Chapter 42

It wasn’t bad, but somehow she felt like she was hit in the back of the head. It was true that from the moment she wore the crown, Elise had naturally adapted to comfortable royal life, like someone who had sat on a throne all her life, but she was upset that Benji didn’t even say anything ahead of time.

‘If I told you in advance, you would have run away.’

True, she would have treated him like a madman, but she would not have discarded him. If he had consistently persuaded her, she would pretend to believe in him with pity, and she would have gone to the capital and pretended to be mad and knocked on the gate. Who knows how many years it would have taken… … .

Is it because he knew Elise so well? Benji seemed to have a good reason to proceed without explanation.

“Ugh, I’m mad.”

Even if she fully understood his reasoning, her rising anger was separate. She swore that she would give him a hard time soon. The problem was that he had such a busy schedule that they never had time to be alone.

However, she could not treat Benji, who became king, disrespectfully in front of others. Every time when no one was looking at her, she clenched his teeth and glared at him, but Benji just smiled softly and kissed her. It was clear that he was deliberately ignoring her.

“You look beautiful, wife.”

‘Damn it. I can’t even swear here.’

“Thank you, your Majesty.”

He must have seen the corners of her lips quivering, which she had raised with effort, but Benji kissed her once more and smiled leisurely. Really at ease.

The abominable ‘romantic’ figure of his kissing her made the noblewomen blush and giggle. He left trailing behind him the reaction of aristocrats who made a fuss without knowing what was truly going on. She internally growled at them and promised herself to make him suffer the next time she saw him. She had the night with him.

However, for several days, Elise found herself alone in the mornings. Maybe it was because he was busy with government affairs. On the other hand, there were traces of Benji’s presence sleeping next to her after getting in late and leaving at dawn… … .

She contemplated waiting until he came, but that was too much. She couldn’t lay awake at all because the bedding made her fall asleep as soon as she lay down. It was clear that Faustino’s royal family was spraying sleeping pills on the bedding.

‘Yeah, he’s suddenly seated on the throne, so he must be busy.’

For some reason, seeing that things were going so smoothly, it didn’t seem like a sudden thing, but she didn’t want to argue about details. Lying on the spacious bed, her generosity arose. But she couldn’t help but be irritated the following day.

“We’re so lucky that His Majesty appeared as soon as the previous king passed away. Otherwise, you would have given her country to that unscrupulous woman. Terrible. Truly, God Lengdo saved us.”

That was right; as soon as the previous king died, Benji appeared. In fact. Elise swallowed the inclination to retort back incredulously, ‘Is that really a coincidence?’ and instead nodded her head elegantly. Image management was necessary for her position.

‘Right, didn’t you mention something about a “Leng” too? You said it wasn’t not important I thought it was some slave trader name. Who speaks of the gods from the country’s myths like that?’

In addition, Faustino’s royal family is a descendant of a god who supposedly inherited the blood of Lengdo. For a moment, she had misunderstood him as an enslaved person and had unduly sympathized with him.

‘It’s no wonder you can’t reproduce.’

The seal was not as pitiful as Elise thought it was. Due to the terrifying fertility of the exceptionally strong Lengdo descendants, it was just a contraceptive to prevent frequent succession fights. Engraving right after birth was also just for convenience.

‘I do feel a little sorry for him… … .’

Benji, or otherwise known as Aristo Barbier, was the second prince of Faustino. Being weak at such a young age, he had no responsibilities. Enjoying everything, all powers were given to his brother, who would inherit the throne. All he heard from Benji’s nanny was praiseworthy anecdotes, but no matter how affectionate rhetoric seemed, that was the key Elise grasped.

But that didn’t last long either. When his mother, who was utterly ill, died, the old king welcomed his second wife as if he had been waiting. And not long after, the carriage carrying the brothers was set on fire by a downpour of flaming arrows. It was the work of the second queen who wanted to put her child on the throne.

The Crown Prince died on the spot, but Benji survived and fled. Then, the moment the previous king’s breath was in jeopardy, he miraculously returned alive. When the second prince, who all had assumed was dead, miraculously appeared, Faustino was quickly plunged into chaos.

In a dignified voice, Benji revealed the full story of the conspiracy covered up as an accident. Naturally, people’s anger turned to the queen at the shocking fact.

The face of the Sun Queen, which had swelled in anticipation of ruling Faustino upon the death of the Sun King by placing her child on the throne, had been crushed and smashed to the floor.

Elise was filled with a strange pleasure when she witnessed it. Maybe it’s because her Sun Queen’s face resembles her stepmother’s. Nevertheless, it was an exhilarating sight that made her heart tingle.

The story of Benji ascending to the throne quickly spread like a heroic legend. Aristo Barbier, the second prince, survived and was on the threshold of death and overcame adversity, and returned to save Faustino from the clutches of evil.

Apparently, this lady—a wife of a count or duke?—seemed to be an ardent enthusiast of the tale.

“His Majesty must have suffered so much.”

Elise couldn’t bring herself to agree. Benji had never done anything that was close to labor except for holding Elise’s hands for a short time.