“I wonder how long it will take to arrive.”

To get from the kingdom to the empire, one had to travel along mountain paths for at least fifteen days.

Following the river would be more comfortable but would take longer and risk monster attacks.

Selvia, who had been falling in and out of sleep in the carriage, suddenly noticed that the carriage had stopped.

Wondering what was happening, she poked her head out to find a familiar person standing there.

“I came to escort you, as the journey ahead seemed treacherous.”

It was Duke Grey.

Why did he come all the way here?

She hadn’t expected him to come personally, but he smiled brightly while opening a portal.

Selvia’s eyes widened at the sight of the magic portal she had never seen before.

‘Just what does the Karina Empire have?’

Like the communication orb, this place must be far more technologically advanced than the Kingdom of Delpheron.

Her heart pounded. She wanted to quickly go to the Karina Empire and explore.

The delegation and knights looked at Selvia with puzzled expressions.

Since Selvia was the highest-ranking person here, they were waiting for her orders.

Selvia got out of the carriage and stood before Harwin.

“From here, you won’t be able to use the carriage. So, may I escort you?”

“Do so.”

“The knights and others can follow the guide.”

“We cannot send Your Highness alone!”

Since when did they protect me like this?

Selvia held a bitter smile watching the knights. Beatus must have ordered them.

To watch if she looked elsewhere and eliminate her if something went wrong.

He surely hadn’t thought about how public opinion would react.

Beatus was the type of person who thought it better to eliminate what he couldn’t have.

If she became endangered, the situation would flow advantageously to his side, but it was still too early.

“Then why don’t we all go in together?”

At Selvia’s words, Harwin shrugged.

“That’s fine. However, it will be quite disorienting. Will you be alright?”

She nodded.

Was there another way if she wasn’t okay? But if she abandoned the suspicious knights and chose another path, the situation would obviously become more complicated.

“It’s fine, let’s hurry. We can’t waste time here.”

“Understood.”

The knights and Selvia stood before the portal and stepped inside one by one. Her eyes widened at the sudden feeling of being sucked in.

However, Harwin quickly grabbed her hand and supported Selvia. Thanks to Harwin, she didn’t feel nauseous.

Rather, smelling his familiar scent made her feel at ease.

* * *

Upon arriving in the Karina Empire, she opened her eyes wide.

Unlike the Kingdom of Delpheron where you could see clear skies during the day despite the darkness setting in, here the sky was nearly dark even during daytime.

Feeling warm and cozy, she looked up to find Harwin’s face right in front of her.

“……Ah!”

She had certainly entered while being supported, but had she lost consciousness?

He was holding her.

As soon as Selvia realized she was in Harwin’s arms, she quickly broke free and looked around.

The sight of the empire before her eyes was more amazing than she had expected.

From the well-maintained buildings to the city streets that seemed better organized than the Kingdom of Delpheron.

Except for the light disappearing from the sky, it was magnificent.

“This is amazing.”

She expressed her feelings without reservation.

She hadn’t known the Karina Empire was such a wonderful place.

Unlike its reputation as pacifist, the Karina Empire had many internal conflicts over succession rights.

That was natural since it was a country that had gained succession rights through blood purges, and Selvia had thought it quite barbaric.

‘It’s indeed much more developed than the kingdom.’

She wondered what expression Beatus would make if he knew this fact.

She thought this might be why the Karina Empire hadn’t interacted much with others until now.

They had few diplomatic relations, and there wasn’t much known about them.

‘With this level of resources and technology, they could have easily swallowed the continent and more……’

Selvia couldn’t believe what she was seeing with her own eyes.

Harwin smiled when he noticed her eyes sparkling brightly.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“It’s more magnificent than I imagined.”

Selvia avoided Harwin’s intense gaze while looking around the city.

She couldn’t meet his eyes, feeling as if he had seen through her heart.

She tried harder not to be conscious of Harwin. But the more she tried, the more her attention focused on everything he did.

His footsteps, breathing, and even his gaze.

“But why can’t I see the knights?”

“Ah, I sent them ahead first.”

“……Why did you do that!”

If Beatus learns that she’s alone with Harwin, they’ll both be in trouble.

Now that she knew what Beatus was thinking when he sent her, she couldn’t do anything good.

“Don’t worry. I put them to sleep.”

“……What?”

“They’ll wake up when Your Highness arrives at the palace. They won’t remember anything, so you can enjoy sightseeing comfortably now.”

At Harwin’s words, Selvia slowly closed and opened her eyes.

