Chapter 06
The brooch that Curtis had reluctantly pinned to Chloe’s collar earlier that day was now the key.
‘This is the token Brigadier General Verck gave me when he proposed.’
One of the attendants quickly took it and handed it to the king.
Chloe would never forget the king’s face as he confirmed the Verck family crest on it.
‘He looked like I had just smacked him in the forehead with it.’
Back in the present, Chloe smiled sweetly.
“It came in handy, sir.”
“…Glad to hear it,”
Curtis said after a short pause and reached out his hand to take it.
Chloe, still smiling, pulled it back slightly.
Curtis, being a sharp man, understood immediately—and his face soured.
“Uh… Ensign.”
“Yes, sir?”
“…Well, first off, thank you…”
Unable to continue, he looked away and rubbed his face.
“Just sit down.”
“Yes, sir.”
Chloe sat properly on the couch, military-style, still holding the brooch in her hand.
Curtis twitched slightly at the sight.
It was already past midnight. Chloe could guess what this one-on-one talk was going to be about. But she didn’t plan on waiting for him to start.
“If I may ask—was today’s whole situation something you planned?”
Curtis rubbed his forehead like he had a headache. The answer was obvious.
“…More or less. Sorry.”
“No worries. I understand.”
That made Curtis stop rubbing his head and turn toward her. There was something odd in his purple eyes.
Chloe just shrugged.
“After standing there for three hours today, I realized I probably am the perfect match for you.”
The reason Curtis had brought her up as his potential bride—albeit on the spot—wasn’t complicated.
The king disliked Curtis, and yet Chloe was the ideal fake partner.
Here’s why.
The current king and Curtis had different mothers. Curtis’s mother was Queen Mildred, the second wife of the late king of Ivannes.
The old king had never planned to remarry, but fate had other ideas.
He fell for a visiting princess from the small maritime kingdom of Glintrande, and proposed.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a love story for both sides. But the princess was a practical woman.
“If you love me, fine—marry me. But you must protect my country too.”
As part of the marriage agreement, Ivannes had to provide defense funds for Glintrande.
Normally, this would be a tough deal to accept—but thanks to geography, it worked.
Ivannes had only one coastal point—the sacred Prado Coast, protected by fast currents and believed to be the resting place of a dragon. Invading via the sea was impossible.
So even if Glintrande strengthened its navy, it posed no real threat to Ivannes.
And there was one more condition.
“I don’t want my child dragged into your power struggles. Let them have noble titles in both countries, so they can choose.”
Queen Mildred asked that her child be given dual titles—one from Ivannes, one from Glintrande—so they could give up the Ivannes throne if needed.
The late king agreed without hesitation.
That child was Curtis.
At the age of three, he was officially titled Duke of Verck and also received a noble title in Glintrande.
The problem?
Curtis wasn’t just handsome—he was brilliant and talented. The late king adored him. So much so that it made the current king, the first prince, feel threatened.
Eventually, the current king began openly keeping Curtis in check.
Everyone knew it. They even felt sorry for him.
When Queen Mildred died in a mysterious accident—at a foreign villa, during a fire—many whispered that the current king may have had a hand in it.
Naturally, after taking the throne, the king pressured Curtis.
So Curtis fulfilled the traditional “second son” duty—he joined the military.
But he never gave up his Ivannes title.
That, of course, drove the king mad.
As long as Curtis remained the Duke of Verck, he technically still held succession rights.
Worse, Curtis had become a national hero by winning major battles. He was wildly popular.
The king’s old feelings of inferiority only grew.
This political marriage plot—to get the crown prince married off—was clearly a way to push Curtis out of the country before he became an even bigger threat.
But Chloe still couldn’t understand Curtis’s behavior.
“If you hate the marriage so much, couldn’t you just give up your title and nationality and move to Glintrande? Isn’t the king trying to marry you off just to neutralize you?”
She meant: Why go to such lengths to fake a marriage with me, when you could just leave?
Curtis chuckled, but it was a bitter one—nothing like his usual smug smiles.
“Do you know what my Glintrande title is?”
“You’re the Margrave of Soleria, I believe.”
Chloe answered without much thought.
Then—ah. She understood immediately. That title came with a heavy burden.
Curtis smirked at her.
“Figured it out?”
“More or less. But I’d still like to hear it directly.”
“A good soldier doesn’t assume—they verify. Good.”
Curtis nodded and explained briefly.
“The coastline is way too long. I’d have way too much to do.”
Soleria had the longest coastline in Glintrande and was constantly raided by pirates.
All the major ports were there.
The Margrave of Soleria was responsible for protecting that entire coast.
If Curtis took the role, he’d be stuck in endless conflict.
Hearing this, Chloe suddenly felt the urge to bash his head with the brooch still in her hand.
But Curtis continued, unaware.
“And even if I go to Glintrande, they’ll treat me like a nobody.”
That confused Chloe.
“Sorry to speak bluntly, sir, but… you’re not exactly treated well here either.”
Curtis narrowed his eyes.
Oops. Chloe flinched. Maybe she went too far.
‘But it’s true!’
Ivannes had ended three wars thanks to Curtis.
But instead of rewarding him, the king stuck him in the Royal Guard.
And he thinks he’ll be a “nobody” in Glintrande?
Isn’t that better than being stuck under a king who wants him gone?
But Curtis gave an unexpected answer.
“You’re not wrong. But if I’m going to be unappreciated either way, I’d rather stay in Ivannes.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t fight wars alone.”
Ah.
Chloe fell silent at the unexpectedly sincere reply.
“And Glintrande is weak. Poor, too. If I become Margrave of Soleria, I’ll end up pouring my entire fortune into their military—and I won’t get anything in return.”
War takes money. And Glintrande didn’t have any.
Their coastal ports had been attacked for years and still lacked proper protection.
Even though they were crucial for trade, the king of Glintrande said he couldn’t spare funds—because the raids had already drained the treasury.
And to make things worse, he added:
“If each port gets rich on its own, then maybe we’ll help later.”
Ridiculous.
Even if Curtis became Margrave, they’d expect him to fight using his own wealth.
It would be like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
At least in Ivannes, the government didn’t cut war funding.
‘Well, the king made a fortune off those wars, so of course he’d keep paying.’
So if Curtis had to fight as a “nobody” either way, it was better to be a supported one in Ivannes.
“Honestly, I’d already calculated all this when I was eighteen.”
“I see.”
That’s why he joined the Ivannes military without giving up his title.
But Glintrande hadn’t given up on him either.
The current king of Glintrande was Curtis’s uncle—Queen Mildred’s brother.
He had her intelligence, but used it more… shadily.
Back when Mildred was alive, Ivannes funded 90% of Glintrande’s defense.
After she died? That support vanished, and the budget shot up again.
At the time Curtis was born, he was just a rich prince from Ivannes.
But his uncle thought ahead and gave him the Soleria title—just in case.
Right now, Curtis is still a citizen of Ivannes and Duke of Verck.
The Soleria title was granted on the condition he would naturalize as a Glintrande noble, so he’s not bound by it yet.
However—if he marries a direct royal from Glintrande, his nationality would switch automatically, and so would his responsibilities.
Desperate for military funding, the Glintrande king saw his chance.
He adopted an unmarried relative into the royal family, gave them a new title of “Duke of Glintrande,” and sent a marriage proposal to Curtis.
In short, the message was:
“Hey Ivannes. You hate that guy, right?
We’re broke and short on people.
Let us borrow him.”
Of course, the king of Ivannes was thrilled.
And even more so because—
“They added an offer the king would find hard to resist…”
