“Lord Siron is attending as well.”

The main topic to be discussed at this conference would undoubtedly be the incident involving Vivian Snowfel in Rosemary territory.

Of course, Casius wasn’t worried about that issue. He had already agreed with Vivian on it.

However, Tikan, who couldn’t have known this, had a grim expression.

Casius, quickly reading Tikan’s concern, realized he had been indifferent due to being lost in his own thoughts.

The people who were most troubled by Vivian’s accident were Tikan and Lord Siron before him.

“That issue has been resolved, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Pardon?”

“Vivian Snowfel’s accident was a simple fall from a horse. That’s what we’ve decided.”

“Did Your Highness also agree to this?”

Casius quietly nodded in response.

Tikan, unable to hide his surprise at his lord’s answer, asked:

“How did you manage that with Her Highness?”

Honestly, this reaction was natural. Vivian Snowfel wasn’t someone who would let go of such a crucial matter without any benefit.

“Don’t tell me you’ve agreed to return the Benedict trade route to Snowfel?”

Tikan’s expression became resolute, as if to say he couldn’t allow such a thing for his own family’s sake, especially after how hard-won that commercial right had been.

“It’s not that, so there’s no need to worry.”

‘If not that, then what?’

Tikan was curious but couldn’t open his mouth further in the face of his lord’s resolute expression.

Casius once again realized something he had been overlooking from Tikan’s words.

He had obtained the Benedict trade route with just one attempt to breach Rosemary’s barrier. Even then, Vivian Snowfel had helped.

Of course, that help wasn’t necessary, but it was a fact that she had given her word.

And that was while causing enormous damage to her own family.

Compared to that time, this incident could be considered a massive issue, potentially treated as attempted murder.

Moreover, the other party was Vivian Snowfel, the Crown Princess and soon-to-be Empress.

In reality, she could have demanded better conditions, but it was Vivian who was being lenient now.

The long wound on Vivian’s wing flashed through Casius’s mind.

“Vivian Snowfel’s shoulder wound was deep.”

Though it was a casual remark, Tikan couldn’t hide his surprise at his lord’s words.

His lord wasn’t the type to pay such attention to the Crown Princess.

‘Did he meet Her Highness yesterday?’

Well, even for someone as indifferent as him, it wouldn’t be right to ignore the wound of someone who risked their life for him.

Even if that someone was Vivian Snowfel.

Honestly, Tikan too had come to see her differently after this incident where she saved his lord’s life.

Recalling Vivian’s injury, which he had momentarily forgotten while dealing with complex current issues and territorial matters, Tikan’s face hardened.

“I apologize. I should have reported this first.”

Seeing Tikan bow his head, Casius immediately hardened his expression.

“No. Since when did I care about such things?”

Though the content of his words was cold to the point of being harsh, Casius didn’t stop Tikan’s report.

It was a subtle change from before when he wouldn’t even properly listen to anything about Vivian.

“According to Lord Hilter, that scar won’t disappear.”

Casius’s face subtly hardened.

It felt like another burden had been placed on his already unpleasantly pressed mind.

It created an unnecessary sense of debt.

For a moment, Casius recalled what Vivian had said.

“Fetch purified water from Lake Wolfdor to the Crown Princess’s palace daily. Enough for bathing.”

“Pardon?”

Tikan’s eyes narrowed at the sudden order.

“I heard that water is good for scars.”

“Who said such a thing?”

Casius was about to speak but then closed his mouth.

He didn’t particularly want to tell Tikan about meeting Vivian in her slip at the lake when he was moving alone last night.

Somehow, it seemed like an odd situation.

“Is there a problem?”

“Usually, when water touches an area infected with poison, it causes more severe pain and the scar spreads, doesn’t it?”

Logically speaking, Tikan’s words made sense.

But would Vivian tell such a lie?

Amidst the doubt, the two eventually summoned the healer, Lord Hilter.

The words from Hilter’s mouth were not much different from Tikan’s.

“I’ve never heard such a thing before.”

“…”

“As I reported before, I’m afraid there’s no way to remove Her Highness’s scar.”

If even Hilter, who had built up his insights as a promising healer in the Imperial family for a long time, didn’t know, it was right to assume there was no cure in the Empire.

