“I had tea time with fifteen noble young ladies this morning.”

At my words, his hand, which was lifting the skirt of my dress up to my knees, paused.

“That’s quite a gathering. And then?”

“Among them, those who have already… become Your Majesty’s concubines greeted me separately.”

“What?”

Rinel’s face showed considerable shock.

He let go of my dress skirt and slowly leaned his upper body back, which had been inclined towards me.

“Do you remember which families those young ladies were from?”

“Lady Catherine from the Calios Duke family, Lady Melanie from the Hetzros Duke family, Lady Pecilini from the Asto Marquis family, Lady Rosie from the Adelrid Count family.”

Goodness, did I really memorize all their family names?

To list the concubines’ families and names so quickly without pause!

While I was admiring my own memory, Rinel’s expression grew increasingly furrowed.

“Ah, and I heard that Lady Catherine had a special relationship with Rinel, is that true?”

At my casually added words, Rinel’s blue eyes suddenly darkened.

His expression was neither embarrassed nor troubled.

He seemed to be pondering something.

What is he thinking?

Actually, I wasn’t too concerned about Lady Catherine being his fiancée.

What I was curious about was Rinel’s current feelings towards Lady Catherine, but his ambiguous expression made it difficult to gauge his emotions.

“So they’ve… gone and done it.”

Rinel murmured quietly, lowering his gaze to the marble floor.

I glanced at his side profile as he slightly bowed his head.

His jaw tensed and his lips twisted.

For a fleeting moment, a murderous look crossed his face.

Perhaps noticing that I was secretly observing him, he relaxed his fierce expression and looked at me.

“I didn’t intend for you to find out like this…”

He said, as if confessing, with a very aggrieved look.

“Zelda, do you remember when we got married?”

“It’s been so long that it’s a bit hazy, but I remember.”

Though I didn’t intend to be sarcastic, the words came out that way without me realizing.

“I suppose it would be hazy after 3 days.”

Rinel agreed with my words without showing any signs of being upset.

“Even if I didn’t like you, I’m not the type of man to take concubines just days after getting married.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes, I’m a heavy man.”

His gaze went down somewhere and then back up.

No, what I wanted to ask wasn’t that…

“Is it also true that you don’t like me?”

“That was just an example.”

He retorted with a displeased tone, twitching his eyebrows.

If all of this was an act, I wanted to applaud his acting skills.

“Anyway. So you were planning to take concubines?”

He nodded straightforwardly and sighed.

“Huu, in fact, there had been suggestions about concubines even before the royal marriage, but I didn’t know they would rush like this. But I had clearly agreed to discuss with you first before deciding when to welcome concubines…”

“And I found out first?”

“Yes.”

…So he was saying that before Rinel could bring up the topic of concubines to me, someone among the concubines deliberately revealed that fact first at today’s tea time.

“It might be hard to believe, but it’s true. Although it’s not good news, I was planning to tell you directly and make you understand.”

Rinel continued speaking calmly, though looking quite apologetic.

“As I, a child of a concubine, ascended to the emperor’s throne, the ministers want to confirm their positions using my legitimacy as an excuse whenever they get the chance.”

“Ah.”

“So they brought in the power of the Shateonil Kingdom through the royal marriage to keep the divine right in check. Of course, it was also for a stronger alliance between the two countries in preparation for the war with the Southern Continent.”

“For Your Majesty, it was killing two birds with one stone.”

When I agreed dryly as if talking about someone else, he smiled faintly.

“Huh, three birds, I’d say?”

His hand lightly touched my cheek.

“There was something the ministers had set as a condition in exchange for letting me have my way with the royal marriage.”

“Could that condition possibly be… in exchange for welcoming a queen from Shateonil, the concubines must be daughters of noble families from the Lapion Empire, something like that?”

“You catch on quickly.”

Rinel’s body, which had been leaning against the sofa backrest, slowly tilted towards me again.

“As you know, our Northern Continent has been at war with the Southern Continent because of the wyverns.”

“Yes.”

“The war is temporarily halted now, but when the wyverns return, the war will start again.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of that too.”

