Your Majesty, There Are Many Eyes Watching
“Do you want a noisy wedding?”
“Of course not.”
For Regina, the less recognizable her face was, the better.
A formal national wedding was a grand affair—one that would force her to show herself to the people of the Fredericks Empire.
Normally, Regina would never have stepped forward for such a public occasion in the Ferman Empire.
No one in the Fredericks Empire would know her face, but the real problem would come when she had to return to the Ferman Empire afterward.
With that concern weighing on her, Regina thought it over carefully.
For now, I thought it might be all right since I’m still hiding my face with a veil.
But someone might recognize her. And even if she never had to suffer through that kind of fear, that alone was a tremendous advantage for Regina.
“Then let’s go.”
Conrad rose briskly, caught Regina’s hand, and led her out of the office.
Regina, following after him, stopped short in surprise at his behavior. He had taken the office door into his own hand and was waiting for her to come out.
“Your Majesty, there are too many eyes—”
“And who’s looking?”
Conrad had already dismissed the countless servants and nobles moving through the hallway as if they were no one at all, and he did so with absolute composure.
Those same people lowered their heads and quickened their steps, careful not to meet his gaze.
Even Limutan, following behind Conrad and Regina with a small silver tray holding a single document, didn’t quite seem to register what was happening.
They only wanted to vanish from Conrad’s sight as quickly as possible, hoping the stern emperor would not remember their faces.
The palace servants who walked the narrow line between the Grand Empress and the Emperor were all watching one another nervously.
“There are still many who refuse to back down.”
As his low voice settled over the corridor, the startled servants hurried their pace even more.
Only after the three of them were left alone in the hallway did Conrad curve his mouth in satisfaction, like a lion well fed.
“May I ask why you’re in such a hurry?”
Regina finally asked the question she had been wondering about all along, her voice so soft it nearly brushed Conrad’s ear.
When her warm breath reached him, Conrad went still. The sound that slipped into his ear caught at him all at once.
Without meaning to, he tightened his grip on her hand, and the softness in her touch felt all the more distinct against his own.
As his thumb brushed over her palm, he felt the tension gathered there. He closed his hand firmly around her rigid fingers and murmured back, just as quietly.
“It’s better to resolve this quickly, since a match this far along has never happened before.”
At the low murmur, Regina rolled her eyes.
Does he mean we can’t leave the position of empress vacant for too long?
From everything Regina had seen so far, the Fredericks Empire did not appear to be in such precarious straits.
Conrad was an emperor with formidable imperial authority, and Chloe—who supposedly threatened his position—didn’t seem all that impressive.
So why was he handling everything as if he were being chased?
Regina’s curiosity only deepened. So much so that she didn’t even notice the corridor remained empty all the way to the temple.
Because Conrad had not exactly lived a devout life, there were few people in the corridor connecting the emperor’s palace and the temple to begin with.
On top of that, with the knights barring servants from entering, the two of them were able to move without any watchful eyes or interruptions.
“I greet Your Imperial Majesty.”
The high priest, who had been waiting for them in front of the temple, welcomed them with a smile.
“It’s been a while, High Priest.”
“There’s a celebration in the empire. I had to come out and see you myself.”
“Oh?”
Conrad’s eyes sharpened as they turned toward the high priest. He gave the man a once-over, then let out a faint scoff.
“You haven’t heard anything else from the Grand Empress, have you?”
His expression grew cold at the mention of the Grand Empress. But the high priest did not let the smile on his face fade as he stepped closer to Conrad.
“There’s no need to confirm that, Your Majesty. The temple has always been loyal to Your Majesty.”
“That remains to be seen.”
“For now, please come inside.”
The high priest, used to dealing with such things, shifted aside to open a path for Conrad and Regina.
When he received the document from Limutan, the high priest nodded toward Conrad. The temple, spilling with auspicious light, could not be entered by anyone without permission.