‘Then does that mean Vivian Snowfel lied?’

Casius frowned for a moment.

He carefully retraced from the beginning why Vivian might have told such a lie.

He wondered if she had done such a thing to seduce him again like before, but it didn’t seem like that.

‘If that were the case, it would mean she knew my movements in advance…’

No matter how he thought about it, that didn’t make sense.

Casius passing by Lake Wolfdor that day wasn’t a scheduled activity.

Moreover, when she was first discovered, Vivian’s eyes were genuinely surprised.

“It didn’t seem like she was lying…”

Though there was no subject in the sentence, both Hilter and Tikan immediately understood who it referred to.

Hilter, thinking he might have misspoken, quickly added:

“I have heard that Lake Wolfdor is filled with good energy.”

“Good energy?”

“Yes. But it’s just a legend that’s been passed down…”

In short, it meant it wasn’t a credible story.

But Casius couldn’t find any other reason in the end.

He concluded that Vivian had sought out Lake Wolfdor to cling to even the last hope of erasing her scar.

Though he pretended not to, Casius was indeed concerned about the scar etched on Vivian’s body.

He once again couldn’t erase the rising unpleasantness.

‘Was she trying to make a statement with her scar? To make me feel guilty?’

But such thoughts soon ceased.

It was because thinking such things about an injured person felt like garbage in itself.

After Hilter left without much gain, Casius immersed himself in work.

After the Emperor’s death, there were considerable succession procedures he had to handle.

Though there was still quite some time left until the coronation, the conference schedule took priority, but Casius was in a situation where he had to juggle both tasks simultaneously.

The work soon freed him from unnecessary thoughts.

At least until he entered the conference room a few days later.

*

As Casius entered the wide, arch-shaped conference hall, the nobles filling the room stood up to pay their respects.

Upon spotting Duke Diarob, Casius slightly contorted his expression.

Despite other great nobles surrounding him, Diarob’s tall stature and build made him unfortunately noticeable.

On the opposite side of where Casius turned his gaze, Siron Rosemary was seated.

His well-groomed appearance, befitting his middle age, exuded a majestic aura.

Siron, true to his reputation as a once empire-shaking beauty, boasted refined features, clearly different from the thick-lined Diarob.

His appearance had elements more reminiscent of Rachel than Tikan.

Those who recalled Casius showing bold favor towards Siron during the recent hunting festival wondered what would unfold this time, their eyes gleaming.

At that moment, after surveying the room once, Casius opened his mouth.

“Lord Siron, hosting the hunting festival must have placed a great burden on your territory. With the territorial appreciation system still in place, I shall bestow ten thousand gold.”

Ten thousand gold was quite a large amount for a territory that led an imperial event.

Normally, Count Siron would have refused without a second thought.

The nobles had no doubt he would do so this time as well.

But for some reason, he bowed his head in respect and accepted Casius’s favor.

“Thank you.”

Currently, Siron was desperate to uncover the fate of his daughter.

Finding a magic mirror required enormous funds, and he had no choice but to accept this favor.

Most nobles, unaware of Siron’s circumstances, felt bitter about the higher-than-usual bestowed amount.

But no fool who would oppose the Crown Prince’s words over this much could ever rise to the ranks of great nobility in the first place.

As a result, the nobles acquiesced without much fuss.

The problem came next.

“Also, upon visiting the Rosemary territory, I found its warm climate boasts beautiful scenery. Letting such a place go to waste would be a waste of national power, so I intend to approve it as a tourism autonomous region.”

The tourism industry was one of the national projects the empire was currently attempting to invest significant time and money in.

Being approved as a tourism autonomous region meant hosting and entertaining important foreign guests there, making it a coveted business in many ways.

How much information would guests important enough to go through the imperial family have, and how massive would the promotional effects and monetary transactions be?

It meant that in itself would become an enormous source of funds.

It was only natural that the great nobles had their eyes on this business, gleaming with interest.

‘But to have such a gold mine snatched away before our eyes?’

‘And to Count Siron of all people?’

There were no nobles who would stand by and watch this happen.

Especially Snowfel, who was directly promoting this project, stepped forward impulsively.

“Your Highness! Please reconsider. The tourism industry is not possible merely because of beautiful scenery.”