Selvia had the knights wait briefly.

Before leaving completely, there was an issue she needed to resolve at the Flandre duchy. Once she went to another country, she would never return to the Kingdom of Delpheron.

There was no reason to, nor was it necessary.

Selvia stared at the divorce papers in her hand.

“That was easier than expected.”

The divorce was quick. But before remarrying Ratius, she needed to be expelled from her family.

Selvia blankly stared up at the mansion she hadn’t seen in a long time.

‘How sickening.’

Selvia tightened her grip on the papers.

Her father, Duke Flandre, was an opportunist. Hadn’t he sent both his daughters to Beatus?

He was someone who would do anything to gain power.

So things would get troublesome if he learned about her having connections to the Empire rather than the kingdom.

It was obvious that her family would try to stop her if they knew that she, the ‘child of light,’ would be heading to the Karina Empire instead of Delpheron.

It was better to eliminate any elements that could interfere with her beforehand.

Selvia wished for her ties with them to be completely severed.

Selvia shook her head to clear her thoughts.

“I should make the first move to avoid trouble.”

She had no intention of being manipulated anymore.

If not today, there would be no more opportunities.

It used to look so big before, but coming back after so long, it felt different.

Perhaps it was because she had only been seeing the castle, but more than anything, her mindset had clearly changed.

“Your Highness the Queen!”

The butler ran out immediately upon discovering me.

“Where’s Father?”

“He’s in the study. But how did you come here……”

“That’s none of your business.”

The butler nodded at Selvia’s cold attitude.

“I’ll have a maid prepare tea.”

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll be leaving shortly, so don’t bother.”

“Pardon? Understood.”

The butler tilted his head before quickly disappearing.

Selvia slowly headed to the study.

Knock knock knock.

When she knocked, Duke Flandre, unaware of anything, said ‘Come in.’

When she grabbed and turned the doorknob, Duke Flandre’s face, who had been looking at documents, turned to bewilderment.

“Wh-why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at the castle?”

“Are you pretending not to know?”

Selvia closed the door and locked it discreetly.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“About Leliana’s matter, do you really not know?”

“Did something happen?!”

Father jumped up from his seat and shouted. Now he seems quite good at acting too.

Selvia slowly approached such a father.

“Since Leliana is carrying His Highness’s child, I’m no longer needed, right?”

“……So you knew everything. Is that why you came to confront me about it.”

“I divorced His Highness. He too has acknowledged that I’m useless.”

Duke Flandre’s eyes widened. Looking at his twitching lips, he seemed unable to contain his joy.

“I can’t burden the family anymore. Father, please expel me.”

“Are you asking to be completely erased from the Flandre family?”

“I want to live quietly. Cough.”

Selvia took out her handkerchief while coughing again.

There was already red blood on it, but she cleverly acted as if she had just coughed up blood.

“It’s getting worse and worse.”

“The child of the Light family doesn’t die. But if I were to die, people would doubt the power of the Flandre family.”

Duke Flandre ground his teeth.

Though she was an unfortunate card to lose just in case, there was no reason to keep her in the family when she was already seriously ill and divorced.

If others found out, it would damage their reputation. The Duke forcibly changed his expression and pretended to agree.

“I didn’t know you cared so much about the family. I’ll do as you wish.”

“I’d like it done today.”

“That’s not difficult.”

Selvia nodded.

Duke Flandre immediately took out documents and began signing them.

Expelling a family member required the consent of the vassals, but Duke Flandre’s authority was tremendous right now.

Even though Selvia had divorced the king, Leliana would take that position, and the Duke’s position would remain secure.

“There are no problems with the documents, right?”

“Don’t worry. No one will be able to reinstate you.”

The Duke handed over the documents. Selvia checked for any issues before signing.

“Even if a blade comes to your neck, you must not reveal anything about our family.”

“Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”

Selvia put the documents in an envelope and walked toward the door without regret.

“Then I hope we never see each other again.”

With those final words, Selvia immediately left the mansion.

Selvia got down from the carriage and entered the forest where people couldn’t see. Then she moved through the portal with the knights.

Having divorced, rumors about her would obviously spread from Delpheron to the Empire. At least being expelled from her family meant her existence would be forgotten by the time all the news spread.

Beatus too wouldn’t bring up stories about her.

So Selvia Flandre would naturally disappear as if she never existed.

‘Now all that’s left is remarrying His Majesty Ratius.’

The Empire’s nobles would surely oppose.

But Selvia was confident. Though some time remained until the prophecy, persuading them wouldn’t be too difficult.

Upon discovering the portal, Selvia briefly turned to look back at the Kingdom of Delpheron.

She wanted to leave it in her eyes since she would never see it again.

