After the potato digging event ended, a potato festival was held for a while.

Steamed, boiled, and baked.

Buttered potatoes with butter and mashed potato salad with mayonnaise.

Potato soup and potato stew.

This potato, that potato, those potatoes.

The aroma of potatoes lingered in the Richter mansion for days on end due to the ongoing potato feast.

As a result, everyone felt like gagging just from smelling the potatoes.

“…… I’m sick of it just from the smell.”

“Me too. But you know what’s terrible? The fact that we have to eat potatoes again at dinner.”

“Siena, Mari. Cheer up.”

I gave a bitter smile as I patted the backs of the two who were disgusted.

“I have to eat potatoes again later too.”

That’s right. I was in the same boat as them. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All three meals were plagued by potatoes.

Still, as the lady of the ducal house, I made a timid complaint about the food, but to no avail.

〈Then, are we going to let all those potatoes rot……? Poor potatoes. Even if they sprout, they’ll be poisonous and inedible. They’ll be used for human amusement and then become fertilizer.〉

What could I say when Ena, the head chef, said that?

As a herb lover who loves herbs, I had no choice but to understand the heart of a chef who loves ingredients.

“Ugh.”

But I don’t want to plant potatoes next year.

After finishing the potato dinner, I collapsed on the bed.

Dante, who had brought work to the room, asked with pity when he saw me like that.

“Are you okay?”

“No. I’m not okay. I hate potatoes.”

“I’m glad you seem to be okay.”

Well, I said I’m not okay.

As I was sulking and just fidgeting my feet, Dante quietly approached and put something in my mouth.

Hmm. This is……

“Candy?”

“That’s right. You like sweet things.”

Do I just like it?

I’m crazy. I’m absolutely in love with it.

That’s why I like Dante, isn’t it? Because he’s so sweet that it drives me crazy.

I sat up straight and rolled the candy around in my mouth.

And with one hand, I held Dante’s hand and rubbed it.

“Can I play hooky until I finish eating this?”

“Of course you can.”

Yes!

I eagerly rubbed Dante’s hand. It was my recent hobby.

Rubbing Dante’s hands and feet earnestly so they don’t get cold.

“You’re taking the medicine I gave you well, right?”

“I’m taking it well every day.”

“Yeah. It’s a good medicine for cold hands and feet, so it might be effective against the curse.”

Instead of answering, Dante raised and lowered the corners of his mouth.

It seemed he was grateful that I was thinking of him, but he thought it was nonsense.

…… Honestly, if it weren’t for the medicine that the female lead in the novel took care of, I would have snorted at the idea of it being effective against a curse.

Of course, even now I can’t be sure if it’s effective or not.

“But don’t you think it’s somewhat effective? I think your hands have gotten a bit warmer than before. What do you think?”

“Well. It does seem like that.”

“Right?”

As I asked with shining eyes, Dante’s lips suddenly touched and left my lips.

Huh? All of a sudden?

I looked at him in surprise, and Dante pulled my hand and kissed it.

Huh. Again all of a sudden?

“Serpina.”

“…… Yes?”

“What do you think is the best way to raise body temperature?”

Ho, eating hawthorn fruit?

But anyone could see that wasn’t the answer.

Even though I’m not the most perceptive person.

“Hmm. Well. The best way to raise body temperature is…….”

I suddenly pulled Dante’s body and whispered with my chin resting on his shoulder.

“Sharing body heat?”

Our eyes met as I slightly turned my head.

Amidst the exchanged smiles, we kissed again.

“How is it? Do you think your body temperature has risen a bit?”

I asked while catching my breath, and Dante also answered while catching his breath.

“…… I think this is still not enough.”

Goodness. If this is not enough……

“I guess we have no choice but to stick together more.”

I don’t know how the worries about the curse ended up here, but isn’t this how newlyweds are supposed to be?

Today, like any other day, the night deepened, hot enough to not lose to the ice curse.

Unlike the north, which was already in early winter, the Imperial City was still in the midst of autumn weather.

Joshua, leaning against the window sill, alternately gazed at the clear autumn sky and the book in his hand, then closed the book with a thud.

‘I can’t concentrate.’

It couldn’t be helped.

The atmosphere outside the window was as cold as ice.

