Tilda brought over a cup of apricot-scented black tea and a small plate of cookies and set them in an empty corner of the desk.

“That’s right, the Kashut Dispute.”

Blair glanced at the history book she had been reading.

As was often the case with neighboring nations, the Kingdom of Eiron and the Valia Duchy had not been on particularly good terms.

Even during the reign of the late King Karl, Rubens’s elder brother, the two countries had fought a war over the Kashut region, where a natural mineral called dargon was found.

Dargon was a blue-tinted mineral. Depending on how it was processed, it could become harder than iron ore or be fashioned into beautiful gemstones, making it extraordinarily valuable.

But the problem was that only Valia’s alchemy could process it.

Unprocessed dargon was little more than a pretty rock, which meant the Kingdom of Eiron had the Kashut region where dargon was buried but could not make use of it.

The Valia Duchy, knowing this, dug up ancient history to claim ownership of Kashut, and the war that broke out over it lasted more than three years.

But everything comes to an end, and even that drawn-out war eventually entered ceasefire negotiations.

The one who led those negotiations was Duke Brienne, who had just newly inherited his family’s title at the time.

“Duke Brienne was appointed as diplomatic envoy then.”

Duke Brienne had brought about a successful peace agreement with the Valia Duchy.

In exchange for ceding the Kashut region to the Valia Duchy, he negotiated a treaty lowering tariffs on alchemically processed goods, including processed dargon.

The war that had claimed countless lives came to an end. Trade flourished, and exchanges between the two nations became far more open.

“Queen Rhea becoming a frons came after that as well.”

The arrival of Rhea Clovitz, the sole grand ducal lady of the Valia Duchy, as a frons in the Kingdom of Eiron and her subsequent rise to queen was a symbolic event showing that the two nations had moved past their conflict.

“That’s right. Around the time the agreement was being finalized, Grand Duke Kazhar Clovitz of the Valia Duchy put forward one condition. He asked that his daughter be accepted as a frons for the late King Karl.”

Tilda’s knowledge of history was considerable, and her explanation came without hesitation.

“But apparently it was a proposal Queen Rhea did not want. She refused food and drink and even attempted to run away in the night.”

“Run away in the night?”

Queen Rhea seemed nothing but gentle now, but she had apparently been quite spirited in her youth.

“In any case, despite that resistance, Grand Duke Clovitz’s condition was accepted. Duke Brienne cooperated actively.”

Tilda shrugged and continued.

“So Queen Rhea came as a frons…… and not long after, Grand Duke Clovitz announced he would supply processed dargon goods exclusively through Duke Brienne’s trading company.”

“And Duke Brienne gained immense wealth and prestige.”

The exclusive dargon trading rights obtained from the Valia Duchy were the foundation for the extraordinary power he holds today.

“Don’t even get me started. Father still fumes about it to this day. Of all things to be exclusive, why did it have to be the expensive dargon, he says.”

House Royce, Tilda’s family, had been involved in maritime trade for generations, so the blow was unavoidable.

“But Your Highness, why the sudden interest in all of this?”

“Oh, it’s just…… I’ve been curious. About the royal marriage between Queen Rhea and King Rubens. It was such a tangled situation.”

“That it was. No one could have known the late King Karl would go so suddenly.”

If not for King Karl’s sudden death, everything would have unfolded smoothly. But things had become tangled, and despite fierce opposition from those directly involved, the royal marriage had been forced through.

Under the leadership of Willer Brienne, who cried out for peace.

“From Duke Brienne’s perspective, that royal marriage could not be allowed to fall apart. Regardless of who was involved.”

“Pardon? What do you mean by……”

Tilda thought for a moment, then opened her mouth again.

“Are you saying Duke Brienne pushed the royal marriage through desperately because of the dargon trade monopoly?”

At Tilda’s slightly startled question, Blair gave a quiet nod.

“At the time, His Highness Rubens had a betrothed. The marriage had only been delayed because of the war. Lady Vivian was as good as a grand duchess already.”

