“……Is this really okay?”

Hadn’t he been sensitive about meeting Amon?

Selvia made eye contact with Amon, not understanding.

But he too just blinked, indicating he didn’t know. Selvia responded with a disgruntled face.

“If the temple comes along, it will help since people won’t be as wary of me as a stranger.”

“If you’re happy with it, then I am too.”

Ratius tucked Selvia’s hair behind her ear and smiled softly. Then he said kindly,

“I have something to discuss with the High Priest, would you mind going back to rest?”

Selvia was tired after being tense throughout the banquet. Now that the tension was gone and important matters were concluded, she did want to rest.

“Then I’ll take my leave first.”

“I could escort you if you’re tired.”

“No, no! I can go by myself.”

When she refused, worried about disturbing him, his knowing smile seemed to tease her.

As soon as Selvia left the room, Ratius’s expression changed completely.

“Didn’t I warn you not to try anything foolish.”

“Your Majesty, I’m only trying to be helpful.”

“I’d like you to be helpful to me as well. Not an interference or obstruction.”

“Of course.”

Ratius stood up and ran his hand through his hair. Amon watched carefully before speaking.

“More importantly, Your Majesty, you should be careful. The movements of the Kingdom of Delpheron are suspicious.”

“From my position, it would be convenient if they make the first move.”

Amon felt a chill run down his spine when he saw the strange light flickering in Ratius’s eyes.

He thought that perhaps soon, a bloody wind might blow through the castle.

* * *

After the banquet, the newspapers were filled with nothing but stories about Selvia.

Ratius was dissatisfied with the excessive attention focused on her.

He felt inexplicably uneasy.

Even Delpheron, which had seemed ready to move immediately, remained quiet.

Ratius slouched back in his chair.

“Belrocan, we need to hurry.”

“……What do you mean?”

“The remarriage.”

“With the day of prophecy approaching, it’s not strange to hurry, but did Lady Selvia agree?”

“I’m going to tell her now.”

“……At least change your clothes before you go.”

“Ah.”

Ratius looked at his own clothes. He frowned at his disheveled uniform.

“I wanted to look pretty.”

“I still can’t get used to Your Majesty saying such things.”

“You can start getting used to it from now on.”

When he smiled, Belrocan shook his head with a horrified expression.

“……Just in case, I’ve prepared information about the Decan region.”

“That will earn me some brownie points.”

Ratius stood up and casually unbuttoned his uniform.

“I’ll wash up before going. Have everything ready.”

Belrocan left the office with a disgusted expression.

* * *

Selvia raised her refreshed body.

‘I should say we’ll move the day after tomorrow.’

She wanted to move a bit faster. The day of prophecy would be approaching, and news about her would spread to Delpheron as well.

When that happened, people would obviously be confused.

Even though the High Priest had vouched for her, people would quickly change their minds if there were no visible results.

Selvia pulled the bell rope.

Along with a knock, Mellin’s voice was heard.

“Marquis Borche, it’s Mellin.”

“You may come in.”

As Mellin entered immediately after opening the door, Selvia said,

“I need to prepare to go to His Majesty.”

Mellin nodded.

Selvia, who had gotten out of bed, glanced at the clock.

“Hmm, it’s not too late yet.”

It would be awkward to go once it got darker.

After finishing her preparations, Selvia headed to the office.

This was unexpected. She had assumed he would certainly be in the office, but he wasn’t there.

“His Majesty has gone to his chambers.”

At the attendant’s words who was guarding the office, Selvia nodded.

She came to Ratius’s chambers with Mellin.

Standing in front of the door, Selvia hesitated for a moment.

The attendant guarding the door carefully asked,

“Shall I announce you?”

Selvia briefly raised her hand to stop him.

‘Maybe I should have come tomorrow? It feels a bit odd if it’s not the office.’

It felt strange to visit him at night for the first time.

After leaving earlier like that, she was actually curious about what he had discussed with Amon. That’s why she hurried.

It would be silly to turn back after coming all the way to the door.

“Please announce me.”

Knock knock knock.

The attendant knocked on the door and quietly announced,

“Your Majesty, it’s Marquis Borche.”

“……”

There was no answer.

“Perhaps he’s not in?”

“No, he was here when Advisor Belrocan went in earlier.”

