Raul noticed Elin trembling with clenched fists but pretended not to see and turned his head, speaking in a flat tone.

“I’ve known the young lady since childhood, so I already know her preferences and didn’t need to ask.”

Bellia’s eyes narrowed slightly at Raul’s behavior.

Callid seemed to feel similarly, letting out a deflated laugh.

“Couldn’t you be a bit more considerate? Aren’t you being too insensitive?”

Raul glanced at Elin.

“Young lady, are the prepared items to your liking?”

“Yes. Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness.”

Elin forced a smile and responded. But her reply immediately vanished into thin air.

Raul had turned his head away before even hearing her answer.

Elin bit her lip, trembling at the cold response.

‘Tsk.’

Bellia clicked her tongue inwardly as she wiped the cookie crumbs from her mouth.

It might be amusing to leave them be and watch them hurt each other’s feelings, but then she’d have to sit here longer with these two unpleasant sights before her.

Finally, Bellia spoke up, hiding her annoyed feelings.

“Your engagement ceremony is coming up soon, isn’t it? In two months?”

It was the first question she directed at them.

“That’s right. The engagement ceremony will be before summer ends.”

Elin answered calmly.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t congratulated you yet. Congratulations, young lady.”

Bellia offered her congratulations out of courtesy.

“Will you both attend then?”

“Of course.”

Bellia answered while deliberately taking Callid’s hand.

Like a truly affectionate couple.

Raul’s expression stiffened slightly as he watched this.

“Is there any discomfort staying in the Empire, coming from another country?”

“No. His Highness Callid takes such good care of me that I don’t have time to feel lacking.”

“…I’m glad to hear that.”

Callid smiled proudly upon noticing Raul’s crumpled expression.

“By the way, when are you thinking of getting married? Shouldn’t we coordinate so the timing doesn’t overlap?”

Callid changed the subject to prevent Raul from speaking more to Bellia.

If Raul and Elin were to be engaged, they would have to set a wedding date anyway, so such a conversation between brothers wasn’t a big issue. But the problem was the recent dinner with the Emperor.

During the meal, the Emperor, looking a bit tired, casually brought up that it might look better externally if the eldest son married first, now that all the princes were engaged.

‘The Empress must have made quite a fuss.’

Seeing the smile playing on the Empress’s lips beside him, suspicion turned to certainty.

But Callid and Bellia’s marriage was similar to a marriage alliance between two countries. The Emperor knew this, so he looked a bit embarrassed even as he brought it up.

The Emperor said there was still a lot of time until next spring, and if both countries coordinated well, it wouldn’t be impossible to push back the timing a bit, subtly testing them.

‘How vexing.’

Though he knew the Empress was making unreasonable demands, the Emperor’s act of conveying this to them was very annoying. He clearly felt it didn’t matter whether the wedding was delayed or not.

Bellia’s gaze grew cold.

“We are discussing the schedule with His Majesty.”

At Raul’s words, Callid didn’t hide his sneer.

“His Majesty seems to want to take care of his beloved son more, so tell him not to have any vain dreams, as we will definitely hold our wedding ceremony next spring.”

“Callid.”

“Telling us to delay our schedule. What nonsense. This is already agreed upon by both countries, so what kind of understanding are we supposed to ask from the Kingdom of Ronica now? Right?”

It was far too reckless to break the promise between two countries just to have his beloved son marry first.

Bellia also spoke quietly.

“Prince Raul. This wedding ceremony is my one and only.”

Then she picked up her teacup and took another sip of black tea.

“To think the Kingdom of Ronica’s position in the Empire is only this much. How disappointing.”

Her voice was utterly cold.

Raul should have prevented the Empress from pressuring the Emperor before such words came out of the Emperor’s mouth in the first place.

Based on memories from her previous life, the Empress was someone who consulted with Raul before discussing opinions with the Emperor.

There’s no way such a person would have unilaterally asked the Emperor for her selfish desires without saying anything. Moreover, isn’t this Raul’s affair?

‘He must have tacitly agreed as well.’

So Bellia was even more dumbfounded.

Let’s say the Emperor could spout such nonsense without coming to his senses. But Raul shouldn’t have.

To think the person she had stayed beside in the past was only of this caliber?

Because it made her past self look even more foolish. Because it was so worthless and miserable, anger kept surging up.

“I’m sorry, but I have no desire to postpone the wedding schedule either.”

Bellia set down her teacup with a clank.

“I truly regret this for the princess.”

Raul wore an embarrassed expression.

“His Majesty was so adamant then that there was nothing to be done. It was merely asking for your opinion, so please don’t be too displeased.”

“If Your Highness’s concern for me is sincere, I’ll trust that you will speak well to His Majesty about this matter.”

Bellia looked straight into Raul’s eyes with an artificially crafted smile.

“Personally, next autumn seems quite nice for Your Highness and the young lady’s wedding.”

Having nothing more to say, Raul pressed his lips tightly shut.

His face still wore a smiling expression, but his eyes had grown utterly cold.

The tea time was already over.

“Anyway, we’ll proceed as planned, so adjust your schedule, my broad-minded elder brother. Oh, and.”

