Her hand was already searching for the best pen, her mind thinking about which paper to use, yet her lips alone couldn’t be honest.

“I have to keep my promise, so I have no choice.”

Elia added a remark, feeling awkward despite being alone.

But her struggle was just beginning. What on earth should she write? This being her first letter to him made her mind blank and overwhelmed.

“I am…… doing well?”

Too ordinary.

“I am curious about Your Majesty’s well-being, and concerned if you are safe……”

Somehow unappealing.

“I pray for your success in battle.”

Definitely not this.

“Sigh……”

Elia let out a sigh first.

“Was writing a letter always this difficult?”

Her white fingers caressed the smudged period. She wanted to know if he too had written this short letter after countless deliberations.

Where he sat, in what posture, whether the battles were difficult, if his sleeping arrangements were uncomfortable, and also……

“When will he return.”

The question no one knew echoed emptily.

Truly, all of daily life felt as empty as Rockfort’s presence. Despite the increased number of people in this pavilion, each day felt tedious and hollow.

“No, a simple greeting will do.”

Elia picked up her pen to stop her thoughts. Sometimes, she even thought Rockfort might suddenly open the door and enter, so her mind must be going strange.

She wrote one line and a long time passed. At least this part was easy.

Elia took a deep breath and gripped the pen tightly again.

She absolutely couldn’t progress beyond this line. She felt she could fill an entire book with all the questions in her mind, yet trying to simply ask about his well-being felt awkward unlike speaking in person, making it impossible to choose the right words.

“Ah…… was writing a letter always this difficult.”

She had confidence in her reading and composition skills, but it was frustrating that she couldn’t properly write even a simple greeting.

Had she forgotten how to write after experiencing too many events? Or was there something wrong with her for not knowing what to write?

“How foolish.”

Recently, Elia’s self-criticisms had increased. It was a small change she didn’t notice herself.

* * *

The next day, the battle continued to progress smoothly. From Rockfort’s perspective, it was boring enough to make him yawn, and the knights were carrying out this wasteful war out of duty.

“To be able to rest in the tent even during daylight, is this really war?”

“We’re eliminating remnants from the previous war, how can this be called a war?”

“Especially when His Majesty takes the lead…… I wonder why I even brought my sword.”

The knights gathered in the tent chatted casually. It was a peaceful daily life quite different from the word “war.”

“It’s frustrating how those rat-like fellows keep digging into the ravine. How long are they trying to drag this out……”

“Don’t even mention it. My wife is pregnant after 10 years, and I’m here because of those things—I’m about to get sick with anger.”

Most shared Rockfort’s thoughts. The weak enemies were hiding and scattering, just draining their energy for nothing.

“Still, it’s a relief the reconnaissance team has grown. Once they return, we’ll form small sortie groups as well, so we’ll be heading home soon.”

“It may not be orthodox, but His Majesty’s insight is…… always impressive.”

“What use is outdated orthodoxy? If we followed that, my child would be over ten years old by the time I returned.”

The knights burst into laughter. This indicated the overwhelming difference in military power in this war.

“All of you, take it easy.”

Jayden, who was inspecting the tent, threw a remark at the knights who were laughing in a group. They all immediately stood up and paid knightly respects.

“Sir Jayden!”

“Right. Conserve your strength even if the enemy is insignificant.”

“Yes! We’ll keep that in mind!”

To the knights, Jayden was an object of admiration, someone to look up to almost as much as the emperor.

Although he sometimes appeared clueless or lacking in front of Rockfort, as a knight, he had achieved remarkable feats that would go down in history, and at a very young age at that.

“Your Majesty, it’s Jayden. I’m coming in.”

As he entered the emperor’s tent, Rockfort’s indifferent gaze turned toward him.

Jayden’s high evaluation was the knights’ opinion; to Rockfort, he was still the somewhat lacking and straightforward confidant he had known since childhood.

“The intelligence unit has brought letters.”

Rockfort abruptly stood up and personally snatched the letters from his hand. Jayden swallowed a sigh seeing his expectant expression.

“……What is it now.”

As soon as he realized it wasn’t the letter he was hoping for, his expression immediately frowned.

“There’s more than one.”

But the letter he had been expecting wasn’t among them.

