Bercheria lowered her gaze from the leaves she had been staring at and looked at him.

“I am not a young wife.”

“…?”

“I am Bercheria, the goddess of weather.”

He gave a brief chuckle.

“I know. But only in front of others. For the time being, we should appear as husband and wife. Please bear with it if it’s uncomfortable.”

“…Yes.”

As Bercheria turned her head, the rounded back of her head came into his view.

Without realizing, Lakrahan reached out to tousle her hair, hesitated, and clenched only empty air.

The thought of dropping formalities was already on his mind.
A husband speaking formally to a much younger wife was something he had never seen before.

There was no need to behave strangely in front of others.

But once he did drop the formalities towards her, his mood became strange.

It felt as if only the woman was left in front of him, without the goddess Bercheria.

However, this was solely his one-sided emotion.

Something he should moderate and keep hidden on his own.

Bercheria, not knowing what else to say, again lifted her eyes to the tree that was above their heads.

Ever since her power had evaporated, whenever she was with Lakrahan, she felt strangely shaky and her mind scattered.

Occasionally, when their eyes met, her heart felt as if it had dropped to the floor.

These new sensations were not pleasant, so sometimes she hid to avoid Timothy who would come to call her.

Usually when she followed Timothy to Lakrahan, he would often be working alone, and Bercheria would spend her time reading a book or looking out the window next to him.

Now and then, if time permitted, Lakrahan would suggest holding her hand or giving her a kiss.

It was a routine attempt to restore Bercheria’s power.

At first, driven by a sense of duty to recover her power, she felt nothing, but over time, that changed.

Her power didn’t return, but the feeling of having to hold his hand or touch lips for a considerable time felt extremely strange.
Her head was spinning, and she felt a tingling sensation in her stomach.

At times, it even felt as if lightning was coursing through her spine.

This was definitely not normal.

Because she had lived alone in the tower, it was difficult for her to have stable reactions like other people.

She seemed to be more sensitive than others, and perhaps more starved for affection.

“This could really turn into a big problem.”

Bercheria thought that she would need to keep some distance from Lakrahan for at least two days after entering the castle for their wedding.

Of course, she knew she could also run into her mother or other dangerous elements, but ever since she learned that the road leading into the north was secluded and not just anyone could come and go, she felt somewhat reassured.

“……?”

Bercheria turned her head to look at the woman standing next to Tattiana.

Had that person been in the north all along?

Or did she come to the north through some other route?

She had initially suspected that the woman might be her mother, but it didn’t seem likely that she would use the Butterfly of Parallels just to gather information from a child.

Divine artifacts had their own lifespans.

Some could be used only once, while others could be used indefinitely.

However, in most cases, it was not known how many times one could use them.

And because she didn’t have multiple divine artifacts, she couldn’t prove it.

In
In a whispered voice, she lifted her head toward Lakrahan.

“It seems okay.”

“Ah.”

With his cold fingertips, he gripped her chin and examined it meticulously from various angles.

“The wound isn’t healing; it could leave a scar.”

Bercheria turned her head to the side and pushed his hand away.

“It’s fine.”

“Even so, a bride shouldn’t have scars. I’ll send some ointment to Timothy’s side as soon as dawn breaks. Apply it diligently.”

“……Alright.”

Bercheria fidgeted with her hands that were leaning back.

She kept wishing inwardly for Tattiana and the woman to disappear quickly.

Anyway, it was a strange night.

“Where the hell have you been all this time?”

Leone approached Gerard, who was showing a full face of dissatisfaction.

Her overtly revealing outfit that exposed her shoulders and collarbones, along with the glass of alcohol in her hand, were all possible because she was the queen.

The prudish empress would still be asleep in her bed, maintaining her dignity alone.

“Your Majesty, do you not know that all my actions are ultimately for you?”

“Hmph.”

The first person Gerard loved was not the empress.

It was Leone.

“Your Majesty, I think about it every day. What would have happened if I hadn’t been run over by your carriage back then?”

Leone, who had blocked the emperor’s procession and fallen, was enough to blind Gerard in an instant.

During the time they were heading to the royal palace with the injured Leone, Gerard struggled to hold back his instincts.
“You know how much I only think of Your Majesty.”

Leone naturally rested her hips on Gerard’s lap and draped her arm over his shoulder.

As she rubbed her cheek against his, Gerard spoke in a slightly softened voice.

“How should I properly deal with that bastard Lakrahan?”

“Are you angry that Princess Kelita ended up like that?”

“Lakrahan has disrespected me. He dares to defy the emperor’s command!”

Leone twisted her lips in a sly smile.

Gerard was an incredibly selfish individual.

He had neither compassion nor the ability to empathize with others from the beginning.

Because he was that kind of person, he had no hesitation when Leone suggested killing his brothers.

“You must hurry. If Lakrahan marries Bercheria, the goddess of weather…”

Leone cut off her sentence in a sorrowful voice.

“Your Majesty will no longer be able to defeat Duke Lakrahan. You may even have to hand over the throne.”