Cedar, who seemed to be leaning on me as if piggyback riding, embraced my waist.

“Thank you.”

The breath touching my cheek made my neck tingle.

I shrugged my shoulders and laughed, “Hehe.”

Anyway, with the help of Hail and Maggie, the preparations for the ball were finished, and now there was only one thing left to do today. I gestured to Cedar.

“Now close your eyes. And bend your knees to lower your height.”

Cedar is much taller than me, so even if I stand on my tiptoes, I can’t reach his lips.

Cedar’s eyes gently formed a semicircle as he understood my intention.

“A kiss of comfort?”

That was a strange thing to say. Didn’t he say it was okay? Then why does he need comfort?

“What are you talking about? We need to feed our child.”

“…Our child?”

The reason I was trying to kiss him was because of Zeke.

‘You have to give plenty of magic every day to increase the chances of the egg hatching.’

I wanted to feed it more magic yesterday, but Cedar jumped up so I couldn’t.

So from my perspective, I wanted to transfer more magic today than yesterday.

After hearing my explanation, Cedar covered his face with his palm and sighed.

“Please. Don’t say things that other people might misunderstand if they hear.”

I tilted my head.

“But there’s only you and me here?”

“That’s why! My heart drops every time you say things like that.”

‘You even named it Zeke, what are you talking about?’

I felt that way, but I didn’t say it out loud because I thought Cedar might start nagging.

And realizing how much I had gotten used to Cedar, I shrugged my shoulders and laughed.

Grisha visited Cedar’s mansion every day.

He came yesterday too, but there was Cedar with an unfamiliar woman, so he turned back without greeting Nelly.

‘Today, I’ll meet Nelly even if elder brother is there.’

Yesterday he left because it was awkward, but thinking back, it was ridiculous.

What was there to be awkward about? He had known Nelly long before Cedar.

He was confident that his relationship with Nelly was closer than Cedar’s. Rather, it was silly to avoid her just because Cedar was there.

‘Right. It’s not because of that man. I confessed my feelings to Nelly. I just felt burdened because I haven’t received an answer yet.’

He even stubbornly insisted that it wasn’t because of Cedar, not wanting to admit it.

Although his mind was bustling, outwardly he was the ever-elegant Grisha Granite.

Should it be considered fortunate? Today, Hail was at the mansion instead of Cedar. Hail greeted Grisha politely.

“Hello, young master.”

“Just call me Grisha. You don’t work for the Granite family, so there’s no need to address me formally.”

“Oh my, you’re the captain’s younger brother, of course I should address you respectfully.”

Hail had a very good impression of Grisha.

Unlike Cedar, he was gentle, and every word he spoke was soft.

Of course, there was some calculation involved.

‘I heard they’re not on good terms, but if he keeps visiting the mansion, there might be chances to reconcile. Then we might even get a good magician member for the Azure Dragon Knights.’

Even if the initial reason was being close to Nelly, wouldn’t it be beneficial for both if they eventually got along with Cedar?

With that in mind, Hail smiled brightly and kindly guided Grisha.

“The lady is in the herb garden.”

“…”

Unexpectedly, Grisha’s face hardened. Hail tilted his head.

“Young master?”

“It’s nothing.”

Grisha became sullen because of the title “lady” that Hail used.

Grisha, who almost lost his composure and flared up momentarily, rubbed his face.

Of course, even that didn’t easily subdue the anger that had once boiled up.

‘How long does Nelly have to stay in this unpleasant house?’

He didn’t know that Nelly being called Cedar’s wife would irritate him this much.

Grisha, who had been breathing heavily for a moment, closed his eyes tightly and composed himself.

His stomach was churning, but he could bear it thinking that it was a marriage unrelated to Nelly’s will.

Unless the marriage is completely annulled, Nelly’s past as Cedar’s wife won’t disappear even if she divorces.

Still, thinking this way made it bearable.

‘Not many people know Nelly’s face anyway.’

She’ll only remain Cedar’s wife on paper, and no one has ever seen Nelly.

Then isn’t it not much different from never being his wife?

It was when Grisha suppressed his feelings by attaching various reasons.

Unaware of Grisha’s feelings, Hail smiled and tactlessly brought up another topic.

