“Cut the bullshit.”

Dante roughly pulled Ariana behind him.

Then he growled in a voice that didn’t hide his displeasure.

“Why don’t you get up before you get kicked, Great General.”

“I apologize if I startled you.”

Tommen bowed his head politely.

“Without Your Grace’s army, I could not have reclaimed my homeland from the barbarians. We Karkans swear allegiance to the most beautiful being we’ve seen in our lives. As you are the wife of my benefactor, I would gladly offer you my oath.”

“Stop this nonsense.”

Dante glared at Tommen with eyes like he was looking at a giant trash bag.

Ariana looked back and forth between the two men with a slightly nervous feeling.

Everyone present was looking at them with interest. If they left like this, someone would surely gossip later.

Saying things like, the Duke is indeed arrogant and treats even foreign envoys rudely.

Ariana smiled politely and looked down at Tommen, who was still kneeling.

“I’ve heard Karka is a beautiful country.”

Tommen’s expression brightened, while Dante frowned in displeasure.

“Due to their outstanding military prowess and militant culture, they are feared by people from other regions, but I’ve heard they are actually more courteous than anyone as long as boundaries aren’t crossed.”

Having said that, Ariana smiled sweetly.

“For example, towards those who covet what belongs to them.”

“You know our Karka very accurately.”

Tommen smiled broadly.

As a genuinely happy smile spread across his fierce face, some nobles stepped back cautiously, thinking it somehow looked even more ferocious.

“That’s right. We Karkans repay courtesy with loyalty. If you ever have the chance to travel to Karka—”

“That will never happen, not even if I’m reborn, so you’d better really get up now.”

Dante warned in a fierce voice.

“My people are more than enough to protect my wife. Let’s go, Ariana.”

As if any more time wasted would be a shame, Dante led Ariana away.

Hurriedly matching his long strides, Ariana whispered.

“Is it alright to leave him like that?”

“It doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about it. He’s just like that because you’re beautiful.”

“…”

“People don’t know this, but Karkan guys actually brighten up their faces a lot.”

After saying that, Dante suddenly realized that Ariana beside him was strangely quiet.

After a moment of silence, Ariana opened her lips. A slightly dazed voice flowed out.

“…What did you just say?”

“What?”

“That I’m… beautiful…”

Ariana carefully looked up at Dante with a hesitant voice.

“Do you really think so?”

While her lips trembled, Ariana wondered why she was acting like this.

It was probably just a casual remark. Why should it matter whether he thought she was beautiful or not?

“…”

Red eyes widened slightly as they scanned Ariana’s face.

Her upturned gaze looking at him hesitantly, her lightly flushed cheeks. His gaze reaching her slightly pursed lips, he muttered lowly.

“You’re driving me crazy.”

Pulling Ariana’s arm, he made her lean against him as if to hide her and whispered.

“Don’t make that expression just anywhere.”

“Pardon?”

“That expression that provokes people.”

“…”

“I’m already at my limit as it is.”

The hot energy saturating his voice was reminiscent of last night.

Ariana felt heat rising to her cheeks and lowered her gaze.

‘I guess I shouldn’t have said anything after all.’

Every passerby was staring at them, and though she needed to manage her expression, it wasn’t working well.

“My lord.”

At that moment, Ariana turned her head at the sound of a familiar voice.

In the distance, she could see Dante’s aide Rio approaching with quick steps.

After politely greeting Ariana, Rio turned to Dante.

“Um, my lord. His Majesty…”

His whispering voice soon dropped so that only Dante could hear. It seemed to be quite a secretive and important matter.

Ariana quickly said.

“Please go. I’ll stay and chat with the others.”

“…I’ll be back soon.”

Nodding his head, Dante disappeared from sight with Rio.

The sound of clicking footsteps approached Ariana, who was left alone.

“Hello, elder sister.”

Turning to the owner of the voice, Ariana smiled faintly.

A tiara with a fist-sized ruby embedded in it and a dress dripping with dazzling jewels.

There stood Elena, dressed as lavishly as any royal from a well-to-do country.

“You look good, Elena.”

Ariana said with a light smile.

“The profits from the trading company must be quite good.”

Elena said, proudly fiddling with her tiara.

“Yes, considerable dividends are already coming in. When the merchant ships return, much more money will come in. You should have invested together following Lord Adolf’s advice last time, elder sister.”

Elena shrugged and continued.

“By the way, I heard that you too have been granted permission to perform for His Majesty the Emperor today. Is that true?”

“Yes. It’s true.”

“Ha, really?”

Elena let out a light scoff.

At the last wedding, the situation had been the worst, so she had to grovel to Ariana, but now things were different.

