IBTCETEC 13

~Chapter 13~

If My Woman Wishes It

Before Shiren could fully recover from the shock, he ran into Limutan.

“His Majesty has called for you. Please follow me.”

Still dazed, Shiren walked behind Limutan. He clenched his fist so tightly that pain shot through his hand. Only then did he fully snap back to reality.

‘Why is the Princess here with the Emperor of Fredericks?’

It was impossible.
After the magic barrier was created, Fredericks and Permang Empires had become completely separated.

Shiren had decided to stay here, so he didn’t mind much, but the other mages were different.
No matter how many times they tried to find a way through the barrier, they never succeeded.

‘I had almost given up… But for the Princess to be here…’

Something huge must have happened in Permang.

While Shiren tried to guess what happened to Regina, he also grew more wary of the Emperor of Fredericks.

‘He doesn’t know, does he?’

If it were discovered that the Madarin barony were spies from Permang, they’d all be killed.
Shiren hoped Regina had come up with a good excuse.

“Your Majesty, Shiren, retainer of the Madarin barony, has arrived.”

“Let him in.”

The door to the parlor opened, and a cool breeze came in through the window, blowing Regina’s red hair.

With a gentle smile, Regina looked just as she had in the Permang Empire.
Her familiar and comforting smile almost made Shiren forget they were in Fredericks.

“Greetings, Your Majesty the Emperor.”

Trying to push aside his confusion, Shiren bowed to Conrad.

“Do you know why I called you here separately?”

“…I do not.”

Shiren really didn’t know anything. He just wished this moment would pass quickly, so he could talk to Regina alone.
He was worried about what might have happened to the master he had served.

‘She’s always been mistreated…’

Knowing what the Permang royals had done to Regina, Shiren only felt concern for her.

“The lady of the Madarin barony is now sitting at my side.”

“Ah, I see… Wait, what?”

He vaguely remembered hearing something like this in the audience hall, but he hadn’t really processed it.
He was so shocked to see Regina here that he barely listened to the Emperor and Empress Dowager’s conversation.

He answered questions honestly but just waited for a chance to speak to Regina alone.

But then…

‘She’s going to be the Empress of Fredericks?’

Princess Regina of Permang?
Do the people of Fredericks even know she’s the one who invented the magic barrier?

All sorts of thoughts swirled in Shiren’s head, so he missed what Conrad was saying.

“…planning to do.”

“….”

“Hey.”

“Y-yes! Y-You called, Your Majesty?”

“She said she wants to build a new house for the Madarin barony in the capital.”

“Well, the barony has to manage its merchant business, so… it’s difficult to move our base entirely into the capital.”

“You mean that failing merchant group?”

“…That’s right.”

Conrad seemed to know everything about the Madarin barony.
Shiren closed his eyes tightly, not knowing what to do. If he was tied down in the capital, there’d be no escaping Fredericks’ watch.

‘Are we going to get caught like this?’

Unable to answer, Shiren hesitated, and Regina stepped in.

“Instead of moving everyone, it would be better if only a few retainers come to the capital.”

“Huh?”

Surprised by Regina, Shiren saw her expression and quickly fixed his posture.

Regina was usually gentle, but when she gave orders as the head of the magician corps, she was different.

Seeing her cold gaze, sweat broke out on Shiren’s back.

“Y-Yes, my lady.”

“Only Shiren, Martin, and Theodore need to come.”

Those three were most important to Regina, especially Martin.
Without the vice-captain of the mage corps, it would be hard to break the magic seal.

“I’ll let the estate know.”

“Good.”

Regina smiled, then turned to Conrad.

“Is this okay, Your Majesty?”

“If my woman wishes it, so it shall be.”

At Conrad’s words, Shiren flinched. He tried to act calm, but couldn’t hide his unease.
Thankfully, Conrad quickly dismissed him.

After Shiren left, Conrad also sent Limutan away.

“Shiren, Martin, and Theodore…”

Hearing Conrad repeat the names, Regina swallowed dryly.
She purposely didn’t hide the main spies’ names, wanting to show Conrad there were no secrets.

“I already know those names. Are there others?”

‘As expected.’

Just as she thought, Conrad already knew about the Permang spies.
Regina had decided to be honest—it was the right choice.

‘He looks more relaxed now.’

Conrad, who had seemed so sharp a moment ago, now looked at ease and even smiled.

Regina sighed.

“You ask even though you already know.”

She couldn’t help but wonder why he was doing this.

“It’s better to check two or three times.”

Conrad’s eyes curved gently, but there was no real smile in his blue eyes.

As Regina’s own smile faded and silence settled, he spoke in a low voice.

“Better than being stabbed in the back.”

Pretending to be calm, Regina looked at Conrad’s eyes.
A soft breeze seemed to flow between them, breaking the earlier tension.

Regina smiled as she met his gaze.

“Trying to stab you in the back—there’s no way I’d do that.”

She smiled easily, but her voice trembled a little.
Conrad’s cold gaze lingered on her, but she didn’t stop smiling.

“Trust has to come first, but if Your Majesty acts like this, won’t it be hard to achieve big things together?”

Just then, bright sunlight poured through the window, touching Regina’s toes and slowly lighting up her whole body in gold.
Conrad narrowed his eyes and whispered softly,

“Trust isn’t something to talk about right now.”

“When should we talk about it?”

“Maybe after you become my empress.”

“Hm, I see.”

Regina nodded. She had no choice but to agree—for now, she needed Conrad’s help.

Then, she remembered what Chloe said earlier and her face grew dark.

‘She’s really trying to ruin my reputation so I can’t be empress… I might need to prepare for the worst.’

As Regina’s worries deepened, Conrad gently pulled the bell rope.

“Did you call, Your Majesty?”

“Bring what I had prepared earlier.”

Limutan returned with a tray and a single sheet of paper.
Regina’s eyes widened as she saw what it was.

It was a marriage contract.

“What is this…?”

“We’ll take this and go straight to the temple.”

“Right now?”

“Yes.”

He smiled, as if to say, “What’s there to wait for?”

It was clear Conrad already knew about Chloe’s tricks. He took Regina’s hand.

“If you want to be empress, we need to have a wedding.”

“But usually, a royal wedding—”

Normally, an emperor’s wedding would take half a year to a year to prepare, and the ceremony would last all day.
Fredericks would be no different.

Skipping all that and just having a blessing and signing a contract at the temple was truly bold.

A rushed marriage for the emperor would make him look like a man madly in love.

Even Regina, who had seen many things on the battlefield, was amazed by the speed.

“Let’s forget all the useless formalities. They don’t suit us anyway.”

For Conrad, who had to guard the border until the monster wave was over, a fancy wedding was a luxury.

This marriage was just for show, anyway.
It would be better to use that money to feed the knights and soldiers or buy them armor.