The king tilted his head slightly as if telling her to continue. Anika, hoping he wouldn’t find her words impertinent, continued speaking.

“Furthermore, please grant me one tenth of the profits Your Majesty the Queen obtains from selling the grains produced on that land.”

This was the method that would benefit the royal couple, including herself, the most.

Even if she offered grains, the king couldn’t sell them, so he would distribute them to his faction for free.

Of course, that was what appeared on the surface, and behind the scenes he might extract something as she had requested from him, but that would happen behind closed doors. It couldn’t be revealed openly.

Anika thought the king wouldn’t miss the chance to show something politically to Nebel and the elders cooperating with him.

If the situation was such that she would barely avoid a deficit while bearing the investment capital, it was better to hand over the territory to the queen and receive the profits.

If the queen owned the territory, they would also pay for the territory’s management costs.

It wouldn’t be a bad proposal for the king either, as there would certainly be something politically demonstrable.

Just as the king, who had been staring at her with his bright yellow eyes, was about to open his mouth, a voice was heard from outside the door.

“Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Queen has arrived.”

Ophelia looked at the knight who insisted on knocking to announce despite her saying she would wait. Hazel, who had escorted her to Idren’s reception room, bowed her head and whispered beside her.

“Actually, our lord instructed us to inform him immediately if the queen were to arrive.”

The red-haired knight then winked once. Ophelia turned her gaze away, still uncomfortable with that expression.

It was then that the door opened.

“I greet Your Majesty the Queen.”

Anika, who had come out of the reception room, greeted and bowed her head. Ophelia extended her hand to the woman with wheat-colored hair, just as she had done before.

Anika grasped her hand and lightly kissed it. Looking down at the back of her head, Ophelia wondered why they hadn’t been close in their previous life.

There had been plenty of opportunities for her past self to become friends with Anika.

Even if she couldn’t have received a loyalty oath like Idren had arranged now, she could have known her like the acquaintances she had made with Netepel.

But back then, she hadn’t even thought of having Anika as an acquaintance. Anika was the lord of Aglante, which meant she was Idren’s person.

Being Idren’s person meant that whatever she did with that person would reach his ears.

While she didn’t care about other things, she didn’t want to inform her husband about matters related to Reden or Mahanas, so Ophelia had maintained a proper distance from the lords of Aglante.

But now there was no need to consider such things. Idren knew everything she was trying to do and said he wouldn’t interfere. He might even become a decent ally.

So this time, it might be alright to become friends with Anika.

Having finished her thoughts, she passed by Anika and entered the reception room. Inside, Idren was seated.

Thinking about sitting across from him, she just sat beside him, and before Idren could do the same thing as last time, Ophelia said.

“Don’t raise your hand.”

“…How resolute.”

How pitiful. Can’t even touch the shoulder of my married partner. Idren grumbled and clasped his hands together. Ophelia looked ahead, following him, as servants entered to clear away the tea set. Idren asked her.

“Will you have tea?”

“No, thanks.”

The people of Edegrun often drank hot tea, perhaps because of the cold weather, but Ophelia didn’t particularly like tea. Seeing Mahanas obsess over such things had naturally created an aversion.

Still, there were things she had to show in front of others, so she drank it, but there was no need to do so in front of Idren.

Suddenly, Ophelia realized that she had never offered him tea when he visited her.

“Next time you visit, I’ll offer you tea.”

Idren seemed to think her words were abrupt, raising an eyebrow once, but he just replied. I see. Thank you.

Ophelia thought it was strange for a man to express gratitude for something he hadn’t received yet, as she leaned back on the sofa. Glancing at her, Idren looked ahead again and said.

“As a matter of fact, I had something to ask you.”

“What is it?”

Instead of answering, Idren gestured to the servants. Only after they had all left and the two were alone in the room did he speak.

“Anika Rohos said she would offer you a territory.”

And Idren briefly explained the conversation he said he had with the lord.

He conveyed, with some contextual explanations added, that while Nebel’s market priority rights applied to things produced on his land, they didn’t apply to things produced on land she owned.

After adding the explanation, Idren asked.

“So, I was wondering if it would be alright to receive some territory under your name? In return, I’ll personally arrange for something other than grain for the tribute that should have been your share.”

