She couldn’t flee while leaving Arsen in those flames. Lydia held back tears that threatened to burst forth at any moment.

“Raphael!”

Prince Raphael escaped from the fire with escort knights and several nobles. Covered in soot, he was nearly fainting as he fell into Rozena’s arms and rambled incoherently.

“Mother, my brother, Father, Father.”

“What are you saying?”

Giselle, who was near Rozena, pressed Raphael. Rozena glared at Giselle and pulled her tall son closer into her embrace.

“Prince Michael tried to, assassinate His Majesty.”

The answer came from someone else who had returned with them.

“My Michael would never do such a thing!”

“We all saw it.”

Raphael broke free from Rozena’s arms and instead hid her behind his back as he shouted.

“My brother, no, Prince Michael shot an arrow at His Majesty.”

“Then is His Majesty dead, Raphael?”

To Rozena’s question, Raphael shook his head. A silence fell over the hunting grounds where screams had been rampant.

What exactly was happening? Lydia bit her lips repeatedly. Would Arsen be alright?

She thought she should send out John’s family and Baron Brastelma’s family before getting deeply involved in this situation. Just as Lydia was about to persuade them to leave the imperial palace without her, a voice calling for the emperor tore through the air like a scream.

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the flames. Two horses struggled through the thick smoke, galloping toward them. Richard was on the leading horse, and Michael was on the horse following at a distance.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”

Before reaching them, Richard staggered and fell from his horse. Rozena covered her mouth, unable even to scream. Several people began running toward Richard.

But Michael was a bit faster. After confirming the gazes directed at him, he drew his sword. Richard looked up at his son while coughing dryly.

He had resented that face for resembling Giselle so much, but now he saw that it chillingly resembled himself.

“……Michael.”

“I’ve been thinking on my way here, and I suppose I wanted your approval after all.”

Michael wasn’t smiling anymore.

“Wouldn’t seizing the throne in your way be the path to gaining your recognition?”

It was impossible to tell if this was a joke or not.

“Mother would be happy too.”

Whether he meant she would be happy about him becoming emperor, or happy about her detestable husband dying, was unclear.

“I’m happy too. Anyway, when I become emperor, this insufferable situation will end. In any case, rest in peace, Father.”

Michael’s sword slashed diagonally. Those who had approached closely froze in place as they watched the emperor collapse like a puppet with cut strings.

Michael approached the audience step by step, running his hand through his hair. Giselle remained frozen in place, merely staring at her approaching son.

“Mother.”

“Michael……”

From the tip of Michael’s sword, the blood of Richard, now the late emperor, dripped steadily. Everyone present—from nobles participating in the competition to servants and attendants—couldn’t move a muscle.

The imperial knights, who had lined up by now, pointed their swords at Michael. They had apparently judged him a criminal for assassinating the emperor.

Despite the numerous sword tips aimed at him, Michael remained largely unfazed.

“Lower, lower your swords.”

“Your Majesty the Empress!”

“Now that the emperor has passed away, you have a duty to follow my orders, don’t you? Lower your swords.”

An irreversible act. Hiding her trembling hands in clenched fists and swallowing her tears, Giselle chose to protect her son.

Lydia gritted her teeth, thinking this was just like Giselle. The situation was taking a bizarre turn. They needed to get out of here quickly. But how could she leave without Arsen?

“Sister, over there.”

Just then, John tapped Lydia’s shoulder and whispered. From the opposite side of where everyone’s attention was focused, Arsen was quietly approaching.

“Let’s go.”

Lydia discreetly gestured only to John’s and Baron Brastelma’s family. They moved away from the commotion, backing away silently without making a sound.

“Arsen, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Only after reaching where the carriage was waiting could Lydia check on Arsen’s well-being.

“I’m fine.”

Arsen kissed Lydia’s forehead and around her eyes as she sniffled. He felt like his life had been shortened by ten years from worrying whether Lydia was safe on his way here.

“We need to get out of here quickly.”

They needed to escape before this chaos settled and observe the situation from afar. Lydia’s gaze turned toward Count Bergman.

“What will you do, Count?”

“I’ll leave the palace.”

Despite his somber expression, the count was thinking hard. If Michael ascended to the throne, he probably wouldn’t let him live.

“Let’s hurry.”

They quickly boarded the carriage. Just as Arsen was about to close the carriage door after helping Bergman in, a small white hand suddenly thr*st through the gap.

“Please save me, Your Highness.”

“Your Highness?”

It was Princess Gabriel. The princess pointed somewhere with her tiny hand. Rozena was running toward them with Raphael supporting her, having escaped at some point.

Although Lydia didn’t want to get involved in another succession dispute, she simply couldn’t leave a five-year-old child behind.

