Chapter 2: 1.1

Rilbek, the largest city in the northern part of Hierbas.

The winters here were long and harsh. Under the grey sky, blizzards howled like screams. The animals holed up in their dens and begged for forgiveness over the cold winter.

The land was devastated, and the people here were withered and spent their days struggling for what little food and firewood there was.

The “Ruined Tower” was a valuable source of income in order for them to survive. Many of the citizens of Rilbek had long made a living as prison guards. As wardens of the “Ruined Tower,” where criminals were imprisoned, the villagers received a pension from the government.

A poor northern town that had been forgotten completely.

However, the situation changed completely one day.

That was sixty years ago from today. After a fierce battle with the enemy country, Adele, the queen at that time, brought victory to this land.

This was a land of extreme poverty, where food and medicine couldn’t be procured. The snow plugged the muzzles of the enemy’s guns, and their prized equipment quickly became useless luggage. The white landscape, which made it impossible to see even their own fingertips, crushed the enemy’s morale.

Adele herself had been imprisoned in the Ruined Tower during the revolution and spent her time in idleness, staring at the harsh winter. The reason why she chose this place as the site of the final battle was probably because she was familiar with that harshness through her own experience. It was the revenge against her past by a woman who had been trifled with by fate.

The queen gained the support of the people and brought a peaceful reign to Hierbas.

Since then, many factories have been built in Rilbek, and the town had grown dramatically as an industrial city. The people who were most loyal to the queen had taken root in the city, and even after Adele’s death, her portrait was still displayed in every home.

Golden hair and vivid green eyes. The queen of Hierbas, with a gentle and delicate appearance that also concealed the strength at her core——

“There are high hopes for Beatrice-sama, the granddaughter of Adele-sama who has been entrusted with the governance of Rilbek.”

“Are you talking about that again, Garrett?”

Beatrice, who looked exactly like those portraits, was fed up.

“Didn’t you say that you will entertain the messenger today?”

“Yes. I just remembered that, but I think I might have said so.”

Beatrice said, non-commital. Today, as soon as she got a shipment of new products, she happily descended towards town.

From weaving machines and steel mills to machine dolls. The queen’s interest in manufacturing was endless.

“The queen of a country wandering here and there. This is unheard of. If you don’t go to the palace once in a while, even your face will be forgotten.”

“I don’t mind if they forget it. Everyone is just keeping up appearances, but they think I’m an eccentric.”

“That’s because you turned down party invitations with the excuse of ‘I want to review the structure of the kiln,’ and you had to skip important appointments because you were up all night copying blueprints for a fountain.”

Although many craftsmen adored the enthusiastic Beatrice, the nobles who gathered at the palace seemed to have difficulty understanding her.

“I attend all the necessary parliamentary meetings.”

“The bare minimum.”

“Yes, the bare minimum.”

“Have you considered my position even once?”

Garrett asked nonchalantly, a hint of exhaustion on his face.

Garrett seemed to be anxious, dealing with the messenger of Albert, Beatrice’s older brother, in the tower.

“I do feel bad for you, Garrett.”

That was something she used to say.

Undernourished, Garrett had looked like a child much younger than he actually was, but he had grown so fast afterwards that he had outgrown Beatrice long ago.

He had jet-black hair that resembled raven feathers and greyish-blue eyes. Striding around the Ruined Tower in his black coat, he looked like a messenger from the darkness.

When he glared at her with icy eyes, even Beatrice had to swallow her words for once.

Eight years ago, after he was orphaned in that avalanche, Beatrice took him in as a valet. She taught him his letters, arithmatic, foreign languages, and dancing. She had even taught him how to build a stove and an ice cream machine.

Garrett was a quick thinker and learned everything very well. She thought that she might have taught him too much.

Every time he lectured her, she regretted taking him in just a tiny bit.

(At that time, his blue eyes seemed so clear and beautiful. Now they have become blue flames glaring at me.)

Young Garrett wasn’t coming back. Beatrice regretted the months and years that have passed.

“And you were so cute, too.”

“Are you listening to what I’m saying?”

“Of course, my dear Garrett. But I’m sure even if I keep the messenger waiting, he won’t complain as much as before. I’ve had every inch of this place refurbished to be more comfortable.”

