“Where’s Roger? What’s he been up to lately? It seems like the behavior of the lower-ranking people has become somewhat lax these days. Don’t you think so, Empress?”

Kellita, who had casually arranged her hair, spoke instead of Lawrence, who was staring blankly at Lakrahan.

“While talking with Roger, I remembered something. If the man you were with during the morning walk with the Empress turns out to be one of the obvious candidates, he must be one of the members of the Imperial Guard, wouldn’t he?”

“That’s right!”

Lawrence, who suddenly answered loudly, turned her head back to a calm expression, receiving Kellita’s reproachful gaze.

“Um.”

Lakrahan, looking at Gerard with narrow eyes, gestured towards him and then leaned back in his chair.

“No, it wasn’t.”

Lakrahan’s ambiguous reply, not strongly asserting anything, made Lawrence more uncomfortable.

There was no room for a response.

At that moment when everyone was watching Lawrence’s face turning red.

Kellita spoke towards Gerard.

“Emperor, Your Majesty. When do you plan our wedding with Duke Lakrahan?”

Gerard, who had been looking closely at Lawrence, raised his chin as if recalling a forgotten memory.

“Oh, that.”

Rione, who was sitting next to Gerard, reached out and smoothly wiped his arm.

With an arrogant touch to his beard, Gerard said, “Is there a need to delay? How about the day after tomorrow? We need time to decorate the banquet hall, you know.”

The expressions of Vercheria and Lakrahan stiffened at Gerard’s words.

Two days.

It was too short a time to prepare for something.

“Oh my, I love it. Duke, are you okay too?”

Kellita shouted with joy as if she had been waiting.

“Is the Duke pleased as well?”

As everyone’s attention focused, Lakrahan, looking at her with thin eyes, slightly nodded, tilting his head.

“Why didn’t you say anything? Couldn’t you just say you’re not going to get married?”

Wyatt and Timothy, who heard the news, had more bewildered faces than the parties involved.

Especially the hot-tempered Wyatt was in the midst of anger.

“Duke. I’m really confused. Do you remember that not long ago I stopped you from marrying the Goddess of Weather?”

“Me.”

“But now I’m trying to stop the marriage between Princess Kellita and the Duke?”

“Uh.”

“Well, don’t you have any excuses or anything?”

Lakrahan raised his head with a tired face.

“Well, I don’t think excuses were going to work from the beginning.”

Wyatt looked at Lakrahan with a truly annoyed expression.

“What do you plan to do this time?”

Lakrahan leaned back deeply in his chair.

“We need to resolve it carefully. It’s not an issue started by one or two people.”

While Wyatt was frowning, Timothy, who had been silent all along, nodded his head and sat in front of Lakrahan.

“So, you didn’t say anything because you were planning to handle it carefully. If you act hastily, you might end up in a worse situation.”
A smile appeared on Lakrahan’s lips.

“This isn’t the North.”

“Yes, this place is their territory now.”

Lakrahan tapped the table with his long fingers.

“I’m bothered by the fact that Gerard is a tricky person. It’s unpredictable what he might do.”

“Regarding that part…”

Timothy and Lakrahan continued their conversation cautiously.

Having been by his side for a long time, Timothy had an excellent ability to engage in conversations, and Lakrahan often solved difficult matters by discussing them with Timothy even in the North.

While the two were talking.

Wyatt, who had been quietly observing, quietly opened the door and went outside.

“Princess Kellita wouldn’t do such a thing.”

Wyatt started walking nervously.

He knew the structure of the palace better than the palm of his hand.

Until just before the war broke out, the palace was Wyatt’s workplace.

Since they spent a lot of time together, he naturally learned some things about Kellita.

Kellita wasn’t someone who conspicuously acted, and most of the time, she enjoyed being alone.

Thinking back to that time, she was mostly smiling with a cheerful smile.

However, it was challenging to find a smiling face from Kellita after she returned to the palace.

Despite observing her throughout the party, even occasional smiles seemed forced, as if she was making them just to show.

“Even if that’s the case, Princess Kellita is not someone who would force herself to get married.”

Wyatt believed that people’s personalities don’t change easily.

He walked briskly towards the room where Kellita stayed.

However, when they passed through the hall where guests stayed and arrived at the southern corridor where the emperor’s family stayed, something felt strange.

“Why is no one here?”

The palace, especially the southern palace where the emperor stayed, was always bustling with servants, or at least that was the atmosphere Wyatt remembered.

But that, too, was a story from before the war.

Things could have changed over the past ten years.

Feeling something unusual, Wyatt arrived at Princess Kellita’s room.

As soon as he lightly knocked, he waited for an answer from inside, but there was no sound.

“Hmm.”

As Wyatt turned around, a faint voice came from inside.

.

Wyatt took a deep breath and opened the door.

“…?”

In the middle of the room, as if it had been ransacked like a thief, Kellita was standing.

Surprised, Wyatt took a step closer to Kellita.

“Princess! What on earth is going on? Are you okay?”

As he approached, rummaging through things, Kellita, who had been staring intently at Wyatt, suddenly screamed.

“Kyah!”

In that moment when Wyatt’s small eyes widened, and his thin eyebrows fluttered.

“How dare you try to attack the princess!”