Aspeiran Roakin raised an eyebrow. He had realized what the Minister of the Interior wanted to say at this moment.

“You don’t like it that I favor her, Count Jest.”

“Not at all.”

Noticing that the monarch’s mood had turned unpleasant, the Minister of the Interior bowed his head politely.

“I am merely concerned. For Roakin and the people of Roakin.”

“Concern……”

“Please hear me out, Your Majesty. From what I’ve heard, despite Lord Yulisis conducting investigations several times, he was unable to uncover that woman’s past.”

“You’re uneasy because her origins are unclear, is that it?”

“It’s not simply a matter of her origins.”

The Minister of the Interior bit his lip hesitantly. After carefully making sure no one else was around, he continued.

“I heard that whenever that woman is near, the monsters become surprisingly docile.”

“……”

“Your Majesty is aware, are you not? That the deposed king, Cameloium… knew how to command monsters.”

The current Minister of the Interior, Alexei Jest, had been tasked with the role of pretending to be a close confidant of the deposed king in the palace during Cameloium’s reign and siphoning information.

As such, he was able to observe Cameloium very closely during the period of tyranny. The tyrant who was so beautiful it gave chills, powerful, and captivating.

That fearsome might of commanding the monster legion like his own limbs from a certain point.

“Cameloium brought many young children and made them his test subjects.”

The Minister of the Interior raised his voice in agitation.

“A person of unknown origin uses the same abilities as Cameloium. I suspect that woman may be a seed of disorder left behind by Cameloium, Your Majesty. We must deal with that woman before problems arise!”

“Count Jest.”

Aspeiran’s eyes turned coldly stern. Now that the deposed king had been brought up, this matter could not be taken lightly.

Aspeiran spoke in a low, chilling voice.

“Do you see me as someone so blinded by a woman that I can’t even discern a dangerous element, Count?”

“…! No, Your Majesty. You are the hero, light, and supreme sun of Roakin, how could I dare harbor such a presumptuous thought.”

“I know your loyal heart. I understand your reasons for concern as well. But it seems you don’t trust me.”

“That’s, not the case.”

Alexei Jest trembled, his clasped hands shaking slightly. In fact, he had been doubting the monarch’s judgment ever since that woman entered the palace.

Honestly, wasn’t that the case? She was a suspicious woman to anyone’s eyes. Yet not only did His Majesty simply accept such a woman as a subject, he even cherished and doted on her.

This was clearly because His Majesty’s eyes were temporarily blinded by the feelings of love he was experiencing for the first time!

Realizing that, he felt indignant. To think our great hero king would harbor such a woman with nothing special in his heart, what more could he possibly want!

The Minister of the Interior wasn’t the only one taken aback. Some officials even argued that noble ladies who were dignified, beautiful, and virtuous should be gathered right away to hold a queen selection test.

Honestly, the Minister of the Interior had strongly agreed with that opinion as well.

As the Minister of the Interior recalled the chaos of the past two months, various emotions flitted rapidly across his face. Reading them, Aspeiran sighed inwardly.

‘What a headache.’

Elderly officials like the Minister of the Interior respected and followed Aspeiran, but occasionally treated him like a child.

For example, like now, treating him as if he were an adolescent boy flustered and overwhelmed by his first love.

It would be a lie to say it wasn’t irksome. However, the aging officials were all meritorious subjects who had risked their lives to drive out the deposed king. He didn’t want to cast them aside.

Aspeiran slightly relaxed his frigidly stiff expression and said,

“As you know, Count, I stood at the very front lines and faced Cameloium’s monster legion. As such, I clearly remember the state of the monsters he commanded.”

“……”

“Cameloium was ‘controlling’ the monsters. The monsters he controlled had lost their reason. On the other hand, Shuria simply has the ability to gain the monsters’ favor. The two abilities are vastly different.”

“…Yes. I was rash.”

Realizing he had crossed the line today, the Minister of the Interior bowed at the waist. Aspeiran patted his shoulder.

“Count Jest, even if I were to truly fall in love one day, I am still the monarch of Roakin. So.”

Aspeiran tightly gripped the handle of the basket in his hand. He had to continue speaking, but it felt as if something minute was caught in his throat, making it difficult for the words to come out.

Only after turning the sentences over in his mouth several times was the monarch of Roakin finally able to finish his words.

“So if I become convinced that Shuria is a dangerous element detrimental to my Roakin, I will execute her without hesitation.”

After sending off the Minister of the Interior, Aspeiran immediately headed to the meeting place, the fir tree forest.

At the entrance of the walking path, Shuria, who had arrived first, was standing and waiting with three moonlight wolves.

He felt a faint sense of guilt for being a whole minute late for the appointed time. Aspeiran hurriedly approached her.

“Oh! Hello, Your Majesty! Good morning!”

As soon as she saw Aspeiran, her face softened as usual, turning rosy. Aspeiran smiled and lightly flicked her forehead with his finger.

“It’s afternoon now.”

“That’s right. But my day only truly begins after I see Your Majesty. Heheheh.”

