Bellia shook her head slightly.

“No. I want this. I…”

As it wasn’t something she could say lightly, Bellia paused for a moment. The words that she wanted Callid to become emperor grew heavier in her mouth, weighing her down. But soon she gathered her resolve and spoke.

“I want him to become the emperor.”

Herald looked a bit surprised at Bellia’s answer, which contained clear determination.

The king asked again with an expression of not understanding Bellia’s words.

“Could you tell me why you didn’t choose Prince Raul?”

How should she explain?

Bellia simply wanted to say honestly that a future with him would only lead to death.

“If I marry him, everyone around me, including the Kingdom of Ronica, might die by his hand. I also wouldn’t be able to live a happy life.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“He is not a trustworthy person.”

Bellia was resolute.

“Don’t trust Prince Raul and the emperor, father.”

Their greed will reach beyond the empire to here. So preparations against the empire were absolutely necessary. After all, to the empire, the Kingdom of Ronica was far too tempting a prey.

“Prince Raul is a greedy person. Do you think he came to the Kingdom of Ronica for no reason?”

“…Hmm.”

At that moment, Herald, who had been quiet, carefully opened his mouth.

“I received the report you sent last time. I also reported it to father.”

It was about Prince Raul intercepting all reports about magical beasts to claim sole credit.

“I thought it was strange then too.”

Herald stared at Bellia for a moment.

“Bellia. How did you notice that?”

Bellia kept her mouth shut.

The king and Herald waited for Bellia to speak. But she didn’t open her mouth until the end.

“Bellia. Can’t you explain how you came to know?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“If you don’t say anything, we can’t listen to your opinion, Bellia.”

The king spoke firmly to Bellia.

Right. This is actually correct.

It was strange for Callid to just say he believed in her without any proper explanation.

“Prince Raul seemed suspicious from the start. He said he truly fell for me, but I couldn’t feel any sincerity.”

So Bellia brought up the story she had prepared in advance.

“Do you really think the only reason he came to the kingdom was to investigate the gold mines? Do you think there was no calculation in his proposal to me?”

“Hmm…”

“Just as we thought the empire’s first prince wouldn’t be a bad match, don’t you think he also measured me against various conditions?”

It wasn’t wrong. It was strange to say he fell in love at first sight.

Herald nodded in agreement with those words.

“So I kept watching his actions. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared in advance. Then I happened to find evidence that he was diverting reports.”

When Bellia finished speaking, the king stroked his chin and smiled.

“That was because you were lucky. He was caught by you because he was certain he would never be discovered.”

Then he looked at Bellia warmly, as if he found her admirable.

“But there’s still not enough evidence to fully believe your words.”

“Father…”

“I understand your opinion well. I won’t handle matters with a weak heart just because you’re in the empire. Will that do?”

He examined the map Bellia had brought. The locations of gold mines and where magical beasts appeared were marked.

And there was one more mark between the Ingot Empire and the Kingdom of Ronica, which stood out at once because it was a very long line.

“What is this?”

“If the empire demands the opening of the Shanetan Central Road, please be sure to refuse.”

“Oh? Why do you think the empire will make such a demand?”

Bellia spoke with her eyes shining this time too.

“The empire has been demanding passage rights on roads under the pretext of trade or investment in other countries recently. We’ll be no exception.”

The king nodded as if he had been expecting this.

“We should continue to charge tolls as before. We must never approve of opening the main road for them to travel easily.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Because if our relationship with the empire sours, they could use that road for invasion.”

Herald agreed with Bellia’s words.

“We know for certain that a fight for the imperial throne will break out. We don’t know how the sparks will fly, so there’s no need to take the risk of opening the road.”

A very satisfied smile appeared on the king’s face as he looked at Bellia.

And after reminding her of a few minor details, he wrapped up the long conversation.

“Princess!”

As Bellia returned to her room, trudging along with fatigue on her shoulders, a maid approached and held out a letter.

‘A letter?’

With a puzzled expression, Bellia took the letter and sat down at the small desk in the room. As soon as she checked the seal, her expression brightened. She immediately recognized who had sent it.

‘When did you write this letter?’

As soon as Bellia realized it was a letter sent to her by Callid, her hands became a little busier.

And she hurriedly read through the neatly folded letter.

“Ahaha.”

When she finished reading the letter, Bellia burst into laughter and even shed tears.

It was a letter sent just three days after he left.

However, the letter was densely filled with various phrases saying he missed her, using all sorts of flowery language. How ticklishly he had written each sentence.

It was even funnier because the content of the letter didn’t match his actual voice at all. Talk about making a fuss.

