"Lady Leonicia eus Lionheart has arrived"
The doors of the banquet hall started to open slowly. Everyone's eyes were towards the door waiting to get a glance at the rumoured snow fairy Princess.
Ever since Leonicia's birth, there have been many rumours about her beauty and how much the Duke cared about his daughter. These rumours had even reached the ears of the Imperial Family. And at today's birthday banquet, they had the chance to confirm it with their own eyes.
Most of them were present at the banquet. Wanted to use this opportunity to get close to the Duke through Leonicia to earn his favours.
As Leonicia walked through the banquet hall with her attendent, towards the Duke. Everyone present at the banquet was mesmerized by her beauty. Not only that, Leonicia was emitting an aura of calmness and elegance. Which made her more appealing to them.
"She looks like a snowy angel".
"The Duke has been blessed by the god with a beautiful daughter".
"She will be a remarkable beauty in the future. I can't wait to see her grow up!"
These were the words one could hear echoing throughout the banquet hall. Even nobles who just attended to gain favours or as a part of their noble obligations. They felt blessed at the site they were witnessing.
Looks like all my hard work to achieve this poker face has paid off. I thought to myself, as I greeted everyone with a friendly, light smile.
One of the things I realised after getting reincarnated as Leonicia was that the author didn't describe her being beautiful properly in the novel. Maybe because she was just a sacrificial side character.
Leonicia indeed has beautiful platinum hair, smooth white skin and a beautiful elegant face which could even melt the heart of stone. But she also had beautiful purple eyes like an amethyst gemstone and long eye lashes, which always made her stand out even more.
When I reached near the Duke, The Duke walked towards me and said "You look very pretty, my princess".
"Papa looks very handsome too", she replied.
[ Since her reincarnation, Leonicia had practiced in secret imitating and behaving like a normal five-year-old child. It was embarrassing at first, but she got used to it. ]
The Duke laughed to hear her reply and he extended his hand towards her and said with a smile "l will escort my daughter from here".
Elina bowed her head. "I understand.My lord".
"Shall we go?"
"Yes papa", Leonicia replied back, while holding his hand.
[ In the past five years, I have got very close with my father. He always spent time with me and brought me stuff, just because I mentioned them once.
Who would have thought that the Legendary silver knight was such a dotting father?
Honestly, I haven't met my mother yet. I was curious about her, but I never dared to ask my father directly. No one told me anything and if they were not talking about her, then maybe something had happened.
Like what if she had left the Duke or died while giving birth to me? I didn't want to hurt anyone, especially my father, who loves and cares about me by bringing up bad memories.If he doesn't want me to know about my mother. I am fine with it, as long as he is by my side.
But on second thought, the novel did mention that both the Duke and Duchess were assassinated by the Emperor's trusted subordinates. Is my mother actually alive or is the Duke going to marry someone else in the future?. ]
We were the stars of today's event. Every eye was on us, admiring our beautiful relationship as father and daughter. Father introduced me to many notable nobles present at the venue, including the Marquis of Brefne.
An important character, if I could get on good terms with him. Maybe he will help me out in the future to save the Duchy.
The Marquis of Brefne was one of the important characters in the novel "The records of Astrid wars", who helped the main character, the tyrant, rise to power. Marquis has a slim body , reddish brown hair and black eyes.
It's a good chance to get closer to such an important character , I thought to myself. Maybe if I could have his influence, I might be able to save the Duchy from falling into ruins.
"It's nice to meet you. Marquis Brefne."
"It's my pleasure to meet you, princess". Brefne greeted her with a smiling face.
"You are as beautiful as the rumours say".
"Thank you. Marquis"
"Well, Duke, if you excuse me, I have something important to talk about with you."
"What is it about Brefne?"
"My knights have reported some suspicious movements on the southern border. According to them, the number of soldiers patrolling the border from Cicilia has increased and a lot of caravans have been spotted crossing the border into our empire."
Cicilia? That name sounded familiar to me.
The kingdom of Cicilia was one of the three kingdoms who formed an alliance to wage war against the Empire. And if the information in the novel was correct. Those caravans must be carrying something related to the great war which will happen seven years from now and would push the Empire on the verge of losing.
From what I had learned in my previous life during my days as a trainee in the military academy. A sudden increase in the number of soldiers along the border and a large movement of caravans from Cicilia to the empire can only mean one thing. Preparation for war or strengthening the defence at the border in the assumption of future invasion.
Meanwhile, I was indulging in deep thoughts about Cicilia and what might be their plan. The Duke noticed that I was thinking about something seriously.
"What do you think we should do, Leonicia", he asked.
"Leonicia, I heard you have been studying about old wars and the history of the Empire and its neighbouring kingdoms. Give me your honest opinion".
"Papa, I think that the Kingdom of Cicilia is planning an assault on the Empire."
