We sat side by side in the office and drank tea without much conversation.

I missed the timing to get angry about Askal disappearing without a word because he kept glancing at me and looking at my reaction.

“I heard a rough version, but I want to hear it from you.”

He put down his cup, emitting a familiar scent of soap. Then, with a hardened face, he began to speak as if confessing.

“I controlled it well… enough not to kill him.”

“So you beat him up.”

Askal lowered his gaze to the side. It was an affirmation.

“I believe you would have thought about how to handle the aftermath in advance.”

At my words, he cleared his throat with a ‘hmm’.

“On the way here, I wrote a forced expulsion order at the government office. And I intend to expel him from the family as well.”

“Askal, that’s…!”

I was dumbfounded by his absurd words.

“Do you know where he spent the money he received from his wife?”

I know very well. Because I told him to attach someone and watch how he spends it.

“That bastard Aron was taking the money and sticking it in the bosoms of courtesans.”

“……”

According to the report, Aron brought two courtesans into his house after receiving money from me. He spent half of the money on entertainment expenses, drinking and taking women. And that was in just a few days.

“I will expel him from the family with my authority as the head. And I will banish him from Artenbach territory with my authority as the lord. I should have done that a long time ago… Damn it.”

Askal roughly tousled his not-quite-dry hair. I stared at him quietly and spoke.

“Since it’s a fight between nobles, it might turn into a trial if it gets big.”

He laughed at my concern and answered.

“There won’t be a trial. To others’ eyes, it will only look like a fistfight between brothers. And even if this gets rumored, it will only be temporary gossip. My reputation wasn’t that clean to begin with, so it’s just adding another line to it.”

“Alright. I won’t ask any more.”

Although it seems like he did it first and then handled the aftermath, he accurately judged the situation and has a solution, so I decided to let it go. There’s not much I can do even if I intervene anyway.

“Askal, I have one thing I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

When I broke down Rublion’s door and went in, he approached the child who was trying to hide his feelings until the end and whispered in his ear. After that, the child completely opened up and told the truth.

“What did you whisper to Rublion that day? I’m curious what you said to make the child cry like that.”

“It’s nothing much. I just said I’ll keep my promise as a man… and that I love you as much as you love your mother.”

No wonder Rublion cried his eyes out. But thanks to that, the child opened up, so this should be praised.

“I see. You did well.”

I said, nodding my head. Askal smiled softly as if embarrassed.

“Ah, you… You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

Although it was one-sided, he did come back from a fight. So I asked out of a little concern. Then Askal said, narrowing his eyes.

“If I say I’m hurt, will you treat me?”

I nodded.

“Yes. I’ll call the royal physician. That’s why he’s staying at the mansion.”

“It’s not my lady treating me directly?”

“I don’t even know where and how you’re hurt, so it’s not something I can do.”

He stared at me intently with still narrowed eyes. Then, clicking his tongue, he answered.

“In that case, let’s say I’m not hurt anywhere, my lady.”

The Artenbach ducal house was maintaining a precarious yet peaceful time.

Schmidt and Rublion were together more often than usual. She was worried that Rublion might be struggling because of the conversation between the crown princess and Aron, but fortunately, there was hardly any sign of that.

She was also concerned that he might be dealing with it alone inwardly, but it turned out that Rublion was regulating his emotions by exchanging letters with Riena.

The people of the Artenbach ducal house thought these two children were a really adorable couple.

Askal saw with his own eyes Aron being chased out of the territory. He also documented that Aron was expelled from the family.

While peace continued in the ducal house, the imperial palace was not so.

Hegelia, knowing that the consummation date had been set again, headed to the crown prince’s palace to meet the crown prince. This time, she intended to get a definite answer so that he couldn’t delay the night together.

“Inform His Highness that I have come.”

The guard knight went into the office and came out. Then, with a stiff expression, he said,

“I’m sorry, Your Highness… The Crown Prince ordered not to let anyone in until further notice.”

The other guard knight standing at the entrance of the office also made a difficult expression. Hegelia neatly clasped her hands, straightened her back, and spoke.

“Then I will wait here until His Highness comes out.”

She had no intention of backing down. It had been over ten years since she became the crown princess, but she had not seen an heir. So she was desperate.

A battle of will began between the guard knight who didn’t know what to do and Hegelia who was determined to meet the crown prince at all costs.

