“Your Majesty. Might you spare me a moment.”

Carlisle entered the office set up in the cabin, and he gestured at Kuz’s words as he followed him in. The door to the office closed, leaving Carlisle and Kuz alone, and once Carlisle sat down in his chair, Kuz spoke.

“Lady Eli has a serious problem with her body.”

“A problem?”

“Yes. The flow of her magical energy is in a troubling state. If she continues to use magic in this condition, she could lose her life.”

“Is there a way?”

“It is the same as what I mentioned before. However…….”

Kuz let his words trail off, and Carlisle’s gaze moved toward him at a slow, deliberate pace. Meeting those black eyes that held no emotion, Kuz quickly continued.

“I am not sure why, but it seems Your Majesty is able to stabilize the flow of her magical energy.”

Carlisle went still at Kuz’s sudden words. The two of them had no point of connection whatsoever.

It was a strange thing.

‘Is it because both imperial families are able to handle divine beasts?’

The two empires shared only one thing in common. The divine beast. And the imperial family capable of handling it. But Carlisle, a knight, and Roelia, a mage, were entirely different kinds of people.

“It is a peculiar matter, but looking through past records, it is not without precedent.”

“Is that so?”

“There are very few cases, but mages called the one who could stabilize their magical energy their fate. In the records, that is.”

“You’re talking about something out of thin air.”

A note of mockery crept into Carlisle’s lowered voice. In empires where divine beasts existed, prophecies sometimes came to pass, and once heard, one became entangled in a fate impossible to escape.

“And that’s the best solution those supposedly clever mages could come up with.”

“I think the same. And I also question whether Your Majesty needs to show consideration for that, er, the lady. It is only natural for a mage to look after her own body. To say she needs help because she cannot manage that herself. And to go that far for someone from Wintergrass, of all things…….”

“That’s enough.”

Carlisle waved his hand with finality and let out a quiet breath.

“How far does it need to go?”

“A deep connection would be ideal if possible, but is there truly a need to go that far?”

Kuz’s voice grew smaller and smaller. He watched Carlisle’s expression carefully and was shifting his eyes this way and that before finally bowing his head.

“It seems I’ll need to move the schedule up a bit.”

And so Kuz missed Carlisle’s quiet murmur entirely.

* * *

The rocking motion of the ship felt quite pleasant. Roelia stood there taking in the breeze. Cecil watched her from behind as she leaned against the railing and gazed at the horizon, and she drew a soft breath and approached.

“My lady, it is time.”

“All right.”

Roelia turned and headed for the door leading to the cabin. Cecil followed behind her as she walked with her usual grace. Maili noticed Roelia standing before the cabin where Carlisle was staying and gave a slight nod of her head.

“Dame Maili.”

“He is waiting for you.”

Maili, having given the hint that Carlisle was already inside the cabin, reached out and opened the door. Roelia stepped in, and Carlisle, who was working through documents, looked up.

“Sit there.”

Carlisle gestured for Roelia to take a seat and gave Kuz, who stood by, a look. Kuz confirmed that Roelia sat down and went outside.

‘What is this about?’

During the voyage, she and Carlisle exchanged no real conversation. He did not interfere with whatever she did, and because of that she was able to enjoy a measure of freedom. Life on the ship was a time when she could briefly forget reality.

“It seems we should finish the conversation we started before.”

Carlisle’s serious tone made Roelia’s gaze shift. He gathered his documents, turned them face down, and held out a single sheet of paper in front of Roelia.

“Take a look at this first.”

The ornate border at the top of the page caught Roelia’s eye. She followed the gold foil embossed on the paper downward and her eyes went wide at the words written at the very top.

｢Marriage Contract｣

Roelia could not open her mouth. She did not anticipate this document in the slightest. The only words she managed to get out were a reading of what was written at the very top of the contract.

“A marriage contract.”

“Ah, I should introduce myself again first. My name is Carlisle Astrux.”

“Carlisle Astrux, you mean…….”

“Whatever you’re thinking is probably right.”

“Why would the emperor of an empire come all the way to Wintergrass?”

Roelia’s brow furrowed. She could understand a high-ranking noble coming to Wintergrass in secret. But an emperor.

“Didn’t you already suspect as much?”

“So it was true that you cannot properly use the divine beast’s power.”

Her hands tensed on their own. Feeling the sweat that soaked through her clenched fist, Roelia carefully opened it.

‘I need to think carefully.’

The fact that the emperor came personally all the way into the Wintergrass Empire was enough to conclude that whatever happened to the Astrux divine beast was serious.

‘If it hadn’t been me, he might have sought Silena’s help.’

