“Why is Prince Tessler coming to the Raphion Empire?”

I asked, unknowingly clenching my fist.

“As Your Majesty the Empress knows, don’t all countries gather every year to hold the Continental Hunting Competition?”

“Yes, I know it hasn’t been held for the past few years, right?”

The Inter-Continental Hunting Competition was ostensibly for promoting friendship between countries, but in reality, it had an underlying purpose of understanding each other’s movements.

“That’s correct. Due to wyverns beginning to inhabit the Death Valley between the two continents, war broke out, and because of that, the hunting competition wasn’t held for 3 years, but it seems it might be held this time.”

“I heard it’s time for the wyverns to return, yet they’re still holding the hunting competition?”

“Yes, it seems discussions have arisen due to a personal letter sent by the Emperor of the Tebello Empire in the Southern Continent to each country.”

“What kind of letter?”

“It suggests that rather than recklessly starting wars from now on, how about maintaining peaceful relations while dealing with the wyvern problem?”

“Ah, so they’re using the hunting competition as an excuse for the emperors of each country to gather in one place and discuss this matter?”

“That’s right.”

Grand Duke Martins nodded.

“There must be some ulterior motive behind that too, right?”

“Of course. Unless one of the two continents gives up on the wyverns, the war won’t easily stop.”

“Then is there really a need to hold the hunting competition? If they’re going to start a war anyway.”

When I asked doubtfully, the Grand Duke laughed heartily.

“The Inter-Continental Hunting Competition is a good opportunity to spy on each other.”

Grand Duke Martins’ words made sense.

“If this hunting competition is held, it will be a silent war, won’t it?”

“You see it well, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Is that why Prince Tessler is coming here?”

I asked, furrowing my brow.

“Yes, as we’re in the same Northern Continent, it seems his purpose is to meet Your Majesty in advance before the hunting competition is held.”

“Then he won’t stay long, will he?”

“That’s right. He’ll have to come back again when the hunting competition is confirmed anyway.”

If the hunting competition is held this time, the starting point for this year’s competition would be the Raphion Empire.

That means all the distinguished guests from each country participating in the hunting competition will gather in the Raphion Empire.

“Then since the starting point is in the Northern Continent… which country in the Southern Continent will be the ending point?”

“I hear it’s the Partsha Empire, where the emperor changed recently.”

A smile spread across Grand Duke Martins’ face that didn’t match the conversation.

“Grand Duke, why are you smiling? Do you have some connection with the Partsha Empire?”

“Ah, was I smiling?”

He ran his hand over his face, lowering his upturned corners of his mouth.

“There is a connection. No, Princess Resilia would have a deeper connection than me.”

Princess Resilia? Why?

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll come to know eventually. It would be good for Your Majesty the Empress to take an interest in the Partsha Empire from now on.”

Me?

“Why?”

“Because it’s a much more important country than you might think.”

Grand Duke Martins’ answer was simple, but somehow I felt uneasy.

I followed his advice and kept the Southern Continent’s Partsha Empire in mind for now.

“Ah, is that why His Majesty has been in a meeting with the ministers since morning?”

“Probably. They must be discussing whether to agree to host the Continental Hunting Competition or not.”

“When will the prince arrive here?”

I wasn’t confident I could face Prince Tessler with a smiling face.

I even thought it would be nice if someone at the hunting competition shot an arrow into Prince Tessler’s heart, disguising it as an accident.

If that were possible, I would…

“Your Majesty the Empress, hasty actions are forbidden.”

Grand Duke Martins spoke as if he knew what I was thinking right now.

Feeling caught, I felt embarrassed, but I didn’t want to deny it, so I just remained silent.

“He’s a cruel person.”

The Grand Duke said.

“Pardon?”

“I mean the prince. He pretends to be gentle on the outside, but he has an extremely cruel nature.”

Prince Tessler is cruel?

I knew he was a bastard on the day I was sent here as a proxy empress, but until then, I didn’t know Prince Tessler had a cruel personality.

My gaze fell on the jewel box again.

Seeing that I didn’t readily agree with his words, the Grand Duke spoke with more force.

“Your Majesty the Empress wouldn’t have experienced Prince Tessler’s cruelty until now, so you wouldn’t know.”

I turned my gaze back to him.

“Grand Duke.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“The prince won’t kill Bonnis, will he?”

I asked, clenching my fist so hard that it felt like my hand bones would pierce through my skin.

“He won’t kill him. Not yet.”

My heart sank at the Grand Duke’s slowly added last words.

“Not yet? Then do you think there’s a possibility he will in the future?”

“Of course. This is just the beginning of the warning. If Your Majesty the Empress continues to get closer to His Majesty, he’ll send an even bigger warning.”

“A bigger warning would be…”

I didn’t want to imagine it.

If I thought about it any deeper, I felt like I would rush to the Shattonil Kingdom right now and blow off Prince Tessler’s head.

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

“That’s enough! I don’t want to hear it.”

“Hmm, I apologize. Anyway, we need to find Prince Tessler’s puppet inside the imperial palace.”

“You speak as if you’re different from that puppet, Grand Duke.”

“I am different.”

He said in an offended tone.

“How are you different?”

“An inflexible puppet brings unnecessary sacrifices. This is the evidence.”

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

“Look around carefully. I’ll investigate in my own way too.”

“Alright. Then now, is Bonnis… with Prince Tessler?”

“There’s a high probability.”

If Prince Tessler has Bonnis, he’s still in the palace, right?

