“How pathetic. I wonder who they take after, honestly.”

From the first day of the wedding, Casius, who silently left the venue, became entirely my responsibility.

Who do they take after, they ask.

‘Who else but you…’

Come to think of it, Vivian didn’t resemble Duke Diarob at all.

Her blue hair and purple eyes all had a different atmosphere and color from his, which was fortunate in one respect.

It was already torturous just to think of Vivian while looking in the mirror, but if he came to mind as well, that would have been an indescribable pain.

While having such idle thoughts, he gently clinked his champagne glass against mine.

It seemed he wanted to create the appearance of a close father-daughter relationship, as the nobles’ gazes were not favorable.

Of course, even in the midst of that, the sarcasm continued.

“How do you manage to bring shame to Snowfell with everything you do?”

It seemed the nobles had said some unfavorable things upon seeing me standing alone.

Diarob’s clenched fist showed he was quite heated.

Seeing that sight was both gratifying and ridiculous.

As I poured the champagne down my throat, even the anger that had been gently swirling inside cooled.

“Is that really my fault? If it’s Snowfell, His Majesty would tremble at anything.”

“What reason would he have to dislike Snowfell?”

Thousands of Snowfell’s atrocities flashed through my mind.

It was laughable that Diarob still didn’t know that. Well, they say those who stab others soon forget they’ve done such a thing.

As I silently gazed at Diarob, he furrowed his brow as if he couldn’t understand at all and added:

“Not realizing how much benefit she’s gained from connecting with Snowfell rather than the lowly Rosemary, tsk.”

‘Lowly Rosemary…’

I clenched my gloved hand tightly.

Meanwhile, Diarob’s gaze slowly turned and stopped somewhere.

A mocking smile mixed into his arrogant eyes.

Following Diarob’s gaze, I turned my head to see Father, whom I had been trying to avoid, entering my view.

Even here, it was evident that Father was being as careful as possible to avoid drawing attention, only now moving quietly after the music had started and the commotion had died down a bit.

Because the exit was located such that one had to pass through the central door, Father’s steps drew closer to us.

As I was averting my gaze, pretending not to notice, Diarob turned his body towards Father.

‘Damn it.’

Diarob’s gaze was clearly fixed on Father.

I didn’t need to see to know what kind of words he would spout while detaining Father under the pretense of greeting him.

‘He’s probably trying to shift the topic to Rosemary to salvage his fallen prestige.’

With no other choice, I spoke words that would likely catch Diarob’s attention.

“About the wedding night…”

It seemed to have definitely caught his attention, as Diarob stopped in his tracks.

“What if His Majesty doesn’t enter the bridal chamber?”

As expected, Diarob’s gaze immediately turned to me.

“Are you seriously asking that now?”

His crumpled expression seemed to be questioning how I could ask such a stupid question.

Indeed, such a thing had never happened in history, so this reaction was to be expected.

The royal family’s wedding night was not just a simple custom, but an obligation.

After all, there was a widespread superstition in the empire that if the royal family failed to consummate their marriage on the first night, they would be cursed.

It was probably a fabrication created by the first emperor out of concern that the empire would face great turmoil if the royal bloodline were cut off.

But even if it was just a superstition, if the majority of the empire’s people believed in it, it was no simple matter.

So I was worried.

‘Will Casius come to me tonight?’

It wasn’t about the emotions or humiliation I might feel.

If Casius didn’t come, it could escalate into quite a big problem.

It would be seen as abandoning a royal duty and could become the seed of justification for shaking the imperial authority.

Of course, this one thing alone wouldn’t change much… But history was full of instances where such small cracks gathered to eventually create huge ripples.

Casius would know that too.

Even as I thought “surely not,” the disgust in his gaze as he looked at me earlier was still vivid, giving me a headache.

As these complex thoughts crossed my mind, Father quietly disappeared to the back.

Trying not to watch him go, I naturally met Diarob’s gaze.

Disgust welled up inside me, but outwardly I put on my most natural social smile.

Having practiced it thousands of times, it wasn’t a problem.

“Don’t worry. As your daughter, bringing Casius to my feet should be nothing.”

To have to spout such words in front of this Snowfell who deserved to be torn to shreds right now – it was a moment where I felt disgusted with myself once again.

But it was still time to bide my time.

Until now, he had put Vivian at the forefront, but he was behind all those plans.

I couldn’t deny that Diarob was excellent when it came to political acumen and intelligence.

And right now, I was utterly powerless to deal with him.

I had used up all my mana in the possession, and I didn’t even have powerful backing…

‘Until I regain my strength and save Casius, I have to humor him…’

But why was he silent?

