The grand council chamber of the Grand Duchy was very spacious and magnificent. There were long tables made of walnut wood and several ornately decorated chairs. And the fresco on the ceiling had trees and flowers as if a vast forest had been transplanted, with the arabesque pattern particularly standing out.

With the forest on the ceiling, Dimidius sat at the head seat and looked over the elders seated in chairs. The faces of those who had devoted themselves to House Belial until now were hardened or looked very displeased.

In such a cold atmosphere, Dimidius opened his mouth.

“I know well why the elders have gathered without notice and come to the Grand Duchy.”

Then an elder with notably many wrinkles that conveyed the passage of time clenched his fist.

“Vulgar rumors are lowering the prestige of House Belial, and even making His Grace the Grand Duke seem ridiculous. Those rumors will soon spread to every corner of the Bonus Empire, and everyone will know of the scandal.”

The elder next to him also chimed in.

“You said it’s half right and half wrong. Anyway, if the Grand Duchess had any connection with His Highness the Crown Prince, you should cut it off this time. I don’t want to hear any more of those filthy rumors attached to Your Grace.”

Dimidius casually pushed back his hair that had grown long as he spoke leisurely.

“Rumors attached to me… You mean those rumors that the Grand Duchess’s hidden fiancé was the Crown Prince, and I stole her away? Just hearing the rumors makes me sound like quite the shameless person.”

The elders cleared their throats with a ‘khm’ and showed uncomfortable expressions. After all, they are people from families that play important roles in the Belial domain. If he couldn’t persuade them, there would continue to be friction. It would also be a big problem in managing the domain.

Dimidius took a deep breath in and out once before speaking to them.

“One action is more important than a hundred words. We haven’t held a social party at the Grand Duchy for quite a long time, so I’m planning to hold one this time. And we will show how strong my wife and I are.”

Inviting various nobles to the Grand Duchy was also a big challenge for Dimidius. After all, the Grand Duchy had not usually allowed outsiders in to defend against enemy invasions. Of course, it had been attacked twice because of the Empress’s remnants.

At Dimidius’s words containing his big resolution, all the elders wore surprised expressions.

“Are you saying you will open up the Grand Duchy? It’s too dangerous, Your Grace, especially since it hasn’t been long since we were attacked.”

“That’s right. In trying to show your strength with the Grand Duchess, other problems could arise instead. The Imperial Palace is being passive about this matter anyway, and since the rumors seem to be becoming true, you should divorce the Grand Duchess.”

In the end, even the word divorce came out of the elders’ mouths. Is it because in the Bonus Empire, it’s usually easy for men to remarry?

He remembered the faces of the elders who were happy when he, who seemed like he would never marry, married the heiress of the prestigious House Armenika. Their change in attitude was truly fast.

Dimidius struggled to hold back his rising anger and spoke to the elders.

“Without my wife, I would die.”

Although the part about going berserk without receiving holy power was left out, Dimidius needed Olentia right now anyway. Even if he found someone else to transfer holy power, he didn’t want to divorce her now. No, he wanted to continue his married life with Olentia.

As those feelings were growing, divorcing Olentia over mere rumors was out of the question.

‘I’ve just made up my mind to take one step closer to Olentia!’

He felt like catching the person who spread those filthy rumors and wringing their neck.

Hearing Dimidius’s resolute words, all the elders looked bewildered. One closed his eyes as if in deep contemplation, while another kept sighing.

Dimidius also knew that they had made such a cruel decision for the sake of the Belial domain and House Belial. So he couldn’t entirely blame them.

Then, as if finishing his deliberation, one elder asked Dimidius.

“So Your Grace has absolutely no intention of divorcing?”

Then the 5-month contract marriage period flashed through his mind. How would Olentia think of that period? Is she really preparing to become strangers after 5 months pass?

Dimidius spoke to the elders in a firm voice.

“I will not divorce. Absolutely not.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Returning to her room, Olentia held Pieta in her arms, who had been cared for by the maids while she was in Geranium. The fluffy-furred puppy Pieta made purring sounds and kept blinking its eyelids.

[I keep getting sleepy, Malang.]

Olentia chuckled, still finding it unbelievable and amusing that a god’s existence was trapped inside the puppy.

