Maxium’s face, who had been standing bewildered while smiling brightly at Edan’s openly sarcastic words, was filled with embarrassment.

“Huh? Did I… did I do something wrong…?”

Maxium. Having only stayed in the temple’s archives, is he inexperienced? Is that it.

Edan clicked his tongue while glaring at that innocent appearance that knew nothing.

And quickly brushing my lips with his thumb, he whispered softly.

“Calm down.”

Edan stood up, blocking between Maxium and me.

His firm, broad back seemed to shield my reddened face from Maxium’s view.

My heart pounded as if it would burst at the touch of Edan’s finger that had briefly brushed my lips and his considerate action to prevent me from feeling embarrassed.

“What brings you here?”

Edan straightened his shirt collar as if nothing had happened.

“Well…”

Maxium took out a book hidden within his priest’s robe.

As he handed it to Edan, Ruben appeared behind him.

“Your Grace.”

“What is it?”

Ruben glanced briefly at Maxium and me, then carefully handed Edan a letter.

“This needs your urgent attention.”

Edan frowned as he took the letter.

After checking its contents, he crumpled the paper.

“I need to go out.”

Ruben nodded.

“Edan?”

“I’ll be back.”

Though his tone was calm, his voice clearly conveyed a change in his mood.

Edan and Ruben turned and left, and the passage closed.

What was that? What kind of letter could it have been?

“It was a letter from Her Majesty the Empress.”

“The Empress?”

Maxium nodded as he put down the book.

“The crescent moon symbol drawn on the edge of the envelope. It was Her Majesty the Empress’s seal.”

The Empress, that would be Henzela, Crown Prince Killian’s birth mother.

The woman who had hated and despised Edan terribly since he was born, no, since he was in his mother’s womb.

The woman who, after Edan’s mother, the Emperor’s concubine, died, persuaded the Emperor to banish the young Edan to a remote, isolated castle.

I know they’re not on good terms to be exchanging letters.

Indeed, Edan’s expression didn’t look comfortable either.

“I wonder what reason she had for sending a letter?”

Maxium tilted his head curiously, seeming as puzzled as I was.

“It doesn’t seem to be good news, does it, Father?”

“Hmm. I suppose not.”

Maxium stroked his chin as if pondering. Then, as if something suddenly occurred to him, he lifted his head and exclaimed.

“Could it be because of that?”

“Because of what?”

Maxium seemed to know something. But instead of answering right away, he stared at the bread.

I offered him the whole box of bread.

“Have a bite. There was a lot.”

“Is that okay? Thank you! Actually, I haven’t had dinner yet.”

“You can eat it all.”

“Wow. This is really delicious! Which bakery did you buy it from?”

“Right? Edan brought it. He said it’s made from the first wheat harvested in the north.”

“Oh. It’s surprising that such soft wheat comes from the north.”

Maxium kept exclaiming in admiration as he put the bread in his mouth.

“To continue what I was saying. It’s the social season these days, right? Maybe that’s why she called him.”

I listened to his words, but I didn’t quite understand.

To begin with, Edan never showed his face in social circles, and I didn’t think the Empress was the type to care about the social life of an illegitimate prince.

“The temple is quite busy these days because of parties being held here and there. We’re busy making pills until late at night.”

“Pills?”

“Lady Latieana, you don’t know? The healing pills are incredibly popular among the upper nobility of the capital.”

“What?”

What does that mean?

A saint’s healing power is useless to ordinary people. It only works on ability users. It’s not a cure-all.

It means it doesn’t heal broken limbs or skin diseases.

Of course, when mixed with special drugs produced by the mages of the magic tower, it could create effective fever reducers or painkillers, but the potions or pills made at the temple were of no use to ordinary people.

Maxium nodded vigorously as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

“So this is just a matter of feelings. There are baseless rumors that if you take pills with healing power, you become prettier, or taller, or get a more likable face. They buy them even though they’re quite expensive, to the point where we run out of medicine. They indulge in luxury, saying it must be valuable because it’s expensive.”

“Isn’t that fraud by the temple?”

Maxium nodded with bread in his mouth.

“It’s business, business. If you just compromise your conscience a little, the money is pretty good. The High Priest is quite fond of money. I don’t know for sure, but he’s probably one of the people who benefited the most from the appearance of the Great Saint.”

Well, every group has its share of money-grubbing individuals.

I turned my attention to the book Maxium had brought.

It was a thick, white book containing information about ancient sacred objects.

