Telma, bouncing on her tiptoes between the bookshelves as if she were dancing, said,

“Your Highness, what exactly is this place? Even if you gathered all the books in the Empire, I think there would be fewer than what’s here.”

“Stop prancing around and come sit down.”

Telma obediently followed her words. Just like a well-trained puppy.

In fact, most of the men Erdene had known so far were only that kind.

Their appearances were like lumpy potatoes—it was best to quickly peel and mash them into mashed potatoes or gratin—their personalities and mouths were rough, but as soon as a word fell from her mouth, they immediately obeyed whatever order it was.

That man was the exact opposite.

Erdene unconsciously thought of Arkan’s face again and shook her head in annoyance.

“Your Highness, why are you doing that? Was there a fly?”

Erdene lightly hit the back of Telma’s head.

Getting hit like that for saying something foolish was a daily occurrence, so Telma didn’t even complain.

“Listen well, Telma. About Betor’s knights.”

“Yes.”

“How do you think it would be best to organize and train them?”

Telma’s eyes widened as if asking if she was serious. Then Erdene immediately added,

“I’m not saying I’ll follow your words exactly, I’m just telling you to share your thoughts or talk about it.”

“Ah, yes. Hmm…”

After pondering for a moment, Telma said,

“Well, there’s nothing that can be called overall balance at the moment. But if it were me… first would be the spearmen.”

Erdene nodded as if to say ‘right?’. Telma continued,

“First, there needs to be something that can be called a shock troop, but most of them seem to have learned the sword mechanically.”

“That’s right.”

“If it were me, I would look into whether there’s a separately inherited swordsmanship, but it also seems like it would be a waste of time…”

Erdene looked down at the thick tactical book placed on the table.

“Betor, or any other inland allied countries for that matter, weren’t as tightly united as this before either. There were constant wars, big and small, and there was always a state of tension. So there must have been military officers who were good with swords. The weakest is Binotin, followed by Betor. The rest had quite a few useful ones…”

That was a conclusion drawn from experience. Telma also nodded as if agreeing.

Erdene said,

“If we search every nook and cranny, we might find quite a few things worth salvaging.”

Telma tilted her head.

“You’re right, but even so, it would require quite a lot of improvement.”

“I’ll take care of that.”

“Hmm, after all, Your Highness had once tried to devise a new swordsmanship before.”

“Yeah. I…”

Erdene, trailing off her words, shook her head as if giving up.

It was the swordsmanship she had wanted to complete when she became the Emperor. But what use would it be to say such things now?

“And I noticed earlier that there were some guys with pretty decent builds.”

“Yeah, their physiques are pretty good. If they have the stamina to back it up, they’ll be useful. And…”

Erdene was about to continue, but the moment she saw Arkan’s face that abruptly entered, her tongue unknowingly stopped. Telma belatedly turned his head, and soon the eyes of the three people met in midair.

An awkward silence flowed.

Arkan, who had an expression as if a stone had fallen on his head just before entering, said,

“What… kind of situation is this now?”

The scene reflected in his eyes was, well. It was hard to find the words to describe it.

Erdene and Telma were sitting close together, almost forehead to forehead.

Their expressions seemed serious, but Arkan couldn’t tell what they were talking about.

Would it have been better if they were blatantly flirting? It would have helped to understand the situation.

Erdene stared intently at Arkan with an expression as if she had something to say, then let out a short sigh.

“Telma, you can leave now.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Telma, who stood up with a still frivolous attitude, first bowed politely to Erdene, then walked to Arkan with a rather lively gait and bowed to him as well.

But compared to his attitude in front of Erdene, it could hardly be called polite.

‘Oh my, he’s going to eat me alive.’

Telma thought. Arkan was glaring at him with terrifying eyes.

His golden pupils, which were rare to see in the Empire, were exotic, but it wasn’t the time to observe them for long.

As he left, the door closed behind Arkan’s back. Arkan slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

His chest felt stuffy as if the air around him had thinned.

He didn’t want to talk, and it was annoying to see Erdene sitting there composedly, but he couldn’t leave here.

