On a bright moonlit night, Anika raised her hands towards the woman pointing a knife at her neck.

“Hey, whatever it is, let’s talk…”

The woman, dressed as a member of a notorious local bandit group, replied coldly.

“No, we don’t talk.”

At that resolute answer, Anika swallowed hard. Hmm, I see. So they don’t talk… She could almost hear Siana’s shocked voice in her ear.

‘T-That’s why I-I said we should send someone else!’

The image of her shouting with flushed white puffy cheeks wasn’t very threatening, but it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Once Siana got upset, she held grudges for a long time.

Even Hael and her mother would take Siana’s side at such times. Saying it was unconditionally her fault or something.

Anika had learned that lesson clearly after unavoidably breaking a promise last time due to being busy. So she tried not to go against her roommate’s feelings as much as possible…

But Siana, this time I really couldn’t help it… Swallowing her tears, Anika inwardly shouted an excuse that wouldn’t reach. She truly felt wronged about this one. There were circumstances.

Recently, the queen had come to Rohos territory. She was accompanied by a knight from Chesa.

Anika was quite surprised, not even knowing she had been in the south. Then she was even more surprised when the topic of flower tea distributed only in the south came up, and even more shocked to learn that the mastermind behind the poisoning was not Crown Prince Orien but the Second Prince.

However, neither the sudden visit nor the newly revealed truth compared to the shocking words the queen spoke.

“I’d like to borrow your army.”

There was no problem with those words themselves. All the lords of Aglante had sworn loyalty to the royal family, and with most of the elder families’ lineages cut off now, there was no one to stop the royal family from conscripting troops.

Just this spring, the king had gathered all the southern armies to attack Brinwell and sent them back, and with neighboring Egelbamot’s suspicious movements, it seemed reasonable to be on guard.

But it was quite unexpected for those words to come from the queen’s mouth.

War was the king’s domain. Wasn’t gathering the country’s armies to confront someone in Aglante’s name the duty of those with Sigrasal blood?

So Anika asked the question that naturally should be asked in such a moment.

“Excuse my impertinence, but did the king not come?”

The queen shook her head at those words. Anika did not ask her further. It would be rude to keep inquiring about the whereabouts of royalty.

In any case, she only needed to confirm what was necessary.

“Providing troops itself is not a problem, but I need proof that the king has authorized it.”

It had nothing to do with her personal will. As long as she had dependents, Anika always needed an escape route.

The red-haired knight who had been looking at her with displeasure – originally northern nobles and southern lords didn’t get along well – said,

“I’ll vouch for it.”

“Under what name will you vouch?”

The knight’s name was certainly honorable, but not a good name to put up as collateral in this situation. Unless he was staking his family or property separately.

So it was a natural question, but the knight looked her over with disapproving eyes and said,

“I’ll stake Chesa’s silver mines and my position as the royal army commander.”

Well, that was sufficient collateral anyway.

After getting the documents notarized, Anika provided the troops. It was after that when news came that recently rebellious Egelbamot’s movements were suspicious. A merchant who had been trading near Rohos territory had coincidentally seen troops gathering near the river.

Unable to entrust such confidential information to others, Anika eventually set out herself. She had firmly sworn the merchant to secrecy beforehand.

But she was captured by a band of thieves roaming near Reden.

“Why did Aglante attack Reden?”

It was frustrating to see them being so picky while they themselves lived off robbing near Reden, but she couldn’t say such things out loud.

Anika pulled her chin back a bit more, which seemed about to be cut. She didn’t like pain, and if she came back injured, Siana would nag her, and since she didn’t have confidence to overcome that, she thought she should take care of her body.

Not knowing her thoughts, the woman pressed the knife closer and asked,

“Tell me what’s happening in Reden.”

It felt quite strange to be spoken to rudely these days when she wasn’t of such low status. Anika answered,

“I cannot say. But if you let me go, I can call someone who will tell you what you want to know.”

The woman looked down at her with cold eyes and finally withdrew the knife.

The royal army commander who was finally contacted reacted truly coldly.

Anika turned her head to avoid Hazel Chesa’s icy gaze, even though she had explained the whole situation.

“…So that’s why you called me?”

Those words likely meant, as a southern lord you should handle problems yourself, why did you reach out to me?

But there weren’t many who could resolve the situation as safely and cleanly as Hazel Chesa. Wanting to return to her family’s embrace just as she had left if possible, Anika set aside her pride for a moment and contacted the knight.

Hazel, who had grown up as a capital noble, couldn’t have failed to understand those intentions, but what could be done? He had already come to save her. Anika smiled amiably and said,

“Haha, please understand, Sir Hazel. I’m the head of my household. If I get hurt, there are quite a few people who would be upset, so unavoidably…”

“I never gave the lord permission to use my name.”

Geez, how prickly. Anika grumbled inwardly at the commander who spoke sensitively, true to his northern roots. It was all just to make a living, but northerners sometimes acted this sensitive. Of course, Siana was an exception.

The commander did not face her for long. The knight who had passed by Anika and approached the thieves said,

“Her Majesty the Queen of Aglante is in Reden right now.”

Is it okay to carelessly reveal such confidential information? Just as Anika was shocked, Hazel made a gesture. Then knights who had been hiding in the shadows rushed out and bound the opponents.

Looking down at the thieves who had all been forced to kneel, the knight coldly announced,

“Her Majesty wishes to see you.”

Ophelia sat on the throne engraved with the eagle, symbol of Mevasa, looking down at the woman before her.

