Chapter 82

Later that evening.

Zenjiro was quietly waiting in a dimly lit room of the palace, where it had grown completely dark. According to the original plan, he should have returned to the harem long ago, but his schedule had been suddenly changed.

This was a very unusual situation. First, it was rare for Zenjiro, who did not have as much work as Aura, to remain in the palace until dusk, and it was even more unusual for his schedule to be changed mid-way.

If he were to meet Prince Francesco or Princess Bonna, he might have thought, "Ah, that prince must have said something out of the blue again," but the person Zenjiro was about to meet was Fabio, the secretary and confidant of Queen Aura.

"Something must have happened. And it must be something quite serious."

Zenjiro, illuminated by the fading sunset streaming through the window and the red glow of the oil lamp on the table, muttered to himself.

Zenjiro was not particularly intelligent, but he was not particularly dull either.

If his schedule had been suddenly changed and he was told that Fabio, the queen's confidant, wanted to speak to him without involving Aura, he could at least imagine that something extraordinary had happened. He had confirmed this, and it was clear that the meeting with Fabio, the secretary, had been approved by Queen Aura.

"I don't know what happened, but if Fabio is coming to see me without Aura, it must mean that Aura is also busy with something. There must be some urgent matter that Aura and I need to handle separately. This is serious."

Zenjiro's speculation was logical, but unfortunately, it was completely off the mark.

At this point, Aura had already returned to the harem. Fabio, the secretary, had come to see Zenjiro alone because it was difficult for Aura to explain the matter without mixing in personal feelings.

The reason Zenjiro did not think of this possibility was simply because he trusted Aura, both in terms of her abilities and her character.

"Excuse me, Lord Zenjiro. I have kept you waiting."

A thin, middle-aged man came to deliver a message that would slightly shake Zenjiro's complete trust in his wife, after the sunset had completely faded.

The palace maid who entered with Fabio closed the wooden door and lit an additional oil lamp, then bowed and left the room.

Fabio, the secretary, illuminated by the flickering flame of the oil lamp, looked frankly eerie. The thin, expressionless middle-aged man standing still with good posture exuded an almost inhuman aura.

To be honest, he was not someone Zenjiro would want to be alone with in such a dark, private room.

"Let's hear your business. For you to want to meet me at this hour, it must be something serious."

Zenjiro, deeply seated in a chair made of wood and vines, looked up at the secretary standing opposite him and began.

The middle-aged secretary bowed slightly in response to his lord's husband and said,

"Yes. With your permission, I will speak frankly. It has been discovered that there is a 'second daughter,' Lady Nilda, in the Gazir border barony, whom we were unaware of. As a result, the prospect of 'eldest daughter' Lady Lucinda becoming your concubine has become a realistic possibility."

"!? ... Tell me more."

Zenjiro, whose face instantly turned stern, urged the secretary to explain, his expression showing no sign of being shaken even in the dim light.

Fabio, who was skilled at summarizing the key points of a story and conveying them to others, allowed Zenjiro to easily understand his situation.

It turned out that the border baron of Gazir actually had an illegitimate daughter. This illegitimate daughter was a legitimate noble listed in the 'Register' of the Kingdom of Carpia, but due to the partial loss (not confirmed) of the 'Register' during the last great war, Aura was unaware of her existence. General Pujol, who had met with Xavier Gazir, knew of her existence from Xavier. Therefore, when Queen Aura mentioned that Zenjiro was interested in Lucinda, General Pujol immediately changed his marriage proposal from his legitimate daughter, Lucinda, to his illegitimate daughter, Nilda. As a result, the information that "Zenjiro was interested in Lucinda" spread to General Pujol and Xavier Gazir, and Lucinda remained unmarried.

Zenjiro was not so foolish that he could not understand his position after hearing this information.

With a deep frown, Zenjiro asked his wife's secretary in a low voice,

"I understand the general situation. Since I expressed interest in meeting her, it is now a given that I will meet Lady Lucinda. Frankly, do I have the option of not taking her as a concubine in the end? In that case, how much of a bad reputation can I afford? In return, can I refuse without causing significant harm to Her Majesty, the royal family, and the kingdom?"

The secretary, who seemed to have prepared his answer from the beginning, responded immediately to the royal consort's question.

"It is possible. After meeting Lady Lucinda, you can find fault with her and break off the talks. Unfortunately, the best point of attack is not available."

The best point of attack, of course, was Lucinda's age. Being in her mid-twenties is generally a sufficient reason to break off a marriage, but it cannot be used this time. Since Zenjiro had already expressed interest in meeting Lucinda, knowing her age, he needed to find another reason to find fault with her.

"If you reject Lady Lucinda as a 'one-sided whim' and Her Majesty intervenes to mediate, but you still refuse to change your mind, then the damage to you personally will be minimal. However, your reputation will undoubtedly be at its worst."

"Is that so?"

Just as Zenjiro was about to let out a sigh of relief, the thin-faced secretary continued, cutting off his hope.

"However, the decline in your reputation will certainly be the worst. And the decline in your reputation itself will be a loss to Her Majesty and, by extension, the royal family of Carpia. You may not realize it, but you are currently doing a lot of work as Her Majesty's representative. However, after your reputation falls to such a level, it will be difficult to continue your work as a representative without issues, which will directly increase Her Majesty's burden."

"Hmm..."

With a troubled look, Zenjiro listened as Fabio, the secretary, pressed on.

"Furthermore, this is just my personal opinion, but I believe it is possible for you to refuse to take Lady Lucinda as a concubine this time, but it may be impossible for you to never take a concubine throughout your life. At the very least, it is absolutely impossible to achieve this without causing any inconvenience to Her Majesty, the royal family, and the kingdom, as you mentioned earlier."

"..."

