#77
“Are you going to tell me now, or do you want to see me run out and ask someone else?”
Enrique asked, placing his hand on the armrest of the chair. It was a gesture suggesting he might stand up at any moment. Since Enrique’s pregnancy, Pol couldn’t bear to see Enrique move alone. He seemed compelled to support Enrique when standing up, walking, or even making the slightest movement. It was as if he was treating Enrique like a precious piece of glass.
“I… I’ll tell you, Your Highness.”
Pol finally declared his surrender, his shoulders slumping. Enrique raised an eyebrow, urging Pol to continue. After hesitating for a moment, Pol slowly began to speak.
“Actually… there’s news that a war might break out soon.”
“War?”
Enrique frowned at the unexpected word. He almost jumped up from his seat without realizing it, but Pol quickly stopped him with a gesture.
“Your Highness, moving so abruptly is not good for the baby. You must think of your body.”
Pol fussed, as he often did these days. Enrique sighed deeply and sank back into the armchair.
“Explain in detail.”
As Enrique demanded, Pol nodded and continued.
“Remember when the Ruben Prince severely beat the Monta envoy? Because of that incident, Monta sent a letter of protest along with an envoy group to the Ruben Empire.”
Enrique nodded slightly at Pol’s words. Certainly, Anture’s actions that day were bound to lead to diplomatic friction. Monta would have had to at least make a show of protesting to Ruben, if only to maintain their national dignity.
“I hear that the Ruben side and the Monta side were in sharp conflict over the issue of responsibility and compensation. But then the Prince, who had just arrived in Ruben…”
Pol hesitated to continue.
“What did Anture do?”
“He claimed that he was the one insulted at his sacred wedding, and brought up breaking off the engagement between the Monta King and you, Your Highness. And when he said that if it couldn’t be resolved with words, it should be resolved with force – that became the trigger for war.”
Unsure how to react, Enrique quietly picked up his fruit juice and brought it to his lips. He swallowed a sip of the tangy juice, but could barely taste it. Something was bubbling up in his chest. No, it felt more like a small typhoon whirling inside him. Amidst this confusion, one thought clearly crossed his mind.
Anture hadn’t left him. He had temporarily left his side to plan things, to keep Enrique as his one and only husband.
“…Does he think war is child’s play?”
Enrique finally blurted out grumpily. But contrary to his words, he could feel his lips relaxing into a smile. His chest swelled with pride. And at the same time, anger welled up.
“So how is the situation unfolding?”
Enrique asked, regaining his composure. It didn’t seem likely that Anture would involve Shamier. But when a great power like Ruben draws its sword, the repercussions are bound to be felt. The strangely unsettled atmosphere of the past few days was because everyone knew this.
“After the Prince mentioned war in front of the Monta envoys, Ruben’s hardliners came out in strong support of the Prince. I heard that Ruben’s army and knights are all in a mood to support the Prince.”
“The Emperor’s opinion is what’s important. What about the Emperor?”
“The Emperor hasn’t officially declared war yet, but I hear the Prince has personally stepped forward to organize the army and issue a summons to the knights.”
“And the Emperor isn’t stopping Anture at all, I suppose.”
“That’s right.”
Enrique’s mind became increasingly complex. Anture… By Enrique’s side, he had been just a young man yearning for love. But upon returning to Ruben, he immediately exerted his authority as the Empire’s prince. The fact that all his movements were for the sake of fully winning Enrique stirred his heart. And on the other hand, it seemed that Ruben was indeed the place where Anture should live proudly, which solidified Enrique’s conviction that he must separate from him.
“The King and ministers are gathered in the conference room, right?”
Enrique asked, trying to stand up. Pol stopped him.
“Your Highness. You haven’t even entered the stable period of pregnancy yet. What do you intend to do in the conference room? This is a time when you shouldn’t feel even the slightest fatigue. Besides, it’s not like Ruben and Shamier are going to war, right? Please, just think about the baby.”
“You’re telling me to sit here and drink juice while war is about to break out on the continent? Do you want to see me die of frustration?”
