leaves, but the purple cornflowers the gardeners had diligently planted bloomed profusely, making the soft moonlit night even more mysterious.

“This garden too…… I won’t be able to see it next year……”

At the fact she suddenly realized, tears welled up without time to hold them back. The cornflower bed was beautiful, making her feel more wronged and sad. But Elizabeth soon wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

‘I mustn’t become weak.’

This wasn’t the time to be immersed in sentimentality. Vivian had even stepped forward to marry in her place—even if she couldn’t be as brave as her, she couldn’t lose her dignity and pride as an imperial. Elizabeth took a deep breath to calm her heart and walked quietly among the profuse cornflower beds.

Just then, the garden trees surrounding the garden’s edge like a wall shook unnaturally. Since Phivoigne Palace was so quiet, the rustling sound was heard loudly.

Elizabeth tensed for a moment. She’d forgotten during the peaceful days until now. She was in a position where she could encounter assassins at any time.

“Who’s there!”

She asked in a low, firm voice like a reprimand while clenching her trembling hands. Then the other side seemed more flustered as the garden trees shook more noisily before spitting out one large human form.

Seeing that bulk, her neck seemed to stiffen on its own. With such a sturdy assassin, even if she ran as fast as possible, she’d obviously be caught quickly, and hoping his swinging sword would miss also seemed like an absurd dream.

Elizabeth was now trembling all over, but she clenched her fists tighter and pressed her palm hard with her nails. She had to keep her wits about her even by doing that.

“I’ll ask one more time. Who are you!”

However, the other party was unexpectedly courteous. The man slowly rose so Elizabeth wouldn’t be more startled, showed both palms, and stepped back. It meant he had no weap*ns.

“I’ll ask one last time. Who are you!”

Elizabeth asked again, half-relieved but careful not to show her emotional turmoil.

“……I apologize. I’m someone who came with Kartran’s delegation.”

“The delegation? But why are you here?”

“The moonlit garden was so beautiful that I walked lost in thought and got lost…… I swear I had no intention of committing any improper act or startling you. If you just tell me the direction to the delegation quarters, I’ll return immediately. I’m sorry, but where is this?”

Though it was dark and she couldn’t see the other party’s face well, his voice alone was deep and low like sound echoing in a cave. Would it be too sentimental to say it was a voice that suited the mysterious moonlit night well?

“This is Phivoigne Palace. The delegation quarters are quite a ways in that direction. Just how long have you been wandering?”

At Elizabeth’s question, the other party laughed a futile laugh as if dumbfounded. Even his laughing voice resonated low, somehow seeming to vibrate her chest.

“I seem to have wandered for over an hour. Now that I say it, it’s quite embarrassing.”

The man, Su Mai Tan, truly seemed embarrassed and laughed while covering his forehead with one hand. This situation actually wasn’t one to laugh about.

If Kartran’s heir, who’d come to make an already awkward request, was misunderstood as secretly wandering the imperial palace in the middle of the night, it would obviously become quite troublesome. But his appearance was truly funny. Though he’d pretended otherwise, he’d realized he’d been inwardly tense about tomorrow’s talks.

To Elizabeth, he was very curious. Both his speech and behavior were very different from the barbarian tribe conduct she’d heard in rumors. If not for his attire and skin color, he seemed almost identical to people of the empire. That gave her a bit of relief, and on the other hand, stimulated some curiosity.

“If you’re from Kartran’s delegation…… are you also someone who lived in the desert?”

Elizabeth asked the other party more politely.

“I don’t always live in the desert, but I’ve spent quite a long time in the desert until now.”

“In the desert…… how do you live?”

“Umm…… in the desert we don’t live in stone buildings like these, but in tents made of sturdy leather. It’s truly hot during midday, but when the sun sets it becomes very cold instead. But the desert at night is truly beautiful. Even living practically in the desert, it’s amazing every time I see it. And the night sky feels like it’s rushing to devour the viewer. You can feel the sensation of becoming one with the land, sky, and god.”

“And?”

“Also…… we cook food generously sprinkled with a spice called zaatar. Besides zaatar, we grind several spices together and mix them in sheep’s milk, then add mutton, horse meat, or camel meat and cook it. We wrap that with cooked rice in corn flatbread and eat it, though recently we eat a lot of wheat flour flatbread too. For drinks, we mostly drink fermented sheep’s milk or goat’s milk, and we rarely drink alcohol unless staying in villages or cities with oases.”

“Why?”

“Because it raises body temperature and easily causes dehydration.”

“Ah…… and?”

Elizabeth fell into the foreigner’s mysterious story, forgetting even the fact that she was gradually approaching him.

The uninvited guest who’d suddenly appeared in her garden also didn’t seem to dislike Elizabeth asking for more desert stories, rubbing his chin as if recalling other stories. Then he suddenly looked at her and requested.

“But must I keep speaking standing like this? If you permit, I’d like to request a place to sit for a moment.”

“Ah, my. Th-this way.”

Elizabeth led Tan to a small gazebo in the garden corner.

The gazebo made of marble was shaped like a small temple with several pillars supporting a round roof. And only after reaching there could Elizabeth properly confirm the appearance of the man who’d followed her.

His large build was still a bit frightening, but his impression was more gentle than fierce. His eyes looking at her didn’t seem to have sinister energy either, and just seeing how carefully he kept distance from her, she could tell this person wasn’t dangerous.

“Does Kartran have cities too?”

“Hahaha. It seems the Empire and other countries think we only live in the middle of the desert. Of course, in the old days we lived wandering like that, but now it’s different. Where there are oases, villages are quite largely developed, and Kartran’s capital is being built in Rufanya in the western coastal region. Though it was a prosperous region from before, now it’s more complex than most countries’ capitals.”

“Really?”

Elizabeth was drawn into his story. If his story was true, none of what she’d heard about Kartran until now was correct.

When she said she’d heard they survived by catching and eating scorpions in the desert where the sun blazed, the man laughed for a long while as if he’d heard a truly funny joke. Though he hurriedly lowered his voice when Elizabeth glanced back worrying the maids might discover them.

“Of course, we do occasionally eat scorpions. If you remove the poison and skewer and grill them, they’re quite crispy and savory. But you can’t maintain the stamina to live in the desert eating only that.”

“Haah…… I’ve been greatly misunderstanding Kartran all this time.”

“I think it was unavoidable since there’s been no exchange. I’m sorry to say this to you as someone from the Empire, but Empire people who could encounter the Kartran tribe probably mostly held grudges against us. But now it’s different. Kartran has developed tremendously in a short time and wishes to exchange with other countries.”

“I see…… ah, if you have anything you want to ask about the Empire, please ask. I can answer as far as I know.”

At her attitude of not wanting to be indebted, the man chuckled again before starting to pour out questions about things he’d been curious about.

“There’s a place called the Academy in the Empire, right? I heard people study there. What exactly is the Academy? Do they accept foreign students from other countries? If they do, what are the criteria?”

“Does the Empire really not drink sheep’s milk?”

“Empire men can’t all use swords, right? Why is that? In Kartran, unless one of their limbs is disabled, there’s no man who can’t use a sword. That’s a tremendous shame.”

“Empire people’s skin is really white—do they perhaps apply flour?”