‘Father can’t make contracts with the divine beasts?’ 

 The dragon couldn’t answer my continued questions. It kept exhaling through its nostrils and blinked slowly. 

 “Grrrr.” (I cannot answer.) 

 ‘Thank you.’ 

 That was answer enough. Being unable to answer meant Father had done something. 

 ‘The garden will be better. It’s warm there.’ 

 “Grrrr.” (Thanks to you, my fatigue has recovered. Thank you.) 

 ‘I’m sorry I can’t do more for you.’ 

 I smiled bitterly as I removed my hand from the dragon. Looking at Kaven, he approached with the knights and the dragon. 

 ‘It’s alright. Follow them. The people here won’t hurt you.’ 

 The dragon stared at me intently before nodding slightly. 

 Only after watching them take the dragon to the garden did I enter the mansion. 

 “Your Highness, are you alright?” 

 Alita asked worriedly, noticing my stern expression. It must have seemed strange that I was staring intently while making eye contact with the dragon. 

 After all, I had only asked the dragon questions in my mind without opening my mouth. 

 “I’m fine. I just have something to think about, so don’t worry.” 

 “Please let me know if there’s anything I can help with.” 

 “I will.” 

 Alita was reassigned as a guard knight as soon as the subjugation ended. 

 Though I rarely needed escorts since I didn’t leave the mansion much, it would be better to keep her close for now with Father’s men here. 

 When we reached the room, Alita stood guard at the door. I went straight into my private room and took out pen and paper. 

 “Now, let’s think.” 

 What was Father’s reason for manipulating the divine beasts? 

 ‘Since he can’t make contracts, it must be to avoid being discovered.’ 

 I had thought Father had contracted with the divine beasts. But thinking about it, Father never properly explained about the divine beasts to Isabelle. 

 He said he was ‘worried about the imprinting,’ but showed the bound divine beasts without concern. 

 If he had done the imprinting right away, there would have been no need to worry about Isabelle doing it. 

 ‘I need information about the divine beasts.’ 

 Unfortunately, this wasn’t covered much in the original story. Naturally, since Isabelle had no connection to the divine beasts, there was no need to develop that storyline. 

 But Claire was different. She was someone who could communicate with divine beasts and make contracts with them. 

 If it weren’t for Zeno, I wouldn’t have known…… 

 ‘Well, I’ve learned something good.’ 

 The more cards I have, the better I can stand against Father. 

 Now that I’ve heard about Mother’s existence from Isabelle, I couldn’t just bury this without properly confirming it. 

 ‘I guess I’ll have to go to the imperial capital.’ 

 Though there is a social circle in the North, I would need to attend the major events held in the capital. 

 The Harvest Festival will be held in the capital soon. In autumn, there’s a festival celebrating the year’s grain harvest. 

 There are three opportunities a year to see the divine beasts — the Founding Festival, Harvest Festival, and Abundance Festival. 

 Moreover, at the Harvest Festival, grand prizes are given to those who harvest the most grain and produce the highest quality crops. 

 The Harvest Festival is held in October…… 

 I hurriedly looked at the calendar. It’s already September. The invitation will arrive in a month. 

 Actually, the North always has snow so there’s no concept of seasons, making calendars essential. Even now, if I hadn’t thought of the Harvest Festival, I would only have known when the invitation arrived. 

 First, I needed to get through today safely. After that, find a way to break the divine beasts’ binding. 

 Father would try to find fault, but he wouldn’t succeed. 

 Because I had many cards to negotiate with Father. 

 ‘Then there’s Isabelle.’ 

 What does Isabelle want? My head throbbed. 

 “Why do things keep happening endlessly?” 

 Come to think of it, I haven’t been able to sleep lately. Has my body gotten better? 

 I rubbed my belly and tilted my head. It’s still early but too peaceful. 

 For now, I needed to deal with what was right in front of me, so I had to stop thinking. 

 I left my private room and pulled the bell rope. 

 “Rien, is His Highness still in discussion?” 

 “As far as I know, he’s still in his office and hasn’t come out.” 

 “Then, the butler?” 

 “I think he went in together, should I check?” 

 I shook my head. 

 “Let’s go to the office then.” 

