Noah couldn’t continue speaking. Carson rested his arms on his long legs and leaned forward, clenching his fists against his mouth. Words almost escaped his slightly parted teeth, but he swallowed them back.

Lost in thought for a moment, Carson stretched out and casually crossed his legs.

“Well, then it’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Marcus was a knight. If he’s by Ines’ side, he could at least protect her.”

Noah narrowed his eyes at the unbelievable statement.

“Didn’t you see? He covered her with a priest’s robe so others wouldn’t see her break down. He’s a man of chivalry. So it’s more reassuring that he’s there.”

“Are you serious?”

“Why would I lie?”

“But he is young and, as you said, a former knight, so he’s quite strong and good-looking…”

“Stop.”

His mouth shut at the spat-out word.

“It’s fine. He’s going to become a priest anyway.”

Hearing those self-reassuring words, Noah steeled his resolve.

“No. Marcus Knights resigned from his knightly duties to become a member of the assembly.”

“What?”

For a moment, Carson leaned back deeply into the carriage seat, visibly annoyed and frustrated.

The Edmont Temple was not only for priests but also for those aspiring to be assembly members.

Attending classes on education was a given for prospective assembly members. Just because they wore pre-clergy robes did not mean they would all become priests.

“Damn.”

He ended up uttering a harsh word he hadn’t used since he was fifteen.

“What the hell is this? Why do I feel like this?”

Noah could not answer, feeling the first pang of mutual anguish.

“Everything’s a mess.”

He stretched his legs across the opposite carriage seat, still wearing his shoes. Just knowing that Ines was suffering from crippling panic attacks in his absence was enough to unsettle him.

So wasn’t it good that someone was there by her side?

The robust red-haired man, a former knight and an assembly member candidate, was exactly the kind of person Ines needed right now. Moreover, he had changed his life path thanks to her support, so wouldn’t he be intensely loyal to her?

“But don’t worry about it too much. You two have already made up your minds about each other, haven’t you?”

“…Well, yes.”

The answer to the question intended to ease his mind was not satisfactory. So he had to ask again.

“You did confess, didn’t you?”

“Confess what?”

“You must have conveyed your feelings.”

“What feelings are you talking about?”

“If not a confession, then at least a proposal, and you must have gotten her consent.”

“There’s no need for such words between us.”

“Where in the world does such a relationship exist?”

“It’s not necessary…”

Until now, he had spoken with conviction, but doubt crept into the end of his sentence. Not just in his words—his expression, too, briefly showed a strange uneasiness. Noah felt a slight tug at the back of his neck and asked him again.

“So, did you get her consent or not?”

“…It’s as good as getting it.”

“Why did you do that? You, who like to be certain about things.”

Unable to hold back, Carson moistened his lips toward Noah. He wasn’t sure why he had to go this far in his explanation, but right now, he needed some kind of certainty.

“Ines carries my portrait around with her.”

“What?”

“Only mine, no one else’s.”

“…”

“Plus, she said she would live the rest of her life solely for me.”

For a moment, Noah lost his words. A portrait is one thing, but do ordinary couples make such a declaration?

“That doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll be your woman for life, does it?”

“What else could it mean?”
Priests also pray every day to live their lives for the gods. That doesn’t mean they intend to become the gods’ spouses.

At that moment, Carson abruptly stood up, hitting his head hard against the carriage ceiling.

“Ugh.”

“Are you alright?”

However, he couldn’t say a word.

Only his own portrait, which lay beside the portrait of the goddess Heclercia, blurred his vision.

As did the sight of Ines, who stood in front of them praying with clasped hands.

One year later, Landhill.

Several months had passed since Landhill had become a major fiefdom by integrating Rusonia and started filling the depleted royal treasury.

Recently, the private trading fleet of the empress had been ambitiously advancing before completely vanishing beneath the waves due to the sinking of a massive ship.

It was an accident caused by the empress, desperate for money, pushing too hard without knowing the real situation. That fleet was operating under the authority that Carson had transferred after successful trading with the barbaric Yavanta across the sea.

To wield and maintain power as an empress, substantial money was needed; showing off her robustness also required money.

Noah was there in the office, holding an official letter from Yavanta, who wanted direct dealings with Carson’s trade fleet.

“It ends up coming to me, after all.”

“It’s the authority you should have had in the first place.”