How would you respond?

"Crown Prince Blair, you haven't returned yet?" asked Aeneas, who found that Blair had not yet entered his carriage. But Blair had already left. "If you stay out too long when it's cold like this, you can get sick."

Blair's personal bodyguard greets Aeneas while Blair remains silent. He looked confused to say something.

Receiving no response, Aeneas took off his coat and draped it over Blair's body. He looked slightly surprised, but then he muttered a thank you.

"Our situation is not good. So at least you have to stay healthy, Your Highness," reminded Aeneas. He smiled faintly at Blair, then said, "I'll excuse you then. Good evening, Your Highness."

From the corner of his eye, Aeneas saw Blair being led by his bodyguard to enter his carriage.

"Looks like Blair looks shocked. Has he been like that since King Tristan was critical?" asked Aeneas to Azel as soon as they got into the carriage.

"From what I heard, it is like that," Azel replied. "Nevertheless, Crown Prince Blair is still doing his job as usual."

Aeneas snorted in amusement. "Of course, he's sad. However, King Tristan is a good father to him," he said. "I'm curious. How sad will he be if King Tristan dies."

And how sad would Blair be if he found out that his beloved brother Aeneas had killed his beloved father.

The sight must be hilarious. Aeneas couldn't wait to see him.

Of course, Aeneas must still be patient for a few more weeks. King Tristan's condition is now in the worst condition. If, according to Aeneas's prediction, soon the Palace will announce the actual state of King Tristan. At that point, Aeneas no longer needed to poison him. Then when the air starts to cold, King Tristan, who is already critical, will die alone because he can't survive.

Then, Aeneas can start his action on Blair. Assassinations, coups, boycotts, whatever. Somehow, Aeneas will kill Blair.

Aeneas is just waiting for the moment when Blair makes a mistake because the death of King Tristan breaks his heart.

Please, please, please that everything goes according to plan, Aeneas thought to himself.

Autumn wasn't yet in its prime, but it was rainy.

Along with the emergence of other news, which preceded the critical news of King Tristan.

***

"Are you all right, Your Highness?" asked Janette carefully.

After reading a story that looks like it will make it to the papers in a few days, the newspaper contains a rumor about Selah marrying Aeneas soon after breaking up with Blair. She had expected news like this to appear, but she did not expect such news to still appear almost a month after her wedding.

"Since it's dragging on Dulcia's name this time, just tell Jeremiah and have him finish it. Sutton is finishing the other one. I can't keep bothering him," Selah said, then handed over the news. "Let's see how my schedule is after the day after tomorrow. I want to meet Dulcia's elders."

"I'll do it right away, Your Highness," said Janette obediently. She left before Selah.

Taking care of two families, plus one mine, turned out to be very difficult. Even though Dulcia's family is now taken care of by an elder, Selah is still the controller. Tullia's mine, which looks fine, can't be abandoned because she has become a princess.

"That's right, now I'm a princess," Selah muttered as she propped her body in the chair comfortably. The ceiling of his office looks so different, yet so stifling.

Almost a month after their wedding, Selah and Aeneas are busy again.

King Tristan's critical state made everyone start preparing for the worst. Blair is preparing for a news appearance critical of King Tristan, so Aeneas works to replace Blair in public appearances. The two princes worked together because one person could not do the existing pile of work.

This is just critical. What if that person dies? thought selah. The atmosphere would be more chaotic. Moreover, there will be a little opposition from the Blair and Aeneas factions.

And because of that busyness, Selah and Aeneas only met in the morning at breakfast. Are they really newlyweds? Even though the noble ladies at the tea party that Selah attended for the first time as a princess had started asking about her pregnancy.

"This is really crazy," Selah muttered, then returned to her work.

In the morning, she takes care of the internal affairs of two families. In the afternoon, she works for the kingdom, and in the evening, she takes care of her personal work. Free time is used to attend social events and appear as the new princess to society. That night Selah went straight to sleep with her side of the bed empty because Aeneas had not returned.

How can she get pregnant if her activities are like that?

"Sorry if I'm being presumptuous, Your Highness. Maybe you could consider getting out of royal affairs. Doesn't your position as a princess include taking care of a small part of the kingdom?" Sutton suggested that afternoon after Selah returned from the ministry.

"I'm processing it right now. But for some reason, the ministry people gave too many excuses," said Selah. "Do I have to also look for my own replacement?!"

"You could recommend someone from the Dulcia family, right?" said Sutton.

It was an easy job if Dulcia's elders were at least as young as Archibald. The problem is that most of them are old.

"Excuse me, Your Highness." Suddenly Janette came into her study. "Prince Aeneas wants to see you."

Selah was shocked to hear that. How could her husband have spare time to see her?

"Leave this one to me, Your Highness," said Sutton with a faint smile.

Selah was a bit touched to hear that. Although not as nimble than Jeremiah, Sutton can bring peace to Selah.

Janette ushered Selah into the living room right next to her office. There Aeneas was already sitting quietly with tea and sweets. The aroma of the tea wafting throughout the room made him more relaxed.

"What is it?" Selah asked as soon as she sat down.

Aeneas smiled slightly, not his usual smile. "Drink first. You've worked hard today," he said. After he was satisfied to see Selah drinking, he added. "We rarely get to meet like this, right?"

Selah nodded in agreement. "In fact, it's been almost a week since we really just had breakfast without talking about anything," he said.

"Work has taken up a lot of our time."

"But today, you suddenly came here. Are you not busy?"

"I purposely made time for you this time." Aeneas sipped his tea slowly. "Because there's something I want to talk about."

Selah waited anxiously. She grew even more anxious when Aeneas handed something to Selah.

Because of Aeneas' extraordinary network, the Palace always manages to suppress the oblique news that will be broadcast. That is why until now, the news about King Tristan's illness never came out. Selah only found out when Aeneas told him a few weeks before they were married.

That was one of Aeneas' jobs at Court: he was the news and communications controller at Balthasar. It seems a trivial thing, but sometimes people underestimate the power of speech.

And it looks like Selah is the same way.

[Archibald Dulcia's Second Daughter Revealed; Princess Selah is greedy?]

[Evanthe Gilmore Claims Her Rights As Duchess. Princess Selah's Position Is Threatened!]

[Princess Selah Marries Prince Aeneas To Safeguard Her Fortune From Evanthe Gilmore, Archibald Dulcia's Second Daughter!]

[Crown Prince Blair's New Spouse is Evanthe Gilmore?!]

"I think you should know before I actually settle this matter. How would you respond?"