She didn’t miss it and had no lingering attachment, but still, it was where she was born and raised.

“Goodbye now.”

The insufferable relationship finally came to an end.

* * *

Ratius looked out the window with a somewhat anxious face.

“It’s taking longer than expected.”

“We received word through the communication orb earlier that she would stop by somewhere before coming.”

“……Where?”

“I don’t know that either.”

“Haah, I’m going crazy with worry.”

“Don’t you trust her?”

Ratius smiled at Belrocan’s words.

“Of course not.”

She would do better than anyone and return. But he was worried that Beatus might bother her.

Even though he wrote clearly in the letter, that guy was unpredictable.

It was difficult to gauge him since they had never met and talked in person.

Few people had actually seen Beatus despite all the rumors about him.

From what Selvia said, he was no better than trash, but……

“Ah, by the way. The High Priest has requested an audience.”

“Why now after being so quiet.”

“It seems he’s anxious as the day of prophecy approaches.”

It made sense since everyone knew the child of light was in the Kingdom of Delpheron.

As the day of prophecy approached, everyone became anxious and wanted to keep the child of light in their own country.

Things would be less dangerous if they settled everything before that chaos broke out. That was also why Ratius had broken non-aggression treaties and dealt with neighboring countries.

“There’s talk since we left the Kingdom of Delpheron alone when they actually have the child of light.”

“That too will quiet down.”

More importantly, the temple had never requested an audience with the Imperial family before.

“Strange, did something happen?”

Ratius tilted his head slightly. He rested his chin on his hand and tapped the desk while staring at the door.

There hadn’t been any other prophecies. Then, could the temple have received some special instructions?

“Have him come in right now.”

“Yes, I’ll relay that.”

Belrocan immediately left the room. He thought it was strange that things were going so well, could there be some problem?

He wanted to finish talking with the High Priest before Selvia arrived.

He wanted her to know only after he had come up with solutions to any issues.

Knock knock knock.

Along with the knocking sound came the servant’s voice.

“Your Majesty, the High Priest from the temple has arrived.”

“Tell him to come in.”

At Ratius’s words, the servant immediately opened the door and the High Priest appeared.

A person wearing a snow-white cloak embroidered with golden patterns entered. Ratius stood up at his appearance.

“I expected the High Priest, but I didn’t expect it to be you.”

“I thought you wouldn’t meet me if I said who I was.”

Removing his cloak and revealing his face, it was the High Priest of the Karina Empire.

His wheat-colored brown hair and fresh green eyes were visible.

“It’s been a while, Your Majesty Ratius.”

“Amon.”

What brought him out when he usually stayed buried in the temple, never coming out?

He avoided contact with the outside world, saying he needed to interpret the words of God and prepare for the day of prophecy.

So it had been quite some time since Ratius had seen his face too.

In fact, Ratius didn’t feel inconvenienced by not going to the temple since he directly heard the prophecies.

It was natural as he was the one who wielded the power of god. However, few people knew this fact.

The Amon before him was one of the people who knew this fact.

Ratius’s eyes narrowed.

“How strange.”

Though he didn’t dislike seeing the High Priest after so long, he wasn’t particularly glad either.

“Seeing you come out like this, it seems something big has happened.”

“How did you know? Recently, I kept feeling strange energy, but suddenly it went quiet.”

Amon looked around. It was a calm yet meticulous gaze, as if he was searching for something.

“I think I know what you’re looking for, but they’re not here right now.”

“……When that person arrives, I would very much like to meet them.”

“Why?”

Ratius asked while leaning back on his desk.

“I’m curious why you’re looking for someone.”

“I sense power that shouldn’t be here.”

“Do you ever care about anything besides the temple?”

“As you know, I’m quite busy.”

“Did you not read the letter Belrocan sent?”

“I’ll check it when I return.”

His expression suggested he wouldn’t check it. Ratius had no choice but to inform Amon about Selvia’s existence.

“The child of light mentioned in the prophecy will soon become Empress.”

Amon’s eyes widened slightly.

“Isn’t that person in the Kingdom of Delpheron? Don’t tell me you defied God’s words again and invaded another country!”

He frowned angrily.

“That too was God’s will.”

“There is no peaceful war.”

“There is, I have that power.”

“That’s not how that power should be used. Then why did you send the letter?”

“She showed interest in the temple.”

“Did she not seem anxious?”

“Not particularly.”

Ratius immediately thought of Selvia.

He just thought she was curious because the temples in the Kingdom of Delpheron weren’t being managed properly.

“She did seem to be looking for something.”

“I’ll ask her about that directly.”

“I told you earlier, she’s not here.”

Amon pointed to the window.

Ratius slowly turned his head and stood up from his seat abruptly.