The Viridescent Tiara

Chapter 2

Lan inspected her outfit. Her black mourning garb made her face look paler. Lan pulled the lace veil down. The spiderweb-like lace concealed half of her face. This way, they can’t see the expression on my face.

The last thing Lan did as she stood in front of the meeting room door was go over her thoughts.

The meeting would begin soon, and its purpose would be to discuss who would take on the responsibilities of the head of the house next.

I can do it.

Lan had the confidence. The confidence to beat back any idea of their uncle becoming the regent, and to stand alone as the head.

The Azure Ring. She should be able to wear the Azure Ring. Well, I’m not 100% certain.

The spirits here had names. Just like humans had names, so did the spirits. Once you knew their name, a spirit could be controlled.

And she was the original author. Of course she knew the Azure Ring’s name. All she had to do was put on the ring and call its name. Then, she wouldn’t burn.

The Master of the Azure Ring: this was what the head of House Latia was called. No one would be able to raise an objection.

Well, later on, there may be a problem with my birth, but I can just say that I’m only taking the responsibilities on temporarily. The most important thing right now is for my authority to be acknowledged!

Surely, everyone would be shocked, and she just had to take advantage of the momentary confusion.

Lan thought as much, took a deep breath, and put her hand on the door handle. This was enough for the large door to silently slide open.

“I apologize for being late,” Lan said lightly.

The vassals got out of their seats.

The duke’s house had three houses as their vassals.

Wilde.

Lance.

Illuminnity.

The heads of all three houses were already there.

Though technically they served the duke, feudalism was not as common as it once was. It was mostly a formality in this day and age. Realistically, all it means is that they can put their second or third sons in the duke’s order of knights or ensure they snag a good administrative position.

Besides them, there were others with important positions in the house, as well as their uncle, Baron Lindbergh. Strictly speaking, he should also have been the duke’s vassal, but he had been sneakily avoiding swearing his fealty by using the excuse that he was their uncle.

“We are the ones who gathered early,” Eustaph said and pulled out her chair.

Lan nodded lightly behind her black veil, and sat down. Eustaph followed suit, and the others gathered sat in their seats.

Baron Lindbergh cleared his throat, drawing attention toward himself.

“Shall we start the agenda? There is only one reason that we are gathered here, isn’t there?”

A few squinted internally at the baron’s attempt to lead the meeting by speaking first, when neither Eustaph nor Lan had spoken.

Eustaph did not say anything, but simply nodded.

“That would be best.”

Baron Lindbergh bowed his head with a face of sorrow.

“My heart hurts deeply at the departure of my brother, his wife, and my nephew. However, the duke’s house is still well and alive. My niece and nephew, both, are still here.” He cleared his throat again before going on.

“However, Eustaph is still underage. Thus, I think without a doubt that Lan should become the head of the house.”

Baron Lance squinted at this.

“Lady Lan may have adopted the duke’s surname, but she does not share a drop of the duke’s blood. How could she become the head of the house?”

“Hum! It was the late head of the house’s intentions for Lan to be adopted into the house!” Baron Lindbergh insisted on the late head’s authority.

Baron Lance was about to say something to this point, but Lan raised her hand.

The table fell silent.

She got up and spoke slowly.

“I know that many have concerns about my becoming the head of the house. However, it is true that Eustaph is still underage.”

Lan turned toward Eustaph. His face was hard to descry because of the veil she wore.

“That is why my intention is to be the temporary head for two years until Eustaph comes of age.”

The temporary head. The two words produced murmurs.

“As soon as Eustaph comes of age, I will return the head’s responsibilities to him. And, if there are people who take issue with my lineage...”

Lan took a small breath and spoke to Eustaph. “Would you lend me the ring?”

An icy silence filled the room.

Eustaph scrutinized Lan, then took off his necklace and gave it to her. Baron Lindbergh gazed at the head of the house’s symbol with covetous eyes.

The Azure Ring. One could not become the true head of the house if they could not wear it. Lan took the ring off of the necklace. The blue gem sparkled.

She put it on her finger without a second of hesitation.

A blue flame sparked.

“But that’s...!”

“No!!”

Several flinched and moved back. Others got up from their seats.

Eustaph, too, instinctively grabbed her wrist.

Istarif! Settle down! Lan shouted loudly inside herself.

The flames ready to engulf her subsided easily back inside the ring.

Silence filled the room.

