Netepel sent two types of letters. One was a congratulatory message for the coronation, and the other was about debt.

Ophelia read the first letter without much interest. In Netepel’s characteristic roundabout manner, it said that since she had been bothered by the wedding congratulations, he thought she might feel the same this time, so he omitted the congratulations.

-I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. If it was unpleasant, I’m sorry.

It was a flawless statement.

Except that it was excessively informal.

Ophelia closed her eyes, thinking about whether she should send a reply clearly defining their relationship. It seemed Netepel would interpret whatever she said as he wished.

Anyway, there was only one thing she really needed to care about. Ophelia said to the man sitting on her desk, looking at her.

“I’ll call Netepel to Aglante. There’s the debt Mahanas left, and considering what he did to Anika, it’s better to resolve it face to face.”

“Do as you wish.”

“…When you keep talking like that, I’m becoming more and more selfish.”

And Ophelia realized that even what she had just said was self-centered. Pushing her problems onto others.

Being with someone who agreed to everything made her already low consideration for others drop even further. Ophelia now doubted if she could normally persuade anyone if she needed to get what she wanted from someone other than Idren.

Idren didn’t seem to take her words too seriously. Instead, he lowered his head. Soon, a light kiss touched and left her cheek.

“I like it.”

“What if there comes a time when you have to be with someone other than yourself?”

“That won’t happen if you live with me forever.”

The conversation wasn’t going anywhere. Ophelia looked with slightly sharp eyes at the man who seemed perfect for being completely taken advantage of somewhere. It seemed this side was also good at misinterpreting things.

Unlike with Netepel, it wasn’t annoying though.

Leaning more towards her, Idren said.

“I’m not joking.”

“I didn’t say you were.”

It would have been better if it were a joke. Among the things Idren said to her, it was harder to find ones that weren’t sincere.

Idren stared at her like that and said.

“May I hold your hand?”

“…Do as you wish.”

Always asking strange questions. Ophelia grumbled inwardly.

He said he would hold her hand, but the man only placed his hand close to hers on the desk. He then lightly intertwined his pinky with hers.

It wasn’t nice to see him take just a little after demanding everything and then being allowed. Ophelia sighed and grabbed his hand firmly.

“Don’t even think about doing business or anything like that.”

And Ophelia turned her head away sharply. Idren looked at the woman who always tried to hide her affectionate actions somehow. The haughtily turned head looked good.

Thank goodness. Looking at the small hand on top of his, he secretly felt relieved. Ophelia looked much brighter than before. It felt almost the same as before Starlet and Anika died.

It seemed she wasn’t losing much sleep worrying either.

If things continued like this, there would be nothing more to wish for. Even knowing that heads were still hanging on the castle walls and the smell of blood hadn’t fully dissipated outside, Idren thought so. Anyway, Ophelia would be inside the castle, so what happened outside didn’t concern her.

Even if what Ophelia wanted was outside, it would be the same. Idren intended to pull everything she mentioned inside the castle.

Even if it was a handsome man with impure thoughts.

Anyway, the second prince of Egelbamot couldn’t even become his rival. Idren was now certain of that. No matter how much that man with strange ideas loitered around, Ophelia would never allow him what she had allowed Idren.

“If the second prince makes you even slightly uncomfortable, feel free to tell me.”

Idren said, pulling his hand out from under her white hand and properly holding hers. After all, he was her husband, so he had the right to be angry together about any harm done to her.

“I’ll handle it myself.”

“Of course you should. But it might be bothersome to take action.”

Ophelia was someone who had many important things besides the second prince. So even spending energy to react to him one by one might be a waste.

Ophelia sighed deeply, however she had taken his words.

“…Really, absolutely don’t do business.”

He didn’t think she had ever told him not to do something twice before. Pulling her hand slightly, Idren replied.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Recently, the events happening in the neighboring country of Reden were quite unsettling, so Orien was paying quite a bit of attention to that side.

He had known for a while that the Prince of Reden was oppressing the country. That vain prince was a person who wanted to enjoy more than what he had.