“Right. Given this political situation, the ministers had no choice but to accept the royal marriage with the Shateonil Kingdom, but they maintain that they cannot tolerate an heir with mixed blood from another country.”

“So… is the plan to bring in noble young ladies from the Lapion Empire as concubines and choose Your Majesty’s successor from among the princes born to them?”

Rinel nodded, squinting one eye as if even hearing about it was unpleasant.

“They probably think I can’t take issue with that part since I’m also the child of a concubine.”

His already low voice sank even lower.

As it turned out, this wasn’t simply a matter of taking concubines.

There was a tense tug-of-war between the imperial power and divine right in the Lapion Empire.

Apart from that issue, hearing the circumstances from Rinel’s own mouth made me feel much more at ease.

“But why are they trying to bring in concubines so urgently?”

“The ministers seem to have become a bit desperate.”

“Why?”

“It seems like one of the priests who came in on the wedding night spread a rumor to the ministers.”

“What kind of rumor?”

“That I took you very passionately.”

“…Ah.”

I was at a loss for words as the memory of his passionate actions on our wedding night vividly replayed in my mind.

A heat rising from my toes was gradually turning my whole body red.

“Sigh, I’ll leave the punishment of the priest who spread the rumor to the gods, but how should I deal with the ministers who acted on that rumor and those daughters who spoke carelessly to you…”

Rinel took my hand with a cold expression, but his hand was much colder than his expression.

I felt the urge to press his ice-cold hand against my heated face.

“By the way…”

He tilted his head and stared at me intently with an even more serious look than when he was talking about the concubine issue.

I was in the middle of taking deep breaths to cool down my body.

“I can’t concentrate because of the sudden appearance of a peach human…”

“Pardon?”

I blinked at Rinel’s unexpected comment.

He felt around his chest area with his hand, then slightly turned his head and cleared his throat.

“What on earth do you mean?”

“I’m talking about your current appearance.”

Rinel held up one finger in front of me and drew a circle in the air as he replied.

The circle he drew included not only my face but also my chest line.

I looked down to check the color of my heated skin.

Only then did I realize what he meant.

“You look hot, why don’t you lift your dress skirt a bit if you’re hot.”

Rinel reached out his hand again, aiming for my dress skirt.

“It’s fine. I just naturally have a lot of body heat…”

I gently pushed away his hand and fanned my face with both hands.

“Cool down a bit.”

“Thank… you.”

He placed his cold hand on my hot nape.

Wow, it’s like a complete ice pack.

“Your cheeks have become cute.”

“Does my face look like a well-ripened apple now?”

“Yes.”

His hand on my nape tightened.

“D-don’t pluck my head off just because of that.”

“Was I caught?”

Rinel burst into laughter and removed his hand from my nape.

I also laughed along with him, feeling around my cooled neck area.

“If you’re going to cover it anyway, why not borrow my hand?”

“…Pardon?”

“My hand is much bigger than yours.”

Rinel said nonchalantly while comparing the size of my hand with his.

“Please restrain yourself.”

Although only the two of us were in the office, many attendants were waiting outside the door.

“I don’t think that only applies to me? I’d like you to restrain your excessive deep breathing too.”

Rinel said as he lightly tugged at the frills decorating my chest line.

My breathing stopped at inhale due to his pointed remark.

“I’m fine with it, but if you don’t want to cause unnecessary misunderstanding to Duke Martins who will appear soon…”

Rinel handed me a sofa cushion that was next to him and spoke in an admonishing tone.

“I will be careful.”

I sat up straight while holding my breath.

He looked at my flustered face and chuckled before opening his mouth.

“I thought we could take it slow, but given the situation, we might need to hurry a bit too.”

Rinel said seriously while rubbing his chin with his hand.

We need to hurry? With what?

Gasp, could he mean we should quickly have a child?

“I-isn’t it too early to talk about an heir?”

“What about them? Do those ministers think it’s the right time to push concubines on me?”

Rinel frowned and raised his voice while pointing his finger towards the office door.

