The result came out as expected. The royal family’s expansion of private soldiers was officially approved by the Elder Council.

The session ended only after the signatures signifying the Elder Council’s consent were affixed to the official document recording the bill. The heads of each family finally closed their mouths and rose from their seats. Ophelia also moved to follow them.

She saw Idren coming down from the throne and approaching her. Since the passage used by the royal family was behind the platform, he was coming to accompany her there.

Though she could have gone up by herself, Idren always unnecessarily came down. It seemed he wanted to do so despite the inefficiency.

Normally she would have let it pass without much thought, but today his attentiveness bothered her.

Entrusting her hand to his slightly rough and firm one, Ophelia thought she should see less of him from now on. Meeting face to face so often made her feel things that didn’t need to be there. Considering she would eventually leave him behind, they were unnecessary things.

Even as she was thinking this, that was when the man who had escorted her to the platform grasped her waist. Before she could react, her field of vision rose.

“You did really well today.”

Ophelia, suddenly finding herself standing on the platform, faced him. The golden eyes she had just been thinking of avoiding were twinkling at her.

Standing slightly below Ophelia, Idren gazed into her deep blue eyes. Seen from this height, they looked even prettier than usual.

Recalling how well she had spoken earlier, Idren smiled with pride. Perhaps there was nothing Ophelia couldn’t do. She just lacked motivation, but surely she was someone who excelled at anything she put her mind to.

At that moment, Ophelia let go of his hand.

“There’s no need to say such things.”

With those somewhat cold words, she simply turned her back on him. Idren chased after the woman who walked away without waiting for him.

When they entered the lounge where she had once allowed him to put his arm around her shoulders, Idren secretly hoped Ophelia might rest there for a while. Last time, they had had a pleasant conversation there.

But Ophelia passed by without even glancing at the chairs.

Before she could pass through the door leading to the corridor, Idren grabbed the doorknob.

“Did I do something wrong?”

Ophelia was someone who would get angry, but not avoid people like this. He found himself making excuses without realizing it.

“I, I don’t know what it is, but I didn’t intend to upset you.”

Hearing the apology that came without any wrongdoing, Ophelia finally took a deep breath. She noticed the hand gripping the doorknob. Though rough and scarred, the long fingers were pale with reddened knuckles.

It was the hand she saw every day, that had often enveloped her own, yet her throat suddenly felt dry. Swallowing hard, Ophelia grasped it. The warm body heat could be felt beneath her hand.

Idren’s eyes widened in surprise at the touch of a body part she had never initiated contact with before. But before he could say anything, Ophelia removed his hand from the doorknob.

“You did nothing wrong, so there’s no need to apologize.”

As the woman who had muttered those words left him alone in the room, Idren caught a glimpse of her ear as she passed by.

There was the sound of the door closing. Left alone, Idren blinked. If what he had seen was correct…

Thinking he might be able to see something he had never encountered before, Idren hastily grasped the doorknob.

“Ophelia, wait…”

But when he opened the door, he was met with the red-haired financial advisor.

Looking a bit paler than when seen in the meeting room, Salode said,

“Your Majesty, I have something to report.”

And the financial advisor ushered him back into the lounge. Only when listening ears were completely shut out did Idren understand what he was about to say.

“It seems the Brinwell army has marched towards the Kirios Mountains.”

Talia Runtalis-Amaren disliked illegitimate children.

In truth, it wasn’t just the evidence of infidelity that she disliked. She also disliked those who created that infidelity.

She just couldn’t voice that fact out loud.

The one who had insisted on attaching half-siblings to her was the supreme pinnacle of Runtalis. The Emperor of the Empire. An utterly heartless human being.

If she needlessly upset such an emperor, she could find herself in an unfavorable situation. Lebernen was not a kind-hearted person even to the children of his own blood.

The only time he acted like a common father was in front of his eldest daughter Rahelica. That was because his wife Iris clung to that daughter like her own alter ego.

Iris, who had married Lebernen and borne four children, loved her firstborn daughter, who resembled her exactly, like her own body. As for the rest, she would forget whether they were alive or dead unless they bothered her.

