* * *

Raphine returned to her room and could not sleep for a long time, even after washing and lying on her bed.

'Honestly, I don't know if I can do it well.'

Rafine's scenario was simple, but a little tricky. In particular, Rafine's acting skills were very necessary.

'Strangely, when I stand in front of Zerkan, I get nervous.... Will it work?'

The problem wasn't the only thing that bothered me. In the future, I would continue to bump into Zerkan.

'But when you think about it, you were okay before, right?'

When I honestly told Zerkan about the situation, asked for it, and signed a contract, I didn't mind at all.

They made easy eye contact and even shook hands.

'Does it make you less nervous just thinking of you as a business partner?'

Maybe it was because the feeling of debt he felt toward Zerkan had disappeared.

As I was told when I was young, I ended up getting married by contract.

'I don't know, I'll do it somehow.'

He only hoped that Antonio had not visited the emperor in the meantime.

Time was running out, so Zerkan and Raphine decided to hurry up.

Raphine was also going to tell her family tomorrow right away. I'm going to marry Zerkan.

* * *

The emperor's office.

Even today, looking at the pile of papers, the emperor clicked his tongue.

Recently, he had a lot of work and was quite sensitive.

"Other people think that when they become emperors, they just play comfortably. Damn it.... On a fictitious day, buried in the gaps in the paperwork."

The reason the workload has increased these days is because of diplomatic issues.

The kingdom of Themion, which is located quite far from the imperial capital, was the center of the problem, because the kingdom, which was not seen until 10 years ago, had a powerful military and economic power at some point.

Of course, it was an absurd size of military power compared to the Empire, but it was not allowed to be vigilant.

"The cheeky ones...."

Themion Kingdom had originally maintained friendly diplomatic relations with the Empire.

However, recently, Themion has begun to get close with the Ukmerin tribe, a barbarian force.

The Ukmerin were a barbarian force that Antonio had waged war against.

Thanks to this, the Empire's Foreign Ministry was very busy figuring out and reporting on their forces.

The most difficult of all was by far the emperor.

It was difficult to check and compare all the reports and make a final decision.

The position of the emperor was a series of choices. Every decision was made with care, as it had to do with the lives of the people of the Empire.

smart.

The emperor's forehead wrinkled at the sound of knocking on the office door.

"come in."

It was the assistant who opened the door and entered.

When the emperor glanced at him, his aide reported with a blank expression.

"I, Prince Antonio, want to see you."

"Bring it in."

At the emperor's command, the aide paved the way. Antonio, with a nervous expression on his face, came inside.

"What's going on?"

The emperor looked at the paperwork and asked. I was so busy that I didn't even have the spirit to look and ask.

"I have something to tell you."

"Yeah, do it."

"I, that's...."

"Hmm...."

The emperor was seriously concerned when he saw the report that the weapons produced in Themion Kingdom were destined for the Ukmerin tribe.

It was a pretty serious situation to even exchange weapons.

"I want to marry Raphine Eston."

"... Well?"

The head of the emperor, who had been buried in the documents, was lifted.

The weapon problem floating around in my head disappeared like a blank page in an instant.

"What did you say now?"

"Raphine Aston. I said I wanted to marry him."

The Emperor blinked and then wrinkled his eyebrows.

Antonio was stunned. It was a disappointing reaction.

Obviously, the emperor thought he would like it. In the first place, he likes Raphine, and he trusts the Aston family.

But why....

"Antonio, I cherish you as a son."

"... Yes?"

"However, there are a few things you cannot allow. One of them is about your brother."

"...."

"The place of Zerkan, the power of Zerkan, the woman chosen by Zerkan. It should never be overlooked."

"What do you mean?"

At Antonio's bewildered reaction, the emperor was more absurd.

"You don't know yet? I heard that Raphine has already decided to marry Zerkan."

"Yes?"

It was because of this that the emperor, who gets more irritable when busy, was particularly generous today.

Last night, Zerkan came to tell me that he was going to marry Raphine.

When the emperor heard this, he was delighted and danced with the empress. Besides, he drank too much and fell asleep drunkenly.

"I'm busy, so don't get lost in there and go out."

As the Emperor waved his hands, Antonio left the office blankly.

'Who's marrying who?'

