Gideon gathered his staff and informants. It was to receive reports about what had happened while he was away from the castle. His main focus was naturally on the movements of the Queen and his half-brother.

“Her Majesty the Queen and the Commander of the Capital Defense Force had one contact. The location was the Queen’s Palace garden, he visited at noon and left the palace after about an hour.”

“What about Vaikal. Was he present too?”

“No. The Second Prince remained in his quarters.”

Gideon nodded but couldn’t hide his discomfort.

His father had given quite a troublesome gift by appointing the Second Prince’s maternal uncle as Commander of the Capital Defense Force. Having military personnel related to the Queen by marriage made everything irritating.

However, there were still mountains of matters that could upset his mood.

“Also, Your Highness. Her Majesty the Queen and Duke Muller also had one meeting.”

“Really?”

“Yes. The Queen’s page visited House Muller. Given that the Duke had an audience with Her Majesty the next day, it appears the Queen’s side first proposed the meeting through the page.”

It wasn’t the first time. Duke Muller had been steadily building relationships with the Queen in this way for the past year. Even after Gideon had subtly said ‘help me’ during the meal with Tatiana. 

 “I guess my proposal wasn’t very attractive.”

As Gideon twisted his lips in derision, one staff member carefully advised.

“Shouldn’t we wait and see a bit more? There are no nobles in Valter who can ignore Her Majesty the Queen’s summons.”

It was a fair point. Gideon still didn’t know whether the Duke had rushed there rejoicing inside, or reluctantly responded to the summons against his will. However, if this wasn’t a situation the Duke had intended, shouldn’t he have given some subtle indication to Gideon’s side?

Gideon happened to be away from the castle, and a private meeting in such circumstances could easily leave room for misunderstanding between both parties.

Of course, Gideon hadn’t expected that level of shrewd behavior from the Duke. In fact, he didn’t even think this was a misunderstanding.

The staff continued to give detailed reports to the prince about their respective areas. And eventually, Tatiana’s presence appeared at the end of the reports.

“While Your Highness was away from the castle, Her Highness visited the barracks.”

“Hmm.”

Tatiana had thought this while Gideon was away. That he wouldn’t be the type of gloomy man who tried to control each of her relationships and surveilled her from behind. Unfortunately, Gideon was exactly that type of man.

He might not care about other things, but he had attached one of his own people to her.

While there was a plausible justification of security reasons, no one in this room thought that was the only reason. Moreover, he had even deceived her eyes by attaching a truly outstanding talent, making this practically a premeditated crime.

Kay continued with his report.

She had a brief conversation with Samuel Samson, the Deputy Commander and Training Instructor of the Royal Guard. And after that, she went into the official residence and met with Duke Muller.”

Gideon, who had been listening quietly, gradually furrowed his brows. His expression asked ‘Why did she do that?’, but Kay only shook his head.

That was something to ask his own wife about, not something others could answer.

“What did they talk about?”

“I couldn’t hear. We couldn’t get close to the official residence.”

Gideon shot him a cold glare, but Kay spoke calmly.

“If we narrow the distance of the guard too much, Her Highness will certainly notice.”

“……”

“Your Highness knows Her Highness’s abilities well.”

This wasn’t an excuse but a fact. Gideon acknowledged it.

However, even though he knew this well, it was also true that he couldn’t shake off his dissatisfaction.

Kay briefly contemplated whether to end the report here. The prince’s expression was already unfavorable enough. However, duty was duty. He finally added his personal observations.

“While there weren’t any major changes in her behavior afterward……she seemed oddly melancholic.”

“In what way.”

“She sat in the training grounds with her sword in front of her until sunset.”

That meant she was truly in a bad mood. For Tatiana, there couldn’t be a clearer signal than that.

Gideon clicked his tongue and fell into deep thought for a while. Then, letting out a sneer, he spoke, though it wasn’t clear if he was talking to himself or his aides.

“Duke Muller really irritates me.”

“……”

“Very much.”

Gideon knew this issue would surface eventually. Whether in state affairs or in his married life with Tatiana.

