“I will handle that issue appropriately. Rest assured, I dislike anything that benefits your brother as much as you do.”

Ophelia stared at the man who seemed quite close to Mahanas despite that statement. Her gaze couldn’t help but be skewed.

Idren looked down at her in return. Ophelia realized anew that he was considerably taller than her. It was a considerably unpleasant fact.

Recalling how that large frame hadn’t budged an inch yesterday only worsened her mood. Ophelia tightened her lips.

It was then that Idren, who had been standing there without avoiding her glare, opened his mouth.

“Don’t you have something else you should be worrying about?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’m talking about our marriage.”

The man then brushed her neck. His slightly rough fingertips grazed over her exposed skin. The unfamiliar sensation made her involuntarily tense up. Ophelia put a little force into her neck.

Plucking the small leaf that had been stuck to her neck, the man spoke in a low voice.

“In this marriage, I intend to claim all my rights as well.”

Idren, who had tossed the yellow-green leaf to the ground, looked into her blue eyes.

Although both sides had forgotten since he had never asserted them, he did have a few rights.

For example, the right to take a spouse.

Of course, Ophelia also had the right to take him, but Idren knew she would never concern herself with that in her lifetime.

If they hadn’t been bound by marriage, she wouldn’t have even kept him as a lover.

Idren knew how little interest the woman had in him. And how ruthless she was to those she disliked.

That was why, in his previous life, Idren had allowed Ophelia to use the bedroom alone. He hadn’t wanted to share a bed with her when she didn’t even want it.

He had intended to do the same this time as well, but… couldn’t it be used as bait to attract attention?

It was then. The woman who had been staring up at him intently opened her mouth.

“Don’t act like it’s your first time getting married.”

Ophelia then curled her lips. Idren recognized that what lurked at the corners of her mouth was derision.

Before he could even react to that vivid emotion, Ophelia bluntly said:

“Wasn’t it you who ran away from the bedroom in the first place and handled internal affairs alone?”

Though accusatory, what was contained in her words were her true feelings. Idren realized that Ophelia really thought that way. A hollow laugh escaped him in disbelief.

“You thought I ran away?”

Ophelia couldn’t understand his words.

After consummating their marriage, he had suddenly started using a separate bedroom. He had sent her a short letter then, but Ophelia couldn’t remember its contents well.

It was probably something along the lines of, I’ll stay away since it will be uncomfortable for you.

But she had really been fine – though the wedding night had been a bit difficult, that would have gradually improved – so Ophelia had just thought of it as the excuse of a man who had gotten scared of her.

Since some men apparently withered away if they weren’t loved.

She had no intention of making her husband wither, but she didn’t want to love him either, so Ophelia had let him do as he pleased.

In fact, Idren had seemed to be trying to adapt to her. On days when it snowed heavily, he would come to her room to kiss her or hold her hand. This was after they had started using separate bedrooms.

But he had eventually given up. It was evident from the fact that at some point, he had stopped even those attempts.

She had always remained in the same place, in the same state.

Saying it was her fault when he was the one who had given up out of cowardice – it was absurd. Ophelia asked back:

“Then what was it?”

“Do you not think it was consideration?”

“Consideration? Ah…”

Come to think of it, that letter had seemed to have that nuance as well.

But it had really been unnecessary for her.

Ophelia stared at the man who was twisting his lips as if he were hurt. He often made that expression. It seemed to be a habit of sorts.

“I don’t care whether you share a bed with me or not.”

“…”

“The same goes for having me handle affairs.”

The man blinked his star-like eyes as he looked at her.

The only relief was that at least tears didn’t fall from them.

Backing off so easily. She already had a feeling this marriage wouldn’t go smoothly.

Since she didn’t want to make her partner cry before they were even married, Ophelia softened her voice a little and said:

“I told you this on our wedding night too, when you made excuses in front of me.”

She then passed by him.

Idren watched the back of the woman who had dragged him this deep only to slip away on her own.

Penrel Soar, the third son of the Soar family, was a knight who had served the young king for nearly seven years.

Penrel had known the king since before he ascended the throne. It was because the then-prince had been dispatched to the border where Penrel’s family resided.

When Penrel first saw him, he was in his twenties while the prince was just a young boy. Penrel hadn’t thought the prince, who had whip scars on his back, would last long.

Separate from pitying him, the prince didn’t even know how to wield a weapon. He wasn’t fit to survive in the harsher border region compared to other places.

But Penrel’s prediction was wrong. The prince survived and eventually became king.

Of course, it was true that the prince had killed several of his relatives to take that position. But Penrel had no choice but to support him.

Those from the Soar family, including himself, were among the many who would have had to die if the prince hadn’t killed his own family.

Rather, he had been impressed by the young man’s will. From the first time he saw him, the prince had been full of a will to live.

Even he, who had been in a better position than the young prince, had often thought that death would be preferable to living like this, but the prince had never said such a thing.

Only after the prince became king did Penrel understand why he had wanted to live so badly.

“I’m going to propose to Princess Leden.”

The eyes of the young man saying those words were sparkling.

Even knowing the clear will contained in them, Penrel had no choice but to dissuade the young king.

What the king needed was a new support base. Having made an enemy of Brinwell, who had been on friendly terms with the previous king, he needed to form an alliance with a country of equivalent power.

Leden had a long history but no authority. It was a well-known fact even beyond the border that the Leden royal family was extravagant.

But in the end, Penrel had no choice but to agree with the king’s will.

“Perhaps it was because of her that I was able to endure until now.”

First, his will was very firm.

“Ophelia is different from other royals. She is a brave and kind person.”

Because the king’s face as he said that was as sincere as could be.

The king, who rarely talked about himself, confided in Penrel that night about things that had happened in the past.

The young man, who had not yet shed all his youthful appearance, blushed slightly when speaking of the shame and humiliation he had suffered, and his eyes shone just as much when talking about the similarly young Leden princess.

“But if I died, those memories would disappear, so I couldn’t bring myself to die.”

Who could object after seeing him like that?

In the end, Penrel had no choice but to acknowledge that the king needed the princess of Leden. If what he gained by giving up a marriage alliance with a powerful country was the foundation of his life, it wasn’t a losing deal, he thought.

In fact, the young man preparing for the marriage was more lively than ever. It was a look befitting someone that age who had fallen in love.

It was a fortunate thing. Loving someone seemed easy yet difficult.

Love, if drunk wrong, was poison, but if handled well, it could become a miracle like no other.

And Penrel had no doubt that the king would gain golden magic, not a poisoned apple.

But after experiencing the events of the past few days, he began to get confused.

The king started acting strange from the moment they crossed the canal heading to Leden. He suddenly changed from a young man steeped in romance and hope to a survivor who had experienced something terrible.

He seemed to age in an instant and acted like someone exhausted from long suffering.

“We’re returning tomorrow.”

Ordering to take the dowry they had prepared until dawn and place it in the Leden palace, the king said that.

Penrel saw the fatigue etched on his face. A weariness so deeply engraved that it could be mistaken for pain.

In just two days, the romance had vanished from the young man’s face. Cynicism took the place where anticipation had been, and the king became a very unfamiliar person.

Before Penrel, who had failed to grasp the cause of that change, could finish being confused, the royal wedding was upon them.

That dawn, looking down at the jewels piled up in the hall of the Leden palace with cold eyes as ordered, the king spoke.

“Prepare a carriage so the princess can be taken.”