‘The gardener was His Majesty the Emperor. More than that, a new bride?’

Clea was very perplexed.

She never imagined that the person she had been facing all this time was the Emperor of the Empire.

Although she had thought there was something strange about him walking around in such shabby attire.

She never thought his identity would be that of the Emperor.

Moreover, that Emperor was now calling her his new bride.

“Your Majesty, this is a family matter.”

“Did I ask you?”

“Well, not exactly, but…”

On the other hand, Odin was thoroughly enjoying the current situation.

Though his expression was as cold as ice, he couldn’t completely hide his curiosity.

Odin wondered how Clea would react when she learned of his identity.

In fact, Clea’s reaction exceeded his expectations.

Although she appeared calm as if not shaken at all, upon closer inspection, one could see she was flustered.

“New bride, tell me.”

The person most displeased here was Admund.

Even without Odin’s appearance, he could have helped Clea sufficiently.

But suddenly Odin appeared and put his spoon in a pot of rice already cooked. Admund was dumbfounded at having his opportunity taken away.

“Who is it that troubles you?”

Thinking he couldn’t express his dissatisfaction openly towards the Emperor, Admund averted his gaze.

Clea briefly surveyed the situation.

Odin appearing in person was a situation she hadn’t anticipated either.

‘Moreover, calling me his new bride.’

Everyone present knew what the term ‘new bride’ meant.

That’s why it would be even harder for Grit and Steve to understand this situation.

According to rumors, they had only had a secret meeting.

So it was perhaps natural that they didn’t think the Emperor would know about it.

No one knew he would go beyond knowing to even acknowledging that relationship.

Clea looked at Odin.

Odin was still looking at Clea with a relaxed expression.

What could be read from him was the confidence that he could grant her anything.

After a moment’s hesitation, Clea opened her mouth.

“I want to sever ties with these people.”

“So she says, Duke Odoi. What do you think?”

“Your Majesty, Clea is my child.”

“If you had raised your child with love, this wouldn’t have happened, would it?”

Odin had no intention of siding with Grit.

From the start, he had taken a liking to Clea, and he had also noticed to some extent how she had been treated in her household.

Moreover, since the Odoi ducal family belonged to the noble faction, it was even more convenient to help her once she left the family.

Odin’s gaze moved from Clea to Grit, and then to Admund.

Admund’s gaze was cold as ever.

Someone might point out that such a gaze towards one’s father is indeed disloyal.

‘It would be good if a daughter-in-law and father-in-law got along well. Surely he’s not jealous over something like this.’

He had already figured out what Admund was thinking and laughed inwardly.

“Your Majesty, the Odoi family neglected me and forced me into an engagement with someone I do not love, using me as a tool for the family. Please help me break free from the family and live my own life, enjoying freedom.”

Clea pleaded to Odin with the most polite attitude she had shown so far.

To help her break free from the Odoi family.

Hearing her earnest wish, Grit and Steve fidgeted nervously, watching Odin’s reaction.

Odin and Admund smiled upon hearing those words.

“Duke, although you have the right to expel an undesirable member from your family, you don’t have the right to hold onto someone who voluntarily wants to leave the family, do you?”

“Your Majesty!”

“Even if you try to stop it, I declare it myself. As of today, Clea has no relation to the Odoi family, and furthermore, I declare her engagement broken as well.”

Steve showed a look of disbelief upon hearing Odin’s declaration.

Grit, upon hearing the Emperor’s words to grant Clea freedom, tried to make one last struggle.

“Clea is engaged to Lloyd Percy, the child of the Grand Duke.”

“Haha, interesting.”

But even that struggle was all in vain before Odin.

“Then we shall visit the Percy Grand Ducal family and the Imperial Palace. I wonder what will happen if both families come to me with complaints side by side.”

Grit was not completely tactless.

That is to say, he was not so obtuse as to not understand what the Emperor meant by his words.

“If you’ve finished speaking, why don’t you withdraw now? I too wish to speak with these children.”

“…I shall take my leave.”

In the end, Grit had to lower his tail.

It was clear that if he pushed his pride any further here, he would suffer even greater humiliation.

Even as he turned to leave, he didn’t take his eyes off Clea until the very end.

