Even as Claire sobbed in shame, Givnen didn’t show the slightest reaction. Rather, Ryan and the baroness, who had come out wondering what the commotion was, were simply bewildered seeing the two.

Seeing the baroness standing next to Ryan, Givnen spoke mockingly towards Ryan.

“It seems the one who went shopping with the eldest daughter has returned.”

“……Ahem.”

“You should pay more attention to family education. I heard the second daughter was favored, but she’s quite rude for that. I’ll let it slide this time, but if I see offensive words towards my wife again, I won’t stay quiet.”

Claire finally couldn’t hold back her anger and burst into tears.

The flustered baroness embraced Claire, while Ryan, barely suppressing his boiling rage, escorted Givnen out.

“Please take care on your way.”

For a long time after he left, Claire’s wailing and Ryan’s scolding resounded loudly throughout the mansion.

[This is the timeline separator]

Count Ermeints, unable to withstand the extreme physical exhaustion and mental shock, fell ill and took to his bed. More than five doctors, including his personal physician, came and went, checking his physical condition.

And as always, the diagnosis was a natural deterioration of health due to aging.

At this, Rosher Ermeints, the eldest son and heir of the Ermeints family, berated the doctors in a fit.

“How can health deteriorate so suddenly! What exactly are you all doing!”

“We’re doing our best, but… the body’s weakening due to aging is not something humans can reverse.”

“Who asked to hear such nonsense? Hah, all you doctors are the same… Fine, you may go.”

As the personal physician and remaining doctors fled the room, Rosher sighed, sat in a chair, and tightly grasped his father’s hand.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ve called a capable magical doctor, so there should be some improvement.”

Count Ermeints could not respond to his son’s words and merely gritted his teeth.

Rosher Ermeints knew nothing about this incident.

He thought it was a sudden deterioration in health, but in fact, Count Ermeints had ended up in this state due to extreme physical exhaustion and mental shock from using long-distance teleportation.

Count Ermeints knew well the cause of his illness, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell his son.

It was too embarrassing.

“……Go out, I want to be alone.”

“Then I shall return to Eldras first.”

“Alright.”

His son was already busy fiercely competing for the position of the next Archmage of Eldras, and to waste the time of such a busy son… Count Ermeints felt his own incompetence and grew angry.

“Damn it, damn it!”

Although he had prevented the incident from spreading widely, he couldn’t recover his shattered pride.

It was full of incomprehensible things. Why on earth would someone of the Archmage of Horizon’s stature protect her, and what was that woman to him! To personally travel such a distance.

Did they really get entangled with each other after fleeing to the hotel that day?

“……These damned XXs.”

Far from venting his anger, he had only gotten caught.

Moreover, the Archmage of Horizon, that guy, wouldn’t let this slide. He had even bribed a journalist in advance to call to the scene, so nationwide articles might pour out soon.

Just as ‘Givnen Ryanster’s’ love affair had plastered the entire country, he too would surely make this incident public. That’s why Count Ermeints was more anxious than ever.

This period was more important than any other. It was the period when his trusted eldest son was being tested for the position of ‘Archmage of Eldras’.

Although he received criticism from the masses for his peculiar sexual preference of only marrying young women, he didn’t care much because in the end, whether it was relationships with women or marriage, it was a private matter.

Since scandals frequently occur among the nobles, they tend to be taken lightly and not considered a big problem, but solicitation of murder is a different story.

This is an illegal act and a crime.

“Givnen Ryanster, that guy has become the Archmage. He’s the first to successfully unify the owner and manager of a Grand Magic Tower. Horizon’s status is skyrocketing, and being the disciple of Great Mage Yung is threatening enough… As soon as Yung’s will was made public and the next Archmage was named, the Ryanster family immediately invested a huge sum to acquire the Magic Tower, and His Majesty turned a blind eye to it… If this continues, we’ll end up under Horizon’s monopoly.”

“When Yung died, an even worse one appeared. As they say, there’s always a higher mountain… I wondered why he made the reckless move of handing over the Archmage position to that young one, but he’s an even greater monster than Yung.”

“The Ermeints family must also succeed in unifying Magic Tower Eldras quickly. How long will you keep a professional manager in the Archmage position? Other Magic Tower owners are making desperate efforts to nurture outstanding successors to continue the lineage of Archmages for generations. Lord Rosher needs to quickly ascend to the Archmage position and solidify the foundation, so that your talented youngest grandson can lead Eldras without difficulties.”

His son Rosher’s competition for the Archmage position was more important than anything else.

His other sons were ordinary people not born with magical power, and only Rosher was born a mage.

Moreover, it was determined that Rosher’s youngest son had the talent of a Great Mage level mage, so Rosher needed to become the Archmage first to secure a position in order to pass on the Archmage position of Magic Tower Eldras to his grandson.

Originally, after the nationalized Magic Towers began to be privatized, the position of Magic Tower owner, that is, the Archmage position, came with the condition that only ‘outstanding mages’ could hold it.

Because of this, the Ermeints family owned a Magic Tower but was in a half-baked state as they had to separately appoint a mage manager.