As if suddenly remembering, Callid threw out a final remark with a smile.

“The black tea was a bit astringent. Use better tea leaves. Well, I’ll give you some as a gift if you need.”

Then Callid took Bellia’s hand and stood up from his seat.

Raul and the young lady of Canterif’s engagement ceremony was approaching in a few days.

The entire imperial palace was bustling for the First Prince’s engagement ceremony.

The Emperor himself directed that his engagement be prepared grandly.

‘I wonder if they would have gone to such lengths if Callid and I had gotten engaged in the Empire?’

Bellia’s doubt was reasonable.

In reality, the preparations for their own wedding, less than a year away, were being done directly by Bellia and Callid themselves.

The Emperor wasn’t taking care of anything separately, and it was all being done by the two of them preparing and reporting. Only when they needed to exchange opinions about the wedding with the Kingdom of Ronica did the Emperor step in.

‘How annoying.’

If she had her way, she felt like causing a scene at Raul’s engagement ceremony, but she didn’t have the energy to spare for that.

“Princess. You must go out now.”

In the meantime, Bellia had started charity work as discussed with Callid.

Using the dignity maintenance funds allocated to the Second Prince’s Palace, they sponsored various childcare facilities and artists. In addition, they decided to use Bellia’s dowry brought from the Kingdom of Ronica to build clinics throughout the Empire.

In reality, Callid was adding funds he had privately saved, but to avoid arousing suspicion from the Emperor and Raul, they claimed it was all being done with the amount Bellia had brought.

“Oh my! Princess! His Highness is waiting!”

“Alright. I’ll be out soon.”

Today, they were scheduled to go with Callid to inspect the clinic being built on the outskirts of the capital.

Bellia hurriedly gathered her documents and went outside.

Rushing down the stairs, Callid was waiting for Bellia with a handsome smile.

“Did you wait long?”

“No. I just got here too.”

Callid had gone out this morning saying he had business with the merchant guild and had just returned.

It seemed he was busy with various things before starting excavation, as the negotiations for the gold mine had recently been concluded.

“You’ve worked hard. I’m sorry for constantly dragging around such a busy person.”

“If it’s something I’m doing with you, it feels like a date, so it’s fine.”

Callid answered smoothly.

“Where on earth did you learn to say such things?”

Bellia grumbled while unable to hide the smile on her lips.

Then she naturally linked arms with Callid.

“Did the business at the merchant guild go well?”

“Ah, of course.”

A deep smile spread across his lips.

Recently, a delegation from the Kingdom of Ronica had visited the Empire regarding negotiations for shares in the gold mine Callid had discovered. As discussed with Bellia, the Kingdom of Ronica demanded a 45.5% share.

“I’ve put in a request to the Southern Magic Tower for excavation.”

“Well done. Since the location is certain, once the road is properly opened, mining won’t take long. What about refining?”

“We’ll bring technicians from the Tessa duchy to build a refinery near the mine.”

Is he trying to minimize the transport distance of the minerals?

Bellia pondered, stroking her chin.

The Tessa duchy was close to the Kingdom of Ronica, so it was a good choice location-wise.

Moreover, since the western noble faction centered around the Tessa ducal family was the biggest supporting force for Callid, collaborating with the Tessa duchy was only natural.

“If we’re borrowing the Magic Tower’s power, we’ll actually receive the gold around next spring, right? That’s good. We’ll have ample funds.”

It was very satisfying, as there would be sufficient money even after calculating taxes.

Bellia smiled as she finished calculating that they could secure enough funds if things proceeded this way, and Callid’s expression brightened upon seeing her smile.

They had to handle many things while the imperial palace was in turmoil over Raul’s engagement ceremony.

So recently, Bellia and Callid were pushing themselves to progress multiple tasks at once.

“Still, it’s fortunate that the negotiations related to the gold mine are concluded. There was a time when I really wanted to just give up on everything, you know?”

Bellia laughed as she said this.

When the Emperor was throwing a fit demanding more shares, she truly thought she’d like to punch that annoying face.

The two didn’t stop talking even as they boarded the carriage.

“The crackdown on illegal facilities seems to be nearing completion, right?”

“That’s right. I heard the Emperor spent an entire day praising that Raul fellow.”

At those words, Bellia unconsciously raised one corner of her mouth crookedly.

Raul seemed to be very busy these days, in charge of cracking down on illegal facilities within the Empire. But the noisy crackdown that had been going on for a while was now almost in its final stages, which also meant it was time to send Raul a gift.

“I’m really looking forward to it.”

I wonder how the Emperor will react when he finds out that Raul is secretly frequenting illegal gambling facilities, addicted to gambling.

“We’re already gradually gathering evidence. We just need to catch the decisive moment.”

They already had evidence that Raul had dabbled in gambling.

The intervals at which he visited illegal gambling dens were getting shorter and shorter.

Preparations to trap him were already complete.

“Everything will go as you wish.”

Callid gently caressed Bellia’s cheek.

“Let’s reveal it when all eyes are on Raul and the young lady of Canterif after their engagement ceremony is over.”

Bellia said, sounding utterly delighted.

Callid grinned in response.

“It shall be done according to your command.”