She stared at Ratius intently as she spoke.

“I was going to demand a divorce, but I might end up being deposed as queen.”

Ratius’s eyes darkened at Selvia’s dry, hoarse voice.

“A letter came saying Leliana is unwell…… She was perfectly healthy, so you can guess what that means?”

“Ah, so that’s why you said you’d be summoned as a criminal.”

Selvia nodded.

“Even so, I can’t bear to see you hurt. I have no intention of simply letting you go.”

“You really are stubborn.”

“The same could be said about you.”

Their expressions showed no signs of softening in the awkward atmosphere between them.

“What were you planning to do in the audience chamber?”

“I was going to break something precious. Then it wouldn’t be strange for me to be sent back even if the Empire claimed I committed a crime.”

Ratius shook his head with an expression that said this was hopeless.

“That would make others hate you too. So let’s do this instead. Break my possession instead of a national treasure.”

“Would that be enough?”

“Isn’t it enough if only Beatus knows? We can make him package it properly. I’ll tell Belrocan to write a personal letter for you to take.”

From Selvia’s position, there was no reason to refuse, so she accepted.

“Do you regret making a contract with this stubborn person?”

“No, I think Your Majesty will be the one with regrets.”

He pulled Selvia’s hand closer, narrowing the distance between them. Though he appeared resigned, a spark was growing inside him.

“I’ll go back with a happy heart.”

Even with the shortened distance, Selvia didn’t flinch. Instead, she stared directly into his eyes as she continued speaking.

She lowered her voice to a whisper in case anyone might hear.

“But will it really be alright? I might become known as the villainess who tried to murder her younger sister who carries Beatus’s child.”

“Even if you were a demon, I wouldn’t care. There could be no hell more beautiful than this.”

He kissed the back of Selvia’s hand.

Watching his eyes curve prettily, they left the terrace together to face the people.

* * *

Whatever the urgency was, a summons from the Kingdom of Delpheron arrived immediately.

Selvia rode in the carriage provided by the Empire straight to the Kingdom of Delpheron.

Originally, it should have taken a long time to come from the Empire, but thanks to Ratius’s consideration, they used a portal.

After passing through the dark sky, Selvia frowned upon seeing the bright sky.

Selvia stepped down from the carriage and opened her parasol to block the sunlight.

Come to think of it, such cumbersome things weren’t necessary in the Karina Empire.

The difference suddenly became stark.

“You have arrived.”

“Yes, quite a grand welcome party for a greeting.”

She laughed softly as she looked at the royal guards who came to receive her.

She held her head high and brushed away the knight’s hand trying to escort her. There was no reason she couldn’t enter proudly on her own.

“Lead the way.”

“……We were about to go receive you, we didn’t expect you to arrive so quickly.”

The knights walked ahead at Selvia’s words.

Beatus had warned them earlier.

That it would be better not to engage in lengthy conversations with the queen. He had said this out of concern that they might be enchanted by her words.

From Beatus’s perspective, it wouldn’t be strange if the fragile Selvia, who had loved only him endlessly, had gone mad.

Everyone would think the same.

Just remembering Selvia’s past actions made Beatus expect her to come crying and clinging to him.

Pitifully, while she had no such intentions, everyone thought that way.

They naturally assumed the queen would be unstable, but the Selvia the knights saw was calm and dignified.

She didn’t look like someone who had committed a crime; rather, they felt like scoundrels for escorting her.

Selvia headed toward the courtroom where Beatus and everyone else would be waiting.

She quietly recalled Beatus’s face.

What expression would he wear when she entered?

Would he still look at her with the same eyes as when he first saw her?

It probably wouldn’t be different from what she imagined.

The knights swallowed hard as they watched Selvia walking straight ahead.

Somehow, their chests felt tight, making even breathing difficult.

* * *

“Selvia Zekerit, Her Highness the Queen has arrived.”

Beatus rose from his seat to receive her.

Though his face smiled brilliantly, his eyes were ice-cold as he looked at her radiantly beautiful form.

“Your Highness, it seems you’ve decided to stop hiding, seeing as you’re not behind a screen anymore.”

Beatus frowned at Selvia’s proud bearing.

Surely she must know her situation, so why does she hold her head so stiffly?

“Dismiss the others, I have something to tell you.”

“Looking at your eyes, it seems like you might kill me at any moment.”

“Please don’t misunderstand, I just wish to speak with Your Highness alone.”

“Why should I do that?”

Beatus sneered at Selvia’s words.

With no choice, she pulled out the letter from inside her clothes.

“This is a letter the Karina Empire asked me to deliver. Shall I read it where everyone can hear?”

Only then did Beatus dismiss everyone from the audience chamber with a distorted expression.

“Because you summoned me back, our friendly relations have been ruined. His Majesty was very angry about that.”

Beatus snatched the letter Selvia held out and read through it.

[To King Beatus Zekerit of the Kingdom of Delpheron.

Despite sending a delegation personally to establish relations with the kingdom, you dare betray our goodwill like this.

