“For the time being, I will stay at the Empress’s Palace, so send your reports through there.”

Without any explanation, the Emperor’s sudden declaration of staying at the Empress’s Palace prompted the vassals to bow their heads silently.

Since it hadn’t been long since their marriage, their understanding glances suggested they fully comprehended the desire to see each other more often.

Until recently, Kasallin had felt a period of loneliness, as the vast forest separating the distant Emperor’s Palace seemed like an endless ocean.

But perhaps that time was better, Kasallin thought upon waking early in the morning.

“Your… Majesty?”

“Sleep more.”

His arm, serving as her pillow, came into view, obstructing her sight.

Parnes was lying diagonally on his side, embracing Kasallin from behind.

His forearm around her waist revealed tightly knotted muscles that seemed to pulse with life whenever she shifted.

His imposing body, pressed closely against her back, felt as though hot blood coursed vividly beneath his skin, causing Kasallin’s cheeks to flush red from the morning.

“Your Majesty, I’m not going anywhere.”

“That’s obvious. Where would a sleeping person go?”

Parnes murmured in response, his eyes closed.

His low, sunken voice felt like a gentle breeze tickling her ear.

“The one who knows this keeps me pinned down so I can’t move an inch while I sleep?”

“The bed is high. For a lady who might roll this way and that if left alone, it’s dangerous.”

“When have I ever rolled around? Honestly, what do you take me for?”

As Kasallin grumbled discontentedly, a chuckle finally escaped Parnes’s lips.

“Didn’t the court physician repeatedly urge you to take care of your body from now on, my lady?”

He lowered his hand to gently touch Kasallin’s stomach.

His cautious touch was like a beast with deadly claws carefully handling a fluffy chick’s down.

That was precisely the problem.

Ever since Sir Leon diagnosed Kasallin with pregnancy, Parnes’s already extraordinary overprotectiveness had escalated to an almost pathological level day by day.

His temporary move to the Empress’s Palace was because he couldn’t bear to leave Kasallin alone.

It was so extreme that even Ludwig shook his head in disbelief.

But Parnes was resolute.

What if, in his absence, she misstepped on the stairs, choked on food, or was startled by a bad dream? Such were his worries.

No matter how many people were around to care for her, persuading him that such concerns were unnecessary was futile.

Parnes was simply acting out of a desire to care for and protect his pregnant wife, but Kasallin, unable to fully accept his intentions, had to secretly cool her frustration every morning.

“What would you like for breakfast? I’ll have them prepare whatever you wish.”

“I’m fine with anything. Though it’d be better if Your Majesty let me walk on my own.”

As she was carried in his arms to the breakfast room, as usual, Kasallin spoke.

“Don’t you often feel especially dizzy in the mornings, my lady? I’ll let you go if you eat heartily. But what about the breakfast menu? Pumpkin soup with cream and warm milk with honey—don’t you want that?”

“No, how did you know?”

“You mentioned it before, didn’t you?”

“I mumbled it to myself, and you heard and remembered it?”

Parnes gave a faint, almost imperceptible smile in lieu of a reply, seating Kasallin at the breakfast room table they had reached.

The softly simmered pumpkin soup and the sweet aroma of steaming milk soothed her heart.

Parnes blew on the hot soup to cool it and brought it to Kasallin’s lips.

“Open your mouth.”

“I can eat on my own.”

“Alright, just this one bite. There you go.”

Truly, Kasallin was not accustomed to such treatment.

When she was pregnant with Shallen’s child, all of this was unimaginable.

Back then, Shallen visited Kasallin only once or twice a week during her pregnancy, and even then, he’d leave in less than an hour, citing busy affairs.

Looking back now, those rare visits were likely to indulge in risky flirtations with Rose, weren’t they?

Imagining them exchanging subtle glances in the corner of a corridor or under a wall unseen by servants still made her blood boil.

‘To think I genuinely loved such a man. Why did I do that?’

He dismissed her coldly, saying she couldn’t have a court physician since she wasn’t yet royalty, and to see a regular doctor.

Worried that news of her pregnancy before marriage would tarnish his reputation in society, he warned her never to leave the house.

Whenever conflicts arose, his eyes, handing her jewels and money, regarded Kasallin as nothing but a materialistic woman.

His light and petty mouth, whispering sweet nothings only when he was in the mood, treated her as if she were naturally his possession.

‘It feels like just yesterday.’

Chewing the creamy pumpkin soup spreading softly in her mouth, Kasallin gazed at the man before her with a sense of unfamiliarity.

