III
Field Marshal Cornelius’s Workroom in Leticia Castle
“I am sorry to have detained the two of you here so long,” Cornelius said.
“Not at all, ser.” Claudia had never been in Cornelius’s workroom before, and a wave of awe swept over her as she entered. As befitted the lord marshal, all the furnishings were of the highest quality, and besides the furnishings, shields, suits of armor, and other armaments stood tidily around the room. Her eye was drawn to one sword above the rest, hanging on the left-hand wall. Its blade was a little shorter than a standard longsword, and it gleamed an icy blue. The pommel, which looked like gold, was engraved with the two-headed serpent of the Empire of Lemuria.
So that’s the fabled blade Lemuria. They say the world has never seen its like. It’s just as beautifully made as I imagined.
Claudia stood there transfixed for a while until Cornelius cleared his throat. “If it interests you,” he said, “we shall set some time aside for it afterwards. So for now, do sit down.”
Claudia saw that Cornelius was already sitting on the sofa, as was Olivia. Realizing that she was the only one standing around taking her time, she felt her face grow hot.
“I-I beg your pardon, ser!” she said. She bowed, flustered, then hurried over to sit down behind Olivia. Adjusting her posture, she got a good look at the other girl and saw in disbelief that she was starting in on the sweets laid out on the table. Claudia felt her head spin.
“Major! You can’t just start eating those sweets!”
“What? I didn’t just start. Lord Cornelius told me to eat up,” Olivia explained. She kept reaching for more sweets even as she spoke, popping one after another into her mouth with a blissful smile.
Claudia turned to Cornelius. “Lord Marshal, I am most exceedingly sorry!” she said, bowing so low that her forehead brushed the table. It didn’t matter if Cornelius had offered. Under no circumstances was it acceptable to idly stuff yourself with sweets. This was not a break room, after all. All Claudia knew was that there’d be hell to pay if Otto ever found out about it.
Just as the first wave of cold sweat abated, she felt another rise up.
“Do sit up, Lieutenant Claudia,” Cornelius told her.
“Yes, ser!” She looked up anxiously to find Cornelius smiling, amused. He didn’t look at all angry, and Claudia felt her chest fill with relief. He watched Olivia stuff herself with sweets with kindness in his eyes, as though he were watching his own beloved grandchild.
“Do you like the sweets, Major Olivia?” he asked.
“Yeah, they’re super delicious!”
“Address your senior officer as ‘ser’!” Claudia snapped.
“—they’re delicious, ser,” Olivia corrected herself. Oblivious to Claudia’s feelings, she kicked her feet back and forth in high spirits. For her own part, what Claudia wanted more than anything was to get out of this room as fast as possible.
“Super delicious, is that right? Good, good. My wife is quite the baker, you know. When I told her about you, Major Olivia, she was up at the crack of dawn churning out mountains of sweets. She’ll be delighted when I pass on what you said. Which is to say,” Cornelius said, turning to Claudia, “you needn’t hold back either, Lieutenant Claudia. Eat up.” Eyes crinkling, he held out the pure silver platter to her, freshly stacked with baked goods.
Claudia stared at it, gulping as her mouth started watering. I never would have guessed she was the one who made these, she thought. Cornelius’s wife, Duchess Sabrina vim Gruening, had long presided over high society. She was a pinnacle of dignity and refinement, a great lady who was known, behind her back, as the empress.
There was a story about her that went as follows. The year was Tempus Fugit 960. Sabrina had waited until Cornelius and his men were away from the domain, then quickly donned a suit of armor, took the few remaining guards, and rode out to meet Gerbera, one of Cornelius’s soldiers who plotted to raise an army to incite rebellion. Under cover of darkness, they fell upon the wholly unsuspecting Gerbera’s camp in a surprise attack. Sabrina herself fought fiercely, and in the end, she herself succeeded in slaying Gerbera. They said that when Cornelius rushed home upon hearing the news of the rebellion, Sabrina met him with a blood-splattered smile, telling him, “I went ahead and punished those malcontents who were stirring up trouble in our territory.”