As Bonnis’s bright face came to mind, the weight of my guilt grew heavier.

“Your Majesty the Empress. You’ll have to be more careful from now on.”

“…What should I be careful of? Do you mean I should stay away from His Majesty?”

“You know. The prince has started to be wary.”

“What if I… just confess my identity? How do you think His Majesty would react?”

I voiced the thought that had been circling in my mind to Grand Duke Martins.

“That’s not a good idea. We should find the spy the prince has planted first. And if you move rashly, Your Majesty the Empress’s life will be in danger too.”

“The prince… doesn’t have a reason to kill me specifically, right?”

To my question, the Grand Duke smiled sadly as if looking at an innocent child.

“Your Majesty the Empress is not related by blood to the prince. That means you’re not of practical help in strengthening royal authority. What the prince wanted from this royal marriage wasn’t simply to maintain an alliance while being mindful of the Raphion Empire.”

“Then what…?”

“He has an even greater greed, so he’s trying to put his own sister, Princess Resilia, on the throne of the Raphion Empire’s empress, even if it’s forceful.”

“Ha, is he trying to unify the Northern Continent himself after waiting for His Majesty to grow old?”

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

“As long as there’s a justification. If he has a nephew to put forward, is there any reason to wait until the current emperor dies?”

“Surely he wouldn’t… His Majesty before that…?”

“Yes, he could just poison or assassinate him, that’s all.”

“!”

I couldn’t believe it.

Just how far does Prince Tessler’s vain ambition extend?

Does he really have a plan to unify the entire Northern Continent?

Something that even Rinel couldn’t achieve, someone like Prince Tessler?

Crazy bastard.

The prince was undoubtedly a madman lost in delusions.

“Your Majesty the Empress, don’t become an unnecessary sacrificial lamb.”

Grand Duke Martins spoke, uncharacteristically seeming to worry about me.

It was more bewildering because it seemed like genuinely heartfelt words.

“I already feel like a sacrificial lamb, though?”

“I’m saying this because you seem to be adapting too well here.”

“So even if I perform my role perfectly, this is the treatment I receive?”

I snorted and replied gruffly.

During the conversation, on one side, I was in pain because of constant worry about Bonnis.

“If you really can’t stop your feelings for His Majesty…”

Grand Duke Martins trailed off as he rose from the sofa.

I looked up at him.

I was very curious about what would come next.

“Don’t get caught.”

“?”

“That’s all.”

The Grand Duke left the reception room, leaving behind words that were unclear whether they were a warning or advice.

Only I and the jewel box containing Bonnis’s pinky finger were left in the reception room.

I sat on the reception room sofa for a while, then took the box and headed to the bedroom.

Prince Tessler’s office.

“Gasp, is this really Emperor Rinel’s face?”

Princess Resilia, who was examining three pictures laid out on the table, asked Prince Tessler in an excited voice.

“Yes. If you hadn’t done something stupid, he would have already been your husband.”

The pictures were drawn by the Shattonil court painter on the day of Rinel and Zelda’s royal wedding.

“Is this face really true? Didn’t the painter beautify it?”

“Not at all. If anything, it fails to properly capture the Emperor’s appearance.”

To Prince Tessler, who had met Emperor Rinel several times, the painting fell far short of his actual appearance.

“Unbelievable. I thought he was an ugly man!”

Princess Resilia exclaimed, holding up Rinel’s portrait.

“What? Why on earth did you think that?”

“Elder brother, you said that the Raphion Emperor stays away from women.”

“What does that have to do with his appearance?”

“I thought he had some flaw, so women didn’t like him, and that’s why he stayed away from women too.”

“And you thought that flaw was his face? How stupid.”

Prince Tessler looked at his sister with an incredulous expression.

“If I had known he was such a handsome man…”

As she muttered quietly, the prince suddenly threw a question at her.

“He’s much better than that mercenary Norton, right?”

“What’s wrong with you? Norton is handsome too. And he’s a man among men!”

“Resil, have you still not come to your senses?”

He shouted, pointing at his sister.

“What if Emperor Rinel is handsome but nothing special in bed? How will you take responsibility?”

Princess Resilia glared at her elder brother and asked.

“What do you mean, how? I’ll have to make him perform well even if I have to use drugs.”

“No. Surely when he sees me, he won’t need such drugs.”

After a brief moment of concern, she laughed confidently.

Then, looking down at Zelda’s image drawn next to Rinel, she frowned deeply.

“This one… how can she look so shabby even in a beautiful wedding dress? Don’t you agree, elder brother?”

“Well? Maybe it’s because she drank the magic potion and her burn scars disappeared, but she seems to have become much prettier.”

“Are your eyes going bad?”

“Ahem, is it because of the crown? Looking at it this way, she really does look like an empress…”

Prince Tessler cleared his throat and trailed off slightly.

“Elder brother, are you in your right mind? Whether she has burn scars or not, Zelda is just Zelda! What empress?”

“Ah, I don’t know. Be quiet.”

Irritated by her neurotic reaction, Prince Tessler left the office with a tired expression.

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

Then she started trampling and dirtying the part of Zelda’s right face where the burn scar had been with her shoe.

“This is it, this.”

A moment later, a satisfied smile appeared on the princess’s face.

“Now the original face of Zelda von Trova comes out.”

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

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

Along with Princess Resilia’s coquettish laughter, Zelda’s portrait was torn in her hands and scattered into the air.

“Hohoho, I’m really curious. Don’t you think?”