DOME 06

“Adrian, have you tried on the formal clothes you’ll wear for the wedding reception?”

“Yes……”

Adrian also seemed to find the situation awkward, so he hid behind the door and cautiously watched the others.

Ailen put on a gentle smile to ease Adrian’s nervousness.

“Shall we see how handsome our little gentleman has become?”

She deliberately spoke in a playful tone, and a faint smile appeared on Adrian’s face. A moment later, Adrian stepped out from behind the door.

Seeing her younger brother looking so neat and proper, Ailen smiled brightly.

“You look amazing, Adrian!”

Adrian was wearing a white tailcoat decorated with golden embroidery. The back of the jacket extended down like a swallow’s tail, making him look even more adorable.

Perhaps embarrassed by Ailen’s compliment, Adrian’s face turned slightly red as he spoke.

“You look really pretty today too, Sister.”

“Thank you.”

The maids smiled warmly at the heartwarming atmosphere between the siblings.

Meanwhile, Adrian hugged Ailen and murmured sadly.

“I wish you weren’t getting married, Sister.”

“Adrian……”

“I know, Sister. I know too. But I still don’t like it.”

Ailen explained the situation to Adrian. She believed he needed to know as well.

At first, Adrian cried and said he hated it, but eventually he was persuaded by Ailen’s explanation. Even a child knew that they were desperately in need of money.

However, understanding something with one’s head and accepting it with one’s heart were two different things. Adrian didn’t like Richard. Especially because he thought Richard was taking away the sister he loved more than anyone.

Feeling sorry that she had hurt her brother’s feelings, Ailen gently stroked his head.

Adrian quietly accepted her touch, but suddenly lifted his head as if he had remembered something.

“Come to think of it, Sister, earlier I saw some scary-looking old men entering His Grace’s office.”

“Scary-looking old men?”

Unlike Ailen, who looked puzzled, the maids listening to Adrian frowned.

“They must have come again.”

“They really never get tired of this, do they?”

“Who are those people?”

When Ailen asked curiously, the maids exchanged glances. Then one of them answered.

“They are people who support His Grace becoming emperor. They are also called the Second Prince faction. Even after His Grace withdrew from the battle for the throne, they still occasionally come and bother him. The reason they came today is probably……”

“Lily.”

A maid beside her gave her a stern look, and the maid named Lily immediately closed her mouth.

Although she didn’t finish her sentence, Ailen could roughly understand what had happened.

Those nobles from the Second Prince faction had probably come because they were unhappy about Richard marrying Ailen.

“Sister……”

Adrian looked up at Ailen worriedly.

Ailen smiled at him as if telling him everything was fine.

‘It’ll be okay. It’s only a one-year contract anyway.’

Ailen tried to convince herself of that.

But she couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

❧ ❧ ❧

“Your Highness, please reconsider this one more time.”

The “scary-looking old men” Adrian had mentioned were bowing their heads toward Richard.

The meaning behind their actions was obvious.

“To take the daughter of a fallen family as your wife… This is something that cannot happen!”

“Why can’t it happen?”

Richard asked genuinely, as if he was truly curious.

He couldn’t understand why these people were bowing their heads over something as simple as his marriage.

Then the man standing at the center of the group answered as if it were obvious.

“This will damage not only the honor of the ducal family but also the dignity of the imperial family. Please do not forget that Your Grace is a member of the noble imperial family.”

A smile appeared on Richard’s lips.

It was clearly a mocking smile.

Just as he expected, the people who wanted him to become emperor had come.

The fact that his prediction was so accurate was almost laughable.

Even though Richard himself had not the slightest interest in the throne.

Richard briefly recalled what he had told Ailen.

“I want my reputation to fall as much as possible, as long as it does not cause harm to me.”

Those words had been sincere.

Unlike others, Richard wanted his reputation to become worse.

So he could completely withdraw from the battle for the throne.

Even if Richard himself did not want it, he could not escape the struggle for the throne.

The people trying to make him emperor kept holding him back.

That was why he wanted to use Ailen this time to disappoint them.

He wanted to make them leave on their own.

If that happened, he would finally be able to walk his own path.

After finishing his thoughts, Richard opened his mouth.

“I withdrew from the battle for the throne long ago. As someone who has become merely a collateral branch of the imperial family, it is only a matter of time before I lose my authority as a royal.”

“Your Highness! How can you say such things……”

“And the honor of the ducal family is my responsibility.”

Richard looked at the group before him with cold eyes.

“So I would appreciate it if you stopped interfering from now on.”

All the nobles supporting him fell silent.

Seeing this, Richard spoke as if he had nothing more to discuss with them.

“You may leave. I am busy even without you. My wedding is right around the corner.”

“Your Highness, but……”

“I said leave.”

As Richard’s eyes narrowed, they had no choice but to close their mouths and obediently leave the room.

However, when they opened the door, they encountered an unexpected person standing outside.

“Ah……”

Ailen stared at the group of nobles coming out of the room with a startled expression.

At a glance, they were clearly high-ranking nobles.

They frowned slightly when they saw Ailen.

However, because Richard was watching, they tried to simply pass by.

“Wait……”

If Ailen had not stopped them.

The person whose clothes she grabbed stopped, causing the entire group to turn around and look at her.

Ailen nervously looked over each of their faces, then straightened her shoulders and spoke.

“Are you not going to greet me?”

“……Pardon?”

The nobles asked back with bewildered expressions.

A moment later, mocking smiles appeared on their faces.