The knight, burdened by the ladies-in-waiting staring at him with equally fierce eyes behind the crown princess, eventually turned his head away.

After standing and waiting like that for an hour, Hegelia finally let out a deep sigh and said,

“Please inform him again. His Highness’s mind may have changed.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The guard knight went back into the office. Then he opened the door with a broad smile.

“He says to come in.”

Hegelia gestured to the ladies-in-waiting to wait for a moment, hiding her pleased expression. Then, with a graceful gait, she crossed the threshold of the crown prince’s office.

“I’m sorry. I kept you standing because I was busy with official duties. Your legs must hurt, so please sit.”

The crown prince rose from his desk and pointed to a seat. The single sofa made of water buffalo leather, said to be available in the southern region, had the imperial family’s pattern embroidered with gold thread on the backrest.

It was Hegelia’s exclusive sofa that she had been using since shortly after she entered the palace holding the crown prince’s hand.

“Your Highness. Are you aware that the consummation date has been set?”

“I am aware.”

“Can I believe that you won’t delay it this time?”

“I can’t promise for sure, but I’ll try.”

“…You said the same thing last time.”

“Hmm.”

The crown prince plopped down on the sofa across from her, rubbing his neck. Then he silently observed her wearing a dress with slightly exposed shoulders.

“I haven’t seen that dress before, but it suits you well. Wear it like that often.”

Hegelia’s expression froze coldly. She knew he said that because he no longer wanted to have a conversation on this topic.

“The consummation date is the day after tomorrow.”

“….”

“I will trust that you won’t delay it.”

“Do you have more to say?”

At the crown prince’s cold tone, Hegelia rose from her seat and said,

“Your Highness. This dress is what I wore at the wedding of the Duke of Artenbach a few days ago.”

“Ah.”

Hegelia felt like she had confirmed that his interest was not in her. But even so, she didn’t scream or get angry asking why he didn’t recognize it.

She knew that if she did, he would only say it was unbecoming of a crown princess.

“I will see you the day after tomorrow, Your Highness.”

“Alright.”

The crown prince was still sitting. Then, without taking his eyes off Hegelia, who was turning around straightening her dress hem, he stood up only after she had completely left the office.

He walked to the desk with long strides and took out an envelope from the drawer. It had the Artenbach family crest stamped on it.

Hegelia, who came out of the crown prince’s office, headed to the garden behind the crown prince’s palace. Sending away all the ladies-in-waiting and entering alone, she plopped down limply on the rocking chair placed under a large tree’s shade.

‘I’m tired….’

It was an era when the power of the nobility had fallen to the bottom. Naturally, the imperial family’s reputation was also a precarious lamp in front of wealthy capitalists.

The reason the crown prince placed her in the position of crown princess was not out of love.

Knowing that class barriers were crumbling, he embraced her, a commoner, as a member of the imperial family to give the impression that the imperial family was free from the class system.

Of course, until shortly after meeting him and getting married, Hegelia thought the crown prince had placed her in this position because he loved her.

So she mistakenly thought he had accepted her even though he knew she had given birth to Aron’s child.

After realizing that what he had given her and smiled kindly at her was not affection but simple consideration, it was too late.

Her past, known only to the crown prince, was a fatal weakness and a weapon that could shake her position.

So she was impatient. It was because of the expectation that if she at least had an heir, it would not threaten her position.

‘But… I can’t have any more babies.’

Hegelia had experienced two miscarriages. So her standing within the imperial palace was completely at the bottom.

On days like today when she was hurt from meeting the crown prince and hid in the garden, she had once overheard a conversation between the ladies-in-waiting who had come here first.

Those ladies-in-waiting shared malicious gossip that Hegelia was hated by the goddess of life and would probably never have a baby in her lifetime.

Hegelia, who lost her reason from the shock, personally whipped those ladies-in-waiting. Because of that incident, even the palace people who had some sympathy for her completely turned their backs on her.

A thoroughly isolated position.

So Hegelia wanted to run away. She was tired of waiting for an opportunity that might never come.

So she became increasingly curious about the child she had practically abandoned. She wanted to know how the child had grown up and if the child would want to see her.

Thinking that maybe she was tired of this doll-like life, she hoped that if the child wanted her, she could shake off this burdensome position and spend the rest of her life simply by the child’s side.

Of course, it crumbled miserably after meeting Aron, but the thread of hope was still in the palm of her hand.

It was then, as Hegelia sat in the rocking chair lost in thought.