If I thought a little deeper, it seemed like I would rush to the Château Neill Kingdom and blow off the hand of Prince Tesler.

“This time, he only sent a jewel box the size of a palm, but later, a bigger box might be delivered. For instance ….”

“Enough! I don’t want to hear.”

“Hmm, I apologize. Anyway, we need to find the puppet of Prince Tesler within the palace.”

“Do you talk as if that puppet is different from others?”

“Different.”

He spoke in an offended tone.

“What’s different?”

“An inflexible puppet brings useless sacrifice. This is the evidence.”

He knocked on the lid of the jewel box as if knocking.

“Please look around carefully. I will also do my research.”

“Right. So now is Bonis … will Prince Tesler be with him?”

“Likely.”

If Prince Tesler has Bonis, he must still be in the palace, right?

As the bright face of Bonis came to mind, the weight of my guilt increased.

“Your Majesty the Empress, you must be more careful in the future.”

“…What should I be careful of? Do you mean to keep away from him?”

“Do you not know. The prince has begun to guard.”

“What if… I confess my identity? How will he react?”

I put the words that had been spinning in my head in front of Duke Martins.

“It’s not a good idea. First, we need to find the spy planted by the prince. And if you act rashly, your life will also be in danger, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“The prince… he has no reason to kill me, does he?”

At my question, the Duke gave a pitying smile as if looking at a naive child.

“Your Majesty the Empress, you are not bloodrelated to the prince. This means, you’re not really helping to strengthen the royal power. What the prince wanted from this country was not simply to maintain an alliance while watching the mood of the Raphion Empire.”

“Then …?”

“His greed is bigger, he tries to put his own sister, Princess Resilia, on the throne of the Raphion Empire, even if it’s tough.”

“Ha, when he gets old, is he planning to unify the North Continent?”

When I asked, suppressing my anger, the Duke replied with a short laugh.

“All he needs is a justification. If he has a nephew to show in front, there is no reason to wait until the present queen dies?”

“He won’t poison or assassinate the queen before then…?”

“Yes, poison or assassinate her.”

“!”

I couldn’t believe it.

How far does Prince Tesler’s vain ambition extend?

Did he really have a plan to unify the entire North Continent?

Could Prince Tesler do something that even Rinel couldn’t do?

Crazy guy.

The prince is definitely a madman obsessed with delusions.

“Your Majesty the Empress, do not become an unnecessary victim.”

Duke Martins spoke as if he was worried about me, which did not match him.

It was more surprising because it seemed to come from his sincere heart.

“It seems like I’m already a victim, isn’t it?”

“Despite being a victim, you have adapted too well here, that’s why I’m saying this.”

“Even if I perform my role perfectly, I receive such treatment?”

I replied with a sarcastic laugh.

While having the conversation, I was constantly worried about Bonis, which was painful.

“If you can’t resist your feelings for the king…”

Duke Martins trailed off as he got up from the sofa.

I looked up at him.

I was very curious about what he was going to say next.

“Don’t get caught.”

“?”

“That’s all you have to do.”

Whether it was advice or a warning, the Duke left such ambiguous words and left the reception room.

Only the jewel box containing my and Bonis’s pinky fingers was left alone in the reception room.

I sat on the sofa in the reception room for a while, then picked up the box and headed for the bedroom.

Prince Tesler’s office.

“Heck, is this Emperor Rinel’s face?”

Looking at the three pictures lined up on the table, Princess Resilia asked Prince Tesler in an excited voice.

“Exactly. You would have already been your husband if you hadn’t done such a foolish thing.”

The paintings were personally drawn by Chateau Neil’s court painter of Rinel and Zelda’s royal soul day.

“Is this really his face? Didn’t the painter glorify him?”

“Not at all. He failed to fully capture the Emperor’s appearance.”

In the eyes of Prince Tesler, who had met Emperor Rinel several times, the painting fell far short of his actual appearance.

“It’s impossible. I thought he was ugly!”

Princess Resilia held Rinel’s portrait in awe.

“What? Why did you think that?”

“My brother said it. That Emperor Laphion stays away from women.”

“What does that have to do with looks?”

“I thought there was something wrong, so women didn’t like him, so I thought he kept women away.”

“You thought the problem was his face? That’s stupid.”

Prince Tesler looked at his sister with a dumbfounded expression.

“If I knew he was this handsome….”

The prince suddenly spoke to her, who was murmuring.

“Much better than that mercenary Norton, right?”

“Why are you like this? Norton is also handsome. And he is the man among men!”

“Resil, haven’t you come to your senses yet?”

He yelled at his younger sister, chiding her.

“How can Emperor Rinel be responsible if he’s handsome but useless at night?”

Princess Resilia also rolled her eyes and asked her brother.

“What to do? Even if I have to feed him medicine, I have to make him useful.”

“No. If he sees me, he won’t need any medicine.”

For a moment, she spoke confidently and laughed.

Then, she frowned as she looked down at Zelda drawn next to Rinel.

“How is she… even if she’s dressed in a beautiful wedding dress, how does she look so shabby? Isn’t that right, brother?”

“Well? After drinking the magic potion and the burn scars disappeared, doesn’t she seem much prettier?”

“Aren’t her eyes dim?”

“Uh hmm hmm, because of the crown? Looking at it this way, she does seem to look like a real empress….”

Prince Tesler coughed and trailed off.

“Brother, are you talking in your right mind? Whether she has burn scars or not, Zelda is just Zelda! What empress for no reason?”

“Ah, I don’t know. It’s noisy.”

At her nervous response, Prince Tesler left the office first with a tired expression.

As soon as her brother left, as if she had been waiting, she tore the picture of Rinel and Zelda standing side by side in half and threw the side with Zelda drawn on the floor.

Then she began to dirty the burn scar area on Zelda’s right face with her foot.

“This, this.”

After a while, a satisfied smile appeared on the princess’s face.

“Now Zelda Von Trova’s original face appears.”

She picked up Zelda’s portrait from the floor again.

“You know, Zelda. I really want to see the expression on Emperor Rinel’s face when he sees your original face. Will he still look handsome then?”

With Princess Resilia’s playful laughter, Zelda’s portrait was torn in her hands and scattered in the air.

“Ho ho ho, I’m really curious. Right?”