“Time is announced.”

When Erdene muttered softly, the servant’s head tilted.

He had no way of knowing why she reacted this way to a mere bell sound.

“Go and see.”

The servant immediately withdrew.

Erdene slowly blinked, recalling in her mind the majestic bell sound that still lingered.

The technology to accurately tell time, the Hirschsten Empire did not yet have such a thing.

The people of the Empire focused more on survival in the harsh north, overcoming hunger by seizing inland territories through war or receiving tributes.

While inland allies developed culture and science, Hirschsten relied on classical and outdated technology, unbecoming of an empire.

If there was anything significantly more advanced than other countries, it was only weapons used in war, so skilled blacksmiths received the highest respect in the Empire.

‘If the Empire had such technology, perhaps the lives of citizens would have been much better. But there were too few talented individuals who could focus on technology that wouldn’t yield immediate results while ignoring the issue of survival… Maybe it shouldn’t have been that way.’

Lost in thought, Erdene let out a short sigh.

It was now futile to think about, but it was a thought she couldn’t easily stop.

“Um, Your Highness Princess.”

It was that servant from earlier. When Erdene raised her eyebrow as if to ask what was the matter, the head servant Platt appeared.

Erdene stared intently at Platt’s slightly displeased face, then sneered with a smirk.

“Has His Majesty sent you to collect payment for breaking his precious treasure?”

Platt slightly furrowed his thinly plucked eyebrows—the latest fashion trend.

“No, Your Highness Princess. His Majesty requests your company for dinner.”

This time, Erdene furrowed her brows in a similar expression to Platt’s.

“Dinner with me?”

“Yes. The handmaids will assist you in changing, and guide you to the dining room.”

Erdene felt a headache coming on.

The thought of having to sit face to face with that irritating man so soon made her feel a tightness in her chest for the first time in a long while.

Perhaps she should refuse, Erdene thought. But she soon changed her mind.

‘No, since it’s come to this… Perhaps I might be able to extract some useful information from him.’

But that thought too dissipated like dust along with a wry smile. Information? What information?

‘Did I come here to fight? Did I come with a spy’s duty? I don’t need to obtain anything here. My being here, that alone is my duty.’

Sighing, Erdene obediently walked towards the toilette room, led by neatly dressed employees.

Her shoulders, always proud and straight, slumped helplessly for the first time in her life.

‘What meaning does my life have if I’m not fighting? I couldn’t become Emperor. I couldn’t die as a commander on the battlefield.’

Nothing she had aimed for, nothing she had dreamed of, had been achieved.

Nor would it be achieved in the future.

But there was one thing Erdene hadn’t anticipated.

The fact that battles don’t only occur on the battlefield.

Arkan had finished preparing and arrived at the dining room before Erdene.

There were various types of dining rooms in the royal palace.

The atmospheres of the dining rooms where the king mainly resided and where the queen resided were different, but the place Arkan had invited her to was a strangely modest yet cozy private room.

In the center was a table of suitable size for two people to dine, and there wasn’t much decorative furniture.

Beautiful dishes were displayed on sturdy shelves traversing the ornate wallpaper, and although Erdene recognized a wide plate decorated with shimmering gold edges and patterns as being from the Empire, she didn’t acknowledge it.

It was her intention to express through silence that she had no desire to engage in idle chatter with Arkan.

“After the wedding, we’ll gradually renovate the Queen’s Palace.”

Arkan said.

He had been unable to take his eyes off Erdene’s relaxed posture since earlier.

Even while wearing a dress, she had one leg almost hooked over the chair, while the other was stretched out under the table.

Although he was pretending not to notice, he could almost see the shocked expression on the face of the head servant Platt standing behind.

Picking up a grape and putting it in her mouth with an indifferent expression, Erdene responded after a long while, as if uninterested.

“It didn’t seem necessary to renovate.”

Arkan smiled awkwardly yet gently—it took quite an effort.

“Since it was decorated according to my mother’s taste, I thought you might want to change many things. Is that not the case?”

“The former queen must have had good taste. It’s fine.”

