“If that weren’t the case, why haven’t you thrown away that ring I placed on your finger that night you spent your last evening with the Zahar emperors?”

“That’s…”

The night before returning to Kant.

Ruby, William, and Lucas spent one last night together. The two men didn’t embrace her, weakened to the point of frailty. 

However, the three of them spent the night together in the same bedroom. Ruby had to sit with her back against the headboard, listening to their stories. 

She didn’t want to think about why she had to do that. She only prayed for that night to pass quickly. William and Lucas settled on either side of her bed, sitting at the edges, and told her many stories.

“When we were young, we visited Kant once, Ruby.”

“…”

“Back then, Kant and Zahar were friendly brother nations. I remember your father Roy welcoming us warmly when we went to Kant. And I remember you being born amid everyone’s blessings.”

This was the first time she’d heard they had visited Kant when she was born. It was quite a surprising story, so she reacted without realizing it, and William didn’t miss her reaction.

“You were so small, pale, truly innocent and pure—that kind of baby. Right, Lucas?”

“We were innocent and kind back then too.”

William laughed and responded to Lucas’s words.

“We weren’t kind. Even then, I was mischievous, and you were cunning beyond your years.”

The sound of the two of them giggling wasn’t bad somehow. In fact, it was the first time she’d seen them converse so comfortably. They looked good laughing and chatting so easily.

“But the friendly relationship between our nations didn’t last long. Truth is, our father was greedy. About everything.”

“…”

“The year Ruby turned twelve, and the year we turned twenty, war broke out, and Kant was defeated. Ruby and Tommy were dragged here as hostages.”

Terrible memories surfaced. Her father couldn’t protect her and Tommy, and Ruby couldn’t forget the humiliation she suffered after being dragged to the foreign land of Zahar.

“Actually, we didn’t care much about you being brought as a hostage back then. Too much had happened to me and Lucas to remember that infant princess from twelve years ago.”

“…”

“It wasn’t until seven more years passed that we remembered the princess and prince of Kant. Actually, it would be more accurate to say we’d completely forgotten about you two until then.”

William rested his head on Ruby’s lap. He subtly changed position with his back to her, not facing her. Ruby simply stared quietly at William’s back. The interrupted story continued.

“Seeing you again brought back those memories. That small, innocent and pure princess from back then had grown quite a bit and appeared before us again. It was entertaining. Watching you break down for us, watching you crumble for us.”

“…”

Clench.

Ruby squeezed her fist tight and closed her eyes. She thought she had no more tears left to shed, but without realizing it, tears flowed down.

“But…”

“…”

“But now I don’t want to see you breaking down anymore.”

William slowly raised his upper body to face her. Seeing Ruby sitting with her eyes tightly shut, he smiled bitterly. Lucas also sat silently with his eyes closed. 

Everything had gone wrong. Or perhaps they themselves were the ones who were wrong. That’s what Lucas was thinking.

“That’s why we’re letting you go. So you won’t break down anymore.”

“…”

“Don’t break down. Not anymore. Not for anyone.”

“…”

“I like you. Though the process of coming to like you was wrong, there’s no doubt I like you.”

Ruby laughed.

Not because the words about coming to like her were funny, but because he had fallen for it exactly as she’d intended—that’s what was funny.

“You must resent us. I know. But still, I like you, Ruby. From now on, I’ll only have you in my heart.”

Lucas opened his eyes. He knew William’s gaze looking at Ruby with desperate eyes held not a shred of falsehood—it was sincere. Though Ruby would never believe it, at least the person saying it was sincere.

“I’m sorry. Sorry isn’t enough, but I’m sorry, so sorry.”

William shed tears.

But Ruby didn’t see his tears. William wiped away his tears and chuckled. Then he stole a quick kiss from Ruby’s tightly closed lips. Ruby opened her eyes. William smiled and pressed a ring into her hand.

“It’s a final gift. I don’t think you’ll like it much, but I wanted to give it to you.”

“…”

Ruby narrowed her brow seeing what was pressed into her hand was a ring. A ring—she couldn’t understand what he was thinking giving her such a thing.

When she threw it away, William just laughed emptily.

“Yeah… I thought you wouldn’t want to accept it. I understand.”

With those final words, William left first. Lucas simply stayed by her side silently. Ruby closed her eyes again and tried to forget his presence. Then, when she dozed off for a moment.

He laid her body down properly and whispered softly.

“I love you, Ruby.”

“…”

“But if that’s painful for you, I’ll give it up. So goodbye, Ruby.”