Talia was used to that treatment she had received since birth, but when Iris fawned over only Rahelica even at her younger sister Helena’s wedding, she thought they were utterly insufferable.

Orien at least had the throne to be indifferent about other things, but Helena was the one with the least among them and had the softest heart on top of that.

When she saw tears in that tender child’s eyes, Talia wanted to chase those two lookalikes out of the wedding hall.

Her sister, gentle by nature, disguised the moisture in her eyes as tears of joy, but how could that possibly be true?

Rahelica and Iris didn’t need to be there. She was there for her.

Talia cherished her sister, who resembled their father only in her hair and eyes. She wondered if a child born with a loved one would be this lovely, even though she had no children of her own.

Unlike the imperial family who only did detestable things, and her husband whom she had married only for political reasons, Helena was her only family.

Yet on that child’s most precious day, her selfish mother only cared about her own alter ego.

Rahelica was just as selfish. After monopolizing Iris’s attention throughout the wedding ceremony, she took her mother and left as soon as the basic procedures were over.

Because their appearance was so unpleasant, Talia decided to cut off her visits to the imperial palace.

However, her soft-hearted sister said she couldn’t bear to see her fall out with her family.

“Sister, promise me you’ll get along with our remaining family.”

She was a child leaving for a distant marriage. How could one ignore such a tearful request from such a child?

In the end, after sending Helena off, Talia reluctantly sent a letter to Iris requesting a dinner, even though she didn’t want to.

The answer that came back was a rejection without even a reply.

Thus, an easy reason was provided for no longer going to the imperial palace. She could just write to Helena that although she had wished for it, Iris did not want it.

Talia thought she would only see the faces of her blood relatives, who had not a single likable aspect, at events she couldn’t avoid.

If a letter hadn’t come from the Grand Prince of Aglante, she would have gladly done so.

It was a letter with just enough pretext and formality to avoid criticism in a relationship that wasn’t particularly close.

– I heard that the Empire’s second prince has acquired the same hobby as you.

And enclosed with the letter was a small silk handkerchief embroidered with yellow peonies.

It wasn’t difficult to grasp the meaning.

That day, Talia searched the capital. There was one merchant guild that used a yellow peony as its emblem, with a commoner as its leader.

In a situation where even her half-brother’s merchant guild was bothersome, upon learning that a worm had crept in, Talia pondered how to crush it.

It was then that news of a banquet being held at the imperial palace reached her. It was said that as the number of people attending the regularly held talks had decreased, they were closing the talks and holding a banquet instead.

At any other time, she would have shown her face only on the first day for formality’s sake or would have been abroad to match the timing, but Talia decided to use this opportunity.

On the last day of the banquet, the emperor’s children could request what they desired from their father.

Although only things that could be handled within reasonable limits were permitted, Lebernen would accept her request. From his standpoint too, it would be an opportunity to handle matters without dirtying his own hands.

She only needed to attend quietly, obtain what she wanted on the last day, and return. With this in mind, Talia selected the clothes she would wear during the week-long banquet.

Her thoughts were overturned on the third day of the banquet when merchants began entering the banquet hall en masse.

They were all nobles, albeit of low rank. Ordinarily, they would not have been allowed into the banquet hall where the emperor and empress would be present all seven days.

It was an invitation that caused quite a stir in many ways, but for Talia, it was not a bad thing.

These were people she would have had to meet once anyway.

When negotiating with them at the imperial palace, Talia could achieve the most excellent results. Being of Runtalis blood, it was easier to gain the upper hand within the palace than at other times.

So the guest list for the third day was, in a sense, almost as if it were made for her.

Nevertheless, Talia could not be pleased about this. It was a list that clearly showed who had pulled strings.

Choosing who to invite to the banquet was originally the empress’s role. However, Iris had no interest whatsoever in what her second daughter was doing, so she would not have invited merchants.

And there was only one woman who had the authority to put names on the imperial invitation without being the empress.

Rahelica.