Frightened by Elisha’s pistol, Deren kept his mouth shut until the carriage arrived at Roserica Castle. Outside the window, the grand fortress and well-tended gardens came into view. Roserica Castle was the very symbol of prosperity.

After Elisha had eradicated all pirates from Sepia’s coasts and trade routes, Roserica rapidly rose to become the kingdom’s wealthiest domain. Its name became known across the continent as the largest port city.

And the Duke of Roserica raked in the continent’s gold like a scythe through a field.

All thanks to his illegitimate daughter.

Even after passing through the gates, the carriage ran for quite some time through the vast garden before it finally came to a halt.

When the carriage door opened at last, a row of butlers and servants lined up in formation came into view. And as if it were only natural, Deren got out first.

“Welcome, young master.”

As the head butler bowed, the other servants followed suit in perfect harmony. However, the moment Elisha stepped out of the carriage, they straightened their backs and stood stiffly at attention, as though she were invisible.

The highest-ranking individuals present were the butler and head maid at most. Yet none of them dared offer even the slightest courtesy to Elisha, the duke’s own daughter by birth.

Deren snorted and chuckled at the sight of the servants blatantly ignoring Elisha.

But Elisha didn’t so much as scoff. She had long outgrown the need to waste emotion over something so petty.

Compared to when she was a child, locked away in the top floor of the western annex, this was nothing.

Familiarity had dulled her, and that dullness had extinguished any lingering affection. It had been twenty-five years. Since the moment she was born, the Duke of Roserica had never once tried to play the role of a father. It was far too late for her to weep over unreceived affection or lament a family bond that had never existed.

What Elisha longed for now wasn’t their courtesy or their escort.

She just wanted to rest. The tension she had carried aboard the ship began to loosen the moment she stepped onto solid ground.

Her weary body ached for rest.

She hadn’t wanted to come to Roserica Castle, but rather to her own quarters to lie down. That plan was already ruined. At the very least, she simply wanted to take off this uncomfortable uniform.

But even that modest wish was dashed by Deren’s next words.

“Come. Father says it’s urgent. He wants to see you right away.”

Elisha furrowed her brow.

“What’s with that look? What’s Father thinking, taking in someone like you? So ungrateful, so lacking in decency…”

All the way to the duke’s study, Deren grumbled and complained. Knowing full well that he wouldn’t be able to say a single word in front of their father, Elisha could only find his behavior pitiful.

She let his words pass in one ear and out the other. Before long, they arrived at the door to the duke’s study.

“Father, I’ve brought Elisha Shooter.”

Before the words had even fully left his mouth, the door opened.

But the moment Elisha took a step inside, a heavy sense of wrongness hit her.

The Duke of Roserica, master of the room, stood beside the large desk, as though he were a servant waiting to carry out his lord’s order.

And the moment Elisha entered, the heavy wooden door swung shut. Even Deren wasn’t allowed inside. Still not satisfied, the Duke of Roserica gave the butler a firm command.

“Until I say otherwise, do not let anyone enter.”

“Yes, understood, my lord.”

The butler stepped out, and the sound of the lock clicking into place followed.

“What business could you possibly—”

Elisha had meant to sneer, asking if the esteemed duke had really summoned even someone like her. But the moment she spotted the swaying silhouette inside the room, she couldn’t finish her sentence.

Someone who should not have been in that room.

Only then did Elisha understand why the Duke, lord of the castle, could not even sit down.

“I greet Her Majesty, the eternal sun of Sepia.”

Even as she bowed and performed the salute she’d been drilled on endlessly since naval academy, only one thought echoed in her head.

Why is she here?

“You may rise. I asked Duke Roserica to arrange this meeting because I have a favor to ask of Admiral Shooter.”

A favor? That word came from the lips of the ruler of Sepia’s throne.

Directed at none other than a mere illegitimate-born naval admiral.

“Why didn’t you summon me to the capital? Why come all this way yourself?”

And yet, she had traveled far from the capital to Roserica’s domain. No royal procession, no grand banquet. She had come in secret.

A chill crawled up Elisha’s spine. She could already tell—it was no ordinary matter.

“Thank you for saying that. Then I’ll speak plainly.”

“Please do. Elisha Shooter is listening.”

Tensed to the bone, she waited for the queen’s words.

“Admiral Shooter, you must marry.”

Elisha could hardly believe her ears.

