After Zilu closed the door, Emilia remained standing in the hallway for a few seconds.

Then she began to walk with a smile plastered across her face.

Her footsteps echoed softly against the marble floor as she advanced through the palace hallways with a calmness that contrasted completely with everything that had happened in the last few hours.

She was no longer in a hurry.

She wasn’t nervous, wasn’t trembling, wasn’t questioning her decisions.

Because now she knew with complete clarity what she needed to do.

Along the way, she encountered a couple of servants carrying clean sheets toward somewhere in the palace. Both stopped upon seeing her, probably expecting to find the same queen with red, swollen eyes that had passed by a while ago.

"Good night!" Emilia said, raising a hand and greeting them with a cheerfulness that left them completely bewildered.

The two servants exchanged glances without knowing what to say.

"G-good night, Your Majesty..." one of them replied with a confused bow.

"T-the same to you," the other servant added.

Emilia continued walking without stopping.

A few meters ahead, she encountered another pair of servants who, upon seeing her, quickly approached with expressions of concern and curiosity.

"Your Majesty!" said the first, a young elf with short brown hair. "Is it true what’s being said throughout the palace?!"

"They’re saying you married a human in secret!" added the second, a taller elf with freckles and brown eyes. "And that he’s now the new ruler of the kingdom!"

"Is all of that true, Your Majesty?!"

Emilia stopped, looked at both of them, and a smile drew itself across her face.

"All of that is true," she replied in a tone so serene and cheerful that both servants’ jaws dropped. "And you have nothing to worry about."

"B-but Your Majesty—"

"My husband will take care of returning the kingdom to its years of glory," Emilia continued with a confidence that made it clear she wasn’t saying those words out of obligation but because she genuinely believed them.

Both servants stared at her in shock.

All they could do was nod slowly as they watched their queen, who less than an hour ago seemed to be on the verge of collapse, walk away down the hallway with a radiant smile.

"W-what just happened?" murmured the brown-haired one. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"I have no idea..." replied the one with freckles.

Emilia continued walking calmly until she reached the end of the hallway. Mark’s room was there, right in front of her.

The queen stopped for a few seconds in front of the door, observing it in silence.

But in the end, she turned right, opened the door to the room next door, and stepped inside before closing it behind her.

The room had a single bed, a window overlooking the inner garden, and basic furniture. Probably no one had used that room in years, or at least that’s what it seemed like from the thin layer of dust covering the nightstand.

Emilia walked to the bed and let herself fall backward onto it. Then she grabbed a pillow with both hands, pressed it against her face... and screamed.

The scream was completely muffled by the pillow, becoming a dull sound that didn’t leave the room.

Her legs began to kick against the bed and continued to do so for several seconds, until finally she stopped, panting against the fabric of the pillow.

The queen pulled the pillow away from her face, then looked up at the ceiling with flushed cheeks and eyes gleaming.

"For a moment I thought everything was lost..." she murmured, the pillow still between her hands. "That there was no possible salvation."

And it really did feel that way. When Zilu told her what kind of relationship Mark had with all his subordinates, Emilia’s hopes crumbled instantly.

What could she offer that the others weren’t already giving him?

Nothing.

That was her first conclusion.

But then Zilu told her something that changed everything.

’The Master’s head wives can’t have children.’

’That’s why they looked for someone who could give them to him.’

The answer had practically fallen from heaven.

"I just need to act fast..." Emilia murmured while hugging the pillow against her chest. "Since this will surely be the only chance I’ll ever get."

After all, Mark’s subordinates were far too busy with all sorts of kingdom-related matters.

No one was watching him.

And he was completely alone... just in the room next door.

"If what his wives want is for him to have children..." Emilia murmured, releasing the pillow she was pressing against her chest. "Then I just need to make that desire a reality."

The queen understood perfectly what it meant to give Mark a child.

A child wouldn’t just unite their lives; it would shackle him to her in a way no other woman could match. While the others could only offer affection, desire, or companionship, she could give him something far more important—lineage.

A blood bond impossible to break.

Therefore, if she managed to be the first to carry his child, then Mark could never truly distance himself from her. No matter how much he might want to.

"And to achieve that..." Emilia murmured as she slowly sat on the edge of the bed.

She slid both hands down to her pelvis, just below her navel, before closing her eyes and concentrating completely.

"Healer’s Grace: Gift of Fertility."

Her hands began to glow with warm green energy that extended from her palms to her abdomen, enveloping it with a soft light that pulsed rhythmically.

The energy intensified for a couple of seconds until a symbol appeared on her skin, just below her hands.

A heart.

Green and luminous, drawn with lines of light that beat as if they had their own pulse.

The symbol pulsed once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then it sank into her skin, slowly absorbing until it disappeared completely.

Emilia opened her eyes as a smile appeared on her face.

"With this, even a dead woman could get pregnant on the first try," she said, pulling her hands away and looking down at her abdomen.

The queen stood up from the bed and smoothed out the wrinkles of her dress with both hands before adjusting her hair, making sure every strand was in place.

Then she slowly turned her head toward the wall that separated her room from Mark’s.

"I hope you’re ready...", she murmured in a seductive tone. "Daddy."