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After returning to the royal capital, Calca did not rest. Instead, she immediately summoned several of the capital's senior ministers and announced a new appointment.

"Effective immediately, the North-South Coordination Office will be established under the direct authority of the Holy King. It will be responsible for coordinating administrative affairs, economic exchanges, and military cooperation between the northern and southern regions."

The senior ministers exchanged glances.

"Your Majesty."

An elderly minister cautiously spoke up.

"Matters concerning north-south coordination have always been handled by the Noble Council..."

"The Noble Council has handled them for over a century, and relations between the north and south have only worsened."

Calca's tone was calm yet resolute.

"Since they cannot handle it properly, someone else will."

"But..."

"Do you object?"

The old minister looked into Calca's eyes and suddenly felt a chill.

Those blue eyes remained gentle and beautiful, yet behind that gentleness and beauty was something he had never seen before.

It was something that belonged to a true monarch.

"This subject has no objection."

"Good."

Calca rose to her feet.

"I will personally serve as the first director of the North-South Coordination Office. Within three days, I will nominate its executive staff and submit them to the Noble Council for deliberation."

She used the word "deliberation," not "approval."

The senior ministers heard the difference.

It meant that the Noble Council could only express agreement or disagreement with the nominations; it had no authority to propose alternative candidates.

And if they disagreed...

No one wished to find out what the consequences of "disagreement" would be.

Three days later, Calca's list of nominees for the North-South Coordination Office was delivered to the Noble Council.

The names on the list shocked everyone.

The nobles of the north and south each accounted for half, and all of them were known for being "pragmatic," rather than for harboring regional prejudices.

The Noble Council passed the list unanimously.

Not because everyone was satisfied, but because no one dared oppose it.

The results Calca achieved in just half a month could be summarized as follows:

First, the military assembly was successfully completed.

A combined force of more than eight thousand troops from the north and south assembled at the northern border—the first time this had happened in the history of the Holy Kingdom.

Although the divide between the northern and southern armies still remained, at the very least, they now stood in the same trench.

Second, the establishment of the North-South Coordination Office.

This was the first time Calca had pushed institutional reform through "royal authority" rather than "consensus."

The office provided an institutionalized channel for communication between the north and south, no longer relying entirely on mediation by the Noble Council.

Third, the taming of the southern nobles.

By using the demi-human threat as a "common enemy," Calca had successfully made the southern nobles accept a direct order from the crown.

This obedience would become the precedent for the next time. Once "the king's command must be obeyed" became a consensus, the southern nobles' room for resistance would be drastically curtailed.

Fourth, the reestablishment of royal authority.

Calca's performance during her border inspection, her firmness at the senior ministers' meeting, and her control over the Noble Council all conveyed the same message to everyone—

The Holy King Princess was no longer a mere "saintess" who only knew how to smile, but a monarch who truly held power.

Of course, these achievements were only the beginning, not the end.

The roots of the north-south divide—

The economic gap, cultural barriers, and conflicts of interest—still remained.

The southern nobles' "taming" was more the result of circumstance than heartfelt submission.

Once the demi-human threat was removed, whether they would bare their fangs again was something no one knew.

But at the very least, Calca had taken the first step.

That first step had gone more smoothly than she had expected.

Not because she had done everything perfectly, but because she had finally begun to act.

In her study, Calca closed the last document and rubbed her aching wrist.

On the map spread across the table, the U-shaped harbor still divided north from south.

But she knew that rift was slowly closing, little by little.

"Your Highness, it is time to rest."

The maid reminded her softly from outside the door.

"Just a little longer."

Calca picked up her pen and wrote several words in the blank space on the map.

"North-South unification, first step complete."

After writing them, she set down the pen, leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes.

Higashino Makoto's face surfaced in her mind.

That calm face, devoid of any unnecessary expression, yet somehow reassuring.

"Mr. Higashino,"

she murmured.

"Did you see it?"

The night breeze blew past, gently stirring the window curtains.

No one answered.

"That girl did pretty well."

Inside a half-abandoned fortress in the Central Fortress, sunlight streamed directly through the empty windows into a second-floor bedroom.

Higashino Makoto lounged lazily in a reclining chair while Rita, dressed in a black-and-white maid uniform behind him, kneaded his head with her slender fingers. Her immense wickedness forced him to savor the sensation of brainwaves.

On the first floor, Nia Baraja, no longer conflicted about becoming a paladin, was diligently practicing her archery.

The fortress was not large, with two floors and stone walls covered in withered vines.

Nia had cleared out several rooms on the first floor to use as a stable and storage space, while the second floor served as the living area.

Though calling it clearing out was generous; she had merely swept away the dust and brought in a few simple pieces of furniture.

A bed, a table, a reclining chair, and an old bookshelf "borrowed" from the fortress storeroom.

Higashino Makoto lay in the recliner, his entire body sunk into the soft cushions, sprawled as lazily as a cat basking in the sun.

He wore a loose, dark robe rather than armor, his long black hair draped casually over his shoulders. He looked nothing like a "paladin" capable of wiping out tens of thousands of demi-humans with a wave of his hand.

"That girl did pretty well."

He narrowed his eyes, a trace of approval in his voice.

Over the past half month, although he had not witnessed the Holy Kingdom's developments firsthand, Rita compiled the intelligence gathered from various places into daily briefings and placed them on his desk.

The gathering of northern and southern troops, the establishment of the Coordination Office, the silence of the noble council...

Every step had unfolded as he expected, but Calca's speed and resolve still surprised him slightly.

"Her Majesty the Holy Queen truly has more courage than she appears to possess."

Rita's voice came from above him, soft and respectful.

Standing behind the recliner, she gently massaged Higashino Makoto's temples with her slender fingers.

The pressure at her fingertips was perfect, sometimes circling, sometimes pressing, her rhythm as steady as a precisely running clock.

Her ash-gold short hair hung down, gleaming softly beneath the sunlight.

Of course, even more eye-catching than her hair was the pair that naturally hung down as she bent over—the very existence that made Gokusai Kaibi fume with indignation.

The back of Higashino Makoto's head rested squarely against that softness. The "taste of brainwaves" pulsed rhythmically with every press, leaving his whole body in an utterly relaxed state.

"Not courage."

Higashino Makoto kept his eyes closed, his voice tinged with languidness.

"She was backed into a corner and had no choice but to jump. The difference is that some people, when backed into a corner, choose to squat down and cover their heads. She chose to jump."

"My lord has always been an excellent judge of people."

The corners of Rita's lips lifted slightly.