Geraldo’s gaze was rather cold when he saw Natalie.

It can’t be helped, she’s his bride-to-be.

…If anything, Natalie was something else for being able to withstand his gaze.

How strange, for there to be a woman who can stand on equal footing with him.

Jill couldn’t do that.

“If you’re going to look so miserable, why don’t you just ask the prince to take you back?”

As Jill watched the two leave the room, Rick said something outrageous.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because we fully believed Sister Jill was going to be engaged with Prince Geraldo. I mean, even you were looking forward to your first meeting with the prince. Your eyes were sparkling and everything.”

That, however, was before her time had been rewound. Certainly, back then, she was over the moon thinking about her prince.

“Doesn’t sound like such a bad idea, right? Prince Geraldo would’ve been less of a hassle.”

“He seems to be more mentally stable than the Dragon Emperor, to say the least.”

“A-although His Majesty can be childish at times, he has a lot of good points—I mean, wasn’t the curry delicious!?”

“Thought so. She was won over by food. I knew it.”

“You should put more thought into your life, Sister Jill. You don’t have an eye for men.”

“Jill, sit down.”
Jill, who was half-standing, silently sat down at her mother’s voice.

“My husband.”

“—Y-yes!? Wait, me!?”

“Of course, you are the head of this family. Prince Geraldo took the trouble to show his compassion to us.”

“No, but wouldn’t it be better if you handle this? Our daughter… It sounds like she’s jealous…”

“Okay, then I’ll go first. Sister Jill, are you sure about becoming the Dragon Emperor’s wife?”

Andy, who was stared at by Rick, pushed his glasses up.

“Sister Jill, do you know what it means to become a Dragon Empress? You’ll become the Dragon Emperor’s shield.”

“O-of course! The role of the Dragon Empress is to protect the Dragon Emperor…”

“Are you alright with being taken advantage of like that?”

Rick, who was usually carefree, wasn’t mincing his words.

“…Considering our family history, I understand being obliged to protect the royal family and the kingdom. But this is marriage we’re talking about. Should you really be protecting him so one-sidedly?”

“It may sound one-sided, but His Majesty takes good care of me…”

“Do you know what is happening in the Rave Empire right now, Sister Jill?”

Jill frowned at his question, but Andy continued.

“The imperial army was sighted in Noitral and Leirzatz.”

“Tha- that’s not it, there was an uprising…”

At Jill’s flustered reaction, both twins raised their eyebrows at her. Jill’s father quietly chimed in.

“That’s not the case, Jill. They are keeping us—the Kingdom of Kratos—in check.”

Her mother sighed from beside her father, who was smiling wryly.

“Well, rather than keeping us in check, it’s more of a threat. It wouldn’t be surprising if they suddenly decided to cross the border.”

“W-wait… His Majesty isn’t the kind of person who’d do such a thing. I’m sure Vissel, the Crown Prince, is acting out of concern for His Majesty.”

“That’s a problem in itself. If anything, it shows the ruler’s lack of control over his own country.”

She couldn’t say anything back. Seeing Jill’s confusion, her mother became slightly perplexed.

“As expected, Jill is clueless.”

“Ma- maybe, but listen… His Majesty and I have no intention of starting a war… Right now, we’re just…”

“Chris is watching over the North, while Abby is watching over the South.”

The fact that her eldest brother and sister were on the move meant that they couldn’t afford to let her guard down.

“I don’t know what his purpose is or what triggered it… How on earth did the emperor manage to get in touch with them when he’s been here the whole time?”

It’s Rho.

Rho could receive instructions from Hades. If Rho conveyed those instructions to Vissel, Hades’ instruction would be spread throughout the Rave Empire.

In other words, nobody else could be responsible for this situation other than Hades.

So, this is the power of the Dragon Emperor.

Jill was horrified.

Your Majesty, why…?

She felt as if a sword was pointed at her throat.

“Maybe they’re waiting for a signal. We have to keep our eyes open so we don’t miss anything.”

“…Sister Jill, are you listening at all?”

“I…”

I don’t know anything.

Jill could only shake her head.

“I-in order to marry me, His Majesty chose peace. There has to be a mistake. No, even if it wasn’t a mistake, they’d never attack first. After all, they haven’t crossed the border yet, right? There must be a reason. So please, believe in him…”

Why?

The more she spoke, the smaller she felt—it was as if she were the only one left in the dark.

Her mother asked with concern.

“Jill… Well, it’s not like I want them to attack us, either. I want to believe you, but…”

“He didn’t tell me anything.”

Jill looked up to see that Rick was awkwardly resting his chin on top of his hands.

“I want to believe what Sister Jill says, but… What if the engagement is only the beginning to their demands?”

“Honestly, I can’t help but think that they’re looking for an excuse. If you inflict even a single wound on the emperor, they’ll probably launch an attack.”

“His Majesty would never—”

“—Can you say that for certain, Jill?”

Suddenly, her father rebuked. By far, that was the harshest her father had ever been.

“How much do you actually know about him? I heard that many perished because of him. Not only before he ascended the throne, but even after.”

“None of that was His Majesty’s fault—!”

“Even if that’s the case, you’ll just get dragged into it.”

She couldn’t just dismiss everything and say that she’d be fine. After all, she could see it. Both in the eyes of her father and mother, and even the twins.

They were worried about her.

“—Do you object to the engagement?”

Finally, she managed to squeeze out those words. However, her mother shook her head.

“We can’t object, Jill.”

“It’s what you want, and the kingdom consented to it. Prince Geraldo did say that if you have a change of heart, he’s open for discussion, but in the grand scheme of things, that’d be a bad idea.”

“Putting it bluntly, war can be avoided if we hand over Sister Jill to the Dragon Emperor.”

“It’s cost-effective, but as a family, we don’t want to be overly lenient.”

“Nevertheless, everyone will approve of your decision. Hence why, you need to speak to us, Jill.”

They were neither condemning nor chastising her. 

Instead, their gazes were filled with concern, while their voices were compassionate.

“There was that case with the late Dragon Empress. We don’t know the exact details of what happened in the Rave Empire, but from what I’ve heard, she died acting as the Dragon Emperor’s shield, and it wasn’t peaceful.”

“That’s… I’m sure a lot must’ve happened in the background…”

“But can you really say that they didn’t hide it from the public because it’s inconvenient?”

“Still, it was a long time ago. Nothing has happened between His Majesty and I…”

“Then, are you saying that it doesn’t matter even if it does happen? That it doesn’t matter if you are kept in the dark?”

Jill remained silent, and her father paused. Her mother, who looked at her with compassion, followed.

“Jill, I heard you swore to make Hades happy.”

“I did…”

“That’s wonderful of you. Mother was so proud. I’ve raised you to become such a strong girl—but Jill. I want you to please think about this one single thing. This is a request from your family.”

Her family asked gently, like a lullaby she once heard.

“Considering everything I’ve told you just now, can you truly be happy with that?”

---

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***T/N: The family does sound concerned, yes. But at the same time, they keep listing all and only the negatives…

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