Since it wasn’t an urgent matter, she planned to use the honeymoon as an excuse to go get the sword.

“If you provide the location, we can go to a nearby villa.”

Lucian unfolded the papers he had brought.

It was a map of the entire empire, meticulously detailed, showing the locations of mines and caves.

The cave where she had gained the white magic power was clearly marked.

“Then could you look into this area for me?”

Adelia pointed to a spot on the map.

It was a temple in the Medellin region, neither a sea nor a cave, but a place that seemed to suit the holy sword well, being close to the sea.

“The temple?”

“Somewhere around there is fine.”

Adelia was sparse with her words.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but the fewer people who knew the secret, the better.

Since the holy sword had not found its master, the traces of white magic would still be there intact.

If someone else were to enter that place before her, the secret of the white magic could be revealed.

If later, it became known that the ability of a white mage was not innate but gained, the future backlash would be unpredictable.

Seemingly understanding her thoughts, Lucian simply nodded.

“Understood. There is a villa nearby, so that would be a suitable place to go.”

“Is that all you had to discuss?”

“Ah, no, there’s one more thing. I received a letter, and I think you should see it.”

Lucian took out a letter from his chest.

Seeing it, Adelia’s expression turned cold.

The Count of Vita’s family crest was prominently displayed on the envelope.

“What’s this?”

“Your father. That is, a letter sent to me by Count Vita. Normally, the attendants would screen all private letters from the nobility, but this one from your father seems to have reached me directly.”

“Hmph.”

Adelia scoffed, taking the letter.

“I’ve been sending back all his letters, so he’s resorted to sending it to Your Highness, how shameless.”

She opened the envelope and pulled out the letter, her expression darkening as she read through it.

The flowery and verbose letter, trying to maintain formality, was unnecessarily long, making it difficult to discern the actual message.

“He’s asking for a wedding gift.”

“My, how shameless.”

Adelia carelessly dropped the letter to the floor. She stepped on it without hesitation, as if she was dealing with trash.

The ink on the crumpled letter bled, making the writing illegible.

“He’s not entirely wrong. As this is an imperial wedding, it would be odd if nothing was exchanged.”

“Even so, to just ask for a gift without mentioning a dowry is too blatant.”

She kicked the crushed letter.

Adelia had offered the holy sword as a dowry instead, since it couldn’t be publicly announced. The Vita family had not contributed anything.

And now, to shamelessly demand a wedding gift was simply pathetic.

“But if there’s truly no wedding gift, the rumors we’ve suppressed will resurface.”

“You mean the rumors about our arrangement? I’ve been keeping them at bay with the rumor that you love me. If that comes back, it will be troublesome. I should send something, at least.”

“The choice is yours. Do you have any gift in mind?”

“Hmm…”

Adelia leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms as she pondered.

She had no desire to appease the Vita family’s greed with an extravagant gift.

Then, what kind of useless but visually impressive gift could she send?

“Ah! Does it matter what it is?”

Adelia sprang up, a good idea suddenly occurred to her.

“Yes, please tell me.”

“Then would you grant me a territory as a wedding gift?”

“A territory… What do you mean by that?”

“The western territory under the imperial domain. I heard the Opimo region currently has no lord.”

The imperial territories are essentially owned by the emperor, but a portion is allocated to the nobility, granting them certain rights, including the ability to collect taxes.

However, parts of the prosperous western territories lacked an active lord. They could not collect taxes, nor did they have rights to the agricultural produce from the lands.

It was a nominal lord position, with the vast lands only adding to their responsibilities without any financial gains.

Without authority, they could not sell it, nor conduct transactions or gifts without the emperor’s permission.

“It’s true, that region currently has no lord.”

“Perfect. They can’t collect taxes, can’t sell the land, can’t even use it as collateral for gambling. They have the title but no money. Nothing is more miserable than having an honorable title without the funds to back it up.”

They could not refuse the position of lord directly bestowed by the emperor, so they would desperately cling to whatever honor remained.

The more lavishly they adorned themselves, the faster their wealth would disappear into thin air.

