Chapter 205. An Uncrossable Wall

Olivia blinked blankly like a fool.

No matter how she thought about it, she simply couldn't understand.

This wasn't a conversation between two noble young ladies. It was a meeting between two women of the highest social standing.

The way such women fought was by circling around the point endlessly, wrapping every word in etiquette while secretly exchanging blows.

Naturally, Olivia had expected that kind of battle.

She had come prepared to fight until the very end.

And yet...

Everything collapsed because of a single sentence.

"I invited you because I wanted to become as beautiful and intelligent as you."

That was it?

Surely there had to be some hidden meaning behind those words.

She tried to convince herself there must be.

But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't find one.

The more information she gathered, the more contradictory Valdrova became.

A Dragon who acts like an immature noble lady...?

Even Storeus, as unruly as he was, was only described as childish.

He had never truly been a child.

Every word he spoke always carried messages that only Dragons could understand.

Olivia's mind spun faster than ever.

What if this childish behavior is simply a strategy to lower my guard?

What if she's lying about having no ulterior motive?

What if she's waiting for the moment I let my guard down after sensing goodwill... only to cut off my head?

Countermeasures formed one after another inside her mind.

The more complicated her thoughts became...the more terrifying those horns appeared.

"Are you hot?"

Everything stopped with that single question.

The turmoil in her heart had left sweat dampening her forehead and underarms.

The makeup covering those sensitive areas was beginning to melt.

"I'm terribly sorry. I've always been someone who sweats easily..."

"Wait a moment. Luri."

Luri handed Olivia a glass of water filled with ice.

Lower Wind Spirits circled around her, cooling the surrounding air.

As Olivia drank the icy water, her head gradually cooled.

Just as she was about to organize her thoughts again—

"I'm sorry."

"...Pardon?"

The Dragon had apologized.

"I heard the Imperial Princess was coming, so I chose a place that seemed appropriate. I failed to consider that you might be sensitive to the heat."

"No, Your Highness. I was simply too nervous. Please don't concern yourself."

"So you were nervous... Hmm..."

Valdrova looked deep in thought.

Once again, the silence itself became another bombshell of information, tormenting Olivia.

Then Valdrova glanced toward her attendant.

The attendant simply stood there silently with her eyes closed.

Yet somehow that alone was enough.

As if they had already communicated everything they needed to.

Valdrova immediately acted.

She removed her mask.

And revealed her face.

"If I do this... will you feel less nervous...?"

In that instant...

Every theory Olivia had painstakingly built was thrown into the trash.

The face hidden beneath the mask was nothing like she had imagined.

It was astonishingly gentle.

She smiled awkwardly.

Her large round eyes and glossy cherry-like lips carried an innocent shyness.

She was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful women Olivia had ever seen.

Had she merely been beautiful, Olivia wouldn't have been this shocked.

It was because...

That face was completely incompatible with the majesty of a Dragon.

Every time Olivia saw those terrifying horns, it felt as though a sword were pressed against her throat.

Yet the moment she saw Valdrova's face...

The sword vanished.

The overwhelming Dragon's aura was still there.

And yet...

At the same time...

She couldn't help wondering if this woman truly was a Dragon.

"Are you feeling a little less nervous now?"

"...Yes."

"I'm glad."

Valdrova smiled brightly.

And in doing so, Olivia learned one more thing.

Valdrova was someone whose emotions were incredibly easy to read.

"I've been wondering how someone can become as beautiful and intelligent as you."

Now...

The one having a difficult time was Olivia.

Had she not spent years polishing her social skills, she was certain she would have stammered embarrassingly.

"There is nothing particularly special about me. I'm rather dull myself, so I don't even know what made Your Highness think such a thing. How could someone as slow-witted as I am be called intelligent?"

"Hmm... What was it again...? Ah... saying that humans imitate the image of the gods? How were you able to say something like that?"

