“That’s right.”

They clicked their tongues in unison.

But their red eyes were dripping with envy.

Ever since Ariana had been learning etiquette, her expressions of affection had noticeably decreased.

When the child who used to call him ‘Dad’ started calling him ‘Father’, the emperor had even fallen ill from the shock.

“I’m jealous…”

The prince muttered his true feelings in a small voice.

The dinner progressed as usual.

Ariana chewed her food diligently while babbling on about various topics.

“Sister, I heard you’re choosing a wedding dress tomorrow. Can I come and see?”

“Of course. Your Highness can help me pick out my dress.”

“Can I really choose it?”

“Since all the dresses are excellent, it doesn’t matter which one you pick.”

Adelia casually spoke while spearing a steak.

Clang-

The sound of cutlery dropping echoed through the quiet dining hall.

Ariana had dropped her knife, her eyes wide like lanterns.

But that was not all. The red eyes that had been focused only on the princess are now fixed on Adelia.

Four pairs of red eyes expressed their bewilderment towards Adelia.

Adelia’s eyelashes fluttered innocently, not understanding the reason.

“Why are you all acting like that?”

She tilted her head with an ingenuous expression.

“Sister, how can you say ‘any dress is fine’? It’s a wedding, after all.”

“That’s right, Sister. Even so, you can’t just say that!”

The two children clenched their passionate hands and exclaimed.

Adelia’s face flushed with embarrassment.

Since this was a marriage with the premise of divorce, she didn’t attach much importance to it. Of course, she had planned a grand and elaborate wedding ceremony, but her heart was not in it.

She had simply been caring for it in the most convenient way possible, without much effort.

She looked to Lucian, seeking help.

“‘Any dress is fine’? That won’t do. Let me join you in choosing the dress.”

He spoke with a serious expression.

“Big brother, I’ll help too!”

“Me too!”

The prince and princess eagerly raised their hands and chattered.

Their passionate fists waved in the air.

‘I didn’t plan to prepare this enthusiastically.’

Adelia’s eyes flickered anxiously.

Suddenly, an ominous feeling brushed past the back of her neck. An ominous feeling that things were going to become very troublesome.

Adelia shuddered involuntarily.

Her intuition was quite accurate.

“Sister, the flowy dresses suit you well.”

“No, for a wedding dress, it should be voluminous, right?”

“This design is nice too.”

Adelia’s room was filled with numerous dress samples, catalogs, and fabrics.

Seated in a row on the sofa were the three siblings, heads bent together, engaged in a serious discussion.

The topic was none other than ‘Adelia’s wedding dress’.

Overall, wedding preparations were Lucian’s responsibility, but Adelia had to select certain items, including the dress. However, due to Adelia’s ‘any dress is fine’ incident the day before, everyone had become passionately involved in choosing her dress.

They flipped through the catalogs, rummaging through the fabric samples, engaged in a heated debate, their faces flushed with enthusiasm.

‘Hmm… I like them all.’

Adelia, the main subject of the dress, had a rather indifferent reaction.

She leisurely sipped her tea while her family members huddled together.

All the wedding items were to be provided by the Eileen Merchant Guild. The dress was being handled by the top designer from the guild’s own salon.

She was skilled enough to take on the finicky tastes of the imperial family. Every garment that came from her hands was as beautiful as a work of art.

‘Any dress will be pretty, so it doesn’t matter.’

Adelia turned her head to look at Ariana.

She wasn’t sure if it was necessary to spend hours choosing the dress, but the passionate Ariana was certainly adorable.

Her chubby cheeks were bouncing softly, reddened like peaches.

Adelia’s lips curved in a satisfied smile.

At that moment, Ariana pointed to a catalog and asked,

“Sister, which dress do you like?”

“I like them all. The madam’s dresses are all excellent.”

Her praising words brought a smile to the madam’s face in the corner.

With the tight schedule of having to complete the wedding preparations in just a month, the madam had spent many sleepless nights creating the dresses. Receiving such compliments made her truly happy.

“But sister, you must have some preferences, right? Like not wanting something too tight, or not liking something too frilly.”

“I like anything that’s pretty.”

“Ugh…”

Ariana clutched her chest in exasperation, kicking her legs.

Adelia just kept repeating ‘I like it’, ‘it’s fine’, ‘any is good’, going in circles.

“That won’t do! Then try them all on!”

“Huh? That’s a lot…”

“I want to see my sister looking beautiful in a dress… Can you please try them on?”

Ariana clasped her hands pleadingly, her ruby-red eyes sparkling.

