He turned his head, looking at his father and brother, demanding an explanation right away.

Unfortunately, the prince who had been away on an expedition, had not heard about the auction story.

As they remained silent, he turned his head towards Adelia.

Ha-ha. She laughed awkwardly.

“I am Mare of Eileen Merchant Guild. I created it while hiding my identity.”

“No… Sister really…”

What is your identity?

Lawrence ruffled his hair messily.

A white magician and a merchant lord at that. Why was she hiding her identity?

His earlobes turned red.

‘Awesome! Totally awesome!’

After seeing only incompetent nobles, seeing capable Adelia made his heart race.

Lawrence had a special admiration for the Eileen Merchant Guild.

Its unprecedented growth rate, along with new products and their designs every month, captured his heart completely.

His fondness for Adelia grew gradually.

Lawrence smiled broadly and sent a smile her way.

‘So cute…’

Adelia’s face softened smoothly.

It felt like they were in their own fluffy world until Lucian coughed deliberately beside them.

“How many people know about this?”

“Only my manager knows.”

“Is he trustworthy?”

“Of course, my loy… ah, my faithful partner.”

She almost blurted out ‘slave to money’ instead of ‘partner’.

She awkwardly smiled as she barely managed to control her words.

“Then who knows about this contract? We need to know so we can be cautious.”

“Of course, it’s top secret, so only the imperial family knows. But it seems we’ll need to inform the head of the knights and the leader of the shadows soon. It’s directly related to the safety of this place.”

“That should be fine.”

Adelia, who had been pondering the original story, nodded in agreement.

They often appeared as the emperor’s closest confidants, looking after the empire’s safety from the front and back.

“I heard you’re planning to sell artifacts. When do you plan to do that?”

“We’ll release the magic stones first and the artifacts later. There’s a possibility of misuse, so we’ll take reservations and sell them only to those who meet the criteria with a binding spell.”

“Criteria?”

“Yes. For example, we won’t sell to people with a criminal record or those associated with dangerous organizations like assassination guilds, and there will be restrictions for private soldiers and mercenaries of noble families.”

People with ill feelings towards the emperor, those who pose a threat to the princess, and so on.

But she didn’t bother to add more.

Upon hearing her words, the emperor said,

“We’ll make the first reservation. Make it of the highest quality. Money is no object.”

“I’ve already prepared the materials. I’ll sneak them into the dowry.”

Adelia said nonchalantly.

The cost of making an artifact was more labor-intensive than material costs. Since she was responsible for the most expensive magic stones and magical formulas, there was hardly any expense involved. Although a craftsman must be employed to turn it into jewelry, that was a minor concern.

But her words scratched the emperor’s pride.

“Send a bill.”

“I made it myself, so I don’t need much money.”

“Bill it.”

The emperor was adamant.

The fact that Ariana blushed looking at her also reached the emperor’s ears. Not one or two aides were torn apart today because of that.

How much closer would Adelia get to her if she even gave her a gift?

‘I can’t stand to see that.’

Initially, he thought it wouldn’t be bad for them to get closer. But the moment Ariana blushed, all those thoughts were discarded.

Adelia had no choice but to agree to his continued requests for a bill.

Instead,

‘I’ll only bill for the princess’s.’

There’s more than one gift.

Adelia lifted her eyes, hiding her true feelings.

Usually, after Ariana left at the end of dinner, those remaining would discuss politics or the state of the nation.

The atmosphere was quite different from how they had been laughing and treating the princess moments ago.

Originally, Adelia was an odd addition to a gathering of three, but there was no sense of discord.

“The Tessel Kingdom has requested support in exchange for handing over the kingdom-owned magic stone mines.”

“Wasn’t that place refusing outside interference? They even rejected help from allied nations. Their high pride has shattered the country.”

“You know well.”

“I deal with them too.”

Adelia shrugged.

Her position as the head of the merchantry wasn’t just based on the content of the original story.

She diligently read the empire’s newspapers every day, studied foreign newspapers, and if that wasn’t enough, she looked at books, and if that still wasn’t enough, she utilized information guilds.

Thanks to this, she was well aware of how the country operated, though not as much as the imperial family.

And her specialty wasn’t politics or diplomacy, but economics.

“I recommend not supporting them. The Tessel Kingdom stands no chance with the financial disparity they have.”

“Why?”

