“It is simple. We cannot divorce because we were never properly married. At the time, our marriage was completed with nothing more than a single document. We never held a proper ceremony.”

“True, there was no wedding ceremony, but could you not have lived as husband and wife?”

“Call Eric’s maids in right now and ask them whether they ever witnessed us spending even a single night together. We have never lived as husband and wife.”

“Mmph! Mmph!”

Eric tried to say something but was held back by Zenus’s power and could not speak properly.

“Nothing happened on the wedding night either. I was far too young at the time for anything to occur.”

Zenus nodded and asked again.

“Then why did you let Eric and Lady Cherny stay in this house? When you came down here after the civil war ended, could you not have settled that relationship then?”

“I never thought Eric would return to his senses. Above all, watching him lose his mind after losing the person he loved, I felt pity.”

Leila’s gaze moved to the former Empress.

“The same goes for the former Empress. She was someone who looked after me first in an unfamiliar imperial palace. What I did in this civil war was not small. I could not simply turn my back on the two of them. It was my own form of atonement. It was also a way of honoring my late father’s wishes.”

The late Marquis Anderson had spared no effort in educating Leila from a young age so she could go to the imperial palace.

He had brought in renowned teachers from other empires and raised her well, and that was why the Leila of today existed.

“Father would be deeply saddened by this situation.”

After a long silence, Zenus spoke.

“Count Anderson, you brought the necessary documents?”

“Pardon? Yes, Your Majesty. Here they are.”

Will stepped forward, checked the documents, and presented them to Zenus along with a quill pen.

Zenus signed in full view of everyone, then removed his ring and pressed the seal.

“No, Zenus! This is my family matter. It is not yours to decide! I refuse to accept this!”

The former Empress rushed forward to tear the document, and Zenus said, “Aunt, please sit down. I have not finished speaking. Listen to everything first and speak after.”

She tried to move from where she sat, but it was no use.

“Zenus, you cannot do this.”

“Aunt, if you are worried about what comes next, I will arrange a place for you to live. You have no one else to rely on but me, so I have no choice but to take responsibility.”

“Ze, Zenus…… will you truly do that?”

“If you acknowledge this document, I will.”

“Mmph! Mmph!”

Eric tried to say he absolutely refused, but he was still suppressed by Zenus’s power and could not speak.

“With this, the marriage between the two parties is annulled.”

Will said that and handed the document to Count Anderson.

The count looked it over and passed it to Leila.

Leila ran her fingers over the document stating that the marriage between the two families was annulled, again and again, and then burst into tears.

“I feel a heaviness in my heart, as though I left to Lady Anderson what should have been my responsibility all this time.”

Zenus said quietly to the weeping Leila.

“I know how great your efforts have been. I will compensate you in whatever way I can, so tell me what you wish.”

Leila wiped her tears and spoke immediately.

“Trade in the territory’s goods has been difficult, and despite trying for the past three years, nothing has come of it. Beyond purchasing grain from our territory as military provisions, I would like the imperial household to purchase goods from our territory for its own use.”

“That would be difficult. We have the Arsen trading house.”

“The Arsen trading house’s monopoly is not beneficial in the long term. Having a second and third source of purchase would serve you better. We will establish a trading house in our territory, so please conduct business with us as well.”

“Our imperial household is still small, not yet at the point of needing a second or third source. Let us discuss that matter gradually.”

“Understood. I will draw up a proper official document and submit it.”

❀❀❀

“I will not let any of you off. If you intend to punish me, do not forget that Leila’s mother must also be punished!”

Eric was alone in his cell, shouting things no one was listening to.

“How did you manage to hold back all that talking for so long?”

A familiar voice reached him, and Eric wore a blank expression for a moment before crying out.

“Selina!”

The light of a candle beyond the bars revealed the figure of a beautiful woman.

“Is it really you, Selina? Something about you is…… different from before.”

“You can tell? People say even the air around me has changed. Of course things are different between then, when I was still so young, and now, three years later.”

Eric let out a short breath and said immediately, “You are living well in my place, are you not? You should have stopped Zenus! You are my friend!”

“Eric, someone I hold dear once told me this. A true friend is someone who only wishes the other well. I looked back on our relationship. There were good times and bad, but I never wished for you to be unhappy.”

“Th, that goes for me too. I never wished for you to be unhappy.”

“What about making me into a false villainess? Did you not think that contract would make me unhappy? The same goes for this matter. Spreading that strange nursery rhyme and gathering soldiers, was that really you wishing for my happiness?”

Eric could not answer.

Even when more and more people were shunning Selina, and even when the threat of a broken engagement loomed, he had thought only of his own interests.

He had been fixated on one thing alone, his engagement to Ingrid.

“I did think about it. Whether ending the civil war without meeting you, while keeping you alive, might one day lead to something like this.”

Eric was the son and heir of the former Emperor.

He was not someone who could have been left alive after the civil war, but Zenus had pitied him, foolish as he was, for losing his mind in grief over losing Ingrid. He had been an old friend.

