Diana was now having an audience with the Emperor.

“Your Majesty.”

There are plenty of nobles with baronial titles in the empire, and of course they cannot meet the Emperor immediately even if they want to.

Unless there is a clear purpose.

Diana also came up with a rather forced purpose to meet the Emperor. Namely.

“I wish to relinquish my title.”

She requested a meeting saying she would give up her Periway baronial title.

The Emperor, who had not shown the slightest interest in Diana before, was intrigued by this story.

So the long-requested audience was granted in an instant.

The man sitting in the high chair with his chin resting arrogantly on his hand was very young.

He looked down at Diana, who was kneeling politely, and began in an interested tone.

“It’s worth money if you sell it, so why give it back to me? Did you think I would pay you if you returned it?”

“It was solely to meet Your Majesty in person.”

“Oh ho.”

The bold answer piqued his interest. The Emperor listened to Diana’s voice much more seriously than before.

Diana clenched her fists and straightened her body.

Her voice, which flowed out clearly, was filled with undisguisable anger.

“Young Lord Cedar Granite is a thief.”

The Emperor’s eyes widened slightly at the unexpected words. He twisted his lips slightly and snorted.

‘I thought she was a naive young lady who believed she could seduce me if she met me in person.’

No matter how low-ranking and titular the title with no territory, giving it up would completely change her situation.

I heard she was struggling with a lot of debt, so I thought she would make a demand that could overturn that.

‘She brings up Cedar Granite?’

The Emperor was three years older than Cedar, and was on good terms with him because they had learned swordsmanship together as children.

It was also Cedar who had firmly supported the young Emperor after the previous Emperor passed away.

To suddenly slander such a person like this?

“What do you mean? He is a knight I cherish. Groundless slander is troublesome.”

“He is my elder sister’s husband. I was the one who orchestrated that marriage. But it was a contract marriage.”

“Tell me more details.”

The Emperor was well aware of Cedar and Nelly’s marriage.

Just aware? He even teased him, saying how could he find someone in a vegetative state no matter how much he disliked the Duchess’s marriage pressure.

‘So that’s how they met.’

Her sister stepped in to arrange it. One curiosity was solved.

The Emperor listened to Diana’s story with great interest.

Diana explained what the contract terms were, and at the end she squeezed out tears.

“He kicked me out when I went to him coveting the inheritance, and he is ignoring the contract. The Duchess Granite is oppressing me without even knowing about it.”

Diana’s appearance of shedding tears seemed all the more pitiful when combined with her beautiful looks.

‘What a snake of a woman.’

However, the Emperor, who had dealt with countless people, was not swayed in the slightest by Diana’s tears.

He snickered.

‘If that’s true, doesn’t she realize she should be blamed more than Cedar? After all, she’s the one who sold off her sister blinded by money in the first place.’

Before claiming that Cedar broke the contract out of greed, her action of marrying off her unconscious sister coveting the inheritance should be pointed out.

The fact that she couldn’t boldly announce the contents of the contract marriage and met the Emperor with her title at stake shows that she knows she’s not blameless either.

A mischievous smile spread across the Emperor’s face as he coolly assessed the situation.

‘But I should lend strength to the interesting side.’

Honestly, he wasn’t worried about Cedar at all.

Not only was the Duchess Granite not to be trifled with, Cedar himself was not one to persist in a fight he couldn’t win.

‘I just need to play along appropriately and reap the benefits.’

All he coveted from Diana was just the title.

Diana was certainly beautiful, but having just ascended to the throne, he had no intention of taking a concubine and shaking the Empress’s position.

“So you didn’t really mean to give up the title?”

Perhaps believing in the power of her tears, Diana’s face hardened.

“…If I can get back the hidden inheritance from Cedar Granite, I will immediately return the title to Your Majesty.”

So if she can’t get it back, she won’t give up the title?

‘That doesn’t add up.’

Listening to the story, this thought also occurred.

‘The inheritance must be quite valuable. She must have calculated that snatching that inheritance is more profitable than selling the title.’

If it’s such an inheritance, shouldn’t I rightfully have it?

‘For now, since I don’t know what kind of inheritance it is. I should make it public.’

Having reached a conclusion, the Emperor opened his mouth while folding and unfolding his fingers.

“It’s not possible, but even the Emperor can’t order handing over private property without any pretext. But there is a roundabout way to pressure Sir Cedar.”

