“What happened? Why did they fall?”

“It seems there was some kind of struggle up there.”

“I think she said something about Hebeta when she fell…”

People suddenly remembered the scene of someone covering the woman’s mouth and dragging her inside, and they flinched.

“Hmm. It would be better to have her examined by imperial physicians. That lady is an important witness, so we cannot let her leave the imperial palace.”

“But Your Highness…”

Constantine stood quietly, lowering his gaze somewhere.

The Princess followed his gaze and saw something.

Something metallic gleaming on the floor.

People quickly realized it was what had fallen from the woman’s hand earlier.

“…Isn’t that a shoulder ornament?”

A shoulder ornament with the imperial family’s crest clearly decorated on it.

How did the Prince’s shoulder ornament end up in the woman’s hand?

Naturally, people imagined a scene where the woman had grabbed something while resisting, and the shoulder ornament had come off during the struggle.

“Surely not by force…”

“Shh!”

Though everyone turned pale imagining similar scenes, they hadn’t forgotten where they were, as someone quickly stopped the speculation.

“That lady is under my responsibility. In this situation, I think there are too many concerning factors to entrust her safety to the imperial family.”

The Princess couldn’t respond to Constantine’s almost cynical words.

A great silence began to descend on the massive banquet hall where the music had already stopped.

* * *

The banquet ended in a chilly atmosphere, and the imperial capital was in an uproar.

“I heard someone died at the imperial banquet?”

“No, I heard the Prince is gravely ill…”

“From what I heard, the Prince forcibly tried to…”

And various speculations and rumors ran rampant.

However, as time passed, one rumor began to solidify:

[Unable to contain his impatience to become Crown Prince, the Prince tried to forcibly impregnate an Oathkeeper by violating her!]

This rumor soon led to controversy over the Prince’s qualifications, not only arousing people’s anger but also causing sighs of concern for the empire’s future to leak out from everywhere.

“The Southern Alliance that wouldn’t dare move during the previous reign is now acting up, isn’t it? Our empire has become too lenient!”

“That’s not all! Haven’t demonic beasts been particularly rampant lately?”

“The weather’s been strange too. There are too many weather anomalies… it’s ominous.”

“What if the northern barbarians invade next?”

The empire’s citizens began to tremble with anxiety.

And as if words had become seeds, the barbarians really did invade.

Duke Aberdeen hurriedly returned to the Northwestern Territory upon news that they had invaded through the western desert.

The country was in complete chaos, both internally and externally.

In the midst of this turbulent situation, Saena and Constantine were currently heading to the imperial palace.

Darielle was also in the carriage behind them.

In the end, Darielle didn’t stay at the imperial palace. She was brought along to enter the palace together whenever investigation was needed as a witness to the incident.

Due to the publicly known situation, even the Princess couldn’t insist until the end.

“Is the Prince alright?”

“He just fainted briefly then. There’s nothing wrong with him.”

She wasn’t sure whether to be happy or unhappy about that.

“But he must be very indignant.”

Given his not-so-good personality that they already knew about, that seemed likely.

Is Elizabeth bearing the brunt of his anger now?

Even now, Saena couldn’t understand why Elizabeth had become Hebeta.

‘Even though she’s the third daughter, the Valdez family is still a central noble family, so why…’

She equally couldn’t understand why Count Valdez had allowed it.

“What about Hebeta?”

And beyond this incomprehension, what terrified her more was the combination of Prince Gillian and Elizabeth.

“At the banquet, did the Hebeta make any movements?”

“No, the Hebeta wasn’t involved in the incident’s timeline at all.”

I don’t think I saw her in the hall either? That attention-seeking girl left early? In some ways, that was more suspicious.

Just enough to be suspicious like this—truly the worst combination.

If His Majesty the Emperor passes away and those two somehow become Emperor and Empress…

A sigh of what might have been either lamentation or frustration burst forth from deep in her chest.

‘Wait… let me try to remember.’

The Prince. The succession. Ascension to Crown Prince. Hebeta’s promotion to Crown Princess.

‘…I can’t remember.’

No matter how much she tried to recall her past life, she had no memory of hearing news that the Prince had inherited the Covenant.