The head attendant tilted his head.

Selvia nodded to wait for his response.

She pulled her shawl up higher in the slightly chilly air.

The attendant hesitated for a moment.

He knew how much the Emperor cherished Selvia.

“Marquis, I think it would be better if you wait inside.”

“Would that be alright?”

“Of course.”

The head butler knew it would be fine, particularly for Selvia.

If anything, Ratius might be more upset if they kept her waiting outside for too long.

She carefully entered the office. On the table, she saw neatly organized stacks of documents.

“Hm? What’s this?”

Selvia’s gaze naturally fell on the documents. Seeing ‘Decan’ written on the envelope, it seemed to be documents related to her.

“It looks like he organized these to give to me.”

She settled down on the sofa.

Flutter, flutter.

Selvia carefully flipped through the documents, scanning them.

“Everything is running quite well.”

Surprisingly, there seemed to be no issues with Decan region’s finances.

She was somewhat surprised as she reviewed the financial statements.

The documents were meticulously organized without a single flaw, and the people’s living conditions were very good.

“We just need to focus on agriculture. Though that’s an unavoidable issue.”

The Karina Empire had created light bulbs using mana stones to maintain a comfortable lifestyle as natural light diminished.

Ratius’s consideration for others was evident throughout.

“He’s quite different from someone else.”

He was incomparable to Beatus, who was blinded by his own power.

As she was reading through the documents, she heard footsteps.

“……Hm?”

When she instinctively turned her head, she saw Ratius standing there with a surprised expression.

Thud.

The towel in his hand fell to the floor.

Whoosh.

Ratius, who had come out without even drying himself properly, blinked his eyes.

“I must not be seeing things.”

He bent down to pick up the towel and rubbed his eyes again.

“How strange.”

There’s no way she could be in my room.

Selvia remained frozen on the sofa, staring at him.

His chest was visible through his loose robe.

Quickly coming to her senses, she spoke.

“I-I’ll come back later.”

After checking his precariously tied sash, Selvia hurriedly turned her head and stood up.

As she rushed to the door and reached for the handle—

Thump.

“It seems my earnest wishes have been answered.”

A large shadow fell over her from behind.

Ratius looked at Selvia’s back as she stared at the door and chuckled softly.

“I was about to get properly dressed before going to see you.”

When he reached out and turned her by the shoulders, he saw her anxious eyes trembling intensely with bewilderment.

Drip, drip.

Water droplets formed and fell from Ratius’s lowered head.

“Ah……”

The droplet that fell on her cheek rolled down.

Ratius reached out and gently wiped her cheek.

“You got wet.”

The moment their eyes met, it felt as if time stood still.

Up close, he was incredibly beautiful and exuded a different atmosphere.

His wet hair and clear blue eyes were looking down at her.

The water droplets caught on his long eyelashes made his eyes look both distant and moist.

Although Selvia tried to speak as calmly as possible, she was so flustered she barely knew what she was saying.

The problem was that Ratius had noticed this.

The corners of his mouth kept twitching upward uncontrollably.

“I came to discuss state affairs. There was no response…… so I came in. It seems I made a mistake.”

“It hurts when you call it a mistake.”

“……Your Majesty seems to have a more delicate heart than I thought.”

He claims to be hurt whenever she says anything.

“I’ll come back another time.”

“That won’t do. Now that you’ve seen me, letting you leave would make it feel like a dream.”

Ratius grinned while stroking Selvia’s hair.

He deliberately kissed her dark hair deeply while maintaining eye contact.

“So wait just a moment. If you don’t want to, we can talk like this too.”

Ratius slowly slid his hand down her arm and took hold of her hand that was gripping her dress.

“You’ll hurt your palm if you grip so tightly.”

He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it while smiling.

“I-I’m not that weak.”

When shadows instinctively flickered, Selvia hastily calmed them.

With her hand still caught by Ratius, she leaned her upper body backward.

She worried about touching his chest.

“You’ll fall.”

With a swift movement of his hand around her waist, she fell into his embrace.

“Don’t leave, wait. If you meant to make me anxious, you’ve already succeeded.”

Ratius removed his hand from her waist. His eyes curved prettily.

“……Alright.”

Selvia had no choice but to return to the sofa.