Thanks to attending all sorts of social gatherings with Adolf, she had quite recovered her reputation.

‘The side effect of using him too much is that Adolf is clinging too much, but…’

Seeing the trading company Adolf had heavily invested in thriving, it didn’t seem like a complete drawback.

Adolf was definitely a big fish. One worth feeding carefully for a while.

Maybe becoming Lady Schmitt wouldn’t be so bad. The status might be a bit lacking, but does the world still revolve around status like in the old days?

Money was becoming as important as status, and Adolf had plenty of that money. And there was much more to come in the future.

“Well… a performance? Right. Good luck with that.”

Elena smirked and leaned close to Ariana, saying:

“I don’t know what you’re planning to do with traitors and country bumpkins.”

Adding a lovely smile, Elena continued:

“But don’t strain yourself too much, elder sister. No matter how hard you try, you’ll be overshadowed by our performance anyway.”

“Elena.”

Ariana replied with a gentle smile instead of answering.

“Why have you become so emboldened?”

“…What?”

“Do you perhaps believe that I’ve released all the evidence?”

“…”

Elena flinched for a moment but soon sneered at Ariana.

Wouldn’t she have kept her mouth shut until now because there was no more concrete evidence?

Just as she opened her mouth to mock the obvious bluff, Ariana spoke:

“You even got a prescription for medicine to try to get pregnant with Lucas’s child, didn’t you?”

“Wh-what nonsense are you talking about?!”

Her voice burst out loudly.

She could feel the surrounding people turning to look with surprised eyes, but she couldn’t easily control her expression.

‘How on earth did she know?’

…No. Elena managed to calm her heart.

Getting that prescription had been long before Ariana turned into such a demon.

It didn’t make sense that she had been collecting evidence since then and holding back until now. If she had evidence, she would have released it long ago.

‘She’s just trying to gauge my reaction.’

Elena, having barely contained her agitation, forced a smile.

“Why are you suddenly saying such strange things, elder sister? Don’t tell me you still don’t trust me? I thought… you had come to understand my sincerity by now…”

As she displayed her acting skills, honed as much as her singing, the sound of people murmuring could be heard.

Looking at Elena trembling pitifully, Ariana smiled faintly.

“Well. You’ll find out what I mean soon enough.”

“…What?”

“Then I’ll see you later, Elena. Your elder sister has some business to attend to, so I’ll go first. Oh, don’t worry, I won’t forget to watch your performance.”

Ariana added with a bright smile.

“From the seat with the best view.”

Watching Ariana’s retreating back, Elena bit her lip.

The unpleasant premonition creeping up bothered her.

‘…No, today I’m the main character.’

Elena calmed herself, thinking of the stage she would soon perform on.

Even Elena, whose ear wasn’t particularly keen, could tell that the aria was excellent.

It would be a perfect performance.

Ariana seemed to have wheedled a stage from the Duke, but as long as it was after their performance, it was obvious she would lose presence.

After today, not only the people of the Empire but even the noble guests from foreign countries would not forget Elena’s name.

Imagining such a tomorrow, Elena smiled with satisfaction.

* * *

Measured footsteps echoed through the quiet corridor.

Befitting a part of the imperial palace, it seemed at a glance to be an antique and splendid space, but in fact, this was an interrogation room for dealing with political enemies.

“He is in here.”

At Rio’s cautious voice, Dante flung open the door.

“Duke. You’ve come.”

The Emperor acknowledged him with a slightly tired expression.

Dante looked in turn at the Emperor, the Crown Prince standing beside him, and the man tied up in the middle of the room.

“Is this him?”

Mmph, urgh!

The man tied to the chair twisted his body violently.

The captain of the Imperial Knights discreetly informed Dante.

“He’s the action leader of the Dawn Faction. Apparently, he was the main figure in the contract killing business.”

“I see.”

Dante nodded briefly.

The other Dawn Faction member interrogated last night hadn’t yielded much.

It only turned a conviction into a confirmed fact.

“Y-yes, that’s right. About ten years ago… there was a request to dispose of the then Count Lopez and his daughter. But I, I really didn’t participate in that. P-please believe me!”

The Emperor’s voice cut through the memory of the Dawn Faction member confessing while trembling.

“If Edward Lopez and Cecilia Lopez were indeed murdered as you say, this man is likely to have carried it out. It seems he’s been the action leader of the Dawn Faction for over ten years.”

“Then this man is…”

As he stepped towards the chair, Dante twisted his lips.

“The enemy of my wife, you mean.”

“Urgh! Mmph!”

Dante turned to the Emperor and Crown Prince.

“Please step out. This won’t be a pleasant sight for such noble personages.”