In the end, they hurriedly returned home with Rozena and Raphael in the grand duke’s carriage.

* * *

“A grand duchy?”

“Now is our only chance.”

The imperial palace was in chaos. Unable to make Michael a traitor, Giselle used her position as empress to control the imperial knights and placed Michael on the throne. However, those who had witnessed Richard’s assassination were unlikely to truly follow Michael.

Meanwhile, Rozena and Count Bergman, who had escaped the capital with Lydia’s help, joined forces. Rozena had fled in such a hurry at the hunting grounds, fearing Michael might k*ll her, that she pretended to twist her ankle and had the young princess stop a carriage. It proved to be a wise decision in the end.

Giselle and Michael had first tried to capture and k*ll Raphael. Count Bergman, as Richard’s confidant who had helped make Rozena empress according to his wishes, would have been a dead man if he had remained in the capital.

In any case, they joined forces and attempted a rebellion with the backing of the temple faction. Quite a few nobles sided with Raphael. The fighting dragged on, but Raphael eventually gained the upper hand.

On the day the outcome was decided, Michael set fire to the imperial palace. It was reported that Giselle entered the burning emperor’s palace to rescue Michael but never came out.

The capital was in ruins due to the battle, and the imperial palace due to the fire. It would be difficult for Rozena and now fifteen-year-old Raphael to rebuild.

Arsen wanted to use this opportunity to declare independence from the empire.

“They owe us their lives. If we show goodwill in rebuilding the imperial palace and declare independence as a grand duchy, they won’t be able to stop us.”

They might not welcome it, but they couldn’t oppose it either. They didn’t have the luxury to gather troops and pressure them right now.

“We can’t hide the mana stone mine forever.”

The mana stones had made the grand duchy wealthy, but they could also make it vulnerable. Arsen wanted to establish a safe method before passing the grand duchy to Ian.

He hadn’t expected such an opportunity to arise.

“I agree.”

Though it would cause another round of headaches, this was the right time to loosen their ties with the empire. For Ian and Idis. Giselle must have felt the same way.

Lydia thought of Richard and Giselle, who died at their son’s hands. Praying for their souls, she let go of the small pieces of resentment that remained within her.

However, there were those whose resentment grew by the day.

“Your Highness, you cannot do this.”

“This is betrayal!”

It was Luzan and Kedrick. Lydia looked curiously at the two who had suddenly burst into her office, fuming.

“What’s the matter?”

“You’re declaring independence and then going on vacation?”

Vacation? What vacation? This was news to Lydia as well.

“If we become an independent grand duchy, things will surely be busy, and then my wife won’t even look at me, so I need to receive lots of love beforehand.”

But still, a vacation at a time like this?

“I’ve already packed everything.”

“When did you even do that!”

Lydia protested that now wasn’t the time, but Arsen was adamant. Even Lydia couldn’t stop Arsen when he was like this.

“What about the children? Do they know we’re traveling?”

“We’re not taking the children.”

“Why not?”

Arsen, who had become about ten times more shameless since getting married, answered quite shamelessly.

“When I explained we were going to make them a sibling, they said they didn’t want to come.”

* * *

“The scenery here is still beautiful.”

After fretting the entire journey about whether this was appropriate, Lydia completely forgot her worries once they arrived at the small, charming villa overlooking the sea where they had spent their honeymoon.

“The hammock is still here too.”

“You liked it so much that I had a new one installed.”

Arsen subtly wrapped his arm around Lydia’s waist. Lydia blushed as she recalled what had happened in the hammock. Memories of being trapped like a caught animal, unable to move as he devoured her, came flooding back.

“That’s not what I wanted to show you.”

Arsen kept his arm around Lydia’s waist as he led her to a small room. When he opened the door, Lydia let out a small scream.

“You made a prayer room?”

Previously, Arsen wanted to build a prayer room in the castle because he thought Lydia got particularly excited in the temple. Of course, it wasn’t for prayer. Lydia had adamantly refused out of embarrassment, so it wasn’t built.

But to think he had made a prayer room here!

“What are you planning to do here!”

“What else would I do?”

Arsen untied the ribbon on Lydia’s back. As her nape was revealed, he buried his face in it and murmured.

“Exactly what you’re thinking.”

Sacrilege. Arsen whispered as he gently bit her soft skin, completely pulled down Lydia’s dress, and closed the prayer room door.

The sound of the two fervently “praying” together in the closed prayer room continued for three days and nights. In the end, they didn’t conceive a third child.

Arsen had no desire to see Lydia writhing in the pain of childbirth again. But even without a third child, their relationship remained unchanged.

After countless winters and springs had passed, even until the distant future when Ian proclaimed the grand duchy of Bayern a kingdom and Idis led the Black Wolf Knight Order, they remained each other’s spring.

The End.