He wasn’t wrong. But I wasn’t in a position to eagerly agree with his opinion and start planning our children by saying ‘I think a princess would be good for our first child!’

“Wouldn’t it be better for me to push myself onto you rather than them pushing concubines onto me?”

Rinel’s hand, which had been pointing at the office door, now gently lifted my chin.

His blue eyes, containing me, shot a cold light as if about to freeze me right then and there.

What should I answer?

I couldn’t think of any appropriate words to deflect.

As I just mumbled with my lips, he looked slightly hurt.

“It seems you don’t mind if I mix bodies with other women?”

No, that wasn’t it.

“Are you okay with a child born from another concubine’s womb, not from between us, becoming my successor?”

That question was one I couldn’t answer from the start.

“Rinel…”

I just weakly called his name.

That was all I could say right now.

“Let me ask again. Zelda, is it because you have no affection for me that you don’t get angry about sharing me with concubines?”

“Your expression is a bit extreme, Your Majesty.”

“Have you not considered that your silence is more extreme than my words?”

Rinel looked like he was suppressing his anger.

“…”

“Or is it that you’re not interested in heir succession? Is that it?”

The reason one can’t eat even when a feast is laid out before them is because it’s someone else’s table.

Not because they’re not hungry.

One shouldn’t carelessly touch what isn’t theirs. It’s not allowed.

Rinel, it’s not because I dislike you…

No matter how much I pleaded with my eyes, he would never be able to understand my heart.

“I also hate sharing what’s mine with others the most! I’m extremely individualistic.”

Fearing that too long a silence would negatively affect my lifeline, I just blurted out whatever came to mind.

Even though I had spoken quite seriously, Rinel erased his serious expression from earlier and burst into laughter.

“Hmm, I think I understand the Empress’s intention roughly.”

He cleared his throat pretending to adjust his voice, shaking off the remaining laughter.

“Let’s talk again when Duke Martins arrives.”

“Yes…”

“Let me say it clearly once more, this wasn’t my instruction. Of course, taking concubines was an unavoidable issue, but I really had no intention of letting you know in this way.”

I nodded obediently at his sincere expression.

“I also dislike sharing what’s mine with others, like you. Plus, I’m quite a picky eater.”

“…And so?”

“So, I don’t like tasting this and that. I only eat what suits my taste.”

“What if you get tired of it? Then you’ll look for something else, right?”

“Among the things I’ve come to like, I haven’t gotten tired of any yet, so I don’t know.”

Rinel’s face came close to mine.

As if promised, both our lips twitched simultaneously.

“Hmm?”

His lips pressed against mine like stamping a seal.

“W-wait a moment!”

I pushed his firm chest with both hands, but he didn’t budge at all.

“Why suddenly…”

“Because you seemed like you would keep asking foolish questions.”

His flushed voice flowed between our slightly parted lips.

“So I wanted to stop it here. Do you dislike it?”

“Ah, it’s not that I dislike it, but…”

“Then do you like it?”

“Well, I’m not sure…”

“If you don’t know, you’ll know if we try.”

“Ah.”

My resisting heart melted helplessly against his persistent kiss.

The kiss that started lightly was gradually deepening.

Rinel’s hand lingered on my nape for a while before slowly sliding down below my collarbone.

His hand began to wander near my heart, which was beating so hard it felt like it would jump out.

Knock knock knock−.

At that moment, a cheerful knocking sound echoed throughout the office.

Startled by the sound, I pushed Rinel’s chest hard.

Oh? Did I use too much strength?

I realized I had failed to control my strength as I saw him sprawled behind the sofa.

He stared at me with a dumbfounded expression.

Before that incredulous expression could turn into anger, I quickly responded to the knocking sound.

“C-come in!”

Even until the moment the office door opened, his gaze remained fixed on my face.

I hurriedly pulled his hand to help him sit properly on the sofa.

Although he moved as I guided him, his face still hadn’t recovered from the shock.

“Zelda, if you reject my kisses in the future, then!”

Rinel whispered in my ear while watching the slowly opening office door.

“Know that I won’t be the only one falling backwards.”

The threat was too suggestive.