Being who she was, Sabrina continued to wield great influence in the present day, despite having already withdrawn from society. Even the famed Lambert the Bold became meek as a kitten in front of her. And Sabrina had baked the sweets in front of them now. She knew that her mother, Elizabeth, would fall over in a faint if she ever learned her daughter hadn’t had a single bite.
There’s nothing else for it. This is just another part of military duty. Let’s think about it like that. Telling herself this, Claudia reached timorously for a baked good of a manageable size. As she put it in her mouth and started to quietly chew, right away she tasted a delicate sweetness. Well, I have to admit it’s delicious... She shouldn’t have been in any place to savor baked goods, and yet she somehow found herself swallowing it down. Partly just as a way out of the situation, which felt like something close to torture, she straightened her back and broached the matter under discussion herself.
“Lord Marshal, you summoned us here today...?” she inquired.
“Hm?” Cornelius looked at her. “Oh, yes. Just so. How remiss of me, forgetting the whole point of our meeting. Everything gets away from you when you get old,” he said. He reached into his pocket as he spoke, pulling out a piece of paper folded in three that he held out to Olivia. She took it, unfolding it without ceremony and skimming the contents before immediately losing interest and handing it to Claudia. After confirming with the other two that it was all right, Claudia went through it: a new Eighth Legion was to be established, Olivia was to be appointed as its first commander, and, in accordance with her new appointment, she was to be promoted to major general.
This...This goes far and away beyond what I expected. I can’t believe all of this... First of all, if Claudia’s memory served her, no one had ever been promoted to major general before they turned twenty, let alone commanded an entire army—it was unbelievable. Even Lieutenant General Sara, a princess and commander of the Sixth Legion, had seen twenty summers when she was made major general. Olivia had racked up another achievement that it was fair to say was of heroic proportions.
Before Claudia could open her mouth in her excitement, Cornelius said, “Details will follow later, but the contents are as you see there. Any objections?”
In response, Olivia looked out into space as though considering something, but before long, her ebony eyes glittered as she focused back on Cornelius. “Major general is more important than senior colonel, right, ser?” she asked.
“Hm? I’m not sure I understand the point of the question, but that is correct.”
Olivia grinned as she readily accepted the promotion from Cornelius. Claudia knew better than anyone that Olivia didn’t have an ambitious bone in her body. A theory as to the reasoning behind Olivia’s acceptance quickly occurred to her, and she repressed a massive sigh.
“Good. Very well; as of this moment, you are promoted to Major General Olivia Valedstorm. You are also granted the appointment of first commander of the Eighth Legion.”
“Thank you, ser! As of this moment, I am Major General Olivia, appointed as commander of the Eighth Legion.”
Jumping up from the sofa, she saluted smartly. Unfortunately, cake crumbs came cascading off her uniform, which honestly ruined the effect.
“And you, Lieutenant Colonel Claudia, will continue to advise Major General Olivia as her aide.”
“Yes, ser!” Claudia barked, then paused. “Excuse me, Lord Marshal?”
“What is it?”
“I’m not... Did you say Lieutenant Colonel, ser?” She asked the question despite herself, thinking she’d misheard. Olivia’s case was exceptional, but she could appreciate promoting a successful soldier to a rank higher than was necessary to raise the morale of an army in an inferior position. Even taking that into consideration, a three-rank promotion was thoroughly irregular. At least as far as Claudia knew, no one from her cohort had been promoted to a field officer rank. Only Lise had the potential to also be promoted to such a rank.
Seeing Claudia’s bewilderment, Cornelius smiled. “You are dissatisfied with lieutenant colonel?”
“O-Of course not, ser! I will continue to assist Major General Olivia to the very best of my abilities!” She couldn’t imagine being dissatisfied. When her parents heard the news, they’d be over the moon. Claudia stood up so forcefully she thought her back might cramp up and gave an especially respectful salute.
“Well then, you have your orders.”
“Yes, ser!”
They chatted about this and that for a little longer; then Cornelius sent off Olivia and Claudia and sat down at his desk. He opened the upper right drawer to reveal a letter on high-quality paper that carried a faint scent of perfume. Now, what to do about this... Cornelius mused to himself as his thoughts turned to the letter sent from a small country in the west of Duvedirica—the Holy Land of Mekia.
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