The one saving grace was that Silena and Carlisle did not meet. If he encountered Silena before her, Roelia judged, he would not have helped her to this extent.

The thought that she might have walked into her own death crossed her mind, and cold sweat ran down Roelia’s back. Carlisle noticed her wavering eyes and let out a quiet laugh.

“It looks like you’ve made up your mind.”

“I would like to ask why you have placed this before me.”

“No need for formality. I know you are also a member of the Wintergrass imperial family.”

“…….”

Unable to hide her tension, Roelia tried to stay composed. She curled her fingers into a fist to hide how cold her fingertips went, but there was nothing she could do about the faint trembling at their ends.

‘Has he realized that I am the former Crown Prince?’

A ruler must respond with flexibility in any situation.

Without the statecraft she studied all these years, she would not have been able to hide her flustered state in front of Carlisle. The fingertips of Roelia, feigning composure, grew cold.

“Without being a member of the imperial family, you could not have used the Eternal Flame.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Roelia grasp Carlisle’s true meaning. He knew she was a member of the Wintergrass imperial family, but he did not seem certain she was the former Crown Prince.

“A member of the imperial family with succession rights would be able to handle the divine beast, and so deserves to be treated with respect.”

That was what Carlisle was saying, that she need not bother speaking formally to him, an emperor. Roelia noticed that Carlisle was being quite generous with her.

“Why are you going this far?”

“Sign this document and I’ll tell you.”

Carlisle tilted his chin toward the marriage contract and waited for Roelia’s answer. Roelia stared at the marriage contract placed before her, blinked, and slowly read through it.

There was nothing particularly unusual about the contents.

A document for people getting married, common as could be.

But if a false name were entered on that document, it would no longer be common at all.

“The place I rule is not without its enemies.”

Roelia hesitated, and Carlisle continued.

“Even if you go as my escort mage, I cannot protect you. I cannot be at your side every hour of the day.”

“Protect. Me?”

“Yes. So this is the only way.”

“Marriage, of all things.”

Roelia toyed with the bottom edge of the document and tilted her head slightly downward. She was glad Carlisle could not see her expression. Because if she went to the Astrux Empire and was introduced to the emperor, Roelia planned to make the very same proposal herself.

For imperial families, marriage was entirely a means to an end. What imperial family married for love? Her betrothal to Russell was a political union, not something born of any genuine feeling for him.

It was simply a matter of accepting the late emperor’s proposal, who believed that Russell’s military strength combined with her own magic would be enough to protect Wintergrass.

‘And to think I would be betrayed like this.’

She felt nothing for him, so it did not hurt.

‘I’ll have to make him pay far more than what he put me through.’

With that thought, Roelia looked into Carlisle’s black eyes.

“It seems you’ve made your decision.”

“A pen.”

There was no need for a long speech.

Signing this document would mean living as Carlisle’s wife for as long as she remained in the Astrux Empire.

But that too would only be for a time.

Roelia’s hand moved with fl*id grace and wrote a name. Not her real name, but the name Eli Wintergrass, and she completed her signature beside it. She had to cut away part of her name, but it did not matter. What more could one ask of a marriage that was nothing but a facade?

“A good choice.”

Roelia paused at the low resonance of Carlisle’s voice. But nothing changed. Roelia had to return to the Wintergrass Empire and claim the imperial crown regardless. As the rightful heir who received the divine beast’s blessing, the Wintergrass throne was hers.

Carlisle was watching her the way a lion savors the moment its prey falls into its grasp, and Roelia’s eyebrow rose slightly.

Seeing the satisfaction written all over his face, she wondered whether she did something she would regret. She pushed the thought that briefly flashed through her mind away and opened her mouth.

“Then I suppose I can now ask about the situation in Astrux?”

“Of course.”

Carlisle wrote his own name right beside where Roelia signed and placed the marriage contract in a drawer. He locked the drawer carefully and looked at Roelia.

“Wintergrass’s situation is complicated, and Astrux’s is no different.”

“I already know that…….”

“My divine beast has been cursed and cannot use its power properly.”

“Cursed.”

“Quite a familiar word, isn’t it?”

The mockery in Carlisle’s expression vanished from Roelia’s face as well.

‘This is an entirely different matter from treason. To think another empire’s help was involved.’

Perhaps what happened to the divine beast in Astrux could become a clue.

After the Eternal Flame manifested, Roelia called upon the divine beast time and again, but she was not able to use its power properly. Of course, the divine beast did not answer her calls either. It was frustrating, but she waited. The divine beast always passed its power to the imperial family member who held succession rights.

“I am certain of it. The Wintergrass imperial palace is connected to what happened to the Astrux divine beast.”

At Carlisle’s final words, Roelia clenched her fist tight.