I Will Become the Queen of the Enemy Country

“Long time no see, Iris.”

“Your Highness!”

Chase finally came to see Iris a day after she arrived in Tetris, who knew what he had been up to.

Though angered, Iris ran towards him with a bright smile, perfectly acting the part of an overjoyed woman reuniting with her lover.

Chase embraced the leaping Iris tightly. He too was acting.

However, their act differed from stage actors in one way–neither realized the other was pretending.

“My apologies. I wished to come right when I heard of your arrival, but matters I’m preparing have tied me down.”

“When working in a foreign land, it’s hard to do as one pleases, I understand, Your Highness. Please, come inside.”

Chase shook his head.

“It would be best if you relocate lodgings, Iris.”

Chase hadn’t come to meet Iris, but to retrieve her.

He disliked her staying in the same palace as Elise, as if their meeting enabled his own transgressions.

So as soon as Iris arrived yesterday, he tried taking her to where he was staying, but an urgent matter arose.

He had to locate the suddenly missing Melanie, and with his co-conspirator gone, many matters fell solely on Chase’s shoulders.

Moreover, Melanie’s meeting with Elise right before vanishing nagged at him.

If she had divulged everything they were plotting, it could jeopardize his plans.

‘From Elise’s silence so far, it doesn’t seem Melanie told her everything.’

Hence, he could afford some leeway for now.

“Iris, pack your things.”

“I’ll stay here, Your Highness. From my engagement experience, I know the day before leaves one’s heart fluttering. As the sister, shouldn’t I be there to soothe that?”

Her charming act looked perfect to outsiders.

Chase sensed the passing court officials watching them, so he smiled.

“You are truly affectionate.”

He tidied Iris’s disheveled hair, slowly closing the distance between them.

The court officials averted their gazes, expecting a lovers’ tender intimacy.

Chase’s lips, treacherously close to Iris’s cheek, glided past to her ear instead.

“I have discreet matters to discuss. Tasks for you too. Not conversations for Karan’s palace.”

Chase was telling her to cooperate with his plans.

Iris had her own agenda–unraveling Elise’s secrets and confidants during this Tetris visit.

She suspected Elise was behind the suspiciously easy 1st and 2nd Gate subjugations.

And anything disrupting her schemes, Iris pinned on Elise too.

Leading to her burning question–how did Elise find out?

Digging deeper unveiled Richter periodically updating Elise about Iris.

Once an obedient dog to Iris, his betrayal stunned her more than angered.

You dared collude with Elise against me?

Fortuitously, she needed test subjects for a new concoction.

Iris had disposed of Richter. But her doubts didn’t end there.

Everything seemed to be going too smoothly for Elise.

‘She’s definitely receiving help from someone.’

Otherwise, how could that once merely clever but far inferior girl now surpass Iris so dramatically?

Even her personality had changed.

‘Someone in Tetris is aiding Elise.’

That’s who Iris came to find.

‘To either turn them to my side, or eliminate them.’

She intended to sever that connection from Elise by any means. Yet now, having barely identified Elise’s inner circle, Chase wants her to relocate somewhere, making observing Elise difficult?

“Your Highness, you’ll make me blush acting this way.”

Iris pushed Chase’s chest away. An odd response to his remarks.

She pretended to straighten his collar.

“I’ll visit you frequently, Your Highness. It’s just two days after all.”

A refusal of his instructions. Chase arched a brow.

“Iris.”

“I’ll miss you.”

Before he could say more, Iris grabbed his collar and pecked his lips, softly murmuring.

“There’s something I need to confirm first. Once I do, I’ll assist you, Your Highness. Oh, and arrange a meal with Princess Ilaria–we agreed to support the 3rd Gate subjugation.”

Iris flushed her cheeks like whispering sweet nothings.

“Ah, I nearly forgot, Your Highness–I promised to help Elise with her dress for tonight’s banquet. I’ll see you then.”

With that dismissive farewell, Chase had no choice but to leave.

‘Such a vixen.’

Thank goodness she’s mine.

Chase turned and departed.

****

The night before the engagement ceremony, a banquet was held–naturally at Karan’s palace.

Unlike the ceremony banquet, this pre-engagement revelry only included the young crowd.

A celebration of the new couple’s union, meant to inspire further couplings through the joyous atmosphere–an ancestral wish embedded in the tradition.

