The ancient sages said not to marry into a family with too many complications, perhaps she should have heeded that advice more…….

While pondering with a serious face, Tatiana still defended Gideon.

“Well, it’s a perfectly possible concern. His Highness Gideon just wanted to let me know……”

However, she soon trailed off. It felt awkward to take her husband’s side in front of someone trying to help.

Sure enough, Scarlet rolled her eyes saying, ‘Oh? Taking his side? How cute.’ Then she continued with a giggle.

“You know what? Let’s hold a charity auction. If we’re going to do something, we need to raise funds.”

“……But we don’t lack budget. I have plenty of money.”

Besides the privy purse, Tatiana had enough personal wealth. She had enough not to have to make desperate pleas to nobles in an unseemly way.

But was her statement funny? Or did her wealth seem cute to the princess? Scarlet laughed “Ahaha” brightly, then looked at Tatiana with gentle eyes.

It was exactly like looking at an innocent child, making Tatiana feel for the first time today that the princess was like an older sister.

“It’s not about lacking money, this is how you get people to join your cause. For noble ladies, auction events are a matter of pride. Once you create competition, they’ll have to bring out something big just to avoid losing.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. And once they’ve dipped their toes in, it becomes harder to say anything negative afterward.”

“……”

“What husband would dare criticize when his wife wants to do good deeds while maintaining her dignity?”

Scarlet lowered her voice as if sharing something interesting and added:

“In this world, there are many husbands who fear breaking at home more than breaking at work.”

Breaking might not be the right word — perhaps driving someone to desperation? I know several wives who are particularly skilled at that.

From then on, Scarlet started listing the names of ladies to send invitations to and instructed her maids to write them down.

The princess was definitely not someone who just went to parties for fun. She knew the circumstances of each family too well.

Under the guise of chitchat, she shared bits of this with Tatiana, including some surprisingly intimate details that made one wonder how she knew such things. 

 Tatiana lowered her voice as well and said:

“You seem…… quite remarkable.”

How did she know which lady owned what painting, and that it had actually appeared in a stolen goods auction?

The princess remained cheerful even as she said that while she couldn’t completely destroy someone over this, she could certainly make things difficult for them.

To be honest, it was becoming a bit scary now.

“Why don’t you get involved in state affairs directly like Her Majesty the Empress?”

As Gideon’s wife, she couldn’t say it out loud, but with this level of capability, wouldn’t it be reasonable to enter the succession race?

However, Scarlet shook her head as if she didn’t like that idea.

“No, I don’t want to stand out.”

“……Pardon?”

“……”

“Excuse me.”

Tatiana became serious. This was rich coming from a princess who showed up wearing such eye-catchingly elaborate dresses just for casual visits.

“Well, I don’t mind actually, but Robert is shy. He just wants to live quietly.”

“Ah. Ah……?”

Tatiana almost agreed but then became serious again.

Wait a minute. You two had an international marriage. The Ainsler and Browning families were historically almost enemies. Your father-in-law took a very hard diplomatic line against our Valter kingdom….. But what? Wants to live quietly? Hmmm?

However, instead of saying ‘I think it’s already too late for that kind of life,’ Tatiana just kept her mouth shut. After all, the children’s wishes don’t necessarily have to align with their parents’.

She thought they must have already walked a difficult enough path just maintaining their marriage despite this background.

Tatiana almost felt sorry for them, but Scarlet still seemed cheerful. If anything, she appeared ready to dive into party preparations in earnest.

Scarlet brushed off the green liquid covering her face as if it was bothering her. As the vegetable pieces fell to the floor with plops, Isabelle heaved a deep sigh. Her eyes were filled with anguish, as if thinking they really weren’t listening at all.

To ease that sigh and anguish, Tatiana quietly wiped her own face with a nearby towel. Then she snuggled up next to the princess, put their heads together, and they began filling the blank paper together. 