It was frightening to think what abilities he really possessed.

He seemed to handle magic, but he said he also had holy power. At this point, it might be faster to ask what he couldn’t do.

“Did you anticipate even this situation?”

“Well, I can’t say I didn’t.”

Harwin smiled brightly and extended his hand.

“……Why the hand now?”

“Unless you want to announce to people, ‘Hey, I’m another country’s queen who came to play,’ it would be better to hold it.”

“What do you mean by……”

He quickly grabbed Selvia’s hand and led her. Come to think of it, it was strange.

They had landed in the middle of the city, but no one was surprised or staring at her.

They paid no attention to her as if she didn’t exist.

“You’re only invisible when holding my hand.”

“……Really?”

“That’s because I cast magic limited to my body. You can let go if you want.”

Selvia shook her head. It would be terrible to be left alone exposed to people’s gazes.

She gripped Harwin’s hand tightly and pressed close to his side.

‘Still, it’s a bit scary being in an unfamiliar place.’

Though she couldn’t know what Harwin was thinking, she had to trust him until they reached the imperial palace.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Delpheron, the palace was in turmoil because of Leliana.

“Why don’t you depose my sister? If you don’t want a divorce, just quietly send her away!”

Beatus felt a throbbing headache.

He had only said divorce was too early, but Leliana, being quite perceptive, quickly grasped his intentions.

‘Her mind works well for unnecessary things.’

He thought she was just a woman blinded by love, but apparently not.

He was displeased by Leliana’s raging behavior.

“Selvia might be the child of prophecy, so divorce is impossible.”

“This can’t be! I risked everything for Your Highness! Are you planning to make my child a bastard?!”

Leliana couldn’t calm her anger. The light power swirling around her body grew increasingly larger.

However, her power was useless against Beatus. This was due to the ring Duke Flandre had given to him.

“Leliana, that power doesn’t work on me. So don’t waste your energy and calm down. I’m not confident I can love you when you’re like this.”

Leliana trembled, clenching her fists.

‘Surely, that wench Selvia must be scheming something. After saying she wasn’t interested! She must be trying to humiliate me.’

However, Beatus showed no signs of changing his mind no matter how she looked at it.

So she thought of sending a letter to her father.

If things continued like this, she might even lose her child.

Beatus might try to register her child as Selvia’s.

Seeing that he wouldn’t put her on the queen’s throne, he hadn’t given up on Selvia yet.

Since he was greedy, there was a high chance he planned to have both her and Selvia.

That was impossible.

She was the one who should sit on the queen’s throne, and she was the child of prophecy.

So now she planned to reclaim everything that was hers.

“Do as you please. But you’ll regret it.”

Leliana bit her lips and left the office.

She hadn’t expected Beatus to act like this.

‘If you act like this, I won’t just take it lying down.’

She immediately called a maid discreetly.

With Selvia gone, just raising doubts about her qualifications would naturally spread.

After all, she had never shown her power to anyone.

* * *

On the way to the palace, Selvia and Harwin still hadn’t let go of each other’s hands.

Selvia hesitated for a moment before moving her lips.

“I have something to ask.”

“If you’re curious about something, please ask me anything.”

He always said that, but he had never given a proper answer.

Selvia touched the communication orb she still kept in her pocket.

She was curious about Harwin’s intentions.

To Selvia, Harwin was a man who aroused curiosity.

Thinking this opportunity might not come again, Selvia finally asked him.

“Why did you send me the communication orb?”

“I heard gifts should be something the recipient needs. I thought Your Highness would be most pleased with it.”

“Do you know the danger you’d face if this was discovered?”

In the Kingdom of Delpheron, magical tools like communication orbs weren’t commonplace and were taboo.

Giving one to the queen meant he couldn’t completely avoid the crime of insulting a country’s king.

“If that level of risk was necessary to obtain something, I judged it worth taking.”

“Does His Majesty the Emperor know about this?”

Harwin nodded.

She still thought he was just a duke.

It was natural since he hadn’t told her anything, but he was grateful that she worried about his safety.

She seemed to be maintaining composure in what appeared to be the most precarious position, but surely her inner state was different.

However, when he confirmed the sincerity in her expressions that occasionally showed through, he felt indescribable emotions.

“You seem to like it.”

“……Yes, very much. I was troubled about how to contact anyone. I’m not exactly free, after all.”

“Here, you can fly freely as much as you want.”

Selvia smiled at Harwin’s words.

She felt not just relieved, but at peace.