While she was organizing things one by one, someone quietly visited the Medelia Count’s residence.

Bertrel immediately recognized the identity of the two people who came wearing robes and silently prepared the reception room.

“Count, guests have arrived.”

“Guests?”

Erina knew that she had been refusing all the meetings that Terik and Bertrel had been continuously requesting for her recovery.

Seeing Bertrel prepare without a word, it was clear they were of quite noble status.

Erina had a guess about who had come to see her, and silently followed Bertrel.

As Erina expected, when she entered the reception room, Enzo and Herigel were waiting.

“Count Medelia.”

“It’s been a long time, Your Majesty.”

Enzo let out a sigh of relief at Erina’s healthy-looking face.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m much better than before. A precious person from the Kingdom of Sepia is even making medicinal tonics for me.”

Erina jokingly eased Enzo’s worries.

Casol, who came from the Kingdom of Sepia, was still staying and taking care of Erina, saying that her body must have been greatly damaged by the poison that even the ultimate antidote could not immediately neutralize.

“That’s a relief.”

Enzo gestured to the seat across from him, inviting Erina to sit.

As Erina sat down, Herigel tactfully left the room.

With only Enzo and Erina left in the reception room, an awkward silence fell.

Erina read the shadow on Enzo’s face and asked first.

“Your Majesty, is something the matter?”

Enzo sighed, rubbing one side of his face at Erina’s question.

“I came here so suddenly because there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

Erina somehow anticipated what he was pondering about from his expression full of concern.

Currently, Enzo had imprisoned Peiron and Rose in the palace dungeon, but their punishment had not yet been decided.

“Did you find out that Rose Asila is pregnant?”

“That’s right.”

Erina met Enzo’s eyes as he looked at her cautiously, smiling gently.

“Are you contemplating whether to execute Count Iolls and confine Rose Asila, or confine them both?”

Enzo couldn’t bring himself to say anything to Erina, who immediately pinpointed his dilemma.

Since Rose had cooperated in the attempt to kill Erina and directly took part in it, Peiron’s execution was a given.

But to bring up such concerns to the person who nearly died seemed no different from deceiving her.

“Count Medelia, I’m sorry for bringing this up.”

“It’s alright, Your Majesty.”

In fact, Erina had been planning to go to Enzo and request that he reconsider Peiron’s execution.

She hoped he wasn’t dead yet.

She wanted him to see clearly, while alive but unable to do anything, how the family he was so proud of crumbled.

She wanted him to embrace the lover he claimed to love more than life itself, suffer in agony, and then die lonely.

She wished he would struggle with helplessness in a place like prison, unable to do anything, hurting himself and wallowing in self-loathing.

As much as she had suffered.

“You may confine both of them.”

“Count.”

At Enzo’s concerned call, Erina simply smiled.

“Your Majesty, it’s really alright.”

Erina was truly fine.

If the rest of their lives were nothing but a dark abyss, just like her past life had been.

She could even bear the fact that they were still breathing at this moment.

“You don’t need to worry about me.”

Because everyone would know that all they had left was an unbearably cold floor.

Because no one would leave even a small bit of sympathy for them.

Enzo let out a deep sigh at her smile without a shadow and said,

“I promise to make sure you never have to feel anxious for as long as you live.”

Enzo made a promise that sounded like a vow to Erina, avoiding her steady gaze.

Erina just smiled.

[This is the timeline separator]

Everything had stabilized.

All the troops from the two kingdoms that attacked the border were captured, and the damaged villages were also put in order.

When news of the change of thrones in the two kingdoms due to this incident spread, neighboring kingdoms were relieved.

They didn’t want to risk disruptions to their mana stone imports just because they happened to be nearby.

All the mana stones quickly regained their full color and there were no problems with their operation.

If anything, they seemed to glow even brighter than before.

Those who knew that mana stones changed according to the owner of the mine became even more attentive to Erina’s safety.

Enzo announced that he would soon proclaim the punishment for Peiron Iolls and Rose Asila, who had harmed Erina.

At the same time, he announced that he would decide on the continuation of the Iolls and Asila noble houses.

The crime of cooperating with and allowing heinous criminals could not be avoided.

The things Erina had wanted to achieve were all progressing step by step.

Casol informed Erina that all the poison remaining in her body had been neutralized and that she had become even healthier than before, then returned to the Kingdom of Sepia.

