At that answer, Cordelia straightened her body, which had been half-buried in Leonard’s embrace. Then she looked up at his chin. Leonard was visibly annoyed.

“I should have met you sooner than that Abrams fellow. If I had seen you just a year earlier, you wouldn’t have had to marry such a man.”

“…Tch. Even if we had met a year earlier, would you have married me right away? It probably would have taken you a year just to stop teasing me about my stone head.”

Realizing that his concern was just childish jealousy towards Craig, Cordelia relaxed her body again.

“Teasing you about your stone head? I’ve never teased my wife. I merely stated facts.”

“Oh, really!”

He spoke in a solemn tone. Cordelia immediately raised her eyes in protest. Leonard teased his new bride in a generous tone.

“Alright, then let’s keep that fact just between us.”

The corners of Cordelia’s lips quivered.

“Do you want to have the wedding by yourself today?”

“Haha. It’s a joke. Just a joke.”

“Hmph.”

As Cordelia snorted and turned her head to the opposite side, Leonard laughed and kissed her cheek.

“You were special from the moment we first met. So if we had met earlier, I probably would have fallen for you sooner.”

“Hmph.”

It was the same response as before, but the aloofness was gone, leaving only a slight tremor. Noticing the difference keenly, Leonard said with a gentle smile.

“What I regret is not meeting you even a day sooner.”

Cordelia slowly turned her face back to face him.

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll believe you if you kiss the other cheek too.”

Over the past six months, Cordelia had become quite bold and accustomed to receiving kisses. Leonard burst out laughing loudly and then willingly obliged his wife’s request.

The affectionate act that started with a shallow kiss gradually deepened, and before long, Leonard was dominating over Cordelia. She did complain that her clothes would get wrinkled, but she didn’t push away her husband’s shoulders.

“Ahem.”

The Baron’s rough cough was heard through the half-open door. Startled by the sound, Cordelia broke free from Leonard’s embrace.

“The guests are waiting outside.”

“Tell them to wait.”

Leonard replied irritably, clearly displeased at being interrupted. He seemed to have forgotten that today was their wedding day.

Cordelia hurriedly tidied up her attire. The Baron, standing with his back turned, said with a sigh.

“Actually, His Highness is looking for you.”

“Why?”

“Well…”

Not knowing the reason, all the Baron could do was make an ambiguous sound. Leonard didn’t seem to expect an answer either, so he got up without saying much. He left small kisses on the bride’s forehead and cheeks, filled with regret.

“I’ll go first, see you later.”

“My lady, you should also go downstairs to greet the guests, no-”

The Baron quickly shut his mouth after meeting Leonard’s intense gaze. Cordelia blinked and asked.

“Ah, should I go out now too?”

“No. It is Atilei’s custom for the bride to stay in her room until right before the wedding ceremony.”

The Baron immediately created a new custom without even wetting his lips.

He knew that if he had said to Leonard, ‘Shouldn’t the lady come out to greet the guests?’, the response would have been, ‘Who are they to summon my wife before the wedding?’

Cordelia believed his words without any particular suspicion.

“Then I’ll wait here until I’m ready.”

“Alright.”

Now that they were about to part, their gazes became affectionate. If the Baron beside them hadn’t coughed heavily like a tuberculosis patient once again, Leonard might not have been able to leave the bride’s room.

After the two men left, the maids waiting outside came in to fix her disheveled clothes, hair, and makeup.

“You’re beautiful, my lady.”

“Anyone who sees you will surely be blinded.”

“We might need to bring a thicker veil.”

Although she had heard it hundreds of times before and was more than familiar with it, it was impossible not to feel good every time. Seeing Cordelia’s lips curve into a smile, the maids showered her with compliments, not wanting to be outdone.

“My lady.”

“Yes?”

“A guest has arrived.”

“Now?”

Checking the time, it was about time to go down. Cordelia pondered for a moment.

“Who is it?”

“It’s the Elector of Elfenbaum.”

“What did you say?”

She jumped up from her seat. It was a name she hadn’t expected to hear in this place today.

“How?”

“Pardon?”

“How is he here? Never mind. Just bring him in.”

