The time he spent apart from Marian had felt like an eternity. Now that he was with her again, the past seemed so far away. It felt as though only Marian existed for Abel.

He pressed his lips deeply against the back of her hand, then gently caressed it.

“……Marian.”

It felt like all emotions had pooled and then burst like a balloon. Abel exhaled slowly. He quietly moved his hand.

He placed his hand on Marian’s lower abdomen, where she was protectively shielding it.

A warm heat radiated beneath his palm—the life force and power of the child.

Abel let out a hollow laugh.

To think that a tiny seed just beginning to sprout could be filled with such intense vitality. He understood why Marian had been afraid. This child would become a mage stronger and more beautiful than anyone. This child’s power would cover the world, and the world would kneel at this child’s feet.

A child born to be a ruler by nature.

“Don’t worry.”

The child’s energy rippled.

“I’ll protect your mother. You just need to stay quiet and come out safely.”

Abel chuckled.

The child seemed to respond by pinching his finger. That soft tickle reached Abel’s heart too. Abel slowly rubbed his face.

“This is maddening.”

It was a strange feeling.

**

After pulling the blanket up to cover Marian’s shoulders, Abel quietly left the bedroom and made his way to his office.

Albrecht was waiting for him there.

“I knew you would come.”

Abel fixed his gaze on Albrecht, his expression weighed down by fatigue.

It was clear to Abel that Albrecht had endured significant hardship.

Marian was a stubborn individual, surrounded by an iron wall of armor. Coupled with her sensitive temperament, it must have been both nerve-wracking and frustrating for those tasked with watching over her.

In a low voice, Abel spoke.

“……Tell me what has happened in the meantime. If there’s something I absolutely need to know, start with that.”

“Fortunately, nothing major happened. However, the imperial situation is concerning. It seems the Empress has pushed aside the Emperor and taken his place.”

“And then?”

“Even more surprising, they say the Crown Prince has abdicated his position and disappeared.”

Abel hesitated. This was genuinely surprising information. Originally, Crown Prince Benjamin had the bad habit of coveting things beyond his limited abilities. To think he had willingly abandoned that greed.

“The Empress killed the woman the Crown Prince had been living with.”

“Then…”

Abel tapped the table with his finger.

“It seems like the perfect time for Leoni to make her move.”

“I think so too. And Marquis Katra has just broken away from the Empress.”

Abel smiled.

“By the way, what happened to Viscount Bochetti?”

“I persuaded him well and have him hidden. We can’t lose those who will become our military strength.”

“Armed conflict is unavoidable, isn’t it?”

“How can we prevent their final struggle?”

Abel turned his gaze to Albrecht.

“Contact Leoni. Tell her it’s time to move.”

“……Will you tell the Duchess about all this current situation?”

Abel glanced away briefly, then smiled broadly.

He ran his finger lightly across the surface of the table.

“No. You keep your mouth shut too.”

“……The Duchess won’t like this.”

“I’ve wanted to do this all along. To separate Marian from those vicious ones, to protect her. Don’t you think this is the opportunity?”

“……If the Duchess gets angry about this, I know nothing.”

“You worry too much.”

Abel ran his hand through his hair, a smile forming as he thought of Marian.

When he first learned of her pregnancy, he had to suppress his emotions. Calming the unsettled Marian had to come first.

“She’s pregnant. Marian will give birth to a child who resembles both of us. Do you understand what that means?”

“……You’ve changed.”

“I’m going to be a father, of course I should change.”

Abel burst into hearty laughter. It was a laugh he had never shown before. He cleared his throat and rubbed his face.

“This feeling is a first, so I don’t know what to say. But, let me tell you. I want to give everything to that child. I want that child to know only happiness in this world. For that child, I can become even stronger.”

“……Your Grace.”

“I tell you. I won’t make that child a monster like me. I won’t let that child become Marian’s misfortune.”

Abel spoke as if making a vow.

In truth, Marian’s pregnancy was a joy and blessing. Though it wasn’t something he had wished for or waited for, it felt like the incomplete him was becoming complete. Abel and Marian would live like ordinary people.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that God had blessed the two of them, that They had granted them an ordinary life. Abel and Marian would become parents.

Incomplete people who had never had proper parents would form a complete family.

This might be what God wanted.

“I will do my best for us.”

“……Your Grace’s best. That’s truly frightening.”

“Everything must be settled before Marian returns to the imperial palace. I won’t compromise on that. I need your help and that of others. We need to ensure Marian can spend as much time here as possible.”

