Montiel felt a sudden joy when she saw a faint twitch at the corner of Arkan’s mouth.
The fact that Erdene and Pelarhar spent a lot of time together was no longer a very interesting topic in the Vetor royal family.
At first, people who liked to gossip would talk about the two whenever they met.
However, most of them only talked about Erdene’s frivolity and did not dare to gossip about Pelarhar, who was a descendant of the King.
Above all, Pelarhar himself was a very popular person in high society, so everyone instinctively protected Pelarhar and pointed their fingers at Erdene.
“Seeing the walking side by side like that, it looks like Her Majesty the Queen and His Highness Pelarhar are a married couple.”
Arkan’s expression hardened in an instant.
Montiel pretended to notice him and pursed her lips again.
“Your Majesty, are you offended? It was a joke, so calm down.”
Arkan answered dryly.
“You should learn to be more selective with your jokes. The Queen and the Duke are both members of the royal family. They are not the ones you should joke about.”
“I apologize, Your Majesty. Well... I heard somewhere that His Highness Pelarhar sometimes jokes about Her Majesty the Queen, so I thought Your Majesty understood that you two were close friends.”
That was a clever remark, Arkan thought. He had no idea what kind of jokes Pelarhar made about the Queen, or where or from whom such rumors came from.
And yet he chose words that were enough to irritate him.
Even knowing all this, he couldn’t help feeling a surge of discomfort. Arkan lowered the reins slightly and picked up the pace a little.
As he had intended, Montiel screamed softly and turned forward, grabbing the handle on the saddle.
It was better because her face was not moving exaggeratedly.
“Your Majesty, I’m scared.”
Arkan bit his breath as he looked down at Montiel, who was leaning toward him.
He pushed her shoulder to straighten her back, trying his best not to touch Montiel.
“If you don’t get your bearings, you’re likely to fall.”
“I’m scared.”
“Thank goodness we’ll take a carriage when we go back.”
“Your Majesty is here, so there’s no need to worry about falling.”
What kind of stupid conversation is this?
Arkan was so annoyed that he wanted to turn around and just go back to work.
Montiel, who had interpreted his silence as a good thing, took the opportunity to whisper again.
“I heard that His Highness Pelarhar gave Her Majesty a rare silk as a gift. Did you see what kind of silk it was, Your Majesty?”
“You're interested in Pelarhar, wouldn’t it have been better to ride with him?”
“Oh, Your Majesty! No, you misunderstood. I’m not, absolutely not!”
Arkan felt uncomfortable once again at her denial, which was even more unusual than he had expected.
Although he had talked to Montiel Zelma once or twice, he had never met her in person, so Arkan felt awkward and uncomfortable in this situation.
And as for Montiel Zelma herself, she had noticed Arcan’s discomfort.
Nevertheless, she did not want to miss the opportunity to be alone with Arkan.
When Sophia Fiddler, who everyone praised, was mentioned as a candidate for Queen, she had not dared to approach Arkan, but now, wasn’t the situation different?
Arkan said,
“It seemed like you were trying to get along with Pelarhar before.”
In fact, Montiel had once made a great effort to attract Arkan’s attention.
Not only her, but all the ladies who were not yet formally engaged were anxious to get involved with Pelarhar at least once.
It would be best if they could sneakily get the position of Duchess, and even if not, many women tried hard to become his lover and enjoy the jealous gazes of others.
Montiel Zelma was the most notable of them all, but her interest was no longer in Pelarhar.
'If I'm going to become a member of the royal family, it's much better to aim for His Majesty than for His Highness Pelarhar.'
She thought quickly.
There was already a Queen, so it wouldn't be easy for her to take her place.
However, she thought that it wouldn't be that difficult if she just got Arkan's favor.
'Even if having a government is prohibited by law, is that a big deal? Who wouldn't know that everyone has one or two secret lovers? Just because you're His Majesty doesn't mean you can't do that? And even if it starts with a government, it's not like you wouldn't know.'
If only he could somehow push Erdene out of that place. Montiel's heart swelled with fantasy.
What if something happened that Arkan couldn't forgive Erdene? Maybe since Erdene didn't have much support as Queen.
'I don't know.'
Montiel began with a grin.