As the high priest entered first and opened the way, brilliant light swallowed Conrad and Regina whole.
The world before Regina’s eyes shifted, and as she stepped into the whitewashed space, she felt a strange power flowing into her.
This is…!
Light spilled from her collarbone, then stopped abruptly.
Regina staggered at the searing pain, and Conrad hurriedly caught her around the waist.
In an instant, her insides felt wrecked, and a mouthful of blood surged up.
“What’s wrong?”
“My mana suddenly backfired….”
Regina panted and swallowed down a cough. Frowning, Conrad pulled her into his arms and blocked the high priest’s line of sight.
If she had still been carrying her original mana, nothing would have happened.
But because Regina’s mana had been sealed, the magic in the passage leading to the temple had reacted.
Since ancient times, mages whose mana had been sealed were regarded as impure beings.
“Is something the matter?”
At the high priest’s tilt of the head, Conrad answered.
“Nothing. Lena just got a little dizzy, so mind your business.”
Conrad urgently took out a handkerchief and handed it to Regina. She pressed the white cloth to her mouth, and red bled through it.
“...It’s manageable.”
Wiping her mouth with the handkerchief, Regina steadied her breathing.
So the passage to the temple is made of magic.
A road made not of holy power used by priests, but of mana.
In the Fredericks Empire?
It was strange.
In the Ferman Empire, a magical empire, it would not have been odd for the road to the temple to be linked by mana.
But in Fredericks, the empire of knights… to have such a path laid here?
Regina quickly studied the structure before the route behind the high priest closed off completely.
Her instincts told her, at once, that the layout bore the same style as the imperial palace of Ferman.
Someone was leaking Ferman’s technology.
But how?
A road made of mana could only be created by a mage.
And that sort of technique was being used not in the Ferman Empire, but in the Fredericks Empire—more than that, as a passage leading directly to the temple.
Regina’s grip on the handkerchief tightened before she knew it.
Seeing that, Conrad covered her hand with his own, concealing it.
“This way.”
The high priest, who had been walking ahead, stopped before the altar.
In the pure-white temple, none of the other priests who should have been there could be seen. Only the high priest stood alone.
“If you’ll simply sign the prepared vows, that will be enough.”
The high priest placed the marriage vows on the altar glowing white and lifted a quill.
Even the quill, faintly shimmering with light, was filled with auspicious energy.
Conrad took it first and signed without hesitation.
After writing his name in a sharp yet graceful hand, Conrad handed the quill to Regina. Her fingers curled around the cool shaft, but then she hesitated, a thought striking her all at once.
The vows have to be signed with my real name.
Only then would the marriage ceremony be completed properly.
Both the Fredericks Empire and the Ferman Empire kept marriage vows under the supervision of the temple.
The reason was simple: lies would not stand in a sacred place.
With no way to guess Conrad’s intentions, Regina could only pause. To write her real name would be no different from confessing who she truly was.
“It doesn’t matter. Write it.”
As if he understood her hesitation, Conrad murmured near her ear.
“Not even the high priest can carelessly inspect a marriage vow offered to the gods.”
He looked down at Regina and gave a small nod.
The moment Regina signed with trembling fingers, brilliant light burst forth and swallowed her name.
Before she could even wonder at it, light streamed from the high priest’s hands as well.
“...Ngh!”
Something entirely different from the mana she had felt passing through the corridor wrapped around Regina’s body.
It was holy power.
Conrad was swept up in the same light.
Regina, who had shut her eyes tightly, opened them again and saw the marriage vows fluttering upward to the ceiling of the temple.
The golden-lettered vow settled atop a drawer-like shape that appeared in midair, then disappeared completely.
“From this moment on, the two of you are truly husband and wife.”
The high priest’s voice rang through the temple. Regina instantly recognized it as an echo created by magic.
But she did not have the leisure to pursue any further questions.
Through the hand she held tightly with Conrad, a faint exchange of mana had already begun to flow.