“……How can I help?”

“Well. I’m not sure about that.”

Abel shrugged.

Albrecht sighed. Abel wearing the mask of a happy newlywed was truly unfamiliar. But it was good to see him like this. He had finally removed the mask of misfortune he had worn all his life and emerged into the sunlight.

Albrecht smiled, resembling Abel.

**

A carrier pigeon arrived at Leoni’s office, flying through the late night sky.

“The Duke has returned.”

Leoni checked the note and chuckled. The current situation in the capital was quite complicated.

The Crown Prince had disappeared, and the Empress had sent people to the north in pursuit of Marian. Whether that messenger would be able to meet her remained questionable.

And that wasn’t all.

Sir Bruce, Duke Madrian, and now even Marquis Katra.

Abel was planning to shake up the already turbulent capital even more. Leoni looked forward to seeing where the Empress would point the sword she had received from Abel.

Leoni summoned someone.

The time had come for the hairpin she had been carefully keeping to fulfill its role.

**

The next day.

The body of Reston, once the Emperor’s head chamberlain and now serving the Empress in the same role, was discovered in the garden of the Empress’s palace.

In truth, he had been at the forefront of committing inhumane acts—killing and tormenting others under the Emperor’s orders.

His survival until now had been due to the Emperor’s protection, but with the Emperor gone, the “protruding stone” had finally been struck down.

People unanimously condemned him, saying he deserved his fate.

During the autopsy, the imperial physician extracted a Katra hairpin from the corpse’s head.

The Empress’s eyes flashed sharply, and the crowd’s gaze shifted toward her.

“Ha.”

The Empress let out a hollow laugh.

“A servant from the Crown Prince’s palace has been identified as a suspect. Your Majesty, the only one without an alibi at that time is the one currently on the run…… he’s someone you brought from Katra when you were getting married. The current situation….”

“Enough.”

The Empress cut off the head lady-in-waiting’s words.

In the end, all of this pointed either to the Empress or the missing Crown Prince.

However, there was one more person in the capital who could be made to take the blame.

The Empress rubbed her face with her hand, her mind coldly calculating.

“From now on, I will issue a wanted order. Arrest and bring Marquis Katra, who committed murder in the capital, immediately.”

The Empress pointed her blade toward Katra.

**

The head chamberlain’s death caused a commotion in the capital.

The Empress identified Marquis Katra as the mastermind behind the head chamberlain’s death, and it was linked to the rebellion in the west.

This happened just three days after the head chamberlain’s death.

The conflict between the Empress and Katra shook the Empress’s foundation.

This became an opportunity for Countess Yulian and Duke Madrian. Those who believed there was no longer any hope in the imperial family began to gather under Countess Yulian.

Leoni saw, heard, and recorded all of this in detail.

The capital was writhing in darkness.

**

“……I didn’t come to the north for this, Abel.”

Marian spoke with a sigh in her voice.

At the moment, she was essentially being treated as if she were in a giant cradle. The members of the ducal family behaved as though Marian were a helpless child, incapable of even walking on her own.

If she so much as reached for something, people would rush over to do it for her.

Over the past three days, the only things Marian had been allowed to hold were a pen, a spoon, and a fork.

Having never been cared for in this way before, she felt uncomfortable, as if she had a thorn in her backside.

“I suppose not.”

But Abel only smiled at Marian’s complaints.

He smiled so often when he looked at her that Marian began to wonder if he had always been such a cheerful person. By now, she couldn’t help but understand.

Abel welcomed this child wholeheartedly. He was genuinely looking forward to the child’s arrival.

Unlike Marian, who remained fearful and hesitant, Abel seemed filled with confidence. The child was already receiving abundant love from both the north and Abel, even if it lacked Marian’s affection.

Marian was currently living a restricted life.

Even Liebe and Rosette seemed to have become Abel’s allies, refusing to share anything with her. Marian had no way of knowing how things were unfolding in the capital or what the situation in the north was like.

“……Abel. I’m serious. It’s too stifling. If it’s going to be like this, I’d rather return to the capital.”

Marian muttered with a gloomy expression.

Abel gently pulled her, as she leaned against the sofa, into his arms.

After a moment of hesitation, Marian obediently nestled into his embrace.

Abel pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“My Marian.”

“……”

“You need to rest comfortably like this, doing nothing, before returning to the capital. What did the physician say? He said you need rest. That this is the only way for the child to find stability. Don’t you want to return to the capital?”

Abel spoke softly.