Platt turned to look at her with resentment, but Arkan’s voice immediately grabbed him by the collar.

“What’s the matter that you forgot to knock? Listen and judge.”

In other words, it meant to wait and see unless it was extremely urgent.

Arkan rarely intimidated people in such a roundabout way, but now he clearly meant it that way… and Platt, who had grown up working in the castle, couldn’t possibly lack such perception.

“T-That… It’s really urgent. Your Majesty, now… now outside the castle gate, the s-soldiers of Hirschsten are…”

Erdene’s eyes flashed brightly.

It was such a fierce gaze that Platt’s face turned pale as he inadvertently glanced at her.

Arkan’s expression was equally serious.

He reflexively stood in front of Erdene as if to shield her, blocking Platt’s gaze, and said:

“You mean the Empire has brought soldiers?”

“Ah! That… I-It seems an envoy has come. But soldiers also… c-came armed. So now the castle’s… Knight Commander Wizard is waiting outside the castle with the remaining soldiers.”

Arkan sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“I see. I’ll go right away.”

At that moment, Erdene stood up to follow him.

“I’ll go with you.”

Arkan and Platt turned to look at her simultaneously.

“You too?”

“Yes.”

Erdene, who had answered briefly, added after a moment, uncharacteristically mumbling:

“We don’t know what tricks Tenek might pull.”

Platt still looked at Arkan with an expression of disbelief towards her.

Anyway, he’ll just leave such a troublemaker who doesn’t know the ‘fo’ of foreign affairs alone. Of course he will…

“Alright, let’s do that. Let’s go together.”

Platt’s eyes widened. But neither Arkan nor Erdene paid him any more attention.

Arkan, who was about to go ahead, said:

“Wait, you can’t go in that outfit. It’s your nightgown.”

“Who do you think is the fool? I’m appalled.”

Erdene, who had hurriedly changed clothes with the help of Sophia and Anne, rose from her seat without waiting for the time to put on hair ornaments.

As a result, Sophia had to follow behind her in a rush, carefully inserting the ornaments so they wouldn’t get disheveled.

As Erdene hurried along the corridor towards the audience chamber, she looked down at the castle courtyard through a large window.

Familiar flags, familiar armors and armed figures… She might have felt nostalgic, but now it was rather frustrating.

“Good heavens, they really are armed. This bastard must be crazy.”

Sophia glanced around the empty surroundings at the harsh curse that burst from Erdene’s mouth.

“Your Highness, that doesn’t seem like an appropriate expression to use in the castle.”

“This is me holding back as much as I can.”

When she entered the audience chamber, Arkan was already seated on the throne, receiving the envoy’s greetings.

The imperial envoy, who was standing stiffly with an arrogant expression, glanced at Erdene and curled up the corners of his mouth.

‘This guy, he looks familiar but I can’t remember who he is or what he does. I can tell he has a face that goes well with Tenek though.’

If Arkan had heard, he would have been shocked, saying ‘How can you use such an ungraceful expression?’

Erdene sat in her seat to the right of the throne and stared at the envoy.

“I have come to greet the King of Betor on behalf of His Majesty Emperor Tenek Esi Baatar, Emperor of the Hirschsten Empire who rules over light. I am Rolz, who has received the grace of His Imperial Majesty. I have visited Betor for the eternal peace between the Empire and the Inland Alliance.”

His words were so smooth that even a fly could slide on them, either his tongue was oiled or he had prepared in advance.

Arkan pretended to listen to his words, nodding his head, and then said:

“For that, you’re quite late. As far as I know, the time difference between Hirschsten and Betor isn’t that big.”

“I wanted to carry out my assigned mission quickly, but it seems my enthusiasm was excessive.”

It was nonsense. To begin with, Betor hadn’t even heard that the Empire would send an envoy.

That alone was enough to become an international issue, but it was an even more serious problem that a single envoy with armed soldiers had recklessly entered the royal castle at sunset, rather than several delegation members.

Arkan said:

“My soldiers wouldn’t have opened the castle gates so easily.”

The imperial envoy, Rolz, said with a slimy smile:

“Ah, yes. There was a bit of a misunderstanding. But because I had an order stamped with His Majesty the Emperor’s seal.”

“The soldiers must be a complete mess. They must have made a shameful display in front of the disciplined imperial troops.”

