“Oh my, if Your Highness thinks so, should we cancel the marriage?”

“That’s not allowed… I want to be family with Sister.”

When Adelia spoke mischievously, covering her mouth with one hand, Ariana shook her head vigorously.

Canceling the marriage? That was unacceptable. Ariana tightly gripped Adelia’s clothes as if showing off her possessiveness.

Adelia stroked the small head. Although the time they spent like this was a happy one, there was so much to do to guarantee future happiness.

“I bought a gift for Your Highness too. And we have a lot to talk about. Shall we sit down now?”

“Yes! Okay.”

Ariana reluctantly separated from her embrace. Instead, she hurriedly sat at the prepared table. She rested her chin on her hands placed on the table and looked at Adelia with round eyes.

Her legs swinging below were so cute that Adelia smiled and sat across from her.

“Tell me about your trip! I heard it was by the sea. I wanted to go so badly too!”

“Ah, has Your Highness never been to the sea?”

“No… They don’t let me go outside the palace much because it’s dangerous, so how could I go to the sea… When I travel later, I’ll definitely go to the sea!”

“So that’s why you wan… I mean, if you want to go that badly, shall we go together later?”

“Yes! If it’s with you, Dad might allow it.”

Ariana’s eyes lit up with joy. The sea she had only seen in books was already making her heart flutter as it appeared in her mind.

‘I almost made a mistake. No wonder she said the sea without hesitation when running away.’

Adelia smiled awkwardly as she watched her joyful expression. She drank the warm tea, as if her throat was dry from almost making a small mistake.

The word ‘running away’ almost passed her lips but quickly retreated. There was a moment of confusion due to the memory of the original work.

— Let’s leave. If we stay like this, I feel like I’ll suffocate to death.

— Do as you wish. Wherever it is, I will follow you.

— Then let’s go to the sea. I’ve always wanted to see the blue sea dyed red at least once.

‘It was a romantic scene. Of course, it was full of despair afterwards.’

Adelia only put down her cup after drinking all the tea that filled it.

At first, it was due to the bitterness of her mistake, but as she thought about the situation that came to mind later, she couldn’t help but swallow. Somehow, her body felt chilly and seemed to tremble.

‘I should go on a trip to another country around that time… If I stay here, I’ll only end up with a lot of troublesome things.’

Adelia nodded slightly. It was best to avoid disaster.

“Sister, you don’t look well. Are you sick?”

Ariana asked, poking her head out. Adelia’s behavior of gulping down tea that hadn’t even cooled yet and her subtly trembling hands seemed strange somehow.

She had detected the unconscious anxiety that even Adelia hadn’t noticed. It wasn’t easy to accept the fact that there was another transmigrator. Behind her calm face, anxiety was still growing vigorously.

“Ah… I left the gift in the carriage because I came in a hurry. I wanted to give it to you quickly, so I’m disappointed. It’s a gift I bought together with His Highness.”

Adelia waved her hands, forcing a smile. No matter how anxious she felt, she didn’t want to show those emotions to the child.

To divert Ariana’s attention, who was staring at her intently, she brought up a different topic.

A gift prepared especially for Ariana. When she mentioned buying it together with Lucian, Ariana’s ears perked up. The princess quickly shifted her attention.

“A gift? What kind is it?”

“That region is famous for pearls, so I prepared a necklace and a unique jewelry box.”

“A unique jewelry box?”

“It’s a jewelry box decorated with seashells. I brought it because it’s a unique decoration method that’s hard to find in the Empire. It’s new and pretty, so it might become trendy soon.”

She planned to sell it immediately once its marketability was confirmed. Although it was challenging due to the unfamiliar design, she had no fear of failure.

The moment it went on sale at the guild’s direct store, word of mouth would spread instantly. Moreover, now that she had the imperial family as a good promotional tool, manipulating trends was no big deal.

“Wow! Decorated with seashells? I’m so curious!”

“It might be unfamiliar, but it’s very pretty.”

“I want to see it quickly! I’ve never seen anything like that before, it’s so interesting.”

Ariana’s eyes lit up at the mention of something new. Her father was the Emperor who owned the most in the Empire, and her blood relative used land deeds as memo pads. Growing up seeing all kinds of rare jewels in between, she preferred new things over expensive ones.

Of course, Adelia knew this. That’s why she chose the mother-of-pearl decoration she newly discovered as a gift.

Seeing her joyful expression, Adelia smiled broadly and stroked Ariana’s hair.

“I’ll have a maid send it to your room. I should have brought it now, but I couldn’t because there was an important matter.”

“Did something happen?”

“After coming back from the trip, I found that guild work and palace work had piled up. And with the saintess coming soon, my work has doubled.”

Adelia smiled, her blue eyes almost disappearing into crescents. Under her long eyelashes, the transparent blue eyes hidden in the smile held an undisguisable anxiety.

As if knowing this, Adelia smiled even more brightly to hide her eyes completely.

‘Even if Her Highness remembers her past life and a new transmigrator appears, I have to hide it from Her Highness. This is something we should resolve, not for a child to worry about.’

Silencing the saintess wouldn’t be difficult. Whether in physically or psychologically pressuring her, methods could always be devised.

No matter how much damage there might be, she couldn’t let a 7-year-old child bear the anxiety.

Adelia stroked Ariana more affectionately. It was a warm touch as if melting away all negative emotions like anxiety and burden.

‘I must bear all responsibility. I should use this life, which has been prolonged by denying fate, worthily.’

Without the original work, she was destined to die already. It was ironic that while she had prolonged her life by twisting the original work to survive, she didn’t want to scatter the original work, and was willing to sacrifice her life for it.

But it was unavoidable. Adelia wanted to live. Her possession was somewhat unclear, and there was too much uncleared garbage around.

‘If I have to sacrifice my life for the original work, at least I should get revenge on the Count’s family before dying.’

While chaos of death and a miserable future raged in Adelia’s mind, her hand stroking Ariana remained gentle.

Ariana purred like a kitten, feeling her touch without knowing the reason.

“So how was your trip, sister?”

Ariana asked, lifting her head slightly. Her red eyes were full of curiosity.

Adelia strangely avoided her gaze.

“Well… It was closer to a business trip than a vacation.”

The truth wasn’t that romantic or enjoyable. It was already regrettable that the princess knew about the contract marriage, and it felt like trampling on a child’s innocence to tell her about a trip that wasn’t like a honeymoon.

As Ariana’s eyebrows drooped slightly, Adelia hurriedly added,

“But on the last day, we went out together. We bought gifts for Your Highness and the Prince, and visited a temple too.”

“Ah, I heard there’s a temple where the saintess received her revelation. Did you go there?”

“That’s right. The temple itself wasn’t beautiful, but the scenery was very nice. You could see the sea, and the sky turning red was beautiful. The wind was cool, and even the white temple turning red was very nice.”

Adelia blocked the outside sounds with white magic and spoke calmly about pleasant memories and beautiful scenery.

From the foggy sky seen when they went to retrieve the holy sword, the dark and damp cave, to the bustling market seen while going out with Lucian and the beautiful scenery at the temple. She unfolded the story vividly and in detail as if seeing it directly.

As the story flowed, Ariana clasped her hands together and listened intently, seeming to enjoy it.

“Wow… I really want to see it too.”

Her short words dripped with envy like honey.

The Emperor didn’t want the princess to go outside the palace. Even in the capital with good public safety, kidnappings and crimes occurred frequently. Out of anxiety that the princess might get hurt if she went out, he had raised her like a greenhouse flower.