“Well, young puppies do sleep a lot.”

[Maybe I shouldn’t have entered this puppy’s body?]

“But the servants really liked Sir Pieta?”

[That was comfortable. They go crazy just from me wagging my tail a bit.]

His confidence was quite remarkable. Since he was actually cute, she intended to humor Pieta’s banter.

As she was alleviating her boredom with Pieta like that, Dimidius entered the room.

Olentia looked at him with a tense face.

“How did it go? What did the elders say?”

It seemed obvious what they would say, but she was still asking.

But Pieta, who had been cuddling well in her arms until just now, went down to the floor and started barking and growling at Dimidius.

Woof woof!

He barked almost as if facing an enemy, making her head ring.

Dimidius let out a laugh seeing the small creature barking at him.

“I heard the news that we got a puppy. But it seems this puppy really dislikes me.”

‘Well, Pieta is a celestial god! Dimidius, you’re a person with demon blood flowing through you.’

Still, Dimidius was closer to a human than a demon, so she wondered if Pieta needed to be so wary. Or was it just dislike rather than wariness?

As Pieta kept growling, Olentia had Bobby take him out of the room. Only then did the room become quiet, and Dimidius opened his mouth.

“I persuaded them well and sent them back, so don’t worry too much.”

He said not to worry, but she was actually worried. The elders knew the ins and outs of House Belial’s affairs and were that influential.

Seeing Olentia’s expression not looking good at all, Dimidius reached out his hand for a moment and grasped her shoulder.

“If we show that we’re doing well, the rumors will die down too. Rumors are just rumors after all.”

“Did you find a person by any chance?”

Dimidius, knowing exactly who Olentia meant by that person, hesitated for a moment. He grasped her shoulder more tightly and said.

“If you mean someone to transfer holy power, I haven’t found one yet. When I look, they’re somehow connected to the Order. But why do you ask?”

Olentia looked at Dimidius with wavering eyes.

“Well… if you found someone, there’d be no need to fill the 5 months. Since bad rumors are already circulating, I don’t want to cause you any more harm, Your Grace.”

It was Regalis who was wrong for bothering a married woman, but she was also at fault for being played by him. Olentia thought there wouldn’t be much difference in divorcing earlier, since they would divorce anyway after 5 months. She still wanted to see Dimidius take off his mask under bright sunlight though.

Dimidius dropped the hand that had been holding her shoulder and said in a trembling voice.

“Then what will you do? It will be difficult to remarry with rumors circulating.”

“I’ll be fine. I can just live alone like before.”

“Where exactly do you plan to live alone?”

“The house in Noctifer Venus is nice, but later I want to live in a house overlooking the sea. When I wake up in the morning, I’ll take walks on the beach and eat delicious fish dishes.”

She had always wanted to see the sea, since there was only a babbling river like a brook in Geranium where she lived since childhood. Of course, this was just a dream.

But Dimidius shook his head.

“Don’t think you’re causing harm. My lady has done nothing wrong. And I would like for you to stay by my side for a long, long time. If you grant the wish I wrote on the lantern at the mask festival, I couldn’t ask for more.”

Did Dimidius write such a wish on the lantern at the mask festival?

She never thought Dimidius, who always said it was nothing and didn’t express his feelings, would confess so honestly like this.

‘Is this… a real proposal?’

It was true that Olentia also had feelings for Dimidius. But she wasn’t sure if she could spend her whole life with him enough to continue their married life. It wasn’t something she could decide easily, and she was still confused.

Olentia swallowed dryly and avoided Dimidius’s gaze.

“I don’t know. There’s also the contract terms we agreed on in advance.”

Was this rejecting Dimidius’s confession? Thinking that, her heart beat anxiously and she felt urgent.

Olentia quickly grabbed Dimidius’s clothes as he turned around.

“Please give me more time to think. Everything is too sudden.”

Dimidius nodded and then left the room. Although he pretended to be fine, he might have been hurt.

“Sigh… Are we becoming awkward again like this?”

It seemed like she and Dimidius had never gotten along well for long. There were many times when she was always tense, nervous, and uncomfortable.

Olentia forced a smile seeing Bobby and Pieta coming back into the room. But Pieta picked a fight.

[You fought with that demon bastard, right? Your expression says it all.]