“What kind of gift is it?”

“Well, it’s not something I prepared…”

The Grand Duke shrugged and replied.

He briefly glanced at the jewelry box he was holding before looking back at the faces of the two concubines.

Rosie and Pecilini were staring intently at the jewelry box he was holding with curious eyes.

“If it’s not a gift prepared by the Grand Duke, then who sent it?”

“It was sent by the Shatuonil royal family. From Prince Tessler.”

Grand Duke Martins kept glancing at them as he spoke to me.

I couldn’t help but frown at the sight of him showing interest in the concubines of the Raphion Empire.

“Rosie and Pecilini, you may go back now. I think I need to have a talk with the Grand Duke.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Then we shall take our leave.”

Rosie and Pecilini bowed to me and walked out of the main entrance of the Empress’s Palace side by side.

I began speaking as I climbed the central stairs with Grand Duke Martins.

“Grand Duke, aren’t you showing too much obvious interest in another country’s concubines?”

“Was I that obvious?”

Grand Duke Martins asked innocently.

“Well, I suppose it’s fine to look at their backs openly, but please be careful in front. There are many eyes watching.”

“Thank you for the advice, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Grand Duke Martins replied with a smirk.

Somehow, the Grand Duke’s expression that seemed to mock my words bothered me, but I didn’t show it.

As I entered the reception room with Grand Duke Martins, I dismissed all the attendants.

Shortly after, Sharon brought in mint tea to the reception room.

The Grand Duke picked up a teacup and inhaled the scent of mint.

The jewelry box was placed next to his tea saucer.

He didn’t hand me the jewelry box right away.

What expensive gift could be inside for him to act like that?

There was no lock or anything on the jewelry box.

It seemed likely that the Grand Duke had opened the box before bringing it to me.

So it must be one of two things.

Either it’s a very precious item that he’s reluctant to hand over to me, or it’s something so trivial that he doesn’t feel the need to give it to me right away.

“I heard you went to His Majesty the Emperor’s bedroom yourself last night.”

Grand Duke Martins asked after taking a sip of tea.

“I have to be diligent in my role as Empress.”

I had no excuse to make up.

“You went of your own accord without His Majesty calling for you? Aren’t you getting too immersed in your role?”

“Grand Duke.”

I called out to him as I put down the teacup I had been holding on my palm onto the saucer.

“Yes.”

“How do you know whether His Majesty called for me or if I just went on my own to say such things?”

“Then… was there a summons from His Majesty?”

“If His Majesty hadn’t called for me, wouldn’t I have been kicked out of the main palace bedroom right away?”

I cleverly deflected Grand Duke Martins’ question with another question.

It was a lie, but for some reason, I didn’t feel guilty at all.

“Well, that’s true.”

He was at a loss for words and fell silent for a moment before asking another question.

“I’m curious about something. What do you think is the reason His Majesty doesn’t visit the chambers of the concubines, Your Majesty?”

“That’s not something you should ask me. Why don’t you ask His Majesty directly?”

“His Majesty seems to find me a bit uncomfortable, you see.”

Grand Duke Martins laughed heartily.

“How should I put it, rather than feeling uncomfortable with you…”

“Rather than?”

“It seems like he just openly dislikes you.”

“Oh my.”

Grand Duke Martins put on a feigned hurt expression.

“Your Majesty the Empress is quite perceptive. I thought I was the only one who felt that way.”

“Well, I’ve been well-trained in reading people’s feelings since I was young. It’s my area of expertise.”

Grand Duke Martins burst into laughter at my sad story.

But the laughter was short-lived,

“Then, with your keen perception, Your Majesty the Empress, why don’t you guess?”

“Guess what?”

“Whether what’s inside this is a gift or not.”

The Grand Duke pushed the jewelry box he had brought towards me.

I picked up the jewelry box that was said to be sent by Prince Tessler.

What could be inside this that makes the Grand Duke give such a meaningful look?

“Is there a bomb in here?”

I asked, slightly shaking the jewelry box.

At that, Grand Duke Martins’ expression twisted strangely.

“For now, it would be better to talk after you see it.”

“Alright then.”

I took my eyes off Grand Duke Martins’ frozen face and opened the jewelry box.

“Oh? It’s a box made with cold-hot magic?”