“I hoped you would not make such a foolish choice. I hoped you and Leila would join forces and govern the Anderson territory with stability. If you had, I had in mind to grant you a separate territory and title.”

“That is a lie. There is no way. There is no way Zenus would have allowed that!”

“Do you still not understand? You are still a close relative of Zenus’s! Looking at the former Empress still being alive, does that tell you nothing?”

To Zenus, the former Empress and Eric were his aunt and cousin.

They were relatives on his mother’s side, who had passed away early, and that made the connection all the more precious.

“Admit your crimes and submit the evidence of the rebellion yourself. Stop thinking about using Leila’s mother as leverage and live quietly with Lady Cherny. That is the last advice I can give you as a friend.”

Selina turned her back and said, “Farewell, Eric.”

Watching her grow smaller in the distance, Eric could not say a single word.

❀❀❀

“I greet Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Leila…… Lady Anderson, come in, come in.”

“Thank you for such a warm welcome.”

“Leila, do not cry.”

Feeling the warmth from Selina’s hands, Leila wiped her flowing tears and looked her over carefully.

Selina’s belly was quite round now, the pregnancy clearly visible.

An air of happiness drifted around her.

“You have worked so hard alone all this time.”

“It is due to my own inadequacy that I have caused concern to both Your Majesties these past years. I have come to acknowledge my negligence in managing the territory and to ask for punishment.”

“Leila, you know well that neither Zenus nor I would ever punish you.”

“But……”

“I called you to the capital today to discuss what lies ahead with you. The execution of the former fourth imperial consort’s family has thrown the territory into considerable disorder, and there are even people leaving the Anderson territory.”

“It is all my fault and my lack of ability.”

“Someone who wishes to help you with the territory’s affairs will be joining us here today.”

The moment Selina finished speaking, a knock came at the door.

“Come in.”

“I greet Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Rise. Have you brought them?”

“Yes, please come in.”

Leila’s eyes went twice their usual size.

“I greet Your Majesty the Empress.”

“You may drop the formalities.”

“Mother…… and Lieutenant Fezel.”

Watching Leila unable to continue speaking, Selina said, “With these two by your side, there should be no problem managing the Anderson territory going forward, should there?”

Mateo took Leila’s hesitating hand and said, “Let us work at it together.”

“I will help from now on too.”

Watching Leila smile brightly while holding the hands of the two of them, Selina smiled beautifully.

❀❀❀

“Ready or not, here I come. Ready or not, here I come. I am going to count to a hundred now. One, two, three……”

Woken by the sounds of children playing, Pluto gently lowered the book covering his face and looked down toward the noise.

A small, round head wandered this way and that, thinking about where to hide, and a laugh escaped Pluto’s lips.

“Shh, shh.”

The little girl with her hair in two pigtails pressed her finger to her own lips, glancing around nervously in case the seeker found her.

“All right, shh.”

Angela stretched out her chubby arms wanting to be lifted up, and Pluto brought her up into the tree in an instant.

“Is coming up here not cheating, though? Heimdall will have a hard time finding you.”

“I wanna hide here.”

She said it in her lisping way and burrowed into Pluto’s arms. He could not bring himself to push her away.

Anyway, he can read your energy, so he already knows you are hiding here.

Heimdall was only five, but he already showed the makings of becoming this Empire’s sword master, carrying on the line of Philip and Zenus.

He was skilled at handling a sword as tall as himself and could read the sword energy of others.

Perhaps that was why.

“Hiding beside uncle again, how sneaky.”

He had easily grasped how to read the dragon’s energy, something only those with ability possessed.

And that was not all.

(“Uncle, if she was going to hide there, you should have stopped her. Trees are dangerous.”)

He had also picked up the dragon’s language with ease.

Whether it was innate talent or the result of growing up in an environment where two languages were spoken, it was hard to say.

Heimdall, who looked like a miniature copy of Zenus, spoke the dragon tongue fluently enough to lecture Pluto.

“You are talking about things I do not understand again! Shh!”

Angela burst into loud tears again.

“Your Highness!”

The sound of the nanny and ladies-in-waiting running to find where Angela was could be heard.

(“Can not even read a book in peace.”)

(“You could go to your own house and read.”)

(“My home is where my contractor is. This is my home.”)

(“Hmph, you could go to the Fezel marquisate. Do you think I do not know about you and Aunt Valerie?”)

Hearing Valerie’s name in the dragon tongue made Pluto’s face feel strangely hotter than it should have.

(“We are still getting to know each other.”)

(“There is nothing you cannot say to a child, Pluto. If that is how it is, go to your own house.”)

“Y, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Selina appeared with her ladies-in-waiting before anyone noticed and joined in.

“Heimdall, Angela. I have told you that playing is fine, but you must not neglect your studies. Is this not lesson time right now?”

“It was part of the lesson. Hide-and-seek, which gives form to the art of hiding from enemies and finding them, is……”

“Son, where on earth did you read something like that?”

Heimdall loved swords and books.