 Rien nodded. When Rien and I opened the door and went out, Alita immediately followed. 

 ❖ ❖ ❖ 

 Cedric smiled at the knight sitting before him. 

 “State your identity.” 

 “……Imperial Third Unit, Gelonta Hamel.” 

 “……Imperial Third Unit, Beretio Calom.” 

 The Imperial Third Unit was the unit that handled matters related to divine beasts. 

 They must have been sent with an escape route in mind. 

 ‘Perhaps other knights are hiding and watching the situation.’ 

 If they went straight to the Emperor and reported, it would cause trouble. Just thinking about it made Cedric’s irritation rise. 

 Thump thump. His patience was reaching its limit with his throbbing head. 

 The Emperor, that man, seemed tireless in tormenting him. And now he was not only suffocating him but Claire as well. 

 If he learned of Claire’s ability, he might try to take her away. Since she was pregnant, he would keep her in his cage until he could confirm what ability the child would be born with. 

 “Do you know why His Majesty secretly sent people to the North?” 

 His eyes grew darker than before. If they lied, he might stand up and cut their throats right away. That’s how much Cedric disliked the current situation. 

 He could imagine what would have happened if they had encountered them without anticipating all this. 

 “I don’t particularly like waiting.” 

 His sharp gaze touched various parts of Hamel and Calom’s bodies. Thinking they might die if not careful, Calom spoke. 

 “We merely followed the divine beasts’ trail while searching for the missing ones!” 

 Oh dear. 

 Cedric was disappointed. He thought him wise for speaking first, but he gave an answer worse than keeping quiet. 

 “The Princess and His Majesty already visited before. I know what was confirmed then. It would be better to give a more plausible answer.” 

 At these words that seemed to give one last chance, Calom spoke again. 

 “……We just came where the divine beasts led us! We’ll tell His Majesty everything the Grand Duke did. How you trapped us and tried to take the divine beasts!” 

 “Go ahead. But you know,” 

 Cedric tapped his lips with his finger. 

 “It seems they don’t teach what happens when you misuse your tongue in the imperial court.” 

 “……I am like an imperial asset, if you kill me, His Majesty will immediately lead troops to the North.” 

 Calom was right, as it would give the Emperor an excuse. 

 “Your Highness. You shouldn’t get involved.” 

 Vahalla, worried, quietly approached and spoke softly. Cedric didn’t really intend to kill them either. 

 He wasn’t the type to act without thinking, nor was he a fool who would move as the Emperor wanted. 

 Cedric nodded slightly. 

 “So please let us go! We’ll tell His Majesty nothing happened!” 

 The Emperor, who could read minds, would surely know. They must think Cedric didn’t know about the Emperor’s ability to speak like that. 

 Knock knock knock. 

 With the knock and the servant’s announcement that Claire had arrived, he gave a brief answer. 

 When Vahalla opened the door, Claire entered and saw the two knights. 

 Her smiling eyes somehow looked pleased. Cedric knew those eyes well. 

 When she had amusing thoughts, her golden eyes shone twice as bright as usual. 

 “Your Highness, let them go since they’re begging so much.” 

 “……” 

 At her unexpected words, Cedric’s brow slightly furrowed. 

 She clasped her hands behind her back and twirled around. Her purple hair swayed and fluttered. 

 “What can we do when they say they came following the divine beasts? We can’t exactly imprison and torture them……” 

 Even Vahalla seemed flustered at Claire’s words, his eyes shaking violently. At her words, Cedric told Kaven they could release their bindings. 

 “But Your Highness!” 

 Kaven, who had been standing quietly as if invisible, raised his voice. If they let them go like this, they would surely make up all sorts of stories to tell the Emperor, and the Emperor, knowing this, would pretend not to know and charge them with crimes. 

 Cedric nodded as if it was fine, and Kaven, with a reluctant face, untied the knights. 

 They grimaced while looking at their reddened wrists. 

 “Oh! Don’t forget to take the divine beast from the garden. Father cherishes it, after all.” 

 At Claire’s words, the knight’s face stiffened somewhat. 

 “……You’ll regret today’s events.” 

 After leaving these presumptuous words, they walked toward the door. Claire, who had been quietly watching this, said with a grin.

“But haven’t you forgotten something?”