The powder sprinkled on his face, the carefully crafted bouquet, the countless practiced compliments—all lost their meaning in an instant.

Dyke sighed as he looked at the maid.

“It’s ruined.”

On the first day when the Strelitz Empire’s army rushed into Vangsong.

To create bait, the imperial soldiers forcibly dragged a reluctant maid to the throne.

When she cried and resisted, Dyke’s comrade threatened her with a gun, and Dyke held her tightly to prevent her from escaping.

The maid Meredith, who played the role of the queen in the banquet hall under the imperial army’s coercion.

That Meredith was now glaring at Dyke.

“Advisor Dyke, I asked what’s happening here. And this is in front of the queen’s residence.”
Dyke gathered the bouquet with a somber heart at the maid’s voice, which was not cheerful but rather cold.

Among the numerous maids, why did it have to be her at that moment?

Meredith’s gaze, shooting like the barrel of a gun, was as harsh as the one directed at her on that day.

Colin’s plan to seduce the maid to extract the baby deer from the queen, which hadn’t even been attempted, failed.

“I apologize.”

It wasn’t like Dyke to listen to Advisor Colin’s words.

Realizing the failure of the plan, Dyke weakly hid the bouquet behind his back.

“If you have nothing to say, I’ll be on my way.”

“Um, there.”

Dyke pitifully called out to Meredith, who was about to turn around.

“Are you very busy?”

“I’m on my way to the workshop on behalf of the queen. Do I need to inform and get permission from you as well?”

“Oh, no, it’s not like that.”

“Then please step aside.”

At Meredith’s firm words, Dyke awkwardly made way, caught off guard.

Dyke gazed with a melancholic expression at Meredith’s retreating figure, creating a chill breeze.

What should he do?

He didn’t know what to do, but he instinctively felt that he shouldn’t let her go like this.

Dyke, seemingly determined, strode with long steps and intercepted Meredith in one go.

“Just a moment.”

Once again, Meredith’s voice, blocking the way, became louder.

“Why are you doing this? Are you trying to forcibly sit me down and grab my hand again?”

“No, not at all. I’m here to apologize for what happened then.”

Dyke looked at Meredith with a resolute expression, as if his shy demeanor until now had been false.

Fighting against those with weapons as a soldier was natural.

But at that time, Meredith had no patches on her body and was just an ordinary civilian.

Threatening her with a gun and forcibly holding her hand, using her in the operation, was not an appropriate action as a soldier.

Dyke apologized sincerely to Meredith as a soldier.

“At that time, the situation was so urgent that I couldn’t explain it sufficiently, and I apologize for forcibly mobilizing you for the operation.”

Meredith, taken aback by Dyke’s sudden apology, forgot what she was about to say and just stared at him.

Vivid memories of holding a gun and threatening her with a knife remained, and an apology out of the blue was unexpected.

In this unexpected meeting, hearing unexpected words, she couldn’t figure out what situation she was in.

Despite Meredith’s confused and silent turmoil, Dyke calmly extended his apology.

“I sincerely apologize for what happened at that time.”

Observing Dyke apologizing like a well-grown child, Meredith slowly opened her mouth.

“Well, then, why are you blocking my way now? Is there an urgent situation again?”

Feeling Meredith’s slightly softened demeanor, Dyke took a calm breath.

Realizing that Colin’s methods wouldn’t work, there was no choice but to follow the proper procedures now.
He had no choice but to persuade in his own way.

Dyke stood upright to the point of looking somewhat stern and stared straight at Meredith.

“Yes. The current situation is urgent, so I had no choice but to block your way.”

Dyke asked with a rather serious expression.

“Do you know that a peace treaty has been signed between Styratz and Iorente, the two countries?”

Meredith, also taken aback by the sudden mention of a peace treaty, stiffened her body.

Iorente was in an uneasy situation since the end of the war. Although they managed to maintain peace through a treaty, remnants of the war still lingered between the two nations.

Like two people walking hand in hand on a thin ice sheet, not knowing when it might break, the situation was precarious.

As a close aide to the queen, Meredith, to avoid mistakes, maintained her composure.

“Yes. I heard that the Styrlein Peace Treaty was recently signed through negotiations.”

“Our Imperial Army is currently carrying out operations to strengthen the alliance between the two countries, in light of the new era of peace. Since we should not allow the hard-won treaty to be broken, I had no choice but to block the way.”

“Well, yes.”

“But there is a difficult situation that cannot be resolved by our imperial forces alone. Due to a lack of information about Iorente and restrictions on our activities, we encountered significant problems in carrying out the operation.”

“Is that so?”

“Therefore, after numerous internal discussions, it was determined that Styratz and Iorente must closely cooperate. Peace between the two countries cannot be achieved with the efforts of only one side.”

“So?”

“For the Styrlein joint operation, I had no choice but to request cooperation from Iorente. That’s why I came to visit.”

“Huh?”

For a moment, Meredith, who was bewildered, stared at Dyke intently.

It seemed like he was speaking the common continental language.

Eventually, frustrated, Meredith asked a straightforward question.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because we need your help.”

“I think it would be more appropriate to consult with the elders or King about this.”

“No, it’s something only you can do.”

“Me?”

In response to Meredith’s puzzled question, Dyke nodded confidently.

“Yes.”

“What on earth can I do to help with the peace of both countries?”

With a firm grip on the misplaced bouquet, Dyke responded cheerfully.

“Please secretly take the princess away without the queen’s knowledge.”