Shuria’s face as she giggled while spouting strange flattery was extremely pleasant to look at.

Aspeiran found himself smiling faintly as he naturally received two of the dogs from Shuria.

Ever since Shuria had a grand fall during their first walk, whenever the two of them went for a walk together, it was always Aspeiran’s role to handle two out of the three moonlight wolves.

Matching Shuria’s small strides, Aspeiran said,

“Let’s just take a light walk around today.”

“Ah, are you very busy today?”

“No, I brought something for you to eat. Let’s have it together after the walk.”

Aspeiran lifted the basket in his hand to show her. Shuria’s eyes widened.

“A picnic basket! What’s inside? Can I take a look?”

“Go ahead.”

“Wow.”

Shuria stopped in place and carefully opened the basket. The three wolves gathered closely under her, sniffing.

Soon, after confirming the contents of the basket, Shuria exclaimed,

“Walnut pies!”

“The milk on the side has honey in it.”

“It smells amazing. Thank you, I’ll enjoy it!”

Shuria grinned and lightly stamped her feet. It was a habit of hers whenever she was so happy she didn’t know what to do. The corners of Aspeiran’s mouth twitched.

As they started walking again, Shuria chattered.

“But they’re heart-shaped? Are Roakin’s walnut pies usually heart-shaped?”

“No.”

“Then the person who made them must have been in a good mood today.”

Shuria hummed a tune while bouncing lightly. She was the most lively person Aspeiran had ever met in his life.

Quietly listening to the incomprehensible humming, Shuria suddenly exclaimed “Oh right!” and lightly tugged on his cloak.

“Actually, I have something to give you too.”

“What is it?”

“Hehe, look forward to it.”

Shuria rummaged through her bosom and placed something on Aspeiran’s palm.

After staring at it for a while, Aspeiran asked in a doubtful voice,

“Poop?”

“No! They’re cookies!”

Shuria shouted and jumped up from her spot.

“How could you say that, calling them poop! I’m telling you, they’re peanut butter cookies I painstakingly baked after dozens of failures.”

At Shuria’s protest, Aspeiran observed the object in his hand again. However, the conclusion was the same.

“Poop.”

“Eek! Then don’t eat them. I worked hard baking them just for Your Majesty…”

At Shuria’s muttered addition, Aspeiran’s eyebrows twitched. He asked back,

“…Just for me?”

“Yes…”

Shuria, her shoulders slumped, tried to take the cookies back. Aspeiran tightly grasped the cookie bag and swiftly evaded Shuria’s hand.

“I’ll eat them.”

“Oh, really?”

Without answering further, Aspeiran put the cookies in his pocket. If Shuria had personally baked them just for him, of course he had to take them.

Seeing Aspeiran accept them, Shuria’s mood seemed to improve as she giggled.

“That’s right, Your Majesty. Try them! Even if they look like poop, they don’t taste like poop.”

“So you admitted they look like poop.”

“Eek, please just breezily let that slide.”

Aspeiran stared down at Shuria, who was rounding out the end of her words, and noticed that her face was subtly stiffened with tension.

He asked,

“Do you have something to say?”

“Huh? Oh, how did you know?”

Because I’ve been watching you this whole time.

Instead of saying that, Aspeiran urged Shuria.

“Tell me.”

“Um… Well.”

Shuria hesitated. She fiddled with her clasped hands, then finally mustered the courage to speak.

“Could I go to the commercial district for a bit?”

“The commercial district? Why?”

“There’s something I really need to buy. I also want to try riding a dog sled. Some close maidservants agreed to go with me.”

As he listened to Shuria’s explanation, a few imaginations floated up in Aspeiran’s mind.

Shuria buried in snow after the dog sled overturned, Shuria crying after getting lost in the commercial district, Shuria attacked by thugs…

“……”

Veins popped in Aspeiran’s temples. No. Absolutely can’t allow it.

Aspeiran spoke in a voice that had hardened stiff.

“No.”

“What?”

Shuria’s eyes widened at the refusal that came out more firmly than she imagined. Shuria stood on tiptoe and argued.

“Why?”

“It’s dangerous.”

“I’m not going alone. It’s not dangerous at all.”

“Even if a hundred people accompany you, no.”

“Re-, really. Your Majes-”

Aspeiran sharply turned his head, feeling like his resolve would weaken at her teary eyes. He walked ahead and said,

“Let’s stop talking about that and hurry. Didn’t you say you want to eat walnut pies?”

“……”

Shuria hung her head dejectedly and followed behind, dragging her feet. Aspeiran tried hard to ignore his fluttering heart.

It’s fine. If we finish the walk like this and I feed her the pies, she’ll soon forget about going out.

However, contrary to Aspeiran’s expectations, Shuria had a gloomy face the entire time she ate the pies.

Every feature on her face drooped downward pitifully, sadness dripping from them.

Aspeiran squeezed his eyes shut. The small sprout deep in his heart turned pointy and pricked his entire body.

It really made him feel like he would go crazy.