The day before the reading event.

Kasallin’s room.

“I asked someone else to do that task.”

A vein stood out sharply on Parnes’s forehead.

“I can’t understand why you’re the one suffering instead.”

Parnes reached across the desk and picked up a paper filled with Kasallin’s handwriting.

A genuine admiration flickered in his eyes as he quickly scanned the text.

Though there wasn’t time to analyze it closely, at a glance, it was a well-structured piece that sharply connected theology and history.

He had heard rumors from the courtiers that she wasn’t an ordinary clever maid, but he hadn’t realized she possessed this level of knowledge.

But there was one problem.

[Author, Rose Robepon Riche]

Her work was destined to be credited to someone else entirely.

It was clear that the queen, who would slip in a stream and make a fuss just to gain attention, had dumped the task on her elder sister and maid, Kasallin.

And this foolishly docile girl probably couldn’t refuse the queen’s orders.

“Your sister, who doesn’t even know your heart, acts so recklessly. Why do you…”

Parnes’s hand hovered aimlessly in the air before slowly descending toward Kasallin’s head.

He hesitated for a long while, as if committing a taboo, and ultimately withdrew his hand without even a single stroke.

The faint reddening of his ear tips in the darkness wasn’t solely due to the lamplight.

“Ugh…”

Kasallin kept making pained sounds.

Even as he watched her like a statue, unmoving, while the minute hand of the clock turned half a circle, she couldn’t sleep peacefully for a moment.

Frowning deeply in her sleep, she occasionally murmured “Mama” and whimpered.

It was a vulnerable side of her that could never be seen in the bright midday sun.

“If only she smiled a bit more.”

A single unconscious thought shook his mind and passed through.

Parnes, stunned for a moment, directed a scornful expression at himself.

What?

Smile more?

After staying up for days handling state affairs, he must truly be going mad.

“What does this woman have to do with me?”

Parnes tossed the paper he was holding onto the desk and turned away.

Crossing the neither narrow nor wide room, he muttered to himself as if casting a spell.

She’s an irrelevant woman.

It’s an irrelevant matter.

Whatever circumstances she has, whatever secrets she hides, it’s not his concern.

He shouldn’t care.

“…Damn it.”

With each step, irritation seeped into his movements as he walked to the wardrobe and grabbed a blanket.

Then he carefully draped it over her, taking care not to wake her.

His face bore an unpleasant expression, utterly baffled by why he was doing this for her.

“Hi.”

Perhaps sensing the warmth on her back even in her half-conscious state, Kasallin let out something resembling a laugh for the first time.

Seeing her look more at ease, Parnes couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

“Don’t get the wrong idea.”

He muttered lowly toward Kasallin, who was lost in her dreams.

“I simply can’t tolerate someone deceiving me.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“Your Majesty, just to be sure, did you really write that piece yourself?”

Rose felt her mind go blank, as if turning into a white sheet.

She suddenly wondered if Kasallin had deliberately written a shoddy piece to present to her.

At the same time, a bad feeling crept over her that Emperor Parnes was intentionally trying to humiliate and disgrace her.

As she quickly schemed whether to feign fainting to escape the crisis, Shallen, unable to stand by, spoke up.

“The truth is, that piece was written by the queen’s maid, Kasallin.”

Rose’s eyes widened in shock toward Shallen.

But she soon realized Shallen wasn’t betraying her but had come up with a fallback to save her from the crisis.

“As many of you know, Kasallin is the queen’s elder sister. Since childhood, Kasallin has had a tendency to overprotect her sister, stepping in for everything. This time, too, she insisted on writing the piece herself. I couldn’t stop her.”

In that moment, emotions clashed.

Rose’s face brightened with relief, while Kasallin, steeped in deep betrayal, glared at Shallen.

A blatant lie.

To protect Rose’s authority, he was painting her as an overbearing elder sister—how unfair.

Shallen, seemingly proud of himself for saving his wife from trouble, leisurely rolled his eyes and gave Kasallin a slight smile.

“So, if anyone has questions, feel free to ask Kasallin here. I’m sure she’ll provide excellent answers.”

Shallen was now taking petty revenge on Kasallin.

Since Kasallin had ignored Rose’s pleading looks for help, he was saying, “Now it’s your turn to suffer.”

Kasallin took a deep breath, exhaled, and looked at the guests focusing on her.

I won’t just take this lying down.

Explaining the reading piece and Kan’s political situation might be a crisis for Rose and Shallen, but for her, the writer, it was no crisis at all.

