"Your Highness Isabella, the next lesson I will teach you is the first practical exercise..."

“I will plead guilty in court… You don’t need to know what the crime is; I’m just making things up. You, on the other hand, need to punish me, either by deducting my salary or demoting me.”

"Why? Well... because that's what checks and balances are."

“I am a powerful minister, and many ministers and nobles are attached to me. Another group will turn to… let’s call them the ‘conservative noble faction’? I’ll call mine the ‘Ira faction’.”

"My power is too great, so they have to suppress me, and vice versa."

"And I will gladly accept your punishment in court, so that everyone will realize that I am always on your side, and the authority of the royal family can continue to increase."

"Don't understand? That's okay. What are your specific questions? I'll explain it to you slowly."

"You mean you trust that I won't betray the empire, so there's no need to suppress me? I know, and I trust you and I trust you, but that won't work... because this is the royal family, this is the rule between king and subject."

"..."

...

"Hmm..."

As she murmured, Isabella awoke from a dream of things from long ago. She looked at Marilla sitting in front of her, and then at her guards who were sleeping in the study.

How long did I sleep?

Although she asked this question, Isabella felt it wouldn't be long... As the emperor, her heart was always heavy, she didn't know exactly what it was but something was weighing on her, and she had hardly slept well since Ira left.

But she herself would never admit it.

"Your Majesty, half an hour."

"..."

Isabella gently touched the marks left from her face resting against her arm. She nodded to the guards on either side and said, "You may all leave."

Obeying orders without question, the guards left the study in perfect unison, leaving only Isabella and Marilla in the room.

"..."

"..."

"Ask me anything you want to ask?"

In response to Isabella's words, Marilla, who didn't really have much of a sense of hierarchy, nodded respectfully and asked, "Are the rumors circulating within the Empire true?"

The "rumor" that Marilla mentioned was, of course, the rumor that "Isabella and Ira conspired to put on a show."

"That's not the case."

Isabella shook her head as she spoke simply. She looked at Marilla and said, "Otherwise, the more extreme Ira faction would probably have defected from the Empire at the same time, so this is enough."

In other words, was this rumor spread on Isabella's orders?

"Of course, if such a rumor could be the truth, then I would rather it be the truth."

Isabella, whose way of speaking was just like Ira's, spoke, but no other Ira could understand her meaning instantly, so she could only shake her head at Marilla's puzzled expression.

"Step back. Let the guards in, and summon Minister Caligula. I need to discuss matters related to the capture of slaves with him..."

Marilla nodded at Isabella's words, and subconsciously asked, "Is Your Majesty going to discuss ending the slave-catching operation? Duke Caligula will not agree to it."

Duke Caligula, roughly equivalent to one of the leading figures of the aristocratic faction, was also a staunch supporter of the Imperial slave trade and the old bastard that Ira most wanted to kill, but actually...

Aside from being greedy, lustful, fond of female slaves, and a champion of aristocratic power, he was loyal to the empire and the emperor, and the imperial system. He never took concubines and was devoted to his wife... Every time, Ira would sigh at the strange logic within the empire.

But no one knew what he was sighing about.

Those who truly intended to rebel have already been identified and killed by the Iraqi and aristocratic factions.

"..."

"It should mean stopping the capture of foreigners... right?"

"..."

Under Isabella's calm gaze, Marilla understood everything. She was instantly filled with emotion, but still couldn't make any judgment. She said, "Ira will be angry, very, very angry."

In fact, both of them were aware of this.

“Everyone’s like that, always talking about Ira, as if I can’t accomplish anything without him… If he’s angry, let him be angry; if he wants to kill me, then let him kill me!”

Isabella looked visibly unhappy, but she quickly forced herself back to her composed demeanor and said calmly, "I will prove that I am no longer a child."

Perhaps, all of Isabella's impatience stemmed from this.

"If one day Ira leads his army into the imperial capital, what's wrong with him trampling me under his feet?"

Isabella said this with confidence because the other person was Marila. For the first time, she spoke her true feelings, saying, "My father and I have waited for far too long... but Marila is too obedient."

Either step on me and let me kiss his fingers, so that he can confidently stride towards his beautiful dreams after seizing the empire! Or obediently and completely submit, and stop putting on that "I know I'm right, so I'm going to convince you" attitude!

Either the former or the latter is acceptable, but! But!!!

That kind of "humble arrogance" is truly unbearable.

"Of course, if he can't beat me~"

As Isabella spoke, as if joking, she gently extended her white silk-clad feet from her shoes and said with a smile, "Then I'm going to step on him and tell him that I've grown up."

Its milky white little feet dangled, like a tempting ice cream cone.

"Then, I'll give him a hug and tell him..."

Isabella imagined the moment of her victory, and with a light laugh, she said, "I will tell him—welcome back to the Empire, I have removed all the blemishes from the Empire!"

Then……

Ira will acknowledge me, will praise me for the first time, will call me by my first name instead of Princess Isabella, and will no longer say, "A king must not be impatient; maintain your composure. You can do better," but will say...

[Great job, Isabella!]

"..."

In the royal study where Marilla had left, only a proud and aloof king, a rebellious and arrogant student, a child yearning for recognition from a specific person, and a sensitive young girl longing for guidance remained... but there were not four people.

These four people are the same person.