After moving directly to the palace through the portal, Ratius sat Selvia on the bed.

He examined her condition and then sat down heavily beside her.

“I’m really fine.”

“That doesn’t seem right when your condition suddenly looks much worse.”

“I’ll recover quickly if I just rest a bit.”

It definitely seems like overprotection.

Selvia stared at Ratius directly as she spoke.

“Your Majesty, are you anxious about me? Or is it that you don’t trust me?”

“……How could that be. Why wouldn’t I trust you?”

“Then why are you so anxious?”

“Just because I feel like you might disappear.”

Again.

Selvia’s eyes narrowed further at Ratius’s incomprehensible words.

“As long as I have a deal with Your Majesty, I won’t disappear without a word.”

“I know.”

A moment of silence passed.

Ratius took Selvia’s hand and infused holy power.

“Please don’t overdo it. You’re doing well enough already.”

“……Thank you.”

Selvia smiled faintly at Ratius’s words.

Ratius laid Selvia on the bed and reached out to cover her eyes.

“Sleep well.”

With just those simple words.

Selvia fell into sleep.

* * *

Selvia opened her eyes to bright sunlight.

She got up from bed feeling much more refreshed.

Glancing at the clock, it was still early.

“Feels like I had a good sleep for the first time in a while.”

She recalled how Ratius had covered her eyes with his hand.

The feeling of warmth still lingering made her keep smiling.

Selvia quietly recalled yesterday’s events.

She felt she should write a letter to the High Priest. Somehow she felt uncomfortable thinking she might have caused him trouble.

The good thing was that she had confirmed one thing for certain.

That her body rejected all holy power except Ratius’s.

Then why was the holy water fine to consume?

Since it was called God’s tears, perhaps there was no rejection response because it was God’s direct power.

She shook her head and stared intently at the glass bottle containing the holy water.

Though she hadn’t taken it yesterday, there had been no blood coughing. Except for the blood she had coughed up from the rejection responses.

She planned not to drink the holy water today either.

“First, I need to organize what I can do.”

With the banquet approaching, she couldn’t just sit idle.

Selvia sat on the sofa and took out paper. Then she began listing what she could do.

“I can save crops dying from lack of sunlight. Anything touched by darkness should be possible.”

She wrote down things that could help the Empire using her power.

Receiving a title wouldn’t be an easy task.

It meant becoming one of the nobles, and there needed to be justification so they wouldn’t feel deprived.

Earning merit was the best way, but Selvia was currently a foreigner who had come from another country.

It would take great effort to gain recognition from the nobles.

It would be difficult to draw favorable attitudes solely because she was the child of prophecy.

Selvia organized her plans for quite a while.

Then she heard something tapping on the window.

Tap, tap, tap.

Her gaze naturally turned to the window where the sound was coming from.

The small bird she had seen before was pecking hard at the glass.

Selvia approached the window and said,

“What if you hurt your beak?”

Slowly opening the window, Selvia extended her hand toward the bird.

Pat pat, the bird that landed on her finger stretched out its leg with a note attached.

“New news.”

Selvia opened the note without much expectation.

[Queen Leliana’s coronation today. Divorce approved.]

Finally!

Selvia smiled brightly at the long-awaited news.

“Fortunately, it’s settled before my social debut.”

Selvia immediately called a maid to change clothes and prepared to go to Ratius.

Good news should be delivered quickly, after all.

Selvia’s steps toward Ratius gradually quickened.

“Huff, huff. Lady Selvia, please slow down a bit!”

Only when Mellin called out urgently from behind did Selvia slow her pace.

When she finally arrived at the office, the servant knocked and announced,

“Your Majesty, Lady Selvia has arrived.”

Ratius, who had been handling state affairs, stopped what he was doing and stood up abruptly at the word ‘Selvia’.

While he would go to find Selvia, it was rare for Selvia to come to him. He could hardly hide his joy.

“Let her in.”

When Ratius’s permission was given, the head servant opened the door.

Selvia entered right away. He approached the door to welcome her.

“What brings you here?”

“I have urgent news to tell you.”