Rosenblur had been critically injured in the fight against Nazabut and was on the brink of death, but miraculously woke up. Afterwards, it was said that he had stopped all external activities and gone into seclusion to resolve what Lydia Elfenbaum had done.

Of course, that alone was not enough to pay for all the crimes.

To recover the damage Lydia had inflicted on the entire Ersche, he had to pay enormous reparations. The scale was so large that people openly speculated whether this would be the end of Elfenbaum’s glory that had continued for several hundred years.

Not long after the maid left the room, a black-haired man quietly appeared at the doorway. Cordelia sent the maids out and greeted him inside.

“It’s been a long time, Elector of Elfenbaum.”

“Now, my name… no, Lady Atilei. It has been a while.”

Although she knew it was Rosenblur, Cordelia was inwardly surprised. In just half a year, his face had completely changed.

The gentle and mild countenance was no longer to be found. Deep traces of long-suffering were etched in his shadowed eyes. Moreover, his black hair, which had always been neatly groomed, had grown long enough to cover his shoulders.

Rosenblur’s face darkened further at the overly polite response. Worried he might misunderstand, Cordelia hastily added.

“Actually, I’m practicing to become Lady Atilei.”

“What kind of practice do you mean?”

“Leonard says it’s the process of getting used to Atilei’s authority. So I’m practicing being overly polite and keeping a distance from everyone around me.”

“Ah. I see.”

A faint smile appeared on Rosenblur’s lips as he understood the intention behind the formality.

“I heard you were badly injured. How are you feeling now? Are you alright?”

“Yes. Thanks to your concern, I’ve recovered.”

“We sent an invitation, but I didn’t expect you’d be able to attend.”

“Perhaps it would have been better if I hadn’t come here?”

“No, no. I meant that given the circumstances, I thought it would be difficult for you to come to Langsha.”

Cordelia hastily waved her hands. A subtle wall and awkward silence lingered between them. Rosenblur broke the silence first.

“I thought I should properly apologize to Lady Atilei after that day. Then I happened to see the invitation, and seeing that the date was approaching, I rushed to Langsha.”

“Apologize?”

“For what Lydia did to you.”

“Hmm.”

Cordelia let out a short groan. She had briefly discussed Lydia with Leonard, but they hadn’t delved deep into it. Leonard knew that Cordelia intentionally avoided the topic and didn’t mention it.

“You don’t need to apologize on Lydia’s behalf for what she did. No matter how much she’s your only family, you don’t need to take on her crimes.”

“No. It’s clearly my fault too that Lydia made such a terrible choice. Besides, I cowardly blamed you, didn’t I?”

“…”

Cordelia recalled the last conversation they had at St. Hasimus in Embly. Rosenblur had subtly blamed Cordelia while reciting the contents of Lydia’s diary. The memory of that day came back vividly, making Cordelia uncomfortable.

Rosenblur bowed deeply.

“I’m sorry. None of it was your fault, but back then, I needed someone to blame… Even this excuse is unnecessary. You probably can’t forgive the terrible things Lydia did to you, but I will live my life atoning for her. I’m sincerely sorry for the disrespectful things I said to Lady Atilei as well.”

“You already apologized to me then, Elector. I’ve forgotten about it, so you should forget it too.”

“If only I could forget.”

Rosenblur gave a faint smile.

“I imagine it a hundred, a thousand times. What if Lydia hadn’t made a contract with the devil? What if she had given up on Leo and married someone else? If Maximilian hadn’t existed, could all that tragedy have been prevented?”

“Those are meaningless hypotheticals. It’s already happened. We need to move forward. We can’t keep holding onto the dead, can we?”

Cordelia didn’t offer clumsy consolation. That’s something anyone could say.

Although her feelings towards Rosenblur couldn’t be described as entirely positive, the kindness he had shown her still remained in one corner of her heart.

A person buried in the past can have neither present nor future.

“Yes. We must move forward. Towards the future…”

Rosenblur muttered, staring into space. His face looked so lonely and dark that Cordelia unconsciously almost reached out her hand. At that moment, a maid peeked her head through the half-open door.