Interlude: The Wind Never Stops

The ancient Silver Castle had been completely refurbished. Its shrubs and flowerbeds had been meticulously trimmed, its centuries-old classical columns and arcades adorned with vivid garlands, and banners bearing the imperial crest draped from the castle's second floor all the way to the ground. In the great courtyard before the main keep, the venue for that evening's banquet was ready—

The post-coronation banquet would be divided into inner and outer sections. The castle's main hall would host the private banquet, with more lavish decorations and stricter etiquette, while the courtyard before the castle would host the public banquet, inviting all the royal capital's nobles, merchant representatives, church representatives, and citizen delegates.

Clearly, Rebecca preferred the lively atmosphere of the courtyard.

The girl had been forced into a court gown fit for formal occasions, but even that elegant, luxurious dress could not restrain her restless heart. She ran back and forth between the flowerbeds and fountains before Silver Castle, curious about everything around her. The last time she had come here, she had still been an impoverished minor noble from the south, with her ancestor keeping watch over her the entire time. She had not dared run around the castle, and had even needed to be careful about looking around too much. But today... no one could control her.

At least, aside from her two elders, no one in this castle dared control her.

"Northern shrubs really are different from the southern ones. You hardly ever see these things where we come from—they're especially hard to grow," Rebecca said, squatting before a flowerbed and tugging at the branches and leaves of the surrounding shrubs as she chattered nonstop to the maid beside her. "The druids at the academy have recently been researching how to transplant plants between the north and south.