“How dare they arrogantly touch a member of the imperial family!”

The Empress and princess were left to rest while everyone else moved to the reception room.

The Emperor did not hide his anger as he ground his teeth.

The princess had regained her senses and testified about what had happened.

At the wedding, a priest had mentioned the name of the princess’s friend and given her a black ring, urging her to try it on. After that, she lost her strength and consciousness.

Fortunately, she did not remember being misunderstood as cursed or suffering from holy power.

“Why would the temple do this? Why would they target Magnel?”

The prince, who had calmed his anger, raised questions and his chest heaved, seemingly becoming angry again.

The Emperor’s eyes were also filled with murderous intent, as if ready to draw his sword immediately if there was someone who irritated him.

Duke Teian stepped forward.

“Recently, people from the Blemer family were examined using the temple’s curse identification method, but no curse manifester was found. This led to rumors questioning whether the curse identification method was false.”

“I heard about that.”

Deep wrinkles still creased the Emperor’s brow.

“I’ve also heard that trust in the temple has plummeted and those with complaints have increased.”

“Duke, are you saying the temple touched a member of the imperial family just to restore their credibility?”

The Emperor and the prince breathed roughly and growled.

“For them, it’s not just that. The temple is a power built on faith. If that faith is shaken, their very existence could collapse.”

“Even so, they dare touch the imperial family? The princess?”

“Your Majesty, this matter cannot be glossed over.”

“The prince is right, Your Majesty. Show the Emperor’s power.”

The duke strongly asserted.

‘He is still a member of the imperial family after all.’

I thought he might defend the temple since he was hostile toward Kaien and targeting the grand ducal family, but instead, he came on strong.

The duke shared in the anger at the imperial family’s crisis.

“We must punish the temple to set an example and use this opportunity to suppress the temple’s momentum.”

A flash of delight crossed the duke’s eyes, as if he had been waiting for such a day.

“They have forgotten Your Majesty’s generosity in overlooking the temple’s impertinence and corruption, and this is how they repay your kindness.”

The Emperor’s face flushed, also elevated by the duke’s passionate outcry.

“Show the Emperor’s power and establish your authority so that this never happens again, Your Majesty!”

Since the founding of Ingmier, there had been minor border disputes and appearances of demonic beasts, but no wars.

The Emperor clenched his fist as if the dormant instinct for struggle was boiling up.

The prince also prostrated himself before the Emperor and supported the duke.

“Your Majesty, inform the nobles to make this public and bring them to court. Create a precedent so that no one dares challenge Your Majesty’s authority again!”

“Whoever is responsible, the temple must be held accountable for this incident.”

“Yes! Entrust that task to me, Millers Teian! I will thoroughly investigate to ensure they cannot escape!”

“Very well, Duke Millers Teian! I command you to investigate the temple! Investigate all the temple’s corruption and the priests’ atrocities without exception!”

“Yes! Your Majesty! I will bring results that will satisfy you!”

The duke stood there thoroughly as the Emperor’s subject and left the room, puffing out his chest with pride at receiving the order.

The Emperor, after drinking a cup of cold tea in one gulp, finally sat down.

Calming his elevated emotions, he commended Kaien and me.

“Grand Duke, Lady. No, now you’re the Grand Duchess. You are benefactors to Magnel, to the imperial family. I will not forget today’s events.”

“We only did what was natural.”

“But how did you know about the ring, Grand Duchess? No one else noticed.”

Grand Duchess. The title I would continue to hear from now on made my ears burn.

“I believed the princess was not cursed.”

With Helbaitz beside me, how could it be a curse?

I couldn’t let a person’s life be ruined. Moreover, I felt responsible since things were happening that weren’t in the novel at all.

“I thought there must be a medium causing the reaction since it was clearly false but the remains resonated. I was lucky to discover the black ring, which didn’t match the princess’s taste……”

“This isn’t something that happens by luck alone. I was impressed by your intelligence. You accomplished what no one else could.”

“Kaien had prepared another method, so the priest’s conspiracy would have been revealed even without me.”

The Emperor lightly tapped the armrest of his chair and laughed loudly.

“Now I understand why the Grand Duke chose the daughter of the Rabbit family. You’ve brought in a good wife.”

“I think so too.”

Kaien interlocked his fingers and kissed the back of my hand. The tips of his fingers subtly rubbed against the back of my hand.

It was the kind of deep gaze he usually showed at night, so my cheeks flushed and I lowered my head.

‘The Emperor is here!’

“I’m worried whether the temple will quietly submit to investigation.”

As his anger and heightened emotions subsided and reason returned, the Emperor sighed.

Kaien did not release my hand as he sneered.

“The duke said he would handle it, so let’s watch. This is not the end.”

“Are you saying the priest made other preparations as well?”

“We’ll find out as we observe.”

Like someone harboring a secret, one corner of Kaien’s mouth turned up diagonally.

