“Your Majesty the Emperor.”

Duke Emmett and Count Schultz recognized Reynard and bowed their heads.

Belatedly, the Hesta envoy also made a show of paying respects to Reynard.

“The number of bandits likely wasn’t limited to just those. There must have been others we couldn’t find.”

Though Reynard already suspected that the bandits who attacked Hesta’s soldiers at the border were, in fact, other soldiers from Hesta, he responded as if he had no idea.

“Surely there are still some of them lurking near the border. Don’t you think so?”

Faced with Reynard’s nonchalant question, the Hesta envoy looked at one another, unsure how to respond.

“I—I believe that may be the case,”

Daniel finally answered on behalf of the group.

Reynard smiled contentedly, seemingly satisfied with the response.

“Good. Then, for the sake of public order, it would be wise to station soldiers at the border. Don’t you agree?”

“Pardon?”

Only then did the delegation realize that Reynard had brought up this topic in order to justify deploying soldiers to the border.

But it was already too late to retract their words.

They had already admitted with their own mouths that bandits might still remain in the border region.

Furthermore, it was Reynard’s side, not theirs, who had witnessed the incident.

For the delegation to know too many details about the bandits would seem all the more suspicious.

If they spoke carelessly, they risked exposing the fact that Hesta had sent fake bandits.

If that happened, the situation would spiral into something far worse.

The question would arise: Why did they send fake bandits to attack Princess Ophelia’s procession?

And if one were to investigate further into the matter and uncover the truth that Evelyn was a fake Princess Ophelia… that would be the worst-case scenario Hesta feared.

And if war were to break out, Hesta would be forced to take full responsibility—that, too, was a major concern.

“…Y-yes, I agree as well. So from Hesta’s side, too, we will increase military presence to maintain border security…”

“But wouldn’t Hesta’s soldiers be limited in their ability to repel bandits?”

Reynard once again cut in on Daniel’s words.

Daniel, who believed he had given the best possible answer under the circumstances, could only be flustered.

“Why do you think so, Your Majesty?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Reynard shrugged once and elaborated.

“The knights who accompanied the Empress were hand-picked for their superior skills. Yet even they were defeated and killed by the bandits. The only survivor was the Empress, whom we rescued. Do you really think regular Hesta soldiers can protect the border?”

It was a blatant sneer, but Daniel and the other envoys could not readily object.

“It’s hard to believe the same soldiers who couldn’t protect the Empress are capable of securing the border.”

“Your Majesty, that’s going too far. Even so, to say such things in front of the Hesta envoy…”

At that moment, Duke Emmett stepped in to counter Reynard’s remarks.

Still, he didn’t stop observing the Hesta envoy.

Certainly, Reynard’s words were harsh.

He was openly belittling the military strength of another nation—if their roles were reversed, Duke Emmett would have stormed out in protest.

Yet strangely, the Hesta envoy remained silent, as if admitting Reynard was right.

That was unusual.

A diplomatic envoy represents their king and country.

And now, in a situation where their nation was being openly insulted, they had no rebuttal?

Unless they completely lacked pride or patriotism, this was incomprehensible.

“Well, I’m not wrong, am I?”

Reynard responded glibly to Duke Emmett’s words.

Then, as if understanding something, he folded his arms and nodded.

“Well, it must be a sore topic for Hesta, so I’ll leave it at that. I was just upset that the Empress had been in danger. I trust you understand how I feel.”

“We understand. We should have paid more attention to Her Majesty’s safety. If not for Your Majesty’s intervention, we don’t know what could have happened.”

Daniel replied with an awkward smile.

Reynard found Daniel’s shameless lying laughable, but as Duke Emmett had said, he had provoked them enough and chose not to press further.

“In any case, it’s clear we need to pay more attention to security.”

“Yes. We feel the same.”

Having finished his answer, Daniel glanced once toward Evelyn, then toward Reynard.

He had no idea what Reynard was really after.

It was hard to believe that in such a short amount of time, Evelyn had somehow bewitched Reynard as if by magic.

Even so, for him to sneer and get angry like that, there had to be another motive.

‘Was deploying troops his real goal?’

It was a plausible assumption.

Unlike Hesta, who wanted to end the war, Bait wished to continue it.

After all, it was Hesta who had initially provided the pretext, so Bait, who had both the justification and the power, likely felt no need to halt the war.

From Hesta’s side, it was hard to believe that Bait had agreed to a temporary truce in exchange for reparations.

Perhaps he had simply felt the need to regroup his troops and had paused the war temporarily.

Based on what he had heard and experienced here, Daniel concluded that he needed to return to Hesta and station troops at the border.

However, it was uncertain whether they would be able to stop Bait if he truly set his mind on conquering Hesta.

Above all, the two-year war had caused tremendous troop losses.

It had been a series of defeats, and the young men of the kingdom had fallen like target dummies.

In the end, all that remained were troops that only appeared formidable and the pain of repeated defeat.

It had all stemmed from the Hestan king’s greed—so who could they really blame?

In such circumstances, if Bait’s highly motivated army were to invade, they might not be able to hold them off even for a single week.

That was why Daniel had to do everything in his power not to provoke Reynard.

Some might think it was servile, but it was the only way Hesta could survive.

“His Imperial Majesty is absolutely right. Our forces failed to subdue the bandits and committed a grave offense against Her Majesty the Empress. In that regard, I would like to offer my apologies to Her Majesty on behalf of the soldiers.”

“You would?”

“Yes. If His Majesty had not rescued the Princess—that is, Her Majesty the Empress—just in time, things could have gone terribly wrong. His Majesty the King is also very worried that she might have been harmed. I wish to meet Her Majesty in person, ensure she is unharmed, and atone for failing to protect her.”

Daniel calmly explained his reasons.

Reynard looked Daniel up and down.

“You’re Daniel Bradley, yes?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Very well. Then I shall inform the Empress and ask her to make time to see you.”

Reynard granted permission without resistance.

Duke Emmett, unable to grasp what exactly was going on between the two, found the conversation suspicious and just listened quietly.

After the conversation ended, Reynard turned and slowly began to walk away.

Daniel let out a sigh of relief, glad to be done dealing with such a difficult person.

Observing him, Duke Emmett followed after Reynard.

“Your Imperial Majesty.”

“What is it?”

Only then did Reynard stop and turn to look at Duke Emmett.

“Her Majesty the Empress must be feeling lonely, being in a foreign land all by herself. What would you think of allowing my daughter to keep her company?”

“Your daughter?”

“Yes. Greta is of a similar age to Her Majesty and was originally educated as a crown princess, so I believe they would get along well.”

Reynard fell silent for a moment.

This time, Duke Emmett had revealed all his cards by trying to move things along quickly.

But was that really all there was? Reynard couldn’t be sure.

“I’ll ask the Empress and give you an answer. After all, it’s not my decision but hers.”

“Yes.”

Duke Emmett bowed his head toward Reynard as he finished speaking.

Reynard, who had been quietly observing the exchange, turned and resumed his walk toward the imperial throne.