Political Marriage With a Friendly Enemy

“After the treatment, I gave her a lot of information about the bureaucratic examination.….” (Simon)

Simon scratched his cheek. Marianne’s gaze at him was full of disapproval.

“She’s precious to me. At first, not at all.… I didn’t mean to…….” (Simon)

“I guess Edith spoke her mind first.” (Usphere)

“Oh, no. I confessed! I’ve made Edith frustrated by being a little slow to notice.” (Simon)

Something so interesting was going on for half a year, and I was the only one who didn’t know.

Listening to Simon, Edith seemed to have been holding onto her sister Marianne for dating counseling. Even though Edith showed that she wanted to get close to him, Simon did not notice for a long time.

Marianne shook her head as if she remembered that time and said,

“I almost died of frustration watching.”

“I wondered why Simon was so cold.”

Simon’s shoulders drooped as he listened to us. Simon protested timidly.

“Ha, because Edith, such a pretty girl, would have held me in her heart…… I never imagined it.”

Simon’s cheeks turned slightly red when the name Edith came out. He was obviously in love and lost.

“Isn’t it good?”’

I looked at Simon with satisfaction.

I knew what it was like to have a person who would make you smile just by thinking about it. How overwhelming and miraculous it is.

Marianne, standing next to me, seemed unable to easily calm her uneasiness.

If Simon had kept standing here, Marianne would never have calmed down, so I decided to let Simon go.

“Well, I’ll take my leave, Your Majesty. Your heart rate and body temperature are all normal. But if you feel ill, you should tell me right away.”

“Okay.”

I knew better than anyone else that I was healthy. Ever since my strength came back, I’ve always felt energetic.

Simon came not because I was sick today, but it was just a routine check up.

‘But why is the child…….’

The moment of nervousness was about to happen like a habit. I remembered what Kwanach told me a few days ago and controlled my mind.

When Simon left the room, Marianne’s always calm face was disturbed. Her eyebrows drooped down. It was a rare appearance.

“Are you worried?”

Marianne hesitated a little at my question and opened her mouth.

“I’m worried that Edith may not have chosen him as a moment’s emotion. She’s been a little out of touch with the world because of her illness.”

“I guess Edith feels like a child to you. I understand that, too. Jenner always felt that way to me. But the two seem to like each other quite a bit. Won’t it work out?”

“Yes, I think so. I know Simon is a good man.”

“Diligent, smart, nice.”

Marianne nodded but couldn’t completely shake off the anxiety on her face.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like Simon, but it seemed difficult for her to just let her little sister go. Besides, there had only been the two of them for a long time.

I grabbed Marianne’s small hand and squeezed it a little.

“Don’t worry too much. By the way, I hope Edith will pass the exam.”

“That’s my concern, too. Oh, I shouldn’t just cry out in front of Your Majesty.….”

Marianne struggled and lowered her head.

“It’s alright. I’m just upset that you didn’t tell me until now.”

“……Are you upset?”

“I don’t have many friends here, so you can talk to me.”

“What do you mean friends? That’s too much for me, Your Majesty.”

Marianne was courteous. Her face was more relaxed than before, while she was being stiff with words.

“……will it be all right?”

“Well, Edith is a good girl. She knows clearly what to do to be happy.”

I spoke soothingly to Marianne, and then murmured in a small voice.

“I hope everyone is happy.”

* * *

The months went by without a hitch.

Now the empire was at the beginning of autumn.

Meanwhile, Edith formally passed the bureaucratic examination. Assigned to the Ministry of Interior, Oslin became her boss.

Soon afterwards, I heard that my brother, Jenner, was getting engaged. His partner was a royal Princess from another northern kingdom.

Jenner still has a few years to come of age, but he seemed to be engaged earlier to solidify his political base. To preserve the position of a young regent.

‘It’s a political marriage like I had…I’m very happy now, and Jenner will be too.’

I was worried that Jenner was pushing his young self too much. It was an environment where that was inevitable.

But contrary to my worries, Jenner looked happy at the engagement.

He said he didn’t even meet his fiancée until now. During the several times he went to the north for meetings, he just heard of her name.

After I attended the engagement and returned to the Empire safely, I was often lost in thought of Jenner.

‘He looked pretty excited.’