Duke Muller was like a thorn in his throat. Something that seemed insignificant but was unbearably irritating and impossible to ignore at times.

If the Duke joined hands with the Queen and formed a faction, Gideon would inevitably find himself in a difficult position.

He looked at his aides who were waiting for his instructions.

“There are probably three ways to resolve this issue. The first is to completely win over the Duke and bring him to my side.”

Gideon had already hinted at something similar to the Duke.

Though the response wasn’t satisfactory, he could present more attractive terms specifically. It was just a matter of promising rewards the other party couldn’t resist.

However, all the aides wore skeptical expressions.

They knew. The prince was reluctant. He didn’t want to do it that way.

Sure enough, Gideon smirked at their expressions and immediately proposed another option.

“Another method is to link the Duke with the Queen and get rid of them together.”

Gideon had collected weaknesses of many nobles. He had gathered evidence whenever possible, almost as a hobby.

The same was true for the Duke. And when the royal family sought to bring down a house, tax evasion and embezzlement charges were their typical angles of attack.

“Are you still investigating the Royal Guard’s budget management details and House Muller’s territory tax records?”

“Yes, Your Highness. There are certainly issues. There’s endless potential for more. However, that alone……” 

 The aide trailed off, shaking his head.

While they might be able to purge the Duke, it would be difficult to implicate the Queen, he meant.

Royal family members were particularly skilled at cutting off loose ends. Even if they were actually in close relations, the likelihood of that responsibility extending to the royals was slim. Sometimes people had to turn a blind eye to this despite knowing it. That was the power of royalty with absolute authority.

But that wasn’t what Gideon was concerned about right now.

“Royal edicts can be fabricated as needed, and evidence can be manufactured.”

“……”

“What I want to know is how long it would take to erase House Muller’s name from my wife.”

With their marriage vows, all official documentation between Tatiana and Duke Muller had been completely settled.

Tatiana Bloom Ainsler. No trace of House Muller remained in her name anymore.

Gideon had to keep quiet for a long time to complete this task without any interference or complications.

Besides his own subordinates, who could have predicted that Gideon would propose to Tatiana?

Didn’t even Tatiana herself, the party involved, not know? She still seemed unaware of his true feelings.

However, even if the paperwork was clean, it would be difficult to avoid becoming fodder for society’s gossip. They were the type to make up stories where none existed just to find fault.

It was impossible to erase from people’s memories the fact that Tatiana had been under House Muller’s protection. Even Tatiana herself.

She still thought of Duke Muller as her foster father, and if anything happened to him, she would surely be troubled.

Then now, the only option Gideon could consider was the third one.

The cleanest and easiest method. A way to preemptively block the possibility of the Queen and Royal Guard joining forces, while keeping Tatiana’s name from being mentioned unfavorably.

“Think of ways to make it look like an accident.”

The staff all stiffened. One of them asked in a tense voice.

“……Are you going to deal with the Duke?”

“Just think about it, just think. We should have contingency plans, shouldn’t we?”

“……”

“I’ll decide the rest after watching more. Don’t miss any meetings between the Duke and the Queen.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After roughly concluding the meeting, Gideon turned his back to his aides and looked out the window.

However, none of the aides dared to leave hastily. They found it difficult to shake off the feeling that today’s conversation would cause considerable turbulence.

A newly wedded couple who had just come into being.

They had reunited with passionate kisses just hours ago. And one of them had thought this. That it was a perfect day.

But while one person was immersed in peaceful contemplation, the other was intensely calculating.

Even for couples who share their flesh, it’s impossible to perfectly see inside each other’s minds. So if you ever become complacent thinking you now know this person to some degree, you should be wary of such a perspective. 

 Aspects of the other person that you never expected, that you didn’t even know existed, suddenly reveal themselves at various moments.

Sometimes there will be days when everything seems to flow smoothly. There will be days when you have groundless thoughts that there won’t be any obstacles. But even in those moments, problems might be emerging somewhere. Beware of exactly those times.