"Those were not my own words. I'm rather embarrassed, but I merely quoted a famous philosophical work."

"Isn't philosophy about making iron?"

"The dictionary defines it as the discipline of deeply exploring the world and human life. But in a sense, Your Highness is also correct. It is much like forging iron. One continuously hammers and tempers the mind until it becomes a useful tool."

Valdrova's golden eyes sparkled.

"I see. If I read that book... will I be able to speak intelligently too?"

"Of course."

"Philosophy... Wait a moment. Luri."

She gestured that she wanted something to write with.

Luri quietly replied in a tone that clearly suggested she disapproved.

"I shall remember it for you."

"But... no. Wouldn't that mean I wasn't truly trying to learn?"

"..."

Those were the exact same words Luri had once said to her.

Never expecting them to be turned back against her like this...

Luri maintained her professional expression and silently handed over paper and a pen.

"Could you recommend which books I should read?"

There was no trace of that dignified voice anymore.

Olivia answered,

"I would recommend beginning with the Meditations and various collections of philosophical dialogues. The Meditations are filled with questions that provoke thought, while the philosophers explain how they approached those questions and offer their own answers. I believe you'll find them quite enjoyable."

"I see... Meditations... and philosophical dialogues... Um... could you also explain what those mean?"

"Certainly."

Olivia patiently explained everything.

Whenever Valdrova looked confused, she explained again.

She continued until Valdrova completely understood.

It was an incredibly strange situation.

She...

Was teaching a Dragon whom the entire world feared.

She was undoubtedly speaking to a Dragon.

Yet that distinctive pressure had completely disappeared.

Instead...

It felt as though she were talking to a child.

Which made her all the more afraid.

Is there really no hidden motive behind all this?

Or... have I simply failed to realize it even now?

Instead, Olivia herself gradually became dazed.

She was being swept helplessly along at Valdrova's pace.

During a brief silence...

Olivia glanced at the handwriting Valdrova was carefully practicing and instinctively remarked,

"Your handwriting is remarkably beautiful."

"Really?!"

Valdrova's face lit up as brightly as the rising sun.

"I practiced so much. Writing letters is easier than you'd think, but writing them beautifully is really difficult."

"But... is it truly necessary for Your Highness to trouble yourself with such things?"

Realizing how that might sound offensive...

Olivia hurriedly corrected herself.

"Someone as inexperienced as I am simply wondered whether it wouldn't be more efficient for Your Highness to leave such tasks to others instead of doing them personally."

"Mmm... that's true."

Valdrova thought the same herself.

What use would she ever have for beautiful handwriting?

She had never particularly wanted to learn it.

Nor had she been interested.

"I wanted to show these letters to Ferda. I thought... if I showed him beautifully written handwriting... maybe he'd like it..."

"Is that all?"

"That's all."

She smiled foolishly.

"For now... that's my entire world."

"I... see."

"So because of that... I started wanting to learn more things. I thought that if I kept learning and became smarter... maybe I wouldn't feel embarrassed standing beside Ferda..."

Valdrova looked back at Olivia.

"And because of that... I wanted to talk with you too."

"..."

No matter how Olivia thought about it...

None of this made any sense.

Why would a Dragon care so much about earning the approval of a mere human?

She couldn't believe such ordinary, almost commoner-like thoughts could exist within a Dragon who had lived since the beginning of time.

Almost unconsciously...

Their eyes met once more.

Golden eyes.

Vertical Dragon pupils.

What Olivia saw within them...

Was pure admiration.

It was exactly the same look the children of the Empire had given her.

Embarrassed, it was Valdrova who looked away first.

"I want to keep learning even more."

"If that is Your Highness's wish... I would gladly teach you anytime."

"In that case..."

Valdrova's cheeks gradually turned red.

Her lips fidgeted nervously as she carefully forced out the words.

"Olivia... would you... become my friend?"

To that question...

Olivia answered.

"Of course, Your Highness."

