UCT Ch 5

A bitter smile touched Marianne’s lips as she thought extensively about Richard.

‘Maybe he should be called “like uncle, like nephew.”‘

At first glance, it seemed like an absurd comparison since the two were almost opposites in appearance.

If Fernan was a gentle, all-around handsome man, Richard was a sharp, handsome man who could send shivers down one’s spine.

Frankly, even Marianne, a queen of a nation, felt overwhelmed by him, let alone others.

It was like the difference between warm sunlight and a frost storm.

But even with their stark differences, there was one similarity between them. That was their pride, which bordered on arrogance, backed by their skills.

‘Whether the skill comes before the pride, or the pride before the skill, I don’t know.’

While Marianne was comparing her former fiancé, Fernan, with her ward, Richard, the door to her office suddenly burst open, and a man walked in with confident strides. Only a handful of people, including the queen’s husband, could enter the king’s chamber so casually.

Glancing at the clock, Marianne shook her head with a faint smile.

‘My goodness, it’s already time for our appointment.’

Marianne straightened her back, which had been leaning against the chair’s backrest, and welcomed the man with a kind face.

“Richard. It’s been a while.”

“I greet Your Majesty.”

Richard’s deep voice echoed off the high ceiling. His once high-pitched voice from boyhood had matured through puberty into one that was deeper and more resonant than any other man’s.

‘The mystery of time.’

Marianne chuckled softly at the young man showing respect before her.

“Your manners have improved since we last met. Count Ashwood would be pleased.”

“It seems like all that effort paid off. I suppose one picks up some outdated habits when mingling in clubs or social circles.”

The man raised his head with a faint smile.

His features, outlined by clean, sharp black lines, easily dominated the lavish interior. His neatly slicked-back black hair, strong and clean features, and the darkest navy eyes beneath thick, straight eyebrows.

Even if he were dressed in rags, he’d look impressive, but in a well-tailored three-piece suit, he was quite a sight.

Compared to a year or two ago, he looked less like a soldier and more like a successful young businessman or gentleman from a noble family.

However, at his core, he was still a fighter pilot.

Marianne felt a sense of temporal displacement as she looked at the well-groomed man before her. The boy who had arrived in Bringerton, thin and ragged, had grown into such a dignified adult man.

Twenty years seemed long enough for such transformations.

Today, she felt unusually sentimental.

Marianne slowly rose from her seat and gestured affectionately to Richard.

“Come, let’s go. Catherine must be waiting for us in the tea room by now. She’s been complaining about wanting to see you for days, which has been quite troublesome.”

“The princess must have been quite bored.”

There was a hint of fatigue in Richard’s voice. No matter how much one might be a princess, being bothered was something any man would dislike.

“Bored? You know that isn’t true.”

“People generally like airplanes, don’t they?”

“Catherine is not a ten-year-old girl but an eighteen-year-old young lady. She’s more interested in the ‘man’ in the airplane than the airplane itself.”

“Your Majesty is really… mischievous. If you know the rumors about me, shouldn’t you warn the princess in advance?”

“Rumors of being a bastard, a womanizer. I know better than anyone that those are not true.”

Marianne looked up at Richard with a warm smile. The man facing her responded with a very slight lift of the corner of his mouth.

It was a smile reserved only for a select few.

🌷🌷🌷

A hectic week passed, and finally, the much-anticipated day off arrived. Diana went to the cinema with her friends for a change.

“Let’s get some ice cream after the movie.”

“Doesn’t the chocolate ice cream at Sunset Parlor sound good?”

“I wanted to try the cherry flavor.”

While listening to Anna and Carol chatter away, Diana showed her ticket to the usher.

The movie they were about to watch, “Beyond the Sky,” was directed by the most famous director from the Etheria Federation. Just from the title, one couldn’t guess what the movie was about.

“If it’s boring, you’re buying the ice cream.”

Diana whispered to Carol. Carol was an ardent fan of the film’s lead, Eric Posner, and she was the one who had dragged them to the cinema.

They climbed the narrow stairs to the second floor of the cinema and found their seats.

As the only theater in Campton, it was packed with audiences on weekends. Anna bought a syrup-drizzled waffle, and Carol got popcorn to share with Diana.

As soon as people settled down, the theater darkened, and with a loud fanfare, the ‘Weekly News’ began to play. Black-and-white images of the parliament in Bringerton’s capital appeared on the screen.

[On July 18th, at around 5 PM, the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister, proposed by the opposition in the House, was rejected with 313 votes for, 320 against. With this, Prime Minister Meybridge will continue in his role and-]

Boos started to fill the theater.

Prime Minister Meybridge was unpopular in Campton, known for supporting the nobility and acting too pompous.

The news briefly covered other minor updates before ending.

The opening title appeared on the silver-gray screen.

It was time to immerse in the illusion.

🌷🌷🌷

The three-hour-long movie finally ended. Cinema staff with brooms and dustpans took over as the audience began to exit.

The three friends walked out onto the street together. Anna and Carol started chattering excitedly.

“It looks like they really filmed it with airplanes! How did they do that?”

