“I’m embarrassed in front of others. I want to look like a dignified countess. But right now you’re treating me like a baby who can’t even walk.”

It was nice to see him burning with determination to make up for not being there during Eric’s time, but she wished he would do it in moderation.

Roderick’s misdeeds had been endless since the day he found out about the pregnancy.

Not letting her feet touch the ground.

Using separate beds because he worried that he might accidentally touch her while sleeping and something might happen to the baby.

Not letting her lift anything was routine, and he wouldn’t let her tie her shoelaces or even stand near where children were playing ball.

‘There’s no such thing as being this excessive.’

Roderick clearly wanted to wrap her tightly in blankets and not let her leave the bed if he could.

“I didn’t have a risk of miscarriage when I was pregnant with Eric. And I don’t have a risk of miscarriage now. So why are you like this?”

“I’m doing this because you might have a hard time.”

“Roderick, even without going this far, I’m already happier and more comfortable than when I was pregnant with Eric. So please, please, please do it in moderation.”

“Then at least let me carry you down to the bottom of the stairs.”

“Why?”

“Because you might fall.”

Now just seeing stairs makes his knees weak. He keeps having ominous imaginations of Erica losing her balance and tumbling down the stairs in this condition.

“Don’t you fall? You know it’s more dangerous if you tumble while carrying me than if I fall alone, right?”

Imagining that moment, Roderick’s face turned pale.

“It’s safer to support me from the side.”

In the end, Erica succeeded in putting her feet on the ground. As Erica walked out of the residence on her own feet, she repeated to Roderick what she had already said.

“Pregnant women are supposed to exercise.”

* * *

“Where’s Eric?”

“He probably ran to Snowball as soon as class ended.”

“Did he have dead fish eyes during class today too?”

“I’m not telling tales.”

“Ugh…… I wasn’t like that when I was Eric’s age.”

“I wasn’t either.”

“You didn’t go to school.”

“You didn’t go to school either.”

“……Ahem, are you disrespecting the great Teacher Greta right now?”

The casual atmosphere between the couple turned stiff as soon as they arrived in front of the meeting hall.

Roderick headed to the meeting hall where the ministers’ meeting would be held in his capacity as captain of the guards, and Erica entered the room next to the meeting hall as head maid. The maids who had been dressing Elodie briefly greeted Erica and then began moving busily again.

“Your Majesty, I shall place the cloak on you.”

“You look truly dignified, Your Majesty.”

She might look dignified to others, but to someone who had raised that child for five years, her nervousness was transparently visible.

Elodie, who had been sitting with her back turned while being dressed, made eye contact with Erica in the mirror. At that moment, the tension on her face loosened a little.

“Your Majesty, did you enjoy your lessons?”

Erica approached warmly and asked so that Elodie could relax further. Elodie nodded her head just slightly, answering with disciplined composure.

‘Oh my, oh my, the regal bearing that shows kingly authority just as I and the etiquette teacher taught her is very good!’

In the past, she would have immediately patted her bottom and showered her with praise, but now she couldn’t do that. Erica smiled brightly instead.

“Today’s ministers’ meeting agenda is……”

Then she unrolled the parchment scroll that a maid had presented on a tray and reminded Elodie once more of the issues that would be discussed in today’s meeting.

“What to do with Rentz Gorge, which Marquis Draven illegally privatized in the past, that is, made into personal property……”

Though the child knew many difficult words, she changed difficult terms to easier ones just in case. Erica only read the facts and never voiced any personal opinions or advice about the agenda items.

‘Rumors are starting to spread.’

The rumor that the real regent of the young king, that is, the real power behind the kingdom, was Countess Winterborn.

Originally, everyone thought Duke Pendrel was the real power, but as rumors spread that Erica was the one who had decided on the throne succession war and restored the throne to the princess, the ‘real power’ in the rumors changed.

‘What real power. I just got tired of living as a fugitive and tried to eliminate the one chasing me!’

But the Erica in the rumors was a shrewd kingmaker in the shadows, comparable to a tiger crouched and hidden in the bushes, waiting only for the moment to pounce on its prey.

‘I reject that image.’

She didn’t want to be seen as a second Marquis Draven in others’ eyes. What if she ended up meeting the same fate as the marquis?

