No one could refute Nathaniel’s words.

Everyone knew well that he would really do it if he said he would.

Not killing, but taking away the reproductive ability.

Nothing was scarier than this.

Even Duke Trevia kept quiet.

The Emperor looked at him with a smirk, unable to stop smiling at the thought of finally stepping on the proud Duke’s nose.

“Is there no other opinion? Then let’s end this meeting here.”

The Emperor said with a satisfied smile.

Finally, his son took the forefront in politics.

(This is a time separator.)

After the meeting ended, the nobles quickly gathered around Duke Trevia.

“Isn’t this the end now that the Crown Prince has spoken?”

Count Valter rubbed both hands anxiously.

Things were turning out more complicated and difficult than initially thought.

The looks directed at them were increasingly unpleasant.

As loyal as the imperial citizens were to the dragon faith, they could not overcome moral repugnance and hot weather.

“How can he, the Emperor’s child, be so indifferent to women?”

One noble grumbled.

Duke Trevia pondered for a moment and then spoke.

“If we cannot persuade His Highness, we should persuade someone else.”

“Someone else?”

“Yes. There is only one person who might be able to move His Highness, isn’t there?”

“The Crown Princess, surely?”

At Count Valter’s words, the Duke nodded.

He hadn’t thought of going this far, but the Duke felt he had no choice.

“Isn’t that too demanding?”

“This is all for the Empire.”

Several times, the Duke agitated the people, insisting that they must personally persuade the Crown Princess.

But the reaction was far from enthusiastic.

‘The Duke must be close to retiring.’

It was understandable since the Crown Princess had no reason to accept such a proposal.

If you last too long in this field, you start to believe you’re a god.

It was a natural thing.

With many people around trying to pick up crumbs from him, and most things happening at his mere word, even the Emperor could not completely ignore his opinions since the Duke was his teacher.

No one opposed Duke Trevia’s words.

Other than the Duke, the rest of the nobles exchanged quiet glances.

The old man’s retirement time was approaching.

(This is a time separator.)

Cassian suddenly jumped up and shouted in a grim voice.

“I have only one wife, Jaina. If you push a woman on me as if it’s not your own life, I’ll cut off that family’s line, he said.”

“Ahhhh! Stop it, Cassian.”

At my reaction, Cassian laughed uproariously.

Teresa lightly hit Cassian’s back and looked at him sideways.

“Stop teasing, Cassian.”

“Ha, hahaha. Who would have known that His Highness would say such a thing?”

I couldn’t lift my head in embarrassment.

Of course, I was thrilled that Nathaniel stood up for me.

Thanks to him standing in the front, the unreasonable demands were greatly reduced.

With the momentum of Duke Trevia’s faction breaking down, the projects they had been blocking proceeded smoothly.

“It seems to me that the Emperor is the one who suffered the least loss.”

At my grumbling, Teresa and Cassian smiled awkwardly.

The only loss the Emperor suffered was a slight difficulty between the noble faction and Duke Winters’ house.

The Duke’s house, for my sake and to hold my position, took enormous losses, reduced the production of marble, and stood against the noble faction.

“Well, that’s how His Majesty’s politics have been so far.”

Not dirtying his own hands and gaining pure profit through slight treachery.

That was how the Emperor operated the empire with minimal noise.

I felt like a puppet in the Emperor’s palm, and my mood sank.

“But, it’s not like His Majesty hasn’t lost anything.”

Seeing my face, Teresa spoke quietly.
Perhaps many nobles thought the same as Your Highness about this matter. Isn’t trust between one another the most important thing in doing something?

“I’m not sure if trust is needed in politics.”

Teresa said with a faint smile at my skeptical attitude.

“No matter how rationally one tries to act, in the end, humans are creatures of emotion. This matter will come back in some form someday.”

“Wow, that was a very dangerous statement, Teresa.”

At Casian’s words, Teresa, seemingly embarrassed, covered her face with a teacup.

We looked at her like that and laughed while joking around.

“By the way, what part of the Crown Prince did Your Highness fall for?”

“Huh?”

I rolled my eyes at Casian’s question.

It was difficult to say what part I had fallen for. After kissing a few times last night, the fluttering I felt at just seeing his face had subsided a lot.

Nathaniel’s expression was strange, too, as we both quietly turned our backs and fell asleep.

‘Was it just that I liked the physical touch?’

Having never been in love before, it was hard for me to distinguish between feeling good and liking the other person. And I didn’t want to hastily define my feelings.

‘Is this more than friendship, less than love? Is that what it is?’

Nathaniel too, acknowledging our subtle relationship, quietly left in the morning.

“Your Highness?”