Chapter 31

“…Deborah.”

Duke Douglas looked at his wife in disbelief, and went out of the conference hall with a contorted face.

The scene of the accusation of adultery had become a mess.

Deborah cried desperately in the midst of confusion and shock.

“Ah, no. This is because Lucia also hired Marquis Kalen…!”

“It’s really ugly.”

But midway through, a lady cut her off and frowned.

Now that the situation had come this far, no one seemed to believe Deborah’s words.

It was in an instant that the social butterfly uglily fell.

“Ugly? To whom do you dare say that to?!”

While watching the scene quietly, I added,

“The Duchess of Douglas is very agitated. Take her outside.”

“Yes!”

The guards responded loudly and took Deborah out.

“Let go of me! Let go of me! How dare you touch my hand! Die!”

Deborah, who lost her temper, punched and bit the guards and flailed. Then, eventually, someone grabbed her by the hair.

“Ahh!”

Eventually, Deborah was dragged out of the conference hall.

Indeed, a storm raged and went, and everyone was frozen.

They were all somewhat lost in the scorching heat.

The prime minister almost died in this place today, and his servant actually died. Another nobleman was executed, and Deborah was caught by the hair and taken away.

The high priest quietly lifted his staff before the heat of the burning conference hall had cooled down. Then he spoke in a solemn and calm voice.

“Well, as I was saying, I’ll gather the content of the discussion and public opinion and come to a conclusion.”

He continued quietly.

“This High Priest’s decision on the holy marriage of ‘Berylia Spinel’ and ‘Rixus Aktoum’, which is on today’s agenda…”

All of a sudden, everyone was focusing on the high priest.

My own heart beat fast.

“Permission, granted.”

Bang! The result of the discussion was confirmed by firmly hitting with the priest’s staff.

“!”

I stared blankly at the high priest. Then, when the thunderous applause belatedly started from the nobility’s seat, I finally regained my senses.

One by one, people started to stand up.

A swarm of brightly lit lights and the cheers of the people poured over my whole body and mixed with my own ecstasy.

Although not everyone here would be happy with today’s results… Everyone would know that I did my best.

“Berylia.”

It was only when a friendly voice called me that I felt a sense of reality.

“…Rixus.”

“Congratulations on your complete victory.”

The corners of his lips were raised as he kissed the back of my hand. My heart swelled a bit.

In this barren enemy country, Aktoum, where hardly anyone favored me.

I eventually created my place.

I set a goal and wanted it, but I didn’t know it would come true, so I looked at Rixus with an overwhelmed heart.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it alone. It’s our victory.”

This was sincere. It was the first victory achieved with my nemesis.

‘It was pretty good.’

We were a surprisingly good team. And at this moment, a voice was heard crying in excitement.

“Oh, you don’t have to go back to Spinel anymore! I’m so happy…!”

Something fluffy and pink was in my arms. It was Seryl.

“I got so attached to you, and I was afraid that we would have to part, Your Majesty.”

“…Seryl, how dare you rush to Her Majesty like that…!”

The level-headed Laura tried to stop Seryl, but when I smiled and patted her on the head, she burst into tears as well.

And then… squeeze– I hugged her.

“Your Majesty!”

“Wahh, I’m so glad!”

Maribel followed and hugged me too.

Surrounded by the three maids, I frowned slightly and smiled.

“…You guys have a lot of tears.”

I was also getting emotional for no reason. Their sincere joy was conveyed, and my heart became warm.

It felt like they were reaffirming that my place in Aktoum was not created merely by status, but through warm friendship.

How long did the four of us hold each other?

Rixus opened his mouth.

“Berylia, tomorrow, an engagement dinner will be held.”

It was then that the maids fell away from me with bright faces.

I reeled in my various overwhelming emotions and answered calmly.

“…Yes, I know it’s a dinner party instead of an engagement ceremony.” 

“You know a lot more about Aktoum than I thought.”

“You’re wrong.”

I answered arrogantly, raising my chin.

“There’s nothing I don’t know about Aktoum.”

“Hmm.”

Rixus smiled meaningfully and asked back, “Is that so?” silently with his mouth.

“Then tomorrow night…”

“……”

“I’ll look forward to our ‘first night’ of engagement.”

He sneaked his finger across my cheek, laughed, and went away.

“……?”

……First night of engagement? Not the first wedding night, but the first night of engagement?

‘What is that?!’

For some reason, I was stunned at the ominous combination of words I had never heard of.