“Beyond the Sky” dealt with the love and rivalry among ace pilots during the Old Continent War.

The plot was clichéd; it was about the ace pilot Packard from Bringerton and his rival Tomson fighting over Packard’s fiancée, Jane.

The relationship among the three spiraled towards disaster, culminating with Packard being shot down by the legendary enemy pilot ‘White Falcon,’ thus ending the movie.

In the film, ‘White Falcon’ was clearly modeled after Fernan Lowell.

He was depicted more as a cosmic horror than a villain, which showed that the director, whoever he was, had some understanding of the psychology of pilots.

The value of an ace pilot wasn’t just in the number of kills. The ace’s emblem on the aircraft had the effect of instilling fear in the opponent.

‘It’s a kind of psychological warfare. It makes the opponent feel like they’re facing a natural disaster rather than another human.’

Diana’s dry thoughts were cut off by her friends’ excited chatter.

“When they were about to kiss with the sunset behind them, I couldn’t even breathe! I didn’t know Shirley McKenzie could act out crying so well.”

“Speaking of which, wasn’t the actor who played Tomson too handsome? He seemed like a newcomer, but he didn’t pale in comparison to Eric Posner.”

“…”

Diana just listened to their conversation blankly. Rubbing her tired eyes with the back of her hand, she yawned.

“Diana, you seem really tired.”

“No, my eyes just hurt from concentrating so much.”

“Well, the camera work was quite dizzying. How did they shoot it? Did they really attach cameras to the planes?”

“I guess so. It looked like the cinematographer was shooting from the back seat of a two-seater.”

“Wow. I heard the director is a billionaire from Etheria; maybe all those planes are his?”

As they were laughing and talking, a commotion suddenly arose from the other side of the street.

“What’s going on?”

People were gathered in a circle around a newsboy with a sparrow’s nest of hair. He shouted in a loud voice:

“Extra! Extra! Arke’s army has crossed the Juom border without a declaration of war!”

The crowd’s murmur grew louder. The newsboy shouted again, scattering extras onto the street.

“Extra! Extra!! Take one, everyone!!”

“A war has started? What’s happening?”

“Arke attacked Juom?”

Diana’s mind went as blank as bleached cloth.

Anna picked up an extra that had fallen at her feet and showed it to the other two. In bold, heavy type, it read, ‘Arke’s 13 Armored Divisions Advancing into Juom!’ There was no photo or additional article content, just that headline.

“What do we do…”

“Really… how could this happen…”

Anna and Carol repeated the same words, not knowing what to do. The daily routine of going to the cinema and chatting over ice cream was shattered in an instant.

“Nothing will happen. Bringerton will be safe.”

Carol said confidently, snatching the extra from Anna.

“Yeah. It’ll be okay.”

Diana also tried to reassure them, not wanting to make her friends anxious. But even she knew the answer in her gut.

It won’t be okay.

There’s no way it will be okay.

You can’t judge the Emperor of Arke by the standards of a sane human. He was more ruthless and unpredictable than his predecessor, Ezekiel III.

A cold anger began to boil from deep within Diana. Dietrich was intruding on her peaceful life again. What should she do now?

The anger turned into an overwhelming sense of helplessness that weighed on Diana.

Even with all she had in her past life, she couldn’t stop him. Now, as an ordinary woman, what could she possibly do?

‘All I can do is hope that nothing happens in Bringerton.’

It was better to be a happy coward than a miserable hero.

🌷🌷🌷

Arke had sent a large tank corps into the territory of the Juom Republic.

It was reported that the imperial army was advancing towards the capital at an unprecedented speed, quickly neutralizing the border defenses placed by Juom.

That evening, Prime Minister Meybridge of Bringerton made an emergency address via radio.

He issued an ultimatum that if Arke’s army did not withdraw from Juom’s territory within the next 12 hours, Bringerton would also declare war.

Twelve hours after the broadcast, Diana was listening to the Prime Minister’s declaration of war.

— “Respected and beloved citizens. Twelve hours ago, the armored divisions of the Arke Empire illegally crossed the border of Juom. Deeming that there is no further room for diplomatic resolution, Bringerton hereby declares war on Arke. Citizens, I repeat…”

Uncle Ben and Aunt Gilda, seated in front of the radio, had grim expressions, as if they were reliving the pain of the Old Continent War.

Ben had been a sailor in that war, and he never wanted to talk about it.

Seeing their fearful faces, Diana couldn’t help but furrow her brow.

‘Should I suggest we run away?’

Far to the south, as far away from Arke as possible.

Or even the Etheria Federation would do. There’s no class system there, and they say it’s more prosperous and free than the Old Continent. Couldn’t they somehow make a good life there?

As if reading her thoughts, Uncle Ben turned off the radio.

“Now, now. Let’s get ready to open the shop.”

Thanks to Uncle Ben’s words, Diana quickly regained her composure.

‘Running away, what a foolish thought.’

We have to live here. We can’t abandon [The Dancing Mermaid].

This shop was everything to Uncle Ben and Aunt Gilda, like a child born from their sweat and blood. Diana closed her eyes tightly.

There’s nowhere to run. Nowhere at all.