If the second day was completely chaotic, from the third day onward, it became quiet to the point of being the opposite.

The people who were cursing Clea behind her back to the point of becoming familiar no longer appeared in their places.

On top of that, even the people who were talking to each other upon seeing her completely shut their mouths.

However, that didn’t mean people stopped coming to see her.

‘Rather, has it increased?’

Even before, the number of people coming to see her was quite substantial, but now it was crowded to the point of being packed.

Clea wasn’t curious as to why people were coming.

Just by looking at the gazes directed at her, it was easy to tell.

“I guess they were quite curious about our relationship.”

“Anyone would be interested in the affairs of the imperial family.”

“Moreover, the subjects are you and me, and we are at the center of the story.”

Even though there was no need for him to attend the repentance, Admund was attending it alongside Clea.

As it was an unplanned event, the temple was in an uproar, but under Hayden’s acquiescence, they couldn’t take any measures.

Thanks to Admund being by her side, Clea regained her warmth.

The pain felt in her chest also diminished, and having become peaceful, she found herself at ease.

‘More than anything, this is probably what’s important.’

The speed at which the clock hands drawn on the back of her hand were turning had noticeably slowed down.

Meanwhile, following Clea’s gaze, Admund examined the back of her hand.

Still, nothing was visible to his eyes, but from the bitter expression she showed whenever she looked at the back of her hand, he could tactfully tell.

There must be something drawn there that only she could see and others couldn’t. A mark representing a curse.

“It will become even more chaotic tomorrow, right?”

“Why is that?”

“Well, because people will find out that I have gotten a man like you.”

With those words, Clea held Admund’s hand.

Admund felt that Clea’s hand was no longer cold.

Pleased with that warmth, Admund smiled and turned his head to examine people’s gazes.

The reactions of the people looking at them varied.

There were still gazes of disbelief, but among them, there were also people who were delighted to see the two of them together.

Admund let out a hollow laugh at the sight of people feeling relieved that ‘that’ imperial prince was finally getting married.

The majority of people still shunned Clea.

Unfavorable rumors about her had spread throughout the empire to the point where prejudice had become embedded.

But Admund thought positively.

‘Such things can be changed from now on.’

It might be quite difficult, but in the end, he had the expectation that time would solve it.

As time passed, when she would eventually stand before the people as the imperial prince’s wife, they would also come to accept Clea.

‘And anyway, the reason why the perception of her is so unfavorable is also due to someone’s malicious false accusations.’

Admund gritted his teeth.

It was difficult for Admund to understand why her reputation was so bad.

Of course, Clea did behave like a troublemaker during her academy days, but that was a very short period.

In particular, even during that short time, except for Lloyd’s matter, she stayed quiet.

Yet she was portrayed as if she had committed all the evil deeds in the world.

Although Clea, the subject of the rumors, didn’t care much about herself, so she didn’t mind either way.

Admund bit his lip, feeling like he knew who was responsible for spreading the rumors like that.

At the moment when he couldn’t control his strength biting due to the surging irritation, Clea brought her finger to his lips.

“I’ll pass on tasting blood when we kiss.”

Seeing the finger that suddenly appeared near his mouth, Admund showed a perplexed expression.

Looking at such Admund, Clea continued.

“I won’t live like I did before either.”

Clea was also aware of the kind of days she had been spending.

Days of wandering aimlessly without any lingering attachment to life.

She merely spent day after day, with no substance in them.

She didn’t care how others viewed her.

At the same time, she had no desire to be seen favorably by others either.

Ever since her possession, Clea had been wandering aimlessly.

Having finally found a place to settle, she decided to change her mindset.

“I will also try to become a person who suits being by your side, Admund.”

It wasn’t a society where just having feelings for each other was enough.

That’s why Clea wanted to show a different side of herself, even for Admund’s sake.

Admund blankly gazed at such Clea and soon smiled.

The anger that had been filling him until just now had somehow disappeared completely.

“Don’t overdo it.”

“You’re the one who shouldn’t overdo it.”

Seeing the dark circles under Admund’s eyes, Clea quietly whispered.

No matter how much he boasted an iron-like stamina, sleep was important.

