Marquis Belmont sat before the Empress with an unusually deep frown. He continued to show his displeasure, disregarding even the Empress’s sidelong glances.

“If you’re just going to sit there frowning, wouldn’t it be better to leave?”

Even with their close relationship, the Empress started to feel annoyed watching his disgruntled face without knowing the reason.

“I have lived my entire life for Your Majesty the Empress.”

The Empress, who was about to stand up, paused and sat back down at Marquis Belmont’s words.

“I’ve never denied that. Since you weren’t saying what the problem was, I thought you needed time.”

The Empress’s attitude softened compared to before. As if determined to appease Marquis Belmont, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

“I need to know why you’re frowning to help, don’t I?”

At her gentle, coaxing tone, Belmont took a deep breath.

“Do you have someone in mind as His Highness Lloyd’s match?”

The Empress almost visibly frowned at Belmont’s question. Though Lloyd had mentioned that he seemed to want his adopted daughter as the prince’s consort, she hadn’t expected him to push it so directly.

“Well… I had the Hewitt family’s young lady in mind, but as you know, things went wrong. I’m looking for a young lady who could match up to her.”

It was questionable whether anyone could match up to Karina Hewitt. Anyway, she wanted to convey that his adopted daughter didn’t meet that standard — she wondered if he understood.

“I’m planning to adopt a daughter this time.”

Belmont’s eyes sparkled with an unusual color as he looked at the Empress.

“Don’t you think the Belmont family, while not as historic as the Hewitt duchy, is better than most houses? I am also His Majesty the Emperor’s longtime friend. My influence won’t lose to the Hewitt duchy.”

His words were true. However, his significant influence was partly due to the Empress. He had gained the Emperor’s trust, which allowed her to get closer to the Emperor, and after she became Empress, he openly volunteered as her patron. Consequently, Belmont’s words carried weight. Though the Empress had much to say about the order of events, she remained silent for now.

“I am also Your Majesty’s perfect ally. And to His Highness Lloyd as well.”

“Are you suggesting I accept your adopted daughter as Lloyd’s consort?”

His face brightened at the question he had been waiting for. Though he didn’t explicitly agree, his expression already answered.

The Empress swallowed her rising laugh. The Belmont marquis family was out of the question. Even though Belmont’s power had grown thanks to her, it couldn’t compare to the Hewitt duchy. The ministers who followed the Duke of Hewitt did so out of respect for their history and authority, but Belmont’s case was completely different.

He ruled people through power, riding on the Empress’s influence. Therefore, if the Empress were to let go of his hand or if she were to die unfortunately, Belmont’s influence would vanish that very day. That wouldn’t do. She wanted power that could perfectly protect Lloyd even if something happened to her.

“Unfortunately, that would be difficult.”

Belmont’s face immediately hardened, apparently not expecting the Empress to flatly refuse.

“Was it Your Majesty’s order that made my future adopted daughter get stood up by His Highness Lloyd?”

Had there been such an incident? The Empress didn’t need to know about that. From the start, when Lloyd told her about Belmont’s ambitions, he was clearly reluctant. It wasn’t about whether he liked Belmont’s adopted daughter or not — he seemed to still have lingering feelings for Karina Hewitt, but anyway.

“Was there such an incident? I wasn’t aware.”

Still, she couldn’t completely fall out with Belmont. He still had value to her. So she decided to try appeasing him a bit.

“Why didn’t you consult with me before introducing your adopted daughter to Lloyd? I’m saying it’s too late now because I was completely unaware of your intentions.”

Belmont frowned with narrowed eyes, seemingly confused by her words.

“I wasn’t going to mention this since it’s not finalized yet, but Princess Elena is actually included in the delegation coming from Icinia. Do you understand why?”

Belmont’s eyebrows twisted at the news that Icinia’s eldest daughter was coming personally as part of the delegation. A princess of marriageable age but still unmarried was personally coming as part of a delegation. And here, there was an unmarried prince. It was obvious what kind of discussions must have taken place beforehand.

