The bedroom of the annex.

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Shiron watched Victor undress, his eyebrows furrowing tightly as if he were looking at something bizarre. The woman beside him had the same expression on her face.

“Huh…”

“Wow…”

“…”

Victor glanced at the two as if she were a monkey in a zoo but couldn’t say anything, so she quietly buttoned up her shirt.

She straightened her tie, fastened her waist with a pin, attached an ornament to her chest, pulled up her pants, and secured them with a belt.

“…Is it done?”

Only after attaching a few more magical devices could Victor finally breathe a sigh of relief. The blatant gazes, as if trying to uncover her secrets, abruptly stopped.

“Wait.”

But it was only for a moment. Shiron approached Victor.

“…It’s really flawless.”

Shiron touched Victor’s chest, now transformed into a man’s. Victor trembled and stiffened like a stone. She should have been startled by the sudden molestation, but having already shown everything, screaming now would be ridiculous.

“What’s the matter? How is it?”

Louise alternated glances between the blushing Victor and Shiron, who touched her curiously.

“She really feels like a man. It clearly feels like a soft chest, but my brain keeps perceiving her as a man with gynecomastia. It’s easy to be fooled.”

“I want to touch too!”

Louise, who had been quietly watching, joined in. Having years of pent-up frustration, she groped Victor’s body even more openly than Shiron.

“…It’s not soft; it’s just firm.”

“Really?”

“Yes. There’s no pelvis, the Adam’s apple is properly pronounced… Even her hands feel thick, like a man’s.”

“It seems the weaker your resistance to illusions, the more you perceive her as a man. Even my uncle, who’s well past his prime, would now see Victor as a fully-grown emperor.”

“…It’s not foolproof. The resemblance has to be somewhat similar to narrow the perceptual gap.”

Victor, taking a deep breath, buttoned up her uniform. Having allowed others to touch her for so long, her once neatly pressed uniform was now full of wrinkles.

“Mother was so worried about gathering all the treasures in the duchy that she even got involved with black market goods.”

“I see…”

At the mention of Victor’s mother, Louise’s expression darkened.

Ado Bi, one of the emperor’s concubines.

She had died over ten years ago, and even Louise, Victor’s fiancée, had met her only a few times.

As Shiron tidied up the bedroom, he spoke.

“The Empress wouldn’t have personally gone to the black market, so she must have had someone else handle it, right?”

“Of course.”

“And the Emperor had no interest in it? Given his personality, he wouldn’t have liked a member of the royal family coveting black market goods.”

“Back then? There was constant commotion over succession issues, he was busy with the marriages of his sisters, and he had many wives.”

“…So, he turned a blind eye to minor transgressions?”

“That couldn’t be the case.”

Victor laughed bitterly. The Emperor, Franz, who was considered the greatest emperor in history. It was impossible that, during his most astute and sharp-minded years, he wouldn’t have known what was happening in the harem.

“He probably just didn’t care. Though I was called a prince on the surface, I was so much younger than my brothers, far from the line of succession, and sending me off as a consort to another country was problematic due to my royal blood.”

“Did he foresee the possibility of rebellion in the future?”

“I think it was more like an insurance policy, but only he would know for sure.”

“…”

“Not that there’s a need to ask.”

Victor sighed as she sat on the edge of the bed. Thanks to Shiron’s cleaning, the bed looked so neat that no one would know what had happened on it last night.

“Well, it’s all in the past now. What’s important is to do well moving forward.”

Shiron comforted Victor, who had become gloomy.

Listening to complaints after a good time felt like what people call post-sex blues, but Shiron kindly listened to Victor’s story.

The Prient family and Shiron’s previous life were also plagued by family problems. He knew well that just being there to listen could be of great help.

…Even if he couldn’t completely sympathize, having just filled his belly, Shiron still patted Victor’s back a few times, and soon Victor’s expression brightened.

“Well then, I’m off.”

Shiron slung a bag full of trash over his shoulder and opened the window. Feeling the early morning breeze, he looked down to see that the ground was quite far below.

“What, are you leaving already?”

“Why, should I join you for breakfast? If you want the royal family to hear rumors about a man spending the night with an engaged woman, I’m happy to stay.”

“Still, leaving through the window is a bit much…”

Victor glanced at Shiron. Dressed in black and carrying a black bag, he looked just like a thief.

“There’s nothing good that’ll come from me staying any longer. Oh, Louise.”

“Yes?”

