In politics, exchanging what each party wants is common practice. But not when it came to Daphne’s marriage. No, Werner had never even considered it.

The awkward part was that two consecutive Emperors had intervened, but Werner had absolutely never thought of using Daphne as a bargaining chip.

Yet when his daughter asked if he had made a deal as if it were perfectly natural, he was stunned.

Werner cleared his throat and answered seriously.

“Absolutely not. I may not have been a good father, but I’m not so wretched as to trade my daughter’s future.”

“That’s a relief. Then I’ll consider the matter resolved and take my leave.”

“Child, just a moment……”

“Do you have something else to say?”

“Well, you see. Her Majesty issued one more command. I didn’t intervene in this either. I was simply informed……”

“Please tell me Her Majesty’s command first, then explain your position.”

Daphne urged him to skip the unnecessary talk and get to the point.

“After breaking your engagement with Leon… Her Majesty has ordered you to marry His Highness the Grand Duke.”

Werner emphasized the condition that she could do so “whenever she wished” and repeated that he had not intervened in any way.

But she heard none of it. Marriage, order…. The moment these words were spoken, a sharp, high-pitched ringing filled her ears.

Daphne looked at the beads of sweat forming on his forehead, then lowered her gaze.

‘This isn’t even funny.’

She felt those weren’t tears shed for his daughter. And soon this feeling solidified into certainty, as all he had said was that he had nothing to do with this matter.

Daphne took a deep breath, waiting for the ringing in her ears to subside.

‘Why do I keep getting entangled in these situations?’

Daphne recalled the thorny bushes that had dug deeper into her flesh the more she struggled to escape just before her death.

After escaping Leonhardt and her family’s downfall, something else was now tightening around her.

She wanted to go straight to Kartun and ask him:

‘What do I need to give you to be free of you?’

She was willing to give anything if it meant freedom. But she had an ominous feeling that no agreement with Kartun would be possible.

She exhaled deeply once more and interrupted Werner.

“Did Her Majesty summon only you, Father?”

He had been explaining that he was just as surprised as she was, but stopped abruptly and furrowed his brow. Only after hearing Daphne’s question did he realize he had forgotten the most important part.

“No. Gustav was summoned too. He also knelt and pledged to obey the imperial command. And……”

“Who else was there?”

“Dame Margrit……”

“Was she surprised too?”

Werner slowly shook his head.

“On the contrary, she followed the order as if she had been expecting it. When I said the position was too heavy for you to bear, she became angry instead.”

How her ominous feelings never failed to be accurate.

“So not only did the Grand Duke and his mother know about this in advance, they had already completed their negotiations with Her Majesty and merely informed you.”

Werner pressed his lips together tightly and just nodded.

Ha!

It was infuriating, but now wasn’t the time for that. Daphne quickly considered how to respond.

‘First, I need to find out what Kartun and the Emperor exchanged.’

Daphne looked at Werner sitting across from her. It seemed unlikely she would get any useful information from him.

Instead of using his brain to solve the problem, he was just fumbling around with guilt.

In her previous life, her father had seemed so great and impressive, but now, after all these years…

‘I suppose it wasn’t a coincidence that you were so pathetically defeated by mere pirates.’

It was an unfilial judgment, but a cold and accurate conclusion. There was nothing more to expect from him.

Daphne emphasized once more:

“As I said before, please secure that land as compensation for the broken engagement. And regarding the marriage…. As the person concerned, I’m even more shocked than you are, Father.”

“Yes, of course. That’s only natural.”

Werner nodded in agreement, as if he understood everything.

“If you learn anything related to this matter, please tell me everything without adding or omitting anything.”

“Yes, I will certainly do that.”

Daphne quickly assessed Werner as he nodded obediently. He seemed genuinely apologetic.

‘It won’t hurt to ask, so I might as well try.’

Daphne swallowed dryly and opened her mouth.

“Father, I have one more request.”

Werner brightened at her words.

“Tell me. I’ll grant anything within my power.”

