“Very well. I’ll follow your wishes.”

“Thank you so much……”

Fortunately, Rashid was more cooperative than expected. Not only in the cost of purchasing the mansion but also the interior construction expenses were considerable. His cooperation was essential.

“Then I’ll tell Benjamin to purchase that mansion.”

“What?”

“That will be less troublesome.”

“But……”

Then it becomes a bit awkward to say that she bought it. Though it doesn’t matter since others will think she’s the one who made the purchase? It seemed both fine and not fine.

“I’m giving it to you as a gift, Alisa.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll help if it’s in that form.”

A gift? From Rashid to her?

“Why?”

“Because you’re my wife.”

“You’re just giving in because I begged you!”

She quickly clarified. A gift to his wife—that wouldn’t do. It’s problematic if they appear to have such a good relationship that he would give such a large gift.

“No. I simply want to give it to you.”

Rashid leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. She stared at him blankly. Suddenly, her headache seemed to fade.

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

“If you don’t like it, we can forget it.”

He elegantly lifted his teacup and took a sip. Ah, how annoying. You’re becoming too much of a character that makes one want to hit you for a romance novel male protagonist!

“That’s not right. We need to be clear about the sequence of events. A gift is a gift, fine. I understand that. But since I asked first, please don’t erase that point.”

It wasn’t Rashid giving it to her out of goodwill first, but rather she asked for it and then he gave it. This point needed to be clear. Otherwise, envious rumors might roll in an unpleasant direction.

“Very well. If you insist, we’ll do it that way.”

Rashid nodded. She nodded along with him, then suddenly became curious and asked.

“What if we go bankrupt at this rate?”

“That’s an unnecessary worry.”

Hmm, this amazing confidence……

Well, if the owner of the money says so, then so be it. She felt reassured.

“Regarding the Magic Tower, I’ll inform His Majesty tomorrow.”

“What? Is that really necessary? The Imperial Princess went there too……”

“We need to explain your innocent intentions beforehand to prevent any misunderstandings.”

“I understand. Please explain well that I’m doing this because I’m interested in curious things.”

She tapped the birdcage beside her. As if receiving a signal, the golden bird fluttered once around its cage.

Suddenly, she thought of Louise. He who said they needed to explain things in advance to avoid misunderstandings about the Magic Tower matter—how did he handle Louise’s situation? Surely the Emperor wouldn’t have let it slide.

She deserved to be dismissed for daring to steal her master’s belongings. But if the Emperor had suspected a false accusation or expressed disappointment, it wouldn’t have been easy to resolve the situation.

“By the way, did His Majesty say anything about Louise?”

She asked him with mixed curiosity and concern.

“Louise?”

“My former lady’s maid. The one we dismissed from the mansion recently.”

“Ah. I did inform His Majesty.”

“Since she was sent by His Majesty personally, I was worried he might have been disappointed.”

“There’s no need to worry about that. When I reported it, he said he understood.”

Was the Emperor really considering it insignificant? The letters from Louise that she had seen contained quite valuable information.

“There are plenty of routes for information without that maid. Rather, His Majesty was probably more concerned that I might plead, asking ‘why did you test my loyalty?'”

“What?”

“His Majesty, I mean. Aren’t you curious why he’s so calm even though we drove out his spy?”

Right. If he wanted to find fault, he could have done so in many ways, but he didn’t. She wanted to know if this peaceful situation was right, and if so, why.

‘But… so you knew after all.’

Rashid also knew that Louise was a spy planted by the Emperor.

“You knew everything.”

“Wouldn’t it be stranger not to know?”

She nodded. He was right. Anyone would have been suspicious of Louise. The wife designated by the Emperor, and a maid specifically bestowed to that wife. One would have to be extremely obtuse not to notice the intention.

“Then why did you leave her be?”

More than a year had passed since Rashid and Alisa’s marriage. During that time, quite a bit of information must have flowed to the imperial court. Even just what she had intercepted, important or not, was a considerable amount of content.

