“Sigh…”

A heavy sigh mingled with the air.

The marriage was proceeding despite opposition from both the nobility and the temple. The fact that even strong voices of dissent were being ignored meant there was no turning back.

‘In the end, I’ll remain as your stain, Carlos.’

Reaching that conclusion made her head spin. Her stomach churned again, likely due to the food she had forced herself to eat.

Unable to hold back any longer, Ines rushed to a corner and bent over.

“Ugh.”

At that moment, unpleasant contents spewed from her mouth. Unlike before, when she would only dry heave from having eaten nothing, this time she seemed to be purging everything she had consumed. For a while, Ines had to remain bent over.

“Sigh…”

Once the nausea subsided, Ines wiped her mouth with a shaky breath.

It was difficult but familiar. Since childhood, she often vomited like this when she finally ate after being unable to eat for some time. Yet, whenever that happened, the one who stayed by her side was…

A woman flashed through her mind.

“Oh.”

How could she have forgotten? That person’s existence. She realized she hadn’t even checked if she was alive because so much had happened.

‘Maybe she’s still alive.’

As the thought of the one she missed crossed her mind, an overwhelming longing surged through her. She was one of the few who had helped her endure the harsh world. The one who had been her only ally in that suffocating house…

“I have to find her.”

She didn’t know if she was alive, but surely they wouldn’t have killed everyone who worked at the duke’s estate. Especially since she was a maid who only stayed in the annex, it would have been easier for her to escape.

Realizing this, Ines felt a sense of urgency.

* * *

Today was the day of the first regular meeting. Although the meeting had ended long ago, a few nobles remained, each raising their voices.

However, as if he couldn’t hear them, Carlos leaned back in his chair, lost in memories.

He had loved Ines. To marry her, he accepted Duke Claudia’s proposal.

‘Go to war in place of my son. Then I’ll allow you to marry Ines.’

Despite being scorned as an illegitimate child, Carlos carried the king’s blood. Unlike the nobles who were obliged to serve in the military, Carlos didn’t have to go to war.

‘There’s no need to worry too much. You just need to bide your time in the rear. Meanwhile, I’ll take care of Count Ankerid’s wife.’

The duke’s promise to care for his frail mother ended Carlos’s hesitation. He thought it would be fine to be apart for just about two years.

Even when he was assigned to the front lines instead of the rear as promised, he was okay with it.

He could endure even as the two-year military service stretched on.

Until that incident happened four years ago.

In an instant, Ines’s question flashed through Carlos’s mind.

‘Do you still… have feelings for me?’

‘Feelings left,’ he thought. There was no way such feelings remained.

The day he learned that Ines had abandoned him and became engaged to his brother.

The day he heard Ines confess that she had never loved him.

His affection for Ines had turned into anger and hatred. If having feelings left meant hatred rather than love… then yes, he still had feelings for her.

With that feeling alone, Carlos had climbed to where he was now. Driven by the single-minded desire to take revenge on those who had cast him into hell.

Finally, at the moment when Carlos was supposed to put a sword to Ines’s neck, he changed his mind and decided to let her live. It was merely a whim.

When he saw Ines’s face, which seemed to have surrendered to her fate, he suddenly lost the desire to kill her.

He resolved to let her live, keeping her noble and by his side, so he could watch her suffer for the rest of her life.

While Carlos was lost in memories of the past, someone approached him.

“Your Majesty! We cannot support this marriage!”

Carlos snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the speaker. It was Marquis Descartes, who had played a significant role in the recent coup.

“Marriage with Ines Claudia is absolutely unacceptable.”

Ah, yes. They were discussing this issue again.

It was an endless cycle of tedious debates.

Despite his position, the nobles were fiercely opposed.

When he stopped them from submitting petitions, they began to openly challenge him to his face.

“I thought I said I’d handle it.”

“We are pleading with you to reconsider because you are so adamant and even rejecting petitions.”

“Moreover, we’ve heard that you donated 300 gold coins previously. Do you think it’s reasonable to pay such an amount for this marriage?”

