Chapter 75

“I haven’t done such a thing.”  

She feigned ignorance for now. There was no way Lexion could know about the kiss with Jaeyon.  

However, seeing Lexion’s eyes narrow and his red pupils darken, it seemed he was quite angry.  

‘I’ve… been found out… How did he know?’  

“Since you even lied, it’s double the punishment.”  

“Lexion!”  

Lexion began kissing Adelina while holding her tightly.  

His lips were much more persistent than usual, causing her to grasp his arms firmly as she struggled to breathe.  

Annoyed, Lexion intertwined his fingers with hers and laid her on the bed.  

“You seem to forget often that you are my wife.”  

Lexion’s gaze from above was still fierce.  

“A contract wife…”  

Oops. She shouldn’t have retorted to an angry Lexion.  

His grip tightened around their interlocked hands, as if more angered, making her fingers ache from the pressure.  

“Lexion… It hurts.”  

She tried to pull her hands away and twist her body, but she couldn’t overcome the force pinning her down.  

“Endure it. You’re being punished.”  

Contrary to his words, Lexion gently released their intertwined fingers.  

Instead, he hugged her tightly.  

Adelina, having her breath stolen again by Lexion, tightly closed her eyes.  

Only when he mercifully pulled away could she gasp for the breath she lacked.  

“Soon… the maids will come…”

Though it was still dark outside, diligent birds loudly announced the arrival of dawn.  

Since he had entered another empire’s palace unofficially and secretly, moving while it was still dark would avoid creating awkward situations.  

Lexion, still seemingly unsatisfied, frowned as he looked at Adelina’s lips.  

“So weak.”

Though he was the one who kissed her to the point of tearing her lips, he gently caressed the area with his fingertips as if applying medicine.

“You need to go now.”  

“Alright.”  

When Adelina urged him again, Lexion reluctantly rose from the bed.  

After buttoning his shirt and putting on black gloves, he gently lifted Adelina’s chin.  

“Traditionally, you don’t abandon a devoted husband. Wait. Be patient.”

Though his words were cold, as if his anger hadn’t fully subsided, he placed a gentle kiss on the part of her lips that wasn’t torn.  

When Adelina blinked her eyes open, only the terrace curtain fluttered slightly in the breeze.  

“What is he saying… Who’s devoted…”  

Adelina got up from the bed and approached the terrace.  

“Blood?”  

As she reached to close the terrace window, she noticed red stains on her left hand.  

‘Did he injure his arm? And still came on a wyvern?’  

In a hurry, Adelina stepped onto the terrace and looked up at the sky.  

Far off, a black wyvern was flying across the sky, which was beginning to turn bluish with dawn.  

+++

9 a.m. The weather had turned quite chilly in the mornings and evenings, and envoys from various countries gathered at the observatory by the harbor.  

“Haha. Fishing boats are towing those ships.”  

The envoys laughed at the sight of tuna fishing boats towing two massive ships with ropes.  

“They’re too big; even with those sails, they won’t gain speed.”  

“What do they plan to do with tuna fishing boats?”  

“I had high expectations because of the rumors about the Queen… but it seems they were just rumors.”  

They spoke louder, ensuring the Petrus Empire knights saw the ships.  

The current world power was undoubtedly the Petrus Empire.

Though Ernst and Iberis seemed to be putting up some resistance, seeing those ships made their capabilities appear questionable.

Leophris and the Petrus knights rode their horses closer to the harbor to observe the moving ships.  

“Sir Leophris, those ships are too slow to be of any combat capability.”  

A knight laughed, relieved, and chuckled.  

“Perhaps.”  

Leophris didn’t bother hiding the sneer on his face as he turned to look at the foreign envoys at the observatory.  

‘Those empires considering joining hands with Ernst will reconsider. Adelina, I’m disappointed. The best you could come up with is oversized old ships.’  

By displaying Adelina’s incompetence, even Emperor Grain’s biggest concern was resolved.  

“Even those tuna fishing boats are much slower compared to our warships.”  

“We’ll win at sea battles too.”  

Leophris twisted his lips and left with his companions.  

+++

At the Tiola Empire’s observatory, the foreign envoys continued their conversations while sipping warm milk tea prepared by Adelina’s maids.  

Seyra neatly placed ten small telescopes, each manageable with one hand, by the observatory window.  

Among the envoys drinking milk tea, some leered at the maids with lecherous smiles.  

‘They can’t fight with those. They’ll have to ask us for help. All the Queen has now is…’  

Her body and her beautiful maids.  

‘What will the Queen do now? Send the maids to the bedroom?’  

The maids Adelina brought were all daughters of high-ranking Ernst nobles, cherished and educated.  

In other words, they were women of both intellect and beauty.  

Seyra, who had been observing the sea through a telescope, turned to face them, suppressing the urge to shiver under their gazes.  

“You’ll see something quite interesting on the horizon.”  

“Interesting, you say. Let’s hear what you have to say.”  