Although it was an engagement for political relations between countries, Jenner’s face on that day of the engagement was bright.

His fiancée was a year older than Jenner, and unlike the mature Jenner, she had a very cheerful personality.

‘I think she’ll fit Jenner well.’

The child had grown up too early. Someone will have to break Jenner’s seriousness from time to time and ease the burden from the side.

After a while, after reading the letter from Jenner, my anxiety completely disappeared. I was very happy for him.

Before, Jenner tried to look mature by saying “I’m fine”. But in the letter telling the story of his fiancée, there was a youthful feeling in it.

The engagement seemed to have had a good effect on Jenner.

Now there was only one remaining concern. Not having a child in my stomach.

I still couldn’t get pregnant even after a year and a half.

‘Something’s really wrong.’

At some point, I kept my mouth shut so as not to show my anxiety. As if Kwanach was conscious of it, the mention of the child naturally decreased between us.

Both of us were subtly avoiding the subject. I didn’t want to worry more, because he would be worried about me.

I wondered if I could forget my worries if I was busy, so the Ministry of Health and Welfare decided to proceed with the new work in earnest.

What I had been planning since I was in charge of the department. An audit system to manage private nursery schools was implemented in earnest.

It became hectic and busy to create and apply a new system that didn’t exist. It was good that I couldn’t think about my worries because I had too much work. But Kwanach was starting to worry about me even more.

And then, one day. It was the day when I was exhausted with work and lay in bed as if I were collapsing late at night.

I usually slept well without dreaming, but perhaps because I was so tired, a vivid dream came to me after a long time.

At first, it was all black around. In the void, a familiar voice was heard.

<I know you’ve been waiting with a hard time.>

“Ah….”

I couldn’t forget this voice. It was the silver forest.

The voice of the forest shook in my head. When I closed my eyes tightly due to dizziness and opened my eyes, the darkness around me was lifted, and I saw a silver color.

A forest full of sparkling silver leaves. The guardian of the Catatel family. 

Breathing in, the dry, earthy smell peculiar to the silver forest penetrated my nose.

‘I came here with Kwanach…….’

It was already nearly two years ago. However, the sensation I felt at that time hit my body vividly as it was now.

It was a tremendous sense of reality. Rather than a dream, it felt like I was really in the silver forest.

When I had that question in my head, the voice of the silver forest reverberated.

<Yes, it’s not a dream. I’ve been reading your mind for a while.>

“Do you have anything to say to me?”

<It seems like you’ve been in a lot of trouble. Did you wait for your child?>

“A little….”

<But you have to wait for the right time. Until the fate of the brother of the child begins.>

The child’s brother? The silver forest’s words sounded vague.

<Only when two children are born together do they become stronger. They’re not wizards like you.>

“Two children?”

<Yes, your children. Their fate becomes more perfect when they exist together like light and shade. The fate of the human continent.>

“The fate of the children, what do you mean…….”

<When you, the guardian, die, your children have to strong so that my sister’s power doesn’t get unstable again.>

The sister the silver forest mentioned was the goddess Fahar. Everything was peaceful now, and the power of the goddess was returning smoothly.

“Will the continent be in chaos again?”

<It happens all the time. History circulates. But if your children live together in one destiny, there will be no big change for a while.>

Then, the wind began to blow in the quiet forest. It was a strong wind that made it hard to stand.

The moment I stumbled and was pushed back by the wind.

I could feel the warmth surrounding my body. It was soft and secured.

When I turned my head, I saw a red bird several times bigger than I was. The wings of the bird wrapped around me.

The feathers were so red and shiny that they were like beings made of the sun. It was dazzling. I was overwhelmed by an unknown creature.

“Ha!”

Then my eyes opened wide.

As soon as I woke up, I breathed heavily.

When I raised my upper body hurriedly, Kwanach, who was supporting my head with his arm, woke up.

“……Usphere?”

Kwanach’s voice was low and cracked.

“What’s wrong? Where are you hurt?”

Even with sleepy eyes, Kwanach quickly rose and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“No, I’m not hurt. It’s just a dream….”

“Dream?”

I mumbled in drowsiness, and inadvertently wrapped my hands around my stomach. It was warm.

‘Two children…It means twins?’