“Honestly, don’t you all agree?”

At this, the assassins, not only agreeing but also feeling that this was close to a compliment, nodded without hesitation.

Gideon, who had become the center of the topic, had been waking up even earlier than Tatiana these days. He seemed so busy that he didn’t have a moment to breathe, and today he had even eaten breakfast separately from her.

This happened after he instructed in a meeting that all documents requiring the King’s approval should be brought to him from now on.

Of course, the Queen’s faction strongly opposed it, calling it an overreach of authority. However, they couldn’t force the King, who was spending his days in a state practically equivalent to a coma, to wake up and sign these documents.

In the King’s absence, having the royal family member with the highest succession rank act as a proxy was codified in national law. It was also a historical precedent. This wasn’t an issue that could be changed casually just because someone objected.

Tatiana thought that Gideon seizing actual power might not be a bad scenario. However, she now knew well enough that the Queen wasn’t someone who would stand by and watch this situation unfold.

Gideon was still steadily preparing for their escape these days.

The first thing he did was dispatch a Fullman delegation led by Sir Browning. Princess Scarlet was included in that entourage.

It was somewhat unexpected but, in a way, she was as appropriate a person as Sir Browning. Who could be more suitable than the princess for smoothly coordinating the positions of both countries from the middle? Scarlet was someone with broader connections and better conversational skills than anyone.

However, Gideon’s purpose wasn’t just that. In fact, he had preemptively evacuated his sister to a foreign country in preparation for civil war.

But there was something even Gideon hadn’t considered. It was Tatiana’s maids who would be left behind alone after they escaped from the castle in an emergency. Tatiana said just one thing to Gideon about this.

‘What will happen to my maids later?’

They were the first-generation students of Tatiana’s exercise academy. Neither the maids nor Tatiana had intended it, but somehow it had turned out that way.

But despite Tatiana providing free special training, they were severely lacking in both skill and stamina. To be honest, they were terrible.

No matter how much of a Bloom Tatiana might be, she couldn’t forcibly implant athletic ability that had never existed from the beginning.

At best, an ordinary person could only reach the level of an ordinary person who had learned some exercise. Becoming like a knight or an assassin in a short period was impossible even if they died and came back to life.

If armed conflict broke out inside the castle, the maids might find it difficult to escape. Even the skilled assassins couldn’t guarantee everyone’s safety.

And Gideon resolved Tatiana’s concern in one swift move. He had the prince’s palace maids join the delegation’s second group. Since they originally belonged to the princess’s palace, they would be perfectly capable of assisting the princess in a foreign country, he reasoned.

Tatiana only learned about this fact this morning. And even then, she found out by asking the only remaining maid after seeing how empty the prince’s palace had become.

It was quite dumbfounding, but her husband was such a considerate person that he hadn’t forgotten to leave behind one person to attend to her. This meticulous thoroughness of Gideon’s, for which Tatiana had sought agreement from the assassins, was ultimately about this.

However, as the saying goes, you don’t notice what’s there but you notice what’s missing—the absence of the maids created quite a void.

First of all, it was too quiet everywhere. As if to fill that void, today the assassins had come inside the building to stand guard, but…… these people were a naturally quiet group even when a hundred of them gathered together.

Tatiana stared blankly at Connie, who was wedged between the dark-clothed men. She was rolling her eyes around with a somewhat intimidated expression. She seemed to feel anxious about her drastically changed working environment overnight. And she actually was.

Earlier, when an assassin had extended a teacup saying, “Your Highness, please drink,” his gaze had been so bleak that Connie thought it might be poisoned. Despite the fact that she herself had brewed that tea.

Tatiana looked at such a Connie with pity and offered these words of comfort,

“You remained here because you’re an honor student.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’re the one who would be least burdensome to us, um, how should I put it. The physical ability suitable for escape…… Anyway, His Highness recognized that too. Just think of it as being chosen.”

Being chosen—it sounded quite impressive, but there was a subtle feeling that made it hard to just let it pass, so Connie rolled her eyes and asked,

“Is that a good thing?”

“……I don’t know either. If something happens, just follow Kay. That’ll do.”