Gradually grasping the reality, he clenched his fists. He couldn't hide his distorted expression.

The servants glanced at him, but Antonio walked out of the Palace of the Sun, brimming with anger.

'Do you dare deceive me?'

I even went to Raphine and proposed to her....

Fire erupted from his eyes.

Then I remembered that the boy said he had no intention of marrying him.

Of course I thought it was a joke. They say girls like to bounce, so I thought it was....

Are you marrying your brother? When I thought of Zerkan, my stomach burned black.

In fact, Antonio did not like Zerkan, but unlike Empress Rebecca, he did not hate it to the extent that he hated it.

But at this moment, if Zerkan was in front of him, he hated it enough to want to mash it and kill him.

And the thing I hated the most was Raffine, who played with herself.

'Raphine, how dare you....'

* * *

"no!"

"No way!"

Raphine looked at the family with a look that swallowed the bitter persimmon.

As soon as I said that I was going to marry Zerkan, that was the reaction that came in.

It was Luka and Lois who said no at the same time.

"no way!"

"that's right. no way. Never allow it!"

The Duke and Duchess were puzzled to see their twin brother, who was more fiercely opposed than they were.

"Father, no! Raphine says she has to hire her son-in-law! Wouldn't Clyde be better?"

"There's no way His Majesty Zerkan can be a son-in-law!"

Adrian, who had been silent, raised his hand as if asking for a say.

"Your brother is on the side of the Crown Prince! Do not say!"

"that's right! Brother, shut up!"

Adrian was steadfast despite the reactions of his younger brothers.

Adrian opened his mouth and said calmly.

"It's not Daryl's son-in-law, but Hwangseong is very close to our mansion."

"... However."

"Did I say Clyde Bastien? What if she says one day she'll quit her son-in-law and leave for Raphine and her estate? Do you have a right to stop it?"

"...."

"If Raphine says she wants to go, we have no choice but to send her away. Where is Bastien's estate?"

The Bastien estate was very far from the capital.

Adrian shrugged and continued.

"But what if Raphine is in the Imperial Castle? We can visit Raphine anytime. Besides, Raffine is an elementalist, but like Violet, she doesn't have combat experience. For Raffine like that, the Imperial Castle is probably safer than our mansion."

The twins shut their mouths at the logical statement.

Adrian exhaled a sigh of relief.

Adrian was actually against Raphine and Zerkan at first, but changed his mind when he found out that Raphine really liked Zerkan.

I wanted to let my precious little brother do everything he wanted to.

As the surroundings calmed down, the Duchess cautiously asked Raphine.

"Raphine, but it was a pretty sudden decision. Can you tell me why you chose that way?"

Raphine nodded her head.

I was worried about my dad, who had been stiff all the time, but I had to say something.

Raphine took out a handkerchief from her arms.

Then uh.... He poked at the corners of his eyes.

"Actually... From a young age, I have admired His Majesty Zerkan deeply."

"...."

Everyone listened to Raphine's story with bewildered expressions. Everyone knew that Rafine followed Zerkan when she was young.

"After His Majesty returned to the capital, it was okay at first. But increasingly.... I started getting nervous and anxious."

"no way...."

"Yes, I was still in love with His Majesty. No, maybe I admire him more than I did then."

Raphine devoted her soul to all her acting skills without any acting skills.

The scenario agreed with Zerkan was this.

Raphine begged him to marry him, just like when he was young, and Zerkan reluctantly accepted.

In fact, this was the easiest way to convince those around me. Because Zerkan only needs to stay still and play Raphine.

Getting this right was very important.

If everyone noticed that the couple had no affection for their marriage, there would be a lot of people who would suspect that it was a political union. It will certainly lead to various political chaos.

"My heart suddenly feels heavy because I think that His Majesty Zerkan might meet another woman.... I just had tears in my eyes."

Raphine's acting was excellent. It was the result of hard work all night long.

"So I couldn't bear it, so I confessed my heart, and your Highness accepted it! To be honest, looking at his face, I didn't even notice the appearance of anyone who sent the proposal."

"That's it...."

"It is, but...."

Zerkan's face was recognized by everyone.

As expected, Raphine gave the final blow after seeing the reaction of her family who readily agreed.

"If I can't marry your Highness, I will go to the monastery."

"A monastery!"