The next morning, I woke up feeling an unprecedented sense of refreshment.
“What’s this? Why does my body feel so light?”
It was as if I had received all the buffs and blessings one could get at a church at once.
The comfort was overwhelming.
“Was the fatigue that bad?”
It made sense.
The cramped carriage, the tight schedule, and the constant tension with Frennila and Rii—my body hadn’t had a moment to relax.
Now that all of that was over, perhaps my body was finally reclaiming its ease.
By the way, I think I smell something like fragrance.
Lotus flowers?
Maybe it’s just my imagination.
I was about to look for the source of the scent when I realized it was almost time for the meeting.
Oh no, I need to hurry.
I quickly grabbed my outerwear and headed to the Duke’s office, leaving the matter of the scent behind.
*
In the Duke’s office, using the desk as a negotiation table, Duke Bellot and Kenneth’s group discussed the matter at hand.
‘We must assume the Duke will strongly oppose and prepare for negotiations accordingly.’
The refugee issue.
Most of the displaced refugees who had fled to the Empire’s territory were women, the elderly, and children.
In other words, non-combatants.
Taking them back to their tribe would be like shackling their feet.
If we could leave them in a safe place like Bellot’s territory, that would be ideal.
“Duke Bellot, I prefer to be direct. I would like you to accommodate the displaced refugees in your territory.”
“Alright.”
“…Please, think about it once more—huh? What did you just say?”
“It’s a request from the Third Prince himself. Of course, I must oblige.”
He agreed just like that?
What’s going on?
Is he really thinking before answering?
This is a refugee issue.
Even in my past life, many countries struggled with this problem.
Duke Bellot agreed to accommodate them for up to two years.
In return, he would receive labor from them and provide appropriate compensation.
‘The conditions are suspiciously favorable.’
Whether he knew my thoughts or not, Frennila looked at me with a relieved smile.
But I, with my growing concerns, couldn’t bring myself to smile like her.
The way Duke Bellot looked at me was unusual.
In the previous timeline, he had died, so I didn’t have much information about him.
It was hard to gauge the intent behind his gaze.
The way he looked at me was overflowing with familiarity, even affection—it was quite uncomfortable.
At one point, he even licked his lips while looking at me, sending a shiver down my spine.
‘What’s this? He didn’t seem like that kind of person before. Could he have those kinds of preferences?’
As I sat there with a stiff expression, lost in thought, Duke Bellot suddenly grabbed my hand with his large hand and pulled it to his chest.
I was horrified.
‘No! Stop! Don’t do this!’
Through the gaps in his clothes, I felt his thick chest hair and rough texture.
The sensation was so repulsive that goosebumps spread all over my body.
In a desperate attempt to preserve my purity, I struggled to pull my arm free, but Duke Bellot’s grip was too strong.
“Stop! Your Highness, you’re in distress!”
Fortunately, Frennila seemed to sense my crisis and grabbed Duke Bellot’s hand, pulling it away.
“Ah, my apologies, Your Highness. I was so moved by your growth and your journey to the north after all the worries about Agnes. I, Lanan de Bellot, have been inconsiderate in my excitement.”
“Agnes? Are you referring to my mother’s name?”
Empress Agnes, the Second Consort.
In this timeline, her name has been mentioned unusually often.
Agnes, a commoner-born empress, was a taboo subject among the Empire’s nobility.
While commoners celebrated her as a rags-to-riches story, many nobles refused to acknowledge her due to her “lowly blood.”
Though they smiled to her face, behind her back, they cursed and slandered her.
After she was assassinated one night, her name became a forbidden word, feared to invoke the Emperor’s wrath.
Yet, the Duke mentioned her name so casually.
They must have been quite close.
“Yes. Despite the difference in status, she was a longtime friend of my wife. When we heard she had become an empress in the capital, both my wife and I were quite surprised.”
Without even being asked, the Duke, who seemed to have a penchant for gossip, began unraveling stories about her.
Her personality, her hobbies—honestly, I wasn’t interested in such trivial details.
But Frennila, sitting beside me, listened with sparkling eyes, which only encouraged the Duke to continue.
“Haha. Anyway, like father, like son, I suppose.”
“Like father, like son?”
“The father fell in love with a girl from a foreign tribe, and now the son has fallen for a girl from a foreign tribe. What else can you call it but like father, like son?”
“Wait, what are you talking about?”
“Huh? Did His Majesty or Agnes not tell you? Agnes was from the Shield Tribe.”
Wait, what?
As the Duke casually dropped this bombshell, I was left utterly stunned.
My half-blood… is from a foreign tribe? Is this for real?
Suddenly, this feels like some kind of birth secret drama.
What is this, a morning soap opera?
“You didn’t know, did you? Have you ever wondered, Your Highness? Even though the Empire’s northern lands are barren, just a bit further north lies a vast grassland. It’s strange that the Empire, at its peak, would abandon such a strategic location.”
He’s right.
I had thought it was a plot hole in the game’s setting.
The Empire could have used it as pasture land for warhorses or for wheat farming.
“It was all because of love, you see.”
Thanks to the Duke’s TMI, some of the game’s settings that didn’t make sense before started to fall into place.
…
Aside from the refugee issue, the rest of the matters were relatively minor, and the Duke promised to provide as much support as possible within his capacity.
If I had known about this connection earlier, I could have used it in previous timelines.
What a waste.
After the meeting with the Duke (or rather, after the Duke’s gossip session), I immediately returned to my quarters.