***

The streets were no different than usual.

Late afternoon, people returning home after finishing work and those buying goods could be seen outside the carriage.

God Roarania was believed by many people, like a state religion of Ingmier.

Tomorrow, when news of the priest’s atrocities and the temple investigation spreads, there will be commotion for a while.

“I’m really surprised the temple would do such a thing.”

“It shows how desperate they were.”

Kaien’s lips moved against my nape.

He sat me on his lap and embraced me from behind. His large hand wrapped around my waist slowly stroked my ribs.

Even though I was tightly bound in a corset, I could feel his subtle touch.

“This will be the biggest blow to the temple in Ingmier’s history.”

When he laughed, the vibration transferred to me. His hands grew increasingly bold.

We hadn’t even arrived at the grand ducal residence yet!

“I didn’t know Duke Teian was so loyal to His Majesty.”

“He’s a black-hearted man. He incited the Emperor and became the person in charge of this matter first.”

“Oh, then…… even if something is discovered at the temple, it would be easier for him to cover it up.”

“That’s right. The duke was aiming for that too.”

“Ah!”

He caressed me as if praising a child who had given the correct answer.

I tried to push his hand away but ended up making an embarrassing sound.

While talking about the duke, Kaien was leisurely moving his fingers delicately over my body like playing an instrument.

My breathing became so rapid that my chest heaved.

“But that alone won’t be enough. No matter how many of his subordinates he places, this is an incident that has the imperial family’s attention. He’ll create another incident.”

He spoke as if he knew what would happen in the future.

“Do you know something?”

“Another incident will occur.”

“An incident?”

“When I was governing the grand ducal family as a proxy, he often used the technique of covering up one incident with another to divert attention.”

“S-still, could there be anything bigger than this? They touched the princess, a member of the imperial family.”

“A reaction will come before long. Until then, we can enjoy our honeymoon and wait.”

He bit my nape while making his large hand into a claw and squeezing tightly.

As if telling me to focus on him.

“Mmh, Kaien. We’re in a carriage……”

I squirmed and pushed him away with weak hands, but like being caught in a swamp, Kaien pulled me in tighter, ensnaring me.

The breath coming from his lips grew hotter.

“Even just holding you isn’t enough, yet they made us waste time going back and forth to the Imperial City for this nonsense. I must properly repay you.”

“Kaien……”

Our lips overlapped as he sucked fiercely as if he would devour me.

He gave me just enough space to barely breathe as he surged forward as if he would consume even the soul permeating my body.

“My Ivy.”

Sweet confessions flowed from his lips along with his m*ans, and I too lost my reason.

***

“Ransel.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Contact the knights in Lindal and tell them not to let their guard down. The medal collection is going well, isn’t it?”

“Yes, we’re handling it as the highest priority. There has definitely been a change.”

“As expected.”

My eyes opened to the sound of Kaien’s voice from afar and the warm, undulating sensation enveloping my body.

Kaien and Ransel’s voices could be heard from beyond the partition that concealed the bathtub.

“Are you awake?”

Love added a herbal bath product to the tub.

“Ahhh, that’s nice.”

I deliberately made a sound and curled up until even my lips were submerged in the water.

They must have seen him carrying me out of the carriage.

Though we were husband and wife and such things were natural, I felt embarrassed.

My muscles and bones languidly relaxed in the hot water.

“Miss, don’t make sounds like an old man.”

“I say it’s nice because it is.”

Love, who had come to the grand ducal residence, was very satisfied with the working environment and employee welfare and had adapted well. With many maids, her workload had decreased, so when I was at the grand ducal residence, she spent her time rolling around in corners like a cat.

“You’re awake. I’ve brought some cool tea.”

Benji brought fruit tea with ice at just the right moment.

“Sister, I heard we’ll be going to the grand duchy when winter comes?”

I had heard it from Kaien before.

I heard that although we needed to greet other vassals now that we were married, we would spend most of the winter in the grand duchy.

“Isn’t the capital warmer?”

“It is, but since the previous Grand Dukes have been devoted husbands for generations, they’ve thoroughly applied heating-related magic to the castle for their wives.”

She sprinkled hot water on my shoulders so they wouldn’t get cold outside the tub and continued.

“The previous Grand Duke was especially so devoted to the Grand Duchess that he made it possible to spend winters without feeling cold at all.”

“That’s all magic stones. You must have plenty of magic stones.”

“That’s right. We have more than enough. There’s a magic stone deposit in the grand duchy. They say that near the mine, every rolling stone is a magic stone.”

When Benji answered nonchalantly, even Love had nothing to say and closed her mouth.

Pfft, Benji burst into laughter.

“You’re joking, right?”

“They don’t roll around to that extent, but it’s true that we have an abundance.”

As Kaien entered the bathroom, Love and Benji, who had been preparing the bath, naturally left.