Taras clapped his knee as he answered.

“If you hadn’t married him, how could that commoner have contracted with a Divine Beast? Isn’t it that since you couldn’t contract with a Divine Beast, the gods connected one to your spouse instead! I thought it was strange that you couldn’t contract with a Divine Beast!”

‘Ah…’

Dana recalled what Taras had said at the banquet to calm the confusion among the people.

‘It seems Yurhemia took pity on the princess who couldn’t contract with a Divine Beast, and while blessing the prince’s birth, also granted a Divine Beast to the princess’s husband!’

That wasn’t just something he made up to quell the confusion; it seemed he truly believed it.

But Dana knew that was nonsense. Though she and Kaiden had held a wedding ceremony, they hadn’t shared a bed. This marriage wasn’t a consummated one. Kaiden’s contract with the Divine Beast was truly his own achievement.

But Taras, who knew nothing, was making an absurd misunderstanding.

“Who would refuse you when marrying you means getting a Divine Beast! You could have married someone from a much better family, better background! Not some lowborn commoner!”

Dana felt her whole body turn cold. It seemed Taras would immediately send another petition to the Holy Kingdom to nullify her marriage and try to marry her off to someone else.

‘Someone else?’

To people who, like Taras, thought they could obtain a Divine Beast by marrying her?

‘Does Queen Cladimien think the same way?’

Had the queen heard the news about Kaiden contracting with a Divine Beast? Would she think like Taras, that marrying Rowen’s princess would allow one to contract with a Divine Beast in the princess’s stead? If so.

From the queen’s perspective, this situation might seem more advantageous than her previous life. If she could give her son a Divine Beast.

‘No!’

That couldn’t happen. Dana tried to gather her thoughts. She was already married to Kaiden, and although they hadn’t shared a bed, Taras didn’t know that.

Dana gritted her teeth and spoke deliberately.

“That’s not what I want.”

Taras stared at Dana with wide eyes. Dana clenched both fists and looked straight at Taras as she spoke.

“I’m already married to Kaiden, we get along well, and Kaiden and I are working hard to protect Rowen.”

Taras didn’t even pretend to listen to Dana’s words. He snorted and said.

“Get along well! When you’re living like strangers at an age when passion should be burning bright! Not even trying to have children! If I could turn back time, I would! If only I could undo that marriage to that lowborn!”

Having said that much, Taras suddenly widened his eyes.

“You, perhaps.”

Dana froze, just as she had when she heard Taras say he wanted to nullify her marriage. She needed to end Taras’s suspicions immediately and escape from this dangerous line of thought. From Taras’s decision that might once again drive everything to ruin.

Her heart pounded heavily. She had to somehow avoid this situation. That was all that mattered. The terrible future she thought had grown distant over three years seemed to be right at her feet again. The end of despair she thought could never happen again seemed to be rushing at her once more.

‘Avoiding that is the priority. For now.’

Dana felt heat rising to her ears until it hurt. She felt the rising heat cover both cheeks and move to her neck. Even so, she tried to speak while maintaining as neutral an expression as possible.

“Just how much do I need to explain? Why… why we haven’t been intimate?”

Dana swallowed hard.

“When we’re intimate… we burn so hot that, we’re holding back because it might affect us the next day…!”

Her voice trembled naturally from embarrassment. But given the content, showing embarrassment actually made it more effective.

Taras looked at the blushing Dana with a stern face. A moment of silence passed. Dana, completely red from shame, embarrassment, and awkwardness, said:

“Do I really have to say such things?”

Taras, seemingly a bit embarrassed himself, avoided her gaze and said:

“No, why are you telling such stories.”

Who made me say such things…. Dana bit her lip.

Taras waved his hand and said:

“I’m glad you get along well. But I cannot allow you to return to Khalid. Just wait for now.”

“Brother…!”

Taras immediately shouted again.

“Keep that husband you say you like so much from causing trouble outside and wait! Now go back!”

Dana had to leave the audience chamber almost as if being chased out due to Taras abruptly ending the audience. After staring in disbelief at the closed door, Dana turned and walked down the corridor, realizing one thing.

‘I shouldn’t have let you marry that bastard!’

‘Who would refuse you when marrying you means getting a Divine Beast! You could have married someone from a much better family, better background! Not some lowborn commoner!’

‘If only I could undo that marriage to that lowborn!’

Queen Cladimien wasn’t the problem. Prince Ergart wasn’t the problem either.

All the judgments that had driven her life to despair and led Rowen to destruction had, in fact, always been made by Taras.

Having suddenly realized this fact, Dana bit her lip and walked quickly.

* * *

Heinz, one of the four great kingdoms of the Vicanthian continent in the north, was a place where cool winds blew even in summer.

