The Viscountess Fiddlers’ long face turned pale.

She widened her eyes in disbelief, as if unable to believe that Arkan was the one who had just shouted, then suddenly covered her mouth with both hands and her eyes welled up with tears.

Arkan looked at the Viscountess with an expressionless, even cold gaze, as if he felt no sympathy for her state, and said.

“As the Imperial Princess wishes, I will arrange for your daughter Sophia to remain at the palace as her close aide. However, you cannot stay here. Go to the provinces and reflect quietly until I call for you again.”

Viscountess Fiddlers bowed her head and lowered her body as much as possible as she pleaded.

“Your Majesty, please forgive me! Never again… I will never do such a thing again. I dare not ever again…”

“Enough. And you have no talent for lying, so keep that in mind and don’t even think about lying again in the future.”

The Viscountess’s eyes seemed to have grown twice their normal size.

But with the skin around her eyes sunken, her already thin face looked almost skeletal.

“Your Majesty, what, what do you mean by that…”

“That’s enough, now leave.”

At Arkan’s nod, the chamberlain Platt supported the staggering Viscountess and escorted her outside.

The sound of sobbing was heard briefly from outside the door before fading away.

Arkan sighed, tapping his forehead with his clenched right fist.

When Platt returned after sending away Viscountess Fiddlers, Arkan said with his eyes closed.

“Don’t say anything right now. Understood?”

Platt looked around with a puzzled expression.

As if there was someone else besides himself… But of course, there were only Arkan and Platt in the study.

Platt said.

“I haven’t said anything yet.”

“That’s why. I’m telling you not to say anything.”

Arkan, who had been tilting his head back, straightened his upper body.

As the image of Viscountess Fiddlers begging for forgiveness came back into view, he frowned and squeezed his eyes shut.

Arkan muttered.

“Perhaps I should have scolded her more. Now that I’ve sent her away, I suddenly feel absurd.”

Platt, who had been observing his expression, tilted his shoulder slightly and asked.

“Did Viscountess Fiddlers really… lie to Her Highness the Imperial Princess to have her youngest daughter appointed as a close aide?”

“Would I have caused this commotion over something that didn’t happen? She said I had approved of having Sophia Fiddlers as the Imperial Princess’s close aide. It’s preposterous.”

Chamberlain Platt was silent for a moment, looking deep in thought.

It had been more than two or three years since Viscountess Fiddlers had subtly, or even blatantly, appealed for her youngest daughter to be taken as queen.

But now that things had turned out this way, if she had intended to place her by Erdene’s side, who was to become queen…

Platt said.

“This is just my personal opinion.”

Arkan glanced at him, still frowning as if he had a headache.

Platt, who had been mumbling for a moment like a child who had secretly stolen candy, continued.

“Perhaps she hoped that Your Majesty would take notice of Sophia Fiddlers? That might have been Viscountess Fiddlers’ intention.”

Arkan, who had wiped his face with his palm, nodded.

“Yes, that’s probably it. Which makes it even more absurd, Platt. Is she suggesting that I take a concubine? I should have asked the Viscountess if she was in her right mind.”

Arkan grumbled in an angry voice. However, Platt’s response was slightly different from what Arkan had expected.

“Well… It’s not really a major disgrace. Of course, the practice of concubinage has been legally prohibited in the kingdom for quite some time, but doesn’t that not apply to the royal family? After all, Your Majesty’s grandfather, King Alphiore, had several consorts.”

“Consorts.”

Arkan laughed sarcastically.

“They were merely mistresses, not a single one held a position as the king’s concubine. And how was grandfather’s later years after such a debauched life? I heard that when he passed away, grandmother was at a resort. None of his many mistresses even came to see him, so at most only the chamberlain and the royal physician were by his side.”

“Well, that’s true… But in any case, what I want to say is…”

“What is it you want to say?”

Platt stared at Arkan as if to say ‘You know what I mean.’ Arkan, who had been staring back at that peculiar gaze, opened his mouth in shock.

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking the same as Viscountess Fiddlers?”

Platt, who had been standing straight with his hands behind his back, swallowed dryly with a slightly tense expression.