“Please give me some money.”

“Oh my, have you been short on spending money? How much do you need?”

The more the better. Daphne explained in detail how inadequate her maintenance allowance had been. Werner’s expression crumpled.

“After marriage, His Highness will surely provide for me abundantly. But having never comfortably spent my father’s money, I don’t have the confidence to ask my husband for generous allowances.”

“……Wait just a moment.”

Werner spoke in a dejected voice and retrieved his checkbook from his desk. Like Zenos had done, he handed it over completely.

“Use as much as you want, no, use it all. Don’t worry about the amount at all, buy everything you want……”

“Really?”

When she heard what she had truly wanted to hear, Daphne confirmed again.

“Yes. If it’s hard to believe, shall I call a witness?”

Daphne didn’t refuse. Eventually, Werner called his chief aide and gave Daphne the checkbook in front of him.

After repeatedly confirming his instruction to “buy everything she wanted,” she stood up.

“Then, I’ll take my leave now.”

“Daphne!”

Werner stopped her.

“I absolutely did not trade your marriage. Please believe me.”

She nodded.

Back in her chambers, Daphne pondered the absurd news.

What on earth were they all thinking?

She had no desire whatsoever to be part of their calculations.

‘Marriage?’

She had no wish to do such a foolish thing again.

Soon she had a truly important matter to attend to. If she handled that well and received the compensation, she would have enough wealth to enjoy her freedom.

‘I have no intention of playing along with what you want.’

Remembering how she had told Gabriel that Kartun was reasonable and generous, she bit her lip in frustration.

⁕⁕⁕

Gustav also sought out Leonhardt as soon as he arrived home. But he was nowhere to be found. Even Fred didn’t know his whereabouts.

Gustav got thoroughly drunk, and Leonhardt only appeared after dawn. He entered Gustav’s bedroom and frowned at the pungent smell of alcohol.

Then he looked down at Gustav sprawled on the bed with contempt.

“Your Grace, you were looking for me?”

Gustav jerked up and was about to throw the nearest bottle, but felt dizzy and collapsed back onto the bed.

Finding himself pathetic even by his own standards, he laughed weakly and said:

“The Emperor has ordered you to break your engagement.”

Yet Leonhardt showed no particular reaction. After a long silence, Gustav asked:

“Were you already prepared for this?”

“Yes.”

When Leonhardt readily admitted it, Gustav shook his head in disbelief.

“I thought you just lacked brains, but you have no spirit or perseverance either. It wasn’t long ago that you insisted you would never break the engagement, so how can you give up so easily!”

“What about you, Your Grace?”

“What?”

“You said you would allow the engagement to be broken if Daphne wanted it. Are you just trying to berate me?”

Despite his sarcastic tone, Leonhardt’s expression remained indifferent, as if discussing someone else’s business.

“After causing all this trouble, that’s all you have to say!”

Gustav scolded him loudly, but Leonhardt just shrugged.

“Don’t waste time venting your anger needlessly.”

At Leonhardt’s lecturing tone, Gustav became furious to the tips of his hair and raised his voice.

“How dare you!”

“The noble faction is in an unprecedented crisis now. Isn’t that right?”

Gustav hesitated momentarily at Leonhardt’s words. He had never discussed the Empire’s political situation with Leonhardt. Of course, Leonhardt had never shown any curiosity about it either.

Yet he spoke of an unprecedented crisis. Judging by his meaningful expression, it didn’t seem like he was speaking without knowledge.

Gustav pretended ignorance and responded vaguely.

“Do you even understand what you’re saying?”

“Of course I do. While trying to resolve my own issues and looking around, I picked up a few things.”

“Nonsense!”

Gustav dismissed him outright.

“It doesn’t matter what you think, Your Grace. But save your anger for later. I’ll accept it all after we’ve resolved this crisis.”

“Haha, impressive. Now is not the time for you to worry about me. Do you know what they’re demanding as compensation for the broken engagement?”