Rockfort sat back down in the tent chair and opened the letters one by one. He remained calm while reading the letter with the Papal Office’s seal, but as he opened the next letter, his face gradually hardened.

“How dare…… a mere grand duke!”

Anger frosted his words, which he spat out as if grinding them. Since Jayden didn’t know the contents of the letters, he just stood silently waiting for his words.

Bang!

Rockfort’s fist struck the temporary table in the tent hard. The atmosphere was clearly ominous.

“Yes, the Grand Duke was originally insolent. But what is the empress dowager doing!”

Rockfort threw the letters onto the table with a rough hand. Some pages flew to the floor.

“Read them.”

At the command, which seemed as if he hated to even mention it, Jayden carefully picked up the papers one by one and read them. Soon, even his face, which rarely showed emotion, darkened.

“How could the empress dowager…… block the Papal Office?”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

Bang! His fist struck the table again.

It was outrageous that the archbishop of the Papal Office had arrived at the Grand Duchy with a divorce decree, but the empress dowager was blocking progress.

“The empress dowager has been stripped of all power and banished by me, yet she interferes in such matters…… why is she inviting trouble.”

Rockfort had stripped the empress dowager of her power and banished her to a separate palace immediately upon his ascension.

Even that was a lenient measure considering their mother-son relationship. If her crimes were fully revealed, she would have faced extreme punishment rather than exile to a separate palace.

“Does she truly not know her position? No, of all issues, this concerns Leticia…… she is truly heartless and cruel.”

Despite showing mercy by still recognizing her as his mother, she was now encouraging Leticia’s unhappiness—her own child. It was infuriating.

“The Grand Duke seems to be siding with the empress dowager’s wishes.”

The other letter was sent directly by the Grand Duke of Ern. It contained a perfunctory message saying there was no reason for divorce and they should maintain the alliance.

“Siding? He has no thoughts on this matter. Despite it concerning his wife and child, he simply finds it troublesome and follows the empress dowager’s instructions!”

When a political marriage breaks down, it naturally brings enormous losses. For the Grand Duchy, even returning the princess’s dowry would be regrettable.

“They’re…… hiding something from me.”

“Pardon?”

“Both the Grand Duke and the empress dowager seem desperate to prevent me and Leticia from communicating directly.”

Rockfort had exceptionally strong innate intuition. His premonitions usually came true, and he seemed to have insight beyond mere luck.

“How long would it take to reach the Grand Duchy’s capital from here?”

“If we ride hard, less than a day.”

There was no need for further hesitation. Rockfort immediately stood up.

“I’ll leave this trivial battlefield to the knights for now. I need to go to the Grand Duchy myself.”

“I cannot be absent from Your Majesty’s journey.”

“Then come with me.”

Fortunately, this battlefield was overrun with pathetic enemies not worth the knights’ swords. The emperor’s absence for a few days would cause no problems, and they were waiting for the reconnaissance team anyway, so the timing was good.

“There’s no time to waste. We leave immediately.”

“Yes.”

Once Rockfort made up his mind, no one could stop him.

Jayden immediately bowed and followed him out of the tent.

Rockfort rode his horse at a cruelly fast pace. Fortunately, the road conditions improved once they entered the Grand Duchy’s border, allowing the two men to reach the Grand Duke’s residence faster than expected.

“His Majesty the Emperor of the Holy Petrion Empire has arrived!”

Jayden shouted loudly in front of the gate. Though it was past midnight into early dawn, his thunderous voice was enough to wake everyone in the Grand Duke’s residence and then some.

“House Ern, come forth and welcome His Majesty the Emperor!”

The Grand Duke’s residence bustled with tremendous commotion.

And not long after, Rockfort was able to sit on the throne in the Grand Duke’s audience hall. The faces of those who hurriedly came out from sleep, especially the Grand Duke’s appearance, were quite a sight.

“The Grand Duke of Ern greets His Majesty the Emperor of the Holy Petrion Empire.”

The young Grand Duke paid his respects, but the emperor was already in no mood to look upon him favorably.

“I came knowing the empress dowager is here. There’s no need to waste time, so tell her to come out.”

Rockfort, thoroughly ignoring the Grand Duke, did not acknowledge his greeting and ordered Jayden.