This applied to almost all Magic Towers, but now that Horizon, the industry leader, had become the first to successfully unify the owner and manager, essentially monopolizing the Magic Tower, it raised the sense of crisis among other Magic Towers.

Count Ermeints’ son Rosher was now in a testing period to verify his qualifications as an Archmage. In other words, this was a more important period than any other, and it was linked to the family’s prosperity.

It was a serious problem to have been caught with a flaw by the most uncomfortable opponent when he should have been keeping a low profile.

Count Ermeints clutched his head and regretted his actions. But what’s the use of regret now? The water has already been spilled.

As he groaned and worried like that, he shouted loudly.

“Victor! Victor, come here right now!”

Not long after he shouted, a person named Victor hurriedly entered.

“You called, my lord?”

“Contact the Archmage of Horizon. Tell him I’d like to meet as soon as possible.”

“Understood.”

He now had neither the power nor the capacity to make this incident ‘a trivial matter’.

Because his heyday as a ‘war hero’ when his prestige reached the sky was already past glory. For a toothless tiger to survive, it has no choice but to prostrate itself before a young tiger.

Even if it’s humiliating.

[This is the timeline separator]

Riley slowly opened her eyes.

How long had she been asleep?

Her body, which had been as heavy as a thousand pounds, felt as light as a feather. She felt no unpleasant headache, chills, or discomfort from clammy sweat. Just a bit of stiffness, perhaps from sleeping too long. Wanting to move even a little, Riley got up and went outside.

‘This isn’t Lupla, but Sobostar, right?’

Because there weren’t hotels this luxurious in Lupla.

Of course, compared to Ingxinia where Givnen had stayed before, it was embarrassing to even call this place luxurious.

“Is something the matter?”

Someone approached.

A very handsome woman? Or a really pretty man?

Anyway, it was a person whose gender seemed a bit ambiguous. Moreover, they looked somehow familiar. Like I’ve seen them somewhere… As I stared intently, the other person smiled and introduced themselves.

“I apologize for the late introduction, miss. My name is Sack Vendome. I belong to Horizon and am an advisor to Lord Ryanster as well as part of Horizon’s general affairs team.”

Ah, right. The person standing behind Givnen when he came with the marriage proposal.

“I’m Riley Eadalyn.”

“Yes, Miss Riley. Is there anything you need?”

“No, just… My body felt stiff, so I wanted to walk.”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“His Lordship has stepped out for a moment, he should be back soon…”

“What are you two doing here?”

Speak of the devil. Sack took a step back.

“You’ve returned.”

Givnen checked Riley’s complexion.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah? Yes…”

“I’ll be preparing to leave.”

Sack tactfully left the scene.

After Sack disappeared, Riley asked Givnen.

“Where did you go?”

“To the baron.”

“Uncle?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“To let him know I’m keeping you safe.”

“…There was no need for that.”

“Right, there wasn’t. It was a wasted trip.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”

Givnen held back his words. There was no good in telling her about what happened at the Eadalyn baron’s house.

“…What happened to them?”

Givnen hesitated for a moment. He seemed to be pondering what to say. From his expression, Riley deduced that they had received no punishment.

“You don’t have to answer. Anyway… I expected as much.”

“Don’t worry, except for the count, those guys were definitely punished. And it won’t happen again.”

“Did the count go back?”

“I heard his health deteriorated and he’s bedridden. Seeing how he dragged himself all this way, he must have had quite a grudge about that day. Even if he wasn’t in his right mind, he’s not the type to do something so reckless. He did something uncharacteristically stupid.”

Riley chuckled and hid her hands behind her back. However, Givnen clearly saw her trembling fingertips.

“Want to come with me?”

“…?”

“Instead of staying here, come to Blestege with me.”

“Uncle won’t allow it.”

Ryan was desperately trying to educate Riley to be a proper lady of a respectable family within the given time, and Riley was well aware of this.

Separate from how terribly she disliked her family members, she acknowledged that she was an embarrassing child to show off.

‘I don’t know how to do anything, nor am I good at anything. If I get married in this state, it’s obvious I’ll be treated as a burden…’

That’s partly why she received education so desperately. Because she was ashamed of her own incompetence. She wanted to learn and master even one more thing.

“I don’t care about that guy’s opinion”

“…”

“Do you want to keep staying here?”

“That’s…”

“From what I see, there’s no need for you to stay here.”

Riley pondered.

If he were an ordinary person, she wouldn’t have worried like this, but in this place where his existence, the clothes he wears, the work he does, the restaurants he frequents, his interests… everything becomes gossip material, marriage to Givnen Ryanster was bound to be a great burden in a different sense.

But nevertheless.

‘I want to be with him.’

She just wanted to be with him.

It seemed much better to stay with this man than to live in the same space with her terrible uncle’s family.

“…I want to be with you.”

If he was willingly extending his hand, there was no reason to refuse.

Givnen smiled at Riley’s honest expression and replied.

“Alright, let’s live together.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“Oh my, two…”

Baron Ryan collapsed into a chair, drained.

In just one day, he seemed to have aged 10 years. Groaning with a haggard appearance, he rubbed his forehead at the remaining tasks and let out a dry sigh.