“Oh, it’s nothing to worry about. Betor and other inland kingdoms are peaceful places. Isn’t abundance and tranquility their advantage?”

It was more like he had come to mock or flirt rather than address a country’s king.

All the while, he kept glancing at Erdene, probably intending to observe how she would react and report every detail to Tenek upon returning to the empire.

‘I’m not that stupid, you know.’

Erdene thought. So she remained quiet, leaving almost everything to Arkan.

But she didn’t stop glaring at Rolz with eyes that looked like they could devour him.

Rolz secretly avoided Erdene’s gaze and pulled out a letter from his breast pocket.

“What is that?”

“Ah, this is a personal letter from His Imperial Majesty to the King of Betor.”

At Arkan’s gesture, Platt took the envelope from his hand.

Arkan, who had torn off the unnecessarily strongly pressed seal and taken out the letter, soon couldn’t help but laugh. Erdene, who read the letter with him, was the same.

It was a diplomatic letter full of flowery rhetoric and difficult words, truly something only an emperor would write.

However, unlike usual such letters that tend to end after asking perfunctory greetings, Tenek’s letter had a clear purpose.

“You’re saying the food provided to the Empire from the Alliance is insufficient?”

Rolz said:

“I don’t know much about how the national treasury moves. I don’t know what His Majesty the Emperor said in that letter.”

He’s lying. Arkan thought. Tenek was demanding more food in a brazen and slick tone.

The amount of the first food shipment collected and sent from the allied countries was by no means small.

Arkan finally understood why this snake-like envoy was accompanied by armed soldiers.

It was clear that the Emperor of Tenek was trying to break his spirit from the very beginning.

‘I can’t just give in so easily.’

Arkan, who had roughly folded the letter in his hand, said:

“I’ll consider it.”

“Ah, yes.”

Rolz, judging that the situation was not so favorable, took a step back.

However, this time he turned his arrow towards Erdene.

“And also, His Majesty the Emperor ordered me to find out in detail whether our Imperial Princess is living well without any discomfort in the unfamiliar environment.”

There was a grinding sound from Erdene’s molars.

As she was about to jump up, gripping the armrest, Arkan’s hand gently pressed down on Erdene’s hand.

“You, what are you saying now? ‘Our Imperial Princess’? How can you refer to someone who has become the Queen of Betor and my wife as if she were a hostage? Address her as Her Majesty the Queen of Betor.”

Unexpectedly, as Arkan came to her defense, Rolz seemed flustered.

Then he glanced at Erdene, who was glaring at him with fire in her eyes.

She shouldn’t be sitting there quietly like that, she should have jumped up by now and thrown something…

At that moment, Erdene spoke in a voice full of killing intent while glaring at Rolz:

“Why are you looking at me? Did you not hear what His Majesty said?”

Rolz flinched and moved his beady eyes back and forth.

Something was… different from what he thought. And different from what Tenek had expected.

“His Majesty… in a place that’s merely been proclaimed a kingdom.”

The moment Rolz muttered under his breath, Erdene said in a sharp voice:

“This fellow just said something disrespectful. Did you hear it, Your Majesty?”

Rolz, flustered, moved his reddened lips.

Arkan, frowning with an ambiguous smile, said:

“I didn’t hear. What did you say? Say it again.”

“Th-That, ah, it’s nothing…”

“Rolz Lederty.”

Erdene’s voice tightened the tense and unsettled atmosphere in the audience chamber.

Rolz unconsciously bowed his head deeply towards Erdene, then flinched and bit his lip.

“Now I remember. Rolz Lederty. You used to carry luggage as a servant to the chief attendant when the previous emperor ruled the empire, and now you’re a diplomat? Just how many steps have you been promoted? It’s surprising. If you’ve lived in the imperial palace for so long, you should be able to distinguish when to use your mouth and when not to, right? Just now, His Majesty of Betor ordered you to ‘say it again’. Repeat exactly what you said.”

The atmosphere was so fierce it was as if she would rip out his tongue right there if he didn’t.

Rolz was shocked that Erdene had recognized him completely.

Wiping the cold sweat flowing from his forehead haphazardly and fidgeting like a dog needing to relieve itself, he said:

“Th-That, why use the title ‘Your Majesty’… Th-That is a title that only the Emperor of the Empire can receive, isn’t it?”