“Gilrod Nebel. You have used my wife’s kindness as an excuse to insult her before me, and ultimately caused her harm. I cannot even fathom how malicious your intentions were.”

The king’s words were calm, but the anger contained within them was by no means light.

“From this moment on, Gilrod Nebel is banned from entering the royal palace and confined to his residence. Furthermore, since he used his daughter to carry out all of this, the authority delegated to her as his proxy is also revoked, and all the rights, property, and family name that Siana Nebel should have inherited from her mother are to be returned to her mistress, the queen.”

As soon as the king finished speaking, the knights who had been standing against the wall of the hall stepped to Gilrod’s side. He began to be dragged away, held by the royal knights.

“Your Majesty, this is unjust! That is false testimony! You cannot do this to me without even a trial!”

Gilrod shouted belatedly, but no one responded. The king had already turned his head towards his wife sitting beside him, as if no longer interested in Gilrod, and the elders who had always catered to him were looking down, pretending not to notice.

Flustered, Gilrod hurriedly looked around. He had never anticipated something like this. Weren’t they always on his side…?

And Gilrod realized that there was only one person among them who was looking at him. The queen was gazing at him while leaning against her husband, who was touching her cheek and forehead.

Without blinking once, with eyes as blue as glass beads.

Momentarily forgetting even to protest at that eerie calmness, Gilrod stared blankly at the queen’s eyes. But just as he tried to properly see his opponent, the doors of the hall closed, so Gilrod could not see what was contained in that blue color.

As the doors closed, silence descended upon the hall.

The king slowly surveyed the nine elders, excluding Gilrod Nebel. Among them, those who had been close to Gilrod held their breath when his gaze fell upon them.

In truth, some of them had known in advance that Gilrod would do such a thing in the hall today. However, no one had expected Gilrod’s daughter to betray her father and for the king to cut off the Nebels so decisively.

It was understandable. Currently, the northern lands, including Edegrun, were dependent on Nebel’s grain. To overturn this situation, which even the royal family was not exempt from, new legislation would have to be enacted, but the assembly was firmly in the grip of the Nebels, who held three seats.

No one had known that such a Nebel would be struck down overnight like this.

After leaving them trembling in silence and tension for a moment, the king spoke.

“It’s very disappointing that such an unfortunate incident occurred on the queen’s first day in the hall. Let’s end today’s meeting here.”

I hope there won’t be a similar incident next time.

Reading the contempt imbued in that voice, some bowed their heads even deeper. They couldn’t understand what change of heart had caused the king to do this, but if the Nebels were shaken, none of them were safe.

As soon as they entered the lounge prepared behind the hall, Ophelia immediately detached herself from him, on whom she had been leaning.

Idren, seeing that her weak demeanor from earlier had vanished without a trace, touched her forehead again as she approached and sat on the sofa. Ophelia, with wide eyes, said:

“You knew I wasn’t really shocked, didn’t you?”

The talk of harm done in the hall was merely a device to appear as a pure victim. After all, the image she needed to portray today was that of a complete victim.

Although using others’ hands wasn’t her preferred method, to take the seat from Gilrod, it was most certain to have Idren clean up the situation.

Ophelia knew that if she directly decided Gilrod’s punishment, there would be considerable backlash from the Council of Elders. It was natural, given that she was a queen without any proper support base.

If it were her usual personality, she would have trampled over them regardless, but this time she couldn’t do that. After all, the noble society of Edegrun belonged to Idren, and since there was only one chance, it had to be used as efficiently as possible.

So the punishment had to be handed down by Idren, and to maximize its effect, the harm she received also had to be emphasized.

That’s why she had leaned on Idren and allowed him to touch her cheeks and forehead. To appear innocent and fragile.

Siana, who knew the truth, would have felt differently.

Ophelia wondered how Siana would take this situation.

How did that child feel watching her father being dragged away?

Unfortunately, she herself had never experienced such feelings. The idea of someone else taking action on her behalf was too foreign to her.

Relying on others for things she could do herself didn’t suit her personality either.

“Yes, I knew.”

Idren, who belatedly responded, sat down beside her. Ophelia asked the man whose expression wasn’t particularly good:

“What about Siana?”

“I entrusted her to a knight to be taken back to where she was originally staying.”

It was a clean resolution. Ophelia, slumping slightly against the sofa, murmured. I should meet her later.

Idren, who had been staring at her intently, asked:

“Have you ever been this angry in your previous life?”

“Not particularly.”

