Chloe cautiously ascended the podium.

Being a mere onlooker from behind the curtains and directly facing the audience were entirely different experiences.

She feigned composure, but she couldn’t fool herself completely. Whether it was immense tension or something else, her heart raced irregularly yet rapidly.

“……Nice to meet you.”

She mulled over the myriad gazes focused on her. They were scrutinizing Chloe, who had stepped forward to expose Callis, with great interest.

“My name is Chloe Argen.”

The moment she introduced herself, the auditorium buzzed with chatter.

“Argen?”

“Isn’t she the hero’s wife?”

How absurd that the person who came to criticize Callis was none other than Callis’s own wife. There couldn’t be a more ridiculous situation than this.

Even the followers of Callis, who had vowed not to dishonor the hero’s reputation, found themselves speechless.

Reporters in the audience scuffled to get their notebooks and pens out amid the throng.

“I’m sure some of you already know this. Yes, I am the wife of the Duke of Argen, who is hailed as the hero of the century, and a princess of the royal family.”

When Callis’s speech had concluded successfully, she had worried that the audience would ignore her exposé, but more attention followed than she had anticipated.

“I really didn’t want to speak. Clearly, between a universally loved hero and his wife, bound to him by royal oppression, whom to trust would be obvious.”

Only then did people recall the affairs between Callis and the royal family.

“Are they trying to suppress the hero again? After all, there were articles about how the royal family forced the marriage.”

“Exactly. They’re scheming something again as the hero’s power grows.”

As a faction began to sway public opinion, the crowd started to nod in agreement. The eyes that had been curious slowly turned skeptical.

Without showing any signs of disturbance, Chloe went straight to the point.

“However, heeding the teachings of His Majesty the King, that as the princess of the kingdom, I must live without shame in front of my people, I have come forward. I no longer want to see him as a hero deserving of sympathy.”

She took out an envelope that she had kept in the inner pocket of her jacket. Then she unfolded the paper from inside it.

“Do you remember? When the media spread articles about the ‘unfortunate Cinderella,’ the hero’s former lover, the Duke claimed it was a ‘forced’ marriage. That even if he is a hero who has enlightened the world, as a citizen of the kingdom, he had no choice but to accept His Majesty’s orders.”

For just once, Chloe wanted to look back.

Callis Argen, who must have been worried about the content of the envelope she produced, was…

She wanted to confirm his expression right now.

“I have found evidence to prove the inconsistency in his claim. What does this envelope look like to you? A paper from an envelope bearing the seal of the Argen Duke family, this is…”

But she didn’t need him to know. Not him.

A woman sitting in the noble’s seat, fully dressed up.

Helena. She seemed to finally realize her mistake. She had not anticipated that the ‘evidence’ she had provided would be used in such a significant event.

Chloe smirked at her instead of Callis.

“It’s a contract agreed upon by the Duke of Argen, returned from the war, and the Balront royal family.”

Chloe confidently turned her back.

A man hiding his face behind a mask. The king showing a surprised expression at the princess’s unexpected action. And the surprised chief officer next to him.

Chloe, who had been observing all three, finally approached one of them.

“Esteemed Chief Officer, please read this contract aloud in front of everyone. The most incorruptible person in the empire to read this contract without any lies or exaggerations is you.”

Hastily taking the paper, the chief officer turned his head to seek permission.

His eyes momentarily narrowed, and then opened again. At the same time, his deep-set jawline tilted down and then back up.
The ambassador could no longer refuse the given situation.

“Hmm-hmm!”

Clearing his throat with a cough, the ambassador followed Chloe’s lead and stepped forward.

“I, Heroine, swear upon the divine name granted by the gods. I shall read the text before me without a shred of deceit.”

The ambassador read the most noticeable bold text from the paper.

“Marriage Contract.”

It was rather ironic that the agreement made between the two was named ‘Marriage Contract,’ as if a king and a hero were getting married.

Heroine, too, found it peculiar and shifted her gaze to the text below.

Her drooping eyelids sprung up, and her blue pupils grew larger, revealing her current emotions without any hesitation.

“……The contract specifies that the Earl of Argen, Callis, agrees to marry the third princess, Chloe Valront.”

A murmur swept through the crowd.

“What?”

“Agrees? It sounds like a real contract.”

“But didn’t the Earl describe it as if he was dragged into the marriage like a dog? Now it’s suddenly a contract?”