Time passed through the night.

The task of selecting the list of families to invite and writing the wedding invitations was all completed along with the announcement of the marriage.

Having finished her work in her own way, Clea was moving her steps instead of preparing to sleep.

The corridor shrouded in darkness was deserted.

The excessive silence made one doubt if this was really the imperial palace, but on the other hand, it made her smile thinking it well reflected the personality of the owner of this place.

As she continued her thoughts, she soon reached the office of that person.

“Why aren’t you coming?”

Clea quietly knocked on the door and said.

However, there was no sound from inside.

It could be because the room was well soundproofed as it was the crown prince’s office, but it wasn’t to the extent that no human voice could be heard at all.

“I know you’re in there. Oberon said you’d be here before he left work.”

No sooner had those words finished than the sound of something falling over was heard from inside.

Clea laughed silently at the scene she could clearly imagine without seeing.

How could the person rumored to be the coldest in the empire become so cute only in front of her?

In the end, it was Admund who raised the white flag first.

He opened the door with a bewildered expression. His eyes couldn’t meet Clea’s directly.

Clea smiled again at this sight.

“No matter how busy you are, you always come to see me during breaks, so why didn’t you come even once today?”

“I was very busy.”

“Really?”

As she asked again, Clea approached Admund’s side.

Admund instantly became defenseless at the faint scent emanating from her as she came closer.

Clea stretched out both hands to stop Admund, who was trying to cover his face.

Even though Clea would definitely be overwhelmed in terms of strength, for some reason, Admund’s hands were blocked by her.

“Look at me properly.”

At her words to look at her properly, Admund bit his lip.

But soon after, Admund slowly turned his head to look down at Clea.

It was amazing that there was a red tinge on her snow-white face even in the middle of the night.

Her hand had already reached for Admund’s cheek.

“So, why didn’t you come?”

“Because I was embarrassed.”

She was surprised, not having expected such words to come from his mouth, and asked a bit more mischievously.

“Ha, is there still something to be embarrassed about between us who have already seen everything?”

Clea had nothing left to be embarrassed about.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t excited. It was just that she loved the person in front of her too much.

“I didn’t know how to act. So I avoided you. I’m really sorry.”

Sometimes he showed this kind of cute side.

Imagining how Admund must have been avoiding her all day today, Clea burrowed into his arms.

Admund didn’t push Clea away as she entered his embrace.

“You’re not avoiding me now. So it’s okay.”

Feeling only Admund’s scent and warmth, she looked up at him.

“When we get married, this kind of thing will keep happening, shouldn’t we get used to it before then?”

“I should get used to it before then. But I don’t think I’ll be able to easily.”

Admund’s bright red eyes didn’t avoid her like before.

He quietly took in her appearance, looking straight down at her in his arms.

Unlike himself, she was very beautiful with her snow-white complexion.

With a dazed mind, he quietly whispered to Clea.

“Because everything is so new and for the first time, I don’t know what to do.”

Everything was new to him.

It was natural to have some resistance when accepting unfamiliar things.

Admund was to become the emperor. As someone who had to learn everything before becoming emperor, he heard and learned numerous things.

But practice was difficult. He was just busy fumbling, not knowing how to act in front of Clea.

What was certain was that as time passed, his addiction to Clea deepened to the point where he couldn’t break away from her, and now just being this close made him feel like he had everything in the world.

Since meeting Clea, Admund was finally able to understand the ‘abundance’ he had only read about in books.

“At times like this, Lloyd really seems like a fool. I don’t understand how he could look at someone else with your existence.”

At his words, Clea kissed Admund.

It was the method of silencing she chose, not wanting the conversation about Lloyd to continue.

“I understand Aria. Why she’s so obsessed with someone like you.”

Until the academy days, she honestly didn’t understand why Aria wanted Admund.

Back then, Admund was just one of the characters in a novel to Clea, with no special meaning.

