Adelheid 17: Before the Hunt (Patreon)

There was a new craze in the Vuldar Empire's capital, the Ambrosia Firm's new mythic grade honey, Methu Honey. Packaged in a clear glass bottle with the Ambrosia Firm's logo, each order only contained one-tenth kiloells of a Methu Honey. Coupled with its sky-high price, only the richest of the rich could afford even a single bottle.

Yet, still, Ambrosia Firm's mythic-grade Methu Honey was in short supply. It came to the point that the Ambrosia Firm had to limit the purchase of the Methu Honey to a single bottle per household. So great was the demand that Adelheid's desk was filled with letters from numerous noble houses wishing to purchase a single bottle using their connections.

Of course, the letters' sender was only the wives or scions of the noble houses. It would be excessive to have the head of households personally send a letter to an underaged princess. Still, it was a pool of unused resources. Even if the lords of the noble house didn't want to form a relationship with Adelheid, it was enough to have an opening that she could slowly enlarge.

And even if she failed in reeling in the noble lords, what about their wives or scions? Wives—or husbands in the case of female lords—had a powerful ability known as pillow talk. Who knows how many policies and nation-spanning changes were made because of it. As for the scions, even if they weren't the chosen heir, their actions would influence the noble houses.

However, there was one issue that she had never expected. There was way too much mail. It wasn't as if Adelheid was buried under a figurative mountain of letters.

She literally was!

Most of the letters were from weaker noble households or influential families without a title, such as minor officials or wealthy merchants. The problem was that Adelheid had to deal with a fair bit of letters from households that she didn't want to leave a bad impression on, or worse, offend. And that was ignoring the households that were using weaker or a retainer's family to send the letter to her because they didn't want to associate with her, openly or not.

The first step was naturally to separate the letters with forces worth making a connection with and those that weren't—no words needed to be said about what needed to be done with those letters. Of note were the ten letters from Lord Schmid, but Adelheid chucked his letters into the disposal pile. After what his son almost did to her shop, he was already on her blacklist. He was just a noble with an empty title, so Adelheid wasn't afraid of his revenge if he even dared.

Just accomplishing this step took the whole day. Adelheid was in serious need of more workforce.

Adelheid had only started taking in orphans to be taught at the Ambrosia Firm, so they were out. Sofia and Leopold were making a valiant effort not to be drowned under the piles of letters. Adelheid's newest maid, Herja, was still in the process of learning how to read and write. As for Matilda, the less said, the better.

‘I mean, how in the world did she almost manage to set the whole study on fire?’

"I do not have any other choice," Adelheid sighed and then looked at Leopold. "Go and borrow some maids or butlers that can read to help me sort this out. If this goes on, we are going to be buried under piles upon piles of letters. Considering that more and more are being received, I am not joking."

Leopold nodded. His eyes were blurry from sorting through hundreds of letters already.

"What about me?" Matilda asked while pointing at herself. Ever since she almost burned the study down, she was stuck standing in the corner.

"You just continue to stay there. If I sent you to get more aid, you would bring back cleaning servants," Adelheid said, causing Matilda to wilt.

Adelheid sighed. "Go and see how Herja is doing with Sir Olga."

"As you command, Your Highness!" Matilda immediately livened up again and did a mock salute before practically running out of the room.

"Your Highness spoils her too much," Sofia chimed in, perhaps a bit bitterly.

"It is not like she would be of much help here in the first place." Adelheid placed down the letter she was half-finished composing.

The letter was a response to one Kinczel Kasse Wenczel. He was a man a few years older than Adelheid, but that wasn't the crucial point. The important point was the name Wenczel.

There used to be many more ducal families in the Vuldar Empire, but under the system, many ducal families were downgraded until they eventually couldn't even stay nobilities, but one of the few noble families that remained a duke was the Wenczel House. As an old and powerful family, they were included on the list of influential people of the empire.

Adelheid had heard of the Wenczel House and even knew the name of the Duke, his sons, and talented grandchildren, but before she received the letter with the crest of the Wenczel house, she had never heard of Kinczel. It was as if he was nonexistent.

