She was still holding the inheritance documents she had prepared, tucked against her chest.

The reason she had not informed the imperial household of Feron’s survival was to make it easier to get through the trial. The goal had been to cloud the judgment of a flustered imperial ministry.

Not to have the trial thrown out entirely, the way it had just been.

The emperor, upon receiving word of Feron’s survival, had summoned only “him” separately. Shortly after, a brief reply came back saying a trial would not be necessary, and she had been shown to this room.

In the end, she was the only one left out of her own affairs. They had sent urgent summons demanding her attendance, and the moment they confirmed Feron was alive, they had changed their tune entirely.

When she suggested it might be worth discussing things in advance, just to be safe, all she got back was a dismissive reply that there was no need.

Just like the day her marriage to Feron had been decided without her.

It was clearly my matter. The most important issue to me.

And once again, it had dissolved into nothing. She had been left in this room as though even the bare minimum of conversation was unnecessary.

“D*mn imperial bastards.”

What she had meant to keep to herself slipped out of her mouth. Karin startled briefly, then set the documents down with a whatever-it-matters air. She was alone in the reception room, after all.

“Haa.”

She used to make an effort to hold herself properly even when she was alone.

Being cooped up in Valstar with Feron had dulled even that.

Sighing at a vague, suffocating feeling she couldn’t quite name, Karin let her head drop straight onto the table.

She tried to let the oppressive silence melt away her exhaustion. It might have worked, if not for the voice she heard a moment later.

“Karin. Are you in there?”

It was the voice she least wanted to hear. Enough to make her shudder with irritation.

But its owner was the crown prince, so Karin straightened up. She folded her hands neatly and arranged a picture-perfect smile. She had done it so many times it came without effort.

“Karin.”

When his attendant opened the reception room door, Elwin called her name with an expression so full of longing it belonged on someone reuniting with a lost love.

Elwin Crasian Ethelbart.

It had been a long time since she had even thought of his name, Karin noted, and that was all she thought. She felt nothing looking at his expression.

“For the glory of Girian. Karin Difon Valstar, I greet His Imperial Highness, the Crown Prince.”

She offered a formal greeting, and he hesitated, pulling back the hand he had reached out in welcome.

“It’s been so long, maybe that’s why…? Between us, why such formality.”

“Is that so?”

She watched him curve his lips in a wounded smile, and Karin curved her eyes in kind. She gave no outward sign that the two of them were less significant to each other than dust floating in the air. It was not worth even that much.

“……Karin.”

But Elwin’s feelings seemed to differ from hers, and his voice turned quite serious.

He had been struggling to find the words, and then he suddenly seized Karin’s hand.

“There was so much I wanted to say when I saw you, and now that you’re here, I can’t get a single word out.”

The way he cast his sorrowful gaze to the floor was more than enough to move the hearts of many women.

Blue eyes shimmering beneath thick lashes made his golden hair stand out all the more.

A natural, effortless elegance. A soft cadence. Impeccable posture and immaculately formal dress.

He possessed everything she considered a matter of course.

There had been a time when Karin lived believing that a place at Elwin’s side was the best possible choice. He had power, a certain degree of looks, wealth, and honor.

And his gentleness, to put it plainly, was beyond reproach, so she had never once imagined herself with any other man.

Elwin, too, had shown no interest in other women. There were people who could attest to that, so it was not simply her own assumption.

And yet it was never love.

“Karin. I know you’re disappointed in me. I know you’ve been deliberately avoiding me.”

Karin had been standing there in a daze, wondering what on earth he was going on about, and her focus began to drift.

“So I think this proposal will feel sudden. That’s only natural…… But this isn’t a decision I made lightly. In truth, for a very long time……”

Karin’s attention, which had wandered elsewhere for a moment, returned to Elwin.

It was the moment she was about to smile in order to pull her hand free from his grip.

“I’ll send the formal documents. And of course I’ll prepare gifts. We won’t be able to hold a ceremony, but…… still, I want to make sure you have everything you need……”

She could not make sense of what he was saying.

He had been going on about being sorry, about being worried, about missing her.

She had shut her ears because all of it was completely useless to her.

Karin drew her lips into a bright smile and asked Elwin.

“What do you mean by that……”

“Become my mistress, Karin.”

She thought a bug had crawled into her ear.

“Pardon…?”