“Lady, what are you……”

“Lady? Where exactly is this ‘lady’ you’re talking about?”

When Ailen looked puzzled, the nobles’ expressions hardened.

Seeing their stiff faces, Ailen swallowed nervously inside.

But the words that came out of her mouth were more confident than ever.

“I am no longer Lady Walker. I have already completed my marriage registration with His Grace, and I am now the mistress of the Olden Duchy. Ailen Olden. That is my name.”

Ailen smiled sweetly and added.

“And yet, are you planning to leave without even greeting me?”

The nobles exchanged glances before looking toward the elderly man at the front of the group.

Ailen instinctively realized.

That man is the leader of this group.

She deliberately followed their gaze and looked at the old man.

The old man stared back at her with sharp eyes, then let out a long sigh before speaking.

“……Harry Oldman Fedrick, head of the Marquisate of Fedrick, greets the mistress of the Olden Duchy.”

The other nobles looked at him in surprise.

But that only lasted a moment.

One by one, they also began bowing toward Ailen.

“W-we greet the mistress of the Olden Duchy.”

“We greet the mistress of the Olden Duchy……”

Only after receiving all their greetings did Ailen nod.

“Allow me to introduce myself once again. I am Ailen Olden. It is a pleasure to meet you all.”

When she deliberately smiled brightly, they returned the smile awkwardly.

However, only one person did not smile.

Marquis Fedrick.

Ailen looked at him with smiling eyes, then suddenly clapped her hands as if she remembered something.

“Oh, right. I had something to discuss with His Grace.”

It was a polite way of telling them to leave.

The marquis understood and bowed once more.

“Then we shall take our leave. Please have a pleasant time.”

“Thank you. Please return safely.”

The nobles left with the marquis leading them.

Only after they had completely disappeared from sight did Ailen touch her forehead.

“What did I just do……”

“No. You did well.”

Richard, who had been watching the situation, came out of the room.

He smiled with satisfaction and spoke to Ailen.

“Although we will separate after one year, these are people we will have to encounter occasionally during that time. It is better to establish dominance from the beginning.”

That way, they would distance themselves from him more easily.

Richard swallowed the rest of his words and smiled.

Ailen looked at his smiling face with a complicated expression and asked.

“……You won’t try to take revenge after one year, right?”

“Marquis Fedrick is not such a petty person, so you do not need to worry. He may ignore us when we meet, though.”

“That’s certainly a great comfort.”

Ailen let out a deep sigh.

She was already worried about the future.

Meanwhile, Richard looked over her appearance and smiled.

“By the way, you look exceptionally beautiful today, Lady. Or should I say… Madam now?”

At the word “Madam” from his mouth, Ailen’s face immediately turned bright red.

“M-Madam? But we……”

“We are bound by a contract. However, the fact remains that we are getting married. Considering the eyes of those around us, wouldn’t it be better to get used to the title, Madam……”

As he was about to say the word again, Ailen quickly covered his mouth with her hand.

Richard’s eyes widened in surprise as his mouth was suddenly blocked.

Ailen spoke with a flushed face.

“Please just call me by my name instead. Since we are only bound by a contract, that word ‘Madam’ feels…… strangely embarrassing.”

When she removed her hand, Richard awkwardly murmured.

“My name……?”

“Yes. I think that would be better. It also feels more friendly.”

“If that is what you prefer……”

Richard cleared his throat awkwardly.

After hesitating for a while, he finally spoke her name.

“……Ailen.”

“……”

“Ailen.”

A strange feeling filled Ailen’s heart.

She had been the one who told him to call her by her name, but hearing it directly somehow felt no different from being called “Madam.”

Richard seemed to feel the same way, as his ears had turned slightly red.

“……Shall we go have dinner?”

“Y-Yes, that sounds good.”

When Richard changed the subject, Ailen gladly followed along.

As they walked through the hallway together, Ailen glanced at his face.

Unlike earlier when he had called her name, his expression was now calmer.

Ailen quietly looked at him, then carefully spoke his name.

“Riha……rd……”

Richard’s steps suddenly stopped.

When he turned around with surprised eyes, Ailen waved her hands as if making an excuse.

“I was just trying it out for practice too!”

“……I see.”

Seeing Richard answer quietly, Ailen tilted her head.

Am I imagining it? Somehow… he looks disappointed.

“Lady!”

At that moment, Adrian ran toward them from the opposite side.

Ailen erased her thoughts and welcomed her younger brother.

“You changed your clothes, Adrian.”

“Yes. By the way, Sister, I’m hungry.”

“I was actually about to come get you. I’m going to change clothes and come back, so can you wait just a little?”

“Yes!”

Adrian answered with a bright smile.

Normally, he would have complained about being left alone, but today he seemed surprisingly brave.

Since she liked seeing him like that, Ailen did not notice anything strange and smiled.

A short while later, Ailen went to her room to change clothes, leaving only Richard and Adrian behind.

Adrian’s expression immediately changed.

“Don’t flirt with my sister.”

“Hmm?”

Richard stared at the child speaking to him bluntly with wide eyes.

Regardless, Adrian continued saying what he wanted.

“Don’t act friendly with my sister, and don’t get too close to her. Ah, of course, except when making mana stones.”

Richard looked at Adrian with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

Meanwhile, Adrian seemed satisfied with what he had said and walked toward Ailen’s room with a happy smile.

Left alone in the hallway, Richard blinked for a moment before suddenly letting out a small laugh.

“What an interesting pair of siblings.”