The next day, I jumped up from my seat upon receiving an urgently delivered note.

Alex Daimar had arrived in the capital.

To request necessary support for the East and find out the extent of the support they had received so far.

“Betty. Prepare for departure.”

“What? Right now? He would have just arrived in the capital, so he wouldn’t have even approached the Imperial Palace yet.”

Betty, who checked the contents of the note with me, widened her eyes.

Her expression seemed to say that leaving now was too premature.

I could understand, but it was still better for me to be at the trading post beforehand.

“Even though I told them to treat him with the utmost hospitality, he would still feel upset being dragged here without knowing who called for him.”

With his personality, he would surely cause a commotion regardless of the treatment.

I muttered softly and roughly organized the documents I was looking at.

“Well, that may be true, but… even if you go after Lady Hayley brings him, it wouldn’t be too late, right? If you go now, I think you’ll have to wait.”

It’s dangerous for you to be outside the Imperial Palace for too long.

Betty added with a worried tone.

She seemed more concerned because Lloyd had recently barged in with a carriage.

I lightly tapped her shoulder and smiled faintly.

“I know. What you mean. This time, I’ll tell His Majesty before I leave.”

“You’re going to tell the Grand Prince that you’re meeting the Clan Leader?”

Betty’s eyes widened at my words.

It was no wonder she was surprised, as I had been conducting most of my work in secret from Leoprick, unlike now when I was going to honestly tell him.

However, I had no intention of telling him everything I was doing.

There was no reason to do so when I didn’t know his ultimate goal.

I shook my head with a smile.

“No. I’m going to tell him I’m briefly visiting the trading post. I told you that the North had succeeded in reclaiming land outside the castle, right? I’ll just say I’m going because of that. His Majesty already knows about that.”

“Ah. You mean the letter sent by the monastery’s head priest before? Then that should work.”

Betty nodded, indicating she understood.

Then she tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

“But, Princess Consort. If you’re ultimately working for His Majesty, why are you keeping it a secret from him and moving alone?”

Isn’t it time for you to confide in His Majesty?

Betty asked cautiously.

Wouldn’t it be more convenient for the two of you to work together rather than alone?

The risk would be much lower, and the workload would also decrease, right?

“His Majesty also thinks highly of the Princess Consort. Even before the marriage, he didn’t care about the rumors…”

Thinks highly of me, huh.

I let out a hollow laugh at Betty’s words.

Yes. I know well enough how he thinks of me through what he has told me so far.

Even just yesterday, wasn’t it the same?

Those words that he was waiting for me to approach him first.

His desire for me, his impatience, and his seductive gaze and tone that he habitually delivers.

He wants me.

I don’t know the reason, but it’s an undeniable fact that his feelings for me are genuine.

But…

Can I, who still remember his last moments before the regression, purely accept his affection and be happy?

Can I be confident that I won’t see his pre-regression image overlapping every moment by his side?

It would be a lie to say I’m not wavering, but I don’t have the confidence to stay by his side that much.

Rather than for him, now it’s for myself.

I don’t know what his ultimate goal is, but my final objective is to put him on the throne and then leave his side.

So that he can be happy next to someone more comfortable, safer, kinder, and better.

Not next to someone anxious, dangerous, and bad like me.

“…I just. His Majesty also has a lot of work, so I don’t want to make him worry unnecessarily.”

So I trampled down my heart that was unnecessarily fluctuating.

My heart that had grown big enough to raise its head at just a single word from Betty.

My heart that had raised its head this much with just a few clues to speculate.

I trampled it down, bit by bit.

“Amelia said she’s going to the trading post?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. When I told her you had entered a meeting, she only asked me to relay the message.”

Upon returning to the office after the nobility meeting, unwelcome news greeted Leoprick.

That Amelia was avoiding him again.

No, to be precise, the message was that she was leaving her seat, but considering that she hadn’t properly shown her face to him since yesterday morning’s breakfast, saying she was avoiding him wasn’t wrong either.

After the awkward breakfast where silence took up more than half, Amelia didn’t come out of her office all day.

She even went to bed first, not giving him a chance to talk.

And this morning, she disappeared so early that it was questionable whether she even slept, so he couldn’t even greet her.

Now she had left the palace.

He began to feel an uncomfortable feeling.

No matter how much he thought about it, it seemed to be because of yesterday’s incident.

Yesterday, when he showed his naked body to her.

No. To be precise, because she saw his naked body.