“The order volume from Tessel Kingdom’s mage tower has drastically dropped. To a quarter of last month’s. The main ingredient for their primary magic bullets is something our merchantry holds in abundance. How can they win if they can’t produce their main weapon? So we’ll only take this order and then refuse to deal further. It’s time to switch sides.”

How the merchantry operates, whatever business it does, or whoever it sponsors, all went through her hands.

Even the emperor wasn’t fully aware of the merchantry’s financial details, which were a microcosm of various countries’ economies.

Her choice directly influenced the direction of the merchantry. The Eileen Merchant Guild had enough influence to shake up a small kingdom across the continent.

Listening to her, the emperor chuckled lightly.

“As expected from the head of Eileen Merchant Guild. You’re quite informative.”

“Of course. I reviewed all the transaction records.”

The emperor looked at her, quite satisfied.

When the princess was around, she held back her words and didn’t interfere. Afterward, she smoothly joined in conversations at just the right time.

She’s much better than nobles who tremble in front of him, adding verbose flattery.

“Ah! The merchantry plans to release a new line of jewelry soon made with pink diamonds for women…”

“Would it suit Ariana?”

“It would perfectly suit the princess, as though it was made for her.”

“Buy them all.”

Unlike his sons, who just bluntly stated their opinions, she responded appropriately and even led conversations.

It was clear she was selling goods from her merchantry for personal gain.

By specifically picking items related to Ariana for sales pitches, the emperor happily went along with it.

It added not an insignificant amount of vitality to what had been a dreary time.

‘Ariana growing up and joining us would feel like this.’

A faint smile lingered on the emperor’s lips as he pondered.

Not a bad thought at all.

For once, he showed kindness.

“You should join us for dinner more often if nothing else is going on.”

“It would be my honor.”

Adelia eagerly accepted his kindness.

The imperial chef’s cooking suited her taste perfectly. She wanted to whisk him away to her merchantry so badly.

“Speaking of which, there’s a banquet coming up soon. You should attend as well.”

“Me?”

Adelia pointed at herself with a puzzled face.

Then Lawrence, who was listening from behind, answered.

“Since you are my brother’s fiancée. Especially since there was no engagement ceremony, you should at least show your face before the wedding.”

He laughed mischievously as if it would be fun.

Suppressing the urge to punch him, Adelia shook her head with a grimace.

“That mess? A place swarming with people who dislike me?”

Would anyone like Adelia, the person who suddenly became the crown prince’s fiancée?

It was clear that the place would be full of people intent on tearing her down or scheming to cling to her.

“You chose this path, so you must do your best.”

Lucian casually remarked while sipping tea.

‘She’ll handle it.’

It wasn’t his problem.

Once they got engaged, it was an unavoidable situation. And he was confident she would manage.

Would someone who controls the continent’s economy struggle with mere social circles? She might even enjoy it.

“I tried to minimize social activities, but it can’t be helped.”

Adelia sighed deeply, but her face was not worried; instead, it bore a relaxed smile.

She was neither afraid nor terrified. It was just bothersome.

‘Well, it might be fun. Those people will be there too.’

There was only one thing she looked forward to. The faces of her family when they see her standing next to the crown prince.

The corners of Adelia’s mouth rose in a curve.

* * *

Returning to her room, Adelia flopped down on the bed.

“I’m tired.”

There had been too much happening today; both her mind and body were extremely exhausted.

Though she wanted to roll around in bed some more, her responsibilities were too significant.

Barely managing to get up, she shuffled to her neatly organized desk.

“Huh? I thought I left it here…”

Adelia murmured as she rummaged through the drawers.

Just in case, she thoroughly searched her luggage and turned every corner of the room upside down.

After causing a commotion, she plopped down on the chair, panting.

“Haah. Did someone take it?”

She should have cast a locking spell on it.

The jewelry box was still there, but the communication stone had disappeared.

“It’s good that I cast a recording spell.”

Muttering, Adelia approached the door.

As she grabbed the doorknob and infused magic into it, a recording stone popped out.

It was a recording spell she had set up upon entering the room.

“Who would dare steal in the imperial palace?”

Adelia hummed as she tapped the recording stone.

The white smoke that flowed out slowly formed a round shape and floated up into the air.

A bright light revealed a sunlit room.

Flicking through the scenes with her finger made the time pass by.