Carlos grinned.

“We don’t have to go to the banquet if you don’t want to. If you say you want to rest, we’ll rest. If you say you want to play, we’ll play.”

Carlos’s words, which seemed to say that he would go along with whatever she wanted, sounded quite sweet, but at the same time, they also sounded too good to be true.

“You have to work, sir. Count Leopold has been looking really unwell these days.”

“That guy has never looked well since he met me.”

Carlos had been cutting down on sleep and working separately, dedicating as much time to Mercedes as he had been working. The workload hadn’t decreased at all.

Leopold’s complaints about dying were just a joke.

“Ah, right. I’ll be making an announcement soon. That you will become my empress.”

“An announcement. That’s a relie… f.”

She felt strange. It was surprising to become someone’s wife once again, and for Carlos to give her ‘status’ and ‘high position’ without hesitation.

“To think that you will become my empress. It feels like I have the whole world. Please wait a bit longer for you to become the queen dowager. I’m sorry.”

His affectionate words somehow made her heart swell.

She smiled faintly. Carlos thought that she had been expressing her emotions quite honestly recently.

Although faint, Carlos could notice it. He had observed her that much.

“Thank you. So when will you make the announcement?”

“Hmm. I want to do it as soon as possible. The later the announcement, the more people will push empress candidates to me, and the more people will ignore you.”

“It might turn into a tiring fight. Your Majesty will have a hard time.”

“Well. Those who are quick-witted will already know, and there will be strong opposition too. As I just said, other young ladies will be pushed toward me. But don’t worry.”

Carlos leaned in and whispered to her as if he were telling a secret story.

“I don’t even notice any woman other than you.”

“……”

“There’s no need to bring in anyone else, and I won’t get tired of the fierce opposition.”

At his words that were no different from a confession, Mercedes’s heart was pounding. It also felt like heat was rushing to her always cold hands and feet.

“Only Mercedes. Because I’m captivated by you.”

Carlos stopped whispering and leaned back deep into the chair, away from her.

Unlike his relaxed appearance, Mercedes bit her lip. Her face and ears must have turned red. It was embarrassing.

“…… Then. What should we do about…… these piled up invitations.”

So she quickly changed the subject and pointed to the invitations in the small basket on the table.

Not knowing much about the ecosystem of the capital’s nobility, she needed his advice to select the banquets worth attending.

Carlos picked out a few invitations and handed them to her.

“Just attending these will be enough.”

“…… Yes. Then please narrow down the escorts further. You can’t attend all of−”

“I’ll go to all of them. Mercedes. You still seem to doubt my intentions, so let me show you conviction.”

Ah, this person, really.

Mercedes wanted to shut her eyes tightly.

She didn’t want to give her heart. She had never loved or trusted anyone in her life before.

Yet he kept making her want to have that ‘first’.

Unable to look in Carlos’s direction, she only stared at the unreadable invitations.

Carlos was closely observing Mercedes like that.

“Half of the invitations I picked are for banquets hosted by the empress dowager’s forces. They’re dangerous places. But at the same time, they’re places where you must attend and shine. They’re the biggest banquets of the social season, after all.”

“I see…… But I’m curious about something. The empress dowager doesn’t seem to have decided what to do with me yet, so how should I act at these banquets?”

“…… Right. About that.”

At first, because she had shown a naive and stupid appearance in front of the empress dowager, the two of them thought the empress dowager would summon her or do something.

But the empress dowager only used her acquaintances to monitor her and did nothing.

She was just using the nobility council through her noble acquaintances to annoy Carlos with succession pressure and manipulating those around her to ostracize Mercedes.

But Mercedes was not a completely ostracized figure. Her existence and position stood out.

Then she should be angry…… It was strange.

The empress dowager didn’t even summon Mercedes.

“In the past, the empress dowager had a fiery temper. In the old days, she would have summoned you to pressure or persuade you…… She returned to the capital in a grand manner, but she’s not touching you. Of course, she’s spreading rumors and having you ostracized.”

“Hmm. Usually it’s hard to even harass to this extent. But the empress dowager, Your Majesty……”

“Yeah. It’s strange for her to be satisfied with this level of harassment. For someone who excitedly returned upon hearing news of you, what she’s doing now is mild.”

