I had a dream a long time ago.

It’s an old dream that I hardly remember.

That day, many people gathered, and the banquet hall was filled with delicious food. There were my favorite apple pies and various fruits lined up, but an unbelievably forbidding figure prevented me from eating any, and I ended up looking a bit chubby.

Wearing uncomfortable clothes tightly cinched at the waist, I was pushed around by the forbidding figure.

“Greet your fiancé, Marian.”

Even though he’s called my fiancé, I don’t even know his face well. I just felt a sense of wanting to escape from that uncomfortable place.

I opened my eyes thinly. Crimson eyes were looking down at me. The dusky night sky spread widely behind him.

It was still night.

“Sleep more.”

A large hand patted my head as if urging me.

Reflexively seeking warmth and moving my head along the hand, I called out his name with a voice that smelled strongly of drowsiness.

“…Hadel?”

Instead of an answer, the patting hand moved away from me. I rubbed my bleary eyes with the back of my hand.

“When did you come?”

Hadel, who had been waiting for me to fall asleep again, met my gaze once again and gave a charming smile. Then, as if apologizing, he slightly lowered his head.

“A little while ago. I just wanted to see your face, but I ended up waking you again.”

“Come here.”

I still couldn’t fall asleep. Blinking my eyes as if trying to go back to sleep, I extended my arms towards Hadel. After a moment of hesitation, Hadel let out a small sigh and smoothly lay down beside me.

Terrifyingly, the inside of the blanket became incredibly warm when he entered. It was a heat that made my entire body collapse like cheese placed on a fire in an instant.

‘Ah, it’s nice.’

Unconsciously, I almost forgot the words I should say and was about to drift back to sleep. Instinctively seeking a warmer place, I buried myself in Hadel’s arms and shook my head.

‘Not now. It’s the night of our historic official wedding date.’

As I chased away sleep, I asked Hadel.

“Late? Were you busy?”

Hadel’s lips were felt above my eyelids. It seemed pitiful to fight against sleep, and I sighed.

“I got carried away telling stories, and it became this time. I’m sorry for waking you up. Go to sleep quickly.”

Hadel said affectionately, but my sleep only slipped further away. There’s nothing Hadel can do about other people’s complaints.

“It’s because of me.”

I pursed my lips. I just don’t understand what those people want.

‘Before, they disliked me because I was a commoner, but now that they know I’m not a commoner, they dislike me for being a royal who hasn’t gained influence within the kingdom. Just choose one, please.’

Muttering to myself, I found the answer a beat late. Those who mocked me for being a commoner and those who wanted to make their own concubine into a queen are not the same person.

So, the current atmosphere where all the nobles express their opinions freely is the problem.
‘As Hadel’s influence solidifies, the voices of the Hadel faction nobles will naturally grow louder, but it’s not exactly the current trend.’

Ultimately, it’s because neither your side nor my side is certain. Suppressing the sigh that tries to escape on its own, Hadel patted my head and said,

“I’m sorry about earlier. Making you hear such things. It’s my fault for being lacking.”

“It’s not Hadel’s fault.”

Strictly speaking, it was because of Espen, who kept Hadel isolated, and the manipulative nobles and the royal couple…

The reason Hadel had no power was because everyone agreed to exile Hadel to the North.

Ignoring it as Flame Attribute just because of Espen’s misdeeds had diminished after the revelation of Espen’s atrocities and the origin of that hatred was uncovered. However, the underlying issues still lingered.

‘There were so many things that happened because of Espen.’

Rather than making him die like that, it seemed like he should have lived a little longer to receive his retribution.

Thinking of Espen naturally led to the experiments he was conducting.

“Is the investigation into Espen’s laboratory going well?”

Even after Espen’s wrongdoings and the identity of the Bird Prince were revealed, Baekok Palace had not yet fully recovered. It was to investigate the magic circles installed there and other things.

And during that process, it was revealed that the secret passage I knew about and another passage had been reconstructed, directly connecting to Espen’s laboratory.

The fact that an Ice Attribute magic circle was installed in Baekok Palace wasn’t just a coincidence; it was because that place was the center of Espen’s experiments.

“I rescued the Ice Attribute children who were imprisoned.”

At his words, my eyes widened.

“There were people still trapped until now? And they were Ice Attribute, not Flame Attribute?”

“It seems they conducted experiments with the Ice Attribute as well to sustain their hearts. Of course, it’s different from your situation.”

“Cruel.”

The feeling of my fingertips turning cold was present upon learning that the experiments were ongoing.