It was because the content of a lesson from an old lady who visited the Holy Kingdom one day after the political marriage was decided came to mind.

“Soothe it with your mouth or your hands to make it as large and hard as possible, and *ntercourse will go smoothly. Even if it is small and you feel little, pretend it is overwhelming to boost your husband’s confidence, and even if it hurts, it is all a wife’s duty, so you must endure it.”

She received a one-day crash course called bride lessons from this woman, said to be a renowned etiquette teacher from a country in the Holy Alliance… and the content was quite shocking.

The lesson, conducted only with words and abstract pictures, honestly did not sink in well, but she barely grasped that it was some embarrassing act. After all, the part one senses during menstruation is attached to the place one urinates, isn’t it? To have to show a man a place she was ashamed even to think of…. It was enough to make her think the church did not forbid its priestesses from reproductive acts for nothing.

Even so, now it hit her with a jolt that the time to do such a thing was approaching.

With this man.

Did he say that with that act in mind?

He too must have received some kind of groom lessons while preparing for the political marriage…?

In that instant, what entered her view was the man’s relaxed smile. When their eyes met and Riella’s face turned even redder, the smile even deepened.

To anyone watching, he looked like he was waiting for some reaction from her.

‘L-Lessons, what lessons?’

Seeing such a smug attitude, only one thought came to her.

‘Surely he has a lot of experience, doesn’t he?’

With such a magnificent appearance, and a build that exuded masculinity even to her inexperienced eyes, and on top of that his high status, the chance of his having much experience was high.

No, surely it was so. Even more so judging by his attitude of constantly trying to bewitch her.

“What? Do you dislike it?”

“Huh?”

Startled by the sudden arrow, Riella’s voice cracked. The two priestesses posing as her maids snickered, but she had no time even to think it was fortunate Valencio could not follow this far.

It was not that she disliked being bewitched, it was not that she disliked him looking skilled….

“That I, your husband to be, visit my wife’s chambers…. That is what I mean.”

“T-That, there is no way I would dislike that.”

Perhaps deliberately making Riella flustered, Itanas raised one eyebrow with interest and kept grinning.

Riella tried hard to explain. It was not her place to dislike anything.

“I was taught that attending one’s husband at night is a wife’s duty. If I become Your Majesty’s wife, shouldn’t I gladly follow it?”

“If you become my wife, is it?”

The man’s voice repeating the words Riella spun rang somehow husky. Force gathered in their clasped hands. The thumb rubbing the back of her hand was hot. The slow, thick motion felt out her skin inside the silk glove, and every bone beneath it, one by one.

It was a gesture that seemed to engrave her answer, or to withhold a reply.

‘Isn’t that right? The peace negotiations haven’t happened yet…Ah, he would never sincerely welcome me in the first place.’

Tension rose in her in advance. Somehow it felt like her poor way with words had offended him.

Cold sweat from her palm soaked into the glove, and just when she began to worry he might notice her anguish…

“Since we have not yet held the wedding, it is too early to discuss it now?”

“Huh? Well….”

“So your likes and dislikes do not matter when it comes to duty?”

“N-Not to that extent….”

She did not mean that…. Bewildered by his persistent probing, Riella shrank her neck without meaning to, and in that moment,

“We behold the great will of the founder Bakiteus.”

A movement stirred at the entrance.

Women who came out of the side door beside the splendidly decorated main door bowed respectfully and lined up. Most wore the courtiers’ uniform, but the three at the front wore dresses, apparently noblewomen.

They seemed to be the Autumn Palace’s maids and housemaids in charge, who came out after being told by the courtiers who went ahead.

“Your Majesty. The Autumn Palace courtiers offer their greetings.”

The head of the household, silent all along, called to Itanas in a careful voice.

“They seem to have been busy with final preparations.”

He even added a note of their merit, seemingly pleading for leniency for their not coming out ahead of time to wait.

Come to think of it, the bearing of the women who came out to greet them was extremely respectful. It was more than simple courtesy toward a ruler. It was the frozen attitude of people determined not to be caught in even the slightest flaw.

Only then did Itanas cast his gaze toward them. His face had already returned to a ruler’s. His lifeless profile, like carved marble, formed sharp contours, and the playfulness with which he grinned while cornering the troubled Riella moments ago was bleached away without a trace.

“You have all worked hard.”

His flat voice was like a hard frost. The pressure from when he first appeared seemed faintly felt again.

Sure enough, the shoulders of the courtiers bowing crisply flinched and shrank.

“Devoting your utmost sincerity and heart to welcoming the royal house’s new family member.”

“…….”

His quiet tone was simply frigid. Each syllable of ‘the royal house’s new family member,’ stressed on purpose, pierced everyone’s lungs.

A silence that pressed on everyone like it had real weight dragged on for a long while.

“Yes, that is so.”

It was the head of the household who stepped forward. The experience of one who served Saranthum’s rulers for decades, since the previous king’s days, moved his tongue.

“What an honor it is for the daughters of Saranuman to be in charge of the Autumn Palace. To attend His Majesty’s bride, everyone has come to the palace without skipping a single day to decorate it, but since the work finished earlier than expected, they all seem unsatisfied and regretful.”

It was not that their sincerity was lacking, nor that they were deliberately voicing discontent. They were merely sorry the work was finished early. That kind of packaging rolled off the head of the household’s tongue.

In truth, there was not a single Saranthumian, especially among those who worked in the palace, who welcomed this political marriage.

“…….”

Itanas added nothing more. Meanwhile, the open displeasure he exuded was withdrawn before long.

It was truly the eloquence of a head of household who spent his whole life mediating between the ruler and the common people. Certain that the king would reprimand no further, the old gentleman quickly changed the situation.

“Allow me to introduce them to the saintess. This is Madam Otto, the manager of the Autumn Palace. She commands the maids and courtiers assigned to the Autumn Palace.”

The woman at the front, receiving the gaze, briefly bent her knees in greeting. She was a middle-aged noblewoman befitting the title ‘madam.’

“It is an honor to serve you. I am Zaila, wife of General Otto of the central army.”

“Next, these are the maids who will attend to the saintess’s daily life. They were carefully selected from among the young ladies of the twelve elder houses.”

“Hello, I am Senita of Raman.”

“I am Jana of Kalaun.”

“Pleased to meet you all. I’m Riella.”

As far as Riella knew, the three women’s greeting was somewhat different from the etiquette for members of the royal family, a kind of abbreviated greeting. Since the wedding had not yet taken place and Riella was merely a guest of the royal house, she thought it was fairly reasonable treatment.

In keeping with that simple courtesy, Riella also exchanged eye greetings with the three women in turn.

“Furthermore, from among the existing courtiers, we selected those with good work sense and skill at grooming, and they will attend the saintess from now on.”

“Please take care of me, everyone.”

After being introduced even to the housemaids, who looked like commoners, Riella felt her heart tremble in a very different sense from before.

She would have to live jostling among so many people. Worse, those who would wait on her were the noble daughters of an enemy nation…. Could she get along well with them without being exposed for her wretched situation in the Holy Kingdom?

‘We’re all people, after all. As we get to know each other gradually, somehow….’

Right beside where Riella agonized like that, Itanas’s golden eyes, sunk dark, surveyed the scene.

The women of the twelve elder houses, who could hardly be pleased with a saintess of the continent’s one god, and likewise the young courtiers, whose pride in their people was so strong that they volunteered to work in the palace.

“I trust you will take good care of her.”

Itanas spoke while appraising each of their faces, and every courtier could only bend at the waist once more in tension. The earlier pressure was no longer felt, but in Saranthum the ruler was someone who inspired awe on his own to begin with.