* * *

 Duke Muller met with an accident while riding his carriage to court. A perfectly fine bridge suddenly collapsed at just the right moment.

It was the work of Gideon’s subordinates.

Hadn’t Tatiana once asked something like this:

‘Your Highness, when I need you, if you come to me and the bridge collapses, would you say that’s my fault?’

Sorry, but it was Gideon himself who destroyed that perfectly good bridge. If she needed someone to blame, she should blame him.

But was it fortunate? There were no casualties in this accident. The Duke only suffered injuries including a broken arm. Of course, this alone would have been sufficient as a warning.

Gideon didn’t particularly want to show mercy to the Duke. He had committed the offense of mentioning the Bloom name to his face while standing behind the Empress.

However, if the Duke withdrew from the succession dispute at this point and retired from central politics, he might consider being lenient. Not because he suddenly became generous, but because Tatiana weighed on his mind.

But just when Gideon was considering showing an ant’s tear worth of mercy, the Duke sent a very unpleasant response. To be more precise, the Empress was making moves.

“Your Highness, it seems the Empress’s quarters intend to demand a knight’s oath from the Royal Guard Commander. To Prince Vaikal, that is.” 

 “A knight’s oath?”

“Yes, it seems the rumor has already circulated once within the Royal Guard. There’s much talk among the knights as well.”

Ha, Gideon laughed shortly while stroking his chin. Then, frowning, he spoke to his aide as if joking:

“Perhaps my warning was too gentlemanly.”

“……”

“Or was it too difficult to understand?”

Someone who had been above the Duke for decades couldn’t have failed to understand. Gideon was well aware of this, but he was disgusted by these consistently poor responses.

A knight’s oath. The pledge that one who bears a sword makes to their lord.

Since all power became concentrated in the king, while the practice had become largely nominal, there were still occasionally knights who offered their oaths. However, these oaths were limited to either the king or their own women.

Of course, even those loyal to the royal family surely had someone they privately worshipped and respected. That would probably be a natural feeling for any person.

However, this could be politically sensitive to interpret. Especially in times like these.

The Royal Guard Commander, even as a single knight, could never be just an individual.

If the Duke were to offer his oath to Vaikal, bypassing the King and Gideon, people would assume the entire Royal Guard followed the Second Prince.

It was quite a serious matter, but Gideon sneered with a snicker.

‘Why is everything they bring up……”

The Empress was certainly clever. However, Gideon thought her sensibilities were somewhat outdated. Just like during the morning greeting the other day, this time too was equally old-fashioned. It seemed as if she spent her nights poring over ancient documents.

However, it was problematic that there wasn’t a single Valter noble who didn’t know the history and symbolism tied to the knight’s oath.

“This needs to be stopped beforehand. Without fail.”

“……Yes, Your Highness.”

“My brother’s maternal uncle already sits as the Commander of the Capital Defense Force. If we don’t break this flow, it will give the impression that I’m militarily inferior to the Empress.” 

 The line that could be ended with just warnings had now been crossed. It wasn’t clear who started it first. The only certain thing was that this conflict had been brewing for quite some time, just not visible on the surface.

Gideon instructed Kay to find more aggressive yet definitive methods, and ordered his aides to secure more evidence of House Muller’s corruption. Enough extensive material to send a noble house into ruin in an instant.

The aides, who were already digging through records from 20 years ago, bowed to the prince’s command. However, Kay stepped forward and expressed his concerns.

“Your Highness, as you know, we cannot perfectly disguise it as an accident.”

How many people would believe it was just an accident when a bridge that seemed sturdy until yesterday collapsed exactly when the Duke was passing? Everyone knew but pretended not to know, privately speculating about who was behind it.

Gideon tilted his chin as if telling him to continue, and Kay went on.

“The Duke travels with an incomparably larger escort than other nobles. The number of guards stationed at his residence is also considerable. Access is never easy.”

Moreover, the Duke would surely become more cautious and strengthen his security after this incident.