His level of knowledge and behavior, so different from other five-year-olds, sometimes worried Selina.

“If you keep neglecting your studies like this, the trip to Justia this summer will be cancelled.”

“Mother, that is…… hmm, is that not too harsh on both me and Angela, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Heimdall now made a deliberate effort to call Selina Your Majesty the Empress whenever anyone outside the family was present.

“Rather than protesting to me, would it not be right to return to your lesson now?”

“I will go, I will go right now.”

Heimdall moved his short legs and disappeared in a flash.

“Go and make sure he goes to his lesson properly.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”

One of the attendants chased after his rapidly disappearing figure.

“He really is my son, but I cannot tell what he is thinking lately.”

“Mama, I wanna go to Justia. I wanna see Grandpa.”

Saying that, Angela clutched the hem of Selina’s dress, and Selina patted the back of her little hand and said, “If Angela eats well without crying like her brother and listens to her teacher, Uncle Pluto will take us.”

“Uncle, will you take Angela?”

“Yes, yes.”

Looking at Angela blinking her adorable eyes, a smile rose naturally on Pluto’s face too.

❀❀❀

“Do you think this makes any sense?”

Zenus narrowed his eyes sharply and threw the scroll in front of him.

“Heimdall is only five. He is not at an age to understand what is needed to govern an empire!”

“Your Majesty, these are the wishes of the Empire’s nobles. The Sepaia Empire is currently falling behind other empires in producing an heir. In times like these, designating the imperial prince as Crown Prince to solidify the line of succession would be……”

“Do not say it is the wish of all the nobles. Those who oppose that view are also present here.”

Count Arsen could not hide his displeasure and interjected.

“I understand well that the imperial family cannot be the same as ordinary noble families, as they are the ones who must lead the Empire. But both His Highness the imperial prince and Her Highness the imperial princess have not yet reached ten years of age. This is too much……”

“That is precisely why we are asking you to also consider the descendants of the former Emperor, who are now of age. The position of heir has been vacant for nearly ten years. This is a matter that shakes the Empire’s foundations.”

“To think there are still those saying such things. It seems the matter of the fourth imperial consort’s family has already been forgotten. Then again, much time has passed. They say humans are creatures of forgetfulness.”

“Y, Young Marquis Fezel. Where do you think you are, raising your voice like that?”

Other nobles who had been struck at their core flared up and cried out.

“Agreed. The young marquis would do well to show some restraint.”

But Valerie replied with composure.

“Does looking at me not give any of you pause? We do not yet know how Her Highness the imperial princess will grow, and yet you wish to designate an heir already. For the sake of a proper judgment, please wait a little longer.”

Normally, after such sharp words were exchanged, the matter would be carried over with a suggestion to reconvene later.

But today, the nobles showed no sign of backing down.

“How much longer must we wait?”

“How do you intend to get through next month’s event for heirs?”

“You are not planning to be the only ones from the Sepaia Empire not sending an heir, are you?”

The event for heirs.

It was a ceremony commemorating the ninth anniversary of the continental peace treaty.

And the one responsible for having heirs step forward at this ninth anniversary ceremony was none other than Zenus himself.

❀❀❀

“Zenus, come have another drink.”

Sepaia, Autumn, and Furon had concluded a peace treaty after Zenus ascended to the throne.

To ensure that treaty did not remain mere paper, they held frequent meetings, both official and unofficial.

On the night of the eighth anniversary peace ceremony, the emperors of each nation stayed late, clinking glasses and sharing personal conversations.

“Too many children is a problem, too few is also a problem.”

The Furon Emperor brought up the topic of children, and the Autumn Emperor nodded in agreement.

“When there are many, you cannot show favor to just one among them, and when there are few, there are not enough talented people to entrust the empire to with peace of mind.”

“I only have two still, so I have less to say, but both of mine are outstanding.”

“But truly, only two? Are there not more talented ones hidden away somewhere?”

The Autumn Emperor slapped Zenus on the shoulder repeatedly.

“You know my Empress is beautiful and capable, and you ask something like that? I trust you are not looking for a fight on such a fine occasion.”

“Come now, why do your eyes go sharp like that again, Zenus. We all gathered here on good terms, did we not.”

“No, but honestly, it does not add up. You have two children, and surely one has a weakness and the other a strength? The makings of an heir are plain to see at a glance.”

“Each has their own strengths, so it is hard to choose just one.”

“An Empress who creates policies that even Autumn and Furon follow, and heirs with so many strengths on top of that. Frankly, it is hard to believe.”

The Autumn Emperor even shook his head, and Zenus said, “Come visit Sepaia when you get the chance. Once you see our imperial prince and princess, you will understand why I say this.”

“How about arranging a gathering where we all meet together? Officially.”

“Would it not be dangerous for the imperial couples and their heirs to gather in one place? Those who wish for the continent’s downfall exist everywhere.”

Zenus nodded at those words.

“Would it not be better to avoid such risks?”

“Then let us do this. We hold an event where only the heirs of each empire gather. Perhaps there I will see a new side of my children.”