Come to think of it, shouldn’t he be the one who’s more embarrassed in this situation?

Why is she the one who’s more uncomfortable and ashamed?

They are husband and wife anyway, and he even has the intention to do more than that with her.

Is it something to make such a fuss about just seeing each other’s body once?

Leoprick felt a childish resentment slowly raising its head as he threw the notebook he was holding onto the desk.

“Arnold.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What’s my schedule after this?”

“Uh…”

What’s with the sudden question you’ve never asked before?

Arnold was about to answer out of habit what he had memorized, but he stopped mid-sentence.

Leoprick usually arranged his own schedule.

He would plan the next day’s schedule in advance and hand it over to his assistant, so he wasn’t someone who needed to confirm with his assistant.

But suddenly asking about the schedule?

And with such an uncomfortable expression?

“All the following schedules can be adjusted. If you wish, I’ll make arrangements so you can leave right away.”

Arnold quickly gave an answer that gauged his master’s heart.

Because when his master makes that face, there’s only one answer.

Just let him do as he wishes.

He’s usually such a diligent person that taking a day or two off won’t even be noticeable.

While recalling the most urgent tasks to handle today in his mind, Arnold tried to maintain a smiling face.

“Thank you. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes. But just in case, please take at least one guard with you.”

“Daeon must have arrived, right? Tell him to prepare while I get ready.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Leoprick readily nodded at Arnold’s words.

Still, it’s a relief that he’s taking a guard with him.

He inwardly let out a sigh of relief and instructed the palace servant standing to the side to hurry to the knights’ quarters.

If he’s even a little late, His Majesty might leave without Sir Daeon.

“Today, I think there won’t be much to do if you just organize the meeting minutes. Ah. And if there are any gratitude documents that have come up, organize those too.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After briefly instructing Arnold on today’s tasks, Leoprick left the office as is.

Today, he was determined to make time to talk with Amelia alone.

Even without this, their schedules were so busy that they didn’t have time to see each other and talk, so he had suggested sleeping together, but that was meaningless too.

They were both busy, so it was hard to even have meals together.

There was no choice but to make time like this.

He thought he had expressed enough, but was it still lacking?

Leoprick walked down the corridor with a face full of worry.

At times like this, he even wanted to find Lloyd and interrogate him.

About how to open her heart.

“Who on earth called for me!”

Alex Daimar, the Clan Leader of the East, was in a state of great anger.

His urgent journey to quell the epidemic that had struck the East was being blocked.

Who was blocking him and for what purpose, they wouldn’t even say, just recklessly.

His party, tired from the long journey, was outnumbered against the numerous cavalry.

No matter how skilled the knights were, it was a matter of risking their lives to face a large number of people in a state of depleted stamina.

In the end, Daimar had no choice but to follow them after receiving an assurance of safety.

There was no other way, so he followed, but it certainly wasn’t a pleasant method for a knight.

So it was inevitable for him to be furious.

He shouted loudly without caring about his dignity or anything.

“Who dares to hold back my urgent steps when they should politely invite me! At least answer me!”

Throughout being dragged, those surrounding them didn’t say a single word.

Where they were going, who had called for them, why they had called.

They didn’t answer a single word to Daimar’s question that sounded like a shout.

So it was natural for his anger to rise more and more.

When he heard they had arrived at their destination, he was almost jumping up and down.

“I don’t know who your master is, but they will surely regret this treatment…!”

“I clearly told you to bring him politely, what rudeness is this!”

Just as his pent-up anger was about to explode and his voice was getting louder.

Around the time they arrived in front of a building and were getting off their horses one by one.

A gentle yet powerful voice rang out from inside the building.

It sounded like he had heard it somewhere before…

“I apologize, Clan Leader!”

“Immediately apologize for the rudeness and politely escort him inside. He is an honored guest, so he should be treated accordingly!”

“Yes!”

As if seeing a well-trained knights’ order, those who seemed like unmoving statues responded in unison to that single voice.

Was the one who called him the lord of some castle?

For that, the voice was too soft, as if it belonged to a woman.

When Daimar looked around at his companions as if surveying the surroundings, they also nodded slightly, seemingly having similar thoughts.

Indeed, what does that woman want from him?

Why did she intercept his urgent steps to the Imperial Palace and summon him?

Everything was a mystery, but one thing was certain.

She was definitely not someone to be taken lightly.

He felt the tension that had loosened for a moment upon finally arriving in the capital tighten again.