“What is this.”

Though she spoke as if dumbfounded, Bellia read the letter over and over again. Somehow, she felt like the emptiness in her heart since he left was being filled a little.

What should this feeling be called now? For some reason, the area around her heart felt ticklish.

She couldn’t take her eyes off the sentences in the letter that said he missed her.

“Haah…”

Bellia let out a big sigh.

She felt breathless, filled with an indescribable emotion.

“Callid.”

Where would he be by now?

Had he arrived at Duke Tessa’s domain?

Was the journey not too difficult?

…Are his feelings really sincere?

Numerous questions circled in Bellia’s mind.

It was filled with thoughts of Callid.

“…I miss you too.”

Without realizing it, her hidden feelings spilled out of her mouth. She really missed him after just a few days.

How long had they been together?

The days he wasn’t by her side were much longer than the days he was, so this should feel more familiar, but strangely, now she couldn’t recall well the times when Callid wasn’t there.

On this particularly tiring day, she found herself wishing he was by her side to hold her tight.

Derek let out a sigh mixed with laughter as he looked at the report brought by the top-class informant.

‘To think this is true…’

And he rested his arm on the desk and tilted his chin crookedly.

How can all of this be true?

“When did you say they would arrive?”

“…They should arrive in two days.”

“The pursuers?”

“All have been dealt with.”

Derek nodded.

The location of the sacred artifact that Princess Bellia had provided was a very secretly hidden place. The chance they had barely obtained was too high to waste just to check if the sacred artifact was there for the informants to enter.

‘This time it was literally close to gambling…’

There was only one chance to confirm the location where the sacred artifact was said to be.

It was a sealed room with layers of various magical devices, structured in a way that traces of intrusion couldn’t be hidden.

They might have completely failed the request itself while trying to confirm if the information Bellia provided was true. Then they would certainly move the sacred artifact elsewhere.

‘It would be even harder to find after that.’

So after much deliberation, he decided to proceed with the recovery of the sacred artifact all at once, bringing along the priests of the divine country who had requested them. It was an unavoidable decision since the sacred artifact wasn’t something just anyone could handle carelessly.

The clients were half in doubt, but recently they received a report that the sacred artifact stored in that location had been discovered and successfully recovered.

“Has the investigation of the second prince been wrapped up to some extent?”

“…There are some suspicious circumstances. Please give us a little more time.”

“Suspicious circumstances?”

“Yes. There are a few things that aren’t certain. We’re in the final stages of the investigation, so we’ll organize and provide it to you soon.”

Derek let out a long sigh.

Something that even a top-class informant couldn’t grasp.

‘Interesting.’

Once the clients and the sacred artifact safely arrived, they had to provide the information Princess Bellia requested as per the contract.

There was already a lot of information the guild itself possessed about the second prince Callid, but while revising and organizing the overall content this time, they discovered quite a few new facts.

‘…What a strange relationship, indeed.’

Of course, it was about Callid and Bellia.

Derek recalled the conversation he had with Callid before.

‘If Bellia happens to request information about me, you can tell her everything down to the smallest detail.’

The voice of the second prince, who spoke as if he was very pleased, flashed by. He seemed quite excited, as if he really hoped Princess Bellia would look into him. And he added:

‘Ah, right. If the information the guild has found is insufficient, come to me. I’ll tell you directly.’

Derek’s pride was greatly hurt by those words, which implied that of course you wouldn’t be able to find out everything.

The skills of the information guild Lunes are recognized throughout the continent. To tell them to come if the information is insufficient.

‘Hah…’

Even now, thinking about it, he was an unpleasant man.

Derek, who was frowning with irritation, asked about the investigation he had personally ordered before.

“Has the investigation of Princess Bellia been completed?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Derek sharply looked at the investigator standing in front of him.

“Don’t tell me you couldn’t find out anything?”

“That’s all we reported then. There was nothing special about Princess Bellia.”

“Then how do you think a princess who only read books quietly in the castle suddenly came to know about secret events happening across the continent?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Derek roughly ruffled his hair.

“For now, keep watching Princess Bellia. Raise the observation level to top-class.”

“Yes.”

Somehow this damn curiosity kept urging him to dig deeper into them.

“Hmm…”

He confirmed it when he met them. They were certainly sincere. It wasn’t a political marriage or a forced relationship. Yet they both showed clear signs of anxiety about each other. So he thought it was a bit strange.

“For now, find out as much as we can. And report on Prince Callid again. Shouldn’t we always repay our clients with trust?”

If we keep watching from the side, something will surely come up.

Derek smiled meaningfully as he raised the corners of his mouth.