Feeling that no matter what she said it wouldn’t be comforting, Tatiana wrapped it up roughly like that. She pretended not to see Connie’s desperate gaze asking her to properly answer whether it was good or bad.

At that moment, Tatiana heard the sound of someone approaching from the doorway. Since it wasn’t Gideon’s, she looked toward the door with a puzzled expression. The visitor was Gideon’s aide.

He said he had come on an errand from His Highness and held out a yellow envelope.

“This is a letter sent by Sir Browning.”

This was the first thing that puzzled Tatiana.

“……He hasn’t left yet?”

Sir Browning had left the castle the day before yesterday. He had taken something truly dreadful with him. It was the heads of Fullman mages that had been chemically treated to prevent decay.

In any case, by now he should have had more than enough time to pass through the magic tower’s gate. It was fine in the sense that he could join up with the second group that had departed at dawn today, but still, it would be better to hurry. Gideon’s aide merely shrugged his shoulders, either because he didn’t know himself or because he wanted her to check directly.

Tatiana took out the neatly folded paper from the already opened envelope. The letter consisted of quite a few pages. Even at a glance, the letters showing through from the back were densely packed.

Were there really this many things for Sir Browning and me to talk about? Even love letters aren’t written this long, she thought.

Tatiana unfolded the paper first, and here she became puzzled once again. The recipient of the letter wasn’t her.

“This isn’t addressed to me?”

“His Highness has already confirmed it and said to show it to you as well, Your Highness.”

“……Is that so?”

What could the contents possibly be that I need to check it too? Tatiana read through the letter with a great deal of curiosity. Soon after, a sound of admiration—”Hooh”—spilled from her lips as if in awe.

Inside was tremendous good news. It was almost the first piece of good news she had encountered since marrying into the royal family.

And as she couldn’t contain her admiration, Connie glanced at the letter with curious eyes. With a quiet gesture, she beckoned her over. Connie had also worked as Princess Scarlet’s right-hand for a considerable amount of time. She was perfectly suitable as someone with whom to share this joy.

“Connie.”

“Yes?”

“Her Highness the Princess is with child.”

“……Oh my, oh my.”

When Tatiana whispered, Connie opened her eyes wide and eventually even stamped her feet.

“My goodness, what should we do? This is such joyful news. I truly offer my congratulations.”

“Right? It’s good news. But why are you offering those congratulations to me? It’s not like I’m the one who’s pregnant.”

“I don’t know, there’s no one else here to congratulate. Please accept it on their behalf.”

“……What strange logic.”

If the person in front of her had been anyone other than the princess consort, Connie would have expressed her emotions more intensely. She missed having colleagues by her side who would slap each other’s forearms and vigorously shake shoulders. That joy and surprise was conveyed well enough that Tatiana burst into laughter.

She knew well how desperately Scarlet had been waiting for a child. Because the gloomy look in her eyes as she mumbled “Why won’t a child come?” in the barracks previously had stayed in her heart, Tatiana was as happy about this as if it were her own news.

However, on the other hand, she couldn’t hide her old-fashioned concern and didn’t forget to admonish Connie.

“Still, you shouldn’t go around talking about this yet. Not until it’s officially announced later. You understand what I mean, right?”

At that, Connie was about to nod but then made a complicated expression. She looked around at her surroundings that had become so bleak overnight. The assassins looked completely uninterested in whatever the women were whispering about. They didn’t seem likely to engage in any conversation, let alone gossip.

Connie made a resigned expression but still asked as if protesting. She was simultaneously going through the stages of accepting reality and denial.

“……Who among those people could I possibly talk to about this?”

Tatiana burst into laughter at those words, though she felt very sorry.

While they were whispering and chattering, Gideon’s aide was still waiting beside them. Tatiana carefully put the letter back in the envelope and handed it to him, asking,

“What did His Highness say?”

“There were no particular other messages.”

“I see?”

Tatiana nodded and gestured for him to go, saying he must be busy. She had no message to relay either. Then she sank deeply into the sofa.

After Gideon’s aide left, a shallow sigh escaped her lips, unlike earlier. While Scarlet’s pregnancy was extremely joyful news worthy of congratulations, the situation was actually not favorable.