I’m not sure why, but Frennila’s expression had turned strange midway through, so I hurriedly made my escape.
Was there something that upset her?
I’m not sure, but I guess time will fix it.
Tomorrow, we’ll begin the arduous journey across the Great Plains again.
It’s best to rest well beforehand.
Even though it was still early evening, I lay down on the soft bed and closed my eyes.
*
Rewinding time a bit, to the carriage heading north.
Frennila, though weary from the three-week journey, was also filled with joy. Being with the person she loved made her heart race.
Teaching him the tribal language, occasionally meeting his gaze—it made her heart pound as if an earthquake had struck, filling her with excitement.
Of course, not every moment was joyful.
During these three weeks, which felt both long and short, she learned about Kenneth’s peculiar constitution.
One day, while traveling on an unpaved road, the carriage shook violently, causing their bodies to bump into each other.
“Oh my!”
She pretended to be startled but secretly smiled, pleased with the accidental closeness.
Though she had never been involved in romance before, she had learned from novels that such natural touches could help progress a relationship.
Would he be embarrassed like her, or would he smile naturally?
Curious about his reaction, Frennila was stunned by what she saw.
Cough, gurgle.
Kenneth was foaming at the mouth and had fainted.
Shocked, she forgot even the basic first aid for someone who had fainted.
“Ugh, what’s going on? Huh? Your Highness, why are you foaming at the mouth? Are you dead? Are you okay?”
If Rii hadn’t woken up from her nap, it could have been a disaster.
It took several rounds of the Saintess’s recovery magic for Kenneth to regain consciousness.
But that wasn’t the only strange thing.
Every time Kenneth fell asleep in the carriage, he would mutter strange things in his sleep.
“…D-don’t kill me! Frennila, s-save me. Please. Sob.”
“Your Highness! It’s okay, I’m here.”
Each time, he would beg for his life in terror, calling her name for help.
She would rush to his side, holding him gently to calm him down, but instead of relaxing, he would start convulsing.
“Ugh, what is it this time?”
Only after Rii woke up and cast a mental recovery spell, Meditation Care, would Kenneth finally fall back into a peaceful sleep.
What on earth is going on?
What’s tormenting him like this?
His pain is my pain.
What should I do?
From that day on, she began to observe him more closely.
And then she noticed something.
The Prince was taking some kind of medication every day.
“Your Highness, are you feeling unwell? You’re taking pills every day.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
How is it nothing?
You’re drenched in cold sweat and your face is pale as a sheet.
The answer came from Rii, who was sitting beside him.
“Oh, that’s Bosimdan, a psychological sedative. The Prince said he needed it, so the Church provided a lot.”
‘Psychological sedative?’
“Hey, why did you tell her that?”
Kenneth playfully scolded Rii, trying to lighten the mood with a joking tone.
Could she be someone he could rely on?
Could a young girl like her be dependable?
Frennila couldn’t help but feel frustrated with herself.
…
She hadn’t even been able to resolve the tribe’s issues properly, which was why she had come to the Empire.
And now, having arrived at Bellot Castle, she felt she had found some answers.
Duke Bellot.
A man who had once been in conflict with the tribes, she had harbored a slight hostility toward him.
But after speaking with him, she found him to be a better person than she had expected.
‘He’s a friend of Mother’s!’
Though she and Kenneth weren’t even engaged, let alone married, Frennila already regarded the Second Consort as her mother.
Learning that the Duke was a longtime friend of her mother erased her hostility and replaced it with a sense of closeness.
Golden jasmine petals and a fine husband candidate.
She owed so much to her mother, so she listened intently to the Duke’s stories, trying to remember them.
It was the least she could do.
As she stored these memories in her mind, an unexpected piece of information slipped from the Duke’s lips.
“The father fell in love with a girl from a foreign tribe, and now the son has fallen for a girl from a foreign tribe. What else can you call it but like father, like son?”
…What?
Mother was from a tribe?
This unexpected revelation sparked many thoughts in her mind.
‘So that’s why we were drawn to each other. The Prince and I are truly destined,’ she thought positively.
But negative thoughts also surfaced.
The arrogant attitudes of the Empire’s people toward her came to mind.
Was the Prince the same?
A sense of kinship.
An outsider unwelcome in the Empire.
Her imagination began to immerse itself in his perspective.
Mother was from a foreign tribe, always ostracized, and was eventually assassinated by someone from the Empire.
The Prince is a half-blood, hiding from threats, living in seclusion.
Perhaps he, too, was ostracized by the Empire’s people, living in constant fear of death.
‘…Bosimdan.’
The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.
Of course, only a handful of people, including the Emperor and the Duke, knew that the Empress was from a foreign tribe.
This was all just speculation, but Frennila couldn’t stop her thoughts.
‘…The Empire.’
Once her anger had a target, something dark and sticky began to rise from the depths of her heart.
If the Prince hadn’t been beside her, that energy might have enveloped all living beings around her like a killing intent.
Snapping back to reality, she slapped her own cheek.
There are good people in the Empire, like the Duke.
As for the bad ones who killed Mother, I’ll find them later and punish them cruelly.
How should I kill them?
Just killing them isn’t enough.
The Prince seems broken somehow.
They broke my man?
They must pay the price.
‘Should I drive nails into their entire bodies? Or maybe pickle them alive in salt or boiling water?’
All of this will have to wait until after the tribe’s matters are settled.
As the future daughter-in-law, Frennila began to seriously consider how to avenge her mother’s grievances.