ETCHY 02

Chapter 02

The world is truly vast.

Crescentia looked around the exposition hall with pure admiration. The products created as the empire accelerated its industrialization were bringing things beyond imagination into reality as a matter of course.

“…So this automobile moves on the same principle as the steam locomotive Your Highness rode to get here to Boren. It’s the culmination of new technology!”

The eyes of the man giving the enthusiastic explanation gleamed with yearning for investment. But Crescentia quickly lost interest in the string of complex technical details.

Regina adhered to a conservative civilization, far removed from such new technologies. There would be no need to bring back to Regina anything she saw at the exposition.

“Your Highness, shall we go to the Ewald exhibition hall?”

Her lady-in-waiting, Hilda, read Crescentia’s expression and tactfully interjected.

“I heard they have a diamond there the color of Your Highness’s eyes.”

“Really? A pink diamond?”

Crescentia suppressed the urge to say she wanted to return to her quarters at the imperial palace and answered instead.

Having come as a congratulatory envoy, even if she didn’t actually make any purchases or investments, she had to at least put up a show of presence. That was the courtesy owed as a guest.

So Crescentia forced herself to muster interest.

“How fascinating.”

“Right? They say it’s an incredibly rare gem from Ewald. The pamphlet even said you absolutely must see it when you come to the exposition.”

Indeed, the Ewald pavilion looked difficult to enter from the start. Even though today was a day reserved exclusively for foreign envoys, there was barely any room to set foot.

‘…Oh?’

Crescentia’s gaze, scanning her surroundings, stopped at one spot. Among the crowd, she met eyes with a tall man who stood a head taller than the others.

His golden eyes seemed to fix sharply on her, then immediately averted.

‘Who is that?’

It was nothing new for people to take an interest in Crescentia.

Yet somehow, that man just now bothered her. The way he had looked at her was oddly insolent, and at the same time, excessively captivating.

‘An imperial noble?’

Crescentia, heading toward where the gems were displayed, was about to ask Hilda about the man’s identity.

“Ah…!”

At that moment. Someone roughly shoved her and ran toward the diamonds.

“Your Highness!”

“Watch out.”

Almost simultaneously with her escort knight Anton shifting toward her, someone’s firm arm caught hold of her.

The man who embraced her as if wrapping an arm around her waist released her once she regained her balance.

“…!”

Crescentia drew in a small breath upon seeing the other person. It was the man she had made eye contact with moments ago.

The man, who had approached her at some point, behaved with utmost politeness, as if he had never looked at her with impertinence.

“Are you alright?”

Even amid the clamor of people chattering all around, the man’s deep voice pierced sharply into her ears.

Beside her, Anton reported that he would go apprehend the ruffian who had shoved her, but she could barely hear him.

All of Crescentia’s senses were focused solely on Erich. She lightly pressed her strangely racing chest and opened her mouth.

“Yes, thank you—”

“Sazar, who was that just now? He didn’t look like one of the distinguished guests.”

Before Crescentia could finish her thanks, the man threw a question to his companion. After giving instructions to identify the man who had run off, he finally looked at her.

“There are particularly many people here, so you must be careful. My lady…”

“Crescentia. Crescentia de Lodovini.”

“Seeing the silver hair, I suspected as much. So you are Her Highness the Princess. I have been remiss.”

Erich bowed with measured grace and revealed his identity.

“Behold the beautiful star of Regina. I am Erich von Peter, Grand Duke of Peter and Lord of Ewald.”

At his impeccably formal bow, Crescentia swallowed dryly.

The towering man seemed immensely strong, and also beautiful. His eyes were surely a color that held the brightness of summer and the heat of gold, yet for some reason, only coolness emanated from them.

“A pleasure to meet you, Grand Duke Peter.”

“Please call me Erich, Your Highness.”

At Erich’s familiar request, Crescentia’s heart gave a small leap.

“Er…”

Crescentia almost unconsciously tried to utter his name, but clenched her fist and held onto her composure.

“No. I can’t do that on a first meeting.”

“Then I shall have to see Your Highness as often as possible.”

Even at her wall-building response, Erich showed no sign of embarrassment. He merely let her refusal slide with a smile.

When Erich smiled faintly, Crescentia gazed at him as if bewitched.