Befitting its origins as friends gathering for fun, the banquet had an energetic, informal vibe.

“Karan, I didn’t think you’d get engaged before me.”

A flushed Ilaria approached Karan, who was raucously drinking with her soldiers.

Having lost Elise to Jasmine and Deboa, Karan made no effort to hide his foul mood.

Ilaria snatched his cup and downed it in one go.

“Whew, Tetris booze could knock out a Gollum in one swig.”

“If you could even drink it.”

Karan nudged the cup her lips touched away with just his fingertips, as if contaminated.

He called over a passing courtier for a fresh cup, warning them to bring Ilaria a new one too.

“You’ve changed.”

“What?”

“In the past you didn’t care about sharing cups.”

“I always disliked it.”

He just didn’t want to waste energy on such things. On the battlefield, borrowing others’ belongings was common, sometimes even from the dead–he had grown numb to it.

But now he had Elise. Imagining someone else using her cup, or her using another’s…

Crack, the cup in Karan’s grip shattered.

“Might as well have thrown it.”

After confirming that Karan’s hand wasn’t injured, Ilaria added that remark. Karan shook off the glass shards with liquor on his skin.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

Ilaria downed another cup of the potent brew, the kick making her shake her head before leaning against the wall.

“The gates are troubling.”

“Elise said they will open.”

“We’re not prepared.”

“It was said to have requested aid from the Ivory Tower, apparently.”

“Hah…those bastards’ aid…”

Ilaria’s face contorted, recalling the Ivory Tower magician’s demands.

Unconditionally open Magnus’s borders when asked. Demonstrate Magnus’s sincerity.

Sincerity meant land and money.

Those lofty sages were avaricious, if not outright greedy.

Ilaria wished to avoid their help if possible. But the King Magnus thought differently.

He greatly feared the gates opening, so groveled before the Ivory Tower sages.

“Not even going to fight themselves…”

Perhaps drunk, Ilaria muttered under her breath.

As she became tiresome, Karan made to leave for Elise, her conversation with Jasmine seeming to wrap up.

“Hey, help me out.”

But Ilaria grabbed his sleeve. Naturally, Karan brushed it off like swatting a bug.

“We’ll handle our own affairs, Princess.”

Karan was merciless.

“You bastard. You have everything!”

Until recently, Karan and Ilaria’s standings were similar–capable but overshadowed by the King’s favor.

Uninterested in marriage, solely dedicated to national prosperity–an incomprehensible perspective for Karan now.

But he had changed. He was taking steps forward.

‘Ever since meeting Elise!’

What a pity.

If Elise had come to her instead, she could have treated her better–maybe not marriage, but comparable regard.

Ilaria gazed regretfully at Elise as she and Karan returned together.

Karan’s expression returning with Elise was the opposite of when he was with Ilaria.

Though not outright smiling, an aura of contentment radiated from him.

“Your Highness Ilaria, are you enjoying the banquet sufficiently?”

“Well, enough I suppose.”

“The gate situation must weigh heavily, but thank you for attending my engagement celebration. Allow me to greet you properly.”

“Of course, you’re the benefactor who saved my country.”

“You flatter me, Your Highness. I heard you requested the Ivory Tower’s aid regarding the gate subjugation?”

Was that Karan speaking? Ilaria felt bitter, continuously exposing Magnus’s shortcomings to Elise.

She had hoped to one day bring her as an advisor to her country. So she wished to only show the best side, but it proved difficult.

Though Karan didn’t seem inclined to let Elise go, Ilaria didn’t relinquish her hopes, knowing human affairs were unpredictable.

“My abilities still lack.”

“Your Highness, if you don’t mind, I’d like to assist.”

Ilaria’s eyes lit up.

“You wish to help me, Elise? Won’t Karan object?”

“Why would he? His Highness wouldn’t ignore a friend’s plight. He just told me it’s only right to help you. Isn’t that so, Your Highness?”

Elise looked at Karan with a proud parent’s gaze. Ilaria’s jaw dropped.

“Are you serious?”

Ilaria asked in a dazed voice. Karan answered matter-of-factly.

“Of course, Ilaria.”

Her brows twisted peculiarly.

Can people change their attitudes as easily as flipping the back of their hand?