Naturally, she had to understand the recipient before writing a letter. It was only proper, even if it was publically known that the Wenczel House had a partnership with Fourth Princess Antonia.

Kinczel did not inherit the Wenczel name from his father but from his mother. His father was a commoner that the Wenczel House allowed to marry into the house after witnessing his talent, and he did not disappoint. At forty years old, Werner Kasse was already a third-rank civil official in the Ministry of Revenue. After his accomplishments and some string pulled courtesy of Duke Wenczel, Werner was titled Viscount Kasse.

However, the Adelheid also heard that Viscount Kasse did not have a harmonious relationship with his wife or son. There were even rumors that several mistresses he kept  bore a few bastards for him.

That, however, did not prevent Adelheid from writing back. No matter whether it was purely wishing for Methu Honey, orders from the duke, or even a scheme of Antonia’s, Adelheid would reply.

She had already written the flowery words to start off as required by courtesy. Because, apparently, nobles lived on flattery. Adelheid took a deep breath and tried to reign in her temper. Writing ten letters starting with butt-kissing was already her limit, but she had to continue to write, and it was already grating on her nerves.

After calming down, Adelheid started writing the main content. First, she thanked Wenczel for inviting her to see a play in one of Midgard's most famous theaters, though it couldn't quite live up to the same level as the Midgard Globe, citing her ill health. It was common knowledge that she had to ingest daily tonics to maintain her health, after all.

Then, she gently rejected Winczel's request for the mythic-grade Methu Honey, explaining that supplies were short and there was too much demand. Still, Adelheid sent a small bottle of imperial-grade honey as an apology.

Finally, Adelheid replied that if the chance came up, she would definitely accept the invite to the play and save a bottle of Methu Honey if possible. After signing her name, Adelheid sealed it by pressing her signet ring onto the hot wax before placing it into the pile of finished letters.

Then she began her next letter. To her dismay, it was to a female noble. Compared to men, Adelheid needed to be even more courteous and weave the compliments even more beautifully. In the Vuldar Empire, women were able to reach the same heights as men, but generally, they complied with the traditional female roles in society.

Adelheid sighed and looked out the window while massaging her temples. She really wished she had time to train now. Ever since she started the Ambrosia Firm, she had cut her time in aura training to twice a week and magic training to three hours a day.

'What I would not give to have a few more capable secretaries or office workers now. I regret allowing Matilda to free herself from this misery. Misery loves company, after all.'

-line break

Herja, now out of her maid clothing and dressed in light leather armor, was furiously doing everything she could to dodge, block, and counter Olga, who was coming at her with a wooden sword. Despite the fact that she had two iron daggers in hand, they felt like toothpicks in comparison to Olga's furious flurry of attacks.

The months were kind to Herja. Now that she wasn't constantly starving, her skinny arms were now fuller, her skin a healthy pallor, and her height had grown like a weed. Otherwise, blocking even one of Olga's light blows would have snapped the girl in half.

"Come on, Herja. You can do it!" the aspiring knight turned cheerleader encouraged from the side.

Herja's ears twitched as she heard Matilda's cheers. It has already been a month since the cat beastkin became the princess's personal maid, and she has already become accustomed to her new life.

The food was amazing, and she never felt hungry again. Her current clothes were heavenly. Compared to her maid uniform, the clothes she wore at the orphanage were rags. She made a new friend who didn't care that she had cat ears and a tail growing out of her body. Still, it would be a lie to say that Herja had no dissatisfaction with her current life.

For one, Sofia still openly distrusted her, though she refrained from openly speaking those thoughts aloud. The older maid was always critical of the cat beastkin, and Herja felt that she couldn't relax under the black-haired girl's gaze. Leopold was nothing but polite, but Herha could feel the distance that he kept. Not just him, she could feel the judgemental gazes of the castle staff whenever she walked through the halls.

"You're distracted!"

Before Herja could process what she saw, Olga's wooden sword stopped a hair's breadth away from her face, causing sweat to coat her back.

"It's fine if you get distracted in training, but remember, don't let your thoughts stray in the midst of battle," Olga advised. Unlike most of the palace staff and citizens, she didn't have a particular dislike for beastkin.