Lan felt her hands tremble. She raised her hand for everyone to see. The Azure Ring sparkled on her finger. Everyone looked on in shock. Eustaph’s blue eyes quivered violently.

Everyone’s breath seemed to have caught.

“Impossible!” Baron Lindbergh was the one to scream.

“What is impossible, Uncle?” Lan replied calmly.

“That ring... That ring... can be worn by none but the bloodline. No one but the head of the house can wear it!”

“That is correct. None but the head of the house can wear it. Does this not mean that the Azure Ring is acknowledging me as the temporary head of the house? Believing that I will safely hand it over to the next head of the house?”

“That’s...” Lindbergh’s voice trembled.

To him, Lan was a simple wench with no power of her own, even if she became the head of the house. Thus, he would be able to wield her to his will. He could even marry her to his son. Or he could marry her himself, since they did not share blood.

However, as the master of the ring, Lan had secured herself power that could not be swayed by his will.

No. Not yet. Lindbergh bit his lip.

She was still just a young wench. Once it became clear to all that she didn’t have the qualifications to be the head of the house, she would have nowhere else to depend on.

Moreover, the duke’s house was racked with debt. The wench was ignorant of this, but he was the one who had referred the duchess to a private moneylender. The house was even indebted to him.

Lindbergh licked his dry lips.

“Indeed. The Azure Ring has acknowledged Lan.”

Hadn’t he agreed to take Lan’s side anyhow? His plan was not ruined. They were only taking a detour. Lindbergh regained his equanimity.

“Does anyone have any objections?”

No one offered any objections. No, the truth was no one was able to believe what their eyes were telling them.

“Then let us conclude this meeting with Lan becoming the temporary head of the house.”

This great utterance from Lindbergh seemed to break a spell.

Lan, too, relaxed. She took the ring off of her finger and returned it to Eustaph.

“You need not call me the head of the house. Neither do you need to greet me as such. I am just a temporary head.” Lan said this and looked at the vassals.

They scrutinized her with doubt and equivocal faces.

These three houses were not all going to swear their fealty to her. Wilde is definitely on Eustaph’s side. Baron Lance was too by-the-book to betray the duke’s house. That leaves…

Lan turned toward Count Illuminnity.

The count had maroon hair reminiscent of a lion. He was in his early forties. He was hard to read. She had described his character in this manner when writing the novel.

House Illuminnity was also part of the subsidiary lineage of the duke’s house and, except for the baron, closest to the head of the house by blood.

However, the count was not as openly covetous of power as their uncle.

It would be nice if he became a support for Eustaph.

Lan smiled, but the count showed no response.

Hmph. Hello? I’m the author of this story. I know all the basic parts of this story.

Lan wiped the smile off her face.

“Let us conclude the meeting then. I will set aside time for anyone who wishes to speak with me,” Lan said, and ended the meeting.

Yet, no one moved.

Apparently, everyone wanted to talk to Lan.

She suppressed a sigh and said slowly, “Then I will meet people one at a time in the back audience chamber.”

Eustaph got up and said, “I will go with you.”

Lan nodded.

The small audience chamber attached to the back of the meeting room was made for covert conversations. It was furnished simply in soft tones.

Lan sighed and sat down on the cream-colored sofa. She offered him a seat. “Sit.”

Eustaph sat down and crossed his legs. Lan scanned him from the bottom up.

The male lead indeed.

He was much more handsome than she had imagined, but also exactly what she had imagined. She wasn’t sure how that was possible.

“How did you do that?”

“Hm?”

“You put on the Azure Ring.”

“Mm... I explained already. I have simply been acknowledged as the temporary head of the house.”

Eustaph narrowed his blue eyes. “If that were possible, there wouldn’t be so many who have died putting it on.”

“I am a Latia. I am officially instated... Well, truthfully, I wasn’t sure.”

Eustaph froze.

“It was a gamble.”

“A gamble risking being burned to death?”

“I didn’t see any other way.”

If she borrowed her uncle’s authority, she would be forging a hostile relationship with Eustaph. Even if she insisted otherwise, everyone else would say so.

Eustaph still seemed skeptical about this, but his face returned to impassivity.

“What are you planning to do then?”

“First, the debts need to be repaid. The finances are the most urgent problem.”

“What about me?”

“Go back to the academy and graduate.”

“What if I decline?”

“Are you worried I’ll do something while you’re away?” Lan smiled lightly. “You can have Sir Ross stick by me.”

“You, Sister?”