“Anyway, that’s why I think Her Majesty the Empress might have chosen a bride for the Grand Duke.”

I froze in the middle of turning a few pages.

“…What?”

It was such a shocking statement that I wondered if the sound of my heart dropping could be heard outside.

The Empress is choosing a bride for Edan?

Maxium, not noticing my shock and pallor at the sudden words, mumbled as he swallowed the bread.

“I overheard the maids saying that a letter requesting a political marriage came from the Eastern Empire. It was just in passing, but it must have come for either Crown Prince Killian or Grand Duke Edan.”

Political marriage?

“The timing of this letter coming to the Grand Duke is suspicious.”

“It could have gone to Crown Prince Killian.”

Maxium shook his head.

“That’s unlikely.”

“Why?”

“A few years ago, the Crown Prince declared that he wouldn’t marry until he ascended to the throne.”

This was information I was hearing for the first time.

It wasn’t in the original story. Of course, there were hidden parts in Ivy’s and my past stories too, so it’s not strange that stories I don’t know come up.

“Why is that?”

“There used to be a kingdom between our empire and the Eastern Empire, though it’s fallen and gone now. The Crown Prince had proposed to that country’s princess, but he was rejected. It seems he liked her a lot.”

So after that, he said he wouldn’t marry until he became emperor?

I knew nothing about Killian’s marriage or princess story.

“Perhaps he intends to propose to that princess again when he becomes emperor. It won’t be easy, but…”

“Is it because of Her Majesty the Empress?”

Maxium blinked his eyes wide once as he swallowed the last piece of bread.

“I’m not sure about that. These stories are also hearsay, so they’re not certain. The temple maids are quick with news but loose-tongued, so rumors can get exaggerated. Anyway, that’s why this marriage proposal might go to Prince Edan.”

For a moment, I felt like a fool.

Why hadn’t I thought of it? Edan is a prince, and there’s always a possibility of a political marriage.

What I know is that Edan grew up hated by the imperial family, and he doesn’t get along with Killian…

Come to think of it, didn’t their relationship with Killian become worst after some incident?

Even in the side story, it wasn’t resolved, but Edan was a villain anyway. After he became a monster and was executed, readers completely forgot about it.

Could it be related to why Killian and Edan’s relationship suddenly worsened?

Is that really why they called Edan?

With complicated feelings, I kept turning the pages of the book meaninglessly.

Edan set foot in the imperial palace of Alcadania, the capital of the empire, which looked as if it had been carved by a sculptor who had poured his soul into it.

He was neatly dressed in a uniform, with one side of his golden hair smoothly swept back.

As Edan emerged from the portal and lightly adjusted his uniform collar, a carriage stopped in front of him.

It was the Empress’s guest reception carriage, designed with golden lines on a pure white background.

“Welcome, Your Highness.”

Despite the attendant’s polite welcome, Edan boarded the carriage without acknowledging his greeting.

The view was filled with precisely cut grass without a single flaw and an enormous amount of flowers that seemed intoxicating just to look at.

The carriage moved at a constant speed on the spotless marble road, and soon arrived at the Empress’s palace.

Edan got out of the carriage and walked down the corridor to reach the Empress’s reception room.

As the door opened, the Empress revealed herself.

“Welcome, Grand Duke.”

Surprisingly, she was lying on the sofa in the reception room, receiving nail care from her maids.

Her hair was gathered high and adorned with feathers, and her eyes were decorated with long false eyelashes, giving off a noble and elegant atmosphere.

And around the Empress’s neck was a necklace densely studded with diamonds so large it looked heavy, adding to her splendor.

It wasn’t a particularly pleasing sight.

Nor was the Empress’s unusually friendly attitude today.

In official places like ballrooms, she had completely ignored Edan as if he didn’t exist.

Of course, this was a different kind of disregard, but Edan bowed his head with a faint smile, his expression unchanging.

“I pay my respects, Your Majesty the Empress.”

The Empress’s purple lips frowned as she received the greeting.

“That will do.”

After naturally ignoring Edan’s greeting, she sent the maids to the corner and slowly moved a large fan.

“Thank you for coming so quickly despite the sudden contact.”

“Yes. You said it was urgent.”

As Edan raised his head, the Empress looked at him, arrogantly lifting her chin.

The Empress, who had been coldly observing his pretty face that resembled his dead concubine mother, lowered her eyebrows and spoke softly.

“It’s not so sudden. The Grand Duke has come of age to marry, and a proposal has come in accordingly.”