“Wife, it seems you’re having a conversation without me.” 

 ……He seems to have become more perceptive. 

 I awkwardly smiled and pulled down Cedric’s hand that was blocking my view. 

 “We need to finish before Father arrives! So I think I’ll be quite busy from today.” 

 “Are you saying you’ll stay out overnight?” 

 “N-no, not that.” 

 “Wife.” 

 Cedric placed his hand on my shoulder and turned my body around. 

 His hand that was fixing my disheveled hair soon lightly brushed my earlobe. The already close distance between us became even closer due to his leaning body. 

 I stepped back while blinking. Cedric smiled as he looked at me all shrunk up. 

 “I’ll wait until you return. Don’t be too late.” 

 I thought my face was going to explode. 

 I covered my face with both hands and turned my head to exhale. 

 ‘I never know what to do at times like this.’ 

 I hope I’m not red. I fanned myself trying to cool down the rising heat. 

 “Are you feeling unwell?” 

 I shook my head vigorously. 

 “Your face seems redder than before.” 

 “I-it’s because I’m hot.” 

 Cedric placed his hand on my cheek with a worried expression. 

 My heart beat rapidly at his gentle gaze and warm temperature. If I keep looking at him like this, my heart might stop. 

 With his gaze still fixed on me, each of my movements became awkward and clumsy. 

 “I’m fine.” 

 I tried to remove Cedric’s hand but he held my cheeks more firmly. My lips mumbled with both cheeks pressed. 

 “I’m weally fine.” 

 It was even difficult to pronounce properly. 

 His blue eyes quickly scanned me. I tightly closed my eyes from embarrassment and shame. 

 ‘Please stop looking.’ 

 From now on, I’m going to say I have a handsome face phobia. 

 “Your face is hot. Perhaps it would be better to get some fresh air.” 

 The hand holding my face loosened. 

 “……Huh?” 

 I stood up from the sofa, led by Cedric’s hand. I looked at Zeno, but he turned his head pretending not to notice. 

 ‘Where’s all that ‘Master, Master’ talk now!’ 

 Even at my cry, Zeno maintained an indifferent expression. With no choice, I hurriedly pulled at his clothes. 

 He tilted his head sideways to look at me. 

 “Wife, if you don’t want to go out, we can postpone it. It’s just that it seems like it’s been a while since we took a walk……” 

 It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go out. I was just embarrassed and that’s why my face was red, but Cedric seemed to be misunderstanding. 

 “No! Why would I not want to go for a walk? It’s just, my face being red isn’t for that reason.” 

 “Then what’s the reason?” 

 Cedric looked at me with a puzzled expression. Unable to answer his question, I hung my head low. 

 “Let’s go out before it gets later.” 

 Then I pushed Cedric’s back. His broad back immediately yielded to my small hands. 

 Judging by the slight shake, he was definitely laughing right now. 

 ❖ ❖ ❖ 

 “Wow!” 

 Cedric was right about coming out. As the cool wind swept across my face, my head cleared. 

 “There’s no need to think too complexly.” 

 “I want to do that too. I feel heavy-hearted because everything seems to have happened because of me.” 

 Perhaps if I hadn’t gone through with marrying Cedric in the first place, things wouldn’t have become this complicated. 

 All of this was because of Isabelle. 

 “Your Highness, why did you want to marry me? There’s nothing particularly good about it.” 

 “You have far more good points than Princess Isabelle. Weren’t you the one who was curious about me first?” 

 “……What?” 

 My heart dropped at the sudden words. My face heated up again as I recalled the forgotten past. 

 Cedric smiled as he draped his outer coat over my shoulders. My heart tingled at his innocent smile. 

 “Are you pretending not to know?” 

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

 “Didn’t you follow me around in the Imperial Palace? I can’t forget how you ran away in embarrassment back then.” 

 “P-please forget about that.” 

 “I don’t want to.” 

 I gaped at him. Is this man really being contrary? 

 I looked up at him in disbelief. Cedric continued to smile, clearly in a good mood, as he slowly strolled through the garden. 

 Yet he matched his pace with mine. Walking at a speed that was neither too fast nor too slow, I smiled broadly while watching him. 

 “I’ll try not to make you regret it.” 

 “You’re already doing enough.” 