“Didn’t I say I was looking for a match comparable to the Hewitt duchy?”

In other words, only someone like the princess of Icinia would be comparable to Karina. How dare the Belmont family aspire to the position of Lloyd’s consort?

Even though she had hinted that matters were somewhat settled with Icinia, Belmont’s face remained stiffly set. The old man who usually smoothly aligned himself with the Empress’s intentions seemed to have set his heart firmly on this matter, unable to give up easily.

“I will look into a good match for your adopted daughter.”

While she was far from suitable as Lloyd’s match, considering her relationship with Belmont, she intended to find the best possible match.

“Hahaha.”

Belmont suddenly burst into laughter while listening to the Empress. As she frowned, wondering what this was about, he abruptly stopped laughing and glared at her with fierce eyes.

“Don’t forget that Your Majesty is in that position entirely thanks to me.”

The Empress twisted her eyebrows while keeping her lips tightly sealed. Marquis Belmont leaned forward, bringing his face close to the Empress’s.

“You know well. The one who will truly protect His Highness Lloyd isn’t His Majesty the Emperor, but me.”

The Empress bit her lower lip hard at the strange words he whispered quietly.

“Don’t you really understand why I’m trying to place my adopted daughter as His Highness Lloyd’s consort, going so far as to prepare an adoption? We need a solid position. One that can serve as His Highness Lloyd’s strong backing.”

Marquis Belmont pulled back and looked at the Empress, quietly smiling.

“Since nothing seems to be finalized yet, I hope you’ll reconsider. I’ll take my leave now. Your Majesty the Empress seems to need time to think as well.”

After Belmont left, the Empress tightly clenched her fist on the armrest. Her hand turned white and her veins bulged from how hard she was gripping, but she remained motionless for a long while, glaring into empty space.

*

Everyone stirred when Aidan appeared at the knights’ training ground. Even Kai, who had escorted him, was mentally confused wondering if this was okay. Ever since Kai became the captain of the knights, he had never seen Aidan come to the training ground. Not for training, not even to watch.

‘With that many people moving at once, the sand dust will be no joke. Ugh, it’s horrible just thinking about it.’

That’s what Aidan had said when asked to come to the training ground to encourage the knights and boost morale. He had refused without hesitation just because of getting covered in sand dust. Yet now that same person stood at one corner of the training ground, choosing a sword the knights used, saying he would train with the knights rather than receive one-on-one instruction from Kai.

“Are you really planning to use that sword?”

“I can’t train empty-handed, can I?”

Aidan countered Kai’s question. His expression suggested Kai was saying something nonsensical. Kai wanted to ask who was really being nonsensical here.

“Your Highness has your own sword.”

“I do?”

His complete ignorance made Kai’s head spin, though it made sense. He seemed to have forgotten its very existence since he had never held that sword in his life.

“His Majesty personally gifted you a precious sword when you turned fifteen.”

“If it’s such a precious sword, then I definitely shouldn’t use it now. I just want to swing it around a bit for training, why would I use something like that?”

While Kai stood dumbfounded, wondering if these words made sense coming from someone who wouldn’t use anything but precious items even for spoons and forks at meals, Aidan seemed to have found a sword he liked and pulled it from its scabbard to check the blade.

“Whew, this would kill someone right away if it cuts.”

Even though it was a training sword, it still had a real edge.

Aidan ran his finger along the blade.

“You’ll cut yourself doing that.”

“It’s not sharp enough to cut.”

Of course, they had dulled the blade somewhat to prevent serious injuries. Still, it was surprising that Aidan noticed it right away. How did someone who hadn’t drawn a sword from its scabbard for years know about a blade’s sharpness?

Whoosh. Kai’s eyes reflexively widened at the sound of the sword cutting through air. The sword that had sliced through the air at a precarious distance in front of Kai stopped with its blade pointing toward the ground.

“This should be perfect for training.”

Aidan smiled with satisfaction and walked into the training ground holding the sword.

What was that killing intent just now?