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Chapter : 23
As expected.
The official documents had yet to arrive, but Agatha already sensed that the Myneucor delegation would include her former husband.
It was only an informal meeting, and despite the fact that another country’s envoys were entering their territorial waters, there was no reason for the navy commander himself to move.
“Is something wrong, Lady Agatha?”
“No, nothing like that.”
Agatha glanced at Enoch, seated across from her, then passed him the documents.
“They say the commander of the Eastern Navy will be accompanying the escort mission.”
“…”
Even after ten years spent rolling across battlefields, the man’s noble instincts remained sharp. He immediately sensed something odd.
“It seems there will be someone of high status in this Myneucor delegation.”
“It isn’t confirmed, but I’ve heard whispers that His Highness the Crown Prince is sending the Second Prince.”
The Second Prince of the Myneucor Empire — Fernand Mynumconti.
For a moment, the man’s gaze shifted toward Agatha. She was overwhelmed by contradictory feelings.
She feared how her newlywed husband might react to meeting her ex-husband — yet at the same time held a vague hope.
Perhaps… he might even be jealous.
Even though she knew perfectly well that this was a marriage of strategy — one formed out of mutual advantage — the absurd hope still sprouted inside her.
“I see.”
The man looked away and turned to the next page without the slightest change in expression. Agatha clenched her skirt for a moment before reaching for another document.
She didn’t know what she had hoped for.
They had held the ceremony, spent the wedding night, and though he treated her with kindness, they had not even known each other two full months before marrying.
I mustn’t misunderstand.
All the consideration he showed her — she had explicitly demanded respect as a wife when they wed.
A gentle hand suddenly stroked her cheek. Startled, she lifted her head, and his face filled her vision, close.
“You still don’t look well.”
“…”
I shouldn’t be like this.
Without realizing it, Agatha leaned her cheek into his hand. Her own fingers wrapped around his — large, rough, and warm.
“It will pass soon. We’re inside the keep now.”
“Leave the meeting with the navy to me. Why don’t you go to the inn and rest first?”
“The commander will be difficult. Are you sure you’ll be all right?”
Agatha had indeed called for the Nobilis naval branch, but solely for escort purposes.
Formal reception duties and processions would fall to the Imperial Navy, and there was every chance their commander would engage in a power struggle over authority.
“I am not such an easily handled man, my lady.”
A brief dryness passed through his voice, then the corners of his eyes bent slightly. Agatha found herself staring into their depths, entranced.
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
She flinched and lowered her gaze.
“Then I’ll leave military matters in your hands. Once the supplies are loaded, I’ll return to the inn.”
“Unavoidable, I suppose. You wouldn’t listen even if I insisted more…”
He stretched his other hand to take the naval registers and ship plans from her, and whispered low:
“Don’t push yourself.”
“…Yes.”
Agatha nodded, suppressing the sudden greedy ache rising inside her chest.
That such fluttering joy could spring from nothing more than being treated with respect as a wife…
How happy would I be if he began to truly love me?
But imagination must remain imagination.
“I’ll leave it to you, Enoch.”
Their overlapping hands parted. He lifted her knuckles to his lips and kissed them deeply. Soon, their carriage arrived at the harbor.
* *
Agatha alighted with her first aide, Ethel Masro, and her attendant maids, heading toward the Nobilis family ship.
Enoch signaled subtly to his second deputy, Huber Carwen.
Do not leave her side.
The recent gazes — hidden, intentional — had already been noticed by him and by the knights of Arathus.
They carried no murderous intent, but they were secretive eyes.
The first suspects: relatives of House Nobilis or of House Arathus.
They did not seem intent to strike immediately, but caution was crucial.
Huber bowed and followed Agatha with several dozen knights.
With his wife’s protection arranged, Enoch wiped a flat hand over his face.
So the strange tension was because of the Second Prince?
Fernand Mynumconti — the Myneucor Empire’s Second Prince.
His rotten nature was infamous across the continent.
Shameless, dishonorable, a tangled web of affairs — and even a bastard child to show for it.
Agatha was distressed about meeting him, and equally anxious about her husband’s reaction.
Enoch was certainly not pleased — but he wasn’t foolish enough to show it.
Even if my anger is aimed at the prince and the emperor who arranged this, showing it won’t help her.
His wife had been an exemplary marchioness. Whatever undefined discomfort gnawed at his gut, he had no intention of exposing it.
Instead, he worried for her.
Even if he personally felt nothing, she might be uneasy on her own.
And her health is still not good.
Remembering her pale face after the long carriage journey, Enoch’s mood sharpened.
“We should finish this quickly. Let’s go.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Enoch handed his documents to his adjutant and strode toward the acting lord and the navy contingent approaching them.
He had not yet realized that the irritation he felt vanished the moment he thought of Agatha —
Nor that what remained was jealousy.
* *
BWooooo—
“Set sail!”
With a roaring trumpet call, sails unfurled and ships cut swiftly across the water.
The vessels of House Nobilis, accompanied by the Roxbard Empire’s Eastern Fleet.
It would take ten more days to reach Palabi Island.
Before departure, Agatha had received an official document from the acting lord, Baron Solano.
On the first page was written the name of the Myneucor delegation’s leader.
“Second Prince Fernand Mynumconti.”
Crown Prince Antony Roksevia’s hint that night at the ball had now become reality.
Time slipped by, and roughly nine nights later, regardless of Agatha’s tangled thoughts, the Nobilis flagship, three warships, and the Eastern Navy entered the waters of Palabi Island.
Jessie, her handmaid, who often climbed onto the deck, brought happy news.
“My lady! The island is in sight!”
“Really? We arrived sooner than I thought.”
Heavy waves had slowed them for days, and delays were expected — but they made it within schedule.
Agatha stepped onto the deck, gazing at the distant island.
“So that’s Palabi Island.”
She had visited it only once, shortly after coming of age during a territorial tour.
It had left no strong impression then.
Yet now the rocky island, thick with trees, was surprisingly beautiful. At the edge of a flat plain between mountains lay the harbor.
“Even if we can see it, it’ll be hours before we dock,” Jessie added.
“Is that so?”
Agatha stayed on deck, watching the island grow larger as the ship approached.
“It’s a pretty island.”
A rather large volcanic island.
A conical fortress stood at the central highland peak, surrounded by spiraling forests, fields, and villages below.
The harbor was visible first — three functioning piers.
The rest of the docks were under construction to expand capacity.
“The piers are expected to be finished within two weeks,” said Ethel, who had joined her.
“What about the trade station?”
“They’re raising the roof now.”
As the distance closed, the half-built structures Ethel pointed to grew clearer.
Warehouses, lodging for sailors, consulate quarters for foreign agents, inspection depots — all things needed for future trade.
Agatha nodded at the construction funded and approved under her authority.
“We’ll stop to inspect everything before we go to the keep.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Just as Ethel withdrew, a familiar voice sounded beside her.
“So you’re going straight to the site.”
Enoch was there — when had he arrived?
“I heard the Myneucor delegation is close. We need to check the progress before they arrive.”
Enoch looked to his adjutant, Chad.
“Three days, at most. The patrol spotted the royal Mynumconti banner.”
“Already?”
Agatha bit her lip. The timing was tight.
Enoch would handle the official welcome — but even so…
To inspect the site, prepare the reception, and organize the banquet before negotiations — they would have to move quickly.
