“Ouch.” 

 She flinched at the throbbing pain. He crumpled his face and grabbed her hand to examine it. 

 “Please, be careful.” 

 Cedric bowed his head deeply and buried his face in her shoulder. 

 “I’m fine. Really, it doesn’t hurt at……” 

 Well, that wasn’t true. It stung even with the slightest touch. 

 “Your Highness, if you grip that tightly, it will hurt Her Highness.” 

 “……Ah.” 

 Only then did Cedric release her hand. She made a pitiful face and spoke to him. 

 “Grand Duke. Let’s talk for a moment.” 

 “……Very well.” 

 Cedric dismissed everyone. She sat on the sofa and quietly gazed at him. His downcast eyes were barely visible through his black hair covering them. 

 She suddenly stood up from her seat and lifted Cedric’s chin. 

 “Grand Duke, you said it yourself. When people talk, they should look into each other’s eyes.” 

 Finally meeting his gaze, she smiled brightly and continued speaking. 

 “Serina Adel, she has healing abilities. Though she was born in the North and is different from those who went through official procedures in the capital, her healing ability is no less powerful.” 

 His expression asked how she knew that. Cedric opened his mouth but then closed it. 

 “I looked into it because I’m interested in abilities. I can’t stay in the imperial capital forever.” 

 “It must have been difficult to find information in the capital. Do you have an informant?” 

 “I have friends. They listened to people’s stories and relayed them to me. When I wanted something, I asked them.” 

 At those words, Cedric seemed to understand and nodded. 

 If he hadn’t known about her ability, he might not have believed it, but since he had seen it with his own eyes, he seemed to trust her. 

 “We need to keep the shipbuilding technicians too. When people in the capital give up, they’ll turn their eyes to other regions.” 

 Finding people in the capital wasn’t that difficult. With the Emperor’s command, they would find them by any means necessary. 

 “We can’t hand over the Northern people to Father.” 

 She held his hand as if making a plea. 

 “I understand. I’ll have contracts drawn up.” 

 “I don’t think the Northern people would betray you even without contracts, Grand Duke. I highly value their loyalty.” 

 “I know you mention contracts because of His Majesty.” 

 “Thank you for understanding.” 

 She was glad he seemed to understand her feelings. 

 The reason he stayed here defending the North, which is far from the capital, must be his affection for the North. 

 ‘Cedric treating the people in his territory well must play a part too.’ 

 Compared to the capital, taxes were lower and magic stones were distributed sufficiently. 

 Of course, the technicians would go work in places other than the North, but she was still worried. 

 That’s when contracts were needed. 

 Within the Empire, when the imperial seal or signature was used, its effectiveness couldn’t be ignored. 

 They also had Isabelle. If her signature was on it, even Father wouldn’t be able to challenge it. 

 ‘The problem is whether Isabelle will help or not.’ 

 If she didn’t help, things would be different, but surely she wasn’t that inconsiderate. 

 “First, we need to get Isabelle’s signature when she wakes up.” 

 Shouldn’t we collect payment for saving her life? She smiled, pulling up the corner of her mouth. 

 She had meant to go see Isabelle, but why was she sitting at the dining table? 

 Cedric had said they should check on the princess’s condition, but instead brought her to the dining room. 

 The table was filled with food that must have been prepared at some point, and untouched dishes were immediately replaced. 

 “G-Grand Duke. I’ll eat by myself.” 

 She blinked at the meat held up to her mouth. 

 “You can’t use your hands.” 

 “……I can manage this much.” 

 “Impossible.” 

 Though she said she could, Cedric wouldn’t back down. He rested his chin on his hand and watched her, looking ready to hold the food until she ate it. 

 “Say ah.” 

 “……I can do it.” 

 “We’re married, what does it matter?” 

 “That’s— but still.” 

 “We’ve even made a child.” 

 “……Well, that’s true but—” 

 His blue eyes sparkled persistently. His extended hand didn’t move an inch, as if determined to see the meat enter her mouth. 

 “Isn’t your arm tired?” 

 “My arm is trained by swordplay, so it’s fine.” 

 Thud. 

 He touched her lips with the meat and pulled up the corner of his mouth. His expression with only his mouth smiling while his eyes remained serious was somewhat fierce. 

 It was as if he was urging her, asking how long she would keep her mouth shut. 

 “Since my wife is so stubborn, I’ll have to feed you directly.” 

 “……Directly?” 

 Isn’t this already feeding directly? 

 Cedric, seeming to notice this question, tapped his own lips with his other hand. 