Generally, adventurers were outcasts, and free beastkin often became adventurers because they couldn't find employment otherwise. The former adventurer even teamed up with beastkin several times, so she knew the prevailing belief that beastkin were barbarians was absurd.

"It won't happen again," Herja said and bowed in apology.

"Why don't we take a rest?" Olga asked, but it wasn't a question. Even if it was, Herja would comply. She had already learned in this society that disagreeing would only lead to more pain for beastkins like her.

"Here you go," Matilda said as she handed over a cup of water.

"Ah, thank you," Herja said as she took the cup with a hint of shyness. The cat beastkin greedily drank the water using both hands and shielding the cup.

"I've been meaning to ask. Why do you drink and eat like that?" Matilda asked. Whenever Herja ate or drank, she would always use both hands and shroud the food with her body as if protecting it.

"Huh? Oh…" It took a few seconds to understand what Matilda meant since it had become a habit by now. "If I'm not careful, the other kids will take my food, so I always have to eat like this– are you crying?"

"That's so sad, being afraid of having your food taken away!" Matilda said as she rubbed her teary eyes. She gave Herja a great bear hug, causing the younger girl to stiffen. "Don't worry. Now that you are here, you won't ever go hungry again!"

"If you want to eat the best food, following Her Highness is the best! Come, I'll show you!" Before Matilda could drag the younger maid to the kitchens, Olga put a stop to it.

"Do that after the kitchen closes. Right now, Herja's still training." In truth, Olga didn't want Herja to go to the kitchen at this moment.

The kitchen was packed, which meant this increased the number of people who would judge Herja because she was a beastkin. Matilda, in her naiveness, probably didn't consider this point, but Olga didn't want to outright say it in front of Herja. She made a mental note to inform the aspiring knight on some points away from prying ears.

"Then, how about we spar?" Matilda asked. Now that Herja was taking a break, that meant Olga was free to fight her!

"Aren't you still in your maid uniform? And shouldn't you return to Her Highness soon?" Olga asked as she scanned the flaxen-haired girl's pristine uniform.

"Ah, that's right, I almost forgot." Matilda slapped her forehead in regret. "Her Highness asked me to check up on Herja's progress."Olga revealed a dubious look, but she gave a report on Herja's progress.

Thanks to her increased nutrition and training, Herja was making astounding progress. Her speed was already comparable to an adult man, but her strength and constitution were a bit lacking in comparison but still far ahead of her peers. Perhaps it was because of her beastkin lineage, but Herja was making astonishing progress in her aura training. In a month or two, she would step into the realm of an aura novice.

"I'll report it to Her Highness immediately!" Without waiting for Olga to reply, Matilda dashed into the castle.

"Wai–!" Olga raised her hand as if to reach out towards Matilda, but the maid had already become a dot in the distance. Olga sighed. She had wanted to add that Herja's talents did not lie in frontal combat like those of a knight but closer to that of an assassin or hunter.

Ten minutes later, just as Olga was about to end Herja's break, she saw a dust cloud zooming closer. The origin of the dust cloud was naturally Matilda kicking up dirt while dashing towards them. In addition, she was out of her maid uniform and wearing her training clothes.

"I'm back, Sir Olga. Now that I've changed, we can spar now, right?" Matilda asked, her eyes shining.

Olga opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. Finally, she said, "Fine."

Herja sat in the shade and watched the two duke it out. She had often been called a beast by the kids in the orphanage for her unnatural strength, but in her eyes, the two fighting were the true beasts in human skin. At least in terms of physical ability.

Matilda was like the fleeting wind, dashing and appearing at different spots. So fast were her strikes that Herja saw duplicates appearing and disappearing, almost like magic. In contrast, Olga, her trainer, was like the steady land, firm and unyielding. She stood resolutely on the ground, hardly moving an inch while deflecting all of Matilda's attacks with her own sword.

If Herja had to make a comparison, it would have to be like watching a battle between a tornado against the earth. No matter how harsh the tornado's wind buffeted the ground, the ground always remained, even if some layers were blown away. In the end, the tornado would lose all the energy and disappear.

