CHAPTER 24……
Let’s Go to Fritan!
Mikrok felt a sudden dizziness at the sight of Lea standing before him like an illusion. His heart reacted before his brain could even register it.
“Lea… how are you here…?”
“I’ve missed you so much, Prince Mikrok.”
As she buried herself in his chest, he gripped her shoulders.
As if in disbelief, he wound strands of her hair around his fingers, then slowly brushed over her face, neck, and shoulders. His eyes gradually deepened.
“Mhm…”
She closed her eyes at his touch, letting out a strange moan as her body twisted under his caress.
“Kiss me.”
When she raised her lips and tried to wrap her arms around his neck, Mikrok seized her arms and roughly pinned her against the wall.
Panting in excitement, she tried to cling to him, but Mikrok’s large hand closed around her throat.
“Uhk! Y-Your Highness…?”
“Enough. Boring. So, you’re the princess of Malau, aren’t you?”
The eyes that had moments ago burned with desire had now cooled into ice.
When his emotionless gaze bore down on her, she felt humiliated. Yet the veins straining in the hand choking her neck left her gasping, convinced her breath would stop any moment.
She clawed at his wrist with both hands, struggling desperately.
“Are you all right, Your Highness?”
William burst into the chamber with a sword in hand.
“Slow fool. Why not wait until I was dead before showing up?”
“My apologies.”
Even as he mocked William, Mikrok’s gaze stayed fixed on the woman.
When William looked up and saw the woman struggling in his grasp, he froze.
“Your Majesty the Queen?”
“Will, have you lost your wits?”
Mikrok coldly retorted, then looked down at the woman.
“I suspected something when they insisted I spend the night here. But to come to me in my queen’s likeness?”
His glare was savage, as though he might snap her fragile neck at any moment.
“How shall I end you? You knew the risk when you dared attempt such insolence.”
Though his eyes remained on her, his words were clearly meant for those outside. His grip tightened, her strangled gasps turning frantic.
At last, the chamber doors burst open, and the King of Malau rushed in with his courtiers, throwing himself to his knees.
Mikrok hurled the gasping woman at the king’s feet.
“Huff… huff…!”
Her violet eyes shifted back to a deep green, her true form returning. Aside from the hair color, she was nothing like Lea—sultry, arrogant, but undeniably beautiful.
“Explain.”
At Mikrok’s frigid command, the King of Malau pressed his forehead to the floor.
“Great King of Fritan, please do not misunderstand. It is the highest honor among the Malau to send a daughter into a guest’s chamber to serve him in bed. A long-standing tradition. If my daughter offended you in any way, forgive us.”
“Such excessive hospitality. And does that tradition include disguising oneself?”
The king bowed even lower under Mikrok’s icy voice.
In truth, since the peace treaty, the King of Malau had sought to bind the two kingdoms closer. A royal marriage seemed ideal. Yet he knew Mikrok already had a queen, which troubled him.
That was when his daughter Shine scoffed:
“So what if he has a queen? Once he takes me, she’s irrelevant.”
“Shine, the King of Fritan is no ordinary man.”
“He’s still a man. Demon or human, have I ever failed to enchant one?”
With a confident smile, Shine ran her fingers through her hair. She swore she could seduce him if they kept him one night at Malau Castle.
“With the charm incense and my shapeshifting, he’ll crumble instantly. Once he lies with me, he’ll never cast me aside.”
Her bold words finally convinced the king to aid her scheme. She had always been a clever child—her beauty and wit together seemed more than enough to topple even the unyielding Mikrok.
But the result was disastrous.
Even stranger, Mikrok did not explode with rage as expected. He remained silent.
While William stood guard with his sword, Mikrok calmly changed clothes, sat in a chair, and gazed at them with detached eyes.
Time dragged by, suffocating and tense. None dared break the silence.
“Dawn has come.”
Watching the window, William finally spoke. Mikrok nodded, rose, and looked coldly down at the King of Malau.
“I have kept my promise to spend one night here. Now my knights and I depart at once.”
Panicked, the king pulled Shine toward him.
“Though things turned out thus, I beg you to keep my daughter by your side, to strengthen the bond between our realms—”
“The bond,” Mikrok interrupted sharply,
“will last forever, so long as the treaty we signed is honored word for word. So spare me your tricks.”
“She need not be queen or concubine! Keep her as an attendant, or cherished companion, anything at all—”
Shine trembled with humiliation at her father’s plea.
“I appreciate the offer, but I hardly have time enough to cherish even my one queen.”
His voice turned glacial.
“A word of advice: Do not use your daughter as a pawn to sate your ambitions, not if you wish Malau to endure a thousand years.”