Though she had been too busy managing her own life to keep her antenna up for national affairs, even so, such a major matter would have been harder not to know about.

‘Come to think of it, there was a regency period without an Emperor.’

She remembered that the Emperor had already passed away, but the throne remained empty for quite a long time.

It felt like a duchy without a duke or a county without a count, making everyone feel unstable and anxious.

This meant that even after a long time from now, the Prince would not be able to prove his qualification.

‘But now there’s the variable of Elizabeth that wasn’t there before.’

Unlike before, could she become the variable that completes the Prince’s covenant?

‘Hmm.’

Saena felt a huge irony here.

If Elizabeth becomes a successful variable, the Prince would succeed in the succession and become Crown Prince, and then the covenant protecting the empire would be valid.

But if the Prince and Elizabeth become Emperor and Empress, would the empire’s management really be okay? This worry naturally followed.

‘Can a country fall even with the Guardian Spirit’s protection?’

It was no exaggeration to say their combination was truly horrifying enough to cause such worry.

‘If only His Majesty the Emperor could hold on longer.’

Otherwise, the northern barbarians…

‘Wait, the northern barbarians?’

If her memory was correct, shortly after the Emperor’s passing, the northern barbarians had invaded. And starting with that, wars began to occur continuously in the empire.

People had said that misfortune began to befall the empire as the Emperor passed away and the Prince failed to succeed.

‘No, if it’s the north… could it have already started?’

Are these barbarians invading the northwestern territory now the same barbarians?

But the Emperor still…

“…Saena?”

Seeing her suddenly pale face, Constantine called out to her strangely. Not even recognizing his concern for her, Saena was lost in thought.

‘Then… Constantine… will the Kramer territory also be engulfed in war?’

She tried to recall what the past war was like, but she couldn’t remember at all. She only had fragmentary memories of hearing that such things had happened.

If Elizabeth succeeds in getting pregnant, would there be no war?

Confusing assumptions and ironic cause-and-effect relationships began to jumble up Saena’s mind.

“Saena!”

“Ah.”

Having held her breath without realizing it, her breath burst out with her startled heart.

“What’s wrong?”

He was already kneeling on the carriage floor in front of Saena, looking up at her.

“Your Grace? Why… please get up.”

His anxiety was palpable, transmitted to her through his tightly gripped hand.

“Shall we return to the mansion?”

“…What?”

“If you’re not up for it, I can go alone.”

“Ah… that’s not it. I just had some random worries.”

Saena shook her head and helped him up. Seating him back beside her, she let out a small sigh.

‘War must not happen…’

The empire’s military power was mighty. Even so, it was better for wars not to occur if possible.

After all, wasn’t the empire already vast enough not to covet other countries?

“Has there been any contact from the Kramer territory?”

“What kind of contact?”

“Since they say the northern barbarians invaded through the northwestern territory, I’m wondering if the northeastern territory will be okay.”

“We’ve entered emergency surveillance mode now. If there’s even the slightest sign, we’ll be notified immediately.”

Is it still okay for now? She felt somewhat relieved.

“Why can’t the Prince succeed?”

“Hmm. I wonder.”

“It can’t be because of all those women. So there must be some other problem…”

“Each family’s Guardian Spirit has conditions they wanted at the time of the initial contract.”

In other words, is it like what Duke Aberdeen called an ‘obsession element’?

“That probably isn’t being fulfilled.”

“What could it be that…”

“I hear even the previous Emperor had quite a difficult time succeeding. Perhaps the imperial bloodline has become diluted in recent times… I don’t know what the problem is either. The imperial family wouldn’t share such issues.”

“Is that so.”

Wouldn’t it be better to share and seek advice?

The imperial family’s Guardian Spirit had power encompassing the entire empire. It wasn’t simply a matter of one clan.

‘Well, if they knew what the problem was, the Prince wouldn’t act so desperately.’

Anyone could see he was getting impatient.

Even setting aside the six previous Hebetas, the Prince was quite famous. There were rumors about the considerable number of women he had touched and discarded.

‘Should I ask Her Highness the Princess?’

No. Even though she was part of the imperial family, since the Princess couldn’t be a Crown Prince candidate, she was more likely not to know.

She felt somewhat sorry for some reason.