But no matter how many people of Reden died, it was not related to him. He was the Crown Prince of Egelbamot, not Reden.

As a rule, a leader who is to lead a country needs to turn a blind eye to some extent to the circumstances of other countries. Not being one with unnecessary compassion, Orien could easily ignore the hardships of the Reden people.

Rather, what he should be wary of was the rise of Aglante’s national power.

As it was, the Duke of Aglante and the Princess of Reden were married. While Reden might be a small country with nothing, Aglante was not. Even though the previous Duke had been a tyrant, the land itself was fertile, so they had a lot.

Of course, the Duke of Aglante would not want to clash with Egelbamot. That man who had come to the throne through a coup d’état was not on good terms with the two countries on either side, Brinwell and Tessendot, so he had to be at peace with other countries.

Moreover, hadn’t he just fought a war with Brinwell recently?

While he didn’t believe that peace with Aglante would last forever, the Duke wouldn’t cause problems right away.

Orien believed this situation would continue for the next few years.

Until the riot broke out in Reden.

The Prince of Reden seemed to be more stupid than he had thought. If a riot broke out, he should have pretended to listen to their demands and calmed it down, but he neglected it throughout, making the problem bigger.

In the end, the palace collapsed and the Prince of Reden died.

And sometimes a neighbor’s disaster becomes an opportunity.

When he heard the news that Reden had fallen, Orien thought that perhaps he could bring that small country under Egelbamot.

Monarchy doesn’t disappear so easily. For now, they had driven out their leaders due to anger against the royal family, but there wasn’t much the people could do among themselves. For a country to exist normally, it needed officials and a system. In the end, the situation was such that monarchy had to be restored.

So Orien had smuggled out King Dares of Reden. He thought the royal relic, the Tear of Mevasa, would be with King Dares.

But that greedy king had brought all other treasures, yet didn’t have the royal relic.

Meanwhile, somehow hearing the news that he had King Dares in his hands, the mercenary group from the southern islands began to demand King Dares’s whereabouts from him.

They were called a mercenary group, but they were no different from Black Foam, making a living from plunder. If he wanted to crush them, there was nothing he couldn’t do, but they were persistent and their methods were vicious, requiring a lot of effort.

The reason why such people were targeting King Dares was related to the crimes the old man had committed when he was young. It happened before he was even born, but Orien roughly knew about it.

When he was young, King Dares had forcibly taken a princess from a neighboring country.

When the island kingdom that lost its princess resisted, King Dares simply crushed them. It was possible then because Reden’s national power hadn’t declined as it had now.

The princess became the queen of Reden, and after two children were born, she took her own life. It was a tragedy, but Reden at that time was not like it is now, so the princess’s family could do nothing. They had already lost their country and were wandering here and there.

But there is no glory that springs eternal. The King of Reden soon ruined the country with a series of misgovernments. The embers he hadn’t completely extinguished when he was young began to tighten around the King of Reden’s neck from then on. Members of the fallen royal family formed a mercenary group and began to harass him.

And now those embers had spread to him, who had brought the King of Reden.

He was enduring, thinking that if he found the royal relic, he could attempt to restore King Dares again, but soon after, an unexpected person ascended to the throne of Reden. The Queen Consort of Aglante.

It was true that she had succession rights because she had recently received the title of princess. Even so, wasn’t she someone who had never received succession education? He thought it was nonsense, but the royal relic she possessed changed the situation.

Who would oppose the ascension of someone with the appearance of a direct royal descendant and possessing the royal family heirloom? Orien had to admit that he had ended up holding onto just a burden. This time, the Duke of Aglante was one step ahead of him.

In this situation, getting rid of the King of Reden quickly was the best option. Thinking about how to hand him over to the mercenary group from the southern islands, Orien left his palace. Lately, Rahelika seemed very dissatisfied with attending to her mother, so he was planning to go and comfort her a bit.

It was when he had almost reached the Empress’s palace of Iris. Orien witnessed an unexpected figure coming out of the Empress’s palace.