"You win!" Matilda said as she collapsed onto her back, her chest heaving up and down as she desperately breathed in the sweet air. As Herja had guessed, Matilda tired herself out and lost. Though, that could be because Olga didn't actually attack the aspiring knight with the intent to defeat her.

"Herja, you're up next," Olga called to the resting beastkin as she moved to another spot, away from Matilda.

Herja picked up her two daggers and moved in front of Olga Muller.

"Oh, right!" Matilda clapped her hands together as she recalled another question the princess wanted her to ask. "How long do you think it will take for Herja to become an aura novice?"

"About one or two months. Why?"

"Her Highness said that Second Prince Albrecht will take her to go hunting in the nearby Midgard Forest in about three weeks since its fall and the animals are fattening up. If Herja doesn't become an aura novice, she will have to stay with Sofia," Matilda replied.

Hearing this, Herja redoubled her efforts. She didn't hate Sofia per se, but it would definitely be an unpleasant experience to be left behind with her and the rest of the discriminating castle staff.

-line break-

Adelheid exhaled a breath as she felt her mana reserve lower after feeding it to her unhatched familiar. Despite feeding it for over two years, the egg had yet to hatch. Most monsters would have long hatched due to the large amounts of mana fed to them, but it seemed that Adelheid's future familiar was an exception.

Compared to its appearance two years ago, the egg was no longer crimson or even red. Its shell was now pure black and morphed into a crystalline texture, resembling obsidian. Adelheid sighed when she saw that the egg had yet to hatch.

'At least it is a good outlet for my excess mana, so I do not undergo mana mutation.' she thought, but she knew that she was only comforting herself. "You are such a glutton."

The egg twitched a bit as if responding to her complaint, causing her to smile. She moved her hand to rub it as if petting the head of her family's dog. Before, if the egg even twitched the slightest bit, it would cause her a great amount of anticipation, but now she knew better. The egg would occasionally twitch, but that was it.

After placing the egg back into its basket, Adelheid left with Matilda, Sofia, and Herja for the stables. Before she went on the autumn hunting trip with Albrecht, she had to learn to ride a horse. Riding a carriage was fine—Adelheid had yet to create the suspension system with how busy she had been—but once she entered the forest, it would need to be on horseback as a carriage was too cumbersome to navigate the sea of trees.

After the door closed, the egg exuded a red glow, but it was unseen and unknown by anyone.

-line break-

"Oh, if it isn't Matilda? I heard you advanced to become an aura journeyman, congratulations."

Hearing the familiar voice in the stables, Matilda turned her head in surprise. "Sir Gerrald!"

Jogging forward until she was in front of the knight, the maid smiled. She was out of her maid uniform and in her training clothes, like the seventh princess. "Where have you been? I've been an aura journeyman for months already.”

Gerrald gave a boisterous laugh. "I've been busy here and there. There are not many knights as strong as me, you know."

"Sir Gerrald." As the two were conversing, the seventh princess and her entourage had arrived.

"Yo, Little Princess," the veteran knight said as he gave an informal salute. His eyes scanned the princess and her maids, only pausing briefly when he saw the ears on Herja. "Heard you were becoming quite famous. Why, they might have to call you the Honey Princess from now on."

"Sir Gerrald, it would be wise to remember who you are addressing," Sofia said, anger brewing at Gerrald's disrespect.

"It is fine," Adelheid said, not taking Gerrald's words to heart. She then turned her head towards the teenager standing next to the knight. "And this is?"

"Hah, this is my son, Rowan Brandt!" Gerrald punctuated the introduction with a powerful slap on the red-headed teen’s back. "He's a squire in the Vuldar Military Academy. ‘Bout to graduate in a year or two too!"

The dashing young man of fifteen stumbled forward a bit. He coughed to hide his embarrassment and saluted Adelheid. Unlike Gerrald's mock salute, his were perfect and with a bit of an extra flair, reminding the princess a bit of Charles.

"Salutations, Your Highness. It is my honor to meet the famed princess, said to have inherited the beauty of the elves. I once thought them nothing but rumors, but those rumors do nothing to your transcendental charm."

