That evening, delegations from foreign countries presented gifts. Among them were delegations from Egelbahmot and Ragal, but none sent from Netepel. Given his nature, he probably didn’t properly understand the meaning of severing ties, so I thought he would surely send something using the birthday as an excuse, but it was unexpected.

Ophelia asked her husband sitting on the throne beside her.

“I heard Netepel headed towards the western archipelago. Do you know why?”

The answer came immediately.

“He probably went to Brinwell. It fits the circumstances… The second prince quite dislikes me.”

However, there was no connection between Netepel and Idren to say that.

If anything, the one who might have incurred Netepel’s hatred was her. After all, they had an argument last time. Ophelia corrected herself.

“If Netepel has joined hands with Brinwell, it might be because of me.”

“No.”

Idren asserted, twisting his lips tightly.

“His jealousy towards me would be hundreds of times greater than any desire for revenge against you. That’s how ugly men who are envious tend to be.”

Ophelia thought his words didn’t quite add up. Idren wasn’t one to talk about being narrow-minded, but he wasn’t ugly.

While she hesitated whether to tell him that or not, Idren changed the subject.

“However, I’m curious why the emperor allowed him to leave the country, so I sent a letter to the second princess.”

The second princess was someone she had only seen a few times at conferences when she was young. Though not close to her, Ophelia knew that the second princess owned a large merchant group that covered all of Egelbahmot. She seemed to have heard that they also traded with Tesendot.

Idren apparently exchanged information with her occasionally.

Ophelia glanced at Reden’s delegation coming forward behind Ragal’s delegation and said.

“Mahanas didn’t come out.”

“I had the Reden prince confined to his assigned room.”

And Idren added in a chilly voice.

“From now on, if you allow it, I’ll make sure he can’t even set foot in Aglante.”

“There’s no need for that since he can’t really do anything else anyway.”

Moreover, she had other plans in mind for dealing with Mahanas.

Idren said no more and covered her hand. Apart from wanting to intertwine their fingers, he seemed conscious of her wound and hesitant to grasp her hand. He gently stroked the back of her hand with his large one.

After a moment of silence, he said.

“From now on, it would be better if you were accompanied by knights when meeting someone.”

Since the scene he had witnessed was indeed not good, Ophelia didn’t argue. He had reason to worry.

And the result of that worry appeared the very next day.

On the last day of the banquet, Ophelia was able to see what her husband had prepared as her birthday gift.

“Hazel Chesa, commander of the 2nd division of the Royal Knights.”

Hazel, dressed impressively in formal uniform and bowing before her, looked different from usual. It was natural since he was standing as a division commander, not a guard knight.

So, this was Idren’s gift. A private army she could command at will.

Feeling dazed, Ophelia extended her hand to the knight waiting before her. Hazel kissed the back of her hand with a disciplined gesture and descended below the platform.

While she was still taking in what had happened, Idren turned to her and asked in a low voice.

“Are you pleased?”

It wasn’t a matter of being pleased or not.

A private army. Ophelia had never had such a thing before. There were knights, but their masters were always others. Those with real power and military strength like Idren or Mahanas.

She blinked.

“…I didn’t expect this.”

“Come to think of it, I didn’t provide you with a private army in your previous life.”

It was as if he had forgotten by mistake.

But receiving a private army from one’s husband wasn’t common. Even if that husband was a king, given that she was a princess of Reden and a descendant of the Mevasa royal family, her private army should have been from Reden. Other kings didn’t just hand over their own troops to their queens.

When he did things like this that other husbands wouldn’t seem to do, Ophelia truly didn’t know how to respond.

Even if you like it, shouldn’t you keep your wits about you when showing appreciation?

You could give your heart, but not everything you possessed – that was the line to be maintained as royalty.

Not knowing what to say, Ophelia lowered her eyes.

What came out of her mouth in the end was just a pitiful question.

“…Is it alright to give me soldiers like this?”

“It’s fine since I expanded the army for this purpose.”