His sharp, high nose bridge set in the center of his face, along with his steep jawline and well-proportioned full lips—all captivated Crescentia’s eyes.

She had once seen a sculpture like this at the Royal Museum of Regina.

But that was a body created by an artist to maximize beauty. It was impossible for a human to actually possess such a body, such a face.

That’s what she had thought.

“…Your Highness?”

“Ah, no. Um… As the Lord of Ewald, did you come here personally to oversee the Ewald pavilion?”

“I heard that ‘Angel’s Light’ was drawing more visitors than expected. I was checking to ensure no accidents occurred.”

Erich straightened his posture and explained politely. Crescentia nodded, making a show of responding.

But in truth, she couldn’t concentrate at all. Just the fact that Erich’s golden eyes were looking at her made her face feel as if it was burning hot.

‘Why am I acting like this?’

Crescentia took out her fan and fanned herself against the sudden rising heat. It was strange that she was so shaken by mere appearance, no matter how handsome the other person was.

Beauty may move people’s hearts, but that’s all it does. How could she, a member of the royal family, become so flustered before a mere nobleman?

“Your Highness?”

When Crescentia silently fluttered her fan without speaking, Erich tilted his head slightly. At his call, she barely managed to gather her scattered composure and open her mouth.

“It’s a bit warm. Is ‘Angel’s Light’ perhaps the name of the pink diamond?”

“Yes. It’s a deep pink gem, much like Your Highness’s eyes.”

Erich said calmly, gazing intently at Crescentia.

“But the color of Your Highness’s eyes is deeper and richer than any gem.”

At his gaze observing her pink eyes, Crescentia’s fanning stopped abruptly.

The moment her gaze tangled with Erich’s golden eyes. She experienced something quite peculiar.

As if she had fallen into water, all surrounding sounds faded away, and it felt as if only Erich and she existed in this place.

As if, time had stopped…

“Grand Duke…”

*BOOM!*

Just as Crescentia was about to speak to the Grand Duke. An enormous explosion sounded from inside the Ewald pavilion, and the ground shook as if an earthquake had struck.

“Eek!”

Crescentia lost her balance and braced herself on the ground. Screams erupted from all directions.

“Aaaah!”

“Halt the exposition! Reform is a fraud that deceives the people! Change is catastrophe!”

Conservatives who had been hiding throughout the area sprang out and shouted, and along with their voices, bombs exploded here and there. Crescentia, experiencing such chaos for the first time, didn’t know what to do and covered her ears.

‘What is this? Could it be… rebellion?’

When the building’s pillars finally shattered, Crescentia was stunned.

For her, who had only ever known the people’s love, it was unthinkable that a disturbance would occur at a state-hosted event. Crescentia’s heart pounded with fear.

“It’s terrorism! The conservatives have staged a terrorist attack!”

At a spectator’s shout, Crescentia finally grasped the situation. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be a rebellion.

But could this really be called fortunate? The exposition hall had transformed into a scene no different from hell.

The spectators who had been elegantly viewing the exhibits just moments ago were now screaming and stampeding toward the entrance where Crescentia stood. Regardless of status, each one clamored to survive.

“Move! Get out of the way!”

“Help!”

“…Ah!”

Before she could even assess the situation, Crescentia was swept up in the panicked crowd. Separated from Hilda in an instant, she desperately searched for her companions.

“Hilda! Where are you? Hilda?”

Crescentia’s fan fell to the floor, buried in the wave of people trying to evacuate. As she panicked and turned her eyes to where she had been standing, another thunderous sound rang out.

*BOOM!*

A bomb brought down the pavilion’s pillars, and acrid smoke spread, blurring the view. The exposition hall, meant to showcase new technologies, had become a scene of carnage.

Crescentia looked around with tearful eyes at the suddenly unfolding crisis.

“Hilda! Anton!”

“Your Highness, this way!”

Someone forcefully grabbed the arm of Crescentia, who was flustered like a child lost in the crowd. She, who had been drifting aimlessly through the throng, was suddenly pulled into someone’s arms.

Then, along with a sense of relief, bewilderment came over Crescentia, who had been coughing in the smoke.

“…Grand Duke?”

“Forgive me.”

Erich said briefly and pulled Crescentia’s delicate body into a tight embrace.