Chapter 8

“You’d use me?”

I opened my mouth, keeping my composure.

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘use’, but I’m giving you the opportunity to work for your country as an ordained minister.”

Diaquit seemed uncharacteristically elated, as if he thought that once I was married, I would no longer be the princess of Achaia.

“You need to ask for my help. Don’t be cocky by saying it’s an opportunity.”

“What?”

“Who do you think has been defending the motherland all this time?”

“And yet, if you marry into the empire, you will….”

“You’re saying my powers will be reduced? Even so, a crown prince who can’t handle magic at all would be better than me?”

Diaquit bit his lip tightly. His face flushed red with shame, he rose from his seat.

“I guess I was wrong to tell you. I can use a little magic, and if you know politics, what do you know….?”

Diaquit’s eyes lit up.

“Please sit down.”

“You’re already giving orders to your brother?”

“Did I ever say I’d turn down your proposal? It’s not very politically savvy of you to get so worked up over a single thing like this and ruin the mood.”

Diaquit went berserk, feverish, and then reluctantly sat back down.

“So. Are you going to help me?”

I quickly stroked the artifact Diaquit had given me with my fingers.

If I refused his proposal, would Diaquit try to assassinate me again? He will not let me become Kwanach’s wife after learning of his dangerous plan.

Despite the fact that my magic has become more powerful, Diaquit wanted to get rid of me when the time came. In other words, he had strong support from behind.

Diaquit was not alone. It was clear that there was a bigger force behind him.

“I’ll cooperate.”

It seemed that first I had to find out what Diaquit was planning while pretending to help him.

Whether I married or not, the war was destined to happen anyway.

Diaquit Catatel.

A foolish man blinded by ambition. The person who killed me in the previous life and drove this land to hell.

What will happen in the upcoming war? Will we win?

If we do win, the glory and power will be enjoyed by Diaquit and other powerful men. Pain and death will be for the people.

I saw it on the road. The sight of both the Imperial and Allied armies suffering. Who will compensate them for the blood they shed?

It was a horrific and ruthless world at the bottom of the barrel that I did not notice when I was confined to the walls of the castle.

I did not return to the past to see my country triumph at the end of last year’s war.

I did not return to the past to see the stench of blood seep deep into this land.

Instead, I will try to prevent it.

That’s right. I thought it would be easy to change the future.

I was hoping that I would marry Kwanach safely and maintain the alliance.

To Diaquit’s unknowable soul, the momentum of the war over the continent in general, and even the belated discovery of my infertility.

In the end, I had to cheat both Kwanach and Diaquit.

I wasn’t sure, but I also didn’t want to give up. I didn’t want to go back to the old days where I was helpless anymore.

* * * *

The preparations for the marriage proceeded in a flash. At first, there was a strong sense of haste for the ceremony in the empire.

In the meantime, I was thinking so much that my head hurt.

Let’s say I discovered Diaquit’s conspiracy and prevented a war. The next thing was also a problem.

If I were married for a year or two, but there were no children, Kwanach would notice something was wrong.

He might even divorce me. I was sure my bloodline was the only thing he wanted. If that happened, the marriage alliance would naturally be broken, and the war would come back to haunt us.

Was there a way to have children? Could it be done with the help of other magic?

However, I could not find a suitable answer to this question, and time passed.

Before I knew it, the second wedding day dawned.

A short time later, the imperial procession entered the palace. It was early in the morning, just after the sun had risen.

I was in my room and the sound of horses’ hooves made me curious enough to run to the window.

The flag of the Radon Empire fluttered, a red sun pattern emblazoned on a black background.

The procession was intimidating, but there was one person who stood out from the rest.

A man in black armor and a red cloak.

His physique was so large that he was clearly different from the knights. Even if it wasn’t because of his figure, he had the power to naturally attract the gaze of others.

“Kwanach….”

He was to be my husband, and from now on he will be my husband.

Kwanach was riding a large black horse. As soon as he turned to face me through the window, I gasped.

‘That man is still the same, isn’t he?’

Still mighty, still beautiful, still overwhelming to behold. Once again, I came to realize what my husband was like.

For the past ten years since my regression, I have lived my life with my eyes only on today. I have completed all the preparations I could realistically make. Nevertheless, when I looked directly at Kwanach, my heart trembled with anxiety.

‘Calm down.’

I placed my hands on my chest and took a deep breath. I carefully inspected my mind to see what I had to do.