The northern part of the territory was a harsh land entirely made up of treacherous rocky mountains. The Heinz Kingdom, bordered by the Dorbas Mountains to the west and touching Rowen and Vicanthus to the south, was said to be a land where Whicelius, the god of winter, had cast his spite. It was said to be a place where weak beings couldn’t survive because Whicelius had trampled and crumpled it with his feet.

Despite having vast lands, it was a difficult country to live in due to the cold and rough terrain, which made the people of Heinz strong and stubborn. Most were patient and ruthless when needed. All of this was necessary to survive in the harsh land.

The previous king, Heinrich, had made great contributions to stabilizing the northern continent by conquering and subjugating small nations and tribes that emerged here and there across this vast land, incorporating them into the territory of the Heinz Kingdom.

However, King Heinrich, who eventually died from wounds received on the battlefield, left the throne to Queen Cladimien in his dying words. He believed this was the way to protect her and their son.

However, even after the previous king’s death, and despite his will leaving everything to her, Queen Cladimien could not become king.

She was from the Duchy of Denburn, now part of Heinz territory, located east of Heinz. Because she wasn’t born into royalty, she couldn’t even receive recognition as regent, let alone king, from the Holy Kingdom of Vicanthus.

So Cladimien still ruled Heinz with the title of queen. She lacked internal support within Heinz, and thus couldn’t immediately make her son crown prince. Her ability to grasp all authority in Heinz and protect her son was possible solely because of the previous king’s love.

Thus, the current Heinz was formed with the crown prince, who had strong support but didn’t receive the previous king’s love and couldn’t inherit the throne, opposing the queen, who had received the previous king’s love but had weak support.

“The position of crown prince means nothing.”

In a room surrounded by gray pillars and golden decorations, Queen Cladimien spoke while seated in a chair. In the center of Droisen, the capital of the Heinz Kingdom, stood the massive gray royal castle made up of tall spires.

In the king’s reception room, Cladimien wore a crown and a purple silk dress. With her honey-colored blonde hair tied up, she sat in a golden chair with cold golden eyes and an icy expression that seemed like it wouldn’t change even if she bled.

On the blue wallpaper behind her chair, the same emblem was repeatedly engraved. A gray wolf with a crossbow design behind it. This was the symbol of Heinz, created during the reign of King Heinrich.

The person sitting opposite the queen in her line of sight was none other than Cladimien’s son, Ergart von Heinz.

Between the prince’s first name and surname remained a trace of the Ritz Kingdom, one of the ancient seven kingdoms and the predecessor of the Heinz Kingdom. Although the people of Heinz, like those of other kingdoms, primarily used Vicanthus, the continental common language, the royal family and high nobles learned the Ritz language at least as cultivation. They believed that the ancient language proved the time they had endured.

Prince Ergart was the queen’s only beloved son who could make the queen, who wouldn’t change her expression even if blood poured from her body, wail at the sight of a single drop of his blood. He had honey-blonde hair and golden eyes like Cladimien. The prince’s delicate and cold-looking face resembled his mother.

The prince sat facing the queen, maintaining an indifferent expression while looking somewhere other than at the queen.

“A position like crown prince can be reversed at any time. You must not forget that you are the heir recognized by the previous king, Ergart.”

Listening to Cladimien’s words, Ergart wondered if that was really true. Although Cladimien had come to power through the previous king’s will, they were surrounded by nobles who supported Crown Prince Friedrich.

Friedrich von Heinz was the first son of King Heinrich. He was the child born to Princess Yvonne de Gallois of the Etrang Kingdom, whom the previous king had taken as his first queen after being unable to marry his first love due to class differences. His bloodline was perfect, and as a result, he had solid support from the nobles. The only thing lacking in the deceased Queen Yvonne was her husband’s love.

King Heinrich met Cladimien, his first love, even while the queen was alive. Queen Yvonne took Ergart, born from her husband’s affair, as her own son. Since Cladimien was unmarried at the time, if Yvonne hadn’t accepted Ergart, he would have had to be abandoned as if he had never been born.

In taking in Ergart, Yvonne might have thought such understanding and patience could win her husband’s heart. Thus, Prince Ergart was officially recognized as royalty of Heinz.

However, Queen Yvonne didn’t live long after that. Because she had Friedrich with Yvonne, King Heinrich could escape his obligations and marry Cladimien, who wasn’t royalty. Although Ergart was officially still recorded as the first queen’s son, Cladimien had nevertheless reclaimed her son.

Because Ergart strongly resembled Cladimien, everyone knew he was Cladimien’s son, not Yvonne’s.

“You must hope it can be reversed at any time, Mother.”

Ergart spoke in a cold tone without turning his gaze to the queen. He knew well what his mother’s wish was. Everyone in Heinz, perhaps everyone on the continent, would know. That his mother’s wish was to overthrow Crown Prince Friedrich and place Ergart on the throne.