Chapter 7

As the large crowd continued to gather among the ministers, suddenly a rumbling sound came from outside the conference room.

“My Prince! No, my Prince!”

The door swung open and a familiar face walked in. It was my younger brother, Jenner, who was only twelve years old.

Diaquit stared at Jenner with a frown.

“What are you doing? This is no place for a boy like you to come in.”

Jenner stared at Diaquit with his red eyes as if he had been crying.

“Is it true that sister is going to marry the First Emperor?”

Diaquit replied stiffly.

“We were discussing it.”

I stood up and approached Jenner.

He was my youngest brother, eight years younger than me. After my mother’s death, he was the one person who adored me the most.

“Sister! Say something!”

Jenner looked like he was about to burst into tears. But before I could soothe him, Diaquit interrupted again.

“It’s a reasonable alliance plan.”

“Reasonable? What’s reasonable? What’s reasonable? Is it reasonable to sell your sister?”

“That madman, who would start a war if he wanted to, but he proposed an alliance to us first. And the terms are unbelievably favorable. It’s a unique opportunity.”

“What chance? Brother!”

Jenner threw away the courtesy in front of the ministers and shouted at Diaquit.

“Jenner, stop it!”

I hugged Jenner and tapped his shoulders lightly.

If I was being sold, I was glad that it was Kwanach who bought me.

I looked atJenner, who was drenched with grief, and the news I heard when I was a ghost came to mind.

[Tell the second battalion. It’s Jenner……!]

Jenner died on the battlefield at the age of 15.

I would never let the future be repeated.

I calmed down, looked around at the audience, and spoke.

“The ministers are exaggerating when I, the party, say nothing.”

“Princess!”

“I’m fine. I am old enough to get married anyway. Please accept the agreement, Crown Prince.”

“Sister!”

Jenner suddenly grabbed my wrist. Then, one of the ministers said in a panicked tone instead.

“The princess does not need to be sacrificed in this way, we will try to find another way somehow……”

“What a sacrifice. It’s not a sacrifice. I want to marry him for real.”

Diaquit’s eyebrows arched up.

I laughed quietly. I meant what I said. It was a moment I’d been waiting for.

After more than a decade of waiting for my husband, who was with me for only half a day, it was finally time to meet.

* * *

As I came forward, the Official meeting concluded to accept the alliance proposal.

As rumors began to spread throughout the kingdom that I was going to marry, or more accurately, sell to Kwanach, there was outcry everywhere.

There was a flurry of petitions from the peasants, and the captain of the border guards immediately entered the royal palace in an effort to change my mind.

“Princess, this is outrageous. The princess is going to marry that lowly slave. This is an insult to our kingdom. I will fight. Even if this body is torn to pieces, I will stand up against the Radon Empire.”

“I’m really okay with it.”

I said seriously, but the captain of the guards didn’t seem to approve. It was the first time I’d ever seen a tall, middle-aged man whimper in front of me.

“It would be nice if we could avoid war.”

“But it’s ……!”

“A war with the Empire should never end lightly. It will rain blood. Even if we could gather the allied forces and win, this place will never be normal once the war is over. You know the longitude well. Where the war has passed, there is nothing left but ruins.”

Rationally, I didn’t have any rejection of this marriage alliance.

Others, however, seemed to think that I was enduring a noble sacrifice. As the wedding date approached, the kingdom was filled with a somber and melancholy atmosphere, as if it was holding a funeral.

Then one day. Diaquit came to visit me.

“How do you feel about your upcoming marriage?”

Unlike in my previous life, Diaquit did not treat me rudely. I wouldn’t have it anyway. Perhaps that’s why when he stood in front of me, looked oddly put out and regretful.

“I feel fine. Please have a seat.”

Diaquit sat across from me with his legs crossed.

“Hahaha. You’re fine? You’re trying to be strong, aren’t you?”

“I’m serious.”

“You’ll change your mind when you hear my story.”

Diaquit narrowed his eyes and smiled impishly.

“You know that there is a royal library that only the king has access to, don’t you?

“Yes.”

“When father was still in good health, and since I am the regent, I have the right to access those archives.”

What in the world was he trying to say? I put my hands on the hem of my dress and stared straight at the Diaquit.

“There was a secret document there for the Awakened of our clan.”

“…….”

“Oh, Goddess Fahar was mean.”

Diaquit’s mouth quirked up in amusement.

“She didn’t want the power she had given them to protect the silver forests of this land to leak out.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Awakeners cannot have children.”

