Karl, who had been picking up the paper Schultz handed over, paused and looked at him.

“The original plan was for the grand festival, but they advise that waiting over six months would be inefficient and unfavorable date-wise, so it would be better to hold the ceremony right after the grand holiday.”

Karl read through the temple’s position paper that Schultz had brought.

Though written at length with flowery rhetoric, in summary it was exactly as Schultz had just explained.

Karl, who had been staring at the paper, smiled wryly and muttered.

“Maria Tartien would faint if she heard this.”

“My daughter would consider it an honor to become a member of the royal family even a day sooner.”

Schultz said firmly in a stiff voice.

Karl quietly stared at the paper, then nodded lightly.

“Well, do as you please. You were going to do whatever you wanted anyway, weren’t you?”

“……Then I will take that as permission and proceed to expedite the wedding.”

Schultz rose from his seat with a respectful bow, pretending not to have heard the latter part.

“Though we will hasten the schedule, the wedding will proceed without any shortcomings. It will be grand and splendid. Your Majesty need not worry about anything.”

“……I understand, now please leave. I’m tired.”

Karl waved his hand diligently, genuinely wishing for Schultz Tartien to disappear from this place.

The moment the door closed with a thud, Karl leaned his head back against the sofa and sighed.

‘The rumors are growing, and Tartien’s position is faltering in both social circles and among the common people, so he wants to get the wedding over with before any variables arise.’

In truth, from Karl’s perspective, it didn’t matter when the wedding took place.

No, that wasn’t entirely true.

Because…

Knock, knock.

Just then, with a light knock on the door, a servant announced the presence of a visitor.

“Miss Lumiere Lashantia has arrived.”

Karl raised his head sharply.

Then, with a completely different expression from before, he quickly called out.

“Tell her to come in at once.”

* * *

“Lumiere Lashantia greets Your Majesty.”

Karl raised one eyebrow questioningly at Lumiere’s unexpectedly formal greeting.

Lumiere set down her art supplies on the table with quick steps, then turned around to look at him.

“I just ran into Duke Schultz Tartien.”

“……And?”

“I unintentionally overheard him muttering as he passed by, Your Majesty.”

Karl, removing the fake skin covering his face, glanced at her, tilting his head slightly as if telling her to continue.

Lumiere took a short deep breath at the sight, approached him, and helped him remove the artificial skin.

“Once the wedding is over…… once this damn wedding is over……”

“……”

“When I heard that, I realized something. Right, my lover is about to get married! I thought you would surely explain it to me, but why haven’t you said anything?”

With the fake face completely removed, Karl Winger’s face was exposed.

Lumiere stood facing him with her arms crossed and said.

“Now, explain, Karl. Are you really getting married?”

Karl lifted Lumiere into his arms and strode to the window.

From that spot where the Tempel River was directly visible through the window, there was no need to worry about anyone’s gaze.

He sat Lumiere on the windowsill, then lifted her hands and kissed each finger one by one while murmuring.

“I, Laedro Carlei Stings Winger Swimpton, before Gartereia, the god of sky and sea, time and seasons, and our absolute being, swear to have Lumiere Lashantia as my lifelong wife and soul companion. This oath is an eternal promise and binding that shall never be broken……”

“……”

“I swear upon my death.”

Lumiere knew what this was.

No, it was a declaration that no one in this country could fail to recognize.

‘The royal marriage oath.’

He had made that oath to her, kissing each of her fingers one by one.

Lumiere looked at Karl with confused eyes.

“……I asked for an explanation, not an oath?”

Karl pulled the corners of his mouth into a slippery smile.

“I will not let anyone but you become my wife.”

“That’s not an explanation, Karl.”

“I’m telling you that the marriage between Laedro Stings and Maria Tartien will not be established, Lumiere. In Laedro’s name, I will not make a vow to spend my life with anyone other than you, even if it’s just a formal wedding.”

Lumiere’s heart beat violently.

To rephrase what he was saying, Karl had declared that he would take her as his wife.

“Really…… This is surprising, Karl.”

Lumiere let out a small laugh of disbelief, then grabbed his cheeks to make him look at her.

“Are you declaring that you’ll marry me right now?”

“I can’t live without you.”

“No, I know that, but……”

Lumiere exhaled emptily a few times, then smacked his shoulder.

“This just now is invalid. How can you propose without a ring? And you’re supposed to be the richest person in this country!”

Lumiere grumbled with a reddened face, then grabbed his hand and pulled him to where her art supplies were.

“Watch closely.”

Rummaging through her bag, she took out a pen and drew identical patterns on his ring finger and her own.

“……This is my response to your proposal.”

Like sharing wedding rings, the two now shared the same drawing on the same fingers.

She kissed both his finger and her own, then spoke to him in a tender voice.

“Someday when your world comes, then…… let’s not hide and always be together. Showing each other off to everyone in the world.”

Countless words that couldn’t be defined by a single term seeped into Karl’s eyes.

Though he was smiling along with her, he nodded with a face that somehow looked on the verge of tears.

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

Pleased with his obedient answer, Lumiere kissed Karl’s forehead, cheeks, and the bridge of his nose.

A bright smile spread across her face.

It was a beautiful smile that naturally made the person facing her smile too.

“……But when is that day?”

She, who had been giggling with her forehead pressed against Karl’s, suddenly asked with round, curious eyes.

Karl, kissing her eyes as if enchanted, answered in a light, casual voice.

“After the grand holiday season.”

* * *

“Aaaaagh! S-save me! Call a doctor, call a doctor! Aaaaagh!”

A man who had lost his senses from terrible pain was rolling on the floor, screaming.

That voice belonged to a man who had been dragged to a construction site a few days ago and suffered an accident.

His leg had broken completely in the wrong direction, and it seemed they had decided to cut it off after failing to restore it to its original position.

“N-no! No! Don’t do it, eeee!!”

Marquis Evoque, trapped in the cell, had to tremble while covering his ears with both hands.

‘Why on earth am I locked up here?’

He glared at the empty air with bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep and ground his teeth.

Since entering this place, he had heard such screams every day.

Countless people died or were driven out as half-cripples.

Paul Evoque sensed that someday he too would die screaming like that.

‘To think this is the result of my loyalty……’

He still couldn’t believe he was here.

He was a marquis.

And not just any marquis—Paul Evoque, who had wielded real power in this country!

How could he be thrown in here without even a trial?

He glared at the empty space with hollow eyes, grinding his teeth.

But soon, he collapsed on the floor and began banging his head as if he had never harbored any resentment.

“……Huu. Huuuuu.”

He sobbed and tore at his hair.

In truth, he didn’t care much about his rock-bottom situation.

He scratched his entire body with trembling fingers.

His skin began to itch as if bugs were crawling all over him.

His heart pounded bizarrely, and his mind chased nothing but hazy smoke.

‘Ah, just one…… If I could smoke just one. Please…… before I die, just one more time.’

He felt his mind going crazy from not having smoked for ten days already.

Since becoming Schultz Tartien’s loyal servant, this was the first time he had abstained for so long.

He wasn’t a heavy smoker, but he had consistently smoked the tobacco Schultz gave him.

The pleasure it provided was incomparable to mere alcohol or s*x.

The whole world seemed to dance in welcome.

Ecstasy gripped him almost to the point of death, like being trapped in the climax of his favorite opera.

“……That, just one more of that.”

What woke him from his muttering pleas to the empty air was the harsh sound of someone striking the iron bars.

Bang bang bang!