Carlos stood there, doing nothing, as he blankly stared at Ines, who had fallen. The sight of her lying alone in the vast banquet hall appeared pitiful. They probably thought they were whispering quietly among themselves, but their murmurs reached Carlos’s ears.

Every comment mocked Ines’s fallen state.

“…….”

The jewel of the Claudia family.

The beautiful flower of the Tezever Kingdom, Ines Claudia.

All the descriptions of Ines had always been noble and beautiful.

She had once been the favored daughter of the Claudia family, said to make even flying birds fall. Before the rebellion, she was engaged to my brother and was destined to become the future queen.

And now, she was my wife, the wife of the newly crowned king. Indeed, there was never a moment when she wasn’t noble. Ines, whom I had once loved, always stood high above. But then.

‘Ines injured her leg?’

‘Yes. The official announcement was that she fell down the stairs. But it seems she won’t be able to walk as she did before.’

The once noble Ines Claudia had fallen in an instant.

‘Then it wouldn’t be bad for us to create a reason for it.’

‘What kind of rumor do you mean?’

I was the one who did it.

‘The reason Ines limps is that she fell from a railing while having an affair with another man.’

It was me, no one else, who dragged Ines down. It was for the rebellion. And it was also the price for betraying me.

‘But why…….’

In the span of just a few minutes, he clenched his fists.

Why did he feel so uneasy?

Carlos couldn’t understand why his emotions had sunk so low. Even though he was the cause of Ines’s current state.

Even though he knew this would happen, he couldn’t comprehend the anger boiling inside him.

As he remained frozen, unable to act, a suffocating silence continued. It was then that someone approached Carlos.

“Are you just going to stand by and watch?”

A missing piece clicked into place, and Carlos finally came to his senses. He turned his head to see who had spoken. A familiar face stood beside him.

Catalana Rosenbach.

Thanks to her consistently neutral stance and the high reputation she had built, she was one of the few royals who had escaped his blade during the rebellion.

She hadn’t treated the young Carlos warmly like everyone else, but at least she hadn’t bullied or scorned him like the other royals. Perhaps because of this, Carlos harbored no ill feelings towards her.

Ignoring Carlos’s gaze, Catalana continued to speak, focusing only on Ines.

“Ines Claudia is no longer a mere lady. She is the queen of Tezever and the wife of you, Carlos, the king of this country. Ignoring her is no different from ignoring Your Majesty.”

“……No different from ignoring me?”

“Yes. You are now king, but previously, you were scorned by the nobility because you were born illegitimate.”

In Tezever, the position of an illegitimate child was abysmal. Despite being of royal blood, Carlos had been treated no better than a commoner. It was only because he returned as a war hero that his status changed, but in their hearts, they likely still remembered the Carlos they once looked down upon.

Listening to Catalana, Carlos finally realized an important truth and let out a sigh.

‘Yes, the reason I felt uneasy was…….’

He felt ignored.

She had been the daughter of a disgraced family and once labeled a villainess, but now she was his wife and the queen of the country.

Having someone like her be disregarded was not much different from ignoring him, the king.

Carlos’s expression softened as if he had finally found the answer to his question. At that moment, Catalana added a comment.

“You need to have a child.”

“A child?”

“Yes. You need to have a child to secure your succession and strengthen your royal authority. Also, if you designate the child born from Her Majesty the Queen as the heir, no one will dare to look down on her. Who could possibly disrespect the mother of the future king?”

Catalana added that people would fear the future king’s retaliation.

“A child’s resentment from seeing their mother oppressed is far scarier than a husband’s anger over his wife being disrespected. They know this well. So, you should have a child with Her Majesty the Queen as soon as possible.”

“…….”

A child.

A child who would resemble both him and Ines.

Once, he had dreamed of a happy future, imagining such a child. Ines’s betrayal had turned that dream meaningless. But now…

Despite Catalana’s advice, he remained silent, his lips sealed.

Thud.

Ines, unable to endure any longer, finally lost consciousness. Carlos, watching her limp body on the cold floor, unclenched his fists.

Then, with a complex and subtle expression, he began to move.

“…….”

As he approached Ines, people quickly hid their sneers and mocking expressions. The nobles began to take notice of him belatedly.

Only yesterday, she had been a traitor’s daughter, but from today, she was the wife of the man who became king. They realized this fact too late. It was a wedding Carlos had insisted on despite everyone’s opposition.

Afraid that the consequences might affect them, the nobles quietly retreated. The atmosphere of the wedding, which should have been joyful, turned cold like a winter breeze.

Carlos picked up the fallen Ines. Seeing this, Herman, who had been watching them from afar, hurried over.

“I will escort Her Majesty the Queen. So, Your Majesty…”

However, Carlos, holding Ines in his arms, walked past Herman without stopping.

“Bring a doctor.”

Leaving only this brief command, he headed to the room. As Carlos moved, people’s eyes followed him persistently.

* * *

No sooner had Carlos arrived in the room with Ines than the doctor rushed in. Following Carlos’s order, the doctor examined Ines and then stepped back from the bed.

“There are no particular issues with her body. She just seems to be very exhausted. After all, so much has happened in such a short time…”

The doctor trailed off. Though his unfinished words carried many implications, Carlos did not press further.

“Understood. You may leave now.”

“Yes, understood.”

With that, the doctor left the room. By then, the sky had turned a deep red as the sun set. The wedding, now without its main characters, ended inconclusively.

In the end, the wedding had become a mess. Carlos looked at Ines, who had fallen asleep, unaware of anything.

There would likely be many more instances like this in the future. In front of him, people might act cautiously, but when Ines was alone, they would blatantly disregard her.

He had grown weary of the cowardly nature of the nobles, who were weak toward the strong and strong toward the weak, ever since he was young.

At that moment, the advice a noble had once given him flashed through his mind.

‘You need to have a child.’

Catalana’s suggestion to produce an heir as soon as possible made sense. Despite the risks and opposition he faced in marrying Ines, his royal authority remained unstable. The most crucial legitimacy in Tezever was something he lacked.

Thus, there were nobles who still harbored resentment about his rebellion. They were keeping a low profile now, aware they would face execution if caught, but they were likely waiting for any opportunity to strike.

To eliminate that threat, he needed to find and kill his runaway brother and solidify his succession.

With that thought, Carlos lowered his gaze. Ines’s sleeping face came into view. She had never ceased to be beautiful.

Even on the day he led the rebellion.

Even at the moment he saw the head of her father, Duke Claudia.

And even when he acknowledged that she had betrayed him.

Ines was beautiful.

She was always noble, and there was never a moment when she wasn’t graceful.

That’s why he felt angry.

He resented her for remaining unchanged even after betraying him.

Carlos reached out his hand.

His fingertips touched Ines’s face.

It was pale, soft, and warm.

Unlike his rough, calloused hands, hers were pale, soft, and warm. She must have only used precious and clean things.

His hand, which had lingered on her face, began to move downward. His hand touched the edge of Ines’s clothing.

‘You need to have a child.’

His hand responded to the words that kept echoing in his mind. Carlos’s fingers pulled at the ribbon tightly binding Ines’s chest.