Zenjiro, who had been hit with a clear reality, was speechless for a moment.

He had a vague sense that this might be the case. As a royal consort, the only thing Zenjiro was truly required to do was to produce as many 'bloodline magic' successors as possible.

Of course, doing work as the queen's representative and bringing benefits to the royal family and the kingdom with the tools and knowledge he brought from another world were not meaningless.

However, this was similar to a general in the national army being skilled in politics or a civil servant secretly being good with a bow. It adds a positive adjustment to the evaluation, but it does not change the foundation of the evaluation.

So far, Zenjiro has received a certain level of evaluation mainly because he has a good relationship with Queen Aura and has produced the first prince, Carlos-Zenji.

To Zenjiro, who had lost his words, Fabio, the secretary, added a bit of reassurance.

"If the bloodline between you and Her Majesty was only thick enough to produce a 'bloodline magic' user, as we had anticipated before the summoning, the issue of concubines would not have arisen. However, since you can use 'time-space magic,' the issue of concubines is inevitable. The current situation, where there are only three 'bloodline magic' successors, is not a normal state in a major country on the southern continent."

"… In other words, it's pointless to resist Lady Lucinda becoming my concubine?"

Zenjiro, with a stiff expression, spoke in a firm voice. The secretary shook his thin face slightly from side to side and replied,

"No. I am saying that you should not misunderstand the premise. Your 'whim' of not wanting any concubines will not work. You must consider this matter with the premise that you will eventually have to take a concubine. If you think with the premise that you don't need a concubine, then everything about Lady Lucinda and her surroundings will be meaningless to you. However, if you think with the premise that you will eventually have to take a concubine, then the meeting with Lady Lucinda might be somewhat meaningful."

He advised calmly.

In other words, instead of rejecting reflexively, he should meet Lady Lucinda, understand her personality and appearance to some extent, and then make a decision.

If he were to see her as a potential concubine, Lady Lucinda might be the best choice. If he rejects her now and is later forced to take a concubine, he might regret not choosing Lucinda.

"Of course, there is a possibility that you and Lady Lucinda are not compatible, so rejecting her is also an option. However, I would like to caution you that unconditionally rejecting a concubine is dangerous."

With that, Fabio, the secretary, bowed his head precisely like a machine.

"..."

Zenjiro closed his eyes and remained silent, his body stiff as if enduring pain.

Fabio's words were probably a very common opinion among the nobles of this country, a direct statement that Aura, who had a certain level of consideration for Zenjiro, had not conveyed.

(Now that I think about it, the nobles who recommended concubines to me only spoke in terms of 'assuming I would take a concubine'...)

With his eyes closed, Zenjiro recalled the words he had heard from the nobles in the social world.

"What do you look for in a woman, Lord Zenjiro?" "Of course, you must prefer women like Her Majesty, right?" "Oh, Lord Zenjiro is so strict. I wonder who will be the next woman to capture your heart after Her Majesty."

The nobles who introduced their daughters or relatives and the girls who tried to sell themselves always spoke on the premise that Zenjiro would eventually take a concubine.

The possibility that his wishes might not be fulfilled was the possibility of being outdone by a rival, not the possibility of having no concubines at all. That was the kind of talk they used.

(Completely rejecting concubines is a thorny path...)

Despite this, Zenjiro's honest feeling was that he wanted to challenge that thorny path if he had the chance, but he could understand that Fabio's words were correct when he thought about it calmly.

Finally opening his eyes, Zenjiro spoke to the motionless secretary in a voice that tried to sound calm.

"I understand. I will take your advice to heart. Was the reason you, rather than Her Majesty, delivered this message to me one-on-one to give me this harsh advice?"

Aura was a person who prioritized her public role and was not a soft person, but she had a certain level of consideration for Zenjiro. Considering her position, it was necessary to avoid any conflict with Zenjiro, her husband and royal consort, at all costs, and this judgment was not wrong even from a public standpoint.

Therefore, it was likely that this loyal secretary, who was loyal to the queen, delivered the harsh advice that would upset Zenjiro on her behalf. To this guess, Fabio, the secretary, smiled slightly with his thin lips, a rare expression.

"Well, it would be a lie to say that was not part of the intention. However, the main reason is that to explain this matter in detail, it is necessary to touch on the death of the previous emperor. Her Majesty would not be able to explain this without mixing in personal feelings, so I was given the task to explain it."

"Previous emperor, Sancho I. He was Her Majesty's younger brother by the same mother. It must be difficult for Her Majesty to explain the death of her real brother without mixing in emotions."

Zenjiro showed understanding at Fabio's words, but the secretary's answer was different.

"No, that is not the case. The reason Her Majesty cannot explain this matter without mixing in personal feelings is not because of the blood connection, but because she was one of the parties involved."

"!?"

Zenjiro's surprise was evident even in the dim light of the flame.

"One of the parties? You mean Her Majesty was on the battlefield where Emperor Sancho died?"

He had heard that Aura had fought on the battlefield as a female general during the last great war, but the specific story still surprised him.

Fabio, the secretary, nodded slightly with his mask-like expression.

"Yes. Very few people know the details of that battle. It was a night battle, a chaotic battle, and a fierce battle, and even those who participated in it, such as soldiers and lower-ranking commanders, could not explain what they did where. On the Carpia side, only Her Majesty, the Duke of Lala, and I understand the details.

A battle where two kings from both sides died in a single night, one of the notable battles of the last great war. If we were to determine the winner of that battle, it would be Queen Aura—then Princess Aura.

It will be a long story, but would you like to hear it?"

Despite the lack of emotion in his expression and voice, the secretary's question was somehow oppressive. Zenjiro swallowed hard and nodded.

"Yes, I would like to hear it."

The words, spoken with determination, were still slightly hoarse.