A man who had been watching Seyra approached the window, and she placed the telescope in his hand.  

“If you look over there, you’ll see something quite intriguing.”  

Seyra kindly stretched her arm, pointing in one direction.  

“What, has a whale appeared?”  

Just as they were feeling bored, other envoys also picked up telescopes by the window.  

“Ha! Hahaha!”  

The man next to Seyra burst into loud laughter while looking at the sea through the telescope.  

Some groaned as they moved closer to the window.  

+++

The decks of the tuna fishing boats towing the massive ships against the waves became busy.  

“Prepare the sails!”  

People in black clothing, who hadn’t been visible when the Tiola Empire departed, began attaching white cloth to the sparse masts.  

“Raise the sails!”  

White cloth, rolled up, filled the gaps between the already spread square white sails.  

“The wyverns are landing on the aircraft carriers!”  

Following Lexion’s command, dozens of wyverns landed on the two massive ships, folding their wings.  

“Your Majesty, now the wyvern unit can go anywhere! They surpass the dragon unit in both mobility and endurance!”  

The wyvern unit commander shouted with emotion, and the wyverns roared loudly as if understanding the words.  

“Let’s go! Unfurl all the sails!”  

At Lexion’s command, a knight next to him waved a blue flag high, and the fishing boats simultaneously unfurled triangular sails.  

The densely packed white square sails and triangular sails caught every bit of sea breeze, becoming taut.  

The fishing boats, properly catching the sea breeze, pulled the two massive ships at high speed.  

Lexion fixed his gaze on the Tiola Empire beyond the sea.  

“Adelina.”  

Her smile shimmered over the sea surface, reflecting the sunlight like a mirror.  

+++

Five artificial islands floated on the sea between Petrus and Ernst, just like the day before.  

However, what was different today from yesterday was that people were standing on those islands even before the sun rose.  

The previous night, people were dragged there without understanding why by Petrus soldiers who had suddenly appeared.  

Recognizing each other’s faces, they burst into mad laughter.  

“Emperor Grain! You devil!”  

“I’ll come to kill you as a ghost!”  

The sun slowly rose from the direction of Petrus. As the warm sunlight thawed their bodies, which had shivered all night, they trembled even more for a different reason.  

“Honey…”  

A heavily pregnant woman wrapped her hands around her belly.  

“I will save you.”  

Her husband took off his jacket, wrapped it around her belly, and hugged her tightly.  

Dragons, thawed by the sunlight, were seen flying toward the artificial islands.  

Simultaneously, wyverns were seen flying from the opposite direction.  

“Damn it! Grain! I’ll kill you!”  

Everyone on the islands heard Lexion’s voice, filled with rage, from atop a wyvern.  

“Are you ready?”  

At her husband’s words, the woman nodded slightly and buried her head in his chest.  

Splash—. The sound of water was louder than the wyverns’ cries.  

When the wyverns’ cries ceased, there was no one on the artificial islands.  

+++

The seating arrangement on the first day of the banquet vividly displayed the Emperor’s thoughts about each nation.  

Beyond being a matter of national pride, everyone wanted to be seated as close to the head table as possible to speak even a word with the Emperor.  

As Adelina and the maids entered the banquet hall guided by Jaeyon, the gazes of those who had arrived early and were conversing turned to them.  

‘Hah. The seating arrangement!’  

“This way, please, Your Majesty.”  

Jaeyon led Adelina to a seat close to the head table, and he sat beside her.  

It was a surprisingly prominent position even for the foreign envoys.  

However…  

“Your Majesty, I was deeply impressed two days ago.”  

“Leophris, you will have many more occasions to be impressed.”  

Adelina calmly raised the corners of her lips into a smile at Leophris, who was glaring at her as if to kill, while picking up his glass.  

The Emperor seemed to have seated the representatives of the two warring nations close to him to prevent any commotion.  

“I’m already impressed again.”  

Perhaps because the Emperor hadn’t yet appeared in the banquet hall, Leophris continued to provoke as he set down his glass.  

“Is that so? It’s gratifying to always impress someone.”  

Seeing that the alcohol in the golden glass was strong distilled liquor, Adelina reached for the water glass beside it.  

“Oh dear, you haven’t heard the news. This morning, all the Ernst people remaining in Petrus were killed. By the wyvern unit.”  

By the wyvern unit you created. Instead of you.  

Leophris’s voice, muttering as if to himself, clung to her ears like the voice of a devil.  

‘Were there Ernst people left in Petrus?’  

Jaeyon, noticing Adelina’s trembling hand holding the water glass, immediately grabbed her hand and lowered it under the table.  

+++

Struggling to maintain her elegance throughout the banquet, Adelina quickened her pace as she entered the garden of the Camellia Palace after the banquet ended.  

“Your Majesty…”  

Jaeyon stood still, holding Adelina’s hand as she walked precariously as if about to collapse.  

Though he belatedly covered her ears, he couldn’t block the sound echoing in her ears.  

“Jaeyon… I…”  

I should have stayed…