 We kept our eyes on each other. My heart felt warm with the cool breeze and the crunching sound of snow under our feet. 

 “Oh right! What happened with the technicians?” 

 “Many expressed interest in participating, seemingly intrigued by the idea of building sailing ships in the North.” 

 “I hope we can complete it before Father does, but I wonder if it’s possible without being discovered?” 

 Completing it as quickly as possible would be advantageous. Father would try to speed up the process by paying any amount necessary. 

 ‘If we want to take the divine beast, we need to be faster.’ 

 Actually, I knew well what the technicians wanted and how to persuade them. 

 After all, I already had information from the original work. 

 “There’s a village called Radia that borders the sea beyond the capital Lindel. If you go out a bit by boat, there’s a small island where we won’t be discovered. The question is whether they’ll want to go there.” 

 “Don’t worry about that. They’ll be willing to go.” 

 As long as there was a place to hide the sailing ships, there wouldn’t be a problem. I planned to give the technicians lifelong employment where they wouldn’t have to worry about making a living. 

 “Is there a technical school in the North?” 

 “……You mean a school that teaches technical skills?” 

 “Yes, I mean an academy.” 

 “There are no academies in the North. Everyone focused more on knightly skills or practical skills needed for daily life rather than academic learning.” 

 “Exactly!” 

 The reason why the North’s technical skills were higher than Bellado’s was because they were linked to survival. 

 What if everyone could share that? If they could learn and master skills more quickly and accurately, eventually more people from the capital would come to the North to learn. 

 “If we share those technical skills more professionally, it would be a great help to the North.” 

 “It’s certainly worth considering. Since establishing an academy would also increase job opportunities for technicians, I’ll discuss it with Vahalla.” 

 “Really?” 

 I opened my eyes wide, not expecting him to accept it so readily. 

 “Someone told me that nothing bad comes from listening to what my wife says.” 

 “……Who said that?” 

 “Someone.” 

 Cedric wouldn’t reveal who it was until the end. His lips remained firmly sealed despite my pressing. 

 “We might end up clashing with Father. I wonder if too many things have changed in the North since I came……” 

 “Many things have indeed changed since you came.” 

 Cedric stopped walking and took my hand. 

 “Your hands are cold. We should go back inside.” 

 “They’ve already warmed up because Your Highness is holding them. Let’s walk a bit more! And please include me when you discuss the academy.” 

 “Of course.” 

 A deeper smile spread across his lips. The real Cedric seems to be a warm person the more you get to know him. 

 “But you’re talking as if the academy is already established.” 

 “I think it will be. Your Highness is worried that the Imperial family won’t approve, right?” 

 If it were Father, there was a high chance he wouldn’t approve. However, to get what we want, he would have to support the Grand Duke again. 

 Reading my expression, Cedric said, 

 “Sometimes it feels like you can do anything.” 

 That wasn’t wrong. After all, I had accomplished quite a bit since coming to the North. 

 “As you said, the residents are staying away from even the vicinity of Codran Forest after spreading the rumors.” 

 “Nobody’s unafraid of monsters. By the way, is there a mine in the forest?” 

 There was a mine extracting magic stones inside the northern mountain range. The existence of this mine was unknown to outsiders, so a smokescreen was needed. 

 Cedric’s expression became subtle at my question. While it’s known that the North imports magic stones from elsewhere, they actually mine them here. 

 “Quite a lot of magic stones will be needed when building the sailing ships. I’m worried if we can handle such a large quantity.” 

 “……There’s a mine that produces magic stones inside Codran Forest.” 

 “Really?!” 

 Actually, I hadn’t expected him to tell me so directly. I thought he would at least hesitate……? 

 “I thought it would be better if you knew everything about the North.” 

 “Thank you. Then we don’t need to worry about magic stones!” 

 I clapped my hands in joy. 

 With this, the establishment of the technical academy was as good as approved. 

 “Your Highness, how much magic stone is mined annually?” 

 “Enough to have a surplus even if everyone on the continent used hot water daily.” 

 My mouth fell open at the quantity, which was more enormous than I thought. From maintaining the garden so snow wouldn’t accumulate using magic stones, I had thought it didn’t suit the North, but it was because of their abundant resources. 

 “The Imperial family imports magic stones from Kvarando.” 

 And the place from where Kvarando imports magic stones was none other than Lindel, the capital of the North.