As I opened the jewelry box, the misty cold air trapped inside spread into the air.

“It looks like a ring?”

I caught a glimpse of a sparkling jewel through the cold air.

The Kingdom of Shatuonil is the country with the largest diamond deposits in the Northern Continent.

It’s said that 40% of the kingdom’s treasury comes from diamond exports.

“It looks like a pink diamond…”

Among them, pink diamonds are rare and in low supply, so they are traded at quite high prices even in the Kingdom of Shatuonil.

The pink diamond sparkling in the jewelry box wasn’t extremely expensive, but it was a ring with a simple design.

A pink diamond of that size would be something that wealthy noble ladies might each have one of.

For a not-so-wealthy lady, it was common to receive one as a gift, like me.

Wait, the design looked familiar…

It looked similar to the ring I had received as a gift from Prince Tessler.

And that ring was the one I had given to Bonnis, the bathing maid from a baronial family who was my closest friend, before I left the kingdom.

“That’s right. It’s that ring, but why is it here…?”

After confirming the pink diamond through the dispersing cold air, I raised my head to look at Grand Duke Martins again.

The Grand Duke pointed at the jewelry box with his finger, as if telling me to look more closely.

I lowered my gaze to the jewelry box again.

As the misty cold air almost disappeared, the contents of the jewelry box began to be clearly visible.

“…Gasp!”

As soon as I confirmed the contents inside the jewelry box, I threw it down on the table.

“Your Majesty the Empress, can you recognize… whose it is? Ugh!”

Before the Grand Duke could finish his question, I quickly grabbed the poker next to the fireplace and aimed it at his throat.

I wanted to pierce the Grand Duke’s throat with this right away.

“Explain!!”

Grasping onto a piece of my disappearing rationality, I shouted at him.

Even if I were to kill him, it wouldn’t be too late to do so after hearing an explanation of what this situation was all about.

“Tell me why Bonnis’s pinky finger is in here!”

“Y-Your Majesty the Empress, please calm down first!”

Grand Duke Martins spoke in a tense tone, glancing down at the poker that was about to press against his Adam’s apple.

“Answer my question first! If not, I’ll start by stabbing this into your beating heart to calm it down!”

I shouted, roughly pressing the poker that had been aimed at the Grand Duke’s throat onto his heart.

“Ugh! Your Majesty the Empress, killing me now won’t help you find out the whereabouts of the owner of that finger.”

Grand Duke Martins quickly added while rubbing near his heart with his palm.

“I don’t know anything either. I only received the jewelry box.”

“Did you really receive it from Prince Tessler? Why, why did he send me Bonnis’s pinky finger? Why!”

“It seems to be a kind of warning.”

“How does the prince know whether I have any reason to receive a warning or not?!”

“It seems the prince has started to become uneasy.”

The strength left my hand at Grand Duke Martins’ words.

“What kind of uneasiness?”

I asked, stamping the end of the poker that had been pressing on his heart onto the floor.

“The uneasiness that His Majesty has started to regard Your Majesty the Empress as special, I suppose.”

“You must have reported such nonsense! That’s why the prince sent this to me, right?”

I thought Grand Duke Martins was the culprit behind this incident.

If it weren’t for him, Bonnis’s pinky finger wouldn’t have been cut off.

If he hadn’t conveyed strange words to Prince Tessler, then…!

I pressed the poker against the Grand Duke’s Adam’s apple again.

“Grand Duke, it’s your fault!”

“Your Majesty the Empress, let’s hear me out first.”

He spoke as if trying to calm me down, showing both his hands.

“I did receive a report from my subordinate that you two spent the night together, but I received this jewelry box before that.”

“That means…?”

“Yes, someone must have conveyed the news before me. There must be eyes and ears of Prince Tessler in the Raphion Imperial Palace other than me.”

“Who on earth would do such a thing?”

My heart pounded at Grand Duke Martins’ unexpected words.

“I don’t know that yet either. Your Majesty the Empress, please sit down for now.”

I sat down heavily on the sofa, suddenly drained of all energy.

After taking a moment to catch my breath and calm down a bit, I spoke again.

“You’re saying there’s a spy you don’t know about, Grand Duke? But why did Prince Tessler plant someone other than you here?”