“That’s true. It came out later, but she was already carrying Prince Kalintz at the time.”

Tilda murmured as though Blair’s reasoning made sense.

“And the heart of the agreement was the ownership of the Kashut region, not whether the grand ducal lady of the Valia Duchy would be sent as a frons or not. That was just a condition added on afterward.”

Despite all of this, the nobles at the time had reportedly spoken with one voice, pleading that the royal marriage absolutely could not be broken. With thinly veiled threats that war would break out again if it were.

“I think the royal marriage was forced through to protect the dargon monopoly.”

The power Willer Brienne held was unreasonably vast. Far beyond what could be explained by ordinary means.

For a man that greedy, driving a wedge between Lady Vivian and King Rubens and forcing through a royal marriage that even Queen Rhea did not want would have been nothing at all.

The fact that the woman hurt by all of it could not give her own child wholehearted love would not have mattered to him in the slightest.

Blair thought back to the expressions that had crossed Kalintz’s face when he spoke about Vivian.

The pain that had surfaced briefly but deeply. Every time that face came to mind, her attention was pulled toward it without her meaning for it to be.

Was that why she was so focused on digging into the past like this.

“Haah…… in any case, the problem is Duke Brienne.”

Watching Blair stretch and lean back against her chair, Tilda wore a worried expression.

“Please don’t make an enemy of Duke Brienne, Your Highness. Father has always said he is a frightening man.”

“He already sees me as a thorn in his side after what happened at the interrogation. It hardly matters at this point.”

At that, Tilda shook her head and let out a deep sigh.

“Oh, right. Speaking of the interrogation, something came to mind.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“That maid named Marie. The one who served Olivia.”

How could she forget that name.

Olivia’s maid, who had looked her straight in the eyes and claimed to have poisoned Anais Brienne.

“I know her. Why bring her up?”

“She died. Two days ago, in a carriage accident.”

❀❀❀

“So it fell off a cliff? A perfectly running carriage?”

Kalintz’s voice was sharper than she had ever heard it.

“Yes. There was no time to do anything about it. The road was treacherous to begin with, and the fog in the forest was impossibly thick. By the time we heard the sound, it was already rolling down below.”

Ernst Werner sighed deeply.

“……Cunning to the last. He chose that road to make it look like an accident. Otherwise, why on earth would anyone take the Polia Mountain pass out of nowhere.”

“True. There are plenty of roads to Bashar. No reason to take a mountain path.”

At that, Kalintz ground his teeth and let out his anger quietly.

“I never imagined the coachman would throw his own life off that cliff as well.”

“He must have had something Duke Brienne was holding over him. Ha, d*mn it.”

“I’m sorry. I should have been more vigilant.”

At his subordinate’s deflated voice, Kalintz pressed his fingers against his temple and let out a long sigh.

Damned Willer Brienne. That old fox had always made a specialty of dirty, underhanded moves.

He was still working through his anger when someone knocked at the study door.

“……I said not to let anyone in unless it was important.”

Kalintz said with irritation. Even so, the study door opened, and an unexpected face peered through the gap.

“Are you busy?”

The surprise visitor blinked her green eyes a few times, then slipped through the gap like a cat.

“Blair.”

Blair Mervish, appearing at an unexpected moment, as she always did.

The study looks just like its owner.

Stepping into Kalintz’s study, Blair was quietly struck by the atmosphere.

The furniture, built from dark-toned wood, carried an understated elegance without any particular ornamentation, and every object in the room was arranged with an almost compulsive precision.

Whether it was true that he spent more time here than anywhere else, the heavy, settled air he had created had seeped naturally into the space.

Blair swallowed for no particular reason and stepped slowly inside.

“The attendant outside was agonizing so hard over whether my reason was important enough that I just came in.”

Partly to spare the attendant the trouble, and partly to look the part of a passionate romance.

At the added remark, Ernst laughed out loud.

“Haha, that’s very true. A visit from Her Highness the Princess Consort is certainly not a small matter. There are still all sorts of rumors going around about Your Highnesses’ apparently extraordinary first night.”