As far as she knew, this plausibility score only worked when characters felt emotions because of her.

So, that means……

‘Niol is feeling joy because of me? Right now?’

What did I do……?

Though Delia was flustered, she decided to first tell Niol what she had wanted to say since before.

“Your Highness, I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”

Niol smiled and shook his head.

“You have nothing to be sorry about, now or in the future. Are you done removing my cloak?”

“Ah, just a moment!”

Realizing she was still awkwardly holding his hood, Delia hurriedly fixed his cloak. Niol quietly observed her, occasionally giving her a gentle smile when their eyes met.

Each time, Delia’s ears rang with a clear sound.

Ding.

[Protagonist ‘Niol’ feels joy.]

[Plausibility score increases by 3 points.]

Ding.

[Protagonist ‘Niol’ feels joy.]

[Plausibility score increases by 3 points.]

Niol’s face perfectly matched what the system was indicating — he truly looked joyful.

‘Wasn’t Niol Roches supposed to be hard to read? This is practically wearing his heart on his sleeve!’

When Delia looked at him with a bewildered face at the unending notification sounds, Niol asked.

“What is it?”

“Ah, no…… it’s nothing.”

Delia stepped away from Niol’s clothes and urgently asked.

“So, why were you doing this here?”

Niol opened his mouth readily.

“When I thought about it without you, I wondered if I had made a pointless negotiation. Actually, trade with Floren is quite important for Sheriton’s diplomacy.”

That made sense. The Empress had emphasized how important trade with Floren was since Niol was young.

Niol continued speaking seriously.

“So I was investigating the lapocia issue that started the negotiations. If the damage was this severe, it should have been regulated earlier, so it wouldn’t have been a pointless negotiation. And indeed, the problem was huge.”

He smiled brightly.

“Thanks to you, Delia.”

Listening to his words, Delia felt somewhat lightheaded. It was because Niol’s attitude was quite optimistic, unlike in the original work.

‘Maybe there could be a good outcome?’

Perhaps there could be a better future where everyone could be happy, rather than that future where Kaiel and Niol fought and clashed.

While momentarily wrapped in subtle expectations as she looked at Niol’s face, Delia’s mood darkened once more as her thoughts turned to Kaiel.

When would he return?

The last face she saw of him flickered intensely in her mind.

“Delia. Shall we go in?”

Noticing the faint sadness on Delia’s face, Niol asked in a gentle tone. Delia turned her gaze to look at the garden beyond the wall. And the main palace and auxiliary palace behind it.

After a moment, Delia shook her head.

“I’d like to walk a bit more.”

The auxiliary palace without Kaiel had become thoroughly tiresome now. The dark interior that used to give coziness and stability felt just empty and chilly without him.

Nodding at her answer, Niol quietly extended his arm. Then he leisurely moved his steps to lead her to the garden.

The walk that began this way continued for several rounds around the wide garden, but Delia still didn’t feel like going inside.

Lost in thought while walking for a long time, Delia only stopped when her legs started to hurt.

She had just realized that Niol had stayed by her side without a single interruption.

He was slowly scanning the trees with his gaze, and judging by how he was counting on his fingers behind his back, he seemed to be counting the trees.

What a meaningless and tedious thing to do.

Feeling sorry for keeping him and wasting his time when he must be busy, Delia stepped away from him.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I kept holding onto you without realizing. You must be busy……”

Niol smiled and shook his head.

“The garden becomes more charming the more I look at it. Thanks to this, I learned the number of trees for the first time.”

Delia scratched her head with an embarrassed smile.

“Thank you for making time. Please go in first!”

Niol glanced at Delia’s thin clothing and then carefully examined her face again. After a moment, he smiled casually as if he had roughly guessed her thoughts.

“Delia. Um, if it’s alright, could you spare me time for today?”

* * *

The news that the Sheriton Empire had declared strengthened trade regulations with Floren spread rapidly and reached Floren.

“What nonsense is this……!”

As expected, the King of Floren was greatly angered. He immediately shouted that he would send an envoy to the Sheriton Empire to threaten them, nearly causing many innocent people in the palace to suffer.

“This……! After all we’ve exchanged, how dare they be so impudent……!”

“Please calm down! Our opponent is the Central Empire. If we rush in recklessly, we’ll end up bleeding!”

“That…… that woman is trying to make a fool of me! How can she never do anything right!? I should half-kill her little brother to make her come to her senses.”

When the King of Floren spat out curses, concern mixed in the eyes of his subjects. It was no easy task to humor the king who was becoming increasingly violent.

“The meeting was held and declared by the Empire’s Crown Prince. It wasn’t her. Moreover…… one arm was already—”

“Isn’t it the same either way! Call that little guy over. Giving him a leg to match should be fine.”

“……”

The Empire’s declaration brought truly massive damage to Floren. This was because they had been siphoning quite a lot of money from the Empire through lapocia smuggling, which was now completely blocked.

Furthermore, as the lapocia that couldn’t escape was all distributed within the kingdom, the people began to suffer in reverse. It was natural that the whole country would stagger when labor force rapidly decreased.

However, no matter how much they wanted to turn the tables, it was beyond the small eastern kingdom’s capacity to make moves against the Central Empire.

Without help, the country’s collapse was not far off.

Fortunately, as the political situation changed, there were those who came to visit the King of Floren with various proposals, including those with power that couldn’t be ignored.

The person standing before him now was one such individual.

“When you want something, you must draw out what the other party wants as well.”

It was a visitor from Tranade. The king, forcibly straightening his body that was shrinking from subtle fear, deliberately shouted in a loud voice.

“So how do you do that! It’s not like I don’t know that, that’s why I’m here like this. The Empire has nothing they want from here!”

“If there isn’t any, then we must create it.”

Despite standing below the throne while speaking, he had an overwhelming presence that dominated. Even though he shortened his words in front of the king, not a single person dared to step forward and reproach him.

The man continued speaking.

“I will help you. Kidnap the Empire’s princess.”

* * *

The Empire stirred once again.

As soon as children in the villages opened their eyes, they would run around squares and streets shouting “Floren is coming to attack!” everywhere, and while parents scolded such children, they too were wrapped in subtle worry and anxiety. Voices calling for increased military security also grew louder.

The palace couldn’t possibly be unaware of such rumors.

“Floren is coming to attack Sheriton’s capital?”

Delia dropped the stack of documents she was holding. She had been on her way to the imperial office.

Since Niol had asked for her time that day, Delia had been spending most of her days helping with his work.

As she was particularly quick with calculations and skilled at organizing documents, the two or three secretaries who had been helping Niol were delighted at their reduced workload.

Even now, Delia was on her way to Niol after having breakfast as usual. That’s when she heard this sudden news.

“Who says so?”

“That’s what the rumors say. It is strange though. Floren hasn’t declared war, and no special orders have come down either.”

“If it’s a rumor, there must be a source……”

While picking up the fallen documents with the aide, Delia felt tension creeping up for the first time in a while.

Floren had relatively weak military power compared to the Empire. If rumors were spreading that such a Floren would attack the Empire, there were two possibilities.

Either the rumor was an elaborately crafted fake, or it was real.

If the former, it was intentional misdirection for something else, and if the latter, it was retaliation and threat regarding the trade issue.

Then what about the original work?

The timeline goes back to right after the trade route was cut off because of Kaiel.

When Floren suffered massive damage after losing the trade route, they needed a way to fill their financial difficulties. Thus, the King of Floren planned to kidnap the Empire’s princess, Ashlene, to use as a hostage.

It was common knowledge that the Crown Prince deeply cherished his sister, so once they had her in their hands, the rest would be smooth sailing.