When rumors spread that she was the real power, people flocked to Erica. Carrying armfuls of all kinds of ‘gifts.’

No matter how greedy for money Erica was, and despite being more strapped for cash than ever, Erica filtered out gifts with impure motives and didn’t accept a single one.

‘Those are all debts.’

Even if she could overcome the current crisis with them, she would face a bigger crisis later because of them.

Right now, since they were practically founding contributors to the nation, no one would stop them from doing whatever they wanted.

‘But founding contributors are always purged later.’

When time passes and their contributions are forgotten, their faults will appear more clearly, and political enemies who had been waiting for that day will use all their big and small mistakes as pretexts.

She had repeatedly told this to Elodie as well.

How much could a child who had just turned nine understand the importance of this, but Elodie was conducting herself well, being a child who listened well to adults.

As the final step in dressing, Erica placed the crown on Elodie’s head. Even though they had reduced the size, it still looked big and heavy for a nine-year-old.

‘This child should have become king when she was at least in her teens.’

She hadn’t even wanted it. The weight of the crown she had reluctantly worn because she was tired of living as a fugitive seemed burdensome for the child.

Erica swallowed a sigh as she watched the back of the child walking to the meeting hall, trying to maintain dignity while wearing the burdensome crown.

‘Even if it’s difficult now because of that weight, I hope she’ll be happy because of it later……’

It was also pitiful that at an age when she should be running around freely, she had to attend meetings every day where adults from parents’ to grandparents’ age spoke only difficult words and demanded decisions from her.

“Your Majesty, did you enjoy your lessons?”

No matter how diligently and well a child listens to lessons, a child is still a child. What could be fun about lessons? It’s just that those moments when she can be childlike are enjoyable compared to her daily duties as king.

“Several territories have sent requests for support with supplies for the Festival of St. Anessa.”

Near the end of the tedious meeting, Duke Pendrel, the court chamberlain, brought up a topic that wasn’t on the agenda.

“Head maid.”

Elodie, who had been sitting at the head of the long meeting table listening attentively, called Erica who was waiting behind her. Then she asked in a whisper.

“Why are they asking for supplies instead of money?”

Worried that she might look foolish if she asked the ministers about something she was curious about, she secretly asked only Erica.

“Because they have money.”

“Then couldn’t they just buy supplies with that?”

“There’s nothing to buy.”

To survive the winter famine, the kingdom’s people had resorted to hunting and eating the monsters that swarmed throughout the kingdom. The royal family had actively encouraged this and widely spread methods for purifying and eating monster byproducts.

“You remember that, right?”

“Yes.”

“They made a lot of money selling the inedible byproducts that remained……”

Of course, as the supply of monster byproducts exploded, prices plummeted.

“But since they couldn’t farm last year, there’s no wheat or wine in the markets. So even though they have money, they can’t buy anything, which is why they’re asking for supplies.”

“Ah……”

Elodie nodded as if she understood and then asked the ministers.

“I understand that each territory has ample funds, so couldn’t they buy supplies from merchants from other countries?”

“The trade routes that were blocked all winter have only just reopened, so the distribution of goods is not yet smooth, Your Majesty.”

“I see.”

Now the ministers began debating everything from ‘we should respond to the request, we should refuse’ to ‘how to obtain the supplies.’

“Let’s clarify this first.”

Roderick, who was on the side that they should respond to the request, cut off the discussion that couldn’t reach a conclusion and was branching out in all directions.

“I believe that if we’re going to support festival supplies, we should support all territories.”

His opinion was that they shouldn’t send supplies only to some who had made requests.

“Doesn’t that mean sending supplies to those who sided with Marquis Draven in the war as well?”

A minister asked.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”

Roderick nodded and elaborated.

“If we only support some, especially only the pro-princess faction from the war, other territories will surely harbor resentment.”

Those who had sent requests were pro-princess faction lords. They could boldly request supplies because they had all distinguished themselves in the war.

Lords who had been on the marquis’s side were facing the same problems but obviously didn’t dare make requests.

“Let them harbor resentment. If they didn’t side with Her Majesty, isn’t it natural that they don’t receive help?”