Today, the Ruined Tower was no longer used to confine prisoners. It had been remodelled as Beatrice’s home, with heaters and water boilers were brought in. The kitchen in the basement baked hot bread every day, and seamstresses in the workshop were hard at work sewing the queen’s cloak.

Beatrice had decided to leave the capital and settle down in a harsh land in order to turn not just Rilbek, but the entire northern region that she ruled into a full-fledged industrial zone.

Looking down on Rilbek from the Ruined Tower, she travelled to the city every day by sleigh. They had also dug an underground passage for the winter, and the flow of goods was now much better than in the past.

When the roads were frozen, you couldn’t get a single food item. Those days were gone now. When Beatrice rang a bell once, servants would appear one after the other to deliver what she needed.

Warm black tea, freshly baked bread, bearskin cloaks, and riding boots.

“The people at the palace think I’m mad for living in Rilbek, but for me, it’s more unthinkable to live in the palace where everything is monitored.”

“That would have been fine when you were a princess. But you had your coronation ceremony last month. If you spent too much time away from the palace, it will hinder state affairs——”

“We’ve been exchanging letters. Besides, there’s a ‘king’ in the palace.”

“The three kings of this kingdom are Albert-sama, Beatrice-sama, and Samuel-sama, who will be crowned in two years. It is the rule that the three of you will ascend the throne.”

Garrett said half-accusingly, and Beatrice shrugged her shoulders.

“You really are getting impertinent. I’ve given it all a lot of thought.”

“They’re getting more demanding day after day. His Majesty is waiting for you, Beatrice-sama.”

“You have no idea. How tricky it is to have two brothers. Depending on which brother I side with, everything will change. I am grateful to Grandmother for keeping the Bertram royal family alive, but then difficulties of joint rule are overwhelming.”

Kingship in the country of Hierbas was different compared to other countries.

There were three kings. All the members of the royal bloodline would inherit the throne and rule the country.

Her grandmother, Queen Adele, who had fought fiercely with her sisters, left a will. The children of the Bertram royal family must rule together.

The more siblings there were, the more complicated the governance of the country became. Beatrice’s cousin, Princess Camilla, was so fed up with that situation that she gave up her claim to the throne. She then had a passionate romance with a foreign ambassador and was prone to travelling all year around.

The current kings were Beatrice’s older brother Albert, and Beatrice, who lived in this Ruined Tower. Their younger brother Samuel would come of age and ascend the throne in two years, making three.

The three shining crowns that would rule Hierbas. Will that become a blessing…or…

“Camilla had a claim to the throne, but she refused it. Brother must be getting impatient with my unpredictable moves.”

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In exchange for giving up her claim to the throne, Camilla was given a royal villa by Albert, and she lived there peacefully with many servants when she occasionally returned to Hierbas.

Camilla, who hated fighting, had been whining about not wanting to be a ruler since long before she came of age. She just wanted to wear pretty dresses, enjoy plays and music, and eventually marry someone. Princesses in the past would have been allowed to do that, she lamented.

The responsibility of being a ruler was too much for Camilla. On Beatrice’s advice, she decided to renounce her claim to the throne.

“Will you also relinquish your throne, Beatrice-sama?”

Beatrice smiled vaguely at Garrett’s question.

Indeed, it would be so much easier if she could bypass the burden of being queen and make whatever she wanted. It would be like having large wings on her back.

However, Beatrice had thrown away those wings herself.

“I’ve considered it many times. But…I made a promise to Grandfather.”

…Beatrice. You are the princess who holds the “key to the ruins.”

Her late grandfather had given her a small, worn key. It was Beatrice’s treasure.

According to her grandfather’s will, Beatrice was given the northern lands, including Rilbek. This decision was opposed by the vassals. They thought it would be wiser to either leave the north to Albert, who had a kingly bearing, or Samuel, who was the queen’s favorite. (TN: The queen here refers to their mother.)

The significance of leaving the country’s most important industrial city to the middle daughter.

“We’re going to have to fight sooner or later.”

Beatrice turned up the curtains and gazed at the scenery.

So beautiful that it was brutal, so white that it was dazzling.

The history of bloodshed had happened once in the last hundred years. Who’s to say there wouldn’t be another?

“Family hurting each other is the most irredeemable thing.”