"Her Majesty the Queen and His Highness Pelerhar..."
"Let's stop talking about the two of them."
Arkan cut her off.
Montiel pretended to lick her lips before quietly closing her mouth and looking forward again.
If she could just get Erdene completely out of Arkan's sight, the rest wouldn't be so difficult.
Meanwhile, Pelarhar and Erdene, who were walking ahead, looked lively at first glance, but in reality, they were not.
Pelarhar occasionally looked back at Arkan and tried to send him a worried look, but Erdene stopped him every time.
“Don’t look back, Duke.”
Pelerhar said.
“Your Majesty, His Majesty...”
He moved his lips for a moment and then let out a deep sigh.
He could be proud that he was one of the people who knew Arkan better than anyone else. It was none other than Montiel Zelmarani, and Arkan must have been on the verge of going crazy right now.
“...Your Majesty, you made a mistake today. Arkan must be really angry. Why did you do that?”
Erdene glanced at Pelarhar.
“If they're trying to push me around like that, and I don't respond, it's no fun, right?”
Pelarhar’s brow furrowed.
“Trying to pick a fight... Are you talking about the daughter of Count Zelma?”
“Yes. Who else could there be?”
Somehow he thought she would leave her alone. Pelarhar thought.
As everyone had expected, Erdene was not ignorant of Montiel’s absurd tricks and rudeness and was just sitting there.
But that did not mean she was being lenient.
Erdene hummed.
“I think everyone has forgotten, but I am the only Princess in the empire who enjoys unrivaled power aside from my Father and Mother. I will not tolerate anyone who challenges my authority. That is the way it should be.”
“I understand that.”
He answered calmly, but Pelerhar let out a sigh of shock and distress.
Erdene was smiling so brightly that he wondered if she was really turning a blind eye to Count Zelma’s daughter, but if she left her alone, that stubborn young lady’s head would fall off before the sun set today.
But there was still something he didn’t understand.
“I understand, but why didn’t you tell Arkan?”
Erdene stared at Pelarhar as if she would listen to even the most unusual question.
“Things like that may seem funny and trivial now, but they will grow into poisonous mushrooms someday. If you don’t uproot them all at once, it won’t be good for you either. Do you think I’ll just threaten them with a few words and drive them away? Absolutely not. It would be better to make them think they can take root and then uproot them all at once. That way, there won’t be any regrets. But His Majesty is not good at acting.”
Pelarhar was truly taken aback by Erdene’s words, which seemed to suggest that she was talking about something obvious. To summarize her words, it would be...
The commander was in a position where he could neither hesitate nor be caught hesitating.
Pelarhar was still a step away, and since his personality was more similar to Erdene's than Arkan's, he could understand her thoughts and actions relatively easily.
However, Arkan was not like that. Arkan was different from Erdene.
The way he ruled the country was based on fairness, prudence, and the generosity to sincerely listen to the opinions of as many people as possible.
Even if his innate personality was not like that, Arkan as a King tried hard to get rid of his hasty personality and the reckless habits of his childhood.
And his way of thinking tended to follow his actions to some extent.
“Your Majesty, let me tell you one thing. Arkan will not be able to guess what Your Majesty is thinking right now.”
Erdene looked at Pelarhar with one eyebrow slightly furrowed.
It was fortunate that she was at least pretending to listen.
Pelarhar continued, hoping that today’s brief outing would not end in a terrible ending.
The fact that Erdene and Pelarhar spent a lot of time together was no longer a very interesting topic in the Vetor royal family.
At first, people who liked to gossip would talk about the two whenever they met.
However, most of them only talked about Erdene’s frivolity and did not dare to gossip about Pelarhar, who was a descendant of the King.
Above all, Pelarhar himself was a very popular person in high society, so everyone instinctively protected Pelarhar and pointed their fingers at Erdene.
“Seeing the walking side by side like that, it looks like Her Majesty the Queen and His Highness Pelarhar are a married couple.”
Arkan’s expression hardened in an instant.
Montiel pretended to notice him and pursed her lips again.
“Your Majesty, are you offended? It was a joke, so calm down.”
Arkan answered dryly.
“You should learn to be more selective with your jokes. The Queen and the Duke are both members of the royal family. They are not the ones you should joke about.”