Arkan keenly understood that this was a declaration not to even start, as she didn’t want to create unnecessary trouble.

The more he dealt with her, the more difficult she seemed.

“Ah, but one thing.”

So when Erdene spoke first, Arkan unknowingly showed an overly delighted expression as he looked at her.

Erdene said,

“The structure of the bedroom is too flimsy. Even though I’m the Queen of the Betor Kingdom, I’m surprised one can sleep in such a defenseless place. Or was the former queen also trained in martial arts? It’s at a level where you might as well hang a welcome sign for assassins or ruffians.”

Platt’s face turned pale blue, but Arkan’s expression remained unchanged.

Many people thought he was only soft and gentle, but in reality, Arkan was not such an easy-going character.

“My mother probably never held anything sharper than an embroidery needle in her lifetime. But you are someone who has overcome many crises on dangerous battlefields. If you see any flaws, your words must be correct, so please tell me later how and where to improve.”

Look at this, Erdene thought.

I hate this slick and glib attitude.

The people of the Empire, regardless of age or gender, were strong-willed and impatient.

If Erdene had just said the same thing to someone from the Empire, it might have resulted in not just a fistfight but even a knife fight.

She deliberately spoke and acted rudely, trying to scratch Arkan slightly. But her nails couldn’t even penetrate.

Not because he was too hard, but because he was too smooth and elastically soft.

Arkan was a subtle opponent who neither broke nor got damaged.

At least for now.

As the servants brought out the food, Arkan gently gestured over the table.

“I instructed them to prepare various types of alcohol as you said you wanted to drink. It’s somewhat embarrassing to say with my own mouth, but Betor’s alcohol is very famous for its taste and aroma even in neighboring areas.”

He made a small gesture to call a servant.

As a servant holding a glass kept at the perfect temperature for drinking wine approached the table, Erdene grabbed one of the nearest bottles.

With a light ‘pop’ sound, the cork came out.

It was something that’s usually difficult to open without a metal opener, but she easily removed the cork with just the strength of her thumb, as if breaking a twig.

Then, as if provoking him, she looked straight at Arkan and drank from the bottle.

The servant who was about to put down the glass was so surprised he almost fainted on the spot.

Even Platt, who had observed the former king and crown prince up close for nearly forty years, dropped his jaw at Erdene’s behavior, which he had never seen or heard of before.

And Arkan’s eyes grew so wide they almost popped out.

Erdene knew full well it wasn’t proper etiquette.

This is something you’d only do on the battlefield, and only when with close aides.

But something felt distasteful and twisted, and she didn’t want to show a docile appearance.

Without even taking a breath, Erdene drank nearly half the bottle, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and asked in a skewed tone.

“What’s wrong, Your Majesty? Is this your first time seeing someone drink straight from the bottle?”

Arkan, who had been silent, said,

“To be honest, you’re the first princess I’ve seen do so.”

Erdene barely listened to his words, glanced at the bottle, and shook it slightly.

“This seems to be water, not alcohol. I think they put in the wrong thing.”

Arkan, who almost said ‘Is that what you’re saying right now?’, bit the inside of his lip.

Having barely regained his senses that had flown far away at the astounding sight, he spoke awkwardly, just like during their first meeting.

“You seem to be quite good at drinking.”

Erdene, once again without properly answering his words, looked around at the other bottles.

“Which of these is the strongest?”

At that moment, Platt rushed over hurriedly.

Whether it was his duty as a servant or what, he simply couldn’t bear to watch Arkan serve alcohol to this outrageous princess.

“This alcohol is truly strong, Your Highness Princess. You should drink it slowly, little by little, starting from the bottom of the glass…”

“I understand, so just hand it over.”

Platt glanced at Arkan as if asking for help, but he was still somewhat dazed and didn’t even know what conversation Platt and Erdene were having.

With no other choice, Platt handed the entire bottle to Erdene, and she once again opened the tightly sealed cork with just a slight movement of her thumb.

“In a glass!”

As she was about to tilt the bottle, Arkan, who had been puzzled all along, stretched out his long arm and grabbed Erdene’s wrist.