To me, Prince Tessler was no longer someone worthy of the title ‘Your Highness’.

“I find that strange too. I’m not sure if Prince Tessler didn’t trust me from the beginning and planted a spy, or if it’s a new spy he’s brought in this time.”

“Is there anyone you suspect?”

“No, not yet.”

Grand Duke Martins spoke as if he was frustrated too.

I narrowed my eyes and stared at the jewelry box again.

The cold air inside the box had already all escaped.

Bonnis’s pinky finger wearing the pink diamond ring was too clearly visible.

I clenched my molars and closed the lid of the box.

“I have no idea. But one thing, in my opinion, it must be one of the people close to Your Majesty the Empress.”

The Grand Duke said, looking down at my hand closing the box lid.

“Someone close to me…?”

Well, no one in particular came to mind.

Who could be close to me and have connections with the Kingdom of Shatuonil?

“It must be someone who could know about Your Majesty visiting the main palace last night and going to the concubines’ quarters with His Majesty, right?”

Grand Duke Martins seemed to have already given this matter a lot of thought.

“Are you saying it might be one of the concubines?”

“It could also be one of the attendants serving the concubines. I’m not certain, but I think the possibility is high.”

“Hmm, that aside… Bonnis. You’re saying you don’t know what happened to Bonnis after she went through something like this, right?”

I asked, nodding towards the jewelry box.

“Yes, I apologize. I’ve had my subordinates look into it, so let’s wait a bit.”

I looked into Grand Duke Martins’ eyes for a moment.

It didn’t seem like he was lying.

“Is it really Prince Tessler’s doing?”

“Currently, all royal matters are being handled by the prince on behalf of His Majesty the King who is bedridden, aren’t they? No one would send such a thing without his order.”

“Why go to such lengths? Why do this to me!”

I tightly grasped the skirt of my dress.

“It’s intimidation, I suppose.”

Grand Duke Martins said as if it were obvious.

It’s because of me.

It’s because of me that Bonnis went through this.

Along with anger, guilt washed over me.

“He must be feeling threatened.”

“Me?”

“No, Prince Tessler.”

“Isn’t that all thanks to your diligent reports, Grand Duke?”

Grand Duke Martins made an aggrieved expression at my sarcastic tone.

“It seems that not reporting diligently has rather backfired and resulted in this kind of response.”

He said glumly, nodding towards the jewelry box.

“Did you say Lady Bonnis? She seems to be very close to Your Majesty the Empress.”

Judging by such a question, he really seemed to know nothing about this incident.

“She was a bathing maid with me in the royal palace, the young lady of the Ephin baronial family…”

I covered my face with both hands and bent over, burying my face in my thighs.

“By any chance… was Bonnis’s father the court magician Rogan Ephin who went missing?”

“That’s right. The missing Rogan is her father.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Grand Duke Martins made an expression as if he was deep in thought.

“Why do you ask?”

“Ah, it’s nothing…”

He shrugged his shoulders and continued speaking.

“By the way, did you recognize the pinky finger as Lady Bonnis’s at once because of the pink diamond ring?”

“That’s right. I gave it to Bonnis on the day I left for this place. And that pink diamond ring was given to me by Prince Tessler as a birthday gift two years ago.”

“Ah, so that’s why the prince sent Lady Bonnis’s pinky finger with the ring. So that Your Majesty could recognize it right away.”

Grand Duke Martins nodded as if he had finally solved a puzzle, then leaned forward with a face that seemed to have something to say.

“Prince Tessler asked me to convey the message ‘Let’s keep our boundaries’.”

“Boundaries? Are you saying that because I crossed the line first, he crossed it too? Is that why he cut off Bonnis’s pinky finger?”

Prince Tessler, that bastard!

I will never let this go.

“That seems to be the meaning. And if Your Majesty the Empress continues to cross the line, then perhaps next time it will be something else of Lady Bonnis…”

“Stop! I don’t want to hear it.”

I covered my ears with both hands and lowered my head.

“Your Majesty the Empress, this is when you need to pull yourself together more than ever.”

Grand Duke Martins said seriously, lowering his voice.

“Prince Tessler will be visiting the Raphion Imperial Palace soon.”

“What did you say?”

I suddenly raised my head.