Raphine sighed and clasped her into the empress's arms. Miss Anna was restless and trembling.

"... For now, please don't do this here and move, Your Majesty."

At her handmaiden's words, the Empress said, "Come on." and dropped the rapine down.

"Come on, sweetheart. Shall we go together?"

The Empress reached out to Raphine. Raphine grabbed her hand.

'Her hands are cold... But does she still look healthy?'

「I think she is still ill.」

'Yes. In fact, she has ten more years left before the Empress dies.'

"Her hands are small and warm."

The Empress smiled cutely and looked at Raphine. There was a lot of warmth in her gaze.

Perhaps because she gave birth to Zerkan and she was ill and unable to have any more children, the Empress seemed to love her little girl Raphine.

Raphine took her Empress's hand as she walked, glanced at her Anna standing behind her.

'I'm going to be very nervous. It would be better if she could tell Sir Laurelian the truth by her own mouth.'

「That's it.」

But Anna bit her lip and glared at Raphine with a terrifying gaze.

Her gaze contained her hatred, resentment, and life.

She was by no means the kind of look in her eyes that would make her stand back at once.

* * *

When the Empress entered her drawing room, she bowed in surprise.

"Your Majesty, have you been healthy all this time?"

"You surprised me, and the divine water is clear."

At the words of the Empress, Lord Lorelian laughed. Then he reached out to her Anna and brought her closer.

"This is Miss Anna Christian, who will be my wife."

"I see the Empire Sun. It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty."

Anna again formally greeted the Empress. Her empress looked at her with her proud smile.

As much as she cares for her youngest brother, she seemed to be as pretty as her sister brought her.

At that moment, her empress's expression turned into a sarcastic expression.

"By the way, did she make it as a child?"

At the empress's mischievous words, her surroundings became quiet. Even more than when Raphine spoke her up earlier.

"... Yes?"

Lord Lorelian blinked, asking what the hell was that.

The nobles maintained the custom of chastity until marriage.

Of course, married aristocrats spread all kinds of rumors, but...

At the very least, it was believed that if rumors of an affair spread while they were not married, their reputation would be severely damaged.

So, there were many cases where they got into an accident first and got married in a hurry to fix it.

'In the eyes of the Empress, it must be so.'

But if it happened between people who were lovers from the beginning, I didn't think it was a big deal.

'But those two are probably...'

Raphine was convinced by the look on Sir Lorelian's expression.

「If anyone sees it, it looks like someone who has only held hands yet...」

'You see?'

Lord Lorelian was an naive master who grew up in a family with no shortage of things.

The empress's family is a noble family located in the capital from a long time ago, and it was a family that produced great knights on a large scale.

He played a significant role in the Emperor's wars of conquest, which earned him great honor.

Sir Lorelian was brought up as the beloved youngest son of such a family.

No matter how young he was, he valued honor as a child of a knightly family.

It was said that she was not the first person to touch the person she was about to marry, who would discredit her and her own.

"Yes. How are you going to surprise this older sister by making it from a child?"

The Empress said once more in a playful way.

Anna's face turned pale with fear. Unknowingly, she glanced at Raphine in her subtly.

And that moment.

There was one who noticed Anna's lively gaze on Raphine.

"..."

It was Zerkan.

Adrian and Violet didn't notice, but Zerkan clearly saw it.

A woman named Anna stared at the Empress behind, especially below, as if to kill for a moment.

"..."

When she turned her gaze, there was cotton candy pink hair protruding from the hem of her empress's dress.

It was Raphine.

The emotion in the eyes of a woman named Anna was not strong, but she was definitely alive.

It wasn't a "swordsman's life" that knights like Ethan Lorelian would notice.

However, Zerkan, who was sensitive to air currents because of his magical powers, could feel it.

Zerkan's forehead was wrinkled.

And looking at the bewildered Sir Lorelian and Anna, the Empress laughed as if it was a joke.

"It doesn't matter if it isn't. But when you see a child say such a thing, it seems like it's going to happen soon. That's a good thing."