“Well……”

As if it was an unexpected question, Rashid took a moment to choose his words.

“It didn’t matter much……”

It didn’t matter, he says. That means he didn’t care whether the Emperor knew that much information or not.

Most of what Louise had been reporting was about Alisa’s personal matters and the happenings at the Duke’s residence. In his saying that such things could be revealed freely, she read Rashid’s indifference toward Alisa.

“I thought there was no need to stir things up when you kept and cherished her by your side.”

Whether it was a consideration or not…. It was hard to pin down exactly what attitude this response represented. He seemed to be thinking of Alisa, yet also not.

Her heart felt heavy somehow. While it was fortunate that there hadn’t been any problems, she somewhat regretted asking. She should have just assumed everything was fine since the Emperor had remained quiet about it.

“Well, it’s good that there wasn’t any trouble.”

She concluded the topic. Whatever her current feelings might be, if it was resolved smoothly, that was enough.

And at this point, she should also bring up the divorce again……

She twisted her coral-colored hair with one hand while biting her lip firmly.

By now, the temple might find it acceptable, or maybe not. It was hard to judge. Above all, after what happened yesterday, she didn’t feel like talking about it now.

But soon, very soon.

“More than that, I have something to tell you.”

At his words, she raised her lowered head to look at Rashid again. His golden eyes, which had once seemed like the gleam of a wild beast wandering in the dark night, were now calmly settled. It was a gentle gaze, like the afternoon sun, like refined gold.

She had thought Rashid’s eyes were difficult to look at for long, but not now. She smiled slightly as she met his gaze, which had become much easier to face.

Then Rashid grabbed her arm. The hair that had been wrapped around her hand slipped down smoothly. She glanced at his hand holding her. The ring on his ring finger flashed. It was a ring of the same design as hers.

Diamonds are forever, love is forever.

For a moment, remembering the meaning of the wedding ring, she quietly clenched her hand.

“Ah, yes. You came because you had something to discuss.”

It was obvious. She pulled her arm away, shaking off his hand, and placed both hands neatly on her knees.

“Autumn is coming soon.”

“So it is.”

“It means the season for staying in the capital is ending.”

“Yes.”

“Before winter comes, you must go with me to Castle Camelli.”

“……What?”

“It’s time for the Duke and Duchess to conclude the social season and return to the territory for the season of return.”

“Ah, yes. But last year……”

“We didn’t. Because it was our first year of marriage.”

That’s right. From spring to summer, during the best weather, most nobles usually stay in the capital for social activities. Those with titles attend national council meetings to oversee nationwide affairs, while crops ripen in their territories during this time.

When harvest time comes, the nobles return to their respective territories. When the cold winter comes and the sun withdraws its blessings, the rulers diligently care for their barren territories in place of the sun. That’s how a year flows in Grandia.

Last year, Alisa didn’t go to the western territory. It was a kind of custom for high nobles to continue staying in the capital during their first year of marriage. Therefore, if she visits now, it would be Alisa’s first visit to Castle Camelli.

“I understand.”

Honestly, it was burdensome. To think she had to go all the way to Camelli, the stronghold of the Penvernon family, when she was going to divorce anyway.

But since they weren’t divorced yet, she couldn’t refuse to go.

What if she insisted on not going together? That wouldn’t just be a matter of ‘Look at how terrible she is.’ Without a legitimate reason, failing to fulfill a noble’s duty would go beyond simply gaining a bad reputation—it would become a serious matter.

‘That won’t do.’

She couldn’t commit wrongdoings that went beyond the private sphere. While she didn’t mind being evaluated as an extravagant bad wife, she couldn’t risk being seriously interrogated or imprisoned.

“Can I hold a banquet before that?”

The interior decoration of the Duke’s residence was mostly complete after bringing in various furniture and changing the decorations. It was the perfect time to receive guests.