***

After finishing tea with Valdrova, Olivia stepped outside.

She had excused herself, saying she needed to discuss diplomatic matters with Ferda.

In truth...

It wasn't that urgent.

Normally, Olivia never announced that she would leave first, since it could easily be taken as an insult.

Yet this time...

She had done exactly that.

Being in the same room as Valdrova had simply been too exhausting.

Whenever she was in public, Olivia always wore a cheerful smile that concealed her true feelings.

But now...

Only an awkward, uncertain smile remained on her face.

The thing that continued shaking her heart...

Was a single word.

Friend...

A word she heard constantly in high society.

What exactly is... a friend?

To Olivia...

It was an incredibly distant concept.

Someone more than merely an acquaintance.

Someone who stayed by your side in both joy and hardship.

Someone who respected you.

Someone with whom you supported one another.

...Have I ever been capable of making a friend?

Her thoughts drifted back to the first time she had ever been slapped.

The one bold enough to do it had been the first wife of Crown Prince Alexander Arken.

Though she had married that detestable blood relative...

She herself had been a genuinely kind woman.

After officially entering the palace following her marriage, she had sincerely tried to comfort Olivia's loneliness and become close to her.

For the first time...

Olivia had even dared to hope she might one day think of her as an older sister.

That became...

Both the first and last chance Olivia ever had to make a friend.

Hope had always been cruel to her.

It hadn't taken long before that smiling, playful woman came to hate Olivia.

Mascara running down her face until she looked like a ghost...

She had approached and slapped Olivia across the cheek.

-You...! Because of you...!

Leaving behind nothing but incomprehensible hatred...

The Crown Princess disappeared forever.

Olivia later learned why she had been so furious.

Despite sharing the marriage bed with Alexander countless times...

She had never conceived a child.

She had been branded a barren woman.

Eventually...

She was stripped of her title.

How could she not be furious?

The problem had never been her.

It had been Alexander.

She discovered that the only woman Alexander truly saw as a woman...

Was Olivia.

Unable to strike the man who would soon become Emperor...

She redirected all her anger toward innocent Olivia.

Olivia truly pitied the Crown Princess.

But she never felt guilty.

Those resentments echoed endlessly...

Even in places where she could never hear them.

If only the Imperial Princess didn't exist...

Then the person I love would finally notice me.

If only the Imperial Princess didn't exist...

Then my fiancé would cherish me more.

They're all just excuses.

Olivia believed those words were nothing more than excuses made by the lazy.

She considered them fools trapped in the past, capable only of hatred and resentment.

Would anything truly change if I disappeared?

If something was lacking...

Then create it.

If something wasn't enough...

Cultivate your own strengths.

That was how Olivia had always lived.

She had never once neglected the gifts she possessed.

Whenever she lacked something...

She sacrificed sleep if necessary and worked relentlessly until she improved.

That was why...

She had risen to become the Imperial Princess admired by all.

She had never once doubted she was right.

At least...

Not until today.

'Would you become my friend?'

The moment she heard those words...

Valdrova possessed something Olivia did not.

'I like people who are pure.'

The words Ferda had spoken during their first meeting resurfaced.

Valdrova truly was...

An incredibly pure person.

She struggled to speak indirectly.

She struggled to hide her emotions.

Yet she constantly worried about causing trouble for others.

And when she loved something...

She loved it with all her heart.

She was inexperienced.

But no one could laugh at that inexperience.

Because even if Olivia created thousands of masks...

And wore every one of them...

She could never imitate what Valdrova genuinely was.

...So this is what it feels like.

Without realizing it...

Olivia clenched her fist tightly.

For the first time...

She could understand, even if only a little, the emotions the first Crown Princess had once felt.

To look up at a place...

That no amount of effort could ever reach.

So...

This was how painful it was.

That overwhelming sense of frustration boiled deep within Olivia's heart.

For the first time in her life...

Olivia envied someone.