 “Directly. Like this, I mean.” 

 Chomp. 

 She immediately ate the meat Cedric offered. Only then did he smile with his eyes and picked up another piece of meat. 

 She shook her head to indicate she was done eating, but Cedric showed an even deeper smile than before. 

 “Wife, if you don’t eat all of this, I’ll feed you everything directly.” 

 She had to obediently accept the meat he offered again. 

 ‘I wonder if I’m being too pampered.’ 

 Vahalla watched them with moist eyes as Cedric behaved this way. 

 ❖ ❖ ❖ 

 “Woowoo!” (Master! Come out quickly!) 

 At Zeno’s urging, she rubbed her eyes and got up. Night had fallen at some point, and it was dark outside the window. 

 “You should have woken me.” 

 “Grrrrrr.” (I did. You didn’t get up.) 

 “……What’s the matter?” 

 “Woowoo. Woof! Woofwoof!” (Found the tree! That leopard is all proud because it did something good.) 

 “Really?!” 

 She immediately opened the window. The leopard climbed up onto the tree. She opened her eyes wide when she saw the branch in its mouth. 

 “Growl.” (Praise me.) 

 “Grrrrrr.” (I’m the one who told you where it was.) 

 “Haaah!” (It was useless because of the avalanche!) 

 “Well done. Come here.” 

 She reached out her hand. The leopard at the end of the branch extended it to her. 

 “You found the colony.” 

 After receiving it with both hands, she handed it to Zeno and stroked the leopard’s face with the back of her hand. 

 “You worked hard.” 

 The leopard seemed pleased, constantly purring and rubbing its face against her. Only after showing enough affection that her arms were getting cramped could she stop petting it. 

 “I should go tell the Grand Duke.” 

 Zeno followed behind her with the branch in his mouth. 

 Standing in front of the office, she met Kaven who had come to report. 

 “Your Highness?” 

 “Sir Kaven! You must be very busy these days, right? With the subjugation and increased training.” 

 “It’s fine. I can do anything for House Monteroz.” 

 Sir Kaven spoke with perfect posture. He was maintaining strict military discipline. 

 “Are you going to see the Grand Duke?” 

 “Yes, that’s right.” 

 “Then let’s go in together. I’d like Sir Kaven to hear this too.” 

 He nodded. When the servant announced that she and Kaven had arrived, the door opened immediately. 

 Before she and Kaven could enter, Zeno went in first and dropped the branch on the table with a thud. 

 “Still has a long way to go before being tamed.” 

 Cedric tapped Zeno’s snout while looking at the glowing branch. 

 “Grrrrrr!” (Even when I bring something useful, you make a fuss.) 

 “Zeno, come here.” 

 Always picking fights he can’t win. 

 “Grand Duke. My friends found a colony of holy power trees.” 

 “……Really?” 

 She nodded. Who would have known there would be a colony in the North? 

 “So Sir Kaven, you’ll need to go to the colony with the knights and bring back all the holy power trees.” 

 “……All of them?” 

 “Yes, all of them. Without missing a single one. I plan to plant them in the garden.” 

 They could plant them in the inner garden of the Grand Duke’s mansion and control them. It was a place only authorized people could enter, and it was protected by magic stones, so it was safe. 

 Listening to her explanation, Cedric asked her. 

 “What do you plan to do if the Emperor discovers them?” 

 “Father won’t discover them. He won’t even be able to get near them. Besides, he can’t force his way with Northern property.” 

 “The Emperor would do that and more.” 

 “That’s only if he finds out about the colony in the first place. But Father doesn’t know about it, does he?” 

 So they just needed to plant one tree outside the North. He wouldn’t think there were so many trees. 

 “We’ll do as my wife says. But Sir Kaven seems to have something to report.” 

 “Ah! We’ve received reports that there’s suspicious movement in the capital.” 

 “We’ll need to hurry.” 

 Cedric furrowed his brow. She too became anxious hearing those words. Now that the snow had stopped, Father would put more effort into finding Isabelle. 

 “It seems His Majesty’s patience has reached its limit.” 

 “Not the news I wanted to hear.” 

 “Sir Kaven, help my friends move the trees. It seems they’re already prepared.” 

 Outside the window, a sparrow flapped its wings, signaling to her. 

 When she opened the window and looked down, her mouth fell open at the sight of animals surrounding the Grand Duke’s mansion. 

 “……You have quite a lot of friends.” 

 Cedric rubbed his forehead with his thumb as he looked at the quietly gathered animals.