‘Now that I know where you are, I will never give up. Never.’

Despite Odin’s clear declaration, he had not given up yet.

To him, Clea was still his child and a member of the Odoi family.

Unless Odin had summoned all the nobles and declared it, he had no intention of giving up.

Meanwhile, Clea, aware of that gaze, simply ignored it.

She was just happy.

‘Finally, the tenacious connection between you and me has ended.’

She had completely broken free from the Odoi family.

She no longer needed to be entangled with them, and furthermore, she could completely sever her relationship with Lloyd as well.

With a joyful heart, she looked at Admund and reached out to touch his face.

“Now there are no obstacles between you and me.”

“Indeed.”

As Clea’s cold hands touched his warm cheeks, Admund’s head gradually lowered.

As their foreheads touched, his warm temperature transferred to her. The corners of Clea’s mouth turned up.

“Thank you. For being by my side.”

She was grateful.

Some might say that someone only appeared by her side now when her heart was full of wounds.

But rather than such emotions, Clea felt thankful to the one who was caring for her for the first time.

“I told you. You will always be by my side.”

Clea smiled at those words and nestled into Admund’s arms.

Admund, holding Clea in his arms, thought.

‘Cold.’

He felt a great sense of discomfort at her very cold body temperature, but nevertheless, he quietly embraced her without saying a word.

‘What a lovely couple.’

Meanwhile, Odin, watching this from the side, smiled in a way unlike himself.

Seeing his son, who seemed to have no emotions at all, become so caring in front of another woman, he felt reassured.

‘The lineage won’t be cut off.’

Oberon, who vaguely guessed Odin’s thoughts, was just observing the current situation with a complicated expression.

* * *

“I greet Your Majesty.”

“Why don’t you call me comfortably like before?”

“Before, I could do so because I didn’t know, but how could I do that now?”

“Is that so? How regrettable.”

In the place where Grit and Steve had left, Odin remained.

Clea, having learned Odin’s identity, felt a bit uncomfortable.

She was somewhat bothered by the conversations they had when she didn’t know he was the Emperor.

But Odin wanted to talk more with the current Clea because of those conversations.

“Your Majesty, Clea seems uncomfortable, so why don’t we save this for next time?”

Admund wished Odin would quickly disappear from the Crown Prince’s Palace.

Although he had stepped in to help Clea, it felt like he had essentially taken away his own opportunity.

Receiving Admund’s sharp glare filled with dissatisfaction, Odin felt amused for the first time in a long while.

“I wonder if it’s just my feeling that if I withdraw from here now, I might never face my new bride again.”

“I’m fine, Your Majesty.”

“See? The new bride says she’s fine too.”

Admund bit his lip at the situation not going his way.

For Clea, while Admund was important, she also wanted to make a good impression on Odin.

She was grateful for his help, and furthermore, she thought that if she made a good impression on him, she could stay by Admund’s side longer.

But it might have been an unnecessary worry, as Odin consistently called Clea his new bride.

She was puzzled.

Why he kept calling her that even after the Odoi family members had left.

“Your Majesty, may I ask why you continue to call me your new bride even after they’ve left?”

She thought the term ‘new bride’ was something Odin had brought up to help her.

She thought he was doing it to make Grit and Steve believe the rumors a bit more.

After all, who would dare to doubt when the Emperor himself acknowledges it?

In that sense, Clea had calmly accepted it without being flustered.

“Well, if you’re going to marry our son, wouldn’t that make you my daughter-in-law?”

But hearing Odin’s following words, she was at a loss for words.

Admund’s expression hardened, and Oberon’s jaw dropped.

The only person maintaining composure and not being flustered here was Odin.

Odin smiled as he personally placed appetizing desserts like macarons on Clea’s plate and said.

“You’re too thin. How about trying some of this?”

“Your, Your Majesty.”

“What is it, new bride?”

Clea swallowed at Odin’s bright smile as he answered.

At this moment, the Odoi people had completely disappeared from her mind.

She looked at Odin while trying her best to hide her bewildered state.

She wanted to ask if he was joking, but his expression didn’t look like he was joking at all.

So Clea turned her head to look at Admund.

She was about to ask what this was all about, but.

‘Ah.’

Seeing his ears turn red, she was at a loss for words.