Up until the repentance, while Clea had been continuously replenishing her energy through sleep, Admund had been wandering around unable to sleep at night.

Even after finally finishing the work, he was overexerting himself to stay by Clea’s side.

Seeing such Admund, Clea felt both grateful and apologetic.

Because he was struggling so much just for her sake, it was only natural.

Clea took her hand that was held by Admund and touched his cheek.

As her slender hand touched his cheek, Admund gently held that hand.

“When this is over, let’s rest for a while.”

“I don’t know if I can promise that. I left all the work to Father. By now, he’s probably praying earnestly for my return.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. If I ask, he might agree to it.”

Hearing those words, laughter flowed from Admund.

In Admund’s perception, Odin was never someone who would grant the requests of others.

At best, the only requests he granted were those of his wife and empress, Elaina.

However, for some reason, he couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought that if Clea made a request, he might grant it.

“Then what will you do after resting?”

Admund asked further about the future.

After the rest.

In her mind, Aria and the curse were the first things that came to mind.

Currently, the only card left in Aria’s hands was the curse.

She imagined Aria losing even that and crumbling down.

Clea was about to say that somehow lifting the curse should come first, but.

The words that came out of her mouth were completely different from what she had thought in her head.

“Shouldn’t we slowly start preparing? Our wedding, yours and mine.”

It was because Admund was looking at her with an expectant expression. She wanted to meet his expectations.

Even if the priorities had changed a bit, it was something she had also desired, just like Admund.

Their wedding.

Meanwhile, Admund was very pleased with Clea’s words.

The gaze with which he looked down at her with a much brighter expression was endlessly gentle.

“Still, I’m a little worried. Will people really accept me as the imperial prince’s wife?”

She turned her head and looked at the people.

The expressions of the people who had come to see her standing side by side with Admund still looked confused.

But Admund covered Clea’s eyes with his hands and said.

“Even if other people don’t accept it, nothing will change.”

Even if people didn’t accept her as the imperial prince’s wife, he didn’t care.

In the first place, he had never thought that he couldn’t keep Clea by his side because of something like the recognition of others.

“Because I’ve already decided not to let you go.”

The words he had said to her in the very beginning.

Those words were still valid.

It was too late to turn back on the feelings he had already embraced once.

It was impossible to erase what had happened that day.

Admund removed his hands that were covering Clea’s eyes.

Then he met Clea’s blue eyes.

‘From which angle do these look like the eyes of a villainess, am I the only one who really doesn’t understand?’

While the two of them were gazing at each other like that, someone else briefly intervened between them.

“I stayed still because you are the imperial prince, but what on earth are you two doing during the repentance?”

Unable to watch any longer, Hayden intervened and reprimanded them.

At that, Clea acknowledged and began the repentance again in a proper posture, while Admund looked at Hayden with dissatisfied eyes.

But Hayden wasn’t intimidated at all.

Rather, thanks to Admund, his position in the temple became even more solid.

Through the recent bet, he had succeeded in driving out the heads of each parish.

They argued that Admund had not yet chosen who to make the imperial prince’s wife, but with Oberon, who was practically his right-hand man, directly providing notarization, it was finally acknowledged as Hayden’s victory.

The parish heads who had taken a neutral stance still remained, but the personnel authority over the vacated positions was entirely given to Hayden.

The reason was extremely simple.

The parish heads, who thought he had established a close relationship with Clea, gave up all authority in order to save themselves.

So, even during the repentance, Hayden wanted to relatively leave them alone.

‘Thanks to that, it has become easier to take control of the temple, but still, they keep trying to cross the line.’

At this rate, it seemed like they would even kiss. Hayden thought he had cut them off at the right moment.

Although Admund gave him a resentful look, Hayden thought that the person next to him would handle it well and tried to continue the repentance.

But before that, Clea asked Hayden to come closer.

Without much thought, Hayden quietly approached Clea’s side, and she whispered softly in his ear.

Hearing that, Hayden’s expression became complicated for a moment.

Looking at Hayden’s expression, Clea smiled faintly and said.

“Please tell Baldwin. I’ll give him the money later.”

Hayden wasn’t very willing, but he still nodded at her request.