Even as she said that, she understood. People repeated stupid mistakes. In the history of Hierbas and the other countries on the continent…there had been countless wars between parents and children and between siblings. Even if they were born from the same parents, ate the same food, spent the same time together, people could very easily hate each other.

Siblings getting along…such a childish fantasy.

“As long as people are people, conflict is inevitable. Even if they are blood-related siblings.”

“Beatrice-sama.”

“My older brother hungers for blood, and my younger brother is a crafty child. That’s why, I have to be the ‘middle child who accomplishes nothing.’ In order to maintain the balance and propriety of the Bertram royal family.”

That was the role of the middle child. Beatrice had been aware of this since she was a child.

In order to make sure that none of the three crowns would be let fall from the throne.

“——I will become a storm. I will remain in the center of Bertram and blow away the strife between my brothers. Like a spring storm, I will create a great wind that will turn everyone’s attention from the inside to the outside.”

Once the key was used in an internal dispute, Rilbek will become ruins once again.

The prosperity that had been built up here could not be spoiled. A peaceful world was the greatest asset of a nation.

“This town, which was once called a ruin, has come to life thanks to the efforts of each and every one of its citizens. We know how hard it is to survive on this land. Right, Garrett?”

Garrett, who had lost his parents in an avalanche, quietly nodded.

“I respect my grandmother, who died before I was born, and I love my grandfather, who entrusted Rilbek to me. That’s why I can’t give it to either of my brothers.”

The other reason why Beatrice didn’t stay in the palace was to avoid being caught in the discord those two caused.

Even though she is the queen, she didn’t go to the palace unless there was an important event or meeting, and she didn’t engage in any unnecessary socializing.

The only people she trusted and kept close to her were Garrett and those who worked at the Ruined Tower.

“…I understand that, but…”

“It’s because I love Brother and Samuel that I’m keeping my distance from them. I can’t bear to see two people I love fight each other.”

The letter in Garrett’s hand. She could picture her older brother’s face. She would have to feel sorry for the messenger from now on.

“That letter. It’s about the canal construction project and a reconsideration for the delegation of the governance of the western region, yes?”

“How did you know?”

“Of course I know, since Brother has been pestering me about it. Okay, I’ll write back. I agree with the canal project, but I can’t give him control of the western region. That is the land Samuel is supposed to inherit. If he tries to take it away now, it will be the cause for disaster later on.”

Garrett helped Beatrice sit down in front of the writing desk and prepared the quill and ink bottle.

Evenly spaced letters without any gaps between them. Fussy pen strokes that seemed like she was holding her breath as she was writing. The essence of who she was revealed slightly. Garrett’s brows knitted together.

“I think it would be better to go and tell him this in person.”

“If I go to the palace, these won’t be the only problems that I will face. Brother and Samuel will nag me about not having a lot of people around me, my secretiveness, and all kinds of other things. Let’s give Brother’s messenger something new to take back. I’m working on a new machine that can easily make jam just by adding fruit and sugar. How about that?”

“Beatrice-sama, that gift is too outlandish…”

“It’s fine. It’s more convenient for me to be thought of as a happy-go-lucky girl.”

“If you’re doing that on purpose, then I’ll refrain from saying anything else.”

Garrett said and turned on his heel. He was probably going to deal with her brother’s messenger.

Beatrice sighed.

“I do feel badly for you…Garrett.”

Pulling out the key she always wore under her dress, Beatrice gripped it tenderly.

I can’t tell my brothers…what this key is.

An underground facility of despair and silence, where weapons of slaughter lay dormant.

What was this key to the door that led to the most terrifying place in the world, where a large number of tools of war were kept?

——Beatrice, you are the princess who holds the key to the ruins.

A power so great that it could change the fate of this country is sleeping beneath Rilbek.

Your older and younger brothers will eventually bring forth conflict. Just as the princesses of the past once did.

Keep them together, make them fall in step with each other. And don’t let them have this hidden asset.

You are the only girl among your siblings. You are the only one who can protect this.

She recalled her grandfather’s thoughtful, speckled, moss-green eyes.

Beatrice loved him. He was brilliant and never made wrong judgements, but he always gazed at the country as though he was standing a step back. Queen Adele’s prince consort, the man who guided her to the throne.

“It is the queen’s duty to finish her role without using this.”

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