But she knew that an army couldn’t be prepared so quickly. Organizing people wasn’t something that could be done in a short time.

So after allocating the 2nd division to her, Idren would have to waste time and resources to fill that gap.

As if reading Ophelia’s mind, he said.

“It’s more dangerous to leave nothing behind. In the past life, I was much younger… I don’t know what I was thinking, leaving you alone.”

“Nothing happened then.”

“That was just luck. I don’t intend to rely on chance again.”

And the man carefully interlaced his fingers with hers. He tilted his head slightly and whispered in a gentle voice.

“If any problems arise, respond in a way that minimizes harm to you as much as possible. I can take care of the aftermath when I return.”

After the banquet ended, the delegations returned one by one to where they had come from. The castle was very busy seeing them off and cleaning up after all the people who had come and gone.

It wasn’t just the castle staff who were busy. Idren too was going through a busier period than ever.

He was in a meeting in his office with Salode and Soar’s two sons – Penrel and his older brother Roxen Soar. Just at dawn, an additional report had come in. It was news that 500 infantry had been added to the Brinwell army.

A heavy silence descended inside the office. It was natural since war was never a light topic.

Roxen was the first to speak.

“War will break out soon. Perhaps… it might even overlap with the harvest season.”

Roxen spoke indirectly with ‘perhaps’, but it would certainly be so. Brinwell would aim for that time to cross the border, so it was obvious.

Idren said what he had already concluded before.

“I’ll go to the front lines first to buy time, so we’ll conscript after the harvest season is over.”

“You can’t, Your Majesty.”

The one who immediately objected was Salode. Idren said to the finance advisor who was looking at him with a stunned face as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have.

“The elder families will send additional conscripts, so we won’t be short on troops. We have supplies stockpiled in advance.”

“Those aren’t our allies, are they?”

It was an obvious statement since troops sent by the elder families were unlikely to be helpful in the war.

But that was all the more reason to draw them out towards the border. Idren said.

“It’s better for me to take them than to leave them near the capital.”

“But Your Majesty,”

“This isn’t a simple territorial dispute. What do you think Brinwell really wants?”

“…I know they’re aiming for the throne of Aglante. However,”

And Salode closed his mouth again. He looked like he was trying to find the best solution, but Idren knew he wouldn’t come up with a better plan than his own. He added.

“What I’m worried about is Edegrun falling into the hands of the Elder Council while I’m away.”

He had been fighting wars since he was fifteen until his bones grew thick. Even setting aside his personal concerns, objectively speaking, the capital with Ophelia alone was the most dangerous.

Nevertheless, Salode couldn’t easily agree. He said with a still worried face.

“If something happens to Your Majesty, the monarchy will collapse. You don’t have an heir either.”

“I know. But what you’re worried about won’t happen.”

He had somehow survived in his past life too.

Idren hadn’t forgotten any of the mistakes he had made in the war of his past life. He had no intention of repeating any of them.

He said to the advisor who had been by his side from the beginning of his reign until now.

“You have two tasks. One is to conscript troops immediately after the harvest season and send them to the border. The other is to support Ophelia well so that there are no problems for her.”

The meeting ended with his will prevailing, as no one had come up with a better opinion.

While Soar’s two brothers left immediately at the dismissal order, Salode did not.

“Your Majesty, I know it’s presumptuous, but you need to reconsider.”

Idren wanted to tell the finance advisor that they had adopted an even more dangerous strategy in their past life. At that time, they had been so cornered that they had no other option to choose.

It was better to step into danger first before being pushed into such a tight spot, but Salode wouldn’t understand that yet.

To reassure him, he had to use another method. Idren said to the man who was unusually persistent in advising him.

“Salode Chesa. I never take the lives of those under my command lightly.”

When Penrel died, he had truly struggled. Protecting the capital and the throne had not been a consolation for that loss.

To the point where he’d rather cut off a finger than go through the same thing again.

He said to the still pale-faced finance advisor.

“If you find my words hard to believe, think of Ophelia. You know how I feel about her, don’t you?”