Adelia leaned back in her chair, a pleased smile on her face. She always enjoyed imagining their downfall.

“I’ll do that then. It’s common to give the land as a wedding gift, so there’s a good pretext.”

Lucian nodded in agreement. He also thought it was the most appropriate wedding gift.

“They’ll be outwardly pleased but inwardly seething. I saw in the letter they were just asking for money, so this works out well.”

Adelia said with a sneer.

The Vita family was currently in dire financial straits. Their spending far exceeded the taxes they collected.

Even the wealth accumulated by previous generations was dwindling.

The count planned to use Adelia to rebuild their fortune.

He had written in the letter a vain hope of investing or starting businesses with the wedding gift funds.
‘It’s one thing to lend money, but who would just give it away?’
Adelia curled her lip.

The idea of him being able to run a business was laughable.

He lacked both the capability and the people to help him.

Adelia muttered under her breath.

“Seems he still hasn’t checked the tax records.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing.”

She smiled brightly at Lucian, her blue eyes twinkling with amusement and anticipation.

* * *

“This is truly grand…”

“Aren’t these the rare white freesias that are so hard to come by these days? I heard the Eileen Merchant Guild only released a small batch, and the rest are all here.”

“Are those diamonds and white magic stones all over? They’re absolutely beautiful.”

The wedding was held in the Sun Hall, a venue long used by the imperial family.

As soon as the guests entered, they were in awe, exclaiming over the lavish decorations.

It seemed every valuable decoration imaginable had been poured into the space.

Yet, the combination was not gaudy, but elegant and refined.

“Sister, you look so beautiful…”

“I think so too. You look truly stunning today.”

In the bride’s waiting room, Adelia waited, her preparations complete.

The dress meticulously crafted by the madam was nothing short of ethereal.

The thin lace, woven in multiple layers, did not appear bulky, instead falling in graceful folds from the waist down. The delicate gold threads and tiny white magic stones glittered brilliantly under the light.

The necklace and earrings made of white magic stones complemented the dress perfectly.

And atop her head sat the crown, only worn by the imperial family.

All who saw her were rendered speechless.

Without any particular action, she exuded an air of grace and dignity.

“Have you seen brother yet?”

“No, I haven’t been able to with all the preparations this morning. I think I’ll be able to see them when we process in. Have the princess seen him?”

“Yes! I saw him earlier. Brother looks so handsome today too.”

“Oh, is that so? I’m looking forward to it.”

Adelia smiled brightly.

Contract marriage aside, Lucian’s appearance was truly stunning.

While Adelia had been indifferent when choosing the dress, she had put her heart and soul into selecting Lucian’s attire.

Just as Adelia suited the white, Lucian complemented the black clothing perfectly.

“Sister, you must be bored… but only I can come in here.”

“I actually prefer it this way. For now, I can have the princess all to myself.”

Ariana volunteered to keep Adelia company, worried she might be lonely.

At imperial weddings, even family members were not permitted to see the bride.

The only ones allowed in the waiting room were women, and even then, only the maids and imperial family.

‘If my family could come in, it would have been noisy.’

One week before the wedding, Lucian had sent the wedding gifts to the Vita Count.

Count Vita rushed over, expecting money and jewels, only to be met with a land deed bearing the emperor’s seal.

While people congratulated him on becoming the lord of the Opimo region, the Count was inwardly seething.

‘They said to send money, and they send this scrap of paper!’

Of course, Adelia completely ignored the Count’s resentment. She did not even allow him to send letters or visit.

But the Count could not disclose or seek help anywhere.

If it became known that she was disregarding him, all the people who had approached him would back away.

If the family had been able to enter the bride’s waiting room today, the Count would have burst in immediately.

“Hasn’t His Majesty come to see the princess?”

“Instead of being with me today, I made a deal to sleep with Dad tonight.”

“I was wondering why His Majesty hadn’t come to see the princess. So you made such a cute arrangement.”

Ariana giggled, bouncing on her feet.

Adelia wanted to find Ariana’s antics adorable, but the bulky jewelry kept her from fully expressing it.