Chapter 149: Unexpected Meeting

Austine Empire.

On a mountaintop in the midst of the vast Leumann Forest, there stood an observation platform packed densely with visitors.

Numerous beautifully adorned carriages had stopped before a cluster of palaces that was built with a great amount of money. Couples alighted from these carriages with their hands interlocked and their bodies leaning against one another. With such a chummy atmosphere lingering between them, they would enter the palaces together.

This was the most famous date spot in the Austine Empire, the Leumann Palaces. Its reputation transcended boundaries; there was hardly anyone on the continent who hadn’t heard of it. Every February, couples would gather here at these centuries old palaces to gaze down on the majestic forests and clear streams of the Leumann Forest… as well as to watch butterflies.

Indeed, this was a famous spot for watching butterflies.

The Leumann Forest had a tropical climate, so the concept of the four seasons didn’t apply here. It was hot and humid all year round. Every February, a certain species of butterfly known as the Nightglow Butterfly would lay their eggs here, and after several months of incubation, they would become beautiful stars of the night.

These almost fantastical creatures were capable of glowing in the dark—in fact, their leader was chosen by the brightness of their light. There was no doubt that they were a pleasure to watch, but how they came to be associated with romance was more of a marketing gimmick used by the Austine Empire.

According to the rumors, a few centuries ago, the emperor of the Austine Empire then, Charles II, proposed to the queen of the powerful Rona Kingdom. However, as the queen was uninterested in the proposal, she decided to set a condition—she declared that she would only marry Charles II if he could show her beauty that transcended her imagination.

Charles II was caught unprepared by her request, but in a stroke of ingenuity, he picked up an egg of the Nightglow Butterfly and infused his mana into it. Soon, the egg hatched to become the ravishing leader of the Nightglow Butterflies, stunning everyone present.

Impressed by the beauty of the butterfly, the queen changed her mind and accepted Charles II’s proposal. As a result, the Rona Kingdom was absorbed into the Austine Empire, pushing the empire to greater heights of prosperity and strength.

Roel personally felt that the legend was not too bad for a marketing gimmick, but its credibility was sorely lacking. 

While there had been no historical record to verify or refute the authenticity of the legend, based on how the tyrannical Austine Empire usually handled problems, if a marriage of annexation didn’t work, they wouldn’t hesitate to resort to war next. 

Just think about it, which smaller country would accept the proposal coming from the emperor of a larger country, knowing that the goal of the larger country was annexation? One would really have to be out of their mind to actually accept such a proposal!

“Distorting facts to conceal their tyranny; the Austine Empire sure is as shameless as ever.”

“You should empathize with them a little. They used to be a grand empire in the previous epoch. The least they could do is to annex a few of the smaller, nearby countries. It’s Austine we’re talking about after all.”

“Pfft.”

Roel’s sarcastic mocking made Charlotte burst out laughing. One of them came from Rosa whereas the other came from the Theocracy. Both of them came from noble houses who had a history of fighting against the Austine Empire, so they happened to share the same views on this matter.

However, while the two of them thought that this legend was utter bullshit from an objective point of view, there was no denying that it did have a huge market value, especially for couples.

Ever since the legend began spreading, more and more couples visited the Leumann Forest to incubate a Nightglow Butterfly egg as a symbol of love to their other half. After several centuries of marketing, it had already become a holy land for lovers. 

The Leumann Palaces that the two of them were standing before were specially built for visiting foreign nobles.

Every February, during the mating season of the Nightglow Butterflies, the Leumann Palaces would welcome nobles from all over the continent. There would be interesting and fun events held here, making it the perfect place to graduate from singlehood. 

Of course, this came at a price. The pitiful Nightglow Butterflies found their eggs stolen from them, becoming nothing more than tools for humans to profess their love.

… 

“Respected Sir and Miss, may I have a look at your invitation letters?”

“Of course.”

At the entrance of the Leumann Palaces, an attendant gracefully received Charlotte’s invitation letters. Both the man and the lady, though young, looked dignified and elegant, leaving the attendant with little room to doubt their identities. He simply took a quick glance at the invitation letters before handing them back.

“A very warm welcome to the Mandeel Kingdom’s Count Roel and Miss Charlotte.”

Realizing the esteemed standings of the guests who had come from afar, the attendant’s smile grew even warmer than before.

Roel and Charlotte exchanged smiles with one another before heading into the venue under the lead of the attendant with their arms linked. Feeling the touch of Charlotte’s arm, Roel couldn’t help but be amazed by the mystical effects of the Sorofyas’ spells.

The Saint Mesit Theocracy was located extremely far away from the Austine Empire, so naturally, there was no way that the two of them could get here so quickly. In truth, neither of them were in their original bodies at the moment. Rather, it was one of the unique spells of the Sorofyas using an object known as the Twin Stone as a medium.

The Twin Stone was an extremely rare mineral. It existed in pairs, which were linked with one another across space. Whenever one sensed a pulsation of mana, the other would tremor in resonance even from a long distance away. It was typically used as a fancy type of wedding ring.

The Ascart House had Twin Stones too, but they had never been able to figure out a significant use for it. However, with the Sorofya House’s great fortune and expertise in gemstones, they managed to develop clones which one could control remotely using the Twin Stones as a medium. It was somewhat similar to the avatar created via the third skill of the Crown’s Bestowment.

Unlike the avatar created by the Crown’s Bestowment, these clones possessed hardly any offensive prowess at all. However, if one was only planning to use it to tour around and attend a gathering, that wouldn’t pose a problem at all.

