* * *

Returning to the capital, it was busy.

Raphine took care of the things she had been putting off due to her visit to the Countess one by one.

He selected the maids first.

Olivia and Christine were friends at the academy. The two happily accepted Raphine's offer.

"My father told me that I would never be able to work at Hwangseong...."

Olivia, who didn't do well at her academy graduation, said with a laugh that her personal connections were the best over her grades.

Christine nodded cheerfully.

"I will never be able to beat you up anymore."

"Of course!"

"I, too, broke my marriage and was about to be shaky, but now I'm going to stretch out and sleep."

Raphine, who was listening quietly, asked.

"Right. I heard the news... Why did you break the marriage?"

Christine has been very close to her fiancée, Sir Hans, since her academy days.

Everyone pointed at the two of them saying they were a chicken couple, but I never dreamed that they would break up.

"Ha, when it came time to get married, how much they ignored us in that house...."

"Oh."

"The Viscounts are blatantly ignoring my parents in my face."

"That...."

"How can you stand it? I just broke up, huh? Breaking up these days is not a big flaw."

Christine shrugged her shoulders, said Olivia.

"But now that you have become a maid, the Viscounts will be upset."

"Of course. Just thinking about it makes me feel cold."

The current empress's maids enjoyed great wealth and honor. So, the expectations of the two are bound to be high.

Raphine felt sorry for the two happy people.

Contrary to the expectations of the two of them, Raphine says she won't be the Empress, and she'll divorce her before that.

'Until then, you have to take good care of it.'

It was also a way to take care of things under the top name after divorce.

"Anyway, I wish you all the best in the future, Visionha."

"Me too, Visionha."

The two grinned with playful faces. Raphine stretched out her arms and the two of them squealed and hugged her.

She also did a good job choosing these two as maids.

I could definitely feel the bright energy, and Raphine was also energized.

After choosing her maid, Rafine immediately held a light tea party.

She prepared the teacup set and tea leaves she gave to her returning guests from hard-to-find ones.

Naturally, rumors spread throughout the capital, and her invitations began pouring out to Rafine.

But she didn't have time to attend other people's tea parties.

It was because Adrian and Violet's wedding was just around the corner.

She also had a frenzied day she went head-to-head with Zer Khan and tracked down her temple bastards.

Orphana still had no news.

Raphine was nervous, but she trusted Orphana and waited.

So the night before Violet and Adrian's wedding.

At last, Orphana is back. She's like Santa on Christmas Eve with a big gift.

* * *

The water in the transparent basin illuminates a screen like a video.

On the screen, there were five or six beasts imprisoned in a huge iron cage.

A couple of them were running like crazy.

[The beasts don't listen!]

[Shit...! At this rate, everyone will escape! Let's increase security first, and slaughter those that cause seizures!]

[However, how much cost and divine power went into that one animal....]

[His instructions. If you know in the central temple, we are all dead!]

[Oh, I see.]

There were many important clues in the conversations of people who did not know whether they were priests or not.

When the video ended, the water in the basin shone as transparent as ordinary water.

Raphine put it back into her glass bottle.

Looking at Zerkan, he, too, was pensive with a meaningful expression on his face.

Raphine closed the glass bottle tightly and looked at Orphana in front of her.

Orphana, who had revealed her true face, was glancing at Zer Khan with her fat expression on her face, but when Raphine looked at her, she looked away.

"You've worked hard, Orphana."

"...Yes, Master."

Zerkan looked puzzled between the two, who seemed comfortable, and said.

"It seems that the central shrine doesn't know about it."

"Yes, I think it was something that happened within the temple as well. But who the hell is 'he' talking about...?"

Raphine traced his memory, just in case.

In the original story, the country to which Antonio handed over the entire empire was a neighboring kingdom.

Maybe it has something to do with them?

'The power of the temple is on the same side as the empress, is there another power inside the temple?'

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't find an answer.

"It would be better to watch more for now. Orphana, I have to keep asking, are you okay?"

"I like it! I will go right now!"

Orphana was anxious to leave this place immediately. It seemed to be because of the weak spirit of darkness that Zerkan felt.

Raphine glanced away and looked into Zerkan's eyes, and he opened his mouth.

"Your spirits are very docile, smart and capable."

Unlike the meek Orphana, Zerkan recalled his bizarre spirits.

At those words, the corners of Orpana's lips rose. Raphine was absurd.

Orphana is not compliant at all. Now she's only frightened by the dark spirits.

Raphine looked at Orphana with a bitter expression. Orphana, who was giggling, said with a glance.

"By the way, Master. When are you getting a divorce?"

"yes?"

"You said it was a fake marriage anyway. I want to be like before. So I hope you get a divorce soon."

While saying that, Orfana glared at Zerkan slightly. It was probably because of the spirit of darkness.

"What.... Once you solve the enemies, it doesn't matter when you do it."

As Raphine answered, Orphana clenched her fists.

"Then I will do my best! I'll come back when I find a clue, Master! Then I'm done!"

Orphana cried out and disappeared.

Raphine scratched her head shyly and looked at Zerkan. Zerkan was lost for some reason.

Raphine started worrying about other things insignificantly.

'By the way, where are you hiding this glass bottle? I have to keep it safe.'

That time I looked around her room and thought.

Zerkan's low question was heard.

"Raphine, do you want to end the contract marriage soon?"

"yes?"

Turning her head, Zer Khan was looking at her with a pretty serious expression.

Ending a contract marriage quickly means...?

In other words, it was in the same context as quickly killing enemies with thorns. Naturally, I wanted to deal with them quickly and live in peace with my family.

Raphine simply thought and nodded her head.

"Well, it would be nice if we could get rid of it sooner."

"...."

Zerkan was stunned, as if he had been sentenced to death.

I want to finish it quickly.... I see....

At the same time, her curiosity arose.

"What are you going to do after the divorce?"

Zer Khan asked, chasing Raffine as she searched for a place to hide her glass bottle.

Raphine answered, looking here and there like her squirrel.

"What are you doing? If I just run a business and find a suitable man, I should live with it."

"...."

A man flashed through Zerkan's mind.

The scumbag with the name of Clyde Blahgo who proposed to Raphine before.

Other than that, the top 10 men on the list of the best men in the Empire selected by Zerkan passed through my mind.

Those who had been executed in their imaginations were brought back to life.

"What kind of man do you mean by a suitable man?"

"Well.... Moderately good-looking, moderately kind-hearted? But why?"

Raphine, who had a glass bottle in her study drawer, stared at him.

"...I was just asking."

"You tell me? What are you going to do when your contract marriage is over?"

At those words, Zerkan's eyebrows twitched slightly.

'what.'

Raphine noticed that Zerkan was offended. As always, her face is expressionless, but it's a little different.

"It must be very busy after I become emperor."

"I think so. Oh well, wouldn't it be better to select a candidate in advance for the person who will become the Empress? I'll probably have to consider family and political issues... ah!"

Raphine, who was muttering, smiled as if she remembered something and continued.

"Did you say that the heart is more important than political interests? Then what.... You should consider it slowly."

Raphine smiled awkwardly and shrugged his shoulders. As soon as I said that, I felt something bitter.

"Okay, then I'll go to Rose's room."

Rose's room was the Crown Princess's office and drawing room. It was also the place where Rafine spent most of her time with her maids.

As Raphine's gun disappeared, Zerkan glanced slightly at Raphine's back.

It was the eyes that Percy, the chief aide, who is an expert on the Crown Prince's facial expression, would have said if he had seen it.

'Your Majesty is very tight-lipped.'