As news spread that she had regained her health and resumed her duties as a countess, people came to visit Erina.

The first person to visit Erina was none other than Sereni.

“Sereni.”

“Erina, I’m so glad.”

Erina smiled, having become accustomed to everyone greeting her with relief at her improved health.

Sereni, with her hands clasped and eyes brimming with tears, showed slight signs of pregnancy.

Though someone less observant might not notice due to the comfortable dress, it was quite apparent up close.

“How are you doing, Sereni?”

Erina and Sereni, who had quickly become close due to Coni’s situation, conversed comfortably like Belodi and Tanya.

“I think I’ve become more relaxed now that I don’t have to hide it anymore. My appetite has increased and I often feel tired.”

Sereni’s face beamed, no longer having to worry about interference from the Kingdom of Tula.

“In the Kingdom of Tula, my father’s dethronement is underway. It seems my younger brother, with my mother’s support, will receive the next throne.”

“That’s wonderful news.”

Sereni stroked her slightly rounded belly slowly, smiling bitterly.

“I thought I wouldn’t feel anything.”

Erina read the anxiety in her wavering eyes.

Erina silently took Sereni’s hand.

“The fact that I brought down my father with my own hands…”

“Sereni.”

“I’m just afraid that this child might be disappointed in me when they find out later.”

Erina gently patted the back of Sereni’s hand that she was holding.

“I’m sorry, Erina.”

“For what?”

“For having such concerns while thinking about those who tried to kill you.”

Sereni bit her lip hard and bowed her head deeply.

Though he was her father, to Erina he was just someone who had cooperated in her attempted murder.

She felt guilty for expressing sympathy for someone who had tried to kill the victim right in front of her.

“He’s your father, not just anyone else. And he was a father you loved with all your heart before coming to this empire.”

Erina’s words were right.

Until she was married off to the empire on her father’s orders, he was just a beloved father.

Sereni, who had never left the palace, saw her father’s words as the world and everything.

She didn’t know how much anguish and tears it took to remove such a father from her heart.

“Sereni, you just protected what you had to.”

At Erina’s kind words, Sereni’s deeply bowed head slowly lifted.

“Your child, Marquis Borbom, and your mother and younger brother in the kingdom.”

“Erina.”

“They are all the people you protected.”

Sereni’s eyes welled up with tears.

That one sentence Erina offered was such a comfort that it felt like the heavy stone pressing on her heart had disappeared.

“Thank you, Erina.”

Erina smiled as she carefully wiped away Sereni’s flowing tears.

“They say pregnant women become more emotional, and it seems it’s true.”

“Of course. Erina, you’ll know it all later too.”

After that, Sereni continued to have casual conversations with Erina for a while before leaving.

After sending Sereni off, it was Terik who came to Erina with news from the Kingdom of Trumto.

“My lady, news has come from the Chiwell Duchy of the Kingdom of Trumto.”

Duke Chiwell was the leader of the noble faction that had planned a rebellion in the Kingdom of Trumto and even seized the royal palace.

Duke Chiwell seemed like a fairly decent person even to Erina.

The currently crumbling Trumto royal family had excessively deified royal authority, making it difficult for nobles and commoners to breathe.

It was commonplace for the royals to treat anyone other than themselves as passing insects.

Because they held the dangerous belief that everything started from themselves, the noble faction gathered in an instant.

While considering illegitimate children as sinful, they thought nothing of the royals sowing their seeds everywhere.

Duke Chiwell hated the current rotten royal authority.

He was secretly helping his niece, who was raising a child alone after being mistreated by one of the royals.

So, seeing Trumto falter due to the empire as an opportunity, he came to Erina to ask for help.

Erina provided information and financial support on the condition of receiving those who had made Coni’s life miserable and those related to her death.

As Duke Chiwell was known for his drive, he moved quickly when the situation turned favorable.

“Currently, they have seized control of the entire palace and imprisoned all the royals who were in the palace in the underground dungeon.”

“It seems Trumto and Tula will soon have coronation ceremonies like the Kingdom of Smalle.”

“I think both kingdoms will be settled within a month.”

“What about the prisoners we were supposed to receive?”

“They say they have prepared everyone, including the Trumto king, the advisor who took the position of the 2nd prince after ousting Hedton, and the royals who openly bullied them.”

At Terik’s words, Erina’s eyes gleamed coldly.