Diaquit’s words made my head spin for a moment.

“It means that an awakened person, male or female, can never have heirs. You can’t have children.”

“But in the genealogy…”

“Yes. There were children of awakeners. However, it was fabricated. It was to hide the fact that they were infertile. They let the awakened child among the children of their siblings enter and raise it as if it were their own.”

I clenched my trembling fingers together, trying to maintain my composure.

I understood now why it was a bit of a mystery after listening to Diaquit.

The magic that the forest descended from suddenly awakened around the age of ten. There were no signs of any kind at birth.

It was not inherited through the bloodline, but chosen at random by the forest, one per generation.

If what Diakito said was true, then I would not be able to have children. I was not sad about that fact. I’ve never had the fantasy of starting a family. But I was worried. What would happen if this fact becomes known?

‘Will the alliance be broken as it was in my previous life?’

Because what Kwanach wanted was my bloodline.

Kwanach would not forgive me, or my kingdom, if he found out that the price of the alliance was a lie from the beginning.

‘Will we end up in war again this time, just as we are swept away by the current of time?’

I composed my voice and finally opened my mouth.

“Are you sure?”

“Is there any reason for me to lie to you?”

That said, there seemed to be no reason for him to tell the truth either.

I stared at Diaquit.

“Why didn’t you tell me this information before?”

The fact that I was infertile was a very difficult thing for the alliance to turn over.

It was a different situation than in my previous life. Diaquit’s behavior changed. I had to brace myself.

I calmed my erratic heart.

“If this fact comes to light, the alliance will never happen.”

“It will. And those slaves will invade our land.”

“With our current power now….”

“We can’t deal with them. You know that too. That’s why your role is so important.”

Diaquit reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pendant.

“It’s a communication artifact that I acquired with difficulty. Take it.”

I held the artifact in my hand with caution.

“If you go to the Empire, I will be able to contact you immediately. Don’t worry, unless it’s a wizard, no one will even know it’s an artifact.”

“Where did you get it from?”

“You don’t need to know.”

These days, the lifeblood of magic is dying out on the human continent. Disposable attack artifacts are now approaching the annual salary of a commoner. Moreover, these advanced communication artifacts must be given the value of a fortress.

Our kingdom was built on barren land, and we were not rich. Where did he get the money to secretly buy these artifacts without an official meeting?

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Information.”

Diaquit smiled, then continued.

“I think it’s okay not to have children for a year or so. Just fake it. Avoid sleeping with him to the maximum extent possible.”

Diaquit purposely stared me up and down .

“You’re the opposite of the Southern image of beauty, so maybe Kwanach won’t visit you.”

“…….”

“Buy yourself some time and find out some information about the Empire and Kwanach and relay it to me. When you leave this place, you will be nothing more than a little girl with not much to offer. Still, you can do this much, can’t you?”

Just as I was about to point out Diaquit’s attitude, a huge jolt of enlightenment hit me in the head.

Don’t tell me…

“Brother, did you intend to break the alliance from the beginning?”

“So you think I would honestly let that slave do what he wants? I was only going to take what I could get and discard it at the right time.”

“There will be a war.”

“I’ve already spoken to other kingdoms in the North. We will form a league against the Randon Empire.”

The more I listened to Diaquit’s words, the clearer assumption came to mind. He was thirsty for power.

“Originally we were going to hit Kwanach straight in the back of the head when they came to sign the alliance. I think we’ll start the war here, where we have a slight geographical advantage. But while Usphere is playing the spy, there is an opinion that we should prepare a little more thoroughly. Well, because you’re still one head better.”

Suddenly a chill spread through my body. Diaquit had always intended to start a war.

It was strange to see in my previous life that as soon as I died, the Northern League was immediately formed. It was not easy for so many kingdoms to come together in one place in an instant.

But the whole thing was premeditated.

There was a difference that I didn’t know before, but this time I did.

In Diaquit’s mind, I seemed to be a little more useful. I guess that’s why he’s sharing his plans and trying to get me into this political arena.

I remember the single arrow that drove me to my death and triggered the war.

It was impossible for an ordinary arrow to come through an imperial carriage and pierce my heart. I had only guessed that it must have been an enchanted arrow.

And now, the artifact that Diaquit had given me. It’s proof that a wizard who was on the verge of extinction on the human continent was helping him.

The situation came to light.

In a moment of rage, my mind went cold. I resisted the urge to burst out laughing and stared at Diaquit.

‘It was you, wasn’t it? The one who killed me.’