It had been like this every day recently.

The reason was simple.

Because the Emperor’s mood was disturbed.

For some unknown reason, the smile had completely disappeared from the Emperor’s face, which always had a carefree smile.

No one knew the reason.

One day, his mood suddenly sank, and he maintained that state.

Why is he acting like this?

“Has Father finally gone senile?”

“You are blatantly insulting the Emperor, sister.”

At Joshua’s point, Chelsy widened her eyes as if she was wronged and shook her head.

“No. I’m not insulting Father right now.”

Ah. It was just plain unfilial behavior.

Joshua decided to keep his mouth shut.

He turned his gaze back out the window. Looking at the imperial garden, which was so well-maintained that it was obsessively neat, reminded him of the Richter mansion.

How are the two of them doing?

They occasionally exchanged letters, but the content was not free due to watchful eyes.

Living as an imperial prince meant that even small communications had to go through someone’s surveillance.

As he was lost in thought like that, it happened.

“Your Highness. The Emperor has summoned you.”

An attendant who hurriedly came delivered the Emperor’s summons.

“Huh? Only me?”

When Chelsy, who was reading a political science book, asked back, the attendant, who finally noticed Joshua’s presence, showed a troubled expression.

“I apologize, but he has summoned only the First Princess and the First Prince.”

He summoned only the First Princess and the First Prince.

I don’t know what’s going on, but it seems it’s not something a prince who can’t even enter the succession war should hear.

Joshua gave the attendant a bright smile, implying that he didn’t care.

Well, it was true that he really didn’t care.

If he were called to such a place, he would only be drained all day.

“Have a good time, sister.”

He bid farewell to Chelsy with the heart of seeing off a knight going to war.

Chelsy, who was walking along with the attendant, soon looked back.

The corridor was empty.

It seemed that the younger brother who had seen her off had already returned to his room.

Hmm. Really.

“…… I like that my younger brother is a coward.”

“Pardon? Did you say something just now?”

When the attendant asked about the inaudible mutter, Chelsy narrowed her eyes neatly and passed by him.

“No. Nothing.”

The Emperor, sitting on the chair as if leaning back, held up the ornament in his hand to the light.

The transparent crystal in the small glass bottle reflected the light and sparkled clearly.

After examining the crystal for a long time, the Emperor’s face gradually became distorted.

“……This damn thing.”

Muttering a rough curse through clenched teeth, he couldn’t contain his rising anger and threw the vase next to him.

Crash!

The vase shattered with a sharp sound, but the Emperor couldn’t easily calm his anger.

Knock knock.

“Your Majesty, I have brought the First Princess and the First Prince.”

The Emperor, glaring fiercely at the door, straightened his posture while catching his breath.

“Let them in.”

As soon as he spoke, Isaac and Chelsy appeared.

“Did you call for us, Father?”

Unlike Chelsy, who greeted with a bright smile, Isaac’s eyes first turned to the broken vase.

“Ah, did you summon us?”

He hurriedly greeted only after Chelsy’s greeting was over.

Tsk, that foolish guy.

The Emperor found Isaac quite unpleasant.

‘If he were even half as good as Chelsy, I would have appointed him as the crown prince without hesitation.’

Isaac, the eldest son, had many shortcomings compared to Chelsy.

After hastily appointing him as the crown prince and passing on the throne, Chelsy’s competence kept weighing on his mind.

Because of that, he was still pondering over who to appoint as his successor.

However, it was time to end that deliberation.

He would have to match them with suitable spouses according to their respective uses before they passed the marriageable age.

So, this was a test.

“I called you because I have something important to say.”

A test to choose who to appoint as the successor between the two.

The Emperor, who began with an introduction that naturally created tension, put down the ornament he was holding on the table.

Thud.

Isaac and Chelsy’s gazes instantly converged on one spot.

What on earth is that?

Their eyes narrowed, trying to figure out the identity of the unfamiliar object.

Seeing the questions that arose on their faces, the Emperor smiled with satisfaction and opened his mouth again.

“This is a treasure of the imperial family that has been passed down from emperor to emperor.”

A treasure passed down to emperors?

“And I want to find an owner for it soon.”

At the Emperor’s solemn voice, Isaac and Chelsy’s eyes flashed.