I was almost certain that Diaquit would try to assassinate me, but blind faith was not good. When I accepted Diaquit’s proposal, even though I was superficially in the same boat as him, he might have had a sudden change of heart.

Today, it would be better not to guarantee that that assassination that killed me in a previous life would not happen again.

I tried to act with even the smallest possibility in mind. There’s nothing wrong with being careful.

“First thing first, survival, second thing second.’

I pulled myself together and stared at Kwanach reluctantly until he disappeared from my view.

‘I shouldn’t be too awkward with Kwanach, but…’

* * * *

The time to see Kwanach alone came sooner than expected. It was out of etiquette, but Kwanach had requested to see me before the wedding ceremony.

‘It wasn’t like this before the regression…’

It was then that I saw Kwanach for the first time as he entered the wedding hall.

Wasn’t it a bit much to walk into a wedding hall with a bride you’ve never even spoken to?

I quickly regained my composure, as such minute distortions had happened before this. I worn a light but suitably polite outfit and waited for him before I changed into my wedding dress.

Eventually, Kwanach entered the chamber alone.

He was still dressed in his armor. The matted black armor wrapped his massive body without any gaps.

“Princess.”

“…….”

As Kwanach entered the room, the air in the room seemed to change. He was a man who could intimidate people just by standing in the same space as them.

I gulped and grabbed the hem of my dress.

“Nice to meet you, Your Majesty.”

I made my first polite greeting. I could feel Kwanach’s piercing eyes rummaging all over me.

I tried not to be frightened or perturbed by his gaze. For this moment, I was grateful for my non-emotional nature.

Step. Step.

Kwanach was getting closer to me, one step at a time. The shorter the distance between us became, the more erratically my heart beat.

Kwanach’s amazing beauty made me nervous. It would be natural for a person who can distinguish between tastes to shrink in front of him.

And he was right in front of me. His body odor faintly stabbed my nose.

Eventually, a thick voice escaped his lips.

“Princess will not like this marriage.”

It was not a very appropriate first conversation between a groom and his bride just before the wedding.

Was that the kind of thing you would say on the first encounter?

I lifted my gaze and made eye contact with Kwanach.

I wondered what this man was thinking. I didn’t want to offend him if I didn’t have to.

Kwanach of my previous life invaded this land without mercy. The imperial army killed my brother in cold blood. But paradoxically, in order to prevent that future, I had to maintain a safe marriage with this man.

I opened my mouth, trying to maintain my composure.

“Your Majesty, why do you think I don’t like this marriage?”

“…….”

“I came to this place, willing to marry Your Majesty.”

Kwanach’s forehead wrinkled slightly.

“You have beautiful lips, and you are a good liar.”

“I’m not lying…”

“Very well. Let’s start with titles. We are going to be husband and wife after a while. Call me by my name.”

Call the name of the emperor who has ruled half of the continent since our first meeting. My body stiffened in bewilderment at the unexpected suggestion.

Kwanach’s dark eyebrows furrowed as he continued his words.

“Royal etiquette, I don’t know much about such things. And I don’t like Princess calling me that.”

“Your Majesty also calls me Princess…….”

“Usphere.”

As soon as my name appeared in his voice, I felt a strange heat in my chest.

Did he know my name by any chance? I didn’t think about that.

The grim look on Kwanach’s face grew darker by the moment.

I said with bated breath as I squeezed out.

“Kwa…… nach.”

“…….”

I said with great courage and there was no response. Silence passed between us for a while.

Didn’t he hear me?

I didn’t want him to hate me for refusing his request, so I reiterated it in a clearer voice than before.

“Kwanach.”

The sound of his name rolled off the tip of my tongue wasn’t too bad.

Kwanach gave a small cough, as if he had heard it correctly this time. Apparently, though, there was even more force between his eyebrows.

His jaw, which looked as if it had been painstakingly carved by a sculptor, was tightly closed. His red, thick lips did not even move a bit.

He told me to call him by his name. Did he not like it when he heard it?

However, I didn’t expect Kwanach to like me as a woman in the first place.

Usphere Catatel. Because what Kwanach was looking for from this name was not Usphere, but Catatel. Or, more accurately, the power in the blood of Catatel.

For a handsome man who was admired all over the continent, a frontier princess would seem dull and boring.

In my country, I was praised as a beautiful Princess, but in the vast empire, I was an ordinary axis. I didn’t even have a face worthy of the image of beauty in the empire.