However, the nobles of Heinz who supported Friedrich’s legitimacy did not want that. For them, Ergart was not a proper royal, not someone truly born from the light of Vican. Even though former Queen Yvonne had graciously adopted him as her son, everyone knew the truth. It would not be easy for Ergart to overthrow Friedrich, who had become Crown Prince under the nobles’ protection.

“Friedrich has the support of many nobles. Those who know Friedrich praise his character. Everyone says he’ll make a good king. And.”

Ergart spoke in a cold voice as if he was talking about someone else.

“I know that too.”

Cladimien twisted the corner of her lips at her son’s words. She spoke in an even more coldly subdued voice.

“Friedrich is a good fellow.”

Cladimien had seen the queen from Etrang when she was alive. Yvonne, with her black hair and blue eyes, had smiled gracefully at Cladimien despite knowing who she was, and conversed with her as if she knew nothing. She even went so far as to declare Ergart, whom she had not given birth to, as her son and had him recognized as royalty.

Cladimien thought she was a good person. It’s not easy to show kindness to someone who envies you and covets your position. It’s not easy to entrust your son to someone who would take your place once you’re gone.

That was something only possible for someone who had lived surrounded by goodness and believed in the world’s benevolence. They say Yvonne accepted Ergart, the evidence of her husband’s infidelity, saying the child was not at fault.

And Friedrich took after his mother’s nature.

“But being a good person doesn’t make one a good ruler.”

Unlike Yvonne, Cladimien was not someone who could take care of the former queen’s son. She had to devise schemes to harm that harmless young man in order to survive and protect her own son. While Friedrich himself might be harmless, his position and environment made him anything but harmless. Just like former Queen Yvonne.

From Cladimien’s perspective, Yvonne was the woman who had taken her man and position through status. She was also the woman who had taken away her precious son. Whether Yvonne had wanted it or not. Whether she had intended it or not.

Cladimien was someone who knew that she and her son could only survive if Friedrich was removed. And Cladimien knew that her son took after her. At the same time, she thought he also took after his father, who had successively subjugated the northern kingdoms. The queen spoke with an unwavering expressionless face.

“Many kingdoms have risen and fallen on this continent. Long-established kingdoms have the power to protect themselves.”

The Holy Kingdom of Vicanthus, located in the center of the continent, had holy knights who wielded swords with divine power. Neighboring Cargot had the Gold Mountain that enriched their treasury, Rowen in the east had the Divine Beast Corps, and the Etrang Kingdom in the west had giant soldiers.

‘What does Heinz have?’

This kingdom had nothing. A land said to be frozen by Whicelius’s spite. All it had were treacherous rocky mountains, bitter cold, and people who had survived by becoming like the rocks and the cold themselves.

With these people, this kingdom had maintained itself, standing shoulder to shoulder with kingdoms of long history. It had endured steadfastly while countless small kingdoms around it rose and fell. While it was partly because it was considered land not worth coveting and thus suffered fewer invasions, they had still managed to maintain their position and survive even in such land. Like the rocky mountains that withstand severe cold without crumbling, Heinz had endured.

“A good king must know how to be a villain to other countries for the sake of their kingdom. They must become a murderer and a plunderer to those who are not their people. But Friedrich cannot do such things. He’s too good a person. He’ll try to be kind to everyone. That child cannot become a good king who would steal from other kingdoms to fatten our own.”

Ergart let out a scoffing laugh and replied.

“And your son is a bad person?”

Cladimien smiled with a face very similar to her son’s.

“You’re a child who knows how to trample on others when necessary to take what you need. That’s an important quality for a king of Heinz.”

Because this land was such a harsh environment, it had to be that way.

Cladimien, resting her elbow on the armrest and supporting her chin, continued.

“We need special power too. Power to protect this kingdom, and to protect you. I will give you great power, Ergart. Power that’s incomparable to what Friedrich relies on.”