In a world devoid of advanced communication technology, people often knew the names of renowned figures but not their faces. Even famed beauties like Charlotte were no exception to the rule. Also, their identities were carefully prepared beforehand and were nearly impeccable, so a disguise was unnecessary. They could just walk in openly.

Thus, neither of them stirred the slightest commotion when they entered the venue.

Though admittedly, a part of the reason was because they were entering the couples area, and everyone was too busy flirting with their partner to pay them any heed. Had it been the singles area instead, Roel would have surely…

… well, maybe not.

However, Charlotte would have definitely been wildly popular. It would probably take mere seconds before she was surrounded by admirers.

“Sir, here is your incubator.”

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“Thanks.”

One of the attendants walked up to them and handed Roel a golden box that was around the size of a palm. Roel accepted the item with a smile before inspecting it curiously.

Those who had come to participate in this event were either rich or noble. Needless to say, they wouldn’t lower themselves to head into the forest to hunt for butterfly eggs. Therefore, the organizer specially prepared these incubators in advance for them.

There were two reasons for this.

First, the guests wouldn’t have to touch the butterfly egg with their own hands. No matter how beautiful the Nightglow Butterflies were, it was still rather disgusting to touch insect eggs.

Second, it was to ensure that every couple had a butterfly to watch. Even though most of the guests were nobles, it didn’t mean that they were all transcendents. On top of that, using mana to incubate a butterfly was an extremely delicate process; not all transcendents were capable of managing that. It would be truly awkward if they had traveled so far, only to be unable to incubate a butterfly of their own.

The incubator was prepared in order to avoid such embarrassing situations from occurring. 

The little box didn’t just contain a butterfly egg, it also had an attachment that was charged with mana beforehand. All one had to do was to flick the switch, and mana would be infused into the egg.

Roel felt that it was rather smart to prepare such devices beforehand to improve the guests’ experience. He examined the incubator in interest, and on the side, he saw an emblem depicting a shield with a lion on it.

Ah, it was indeed planned by a distinguished noble house. They are very meticulous in their operations, making sure to protect the honor of their guests.

This was Roel’s first glimpse into the Austine Empire’s culture. The Austine Empire proclaimed itself as the legitimate successor of the Second Epoch’s Ancient Austine Empire, so the fashion trends here tended to be more conservative. Most women wore long skirts, whereas men donned military-style uniforms. In a sense, it was symbolic of their respect toward military power.

Language wise, the Austine Language was a simplified version of the Ancient Austine Language, making it rather similar to the Theocracy’s Saint Mesit Language. There were only some differences in pronunciations. The origins of both countries could be traced back to the mass migration from East Sia after all, so it didn’t come as a huge surprise that they spoke in similar tongues. 

In Roel’s view, they were just different dialects of the same language.

The event came in the form of a night banquet. There were many desserts laid out on a long table for guests to freely snack on. The observation platform in the Leumann Palaces offered a wonderful sunset view of the mountains and streams in the Leumann Forest. Once the lands turned dark, they would be able to see clusters of Nightglow Butterflies dancing merrily beneath.

Roel grabbed two cups of fruit wine from a platter a waiter was walking around with and passed one to the boldly dressed girl beside him.

“You do stand out quite a bit with that dress here. Isn’t it inappropriate for you to dress in such a manner here in Austine?”

“I do believe that humans should have the freedom to dress in whatever they wish as long as they don’t breach common decency.”

“There’s nothing wrong with what you said, but still… Forget it. That woman over there with a feather stuck on her head is dressed even more outrageously than you.”

Roel widened his eyes at a couple dressed in what could only be described as tribal wear from a tropical rainforest. He turned his gaze back to Charlotte once more, and all of a sudden, he felt that her nearly knee-length skirt didn’t look too out-of-place anymore.

“At least you look gorgeous. We should probably thank our international friends for the contrast here.”

“Hmph. You aren’t that hopeless in terms of aesthetics after all.”

“Thank you for your compliment.”

Roel and Charlotte exchanged jabs, in accordance with their norm, as they circumvented the dance floor, where couples were slow dancing to soothing music. They headed for the observation platform to find a good spot.

Feeling the light breeze on his face and gazing upon the vast scenery before him, Roel felt like the stress he had piled up over the last few days was being released. He took a sip of his fruit wine before exhaling pleasurably. His mood was soaring to a new high.

“The scenery is not bad.”

“Mm.”

“I thought that they were exaggerating the view as a marketing gimmick. However, if it’s to enjoy such beautiful scenery, I guess it was worth masquerading as a couple with you.”

“Technically speaking, we are still fiancé and fiancée in name, so it’s not exactly a masquerade.”

“Sounds about right.”

Roel chuckled softly in response before turning his attention to those in the vicinity. 

Most couples on the platform were either holding hands or embracing one another, spreading an awful lovey-dovey stench around. He turned to Charlotte and noticed that she was looking at another observation platform that was located further frontward, giving the best view of the entire forest. The couples there looked more toned down in terms of public affection, and there was a group of people chatting amicably with one another at the moment.

“What’s that place?”

“The distinguished area, reserved for nobles of the Austine Empire.”

“I see.”

Roel was just about to make a spiteful remark with a smile when he noticed a slight knit forming between Charlotte’s brows. Perplexed, he traced her line of sight and saw a woman dressed in a blue skirt whispering intimately with another man.

“You know her?”

Roel asked with uplifted eyebrows. Charlotte hesitated a little before nodding slightly.

“She’s my mother.”

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