"haha... I will do my best, sister."

Suddenly, Lord Lorelian looked at the Empress affectionately, calling the Empress her sister.

The two brothers and sisters who met after a long time first soothed their longing for the past with their eyes.

Even for a brief moment without conversation, many emotions flowed in his eyes.

"... You've lost a lot of weight, Sister."

"I have a lot of trouble, so I can't help it."

There was a bit of guilt and compassion in Sir Laurelian's eyes as he looked at her Empress.

「Why are you looking at me like that?」

Ruby asked in her mind.

Raphine told her what she had guessed.

'She must feel sorry for the Empress... Besides, she's out of the capital, so she can't help her, so she'll be sorry.'

「Probably because of the Empress.」

'that's right. In fact, when the emperor first brought in the empress, the reaction of the religious community in the capital was cold. Rather, she was favorable to the Empress.'

The nobles did not show it outwardly, but inwardly they condemned her emperor's choice and defended her empress.

Besides, she was not a noblewoman, and she came from a Korean-American merchant family.

It's only now that she's been given the title, but...

The capital aristocrats did not like it, calling it "a lowly family who bought a title with money."

However, as time passed, she quickly established herself as an empress in the social circles of the capital.

While enlisting her ladies, her family of her empress succeeded in several businesses under her emperor's support.

'The imperial family who ridiculed themselves for being poor has suddenly become a family that is taking control of the capital. Now, she won't be able to say that she bought a title with money.'

「The Empress must be heartbroken.」

'that's right. And by now, she must be in the midst of a booming business.'

Anyway, as a result, the capital nobles could no longer ignore or turn their backs on the people on the side of the empress.

At least, even if he saw a scar from the back, he started arguing from the front.

However, the position of the Empress did not have narrowed yet, but it was definitely an annoying and annoying problem for the people on her side.

「Anyway, the people of the empress are the problem.」

'That's right, the biggest problem is the emperor, but... The people of the royal family are really vicious people. She did this and that to Zerkan to usurp the throne.'

In particular, young Zerkan was decorated with a lot of things that would hurt him.

'You intend to hurt a little girl. Bad guys.'

As long as she knew such a future, Raphine had no intention of looking at it.

Even for Raphine's purpose, the queen's family had to be eliminated.

「Only trust me, sweetheart. This body will incarnate and separate their heads and bodies!」

'no... Don't be so specific and cruel! I'm still a child, so hearing such scary words makes my heart race.'

「Sorry, sweetheart... He pretended to be an adult, so I thought it was okay.」

'...'

At Ruby's teasing, Raphine clenched her fists and trembled at her.

The Empress motioned for us to sit down and talk.

Raphine, who was standing behind the Empress, also returned to her original position.

But it was then.

"Raphine, are you crying?"

Adrian looked at Raphine's eyes and asked in surprise.

At those words, Violet and Zerkan also looked at Raffine with surprise faces.

"..."

Raphine turned her gaze to Anna, who was sitting opposite her.

She pursed her lips, preparing an excuse.

Perhaps the Empress was about to ask again, though, so she looked at Raphine and her Anna alternately.

Raphine said as she flicked her fingers.

"Because I surprised her sister..."

"Yes! Miss Raphine suddenly surprised me from behind... I was surprised, but Raffine was surprised to see it and fell over. It's no big deal! Miss Raphine, I'm so sorry..."

Before Raphine's words could be finished, Anna shot her horse that she had prepared for her.

Then Lord Lorelian smiled sweetly in her defense.

"Did you? Be careful... Ms. Raphine, it must have been that her older sister was the first Hwangseong. Will Miss Raffine understand?"

Then she said, "Oops," and began to tell the story she was going to tell her empress in advance.

She is trying to turn her on, lest she harm her.

'That hog...'

In the end, Raphine had to swallow the words she was about to continue.

Okay, let's wait a little bit.

'If you keep banging and saying there's a baby in that person's belly... I'll be the only one who's weird.'