Today, during the day, she had executed the officials of Reden one after another. Most of them had trembled, swearing loyalty, but such submission from people like that was unnecessary.

The fact that none of them had the people’s support was also grounds for execution. If even one of them had had the support of the people, she might have kept them alive for the sake of maintaining peace, but killing them was actually more helpful in securing support.

In fact, it was said that some people cheered when Mahanas’s head was hung. It seems the exploitation had been severe recently.

In the past, Ophelia wouldn’t have cared whether Reden was exploited or not, but now she didn’t want to cause unnecessary disturbances.

That was why she had ordered this woman to be captured alive rather than killed, even knowing who she was.

“What did you say your name was?”

“Rensa.”

“Family name?”

“…I don’t have such a thing.”

Anyone could see that her hesitation before speaking was the behavior of someone with something to hide. Ophelia said disinterestedly at this typical response,

“I’m not interested in lies.”

Lies were useful when telling them, but just annoying to listen to.

Moreover, Ophelia already knew who the woman before her was. She had known of this woman’s existence since the time when she repeatedly put Reden in crisis.

Although she had never seen her face even once.

There was only one thief who operated near Reden and persistently harassed only Reden.

Dares had said she resembled her mother. Ophelia thought of her father, who must be struggling with hunger by now. She had told Dares not to bring him any food. Rather than give anything to Dares, she would rather throw it to dogs on the street.

In any case, if she looked that way to his eyes, wouldn’t she look that way to others’ eyes too?

Having finished her brief reasoning, Ophelia asked,

“Do I resemble my mother?”

Though it was a question out of context, the woman reacted immediately. Ophelia saw the pale anger that rose on her face. It couldn’t be helped.

This woman was the princess of an island kingdom destroyed by Reden.

And the reason Reden had crushed that kingdom was for one reason only – to take another princess, this woman’s older sister, as queen.

That queen was her mother, so this woman was her aunt of sorts.

Glaring at her with smoldering eyes, Rensa said,

“…No, you look just like filthy Mevasa blood.”

Hazel, who had personally brought her in, drew his sword as if he could no longer bear to listen. Ophelia stopped the knight who had wanted to kill the woman from the moment he brought her. She had only asked out of curiosity to confirm, thinking they probably didn’t resemble each other anyway.

Ophelia asked,

“Did you come to take revenge on Reden?”

“…You know well.”

“Then you’re a step too late. The Reden throne is already mine. Didn’t you see the heads hanging on your way here?”

And Ophelia realized that quite some time had passed since the sun had set. She added,

“You may not have seen in the dark of night.”

“If you’re of Mevasa blood, then you too are an object of revenge…”

Ophelia didn’t listen to the end of what the woman was trying to say about such a trite matter.

“Anyone can talk.”

Isn’t the tongue the lightest part of the body?

“But I haven’t seen many people who put those words into action.”

In her past life, this woman hadn’t stood out either. Hadn’t she done nothing until Ophelia had Reden by the throat, only picking up the leftover scraps at the end?

Though she was holding back only because she didn’t want to cause a disturbance, Ophelia could kill her at any moment.

What did it matter that she was of the maternal bloodline? There was no reason to keep a potential future problem alive when she didn’t even know where Idren was.

She had already killed Mahanas, her closest blood relative.

As the conversation was useless, her interest in the other party naturally waned. Ophelia gestured to Anika, who was standing a little apart from the bandit leader. Anika, who had been making a slightly strange expression, hurriedly approached.

“Lord of Rohos, what brings you here?”

“If I could have a word in private…”

It seemed she had something to tell secretly. Nodding in permission, Ophelia allowed Anika to come up onto the dais and whisper,

“Actually, Egelbamot has been preparing troops recently. It seems they’re planning to attack Reden or southern Aglante… Judging by their movements towards the canal, it looks like they’re heading for Reden. I came to urgently inform you of this fact.”

“How could you move in person for that? You should have sent a messenger.”

“As it’s confidential information unknown to any of the neighboring lords, I thought it would be safest for me to deliver it myself.”

“Still, don’t do this again in the future. You should know your body is precious.”

In her past life, Anika had died on the road while working for her. Ophelia hoped the same thing wouldn’t happen to the woman this time.

Anika obediently replied to her words. I’ll be mindful. Ophelia asked her,

“How is Siana?”

For some reason, Anika cleared her throat once before answering. She’s doing well.

“I’m glad to hear she’s doing well.”

It did seem like she would get along well with Anika, but still, since she had been sent to a new environment, Ophelia had been worried.

More importantly, if Egelbamot’s movements were suspicious, they were probably coming to retrieve the sacred relic. Ophelia recalled what she had heard from her father around this time yesterday.

“There was an old, old story,” Dares had said, trembling in fear of the blade.

“If you offer a sacred relic to an altar somewhere, it will grant your wish…”

It was similar to what Idren had said, so Ophelia inquired a bit more about it.

“Has it ever been proven?”

“N-No. The sacred relic is the symbol of the royal family, isn’t it? Who would be crazy enough to…”

Since her husband had done that crazy thing, it wasn’t a very pleasant thing to hear.

“Does anyone else know about this?”

“Unless it’s the kings of the three countries, no one…”

The meaningful conversation ended there. Ophelia asked him a few more questions after that, but Dares, who had spent his life only indulging in pleasure, didn’t really know anything.

Finishing her brief reminiscence, Ophelia ordered,

“Bring the former king.”