There was an awkward silence following Rowan's compliment. Finally, Gerrald broke the silence by slapping Rowan again. "Sorry about that. He just can't help himself when he sees a pretty lass."

"Father, I spoke no lies. Not only Her Highness, but each of Her Highness's maids are beautiful in their own right. Miss Matilda is bright and spirited, Miss Sofia has a serious and intellectual air, and Miss Herja is an exotic pearl covered in dust just waiting to reveal its brilliance." There was no fluctuation in Rowan's voice as he unequivocally praised the four girls.

Gerrald had a palm on his face, unwilling to see what disaster his son had wrought. Herja's face was flushed. No one had ever complimented her features, not even Matilda. Not even the stern Sofia could prevent a blush from rising to her cheeks.

In contrast, Matilda's smile revealed her ignorance of what had occurred. She even thanked Rowan for the compliment with nary a blush. Adelheid was much the same, but hers stemmed from indifference and not ignorance.

Unable to bear it any longer, Gerrald dragged his son away, leaving the four girls alone. "Why'd Sir Gerrald leave so soon?"

"Idiot, we don't have time for idle chatter. We have to meet Sir Olga for Her Highness's riding lessons," Sofia scolded, but her blush severely diminished the severity.

"Alright, alright already," Matilda said.

"You!" Sofia said, her blush changing from embarrassment to anger.

"Let us go," Adelheid said. She knew that if she didn't stop the two, they could argue for hours.

The quartet reached their destination in less than an hour, where Olga Muller was already waiting for them. In her hands was the rein to a horse the color of the night. In the middle of its head was white fur the shape of a diamond.

"He's beautiful," Matilda said.

"Stirn is actually a female," Olga said.

Matilda couldn't wait any longer. She ran to the horse and stroked her fur. Not long after, the flaxen-haired began to frown. "Why is she trembling?"

Olga frowned too. She tugged the reins but discovered that the horse refused to move. Only when she used aura and enhanced her strength did the horse move. "She was fine a moment ago."

"How about a different horse?" Adelheid asked.

Olga shook her head. "This horse was specifically prepared by Prince Albrecht. It shouldn't be acting up like this. Your Highness's stature is a bit… on the small side, so regular horses will be inconvenient."

Adelheid sighed and looked at her adolescent figure.

"Perhaps it just needs to be ridden?" Sofia suggested from the side.

Olga opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came. It wasn't like she had any other ideas. The original idea was to have Adelheid accustom herself while she led the horse to the equestrian grounds. "Do you need help getting on, Your Highness?"

Adelheid rejected Olga's aid. Even if she was physically a child, having someone lift her up still gave her an immense amount of shame.

Adelheid walked towards the side of the horse and discovered that her legs were too short to step on the stirrup of the saddle. Before the female knight could offer her aid again, Adelheid jumped onto the saddle. Landing in a sitting position was a bit awkward, but eventually, she was able to insert her feet into the stirrups.

"She's trembling even more," Matilda said as her fingers sifted through the black fur.

Olga rubbed her temples. She could use brute to pull the horse, but she discovered that Stirn had locked her legs. If she pulled with too much strength, it would fall over rather than move and possibly injure Adelheid.

She could always exchange the horse, but that came with its own slew of problems. However, nothing else she tried would make Stirn move, so the female knight could only switch the steed.

Stirn's replacement came half an hour later due to the need to adjust the Adelheid-sized saddle onto the new horse. Unlike Stirn, it had mahogany-colored fur and was more than a head taller than Stirn.

Still, it showed the same quivering symptom Stirn had shown when Adelheid rode atop it.

"What da heck is wrong?" Olga said as he resisted the urge to pull her hair out.

At this moment, the ever-quiet Herja spoke up. "Maybe it's afraid?"

"Afraid, but what would the horses be afraid of?" Matilda asked.

Herja glanced at Adelheid before shutting her mouth and refusing to say anymore, but Adelheid and Olga gained a contemplative look. When Sofia realized the implications, she glared at the cat beastkin with loathing.

"Alright, cancel the lessons. I'll see what I can do," Olga said before the situation could deteriorate.