Those last words she heard from him pressed heavily on her chest. And it wouldn’t fade easily.

That night, Ruby spent her last night with them and returned to Kant. And bringing the ring she had thrown away was something she still couldn’t understand.

“I…”

“Your Majesty, if those two truly don’t have a place in your heart, throw them out of this palace whether torrential rain pours or floods come. If they’re people you don’t want to see anymore, why are you accommodating them?”

“But… the ministers…”

“No matter how much the ministers submit petitions and force you, if Your Majesty doesn’t want to, you don’t have to do it. It’s not difficult. So Your Majesty, this decision depends on your heart.”

Ruby pressed her index finger firmly against her temple, throbbing with a headache.

“I don’t know… I don’t even know what I want to do anymore. I’m definitely still angry at those two. But deep in my heart, I want them. Maddeningly so…”

“I’m not saying to suppress that anger and accept them, Your Majesty. You may hate them. Those two certainly committed terrible wrongs against Your Majesty. That remains as a wound on Your Majesty that will never be erased. Show them that wound. And let them heal you. Those two won’t be able to ignore it.”

“…”

“Your Majesty, this old woman has learned something from experiencing many people.”

Ruby met the nanny’s gaze.

“Humans are difficult to change. No, there are more people in this world who don’t change.”

“…”

“But there are certainly people who do change. Those two seemed to have clearly changed. I don’t think they’ll hurt Your Majesty anymore.”

Ruby could also feel their change, like the nanny said. Those who had always only thought of themselves now showed consideration for her and watched her reactions. 

She had thought she’d never see such behavior from them. Now that she faced them like this, the awkward feeling wouldn’t fade.

“I don’t know. I…”

“Please don’t think too complicatedly. Sometimes the more you hesitate, the more you lose.”

The nanny patted her shoulder and left to give her time to think alone. Ruby sat on the imperial throne for a long while, agonizing.

Thanks to the rainy season, William and Lucas could stay in Kant for about a week. They didn’t waste that time. They secretly met with Kant’s ministers and tempted them. 

Zahar’s powerful military force and vast land, though not as fertile as Kant’s. If the state marriage was accomplished, Ruby could instantly grasp control of the global trade she was dreaming of.

Moreover, there was one more decisive reason that made even the ministers hostile to Zahar completely change their minds. 

If this state marriage was accomplished, they added the condition that the two would no longer be Zahar’s emperors but would settle into positions as Ruby’s consorts.

It was an incomprehensible condition, but William and Lucas said they wanted Ruby that much.

“The nobles and ministers of Zahar wouldn’t have stayed quiet.”

“Ah, that’s why we wasted three years. To create a reason why they must serve Kant’s empress.”

When Kant opened diplomatic relations, Zahar initially sold sugarcane—which didn’t grow in Kant but was widely used—to Kant at high prices. 

It was a crop that didn’t grow well even in Zahar’s barren mainland, but in the new lands gained through war, expanding territory, and increasing colonies, sugarcane cultivation was quite easy. 

Deceiving everyone’s eyes, they slowly prepared. They raised the price of sugarcane day by day. And he bought slaves to throw them into plantation agriculture, and fervently increased sugarcane cultivation to increase sugarcane exports. 

But when sugarcane prices soared to the point where Kant could no longer afford it, they stopped importing. And Kant turned its eyes to a country far from them but selling relatively cheap sugarcane. 

William wanted that.

The sugarcane cultivation they’d increased like mad began to rot instantly. Sugarcane cultivation that had poured out national finances to the point of strain. 

Even selling at reduced prices, the situation reached a point where they couldn’t even recover the principal of the poured investment.

Sugarcane cultivation wasn’t just Zahar—Zahar’s nobles and ministers also invested considerable amounts by buying slaves or purchasing land suitable for sugarcane cultivation. 

William had been hoping for that, and eventually, not invasion, civil war, or rebellion, but merely the insignificant plant called sugarcane began to shake the solid Zahar.

Finally, Zahar’s nobles and ministers put everything down in the face of emptied national coffers and fortunes, and decided to follow the emperor’s will.

“However, there’s talk that Zahar’s treasury has hit rock bottom.”

Someone seemed to have heard that news.

William pulled out another document he’d been hiding. It was about the national coffers he’d been secretly siphoning off bit by bit, and a new national enterprise to jump into global trade.

William hadn’t completely cut off Zahar’s lifeline. It was a contingency plan. His script was perfect, but he had to keep the “what if” in mind.

“There’s no land better than Zahar for cultivating cotton.”