The fact that the man serving her meal with a face as serious as when presiding over imperial meetings was her husband and the Emperor of this country felt strangely new.

“Your Majesty, I apologize for interrupting your meal.”

At that moment, Ludwig entered the breakfast room holding something.

Parnes, receiving what looked like a small letter from Ludwig, excused himself to Kasallin and broke the seal.

As Parnes silently read the letter, his expression shifted back to that of Emperor Parnes, not Kasallin’s husband.

He crumpled the paper in his hand without reading it twice.

Realizing it wasn’t a friendly note from a childhood friend, Kasallin asked seriously,

“What’s the matter, Your Majesty?”

Parnes paused, gazing at Kasallin silently.

He seemed to weigh whether to tell her or not, but the hesitation didn’t last long.

Parnes unfolded the crumpled letter and placed it for Kasallin to see.

As Kasallin read the brief contents of the letter, her eyes gradually narrowed.

“This is…”

“In fact, I’ve been in contact with Aster Willard for some time. As it says, it seems Shallen Riche and the Rudo mother and daughter are plotting something.”

The fact that Aster was monitoring the Kan royal family on their side wasn’t particularly surprising.

What mattered was the information Aster had provided.

[ Shallen Riche plans to reveal to everyone that Her Majesty the Empress cannot bear an heir. The Rudo mother and daughter visited the Kan royal family to join that scheme. Soon, unfavorable rumors will spread in their social circles. ]

Pressing her throbbing temples reflexively at the mention of Shallen’s name, Kasallin read the letter repeatedly.

“Honestly, I’m at a loss for words.”

Things were unfolding in an absurd way.

What was certain was that Shallen had miscalculated this time, and the Rudo mother and daughter, blinded by sweet temptation, were digging their own graves.

Moreover, only a select few knew about her current pregnancy.

“Come to think of it, at the engagement banquet, it was Isabella Rudo who arranged for Shallen and me to talk. I brushed it off vaguely then, but it seems there was something between them.”

“…”

Noticing a beat later that Parnes had been silent for a while, still fixated on Aster’s letter, Kasallin cautiously looked up.

And she flinched, startled.

His face was incomparably stern compared to when they first met in the flower garden, with quiet anger trying to break through the lock of patience in his eyes.

“Your… Majesty?”

“It’s alright.”

Parnes closed and opened his eyes quietly, grasping Kasallin’s hand across the table.

As if nothing had happened, his face toward Kasallin was as gentle as ever.

“My lady, I have an idea. Will you hear me out?”

In the small greenhouse of the Rudo ducal estate,

The ornamental flowers planted along the long flowerbed were so perfect in color and form that they seemed almost artificial.

The nobles gathered at Duchess Rudo’s salon, called the “gathering of the chosen,” were spending a leisurely and elegant afternoon.

Having long reigned at the center of high society, they considered themselves a privileged elite.

Being close to the Rudo ducal family was, in their minds, akin to having connections with the imperial family.

“Duchess Rudo, I heard you returned from your trip to the Kan kingdom last night. How was it?”

Marquis Clemens said, raising an empty teacup above his head.

While a maid hurriedly refilled it, Duchess Rudo, seated at the head, lightly curved her lips into a smile.

“It was a delightful journey. I toured the Regalia Falls and visited the museums and galleries in the capital.”

“As expected, Your Grace has a remarkable thirst for knowledge. If it were me, I’d have sought out the public balls first!”

Laughter mingled pleasantly, resonating softly over the tea table.

This time, Marchioness Clemens chimed in.

“By the way, I don’t see Lady Isabella Rudo.”

“That child is still in Kan. She was so eager to study more in the capital, I couldn’t stop her.”

“How can mother and daughter be so alike? Flawless refinement, beautiful grace, perseverance, and modesty.”

“You flatter us too much, Marchioness Clemens.”

“She was even invited by the Kan royal family. As expected, even they recognize Duchess Rudo’s prestige…”

“Marchioness.”

Perhaps that’s enough.

Duchess Rudo, with a kind smile on her lips and weary boredom in her eyes, interjected.

Marchioness Clemens closed her mouth awkwardly.

“Speaking of the Kan royal family, something comes to mind. I heard a strange story there.”

“A strange story?”

As Duchess Rudo introduced a new topic, everyone’s attention turned to her.

With a troubled expression, she paused before whispering, “This is just between us,” and gathered everyone closer.

“The court apothecaries there were whispering. How could Her Majesty Empress Kasallin, who cannot bear an heir, be crowned Empress…?”