A month before the banquet, news that the Duke had found his biological daughter spread faster overseas than it did through the empire’s capital.

“My friend Duke Crustel has found his daughter, what delightful news!”

Duke Constanz, residing in the Grand Duchy of Balkandia, immediately prepared to leave.

And it was a daughter, not even a son.

Duke Constanz harbored hope that his longdreamtof wish might become a reality.

With a heart full of excitement, he crossed straight into the Byers Empire.

Before even meeting his son, the first thing he said upon meeting Kyleus was this:

“I propose a strategic marriage between your daughter and my son!”

Kyleus’s reaction was quite a spectacle.

At first, his expression hardened as if he didn’t understand, and soon the contempt in his eyes disappeared.

Fyren, standing beside him, was debating whether it would be better to usher this clueless Duke away or to save himself by running away.

“Hm, it seems a bit cold in your house. Shall I introduce you to a good piece of indoor heating furniture?”

“…….”

After that, he was promptly kicked out of the Duke’s residence without hearing anything further.

That his son was not invited to the banquet at his friend’s house without even knowing why, had its reasons.

However, Duke Constanz did not give up.

After all, he was not unaware of why Duke Crustel was so adamantly against the idea.

‘Of course, it would be hard to arrange an engagement for a daughter he’d found so recently.’

Aside from that reason, there were many issues, but Gerogi didn’t dwell on the minor ones.

He did not give up and reentered the Duke’s residence to persuade him.

Then he happened to meet Diane, who might be his future daughterinlaw, quite by accident!

‘It’s destiny.’

So, it was no wonder he was so elated.

The Duke, who had suddenly become speechless, glared menacingly at Fyren.

Fyren hurriedly raised his hand, visibly shaken but still managed to say what needed to be said.

“We are in front of the baby, and the young master is also present.”

Only then did the Duke’s gaze briefly shift toward me and then back forward. He let out a deep sigh.

‘It’s strange, the original work said the two got along well.’

I glanced back and forth between Duke Constanz and the Duke.

‘Was it not that they were on good terms but simply collaborators?’

Even earlier, Duke Constanz had enthusiastically explained how close he was to the Duke.

But seeing the Duke harden his expression like that, it must have been a delusion on the part of the Grand Duke.

‘Still, it’s good to get along with Duke Gerogi.’

There was a reason why I was happy to see Duke Gerogi earlier.

‘I get to exclusively sell teleport scrolls from his trade post.’

Until now, the only way to teleport using magic within the empire was through a large magic stone engraved with a teleport circle.

A magic stone capable of transporting people was not easily portable.

To use teleportation, one had to go to an officially approved location with a teleport circle, and due to its high demand, the cost was astronomical.

Many commoners could not afford it even once in their lifetime, and even among the nobility, the cost was burdensome, so they mostly used carriages or horses for transportation.

In such times, the situation began to change as Duke Gerogi’s trade post started selling easily usable teleport scrolls.

It was a revolutionary invention.

Not just that, but many various inventions were coming out from his trade post.
They sold various new inventions that didn’t exist in the world, such as video transmitters, transparent ink, and incense to ward off nightmares.

Of course, there was a reason these inventions could only be sold exclusively from the Duke’s own platform.

The inventor of all these items was none other than his only son.

‘That son would later be called a mad inventor.’

The reason I wanted to get close to the Grand Duke was precisely that.

‘He’ll make a fortune from it on the Grand Duke’s platform.’

Of course, I didn’t expect any favors to come my way just by being friends with him.

But I couldn’t just sit idly when even simply providing an idea to his son could benefit me.

‘And the Grand Duke always returns favors when he receives them.’

At that moment, the Grand Duke stood up. His tone was as lively as when he had greeted Cynthia earlier.

“My dear friend! It’s been a while!”

The Duke silently glared at the approaching, chuckling Grand Duke.

I seriously pondered as the Grand Duke seemed about to embrace the Duke.

‘I shouldn’t approach the Duke right now…’

Fortunately, the Grand Duke stopped his steps, meeting the Duke’s gaze. It seemed like an instinctual action he wasn’t consciously aware of.

“I’m glad to see you, especially when I’ve just happened to hold a gathering during my stay in the Byas Empire!”

“Well, I don’t recall inviting you. Do you have an invitation?”

“Haha! An invitation to a friend’s house! You’ve grown a sense of humor!”

“…We need to have a separate conversation.”