“But is that not how all kings build their nations?”
“Then perhaps you never heard what became of Samal, my mother’s kingdom.”
His casual remark left the king and his courtiers pale as death. They knew well the tale—that Mikrok himself had destroyed his maternal grandfather’s realm.
“We will accept your tribute. However—”
The king lifted his head slightly.
“Someone must pay for the crime of impersonating my queen. As apology for tonight’s offense, you will send three thousand tons of enchanted heating stones.”
“Th-three thousand…?”
“Why? Is that too much?”
It would strip bare two entire mines, but the king dared not object.
“As you command. A thousand tons shall be sent within the month.”
Bowing so low his forehead nearly struck the ground, the king submitted. His courtiers followed suit.
Having secured all he desired, Mikrok and William left the castle without a backward glance.
Outside, the elite Fritan knights, ready to storm the castle at a moment’s notice, greeted them anxiously.
“Are you unharmed, sire?”
Ralph rushed forward.
“A small disturbance, nothing more. But the queen will spend a warmer winter thanks to it.”
“Eh?”
Perplexed, Ralph glanced at William, who signaled him to stay quiet.
Mounted, Mikrok turned to his men.
“You’ve endured much. Now, let’s return home!!”
“Uwoooohhh!!”
Cheers erupted, and the knights sped away from Malau Castle.
✦ ✦ ✦
“The Queen’s Palace budget is enormous… Do we really spend this much every year?”
In the chancellor’s office at Fritan Castle, I sat across from Duke Zenon, reviewing the accounts I would now manage.
“No, Your Majesty. This is just the budget allocated for the latter half of the year.”
“Then next year, the palace will get twice this amount?”
“As you know, the palace had no mistress until midyear, so little was allocated before. Now that you are here, you must oversee it. In time, you may even manage the internal budget of the entire castle.”
“Ugh! Don’t rush me, Duke Zenon!”
I frowned at the daunting figures.
The 13 gold coins I had once gained by selling my tiara to fund an escape had been the largest sum I ever held. Now I was expected to decide how to spend unimaginable sums every month. The pressure was immense.
As they say: those used to feasts eat well, and those used to spending money spend well. I needed time to grow the courage for such vast expenditures.
While I glared at the papers as though in a staring contest, Duke Zenon chuckled.
“Since you’re working so hard, I must give you a gift.”
“A gift? Yes, please~”
“Just now, Captain Joseph of the rearguard sent a message.”
“What news?”
At that word, my ears perked up. Could it be about Mik?
“The monster subjugation went smoother than expected. They’ll return a month earlier than planned. The rearguard is already on its way back.”
“And His Majesty Mikrok?”
Barely controlling my racing heart, I pressed him. Duke Zenon deliberately drew it out, slowly unfolding the letter.
“Let’s see… Mikrok stayed one night at Malau Castle, so he departed a day later than Joseph. According to this, he should arrive… within four days at the latest.”
“Are you pleased?”
It was such an obvious question that I could only nod vigorously.
Mik, my dearest husband… he was finally coming back to me!
Leaving the chancellor’s office, I almost floated toward the Queen’s Palace.
At the entrance, Millie was waiting. She ran to me with shining eyes.
“Your Majesty! Word is His Majesty and the knights are returning. The whole castle is buzzing!”
“I heard. He’ll arrive in four days.”
“Oh heavens! They’re all safe, aren’t they?”
She clasped her hands, eyes wet with relief.
“Yes. No serious injuries. So, Millie…”
I looked at her intently, playful but firm. She grew flustered.
“W-why are you staring like that?”
“It’s time you made up your mind. Which of the three is it?”
“I told you, it’s nothing like that! It’s cold—I’ll fetch tea!”
She fled, leaving me laughing. But then I remembered what needed doing and hurried inside.
“Adele, summon Chamberlain Colin. With His Majesty and the knights arriving in four days, we’ll decorate the castle and host a grand banquet.”
“Wow! Since His Majesty’s coronation, there hasn’t been an event this big.”
Adele’s face glowed with excitement.
“From now until then, it’ll be nonstop. You may not even sleep. Be ready. Sophie, fetch the royal chef to my office at once.”
Though I threatened them with hard work, both Adele and Sophie were delighted.
As I walked to my office, I recalled the palace budget. With so much money available, half my worries faded.
“The banquet will come from the Queen’s budget. Decorations from a separate fund.”
Thinking of it filled me with energy.
For my husband and his knights, returning unscathed, I vowed to throw a feast lasting three nights and days.
It would be unforgettable, moving—something etched in memory forever.
Then I recalled the duke and duchess strolling with Violet in the Crown Prince’s garden.
“Yes… that’s it!!”