With a blank expression, like a sea otter who had just been robbed of the fish it was about to put in its mouth.

“…What was the first night of engagement?”

I asked the maids.

“Oh!”

“Oh my gosh…!”

“That……!”

Seryl, Laura, and Maribel turned red in turn.

‘It’s an ominous reaction.’

* * *

I didn’t dare to ask the maids further.

And the next day–

In the end, I decided to find out on my own, so I sneaked out of the Crown Prince’s Palace alone without any maids.

“No, what the hell is that custom?”

I had already read almost all the books on Aktoum.

Of course, I also read a book about customs, but there was no mention of ‘the first night of engagement’.

‘If it’s the first night after the engagement… Are we planning our marriage together?’

Maybe it’s that kind of wholesome day!

“Is that possible…?!”

……Maybe it’s ‘the first night’? I thought about it by myself, but I really didn’t know.

I should definitely look into it.

All necessary information before possession could be obtained from the Internet, but here, books were the widest sea of ​​information.

Eventually, I went to the Imperial Library to select books.

I took a moment to focus on finding the book, swiping the books in a row with the tip of the index finger.

A book caught my eye.

“Ah, I found it.”

It was a little sound, but somehow embarrassing for me.

A colorful design was engraved on the outer hardcover.

“…….”

I looked around a bit. No one was there.

Fortunately, the imperial librarian appeared to be absent.

I carefully opened the book with a pounding heart.

‘Eh?’

……What was this, why was a large and beautiful castle wall illustration included?

Why was this talking about castle culture and not sex culture…?(TL/N: ‘성’ has quite a few different meanings depending on how it’s used, two of them are ‘castle’ and ‘sex’.)

“Ah, this is not the book.”

I quickly closed the book and started looking for another one.

Even though I was alone, my face turned red from embarrassment. At that time, there was a title that caught my eye.

‘It’s not a book that shows the life of the royal court, right?’

I was skeptical and carefully pulled out the book, realizing it right away.

‘This is it!’

The cover was different.

There was an artistic picture of a young and beautiful god and goddess holding each other naked.

I quickly opened the book and found the chapter I wanted.

‘I wonder if the first night of engagement is wholesome and meant for all ages, or rated 19.’

This wonderful book had separate chapters on the first night of engagement and the first night of marriage.

It was when I was frantically flipping to page 1937, the part on the first night of engagement.

“Your Majesty, what book are you looking for?”

At the kind voice of the imperial librarian, I hugged the book at the speed of pressing ‘alt+tab’.(TL/N: pressing ‘alt+tab’ switches between open apps for windows.)

The embarrassing nude cover was hidden, pressed against my chest.

“…The book I’m looking for is…”

“You must have already found it.”

The old man with gray hair and small eyes looked at the book in my arms and smiled warmly.

I hugged it, but how did he know what book it was?

Curious, I looked down a little.

The back cover was racier than the front cover.

“!”

I calmly moved my fingers to cover the important parts of the male and female gods.

Then maintaining a cool and elegant expression, I said,

“I took it out by mistake.”

The old man smiled kindly and said,

“Shall I bring the book to Your Majesty’s bedroom?”

“…There’s no need. Didn’t I take it out by mistake?”

I pretended nothing was wrong and put the book back in the place I had pulled it out from.

“I was just mistaken, I was looking for a book about the state affairs of Aktoum.”

“Of course, Your Majesty the Queen.”

Meanwhile, the librarian was looking at me with a kind expression that pretty much said ‘I understand everything’. That gentle expression made me even more embarrassed.

“But I’ve read through them all already.”

This part was true, but somehow it sounded like a lame excuse.

I was embarrassed, so I deliberately held my head upright and proudly walked past him.

The librarian bowed politely to me.

But then I quickly turned back the way and stood in front of the old man and said,

“Today’s visit…”

“I’ll keep it a complete secret.”

The old man grinned.

‘He’s really quick at catching on.’

I started speaking colding again.

“In case you talk to anyone else.”

“You’ll be beheaded.”

“…….”

‘……To throw his head away……? Suddenly?’

It was kind of bad to behead someone else for telling others that I was reading a racy book, but…….

Even so, there was something reassuring about it.

I finally left the Imperial Library with ease. Then, I steadily headed to the Crown Prince’s Palace.

“As expected, it would be faster to ask the maids.”

It will be ‘tonight’ soon.

Ame: Triple updates today! Enjoy~