Adelia couldn’t firmly refuse with those shimmering eyes gazing at her.

“Ah… Okay.”

“Yay! Then try this one first!”

Ariana pointed to a bell-shaped dress that the madam had brought as a sample.

It was made of pure white fabric with delicate golden threads intricately embroidered into elaborate floral patterns, and the hem was adorned with layers of sheer fabric.

‘If she tries on the dress that seems least suited to her, she’ll probably choose the ones she likes, right?’

Ariana hid her cute ulterior motive and smiled brightly.

Seeing that smile, Adelia nodded in understanding and went to change in the other room.

As Adelia disappeared, Ariana’s cheerful expression fell.

With a pout, a sorrowful note crept into her voice.

“My sister must not want to get married…”

Ariana propped her cheeks on her hands and heaved a deep sigh.

Ariana had been the one anticipating this marriage the most.

She knew it was a contract marriage, and that they would divorce in two years, but the thought of being a real family with Adelia, even if briefly, made her happy about this marriage.

She assumed Adelia was also looking forward to it, even if they would eventually divorce.

But Adelia seemed to have little interest in the wedding, not taking an active role and simply deferring to whatever Ariana liked.

As Ariana’s mood visibly dampened, her worried brothers beside her tried to console her.

“She’s probably just busy. You know how much work my sister has.”

“Even our big brother has a lot of work, but he’s been preparing diligently. Sister doesn’t seem to be doing the same.”

“She’s likely looking forward to it internally, she just doesn’t express it.”

“But she’s been saying ‘anything is fine’ since earlier…”

The more her brothers tried to console her, the more Ariana’s mood sank.

She vented her gloomy feelings by lightly kicking the floor.

Whenever she did that, her brothers’ hearts were also slightly pained by their little sister’s dejected state.

“Ariana? Why don’t you eat these cookies you like while you wait?”

“Yeah! Those are your favorite chocolate cookies. Come on, open up.”

“I don’t want to…”

Ariana turned her head sharply.

Even the cookies she usually loved didn’t appeal to her today.

The more this happened, the more the prince and crown prince agonized, breaking out in cold sweat as they frantically tried to figure out how to lift Ariana’s spirits.

The answer was right before them.

“I’m coming in.”

Adelia, having changed out of the dress, knocked lightly and entered the room.

The three siblings’ faces all snapped towards her.

She walked in, her footsteps echoing.

When Adelia entered, bathed in their fervent gazes, a momentary silence fell over the room.

“How is it?”

Adelia asked, lifting the voluminous skirt of the dress cautiously, as if worried about soiling the pristine white fabric.

Despite her question, a brief silence lingered in the room.

Adelia tilted her head slightly, seeming a bit self-conscious.

“No way!”

Ariana suddenly exclaimed, slapping her own cheeks with her hands, shattering the silence.

Her wide, ruby-red eyes grew even rounder in surprise.

She couldn’t stay still, bouncing around Adelia, unable to contain her reaction to the sight before her.

“Sister, you look so good in this dress!”

“Do I?”

“You’re so beautiful! I thought an angel came down!”

Ariana’s effusive praise caused Adelia’s face to flush.

Calling her an angel was no exaggeration. Her silver-toned hair and blue eyes harmonized perfectly with the pristine whites. Her slender figure effortlessly carried any design.

They say the face completes the look, so it would be difficult to find a dress that didn’t suit Adelia.

“Should we go with this one, then?”

“Ah… It suits you, but… can I see you in some other ones too? I want to see more.”

Ariana gently grasped the hem of the dress.

The way she trailed off and tightly clutched the small hands made Adelia’s heart skip a beat.

Faced with the chubby little hands and wide, innocent eyes, Adelia felt an irresistible urge to stay up all night fulfilling the child’s wishes.

Ariana’s face was now filled with joyful anticipation, having forgotten her earlier gloom.

Adelia reluctantly tried on the dress Ariana had chosen.

Halfway through, the emperor himself had joined, taking a seat next to the princess.

“This is kind of fun.”

“Me too! Sister looks so pretty!”

Each time Adelia emerged in a new dress, the four pairs of red eyes tracked her intently.

Gazing persistently, happily crinkling, briefly lingering, growing round with surprise.

The eyes, all shining the same crimson hue, conveyed different reactions.

The variety of their responses made it quite entertaining to observe.

In the end, Adelia tried on all the dresses the madam had brought.

The more Adelia changed into the dresses, the same thought crossed the minds of everyone in the room.