“There are already many inquiries about the magic potions, so I can’t even imagine how popular it would be if we actually opened a store.”

“Magic potions are usually made to order, it’s rare to produce and distribute them like this.”

More accurately, many magicians don’t even know how to make magic potions.

They think there’s not enough time even if they devote their entire life to researching and developing magic.

‘Only low-level magicians without talent are interested in potion-making methods. Nelly is unusual.’

Unaware of this, Hail naively agreed.

“I guess magicians have no greed. If it were me, I’d make and sell magic potions diligently instead of applying for support somewhere.”

That was truly a “worldly thought.” Grisha twisted his lips.

‘Do they think Nelly is just some ordinary magician they can easily meet? They don’t even know how extraordinary a person they’re constraining.’

Nelly is not just some magician who needs to sell magic potions to earn money.

It was natural for Hail not to know about her marvelous achievements, but once his mind was twisted, it sounded endlessly irritating.

‘I wish she would leave these insensitive people behind and come with me.’

Grisha walked towards the herb garden with such thoughts.

Nelly, who was just examining the herbs, saw Grisha and smiled.

“Grisha!”

“Nelly.”

Grisha, who had been inwardly tense that Nelly might avoid him after his confession, sighed in relief.

And listening to Nelly’s voice chattering by his side, he thought to himself.

‘Nelly probably just can’t leave here immediately. She’s already made an herb garden here and started selling magic potions.’

It was also natural that making magic potions was the only thing Nelly could do after losing all her magical power.

Grisha, who was feeling sorry for the immense magical power she had lost, suddenly thought:

‘It doesn’t matter if she can’t use magic.’

Nelly, who had researched magic to freely move through time and space, was a great magician unrivaled even at the academy.

One Grisha didn’t even dare to call by name.

But when she lost her magical power and was in a life-threatening situation, the person she sought help from was none other than Grisha.

At that time, Grisha finally felt recognized by Nelly.

It’s fine if she can’t use magic like this. Even seemingly trivial magic potions, he would gladly make them if she asked for help.

‘So I wish she would choose me.’

Facing the seemingly bright Nelly, Grisha swallowed his gloomy desire inside.

Meanwhile, Diana nervously bit her nails.

For the past few days, the Periway baronial house had been in chaos.

Creditors frequently visited to demand repayment of debts, and rumors of bankruptcy spread so widely that even buying groceries was not easy.

Even the servants were anxious and rushed to submit their resignations.

They were worried about not receiving their wages if they quit late.

‘Damn it! Everything is a mess!’

With the household in such turmoil, there was no way that fact wouldn’t leak out.

So the young nobles who had admired Diana began to learn about the situation one by one and stopped visiting.

That’s why Diana was in a hurry.

‘This summer ball is the last chance. I need to turn things around here.’

Whether to catch a young noble unaware of the family’s decline and get married, or to receive an astronomical inheritance and pay off all the debts.

But neither option was easy in this situation.

In this situation, the target of Diana’s resentment was none other than Cedar.

‘Cedar Granite.’

Diana, who had been gnawing on her nails, irritably slammed her fist on the table.

To her, all of this situation seemed to be Cedar’s fault.

It wasn’t completely wrong direction since the person who drove her into a corner was Cedar’s mother, Lady Briar.

‘And he’s been ignoring my letters ever since.’

She thought he would at least tell Lady Briar to stop, if not grovel, when she sent threatening letters.

But Cedar didn’t even send a reply to the letters.

‘I told His Majesty the Emperor! I promised to give up my title when I met him! Yet he ignores me to this extent.’

Not only the contents of the contract, but if the fact of its non-fulfillment was revealed, it would greatly damage Cedar’s honor.

Diana couldn’t understand why he was so indifferent even when she said she would inform the Emperor.

‘Could it be that he’s already won over His Majesty?’

Diana, who had subtly thought that, shook her head.

‘No. That can’t be. What benefit would there be for His Majesty the Emperor?’

But politics was an area Diana hadn’t paid attention to until now, so there might be events she doesn’t know about.

Diana, who had been pondering various thoughts, messed up her hair.

There was nowhere else to retreat now. She bit her lip.

‘I must meet Cedar Granite at this summer ball and finish the conversation.’

Diana’s eyes shone bright blue.