“I apologize, Your Majesty. Well... I heard somewhere that His Highness Pelarhar sometimes jokes about Her Majesty the Queen, so I thought Your Majesty understood that you two were close friends.”
That was a clever remark, Arkan thought. He had no idea what kind of jokes Pelarhar made about the Queen, or where or from whom such rumors came from.
And yet he chose words that were enough to irritate him.
Even knowing all this, he couldn’t help feeling a surge of discomfort. Arkan lowered the reins slightly and picked up the pace a little.
As he had intended, Montiel screamed softly and turned forward, grabbing the handle on the saddle.
It was better because her face was not moving exaggeratedly.
“Your Majesty, I’m scared.”
Arkan bit his breath as he looked down at Montiel, who was leaning toward him.
He pushed her shoulder to straighten her back, trying his best not to touch Montiel.
“If you don’t get your bearings, you’re likely to fall.”
“I’m scared.”
“Thank goodness we’ll take a carriage when we go back.”
“Your Majesty is here, so there’s no need to worry about falling.”
What kind of stupid conversation is this?
Arkan was so annoyed that he wanted to turn around and just go back to work.
Montiel, who had interpreted his silence as a good thing, took the opportunity to whisper again.
“I heard that His Highness Pelarhar gave Her Majesty a rare silk as a gift. Did you see what kind of silk it was, Your Majesty?”
“You're interested in Pelarhar, wouldn’t it have been better to ride with him?”
“Oh, Your Majesty! No, you misunderstood. I’m not, absolutely not!”
Arkan felt uncomfortable once again at her denial, which was even more unusual than he had expected.
Although he had talked to Montiel Zelma once or twice, he had never met her in person, so Arkan felt awkward and uncomfortable in this situation.
And as for Montiel Zelma herself, she had noticed Arcan’s discomfort.
Nevertheless, she did not want to miss the opportunity to be alone with Arkan.
When Sophia Fiddler, who everyone praised, was mentioned as a candidate for Queen, she had not dared to approach Arkan, but now, wasn’t the situation different?
Arkan said,
“It seemed like you were trying to get along with Pelarhar before.”
In fact, Montiel had once made a great effort to attract Arkan’s attention.
Not only her, but all the ladies who were not yet formally engaged were anxious to get involved with Pelarhar at least once.
It would be best if they could sneakily get the position of Duchess, and even if not, many women tried hard to become his lover and enjoy the jealous gazes of others.
Montiel Zelma was the most notable of them all, but her interest was no longer in Pelarhar.
'If I'm going to become a member of the royal family, it's much better to aim for His Majesty than for His Highness Pelarhar.'
She thought quickly.
There was already a Queen, so it wouldn't be easy for her to take her place.
However, she thought that it wouldn't be that difficult if she just got Arkan's favor.
'Even if having a government is prohibited by law, is that a big deal? Who wouldn't know that everyone has one or two secret lovers? Just because you're His Majesty doesn't mean you can't do that? And even if it starts with a government, it's not like you wouldn't know.'
If only he could somehow push Erdene out of that place. Montiel's heart swelled with fantasy.
What if something happened that Arkan couldn't forgive Erdene? Maybe since Erdene didn't have much support as Queen.
'I don't know.'
Montiel began with a grin.
"Her Majesty the Queen and His Highness Pelerhar..."
"Let's stop talking about the two of them."
Arkan cut her off.
Montiel pretended to lick her lips before quietly closing her mouth and looking forward again.
If she could just get Erdene completely out of Arkan's sight, the rest wouldn't be so difficult.
Meanwhile, Pelarhar and Erdene, who were walking ahead, looked lively at first glance, but in reality, they were not.
Pelarhar occasionally looked back at Arkan and tried to send him a worried look, but Erdene stopped him every time.
“Don’t look back, Duke.”
Pelerhar said.
“Your Majesty, His Majesty...”
He moved his lips for a moment and then let out a deep sigh.
He could be proud that he was one of the people who knew Arkan better than anyone else. It was none other than Montiel Zelmarani, and Arkan must have been on the verge of going crazy right now.
“...Your Majesty, you made a mistake today. Arkan must be really angry. Why did you do that?”
Erdene glanced at Pelarhar.
