“A man is requesting an audience with you, my lord. He claims he has brought something you may find valuable.”

The Marquis of Montero was not in the mood to receive visitors.

He immediately ordered the butler to send the visitor away.

However, the butler returned shortly afterwards.

“Well… the man says he has brought Celea.”

Celea.

Marquis Montero ordered the visitor to be brought in immediately the moment he heard those words.

The man entered with his hood pulled low over his face.

He appeared to be from the eastern regions, being broad-shouldered and powerfully built. Gruesome scars covered his face and body, as though he had survived countless battles against monsters.

As soon as he stepped into the drawing room, he bowed respectfully and slipped a hand into his coat.

Then he drew something out.

Five large pieces of Celea.

They were genuine.

Marquis Montero’s gaze locked onto the gemstones and he swallowed unconsciously.

Such massive pieces of Celea!

And not just one, but five!

For a brief moment, he was completely captivated.

Yet he did not immediately reach for them.

Desire and caution warred within him.

If they happened to be stolen gemstones, accepting them could cause far more trouble than they were worth.

“What exactly are you?”

“A mercenary, milord.”

“A mercenary? How does a mercenary come into possession of Celea? Did you steal them?”

“Would you call it stealing…?”

The mercenary scratched his head awkwardly.

Marquis Montero watched him, clicking his tongue.

As expected.

If he had purchased them recklessly, he might have found himself in serious trouble.

If a gift presented to the Emperor were later found to be stolen property, his life might not be spared.

“As you can see, I’m from the eastern regions. I work as a mercenary, but when things are quiet, I sometimes help out at the mines. I picked up a few pieces that had fallen aside while I was working.”

“And why should I believe that?”

“Well, if you don’t, there’s nothing I can do about it. I had them polished nicely and brought them to the capital, thinking I’d find someone willing to buy them. Surely somebody will. In that case, I’ll be on my way.”

“Wait! Wait a moment!”

When the mercenary turned to leave without the slightest hesitation, Marquis Montero instinctively stopped him.

“First, let’s have them appraised to confirm whether they’re genuine Celea.”

“Sure. That’s fine with me.”

While waiting for the appraiser to arrive, Marquis Montero carefully considered the situation.

If Celean gemstones of this size had really been stolen, the nobility would certainly not have remained silent.

News of a noble family’s treasured heirlooms being stolen would spread through high society like wildfire.

There was another point, too.

It wasn’t just one gemstone.

There were five.

If the man had produced only one, the Marquis would have been far more suspicious.

But five?

The sheer quantity made the story seem less likely to involve theft.

This eased some of his doubts.

‘Perhaps he really did pick them up.’

Strictly speaking, the man had likely smuggled them out of a mine.

Still, since they had never entered official circulation, it was unlikely to cause any trouble.

‘And that fellow’s attitude is far too relaxed.’

A thief who had robbed a noble estate would never behave so boldly in front of a Marquis.

Before long, the gemstone appraiser arrived.

The moment he saw the Celea, he gasped repeatedly in amazement.

After conducting a meticulous examination, he ultimately reached his conclusion.

“They’re genuine.”

He continued admiring the gemstones.

“Each one is truly remarkable. I could even introduce you to a buyer willing to pay an excellent price for them.”

The appraiser’s unnecessary remark immediately caught the mercenary’s attention.

“Oh? Is that so? Then perhaps you could introduce me—”

“Introduce you to whom?!”

Marquis Montero cut in sharply.

“You’ve done enough. You may leave now.”

Then he turned to the appraiser.

“As for you, I’d like a word.”

***

Marquis Montero purchased the Celea at the exorbitant price of fifty thousand gold pieces per gemstone.

This was an outrageous price — double their market value.

However, his desperation meant he had little room to negotiate.

The mercenary stubbornly refused to sell them for anything less.

Marquis Montero needed to regain the Emperor’s favor at all costs, so he ultimately bought two for one hundred thousand gold pieces.

One hundred thousand gold for a pair of gemstones!

Even for him, it was a staggering sum.

No matter how important it was to mend his relationship with the Emperor, investing any more than that was simply impossible.

In truth, the purchase had already used up all the liquid funds he could withdraw immediately from his treasury.

To raise any more money, he would have had to borrow or sell portions of his business.

After acquiring an elegant presentation box, he carefully placed the two Celea gemstones inside and set out for the Imperial Palace.

Throughout the carriage ride, he muttered curses under his breath without pause.

At the mercenary.

At the absurd price.

At his own misfortune.

At the Emperor.

Yet by the time the carriage stopped and he stepped outside, all traces of his frustration had vanished, replaced by a broad, practiced smile.

When the Emperor heard that Marquis Montero had brought Celea, Aiden finally agreed to grant him an audience.

Even so, after opening the box and seeing the enormous gemstones inside, the Emperor showed no visible surprise.

He calmly picked up one of the Celea stones between his thumb and forefinger and casually rolled it back and forth.

“Do you know how many pieces of Celea like this I possess?”

“Pardon?”

“At least twenty.”