And I’m not angry now either. The casually added words were true to anyone’s ears, but Idren had momentarily thought Ophelia was truly angry.

“You would have made a good stage actor.”

As he grumbled, feeling unnecessarily shaken, Ophelia nonchalantly picked up his words. I know.

But unlike Ophelia, who was merely acting, he had truly become angry seeing how Gilrod treated Ophelia. Even if it was all staged according to Ophelia’s intentions.

Idren grasped Ophelia’s hand that lay between them. A soft, tender hand came into his. As he fiddled with it, he recalled a conversation they had previously.

“So why did you come to me?”

On the day he had talked with Anika, when he asked that, Ophelia hesitated as if she had forgotten. Raising an eyebrow once, she said:

“I have a plan, and I need you to execute it.”

It was the first time Ophelia had said she needed him, so Idren, forgetting that the atmosphere with her had been strange until just moments ago, asked brightly:

“What is it?”

Ophelia, whether she read the excitement in his voice or not, furrowed her brow, but soon explained:

“When we send Siana back this time, she will lie to her father that I chased her away.”

“Siana, you say?”

It was hard to believe, but Ophelia responded casually. Yes. She continued:

“Gilrod will surely try to spread what he believes I did to his daughter when there are many people in the castle. That man wants to tarnish my reputation as much as possible, so he’ll make a big fuss about it. Then I will claim exactly the opposite.”

And Ophelia looked up at him with her blue eyes.

“You just need to listen to those words well and demand testimony from Siana. Then she will testify that what her father said is a lie.”

The situations that would follow were understandable without having to hear them, but Ophelia, perhaps not quite trusting him, explained each one.

Idren was only able to get a chance to ask after answering several times that he would do as she instructed.

“Do you really have to get directly involved in the controversy?”

Then Ophelia, as if he had said something foolish, slightly raised her eyes and said:

“Even with the daughter’s testimony, do you think Gilrod would rush in so recklessly if it were you he was dealing with?”

I’ve already instructed Siana everything. To portray me as a stupid and weak queen.

What could he say to that level of preparation? Idren had no choice but to close his mouth. When he became quiet, Ophelia finished assigning his role.

“You need to clean up the situation on my behalf and punish Gilrod. I’ve considered various scenarios, and that’s the best. If I were to handle it, there would surely be those who oppose.”

Since I don’t have private soldiers, I suppose they’re not afraid of me. There was a subtle chill in her murmuring voice.

Idren was about to ask if he should assign her some of the royal soldiers, but her words continued faster.

“But if you determine the punishment, there might be talk that it’s excessive, so it would be better to accept a punishment suggested by someone else. Didn’t you say before that there was someone among the elders who supported you? That one who resembles Hazel…”

Perhaps because she was closest to Hazel, Ophelia tended to think of all the people of House Chesa in relation to Hazel. Idren explained:

“You mean the head of House Chesa.”

“Yes. That person. It wouldn’t be bad to borrow his words.”

And Ophelia added:

“If this goes according to my plan, we can bring Siana’s seat to our side without her having to step forward.”

In any case, they had achieved that goal. Apart from the fact that the process was quite displeasing, the result came out as targeted.

So let’s not think about it anymore.

Isn’t it good that Ophelia is showing enthusiasm for something?

It was almost the first time she had shown interest in something new, not Reden or Mahanas.

There’s no problem even if the method is a bit unique. Idren, having come to this conclusion, asked Ophelia:

“May I put my arm around your shoulder?”

Ophelia answered the man who seemed unable to give up since some time ago. Alright. It seemed okay to allow that much since he had put in some effort today.

Idren finally put his arm behind her shoulder, pulling her almost into an embrace. Exhaling a small sigh as if tired, he said:

“Although I’ve handed down punishment to him for now, this alone won’t uproot Gilrod. He will surely wait for the situation to calm down a bit and then come to apologize with tribute.”

“What happens if we don’t accept that?”

“Well. First, since the grain issue has been resolved, we can take a confrontational stance, but… In case Gilrod, backed into a corner, tries to bring in a son-in-law from Brinwell like in the previous life to inherit the family, while he controls things from behind.”

Ah, he’ll surely ask for a trial too. If a trial is held, it could get a bit complicated due to the jury issue.

Idren added words he had almost forgotten to mention.

In the case of the jury, because they would all be recruited from the nobles of Edegrun, it would be much more advantageous for Gilrod’s side.

It was then that Ophelia, who had been quietly listening to his words, spoke:

“An adopted son won’t do. Gilrod Nebel needs to remain in the position of family head.”