The next day, Olga showed up with a hulking beast in the shape of a horse. It was far bulkier than the two previous horses with massive muscles rippling underneath its skin and bloodthirsty eyes. Even Matilda didn't find it endearing.

"This is?" Sofia asked as she took a step back.

"This is a warhorse," Olga said. "They have their timidity bred and trained out of them. Even if you charge towards certain death, they won't flinch or do anything else."

After staring at the horse for a good moment, Adelheid jumped onto the horse like yesterday. The only difference this time was that it felt like she was sitting on a mahogany-colored hill. In all honesty, it made for a strange sight—a petite girl riding what could only be termed as a beast of a horse.

Olga didn't let Adelheid directly steer the horse. She first used the reins to lead the horse onto the equestrian grounds. This step allowed Adelheid to familiarize herself with riding atop a horse and reduce her nervousness. Although judging from the peaceful expression of the rider, it was unneeded.

After letting go of the reins, Olga taught Adelheid how to control the horse. “To command the horse to move, you should squeeze your legs together. To stop, pull the reins, and to move backward, squeeze your legs together and pull the reins.”

That was just the three basics, and Adelheid already found herself having trouble.

The commands were easy enough to remember, but the problem was executing them. When Adelheid tried to squeeze her legs together, it felt like a rock was between her legs and not a creature of flesh and blood. When she tried to pull the reins, it was like trying to bend a steel rod.

Under the suggestion of the female knight, Adelheid utilized her aura, and only then was she able to command the warhorse. However, his reactions to her movements were minimal, like a snail's crawl. She spent the whole day trying to familiarize herself with the horse, and by the time she was done, all her clothing was coated in sweat.

After taking a bath and eating dinner, Adelheid directly fell asleep without even ingesting her daily tonic. The next day, she awoke with cramps all over her body in places she didn't even know existed. Still, Adelheid persevered and trained until she could bend the warhorse under her will. When she wanted it to run, it would run. When she wanted it to stop, it would stop. Although she wasn't as skillful as veteran riders, she was far above her peers.

"Congratulations, Your Highness," Sofia said as she handed Adelheid a wet towel to wipe her sweat.

"Thank you," Adelheid replied with a small smile of satisfaction, stunning Sofia silly.

Generally, she would only reveal courteous and practiced smiles. The number of times Adelheid smiled like she just had could be counted on one hand, and the brilliance revealed caused Sofia to be enraptured.

"Sofia, what are you standing in a daze for?" Matilda asked, slapping the black-haired maid on her back, causing her to yelp.

"Don't use so much strength, you gorilla!" Sofia said as he massaged the place where Sofia slapped.

"Did you need anything?" Adelheid asked.

"Yes!" Like a student, Matilda raised her hand high up in the air. "Can I try riding the warhorse too?"

"I thought you did not like the warhorse?" Adelheid said. She had seen how Matilda looked at the warhorse more like a tool and animal.

"But I saw Your Highness having so much fun, so I wanted to try it too!"

'You call that fun?' Adelheid thought before waving her hand towards the flaxen-haired maid. "Go ahead."

Much to Adelheid’s ire, Matilda almost instantly mastered riding on the warhorse.

"That was so fun. It had so much power!" Matilda exclaimed once she had her fun.

"When did you learn how to ride a horse?" Adelheid asked. No matter how talented Matilda was, there was no way she could have instantly mastered horse riding.

"Huh, I didn't tell Your Highness?" the aspiring knight asked with a tilt of her head. "My father taught me before I was sent here to be a maid."

'How old would you have to be? Nine, ten?' Adelheid thought incredulously. Still, she accepted the information relatively quickly. The more talented Matilda was, the better it was for her.

Adelheid left to rest. In a few days, she would ride the warhorse with her father into the Midgard Forest for a hunt. Before she left, Olga came forward with a question.

"What should the warhorse be called?"

"It does not yet have a name?" Adelheid asked.

Olga shook her head. "Warhorses are trained so that each and every one can serve any knight during the war, so they are not given a name to prevent attachment."

Adelheid crossed her arms and thought for a moment before revealing a slight smile. "From now on, your name shall be Stahl."