Even on the rare occasions when their eyes met, she thought he would end up with Aria anyway.

That’s how the original story flowed, and in the end, Clea met her death.

Thinking of the original story, it was certainly a relationship that could never become close.

But now the situation has completely changed.

Admund looked down at Clea and said.

“I knew you weren’t as bad a person as the rumors said.”

Clea’s eyes widened slightly.

“Actually, I thought the rumors were somewhat exaggerated.”

Hearing Admund’s words, she tasted bitterness in her mouth.

She had thought no one cared about what happened back then.

Everyone just wanted to be by Aria’s side, so there was no one who bothered to know the truth.

In the midst of that, he came to say this now.

“If you knew, why didn’t you stand up for me?”

She didn’t particularly mean to blame him.

At that time, Admund and Clea were nothing to each other.

Unlike Aria, marriage rumors couldn’t circulate frequently because of Lloyd, and moreover, her family belonged to the noble faction.

In addition, as she was a child completely abandoned by her family, there were nobles who secretly looked down on her despite her being a princess.

They were really just acquaintances who happened to pass by each other, so it was strange to expect help in the first place.

But there was resentment buried in Clea’s voice.

As if sensing her feelings, Admund opened his mouth.

“First, I wanted to see if you wanted to escape from that situation.”

“Ah.”

Clea understood what he meant.

“You might not remember, but I helped you once before.”

Admund recalled the events of that time.

The memory that remained most vividly in his life was still intact.

On that day too, there was Clea, hurt by Lloyd as usual and slowly being isolated by Aria.

Admund usually didn’t pay much attention to others. But on that day, he was particularly concerned about Clea.

So he slowly approached her and reached out a helping hand.

But the answer that came back was a cold word. Don’t make her more miserable by trying to help unnecessarily.

“So I hoped. That you would try to escape from that situation, not just conform to it.”

It was a story from a time she could never know, as it was before she possessed this body.

Hearing those words, she didn’t think much of it.

But she learned one thing. That he had been consciously and unconsciously caring about her all along, even before the banquet.

“Then do I look like that now?”

“Yes, you do.”

Clea slowly pushed Admund back.

Admund yielded to her, letting himself be pushed back.

When Admund reached the desk, their lips met.

After kissing him, Clea began to unbutton his shirt one by one.

Just as Admund’s hands were about to touch Clea’s waist in response, he seemed startled by something and tried to pull away from her.

But Clea grabbed his hand and prevented it from leaving her waist.

“The wound might reopen.”

“It’s already healed.”

“Still.”

“Quiet.”

Clea, who had completely pushed Admund onto the desk, climbed on top and said.

“Just enjoy the moment.”

Her expression shone very fiercely like a beast.

* * *

“This is unacceptable! Why are you suddenly demanding payment!”

“It’s something we both agreed to in the contract, so how can you say it’s unacceptable?”

“Look here, Baron!”

Grit, who had extracted a huge sum of money from Aria, had been enjoying happy days until just a few days ago.

He still had lingering attachments to the business.

He held an unfounded conviction that if he just watched a little longer, it would surely succeed.

After canceling the business acquisition discussions he had with Barwin Rockin, he tried to proceed with the business again.

Although there was opposition from the vassals, Grit pushed through with his opinion.

This was because there was now sufficient funding, and at the same time, news came that the probability of resources being in the mine had greatly increased.

So he thought the business was finally getting on track, but at this very moment, Baron West came to visit.

Saying he would collect all the funds he had lent before at once.

“Give me a little time. If we wait just a bit longer, jewels and gold will surely pour out of the mine! Or how about raising the interest in exchange for postponing?”

Grit pleaded, even putting aside his pride.

But nothing changed.

“If you won’t do as written in the contract, we have no choice either. We’ll have to take it to court.”

In the end, the negotiations broke down, and only choices remained.

Whether to repay the funds at once and give up the business rights, or to go to trial, win the case, and then gamble on the business.