We can only interpret this as provocation that looks down upon the Empire.

However, if you acknowledge the kingdom’s guilt and show sincerity, nothing concerning will happen.

Queen Selvia Zekerit has committed a great crime by breaking a precious national treasure of the Empire. Regardless of the kingdom’s guilt, Queen Selvia Zekerit, who violated Imperial law, will be punished according to the laws of the Karina Empire.

The broken national treasure cannot be restored, and its value is damaged, so appropriate compensation must be paid.

Though nothing the Kingdom of Delpheron could offer would be enough, out of pity for the kingdom, we will demand the child of prophecy and current queen as compensation.

If you do not send the queen to the Empire, we will consider this a declaration of war by Delpheron against Karina.

We expect you to act wisely.]

Grind.

Beatus ground his teeth.

“Ha…… What exactly did you do in the Empire?”

“I simply worked hard at building friendly relations for the Kingdom of Delpheron. When I heard news about Leliana, I was shocked and broke something precious, that’s all.”

“Did you offer your beautiful body to the Emperor?”

“Mind your words. It’s not that I have nothing to say either.”

Beatus didn’t like her still-composed attitude.

“You tried to assassinate Leliana.”

“Do you have any evidence that I did it? Can’t you think how suspiciously perfect the timing is?”

What a fool.

Selvia clicked her tongue briefly.

“She’s carrying Your Highness’s child anyway. Leliana must be the child of prophecy, cough……”

Selvia grimaced at the metallic taste in her throat as she coughed.

She wiped the blood from her lips with a handkerchief and continued speaking.

“Divorce me and make Leliana queen. I’m too weak to bear children anyway.”

Beatus crumpled the letter and threw it to the floor.

“My health is poor, making it difficult to fulfill my duties, so ending our marriage would be the cleanest solution, wouldn’t it?”

“Ha, you speak boldly for someone going as a criminal to the Empire.”

“Only Your Highness knows that, so you just need to keep quiet about it.”

It was obvious he wouldn’t do anything to damage his own reputation. He was someone with a very strong attachment to power.

“Do you think I’ll let you go quietly?”

“You’ll have to.”

As soon as Selvia finished speaking, commotion broke out outside.

“Your, Your Highness!”

Beatus’s face twisted further at the urgent voices of knights and courtiers calling him.

The Empire had decided to send Imperial knights in case Beatus didn’t comply with Ratius’s letter.

The commotion outside must be from the kingdom’s knights encountering the Imperial knights.

“It seems someone has come to escort me. Will you continue to keep me here?”

Beatus’s lips trembled as he seemed to grasp the situation.

Only then did Selvia hand over the divorce papers with a slight smile.

“Are you in the mood to sign now?”

The answer was already decided.

Beatus had no choice but to sign the divorce papers.

“I should receive appropriate alimony too, so please write it clearly in the documents. I need something to keep my mouth shut as well.”

“You’re quite shameless for someone who didn’t even bring a dowry.”

“My existence was the dowry, wasn’t it? I became queen without even having a proper wedding ceremony. Considering your affair with my younger sister, isn’t this much within my rights to demand?”

Selvia didn’t miss the opportunity to negotiate the terms in the divorce papers.

Having obtained everything she wanted, Selvia finally gathered the papers and approached the door.

“Ah, right. Not filing adultery charges against you two is my gift, hoping you would stay together and live well for life.”

She immediately opened the door wide and shouted.

“How noisy while I’m talking with Your Highness. It’s over now, so everyone stop.”

Suddenly, everyone stopped their physical confrontation.

“Your Highness! Her Highness the Queen…!”

“What queen are you talking about? Send her out quietly. Selvia Grace Flandre is no longer the queen of the Kingdom of Delpheron.”

The knights and courtiers were dumbfounded.

Selvia passed by them and walked out of the audience chamber with leisurely steps.

As she approached the Imperial knights waiting for her, they sheathed their swords and surrounded her.

There was no better fortress to prevent any danger from approaching her.

Selvia tried to leave through the castle gates under the knights’ protection.

However, she stopped her steps when someone blocked her path.

“Selvia!”

Leliana panted as she looked at Selvia.

Selvia nodded to the knights, indicating it was fine. They made way for Leliana to approach.

Leliana, who had come within arm’s reach, raised her hand without anyone having time to stop her.

However, Selvia caught Leliana’s hand.

“I told you to fix your bad habit of raising hands.”

Then she raised her other hand and slapped her younger sister’s cheek.

Slap—

The intense sound of friction scattered in the air.

As Leliana’s head turned, she collapsed to the ground simultaneously.

Selvia bent down and whispered in Leliana’s ear.

“No matter how stupid you are, you should know who tried to harm you.”

“You, you just hit me?”

“What’s stopping me? I was the queen, and you were just a lady.”

Leliana raised her head with reddened eyes.

“Now that’s yours.”

Leliana’s eyes were filled with anger and confusion at Selvia’s unexpected words.

“What?”

“You’re the queen now. Congratulations.”

Selvia even looked relieved as she said those words.