She couldn’t respond right away. Staring blankly at the queen, her thoughts spun. Then came the sharp voice of scolding.

“Elisha Shooter! How dare you disgrace yourself in front of Her Majesty! Will you tarnish Roserica’s name as well?!”

But the queen raised her hand and silenced the duke. “I understand the admiral’s shock. Such a sudden and inexplicable proposal. Don’t push your daughter too hard, Duke.”

It felt surreal. As if it were all a farcical play.

But this was no time to be stunned.

“A royal marriage proposal has arrived for the admiral.”

“A royal marriage…?”

“Schultz Tugrahan. That man has proposed to you.”

The moment she heard that name, it felt as though she’d been struck in the head.

Schultz Tugrahan. That was the name of the founding king of the Kingdom of Schlid, which shared a border with Sepia.

What on earth is happening to me right now? If this is a dream, it’s a dreadful nightmare.

Rumors about him had spread even to the neighboring nation of Sepia.

A madman of unmatched force who had reclaimed independence for the Kingdom of Schultz, which had once been destroyed by the empire’s cavalry, after thirty years. A blood-stained monarch who had allegedly executed all of his own ministers who dared to oppose him.

Those were the epithets attached to the name Schultz Tugrahan.

“Why would the King of Schlid want to marry me…?”

It made no sense. Schultz Tugrahan was the king of Schlid. For a king to propose to a mere illegitimate daughter… Even to the one being proposed to, it sounded laughable.

As if reading Elisha’s thoughts, the queen said again, “To be precise, he proposed to Admiral Shooter of Sepia, not to the Lady of Roserica.”

“Ah…”

Only then did it all become clear. Schultz Tugrahan wasn’t seeking a wise, gentle, and noble queen.

What he truly wanted was a powerful navy.

What he needed was a naval admiral who had taken Sepia’s navy—once ignored by pirates and foreign fleets alike—and raised it to dominate the Sellaway Sea.

As Elisha struggled to find words in her confusion, the Duke of Roserica handed her an envelope with an expression of clear disapproval.

“If you don’t believe it, read it yourself.”

Without realizing it, Elisha glanced at her father, but all she received was the same cold, emotionless stare. The kind used to assess whether something was useful or not.

She tore open the envelope sealed with an unfamiliar crest and found two letters inside, written in rough, bold handwriting. One was in the common continental tongue, and the other in the language of Schultz.

It was true. The King of Schlid had proposed to her.

Elisha had never once seriously considered marriage.

Even though she was born and raised in the duke’s castle as the daughter of the Duke of Roserica.

She had lived her entire life as the kingdom’s most notorious illegitimate child. Most nobles wouldn’t even consider marrying someone whose birth was unblessed by the gods, and the wealthy commoners seeking social ascent wouldn’t dare approach the daughter of a duke.

In the marriage market, the name Elisha Shooter held a strangely ambiguous value.

And more than anything, Elisha herself had never desired such a life. To live quietly, as if dead, in some unknown noble’s lavish estate. Just like her mother had.

It had been a small blessing amidst her misfortune. Because no one had wanted her, Elisha Shooter had been free to become a naval admiral.

But there was one thing Elisha had failed to consider.

That was the situation only within the Sepian Kingdom, a small corner of the vast continent. She had overlooked the fact that the continent was home to countless other nations. And in some of those, illegitimate births were neither taboo nor scorned.

That was why the queen had come all the way south in secret. Only now did Elisha realize who had truly brought this proposal to her.

A marriage arranged by the royal family itself.

Elisha barely managed to keep her expression in check.

“Your Majesty, what response have you given to this royal proposal?”

“What do you think I sent to the King of Schlid?”

The blood-stained monarch who had founded Schlid now sought to gain naval power on top of his formidable army, one powerful enough to threaten the Estroa Empire, through marriage to her.

And perhaps, in return, he had promised the Queen of Sepia an enormous sum and great rewards.

“…Your Majesty, do you wish for me to journey to Schlid?”

The queen let out a soft laugh and shook her head. “Of course not. I have no intention of strengthening Schlid’s navy. Admiral Shooter, I also don’t wish to lose you. Losing you would be no different from losing Sepia’s entire navy.”

“Your praise is too generous.”

“No, not at all. Compared to the feats you’ve accomplished, it’s entirely appropriate. That’s why you must marry a noble of Sepia. As soon as possible.”