The Duke laughed a little bit and asked curiously, "Why do you think so?" thinking Leonicia was just a normal child with a creative imagination.
[ Of course, it was not the only thing. I cant just tell the Duke about the knowledge of my past life as an intelligence officer and all the medieval war history of my world ]
Because I think Cicilia is preparing for a surprise attack, while the Empire will be relaxed that those caravans are carrying something which might help the Cicilian army, like supplies of food or weapons. So they won't have to depend too much on slow supply lines if the war breaks out".
"Papa, when I was studying about old wars and recent events on the continent, I found some similar tactics used by other nations against their enemy.
"Well, even if it's true, we don't have any evidence to prove it".
"Papa, I think we should dispatch some of our knights in secret to follow the tracks of the caravans and find out what they are actually carrying."
"Not a bad suggestion. I will look into it".
Both the Duke and Marquis Brefne were surprised by my knowledge of wars and ability to observe in so much detail.
"It's impressive for such a young child to be able to find so many details from very little information. And not to forget to apply knowledge of previous events in it".
"Your grace, I think the princess has all the traits of a good military strategist," Marquis Brefne said to the Duke.
"She could be a great leader one day. If given good guidance". He said with a smile.
The Duke smiled and started patting my head, saying "My daughter is smart indeed".
After that, the Marquis took his leave and went to investigate the issue properly with his men.
I looked at my father and he looked proud because of me. It made me feel happy for some reason, maybe because i never experienced these feelings before.
"Your Grace, all the preparations for the ritual are completed." A maid informed us.
The ritual is a ceremony which takes place on the fifth birthday of a noble child. During this ritual, the level of mana in the child is measured and the crest is awakened.
The crest is like a magic core but a little bit different. Unlike the magic core which is hidden inside the body, the crest is like a birth mark on the skin and is visible.
Many people call the crest the Gods' essence or blessing, because not everyone has it. It's like an extra ability granted by god to some selective people.
The ritual looked like a regular baptism ceremony back in my world. The high priest was standing near the Font ( a vessel used in baptism to contain holy water). His upper face was covered with a veil and he was wearing a clean white robe.
"We shall now begin the ritual", the high priest announced. He started to chant some kind of spell. Suddenly, ten shiny balls of different colors came out of the holy water in the font. They started to roam around my body. I felt something hot on the back of my hand.
I took a look at it, "It looks like a dragon with two tails and it's glowing purple". I said, without thinking.
"It's not any ordinary dragon crest. It's the crest of a twin-tail dragon." The high priest replied with a smile.
"Your grace, the princess has a strong magic core with a lot of mana and she also holds the crest of the twin-tail dragon."
"That's amazing. The duke's daughter is blessed by God himself."
While everyone was busy talking about my crest and the future of the Duchy. I suddenly started feeling dizzy , my body felt heavy. I tried to call my father, but before i could reach him. My eyes started to shut down.
When I opened my eyes. I found myself in an empty palace with no one around.
What is this place? Wait why my voice sounds more mature like a teenager.
Suddenly, I heard the blasts from the magical explosion and cries of people getting slain by the blades of the enemies echoing throughout the hallway as I tried to figure out what was going on.
The hallway once decorated with flowers and valuable art pieces was now soaked in the blood of the palace staff.
I heard some footsteps running towards my direction getting closer and closer to her. "Capture the princess , we can't let her escape!!!" said one of the dark figures. They looked like shadows wearing bloody armour and carrying swords drenched in blood.
For some reason, my heart started to beat faster in fear. I heard a voice in my mind "Run Leonicia, you must survive. Run Leonicia, you must survive" again and again. Even before I figured out what was going on, my feet started moving on their own, to get away from those bloody shadows.
All i saw was an empty palace hallway with no sign of life. Everything was covered in a gloomy atmosphere. I entered into a room to escape from the shadows. When i turned around after closing the door, the room got darker and darker. I felt some kind of liquid falling on my face from the ceiling, I saw a dead body hung upside down, which appeared out of nowhere covered in blood.
I was so terrified by the site. I almost screamed but my voice wouldn't come out and suddenly I was surrounded by the corpses of the people. Many are wearing the maid or the Knights uniform with the Symbol of the Lionheart family, some of them I have seen working in the palace.
The corpse stained in blood started to scream "PLEASE SAVE US PRINCESS!!! WE BEG YOU".
Some of them say " it's all your fault princess, it's because of you that we died."
They started to get closer and closer to me, turning into dark figures with red eyes with their hands trying to kill me by snapping my neck.
I screamed in horror and woke up, covered in sweat.
Everything was back to normal. I found myself on my bed, sweating hard and trembling in fear.
Was it all a dream? Or just a foresight of the future or memory of the real Leonicia herself?
To be continued....