The Saintess and the Villainess

Chapter 87

Corvina was shown out to a small patio where the Tulin family were eating a light lunch in the warm afternoon sun. They were talking and laughing together, and Marquess Ormen, who greeted Corvina with a pleasant nod, was even still wearing his dressing gown.

It was a shocking sight to Corvina, who was used to the noble society in the capital, where family luncheons were formal and often uncomfortable affairs. Usually every member of the family would don their most impressive day-wear, take their places around a large table in a formal dining room, and do their best to ignore each others' existence while they ate an overly extravagant meal with far too many courses for the middle of the day. Corvina always hated it when she was invited to lunch at the palace.

Still, at least Corvina knew how to act in the face of cold formality. Presented with this scene of casual familial warmth, Corvina wasn't quite sure what to do. She felt a bit overdressed and out-of-place. She didn't know what they expected from her.

Eventually Corvina decided to go with a fairly safe option, which was to gracefully take a seat at the table and wait for someone to address her first.

"Welcome," said Marquess Ormen. "Are you hungry? You simply must try one of these."

He grabbed a crescent-shaped roll out of a bread basket and plopped it on Corvina's plate.

"It's called a croissant, I believe," said Ormen, a flash of excitement in his eyes. "A remarkable new culinary invention from the Kingdom of... where was it, now, my dear?"

"Beliveau," said Justine, passing the basket of croissants to her daughter Liza, who excitedly took two.

"Yes, quite," said Ormen. "A delightfully precocious little kingdom on the other side of the Sacred Forest. If we're ever able to put an end to this silly war business and set up some proper trade relations I suspect that in a generation or two no one in the Empire will forget the name Beliveau again, if only for the sake of their delicious pastries."

Corvina's brow furrowed. "If they're on the other side of the Sacred Forest, then how were you even able to..."

Ormen winked at her. "I have my ways."

Corvina looked at him skeptically. The Sacred Forest was surrounded by tall, impassable mountain ranges. The Sommets range started at the south-western border of the forest and stretched southward from there all the way to the edge of the continent, and the Ferney range started at the north-eastern border of the forest and stretched east to the former Kingdom of Ladore.

To trade with a kingdom on the other side of the mountain, Marquess Ormen Tulin would have had to either 1) send an expedition all the way around one of these mountain ranges, which was extremely time-consuming; 2) send and expedition through the mountains, which was extremely risky; or 3) cut directly through the Sacred Forest itself, which was impossible.

"I believe the city aristocrats often have a view of us Border Lords as being backwards country folk who are good for nothing but swinging swords at the only thing worse than country folk, which is foreigners." Ormen smiled mischievously. "But they tend to forget that being on the front lines of war also means being on the front lines of diplomacy."

Corvina vaguely wondered if that little speech was meant to adequately explain anything, or if it was just supposed to confuse her further.

Either way, it wasn't worth trying to press the Marquess for a more concrete answer right now.

She ripped off a little piece of the croissant and placed it in her mouth. Almost immediately she covered her mouth with a hand in a surprised gesture and involuntarily let out a little "Mmm!" sound.