Baron Aradis often imagined what would happen after Elize married the Duke.

The Duke would undoubtedly treat his wife’s family well; if he were to offend other nobles, it would ultimately be to his own detriment.

“Paying off debts is a given, and he will certainly give us a lot of money. He will probably separate some good land within the duchy to include in the Aradis family. Since Elize will eventually give birth, that land will belong to that child, causing no loss to the Duke.”

Until that child grows up, it will be land that I, Baron Aradis, will manage.

What’s the problem with that? It’s only natural for the Duke’s father-in-law to live comfortably off the taxes of a wealthy estate.

Baron Aradis’ imagination grew increasingly grand and detailed.

As the Duke’s father-in-law, maintaining dignity is a must. Therefore, like other wealthy and high-ranking male nobles, he would have to enjoy hunting. And didn’t the Duke also enjoy hunting?

I should be able to borrow one of the hunting rifles the Duke continuously imports into the empire.

Wielding it while wandering hunting grounds abundant in game that others rarely visit, other nobles would look up to me.

“Then, I will likely roam with like-minded individuals among them… let’s see, we will probably stay at a nearby villa in the summer and hunt.”

The Baron engaged in such fantasies while checking where the Duke owned various villas. Having done so, he knew all about the Duke’s summer villas…

“…Did the Duke own a villa here too?”

There was the name of a forest he had never seen before.

If it were a large and beautiful villa, he would have heard its forest’s name at least once, but he had never seen this forest’s name. So the Baron went to his study to fetch a dusty map and find out where this forest was located.

A good while later, finding out that the forest wasn’t far from the Duke’s mansion made him even more puzzled.

“Wouldn’t it be better just to invite me to the Duke’s mansion in this case?”
Why had they been invited to a villa in a nearby forest? Moreover, it wasn’t even a particularly large villa.

And there was another odd thing about the invitation.

“To leave tomorrow?”

The letter stated that everything needed would already be prepared at the location, so both Viscount and Viscountess need only bring themselves. But to depart tomorrow?

Among noble families, it was customary to notify guests of an invitation several weeks in advance. But tomorrow?

Even a kidnapping would proceed more slowly than this.

The Viscount examined the letter repeatedly, looking puzzled. His wife scolded him.

“Why are you overthinking this? They probably know that Elise has been struggling with public attention lately and wanted to invite us somewhere less conspicuous. And what’s wrong with it being near the mansion? They’re obviously considering Elise as the Duchess, so they want to give us a preview of the domain!”

Satisfied by his wife’s reasoning, the Viscount smiled. Indeed, that must be it.

‘Furthermore, the fact that not only Elise but also we, her parents, were invited means that serious discussions are certainly planned.’

The serious discussions with the Duke would undoubtedly be about the dowry.

Big numbers floated through the Viscount’s mind. Elise might just become the woman with the highest dowry in the history of Denertum.

Viscount and Viscountess, along with Elise, shivered with joy as they hurriedly prepared to leave.