“That’s right. It feels like there must be something more.”

“This has become very annoying. It seems she thoroughly cooled her head at the villa. For someone who can arbitrarily dominate high society to become level-headed as well.”

Carlos clicked his tongue.

“For now, it seems it would be best for you to continue showing a innocent yet unyielding appearance like you are now.”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

“Hmm. And looking at these invitations…… I think it would be better to announce our marriage beforehand. I’ll prepare for it.”

“Yes. Your Majesty.”

Things were going well.

If she really became the empress, Count Cromwell would be delighted. Also, Carlos would be free from the pressure of succession.

For now, Mercedes’s goal was being accomplished, and the attack cards the empress dowager was showing were being blocked.

But the details were unknown.

Carlos thought that he should try his best to extract information about the empress dowager. The problem was that the empress dowager palace, her ladies-in-waiting, and her connections were too solid, but perhaps there was a gap somewhere.

His heart felt a bit heavy at the thought of wrestling with informants for a while.

* * *

On a night when all the lights in the imperial palace were out. There was one place where light circulated. It was the emperor’s office.

Carlos sat on the sofa, not at the office desk, and asked indifferently.

“It took a whole month. Skyra. Why are you so late?”

In front of him stood a woman with messy black hair tied roughly, Skyra.

Wearing a travel-worn robe, she was quite thin from head to toe with a fatigued face, and being tall with an androgynous face, it was difficult to guess her gender at a glance.

“Seriously! Telling someone at the edge of the continent to come back in ten days is too much! Do you know how I almost died coming back by carriage for a month? My back is wrecked! Don’t you know how to say a word of praise or acknowledge the hard work. Really?”

“Where did you use that space movement magic you’re so proud of?”

“Ha! I exhausted my mana restoring Your Majesty’s glorious territory, so how could I use such a tremendous magic to return? And also, as soon as I come back, you’re going to tell me to heal Your Majesty, right? How can I heal if I use space movement magic! If I rest to gather mana, you’ll say something about it, won’t you!”

“Ah. I see.”

“You’re always so carefree!”

The woman with deep dark circles pulled at her hair.

“Talking with Your Majesty makes me feel like I’m going to explode and die!”

“If you die, I die too. Then this country will fall. You say you hate this country so much, but in the end, you love it, don’t you? So don’t die easily.”

“Ahhh!”

The woman stomped her foot in frustration.

“Do you find it so fun to tease me? I’m the best magician in this country, you know. I can’t live being treated like this!”

“No way. Teasing you by paying that salary, buying all the books you want, procuring all the magic ingredients, even building a research building in the imperial castle, and even your disciples−”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. That’s why I’m loyal. Yes. Money is the best after all. It’s my fault.”

Skyra bowed to the emperor as if drained of energy. Then she walked over and plopped down on the long sofa in front of the emperor’s desk.

“As expected, this sofa is the best…… Give it to me before the other officers really steal it.”

“No. And who could steal it? I would know everything.”

“Even if this really disappears, don’t use the aura to find the culprit. You waste the aura like that, and even if you ask me to heal you, there’s a limit to my healing.”

“I haven’t used the aura recently.”

“Ugh…… Anyways, the sofa−”

“Without even that sofa, my officers would hardly come to the office. They would probably summon me to the officers’ room. My officers have no hierarchy, don’t they.”

“The officers who come for a single sofa are really strange too.”

“You lying down in front of the emperor is strange too. Come quickly and do the healing. These days, I can’t even do paperwork well, so work efficiency has dropped.”

“Can’t I rest for just one day?”

“Whether you do it today or tomorrow. The mana is the same anyway. You’ve been charging for a month in the carriage, so heal today and rest from tomorrow onward.”

“Sigh…… I understand.”

Skyra scratched her dirty hair roughly and forcibly lifted her body to approach Carlos, who was sitting on the sofa.

She held his hand and read the curse circulating inside his body.

“…… Your Majesty. It has become really severe. Are you sure you really haven’t used the aura?”

Her eyes, which had been blank until now, became serious.

Carlos smiled bitterly.

“Is it that bad?”

“…… Yes. At this rate, you might really turn to stone.”

Worry rose in Skyra’s eyes.