Why do I have to do that? Arkan thought. He stared at Erdene without blinking and said,

“When I went to the Queen’s Palace, they said you were still here.”

“Yes, I am. So?”

Erdene folded her arms tightly. Arkan could now grasp her to the extent of knowing that was her combat stance.

Of course, that didn’t mean his insides weren’t twisting.

Arkan said in an even more crooked tone,

“They said you practically lived here all day long.”

“And?”

A sound of exhaling breath was heard. It was Arkan’s breathing.

With an angry expression, he walked towards Erdene with heavy steps… and stopped.

After surveying Pelarhar, ignoring Platt’s fidgety demeanor, he had been pacing in his study all along.

And he thought about Erdene, thought, and thought again.

Getting angry, thinking about apologizing, then getting worked up again, he had passed dinnertime before he knew it.

It was when a star or two had risen sparkling.

Arkan, who had crossed over to the Queen’s Palace without any purpose in mind, heard from Sophia that Erdene was still in the study, hadn’t moved from there all day, and hadn’t let anyone in.

Somehow, Sophia’s gaze seemed to reproach him as well.

Along with being flustered, his heart grew anxious.

Absurd imaginations kept popping into his head… Maybe Erdene was grieving alone.

‘I must be crazy. Starting today, I’ll write a novel.’

Arkan made a firm resolution.

But now, talking about this issue—or getting her confession—came before the novel.

“I guess you two were so fond of each other that you could stick together without even knowing how time passed?”

That wasn’t a question, nor was it a logical statement. At least that’s how it felt to Erdene.

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

Erdene, still tightly folding her arms, looked Arkan up and down and said,

“What are you saying? Fond of each other, what is?”

“You two seemed to be getting along so well, talking about who knows what all day long. To me…”

Suddenly feeling something surging up, Arkan closed his mouth tightly.

Erdene was still looking at him with innocent—just not understanding the situation—eyes.

Arkan said,

“You seem to only become tight-lipped in front of me? You can talk amicably with others all day long, but to me. Ah, no. It’s not that you’re tight-lipped. You’re good at saying harsh things to me.”

He rebuked so vigorously that Erdene finally realized the conversation was flowing in a strange direction.

A really, really strange direction!

“Wait a minute.”

Erdene cut off his words. Arkan looked down at her with a cold gaze.

Erdene, who had been lost in thought with her head slightly bowed, stood up with her arms folded.

Then she stared at Arkan with an absurd expression.

“Are you doing this because you’re displeased that I let Telma in here? If that’s the case, I’ll apologize, but what’s the reason you’ve been talking nonsense since earlier?”

“Nonsense? Are you saying you don’t understand what I’m saying? Did I speak in the language used by pirates or something?”

“Don’t be sarcastic. Why the hell are you so pissed off?”

The corners of Arkan’s mouth tightened.

“I’m not pissed off. I’m angry.”

“Ah, okay. Fine. I can clearly see that Your Majesty is angry. Then could you please tell me why you’re angry?”

In the dim study—the attendants couldn’t light the candles everywhere because Erdene was being stubborn—the huffing breath sounds intertwined and echoed for a moment.

Arkan slightly bent his knees as if he were going to stomp his feet, then pushed that anger upward and raised his voice.

“Yes, I would understand if you had someone you liked separately! I would understand! But other than that, isn’t it proper to discuss other issues with me first? Whether it becomes a fight or whatever, the one you have to live with from now on is me. No matter how fond your relationship was, if you’re not prepared to divorce me, you will be the queen of this place for the rest of your life! You’re saying it’ll only be a fight if you talk to me? That I won’t listen to you? Fine, okay. However, that’s not a reason to exclude me, your husband!”

“Wait a minute.”

Erdene held out both hands.

One hand was almost covering Arkan’s mouth. But Arkan didn’t shut his mouth.

“Wait for what! I’m fine with you protesting against me. But, damn it! Should I restrict your every move like petty and incapable men? Should I urge you to spill out every little detail of your past!”

“Ah, will you shut up for a moment!”