“At this rate, I’ll die young without even making a name for myself.”

There were more than one or two issues to worry about.

The fact that no one knew about the kidnapping incident or that there had been an intruder. That had irritated Givnen, and on top of that, his own daughter Claire had added fuel to the fire. Wondering what on earth she had said to make His Lordship say such things, he questioned Claire, and her answer was outrageous.

“I just thought the engagement had been successfully called off, so I offered words of comfort! That’s all!”

She must have lost her mind!

He knew she was immature, but he didn’t know she was such a fool who couldn’t distinguish when to speak and when not to. What good had she done to be wailing so loudly? He certainly hadn’t raised her to be such an idiot, so how on earth had she… become such a dimwit?

Ryan was truly shocked in many ways. Enough to lose affection for his own daughter.

The baroness asked with a serious expression.

“What should we do? For now, he might be blinded by love and not see anything else, but… if he spends all day with that uneducated thing, there will come a moment when his affection will suddenly drop.”

Ryan sympathized with the baroness’s words.

He had already lost affection for his daughter of 20 years due to her stupid act, so how much worse would it be for Givnen, who was a complete stranger?

He sighed and spoke with a resigned heart.

“…We must proceed with the marriage as quickly as possible. What other choice do we have? We can only pray that the love goggles don’t come off until then.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Riley wasn’t given time to pack her belongings.

Givnen had already sent someone to the Eadalyn mansion to pack her things, so she only needed to move her ‘body’.

Givnen covered all the teleportation device usage fees, and as soon as they arrived in Blestege, they had to board his floating stone carriage to move somewhere.

Riley was extremely nervous.

We’re going to his mansion now, right? Is he living with his family? How should I greet the elders? What if the elders don’t like me? They might turn me away at the door. The difference in status is so great… Will they welcome this marriage?

“Why are you so scared? It’s not like I’m going to eat you right away.”

Does ‘right away’ mean he’ll eat her later?

“Where are we going?”

“My mansion.”

“Then… will I be living there from now on?”

“That’s right. Think of it as starting our newlywed life early.”

“What about your family…?”

Givnen tilted his head at Riley’s words, then burst out laughing.

“So that’s what you were worried about.”

“…”

“I live alone. I’ve been independent for a while now.”

“I see.”

“And I’ve lived separately from my family since long ago.”

Then does that mean she won’t have to face his family until the formal meeting?

Riley secretly let out a sigh of relief. It would have been burdensome to meet his family in her current unprepared state.

“So, have you thought about what you want to do here?”

“It might be better to think about what you want to do in the future, rather than what you need to prepare.”

“There must be many things you haven’t tried.”

These were the words spoken at the dinner table on the day they parted.

To think about what she wanted to do.

However, she hadn’t thought about it. She had been more concerned with what she needed to do rather than what she wanted to do right away. That’s why she had received education through a tutor.

“No, not yet.”

“Just in case, let me tell you this.”

“…”

“Don’t think about trying to be good at something. Especially if it’s for my sake.”

The floating stone carriage came to a stop. He opened the door and got out first. Then he extended his hand towards Riley.

“Don’t be unnecessarily intimidated.”

“…”

“Do what you want to do. I can provide any support you need.”

Instead of answering, Riley took his hand and got out of the carriage.

“Wow.”

An magnificent mansion greeted Riley. Is this a place where people live?

This was more appropriately described as a castle rather than a mansion. The lawn and trees in the garden were beautifully well-maintained by the gardener’s loving care, and dozens of flowers such as tulips and roses colorfully adorned the garden. The angel-shaped sculpture decorating the fountain heightened the grand garden’s antique and elegant atmosphere.

There were also many extraordinary magical tools, such as mini clouds floating in the air pouring rain to water the flower beds, butterflies flying along the green walkway spewing light powder, and trash cans that automatically picked up and ate leaves and garbage.

Moreover.

“W-what is that?”

A wolf covered in black fur, about the size of an ordinary house, was tied up.

Just by its overwhelming size, one could tell it wasn’t an ordinary animal but a magical beast.

“Ah, that. A trophy.”

“…A trophy?”

“It’s a magical beast called the moon-swallowing wolf. I captured it alive during the last magical beast subjugation expedition.”

“You’re not keeping it as a pet, are you?”

“It looked good for guarding the house.”

That thing? How? It looks like it would turn this mansion, no, all of Blestege into a wasteland the moment its leash is loose.

“Are you scared? Should I get rid of it?”

“Ah, no…”

“It might look fierce, but it’s gentle. It would never harm you, not even if it died and came back to life. Want to touch it?”

“No, I’ll pass…”

“Alright, then let’s go inside.”

I expected it would take quite some time to reach the mansion given how large the garden was, but the path leading to the entrance seemed to be a special magical path. After a single swaying sensation, we instantly arrived at the entrance.

The door opened wide, and Givnen spread his arms to welcome Riley.

“Welcome, sincerely.”

Riley couldn’t smile sincerely. Rather, she felt like crying for a different reason.

Behind him, all sorts of extraordinary magical tools could be seen. Even a quick glance made her head spin. This was a different world… no, an entirely different dimension.

…Will I be able to adapt well to a place like this?