To Cladimien’s words, Ergart replied in a voice devoid of any expectation.

“How?”

“I heard an interesting piece of news.”

Cladimien thought about the news she had heard a few days ago. Unexpected news.

“They say a knight of lowly birth in Rowen contracted with a Divine Beast. You’ve heard about it too?”

“So what?”

Ergart replied in a flat, uninterested voice. He had heard about it too. The only princess who couldn’t contract with a Divine Beast. The commoner knight who married that princess had contracted with a Divine Beast.

He had dismissed it without much thought. But it seemed his mother hadn’t.

“According to the King of Rowen’s declaration, that commoner was able to obtain a Divine Beast by marrying the princess. I plan to take that princess and give her to you. I will bring you a princess who will give you a Divine Beast.”

“……”

Ergart asked with a tired face.

“An already married princess?”

“A knight can die wielding his sword on any battlefield. The King of Rowen won’t care what happens to that commoner knight. Do you know how much of a laughingstock King Taras has become because of that knight? Even from the princess’s perspective, coming to you would be better. Being the queen of Heinz rather than the wife of a duke of lowly birth.”

The queen spoke with a clenched fist and a thoughtful expression.

“And we can have Rowen’s Divine Beast Corps. Divine Beasts created by god’s breath, that can fly across half the continent in an instant and cut through anything. How much could that commoner possibly control a Divine Beast? But you, my son, you could gain tremendous power by controlling Divine Beasts. Because you’re a special child who takes after your father.”

Cladimien spoke in a tone full of faith and trust while looking at her son who looked just like her. Ergart remained silent.

“It’s good that you haven’t married yet. If you were already married, we would have had to poison your princess consort.”

Ergart rose from his seat with a disgusted expression. Despite being at the center of all the queen’s words and plans, he turned away as if he were completely uninvolved and walked across the reception room. The prince’s red cape fluttered behind his unwavering steps as he walked away without looking back, as if brushing off something bothersome.

When her son left, the queen’s ice-like expression cracked. Cladimien watched her son’s departing figure with a bewildered face. Left alone, she sighed and leaned back in her chair.

This was all because Heinrich had died too early. If he had lived, he would have scolded and corrected their son’s rebellious phase and dissatisfaction like a father should. Their son would have accepted his duties with a settled mind.

Raising a son alone was difficult. Even more so in such a dangerous and precarious environment. The unstable environment had twisted her son.

‘Still, we must endure.’

Cladimien was a mother who had become strong to protect her child. She was someone who could be as cruel as necessary to others to protect her son. Even if she had to become an evil stepmother to protect her dead husband’s will and her son, it couldn’t be helped.

Cladimien fixed her gaze on the wall. The place where Ergart had been looking, and where she always looked.

On the wall hung a massive portrait depicting the late King Heinrich, herself, and a young Ergart. A very slight warmth crossed the queen’s face as she looked at the portrait. Longing and tender feelings slightly thawed her icy face. But not enough to bring tears.

‘It should have been like that from the start. That’s the perfect picture.’

Looking at the portrait of just the three of them, Cladimien thought this way.

‘What does it matter about being royal or about the light. None of that means anything.’

Such things didn’t determine who was radiant. She was someone who shone even without being royal. She had captured the late king’s heart, given birth to a clever son who took after him, and was ruling Heinz in the absence of a king.

In the portrait, Heinrich had his hand on young son’s shoulder. As if declaring this child would inherit everything from him.

‘I will make Ergart king. I will give our son the position he deserves.’

In her mind, Cladimien imagined an even more perfect picture that needed to be completed in the future. Her son wearing the crown as king, and herself watching over him from behind. Then it would be her hand resting on her son’s shoulder. That would be the perfect picture.

Time had passed, and the period when old portraits could thaw her frozen heart through feelings of longing and sadness was over. Now, only the anticipation of the new perfect picture to be painted could thaw that heart.