Glancing at Diarob’s face out of curiosity, it was frozen for some reason.

‘Was there something in my words that upset Diarob? Or could it be… he’s noticed that I’ve changed?’

A strange feeling swept through my head.

From when I first woke up until now, he hadn’t even suspected my condition once, so I thought he was the type who didn’t care about his daughter at all.

Maybe I had let my guard down.

A moment of time scattered in the suffocating air.

At the end of it, he smiled with satisfaction.

“Of course you should. You absolutely must consummate the marriage tonight.”

My held breath finally burst out.

‘I’ll have to be more careful from now on.’

“Don’t worry.”

As I curled my lips without a hint of hesitation, a satisfied smile spread across Diarob’s face.

I couldn’t tell what he had been thinking just before, but this answer seemed to have satisfied him.

“Good. Once you bear that man’s son, Snowfell’s world will come.”

If I were to bear the imperial bloodline as he said, the empire would now be completely under Snowfell’s control.

Even so, I had no choice but to follow Snowfell’s words for now.

I would do even worse things to save Casius.

‘If only I can save him…’

It wouldn’t be too late to bring down Snowfell after that.

The moment he stands at the peak of midwinter.

I will slowly melt the season of Snowfell covered in cold, biting snow.

By the time Snowfell pays attention, it will have crumbled without even debris remaining.

I will crush it like that.

‘Then, maybe we can reclaim our spring too.’

As I swallowed such a resolution, Diarob disappeared from my sight.

Only then did I feel the congestion subsiding.

The huge mirror, looming like a disaster, reflected my appearance.

‘Is it possible to seduce Casius looking like this?’

Another long sigh escaped towards this cursed fate.

*

After returning to the Crown Prince’s palace, Casius maintained silence as if his lips had been sealed shut.

As if he had forgotten how to speak.

Occasionally looking into space or out the window, he seemed like a person who had lost the meaning of life.

He had been in this state ever since Rachel disappeared.

He had said he would take the cruelest revenge after accepting the marriage to the Snowfell family, but Casius’s current appearance was no different from a corpse.

Tikan approached and stood before him in such a state.

Casius’s face slowly lifted, detecting a gloomy light from Tikan’s steps.

“How did it go?”

Even in that short question, Casius’s tension was evident.

At his lord’s question, Tikan bowed his head and placed what he was holding in front of Casius.

“As you said, my lord, we searched from the beginning again, but we found nothing else besides this.”

Casius carefully examined the strange star-shaped trace and gradually stiffened.

“This is a magician’s trace.”

“What? A magician? How do you…”

It was difficult to identify such traces unless one had studied magic for quite a long time.

But Casius, who had been by Rachel’s side for a long time, knew every breath she took.

Of course, the magic circles she drew were in the same context.

When mana is used, traces are usually left behind.

Except for a very small number of great magicians, few can use concealment magic.

In other words, there was only one family that would dare to do such a bold thing in someone else’s territory, leaving such traces.

“How are things with Snowfell?”

Seeing Casius’s furrowed brow, Tikan quickly grasped his intentions.

“Do you think Snowfell was involved in sister’s disappearance?”

Tikan still vividly remembered the last time he saw his sister.

Her eyes shocked by the news of her lover’s terminal illness, her trembling hands, her shadow wailing… Yet she had stormed out, thoroughly angry.

He was certain there was no other involvement in the reason his sister left.

Honestly, his sister was as strong as the empire’s strongest, apart from anything else.

There was no one in the world who could make his sister disappear, with her water whip imbued with mana as her basic equipment.

On the other hand, Casius thought differently.

To him, his lover Rachel was the most fragile and delicate person.

She was like a fairy, someone he feared might fly away if he breathed too hard.

Moreover, unlike Tikan, he still vividly retained the memories of his past life.

‘How many times has Snowfell tried to eliminate Rosemary? If they wanted to get rid of Rosemary, they would have tried to kill Rachel, the core, first.’

The karma Snowfell had accumulated so far was enough to amplify Casius’s suspicions.

“If not Snowfell, what bold bastard would do this?”

“But there’s no reason for them to do so. At the time, they had even publicly announced they would accept Lady Vivian as the Crown Princess…”

“We’ll see about that.”

Casius, who had been glaring at the petrified fragment, held it out towards Tikan.

“Send this to Lord Rodgo immediately and tell him to find out which family’s trace this is.”

While Tikan was skeptical about his sister’s disappearance being connected to Snowfell, this was a serious matter regardless.

Tikan immediately bowed his head and disappeared outside.