Chapter 5: TWOCM

Chapter 5

Kaiden ignored Ben, who was still muttering in unease, and instead thought about Reyna.

“I apologize for my earlier rudeness.”

“It was I who was rude first. I arrived without notice, so I’m grateful you didn’t turn me away.”

“Still, letting out killing intent so carelessly was my mistake. The matter was sensitive, and my emotions got the better of me.”

“It’s really fine. I’ve heard that Northerners are naturally quick-tempered and easily angered. Perhaps it’s because you all constantly fight life-and-death battles and evolved that way. Sometimes, what the heart dictates is more correct than what the mind dictates.”

“I didn’t expect to be taken down like that. Are you mocking me?”

“Pardon? Of course not. Who would dare lay a hand on you? Someone like me would be blown away before I even got close.”

“…Please take care on your way.”

“Pfft.”

Kaiden chuckled as he finished recalling the memory.

He didn’t care that Ben was looking at him like he had lost his mind.

Princess Reyna was like a rabbit that had wandered into a tiger’s den and stuck its neck out on its own.

The fact that he hadn’t immediately rejected her proposal—despite it seeming like a single bite to him—was because he had recognized that courage.

Thinking of her trembling yet still saying everything she needed to say made him laugh again.

She was a strange woman—bold when speaking, yet constantly glancing at his reaction.

His instincts told him that Princess Reyna was speaking the truth.

While Ben was debating whether to call a physician, Kaiden spoke.

“I might end up with a new duchess.”

“What? You’re joking, right?”

“Have you ever seen me joke?”

Kaiden smirked, and Ben’s eyes widened.

His lord looked unusually pleased.

And Ben knew that when Kaiden took interest in something, he became relentlessly persistent.

It seemed the princess’s proposal had struck a chord.

Whatever it was, if his lord had decided, then it was the duty of a subordinate to follow.

Ben wiped the smile off his face and said,

“At least make your decision after I finish my report.”

“Find out by tomorrow.”

“….”

“Why? You don’t want to?”

“If I say I don’t, you’ll tell me to get it done tonight anyway, won’t you?”

“You know me well.”

Kaiden grinned in agreement.

Ben silently cursed his superior with his eyes and left the study.

On the way back to the imperial palace, Reyna clenched her fists internally in triumph.

‘It worked!’

She had been worried about Kaiden’s uncooperative attitude, but fortunately, it had worked.

In her previous life, she had studied everything about him under the Emperor’s orders.

No one understood Kaiden’s interests better than Reyna did.

Kaiden cared deeply for the North and its people.

He would risk his own life without hesitation if it meant protecting them.

So she targeted that weakness—or rather, that conviction. In her previous life she had driven him toward ruin; now she would do the opposite.

“I can see the future. And other things as well—like the hiding places of monsters during their spawning cycle. I can sense unusual energy there.”

“Is that true?”

“In the North, Class-1 Sealed Monsters will soon multiply. If you marry me, I will tell you where their eggs are. It would be better for the North to eliminate them before they hatch.”

“That is an intriguing proposal, but why should I believe you?”

“An envoy will arrive from the North tomorrow. They will report that they found the shell of a Class-1 Sealed Monster called a Goert.”

“…You’re saying you can see the future?”

“You’ll find out tomorrow whether I’m lying to deceive the Duke—or whether I truly see the future.”

“If everything you say is true, then I see no reason to refuse your proposal.”

“Then I’ll be waiting.”

Reyna clasped her trembling hands in front of her chest.

Kaiden was more intimidating than she had expected.

Jet-black hair.

Sharp violet eyes that gleamed like those of a predator.

And the aura of a dragon’s descendant that pressed down heavily on her.

He was so tall that she had to look up, straining her neck.

Reyna watched the receding silhouette of the ducal estate from the carriage and fell into thought.

Still, he had not dismissed her proposal.

Even if he was sharp and blunt, he had listened seriously—that much was undeniable.

Feeling a bit more at ease, Reyna looked up at the blue sky for the first time in a while and murmured,

“…Such a painfully beautiful sky.”

She told herself she should see it as much as she could while she still could.

For a long while, she could not take her eyes off the sky.

Three days had passed since meeting the Duke of Crensia, but she had received no reply.

As the wait stretched longer than expected, Reyna grew anxious.

‘What is it? Did the messenger not arrive? That can’t be.’

At this time, news of the Goert shell should already have reached the North, prompting the Duke to depart urgently.

Within five days at most, he should have left.

She could not decide whether she should continue waiting.

While Reyna paced back and forth anxiously—

“Your Highness.”

The head maid knocked gently and approached, holding a silver tray with a card.

A golden invitation embossed with the Scales of Wisdom and the Eternal Sun Clock—the symbols of the Mernier Imperial Family.

Reyna recognized it immediately and murmured,

“…This is…”

“Congratulations, Your Highness. His Majesty the Emperor has invited you to tonight’s banquet.”

At that moment, Reyna covered her mouth and swallowed a scream.

The Emperor often hosted banquets inviting four promising members of the royal family.

It was essentially a gathering to determine the Emperor’s favored children.

The privileges of those invited to the Emperor’s banquet and those who were not were vastly different.

Thus, most royals longed to be chosen.

Reyna had been one of them—but she had never once been invited.

She had been imprisoned shortly after her powers manifested.

The Emperor was greedy. To achieve his grand dream of unifying the continent, he even used his own daughter as a tool.

He was ruthless enough to erase her from history if necessary.

Naively, Reyna had always longed for even a glance, even a shred of attention from him.

She had not known that the price of that desire would be ten years of exploitation.

‘The Duke must have gone to see the Emperor.’

Otherwise, the Emperor would not suddenly invite her to a banquet.

At this point in time, Reyna was so insignificant to him that she might as well not exist.

In the past, she would have been overjoyed at the invitation.

Now, however, her heart pounded for a different reason.

‘I can’t make a mistake.’

Fortunately, her divine authority had not yet manifested.

Even knowing the Emperor would not imprison her lightly, she could not help but feel tense.

The head maid personally assisted her in preparing for the banquet.

Even this was unusual.

Reyna was essentially a princess in name only.

Her mother had died giving birth to her, and her brother—three years her senior—had gone missing during a subjugation mission three years ago.

Her maternal family, the Iv Count family, had abandoned their estate after her brother’s disappearance.

More accurately, they had been pushed out due to lack of political backing.

At the time, Reyna had tried to follow her uncle, but it was not permitted.

Without imperial approval, no royal could be taken away freely.

In the end, she had been isolated. Could a royal without allies or siblings truly live as royalty?

Soon, the time for the banquet arrived, and Reyna quickly made her way to the banquet hall