But that was something he didn’t even need to ask. Ophelia, blinking her eyes that were starting to close slightly, answered. I don’t need it, I already have assets.

“Just do as you wish, and don’t entrust the management to me. I can’t handle such things.”

She couldn’t handle a new territory when there was already so much to worry about with Galisia.

The man who knew her circumstances also gave the necessary answer.

“Of course, I was planning to manage it myself.”

And only then did Idren lean back. His gaze was still fixed straight ahead.

Sitting side by side with him, looking forward, Ophelia realized one thing.

“We could have resolved it this way in the previous life too, why did we change the law with the approval of the elder council back then?”

The man immediately replied.

“Then and now are different.”

“What’s different?”

Saying that, she realized there were more than just a few changes. Furrowing her brow unconsciously as she counted the changes one by one, Ophelia asked.

“Is it because the timing of the previous Lord Rohos’s death and Anika becoming the lord has been moved up? Or because Brinwell’s harbor docking rights have disappeared?”

Of course, those are big changes too, but that’s not what’s important.

Idren told the woman who seemed unaware of the biggest difference.

“It’s good that the Brinwell issue has been resolved, but it’s not particularly related to this. The same goes for the change in the Rohos lord. It’s not like the previous Lord Rohos lived much longer in the last life either.”

The problem between the previous Lord Rohos and Ophelia arose in the early days of their marriage. Even in the past, he didn’t leave that problem unattended for long, so the situational difference wouldn’t have been much different from now.

Idren added an explanation before she could ponder further.

“In the previous life, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you about such issues. Because many conditions were different from now.”

Even if he had been prepared to implement the same method, everyone would have stopped him. From the financial advisor Salode to the first knight Penrel, not a single person would have agreed.

It was unreasonable to give private property to a queen of foreign origin in a situation where the ink on the bill created due to the precedent of Queen Isde had barely dried, so it was natural.

Moreover, the extravagance of Ophelia’s elder brother, Mahanas, was famous even beyond the borders.

Now, Idren knew that Ophelia had no interest in private property and wouldn’t give a single coin to Mahanas, but back then, he couldn’t guarantee that.

So he couldn’t vouch for her, nor could he persuade anyone around him.

But since explaining all these circumstances to Ophelia would make the story too long, Idren just closed his mouth. The woman, unaware of this, rebuked him.

“You couldn’t do much. From now on, just tell me.”

“I will.”

Ophelia frowned more, seemingly displeased with the compliant answer. Just as Idren was about to say something, thinking the effect was opposite to when he told her not to frown, Ophelia spoke.

“But you still need seats, right?”

“Of course. This is just an alternative measure prepared while securing enough seats to overturn the bill. Moreover, the seats are important more because of the war than the market priority rights. There’s no guarantee that the war with Brinwell won’t happen in this life either.”

Ophelia, who had been listening quietly to his words, asked.

“Do you want to prevent the war?”

“Of course, it would be nice if we could suppress Brinwell without war, but it might be better to fight once than to live embracing a volcano that could erupt at any time.”

However, in case of war, the approval of the elder council was needed to move the army, excluding the royal family’s private soldiers.

Idren thought about how many people had died in the last life because that approval didn’t come in time. He added.

“Rather than preventing the war, it’s important to win with the least damage possible. For that, we need to secure more than half of the elders’ votes.”

Ophelia thought that if her affairs went well, she might be able to give him at least one seat. Siana seemed to be definitely frightened.

And suddenly, she realized that she was only focusing on his affairs.

Since getting married, she hadn’t done anything different regarding Reden or Mahanas. She had been constantly worrying about issues like Brinwell ships and elder council seats, but hadn’t made any plans for her own revenge.

Although it hadn’t been two months since they got married, that didn’t mean she could be this relaxed.

In the previous life, she had received help from Netepel, but this time she had no such intention, so shouldn’t she move more diligently?

Ophelia counted one by one what she could operate. It was better not to touch Galisia yet. It would be more effective to save a bit more profit and use it at an important time.

Rather than that, she needed to meet people who could replace the acquaintances she had made in her previous life…

And she recalled the woman who had just passed by. Anika. What did Anika have?

The fertile land of the south? But that had now been transferred to her name, so Idren would manage it. Idren said he would distribute the grains produced there to the northern markets, including Edegrun.

It was then that a sudden thought occurred to her.