“How so?”

“At this year’s Imperial Summer Ball, we’ll bring up the issue regarding Lady Granite. No matter how much of a Cedar Granite he is, if his wife is mentioned in front of many people, he’ll have no choice but to keep his promise to you.”

“Thank you!”

“What are you thanking me for? I’m doing this for a price too.”

The Emperor gestured with his chin. The chamberlain standing beside him handed Diana, who was smiling brightly, the certificate of title relinquishment.

Diana’s fingers trembled as she received the certificate, but the Emperor’s gaze had already drifted far from her.

He whistled with great interest.

‘The inheritance left by the legendary archmage. I wonder how mysterious an object it will be.’

Returning from the academy, Cedar dropped me off at the mansion and immediately turned his horse’s head.

“I have something to report to His Majesty the Emperor. You must be tired, so rest at the mansion.”

As the captain of the Blue Dragon Knights, he had to report to the Emperor along with the other captains after the subjugation campaign ended.

But since he alone was absent due to family circumstances, it was natural for him to visit the Emperor as soon as he returned to the capital.

Knowing better than anyone that Cedar was a busy person, I waved him off enthusiastically.

‘Where should I put the egg? Should I put it on the bed? Or by the window?’

On the way into the house, cradling the egg, I didn’t go straight in through the door but circled the mansion once.

Already grown accustomed, the mansion I had thought desolate now felt welcoming and comforting.

‘Sir Hail took good care of the herbs.’

The herbs in the herb garden were growing very well.

When we left, we had just planted seedlings with green sprouts poking out, but now they had become proper plants.

It wasn’t just watering the herbs, there were traces of young leaves having been picked here and there.

‘I didn’t know Sir Hail was so knowledgeable about herbs.’

How did he manage to pick just the herbs that needed their young leaves trimmed? I smiled involuntarily, feeling like I had entrusted the herb garden to the right person.

After touring the herb garden and regular garden, I grasped the front door handle.

It wasn’t locked, so the door opened with a creaking sound.

“Sir Hail, I’m back.”

The curtains must have been drawn on every window, as the house was very dark despite it being daytime.

I unconsciously took a step back at the eerie atmosphere. Someone called out to me.

“Nelly.”

The very low, sunken voice was even rough, giving an unpleasant feeling like scratching a metal plate with fingernails.

The reason I didn’t run away after hearing that voice was because it was familiar to my ears.

Just as I thought some large object was moving in the darkness, a white face turned towards me.

“Where have you been?”

“…Grisha?”

My lips went dry. It was clearly a familiar person, but there was a strange sense of distance that was hard to explain in words. I asked again.

“Grisha, is that you?”

He walked towards me with heavy steps.

As the light coming in from the entrance illuminated him, his figure became clearer.

It was indeed Grisha.

‘But why does his face look like that?’

Grisha’s face, which had always been pretty and neat, was a mess.

His white, fine skin was rough, and his neatly tied hair was disheveled.

Above all, what gave me a sense of dissonance were his eyes that looked as dry as desert sand.

Grisha, who had taken a step closer to me, smiled faintly. Even that was unbearably dry.

“You look happy. Were you happy without me?”

“Grisha.”

The man standing in front of me now was not the Grisha I had known for over a decade.

I frowned.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

At my question, Grisha’s face seemed to twist painfully, then his large hands embraced my shoulders.

Afraid of dropping the egg I was holding, I hunched my shoulders and tensed my arms.

Curled up into a ball, I was embraced in Grisha’s arms.

Burying his head above mine, Grisha asked in a trembling voice.

“Nelly. You’re on my side, right? You’re on my side, not my elder brother’s.”

“Grisha.”

The moment I heard those words, I could tell there had been some problem in the Granite ducal family.

Didn’t Cedar also receive a letter saying the Duke was very ill?

‘They said he was critically ill, did he end up passing away?’

But if that were the case, he should be talking about how difficult it is because his father passed away, why is he asking a question weighing himself against Cedar?

Above all, what surprised me was the answer that came back from within me.

‘No. I am Cedar’s…’

The time I’ve known him and the information I have are overwhelmingly more for Grisha.

But my answer was singular.

I cannot take Grisha’s side.

If the two were to be enemies, I would take Cedar’s side.

I opened my mouth in surprise at the decision I made without much deliberation in the moment of choice.

‘When did Cedar grow so big inside me?’