“I’m sorry, but the damage to the recent large estates, as His Majesty asked, is not at a level that can be easily managed.”

As Kasallin sharply began, Shallen’s eyes narrowed.

“Last year’s second-half harvest was less than half of the previous year’s. More than a few farmers were directly attacked by monstrous birds, and several mills have stopped operating. Oats and potatoes, the staples of the people, have suffered the most, so we expect many will fall into poverty. We must act wisely to avoid repeating the history of fifty years ago.”

By then, the piercing gazes of Shallen and Rose seemed to bore into her skin.

Parnes, who had been listening quietly, raised one corner of his mouth in amusement.

“You have a remarkably capable maid. So knowledgeable, she understands the state of the nation better than ‘some’ people.”

Parnes sarcastically praised. Shallen, flushed with shame from head to toe, clenched his teeth but didn’t lose his composure.

In a way, it was impressive.

But his composure shattered at Parnes’s next words.

“Her insight, broader than that of most court officials, could be quite helpful for exchanges between our nations. What do you think? Could I borrow her during the grand festival whenever needed?”

The first to react to the emperor’s cryptic words was his nearby aide, Ludwig.

He looked as if he couldn’t believe such words came from the emperor’s mouth.

Shallen, feeling the calm and composure befitting a king slowly crack, stiffly turned to Parnes like a creaking wooden puppet.

“Well… she is capable, but whether she’d actually be helpful…”

“Then let’s hear the others’ opinions. What do you all think?”

Parnes asked the nobles. Though puzzled by the strange exchange between the two men, they had no reason to object.

As a tentative wave of approval emerged from the gathered crowd, Shallen’s lips tightened with anxiety.

“The guests also see no reason to object.”

Parnes turned toward Kasallin and continued.

“The most important thing is the person’s own will. Kasallin, what do you think?”

“I…”

“For the exchange and development of our Renel Empire and Kan Kingdom, could you occasionally assist me?”

She had merely written the piece for Rose and responded appropriately to Shallen’s attack, so why was the situation unfolding like this?

Parnes’s proposal didn’t seem particularly strange, yet somehow his words sounded suspiciously alluring.

Parnes quietly awaited Kasallin’s response.

Despite the soft amber hue of his eyes, they seemed as if they’d freeze her fingertips if touched, blinking in and out of sight.

Kasallin cautiously nodded toward him.

“If my humble insight can be of any help to the Kan royal family and the Renel imperial family, I have no reason to refuse, Your Majesty.”

In an instant, Parnes and Shallen’s emotions reversed.

It was obvious there were other inappropriate intentions hidden.

Talk of national development and assistance sounded like a convenient excuse, while it was clear to Shallen they just wanted to meet and chat idly.

Shallen glared at Kasallin, who had accepted the proposal without suspicion, as if to say, “How could you do this?”

But with most of the guests creating a cheerful atmosphere, praising it as a good outcome, he couldn’t shout, “This is unacceptable!” and ruin the mood.

[This is the timeline separator]

It was nearly midnight when Shallen knocked on the door.

As usual, she had planned to study late, but the events of the reading lingered unpleasantly, leaving her sipping coffee aimlessly.

“Kasallin, open the door.”

His voice came abruptly, without warning, as he knocked.

Judging by Shallen’s highly agitated tone, his purpose was obvious without asking.

Kasallin set down her coffee cup and reluctantly walked to open the door.

Before it was fully open, he barged in and locked it with a click.

Kasallin’s eyebrows slowly arched.

“Even as a king, barging into a lady’s room at this late hour is hardly gentlemanly.”

Shallen, ignoring her calm and rational remark, glared with wide eyes.

“Shouldn’t you first act like a lady before I treat you like a gentleman?”

“When have I ever failed to act like a lady?”

“Really… you’ve sunk quite low.”

Shallen narrowed his eyes at Kasallin, shaking his head as if disappointed.

It was the same look he gave when she broke off their engagement, like blood was slowly seeping from a hole in her heart.

“Me, low?”

What gives you the right to say that to me?

You shamelessly forced your former fiancée into the palace and married her sister, engaging in indecent acts without regard for time or place—how dare you say that to me?

Kasallin’s head spun from the strong scent of Rose’s perfume wafting from his collar.

“I’ll give you one last chance to explain. Go ahead, make a convincing excuse.”

“I don’t recall doing anything wrong, so what am I supposed to explain?”

“Don’t play dumb. You secretly conspired with Emperor Parnes to humiliate the queen in front of everyone. Am I wrong?”