“Oh, Your Highness. Please, I beg you, endure for just one more month. By then you’ll enter the stable period, and I won’t stop you anymore. Okay?”
“Move aside.”
As Enrique pushed Pol away and tried to stand up, Pol urgently said:
“You should think of the Prince!”
Enrique paused at these unexpected words.
“…Why bring up Anture here?”
As Enrique sat back down in the chair and asked, Pol opened his mouth with a relieved expression.
“Think about it. According to the news, the Prince seems to be at the forefront of commanding the war, right? Imagine if something were to happen to the baby in your womb during such a critical situation. How shocked would the Prince be? Perhaps the shock would be so great that he might make a big mistake in the midst of war. What if he makes a fatal error, or gets injured?”
“……”
Enrique stroked his lower abdomen out of habit and inwardly nodded. Certainly… Anture was now rushing about to maintain their marriage. If he were to hear news that something had happened to the child in the midst of all this….
“Still, I need to hear the news in real-time. Hmm… Call Julian. Since her husband is Viscount Jares, she should be able to know all the news coming into the country.”
“Yes, I’ll call her right away.”
Pol nodded quickly with a relieved expression.
Not long after, Julian entered the reception room. This was possible because she was staying at the royal palace instead of the Jares family mansion.
“You called? Why? Bored?”
Julian asked as she sat down next to Enrique. Enrique immediately smacked the back of Julian’s head.
“Ouch! Hey, why did you hit me all of a sudden?”
Although it wasn’t a hard hit, Julian protested with a grimace.
“You’ve been seeing my face every day and perfectly hiding the war talk, haven’t you?”
When Enrique interrogated with narrowed eyes, Julian shrugged with a caught expression.
“Why would I tell such things to a pregnant woman who needs to be careful? Besides, the King gave strict orders, so I had no choice.”
At Julian’s explanation, Enrique clicked his tongue softly instead of pressing further.
“From now on, make sure to come in and out diligently to inform me whenever new information comes in.”
“I’m not someone who attends state council meetings, how am I supposed to know all that?”
“Not you, but your husband, Viscount Jares, attends those state council meetings every day, doesn’t he? Coax or threaten your husband, somehow find out everything in detail and let me know. Unless you want to see me eventually barging into the conference room myself out of frustration.”
At the final threat, Julian nodded as if she had no choice. After all, there was no risk of harm to the country in relaying the contents of the state council meetings to Enrique, so Julian didn’t worry too much.
“So, how are Monta’s movements?”
Enrique asked immediately. Julian took a sip from her teacup to wet her throat before speaking.
“What do you think? It’s chaos. The Ruben Empire has been a sleeping beast all this time. Now that the beast has awakened and they’re its first target, their country seems to have been turned upside down. They’ve started dispatching envoys to neighboring countries and hurriedly gathering soldiers at the borders. Of course, an envoy has arrived in Shamier too.”
At the last words, Enrique’s eyebrows twitched. To think that Monta’s envoy had rushed all the way to Shamier and they had hidden it from him… He was the heir who would continue Shamier’s lineage. It was absurd that he had been completely unaware of this entire situation. His father’s consideration for his pregnant state had gone too far.
“Monta’s envoy must have caused quite a commotion.”
Enrique said quietly instead of getting irritated. Julian nodded.
“There’s also the fault of not properly safeguarding the ring you received as a gift. As the spouse of the one causing this, you have a duty to step in and stop it. The Monta King is also your future fiancé, so Shamier and Monta are practically allied countries bound by marriage. We should mediate between them and Ruben, or in the worst case, dispatch troops. Well… they’ve been repeating the same things all day long, and my husband says he’s going crazy from it.”
“So they’re trying to drag Shamier in as a shield somehow.”
“I suppose so. As long as you’re in Shamier, the Prince won’t touch Shamier.”
Enrique let out a heavy sigh.
Anture’s actions to completely monopolize him were touching, but on the other hand, his behavior of completely crushing Enrique’s plans was utterly vexing.
