“I’m not a mourner.”

Clad snorted heavily.

“Oh, and this.”

To the embarrassed Clad who turned his head away, Lord Lev handed him a file that he had been holding in his armpit.

“Felicese Viscount sent a document demanding a marriage fee. Originally, it can be considered a natural demand for courtesy in exchanging such documents.”

“Even though we haven’t received anything.”
From a distance, Eddie, who had been silently watching his father’s tears, interjected.

In Eddie Lev’s sharp eyes, there was a sense of vigilance towards Garrett Feliase, the current Viscount Feliase.

It might be somewhat unjust from that side, as it was more like selling a bride to wait for 1st Prince Boronico, but anyway, the feelings of the groom’s side, Viscount Lev, were not very pleasant.

The issue of Yuan Feliase being a suitable wife was a separate matter.

Two families.

Especially since it was a union between the imperial family and a noble family, it was a procedure that couldn’t be overlooked. However, it was quite audacious to choose words close to an undisguised merchant who could not hide the demand for money after openly taking Yuan Feliase, who was the property of the family.

The letter from Viscount Feliase regarding the groom’s payment was handed over to Clad.

Reading it with half-closed eyes, Clad soon directly tore off a confirmation signature accepting all demands without delay.

“If you want to shut up those who say they want to bring it back, give what they want.”

“There’s room for negotiation. You don’t have to sign right away.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just give it. It doesn’t matter how much the groom’s payment is.”

“Since it’s a list written with room for negotiation, we can also demand some negotiation and the payment from that side. Of course, it’s a separate issue from what the Visionary is doing, controlling the situation reasonably since Feliase has become a part of Uuphris.”

“Why bother.”

“….”

“On your side, you sent the bride anyway. Since we haven’t given anything, this is right. Don’t make each other blush with a few pieces of gold and just give what they ask for.”

Eddie closed his mouth firmly with a stiff face. Then, after rubbing his lips a few times and taking a big sigh, he left the office with the received documents.

Clad finished speaking and opened the window, feeling suffocated.

Looking at the garden and beyond, Clad soon turned his head slightly towards Lord Lev, who was enjoying the picturesque scene.

The backlit blonde sparkled translucently, caressing Lord Lev’s pupils.

“How about taking a walk after a long time, Uncle.”

They walked side by side into the garden.

As Clad’s steps naturally headed towards the west annex, Lord Lev quietly followed behind.

The small west annex was now shining with its original red flesh, having shed its old skin.

The hostess of this mansion, who had not spared the finishing touches, came in.

The face of the white girl, who had cowered with big, black eyes, was slightly refreshed by the sunlight, and the lips murmuring something to the maid next to her had the color of blooming spring flowers.

It was a change as if a person who looked like a beautifully crafted dark cloud had become a rainbow.
Shiny black eyes, sparkling like obsidian, were elegantly slanted, and the lifted corners of the mouth were neat and charming. Wearing a tattered but affectionate apron, the Empress Dowager held a brush in her hand, resembling an anonymous painter who paints the black and white world in red.

Lord Lev stood tall, observing Clad’s broad back, who was looking at that scene. He wondered whether what Clad was seeing was the red bricks reminiscent of old memories, or the clear smile of a woman, messy but one that would make them smile together.

“Igor Uuphris’s interest lies in how to further ruin the country, whose neck to cut off for display, or which noblewoman’s tassel to lift. Nothing more.”

“…….”

“Here, we ensure that there’s no interest, and even if someone tries to bring it up, prevent them from doing so. You just need to be happy, like everyone else.”

Like everyone else.

Clad rolled the sentences he never uttered outside his mouth.

The sentence, full of resentment, felt different the moment it came out of the woman’s mouth.

In the blink of an eye, everything was changing.

The incessant pain was gradually fading away. The one who seemed weakest and most pathetic suggested that it was better to embrace him rather than run away.

It was a very unrealistic reality.

“Now, spring has truly arrived, Clad.”

Standing side by side, looking at the same place, the Empress Dowager spoke affectionately with a gentle voice.

The warm scent of spring, carried by the still chilly wind, wafted in.

Clad, like the spring of his childhood, surveyed the revitalized garden and the seedlings planted by Yuan around the west annex. Among the spring flowers about to bloom brightly, he faintly saw the face of a woman enjoying the sunlight with a faint smile.

As if drawing the smile with his lips, Clad subtly extended the corners of his mouth.

It was a beautiful smile, somewhat awkward and somewhat melancholic, but painted as if it were a work of art.