They also brought up the donation of gold coins to the temple. This was somewhat expected. The nobles wouldn’t sit idly by while such a sum was donated to the temple.

However, to silence the temple, it was necessary to put that amount of gold in their hands.

“Exactly! It’s preposterous. Please retract it immediately!”

“We absolutely cannot accept this marriage!”

Their fervor was as if they were fighting for independence.

Carlos sighed in exasperation. His face looked somewhat worn. Everyone, nobles and commoners alike, seemed to oppose him. In his heart, he wanted to behead everyone who defied him.

But if he did, there would be no one left alive. Moreover, Carlos couldn’t simply ignore the opinions of the nobles. Although his status as a war hero had overshadowed his illegitimate birth and he had succeeded in the coup, the royal authority was still unstable.

Additionally, he couldn’t deny their contributions to the success of the coup.

To truly make Ines his queen, he needed to persuade them with a reasonable explanation rather than a unilateral decision.

After pondering for a moment, Carlos spoke.

“Everyone knows that while we have confiscated all domestic assets of the Claudia family, we cannot seize their foreign assets.”

Particularly, the largest amount of Duke Claudia’s foreign assets was in Brillant, the homeland of the late queen and Joseph’s maternal family.

So, there was no way they would easily hand over the Claudia family’s assets to Tezever. Thus, Ines, the only surviving member of the Claudia family, was the sole heir who could own those assets.

“That’s why I’m marrying Ines Claudia. By marrying the sole heir of the family, her assets will become solely the property of the royal family. It’s not a bad deal.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

The Claudia family’s assets in Brillant were substantial. As they recalled, there was even a mine there. It might be worth more than 300 gold coins.

As the nobles fell silent, finding his reasoning somewhat valid, Carlos delivered his final words.

“Let’s end the debate here.”

With that, Carlos rose from his seat. His gaze towards the nobles carried an intimidating sense that he would not permit any further discussion.

“Talking any more will just be a waste of breath.”

The nobles, left with nothing to say, responded with silence. Thus, Carlos left the meeting room without any hesitation.

A few nobles who had remained in the hall hurriedly approached Marquis Descartes.

“Are you going to let this happen? Using the foreign assets as a bargaining chip…”

“But I’ve heard rumors that the mine is nearly depleted. That’s why Duke Claudia lost interest in it long ago. Even if there are resources left worth developing, it would require a significant investment. This is just His Majesty making excuses.”

“Exactly. You must continue to oppose the marriage. The queen should be chosen from among our daughters. We must remember the hardships we endured to make the coup successful.”

They all agreed. Beyond the issue of assets, they opposed the marriage with Ines. Just then, a man who had been observing their conversation from a distance cautiously approached.

“I think it might be best to respect His Majesty’s wishes for now.”

It was Baron Delmonsi. He had once been a close associate of Duke Claudia but betrayed him just before the coup. Because of this, his current position was unstable.

Seeing Delmonsi unnecessarily stepping forward, one of the nobles frowned.

“What are you saying? Do you feel sorry for that wicked woman because you once served the Claudia family?”

Delmonsi shook his head in denial.

“Of course not. It’s just that I’ve heard something strange, and that’s why I’m speaking up.”

“What is it?”

After hesitating for a moment, Delmonsi approached Descartes and bowed.

“May I speak to you alone, Marquis? It’s a very important matter.”

“Hey, you…”

As the other nobles began to protest, Descartes raised his hand to stop them.

“Everyone, leave us.”

“But…”

When Descartes gestured again for them to leave, the nobles finally started to exit the hall one by one.

Once the vast meeting room was left with just the two of them, Descartes spoke, urging him to continue.

“Alright, now that everyone is gone, what’s this important thing you have to tell me?”

Finally, Delmonsi, who had been silent, began to speak slowly.

“It seems allowing the marriage with Lady Claudia might be the right decision.”

“And why is that?”

“There’s a possibility that Lady Claudia possesses some special ability.”