“Ah…”

“But since you’ve gone to the trouble of thinking of me, Marquis, I’ll accept them.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. Then… regarding our Vivianne…”

“The future Empress was apparently taking a walk at night.”

His tone suggested that he would pretend to believe.

However, he clearly did not.

It was also a warning that his attitude might change depending on how they behaved in future.

Marquis Montero understood perfectly.

Rather than pressing further, he lowered his head and expressed his gratitude.

***

After Marquis Montero departed, Aiden quietly stared at the two Celea gemstones.

Truthfully, even he had never seen Celea of this size before.

‘Vivianne Montero.’

No matter how hard he tried to understand, he could not fathom why Vivianne had entered the Cold Palace.

Eleanor and Vivianne didn’t share a special bond.

The same was even more true of Kaelion.

So why had she gone there?

Was she really just out for a walk?

‘She knows my mother was imprisoned in the Cold Palace for many years. Perhaps she was curious enough to go see it for herself…’

But why that particular night?

Access to the Cold Palace had not been prohibited.

If Kaelion had been sneaking around, Aiden would have suspected him immediately.

Yet, after visiting the Imperial Palace once, Kaelion had remained secluded in his own home.

‘And the Grand Duchess seems to be wandering around freely with only a maid and a guard.’

Rosetta, who had reportedly begged to visit the capital, appeared to be enjoying the festival to the fullest.

Every day, reports arrived saying she had gone out into the bustling city streets.

At that moment, a cat leapt lightly onto the box.

Aiden looked at the black cat and smiled indulgently.

“Do you know how expensive this is?”

Aiden picked up the cat and closed the lid of the box containing the Celea.

“Well, I suppose it’s best to watch and wait for now. Chief Attendant, deliver this to the Imperial Lady as a gift.”

***

Kaelion smiled faintly as he watched Rosetta return from a day of sightseeing at the Harvest Festival with Lira and Veloa.

She was clearly enjoying the festival to the full.

A brightly patterned scarf was draped around her shoulders. It was not the sort of accessory a noble lady would usually wear, yet it suited her perfectly.

Lira and Veloa wore matching scarves of their own.

They also wore flower crowns.

Veloa looked thoroughly annoyed by hers, repeatedly scratching her neck in discomfort. In contrast, Lira’s cheeks were flushed rosy pink, and she was glowing with excitement at all the fun she was having.

Seeing the three of them together drew a faint smile to Kaelion’s lips.

“Your Highness, look at this.”

Spotting Kaelion, Rosetta hurried over and held something out to him.

It was a small wind chime made of colored glass.

“Isn’t it beautiful? It sounds lovely too.”

Clink.

A clear, delicate chime rang through the air.

“Mm. It is beautiful.”

Rosetta’s smile as she held it up was distractingly beautiful.

“I bought other things too.”

She reached into one of the paper bags she was carrying and pulled out a bookmark containing pressed flowers, along with several oddly shaped straw dolls.

“Oh, and…”

As Rosetta turned around, Lira quickly handed her another bag.

“This was absolutely delicious.”

Rosetta pulled out a skewer of fruit coated in hardened caramelized sugar.

“I wanted Your Highness to try it too. Do you dislike sweets?”

“I like them.”

In truth, he hated them.

But looking at Rosetta’s bright, cheerful smile, he couldn’t bring himself to say so.

When she held out the skewer invitingly, Kaelion bent down and bit into one of the fruits at the end.

Crunch.

The sugar shattered.

A sweet juice burst across his tongue, mingling with the fragments of caramelized sugar.

It was unbearably sweet.

Right in front of him, his wife Rosetta was smiling innocently.

“Well? Isn’t it good?”

“Mm.”

As he straightened up and tried to brush the sugar off his teeth, he noticed that Veloa and Lira were watching him. They looked warm and satisfied.

The look in their eyes was absurd.

It was as though they were watching a son experience his first love.

Unable to bear it, he quickly looked away.

“Are all your preparations for tomorrow’s party finished?”

“What preparations are there? I just need to brush my hair nicely and wear the dress I brought.”

The fabric used for Rosetta’s dress would have been considered luxurious in the Grand Duchy.

However, in the capital, it was nothing out of the ordinary.

It was the kind of material that noblewomen wore for everyday occasions.

Daughters and wives of the highest-ranking noble families would spend two or three hundred gold coins on a single party dress without a second thought.

Especially for an Imperial Party.

If Rosetta were to attend tomorrow wearing an outfit that the noble ladies dismissed as cheap, she would undoubtedly be ridiculed.

But Rosetta did not care.

Neither she nor Kaelion had ever enjoyed a favorable reputation among the nobility.

After spending the past several days wandering through the Harvest Festival and eagerly buying trinkets and curiosities wherever she went, many nobles had probably already formed opinions about her.

If they wanted to laugh, they could laugh.

Rosetta seemed completely unconcerned by what anyone in the capital thought of her.

‘The Grand Duchess is so vulgar.’

‘She’s excited over things only commoners would buy.’

‘The Grand Duchy must be so poor that even things like that seem impressive to her.’

Those were probably the sorts of rumors circulating among the nobility.

And that was exactly what Rosetta wanted.