“If they're trying to push me around like that, and I don't respond, it's no fun, right?”
Pelarhar’s brow furrowed.
“Trying to pick a fight... Are you talking about the daughter of Count Zelma?”
“Yes. Who else could there be?”
Somehow he thought she would leave her alone. Pelarhar thought.
As everyone had expected, Erdene was not ignorant of Montiel’s absurd tricks and rudeness and was just sitting there.
But that did not mean she was being lenient.
Erdene hummed.
“I think everyone has forgotten, but I am the only Princess in the empire who enjoys unrivaled power aside from my Father and Mother. I will not tolerate anyone who challenges my authority. That is the way it should be.”
“I understand that.”
He answered calmly, but Pelerhar let out a sigh of shock and distress.
Erdene was smiling so brightly that he wondered if she was really turning a blind eye to Count Zelma’s daughter, but if she left her alone, that stubborn young lady’s head would fall off before the sun set today.
But there was still something he didn’t understand.
“I understand, but why didn’t you tell Arkan?”
Erdene stared at Pelarhar as if she would listen to even the most unusual question.
“Things like that may seem funny and trivial now, but they will grow into poisonous mushrooms someday. If you don’t uproot them all at once, it won’t be good for you either. Do you think I’ll just threaten them with a few words and drive them away? Absolutely not. It would be better to make them think they can take root and then uproot them all at once. That way, there won’t be any regrets. But His Majesty is not good at acting.”
Pelarhar was truly taken aback by Erdene’s words, which seemed to suggest that she was talking about something obvious. To summarize her words, it would be...
"...Your Majesty, you’re not saying that you used Arkan as bait to scold Miss Zelma, are you?”
“Why not? The Duke saw that woman picking up the sly words earlier. I don’t think His Majesty didn’t know that.”
Where and how should they start to resolve this situation?
Pelarhar suddenly felt a headache.
It was no longer a new thought that the two had very different personalities, but today’s incident was the worst of all the events that had occurred in the past four months.
The worst of all was that the worst that could have happened had not yet occurred.
Almost all of Erdene’s thinking revolved around war. She tended to deal with all situations by thinking about how to achieve victory as quickly and efficiently as possible. She also rarely discussed and reviewed her decisions with others.
‘It can’t be helped. That’s how she lived... She was someone who had been running around on a battlefield where she could lose her life if she was hit by a single arrow at the age of only twelve or so. And she became a commander at the age of fifteen or sixteen.’
“Why not? The Duke saw that woman picking up the sly words earlier. I don’t think His Majesty didn’t know that.”
Where and how should they start to resolve this situation?
Pelarhar suddenly felt a headache.
It was no longer a new thought that the two had very different personalities, but today’s incident was the worst of all the events that had occurred in the past four months.
The worst of all was that the worst that could have happened had not yet occurred.
Almost all of Erdene’s thinking revolved around war. She tended to deal with all situations by thinking about how to achieve victory as quickly and efficiently as possible. She also rarely discussed and reviewed her decisions with others.
‘It can’t be helped. That’s how she lived... She was someone who had been running around on a battlefield where she could lose her life if she was hit by a single arrow at the age of only twelve or so. And she became a commander at the age of fifteen or sixteen.’
The commander was in a position where he could neither hesitate nor be caught hesitating.
Pelarhar was still a step away, and since his personality was more similar to Erdene's than Arkan's, he could understand her thoughts and actions relatively easily.
However, Arkan was not like that. Arkan was different from Erdene.
The way he ruled the country was based on fairness, prudence, and the generosity to sincerely listen to the opinions of as many people as possible.
Even if his innate personality was not like that, Arkan as a King tried hard to get rid of his hasty personality and the reckless habits of his childhood.
And his way of thinking tended to follow his actions to some extent.
“Your Majesty, let me tell you one thing. Arkan will not be able to guess what Your Majesty is thinking right now.”
Erdene looked at Pelarhar with one eyebrow slightly furrowed.
It was fortunate that she was at least pretending to listen.
Pelarhar continued, hoping that today’s brief outing would not end in a terrible ending.
“I can tell you that Arkan is in a state of complete disarray right now. Please, speak to Arkan before it is too late. As soon as you reach the lake. Promise me.”
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