“What I am saying is, it is okay if you have me surveilled so that I don’t engage in any foul business.”

Eustaph gazed at Lan for a moment. He wondered if this was a ploy to separate Sir Ross from him. It was not easy to procure a reliable guard.

Even if the imperial academy is protected with magic… The academy’s magic was why the duchess hadn’t been able to do anything all this time.

“Very well.” Eustaph nodded. He could leave Ross here and take another with him.

“But one thing.”

“Hm?”

“Why are you going to these lengths?”

A strange smile formed across Lan’s lips. Because I’m sorry for treating you so terribly in the original story? It wasn’t like she could just say that.

“Because we are family.”

What she said instead wasn’t a lie.

Until the real female lead arrived… Until she came, and he fell in love... Until he was happy…

Her plan was to do her best to support him.

Then, I’ll go and find the secondary male lead.

Why did I make the male lead and the secondary male lead suffer so much? Well, this was probably because she had been just fifteen and going through puberty. Lan slowly felt regret.

But first, I need to take care of the debt.

The female lead was supposed to discover it much later, but she decided she would use this card now.

The mines in the Ice Wall.

Magic stones.

This world had magic stones. I mean, it isn’t that surprising when you consider that an almighty sage called Ivrea raised the Ice Wall, built a Door, and erected the manor. Magicians were common enough that any feudal lord with at least a count’s peerage had at least one or two at their sides.

However, the Duchy of Latia did not have one. The reason was simple: The great sage Ivrea forbade any magician from getting within a ten kilometer radius of the Ice Wall. The old taboo and tacit rule had been kept perfectly with no exceptions all this time. Thus, people also referred to Duke Latia as the magician-less duke.

Magician-less nobles still sought the benefits of magic. This was where magic items came in.

Magic stones were stones that held magic. They were used to keep magic circles functional without a magician constantly having to inject their own magic.

However, magic items soon lost demand. Magic stones were consumed in large amounts because of their low purity. From the perspective of maintenance cost, it was better to hire a magician. Thus, people thought of magic stones as a failure.

Even so, there were still places that used lights powered by magic stones instead of candles. Though faint, light made with magic stones lasted a while.

This state of affairs was barely possible with the existence of magic craftsmen who made these magic items.

But the reserves of magic stones in the Ice Wall are giant, and their purity is insanely high. In other words, it made what had been impossible suddenly possible.

It was essentially like bringing coal—no—more like petroleum to the firewood market.

And I can even go one step further than in the original story.

The magic stones were hexagonal, just like crystals. The high-purity ones were clear like ice. The first ice crystal the female lead discovered was colorless and clear. But ice crystals weren’t the only thing in the mines.

There’s also red and blue magic stones.

These magic stones were the reason the great sage Ivrea stopped magicians from getting close to the Ice Wall.

The magic in these magic stones had a completely different nature from already-known magic stones.

They could alter the magic that magicians possessed. The second they touched these magic stones, the magicians could no longer use magic, and could even become maimed for life.

This was why she forbade them from getting near the Ice Wall.

Humans can’t use them.

The dwarves and elves that inhabited the west used these red and blue stones like magic stones. In other words, they will make interaction with different species possible.

Lan smiled to herself.

Minerals that only dwarves and elves could handle were traded at a high cost.

A big food industry isn’t possible in the north.

While expanding the petroleum(?) industry, becoming a transit-trading region was not a bad idea either.

But the first step is approaching the mines… Lan sighed. Where was it again?

Eustaph cut off her thoughts.

“Sister.”

“Huh? Yes.”

“I will go now then.”

“You will graduate from the academy, won’t you?”

“Yes, because you are the head of the house right now.”

“Temporarily.”

“May you overcome the blue flames.”

“No.” Lan squinted and raised her hand. “That is too much for me. The Azure Ring is yours. An ordinary greeting will suffice for me.”

Lan added lightly, “And we’re family.”

Eustaph looked right at her and said, “I have never once thought of you as family before.”

Pshk!

It was like a knife right in her heart.

Lan smiled awkwardly and said, “Oh really?”

Eustaph didn’t seem to think anything of her reaction. He bowed courteously and left the audience chamber.

Lan sat down lifelessly.

Is it too early still?

Maybe at this rate, Eustaph really was going to drive her out as soon as she let go of her authority as the head of the house. But even so…

I gotta do what I gotta do. And... maybe I’ll still set aside some allowance for him…

Lan tugged the bell rope and called in the next person.