Seeing Selvia’s excited appearance, Ratius immediately understood the reason.

It seemed his shadow had delivered the news to her.

Since it was Ratius’s shadow, he also knew the news Selvia had heard. But Ratius pretended not to know and nodded, saying,

“Come in. I’ll have tea brought.”

Soon the head servant quickly brought tea.

Ratius sat quietly opposite Selvia and waited for her to speak.

“I received word from Delpheron that the divorce has been accepted. It seems they will immediately make Leliana the Queen of Delpheron.”

Ratius listened intently to Selvia’s more animated than usual words while smirking.

“Their wedding ceremony will be held today.”

“The timing worked out quite well. I wonder why they’re being helpful.”

He nodded while agreeing with Selvia’s words.

Selvia took out a piece of paper and spread it on the table.

“And I have something else to tell you. I don’t think it’s right for me to just appear in high society without preparation. So I’ve organized a few approaches.”

No matter who she might be as the Emperor’s marriage partner, she couldn’t appear at the banquet without anything.

Selvia currently held no title. First, she needed to gain recognition from the nobles.

Even if they knew she was the child of prophecy, it was clear that obtaining an Imperial title wouldn’t be easy.

So earning merit that everyone would acknowledge had to come first.

Ratius stared intently at the paper Selvia had spread out.

“When did you find all of this?”

“I organized it bit by bit.”

Selvia had listed places within the Empire that needed help.

Though she had been reading newspapers together with him, she needed to organize the plans more specifically.

For that, she needed Ratius’s help.

“I think I can help with polluted areas or farmland ruined from lack of sunlight with my power.”

Selvia spoke with sparkling eyes.

“This should certainly be enough to prove your power to the Noble Council.”

The Karina Empire had a committee of high-ranking nobles.

Called the Noble Council, their consent was needed to bestow titles on anyone.

No matter how strong Ratius’s power was, he couldn’t act like a dictator.

Glancing at Selvia, she seemed to have planned even how to prove her power.

Perhaps he could ease her burden?

Ratius covered the paper she had handed him and said,

“Actually, I had a meeting with the Noble Council yesterday.”

“The Noble Council?”

She had read about them in books. They were an organization of high-ranking nobles who discussed and decided important matters of the Empire together with the Emperor.

Looking at her rounded eyes, he went to his desk and pulled out an envelope.

Selvia slowly took out the contents from the envelope Ratius handed her.

“They unanimously agreed to grant you the title of Marquis. That document contains the details.”

“……Really?”

Selvia asked with a surprised expression. She hadn’t expected to become a Marquis.

It seemed to be the result of considering various factors including her conditions.

“As you are the child of prophecy who will save the Karina Empire, this level of title is natural. No one opposed it, so you don’t need to worry about legitimacy.”

He had already revealed Selvia’s existence to the Noble Council to grant her a title.

The Noble Council agreed to grant the title of Marquis in anticipation of Selvia’s future contributions to the Empire.

“It would be best to move officially after receiving your title at the banquet.”

“I agree that would be best, Your Majesty.”

Selvia stared intently at the documents. She felt excited at the fact that she would receive a title in her own name.

“Then we have something to do before the banquet, don’t we?”

“What do you mean?”

Then she remembered something she had forgotten.

“Were you really serious about practicing?”

“Of course.”

Ratius got up with a smirk and extended his hand to her.

The place he led Selvia to was the garden.

She looked at him with a puzzled expression and said,

“Didn’t you say we would practice dancing before the banquet?”

“That was a joke. I can tell without looking, so we don’t need to practice.”

“Then why……”

“I needed an excuse. We agreed to take walks together occasionally, didn’t we?”

“Is that really the only reason we came out?”

“It’s an important appointment for me.”

Ratius held Selvia’s hand and showed a secretive smile.

“Then let’s just take a short walk before going back.”

He nodded and gripped her hand tightly.

“The banquet will be held the day after tomorrow.”

“That’s really soon.”

“Nothing unusual will happen, so don’t worry.”

Selvia stared at Ratius’s hand holding hers. His words sounded like a spell.

It really felt like nothing would happen.