He knew a thunderbolt was about to strike, and although he didn’t like Viscountess Fiddlers…

Platt was also one of the most conservative among the nobles and officials of Bethor.

“It’s true that Sophia of the Fiddlers family is an impeccable young lady, Your Majesty. No noble in Bethor would deny that fact…”

“Platt!”

At Arkan’s second outburst, Platt’s shoulders flinched.

Although his expression didn’t change much, Platt bowed his head and took a step back. Arkan glared at the top of his head with a very angry face before speaking.

“Never mention such things in my presence again. The betrothal is the most important and sacred promise, and I have no intention of breaking it.”

With Arkan making his stance clear, even the usually composed Platt could no longer mention Sophia Fiddlers.

But it was also true that he felt regretful.

Though not as foolish or blatant as Viscountess Fiddlers, Platt also thought that Sophia would be a much more suitable match for Arkan.

Even someone as fastidious and stern as Platt could not find any fault with her.

Her cultured and elegant demeanor, her calm and modest personality…

‘If only the Viscountess had been a bit smarter, His Majesty would have considered Sophia Fiddlers as a potential queen long ago.’

Platt inwardly clicked his tongue.

“By the way, Your Majesty.”

Arkan, who had just managed to turn his attention to his book, looked up at Platt askance, as if to say, “What now?”

“What is it this time?”

Platt said.

“As far as I know, in the Hirschsten Empire, it’s not a problem at all for married individuals to have concubines or lovers. This applies to both men and women.”

Arkan’s eyebrows furrowed.

“So what? The Empire is the Empire, and Bethor has its own laws.”

“Your words are most wise. I fully understand Your Majesty’s nobility in emphasizing the sanctity of betrothal, but… the question is whether Her Highness the Imperial Princess thinks the same way as Your Majesty.”

Arkan narrowed his eyes, not quite grasping Platt’s words at first.

His handsome face, which would make anyone turn to look twice, was clouded with both question and concern.

“What are you trying to say?”

The wrinkles around Platt’s eyes twitched slightly.

His usually indifferent and detached eyes now held a strange and impertinent curiosity, along with fussy concern.

“If Her Highness the Imperial Princess… the one who will become the Queen tomorrow, were to take a lover in the future, what would Your Majesty intend to do?”

For a moment, the book in Arkan’s hand tilted precariously, as if about to slide down.

“The people of this country don’t take lovers?”

Erdene looked at Sophia with disbelieving eyes.

Her expression was as if Sophia had just told her, ‘If you dig under your feet right now, you’ll find treasure.’

“They don’t even keep concubines, is that true?”

Sophia nodded in response to her successive questions.

“That’s right, Your Highness.”

Sophia had already refilled Erdene’s empty teacup with freshly brewed tea.

The other maids were still too afraid to even make eye contact with Erdene, all working in inconspicuous places.

Only Sophia seemed completely at ease, as if she had known Erdene for a long time.

When Erdene raised her hand to gesture that she’d had enough tea, Sophia immediately removed the teapot and continued speaking.

“The practice of keeping concubines has been legally prohibited for quite some time. Neither ordinary citizens nor titled nobles can keep concubines. Well, I’ve heard that His Majesty’s grandfather, the former king, didn’t adhere to this… But at least the previous king had not a single lover.”

“Are you saying everyone follows this law?”

“Of course, there are always those who break the law. For example, the law ‘thou shalt not kill’ exists in every country, but there’s no country in the world without a single murderer.”

Erdene, who had nonchalantly drunk half of the steaming tea as if it were a cold beverage, furrowed her brow with a puzzled expression.

“Even if the citizens follow it, I don’t understand why they enforce this law even on the royal family and noble houses. Why is that?”

Blinking thoughtfully, Erdene added.

“Isn’t it too inefficient?”

Sophia’s lips twitched unnaturally.

She was indeed quite intelligent as rumored, but she had naturally become accustomed to the society and institutions of Bethor where she was born and raised.

Therefore, it was no easy task to grasp Erdene’s intent in evaluating the prohibition of concubinage as ‘inefficient’.

“In what way do you mean it’s inefficient…”

Sophia’s voice trailed off.

Erdene looked at her blankly, as if to say, ‘Isn’t it obvious?’