“I can’t leave you there any longer. You’re not someone who belongs in a place like that.”

She had opened her mouth out of sheer disbelief, but Elwin seemed to think she was simply surprised. He fixed her with a sticky, honey-coated gaze and reached out to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

“There’s nothing to worry about. This time, Father won’t have much to say about it.”

She stood there listening quietly to what he was saying, and a hollow laugh rose in her throat.

So the reason the emperor had so willingly handed her over to Feron was to keep the Rothsil family in check.

If the Rothsil family, which had been cementing its power through substantial financial ties, were to form a connection with the imperial household, the Rothsils’ standing would only grow stronger.

“I couldn’t stop it back then. I was still inexperienced. And as you know, Karin, His Majesty is particularly……”

She knew all too well. The emperor’s ambitions were notorious even among the people of the distant frontier territories.

He had been waging war without pause since the start of his reign. His health had quieted things down for now, but his hunger for authority was so extreme that he had kept putting off even the marriage of his fully grown crown prince.

‘He would sooner die than watch his power scatter to other hands. Even if that other hand is his own child.’

When she thought about it that way, everything fit together perfectly.

The reason the emperor had shielded Feron over Elwin.

First, Feron carried the blood of someone lowborn enough to pose no threat to the emperor’s throne.

Second, everything Feron had was a measured amount the emperor himself had given him.

Third, whatever might be said of others, Feron alone had carried out exactly what the emperor wanted, without fail.

In short, Feron was little more than a trophy for the current emperor. A figure to flaunt the empire’s might to foreign nations, and a living testament to the emperor’s own achievements at home.

In that context, how pleased the emperor must have been when Feron came forward and asked for her.

By connecting her, the symbol of the Rothsil family, to Feron, the emperor had accomplished both things at once: keeping the Rothsils in check and rewarding Feron.

“Ha……”

“I knew it. I knew you’d be happy, Karin.”

She let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity of it all, and Elwin’s face lit up. He showed his delight openly and moved to pull her into an embrace.

“Your Highness.”

“Yes?”

“I’m truly grateful that you were honest with me.”

Barely managing to resist the urge to throw water in his oblivious face, Karin pushed Elwin’s hand away. She met his puzzled expression and slowly opened her mouth.

“I cannot become Your Highness’s mistress. Nor do I have any intention of doing so.”

Elwin filled the brief silence that followed with a laugh and pressed on.

“Oh, Karin. I must have been too hasty. I’m not asking you to decide right now. It’s sudden for you, I understand. There are things to prepare. And with people around you……”

“That’s not the issue. My husband is alive.”

“What…?”

“Has word not reached the crown prince’s palace yet? Feron is with His Majesty right now.”

Karin held his gaze for a moment, then picked up the document envelope from the table. She moved to take her leave, stepping past Elwin’s blank-faced expression.

“Then.”

“Wait! Wait, Karin. Your husband is alive? He’s with His Majesty right now. That can’t be……”

She had given a parting bow and was about to leave when he suddenly grabbed her arm. Elwin pressed his other hand to his forehead, his eyes darting back and forth. He muttered a few short words under his breath and grew visibly agitated.

‘Is Feron being alive really that shocking?’

His manner struck her as almost anxious, and Karin briefly recalled the day Feron had returned to the manor. She had been beside herself because Feron was her husband, which was reason enough. But why Elwin was making such a scene, she had no idea. He had said he wanted to take her as his mistress, so perhaps failing to get what he wanted had rattled him a little.

A mistress was legal, but one could not be recognized as such if the other party’s spouse was still alive.

That was the law of the empire.

Both men and women could take a mistress and have the arrangement formally recognized, but only if the mistress had no partner of their own. So with Feron alive, she could not become anyone’s mistress. Not that she had any intention of it.

“I’ll take my leave now, Your Highness.”

She put on a courteous smile and removed his hand. Elwin turned to look at her.

He parted his lips as though he was about to say something, then forced the corners of his mouth upward.

“All right.”

“……”

“I’ll be in touch, Karin.”

Elwin’s fingertips, hanging at his side, trembled far too much.

In a way, he looked like someone gripped by fear, or perhaps someone barely holding back rage.

Karin watched him for a moment, then smiled pleasantly and opened the door.

Whatever expression he wore, whatever he was thinking, had nothing to do with her.