“At this point… my lower half is practically public property. If you’re ever lonely, feel free to contact me using Victor’s name.”

“Oh… okay.”

“And me? Can I contact you?”

“When have you ever not contacted me?”

With those words, Shiron jumped out the window. When they hurriedly rushed over to wave goodbye, there wasn’t a trace of him on the ground, even though it was four floors down.

“Seriously, he’s so reckless.”

Victor grumbled, but her expression showed no hint of disapproval. She only let out a sigh of relief and smiled contentedly. It was then that Louise approached her.

“Your Majesty?”

“Yes?”

“Then, what happens from now on?”

“What do you mean? I’ll probably continue dressing as a man until Father passes away. By then, the regime will have stabilized, and most of the disloyal people will be dealt with.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“?”

Victor tilted her head in confusion at Louise’s denial. She had assumed Louise was worried about when she would reveal she was a woman, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Louise began fidgeting with her fingers shyly.

“What about the matter of heirs?”

“Heirs?”

“Last night… Before I took the medicine that Sir Shiron gave me, I took another pill on my own.”

“What was that?”

“Well, it was… a pill to have a child.”

Louise blushed deeply and lowered her head.

“A pill to have a child?”

“I took an ovulation-inducing pill.”

“…”

“And, um… Your Majesty?”

“W-what?”

“What are you going to do?”

“…Me?”

When Victor asked absentmindedly, Louise’s face showed disbelief.

“Your Majesty… you and Sir Shiron… were intimate.”

“…”

“Don’t you remember? All night long, until your belly was so full you couldn’t take any more…”

“Th-that’s enough! You don’t need to say any more.”

Victor cut Louise off, startled.

Suddenly, all the embarrassing things they did last night came flooding back. Things too shameful to even mention when sober.

Victor sat Louise down on the bed and pulled up a chair to sit herself. She began thinking for a moment.

‘It’s one thing for Louise, but what if I end up pregnant?’

Aside from cases where alchemy was used to make pregnancy easier…

It was commonly believed that it took between 10 and 50 intimate encounters for a couple to conceive.

But sometimes, there were reports of people getting pregnant from a single encounter. Thus, in this world, having a child was considered a blessing from the gods.

“…”

Victor thought no differently. Having a child with the one you love was a blessing. She didn’t even want to think about the idea of getting rid of a child.

“Should I call Shiron again?”

When Victor laughed awkwardly, Louise’s face grew determined.

“Your Majesty, I have a plan.”

“No.”

“…You’re rejecting it without even hearing it?”

“I can already guess what you’ll say.”

Louise looked upset at the firm rejection, but Victor shook her head without a second thought.

Even though her life had been full of hardships due to her parents, no matter how difficult things were, she couldn’t bring herself to arrange an assassination while they were recuperating.

Victor wanted to be like her father but didn’t want to betray her morals.

‘Shiron may act recklessly, but he knows his limits. From what I’ve heard, he treats Sir Hugo even more respectfully than Dame Siriel.’

She didn’t want to upset Shiron either. Now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, if she crossed the line, she couldn’t even imagine what face she’d have to show him. Just thinking about it made her chest ache.

While Victor was deep in thought, Louise spoke hesitantly.

“Your Majesty, I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but that’s not what I meant.”

“…Then?”

“Now that the situation has come to this, we can reveal that you’re a woman and appoint Sir Shiron as the royal consort. Of course, considering Sir Shiron’s safety, not just yet.”

The term ‘royal consort’ referred to the husband of a queen or empress. Victor suddenly thought Louise was out of her mind.

‘Is her head still muddled from the aphrodisiac?’

Just as Victor was about to apologize for her rude thought, Louise smiled and continued.

“There’s no need to worry about legitimacy or opposition. Trust me, Your Majesty.”

Louise recalled the white sword Shiron had wielded.

‘…It was a holy sword.’

A hero.

Louise had heard about them since she was a child, and she thought it was just an exaggerated legend. But after experiencing extraordinary events in the past month, her doubts had turned into certainty.

If what she thought was true, Shiron had already proven himself worthy.

The reincarnation of a hero from 500 years ago.

Of course, Shiron swore constantly, fed people aphrodisiacs without a second thought, and poked at other women’s private areas without any hesitation.

There was nothing noble about him at all!

‘…But if he weren’t a hero, it wouldn’t make sense.’

As Louise devised her plans, the future of the imperial family seemed bright in her eyes.