Despite Aidan’s firm insistence, the princess and her party didn’t budge an inch.

Thirty soldiers seemed uninterested in moving even a millimeter without an order.

Neither the princess nor Jax wavered at the statement that Brody was already the duke’s wife.

‘Whether there’s a valid reason or not, they’re going to take her away.’

Aidan sensed that this fight was inevitable.

The princess spoke.

“How peculiar. A man of a duke’s standing has married, yet no one was invited to the celebration.”

Jax picked up the conversation.

“My Duke, I don’t wish to doubt your honor, but I can’t neglect my dear sister’s situation. Would you show us the marriage oath blessed by the gods, for this Orabi to confirm?”

To marry, a cleric’s blessing, witnesses, an oath object, and the union of a couple are needed.

Even if the last issue were set aside, once a couple exchanges vows and divides the oath object in front of witnesses, a cleric formally documents and certifies it.

Only then is the marriage considered valid.

But Aidan and Brody had never gone through such formalities.

So, naturally, there was no marriage oath document.

Aidan said,

“Do dukes always carry their marriage oaths on them? I’ll let you verify later, so please leave courteously.”

“Then at least show us the oath object. You must carry that with you, no?”

At Jax’s words, Aidan’s eyebrows furrowed.

A moment of silence flowed, and Jax tried to rush Aidan with a self-assured nod, but his action was halted by Brody’s reply.

“Duke Jax, the evidence is right here.”

Evidence? Confused, Jax looked at Brody who calmly touched her own chest and said,

“What evidence could be more clear than myself?”

Brody spoke each word precisely as she stared directly at Jax and the princess.

“I am this man’s wife.”

The grip on Brody’s hand tightened, Aidan’s strength surging into it.

Maybe because of that warmth, Brody’s tone grew increasingly fervent.

“I chose to be by His Grace the Duke’s side of my own will. Not as your hastily appointed sister.”

The princess focused her dazzling gold eyes on Brody, captivated by the unfamiliar word from the woman’s mouth.

However, Jax responded disdainfully.

“Brody, choose your words carefully. Are you planning to discard the favor we granted you?”

“I’ve been treated like dust for over 20 years and then became your sister for about a week. Which side should I feel grateful for? The dust? Or the sister?”

“…….”

Brody sharply pinched the fact that Jax had threatened her into submission using his dukedom’s authority. Whether anyone else here understood or took it to heart, it was at least sufficient to irritate Jax.

Yet Brody’s gaze kept drifting toward the princess beside Jax.

The woman, likely Jax’s co-conspirator, looked at Brody with calm amusement.

Why is she looking at me like that? Flustered, Brody cleared her throat and continued.

“Um, well, I am not being kidnapped. I will go with His Grace the Duke. Please, just go back.”

Brody dodged the princess’s sharp gaze as she spoke.

Yet despite Brody’s reasonable plea, Jax remained unconvinced.

He spoke softly but condescendingly.

“Brody, my dear sister. Women are fickle reeds that can err at any moment. That’s why the Duke has authority. No matter what you claim, it has no effect until evidence is produced. So, until then, I cannot lift the weight of responsibility for you from my shoulders.”

Though his tone was gentle, the content was clearly demeaning. It laid bare his view of Brody as a possession rather than a person.
And the thirty soldiers aligned behind them seemed to be of one mind.

Their concern was solely about who could determine Brody’s fate, whether it was the ‘husband, the Archduke,’ in wedlock, or the ‘Duke, also her guardian,’ prior to marriage.

Anyway, that was the justification of this era.

Brody bit her lip as if frustrated and replied.

“Will you leave without further ado if I show you proof?”

“If you are indeed married to the Archduke.”

“Can you swear as a knight?”

Jacks hesitated briefly, then solemnly placed his right hand over his chest and swore.

“Of course. A man doesn’t go back on his word.”

Was it her imagination? The princess seemed to look at Jacks disdainfully.

Brody had to concentrate, so she averted her gaze to compose herself.

She fumblingly found Aidan’s hand and held it tightly.

“Brody, what do you intend to do?”

There was no likely wedding token.

However, Brody lifted her clasped right hand without replying.

Ching.

A bracelet glimmered between her lifted sleeves.

On Brody’s wrist was an icy blue gem, the ‘Glacial Stone.’

And on Aidan’s wrist was a gem flower of emerald light, the ‘Gemfior.’

Glacial Stone was considered a rare gem from the north.

Likewise, Gemfior, a flower that solidified into a gem, was one of the world’s rare gems.

Aidan’s eyes widened.

“When…?!”

The Gemfior bracelet was something Brody had conjured on the spot.

She had thought of giving Aidan something that could be a symbol, but she had given him nothing.

There was no other way.