Though it was in the back pages, George Hollander was on the list.

‘Why did he even send something.’

Even checking it irritated her. She hated reading his name.

‘What is this? Pearl earrings?’

As if she wasn’t annoyed enough, the contents were strange too.

Pearls symbolize tears, so they’re absolutely never given as gifts to new brides. She couldn’t understand what he was thinking when he sent such a gift.

Looking at the size, they seemed to be the smallest pearls available… Though with the Hollander house’s financial state, even this must have been barely affordable.

“This person. Don’t accept it and send it back.”

Not wanting to say his name aloud, Saena pointed to that entry on the list.

“…Understood. Pearls, I apologize for missing this oversight.”

Royter apologized, blaming himself for not filtering out the inappropriate gift item.

Though that wasn’t Saena’s reason for rejecting the gift, she felt relieved thinking that unilaterally sending it back might have caused unnecessary misunderstandings.

“No, it’s fine. You must have been busy with the wedding preparations and reception, and you even organized the gifts.”

“I merely did what was expected of me.”

After Royter left, Saena examined the gifts herself.

Even though these were just the personal gifts that had been sorted, there was quite a lot. Given how limited her relationships were, she hadn’t expected much.

“Kyu…”

While she was opening and examining various things, Yolly appeared.

His sluggish walking still showed his lack of energy.

“Yolly, you came?”

He pressed his nose against her and sniffed a few times, then shook his head as if the smell wasn’t good.

Lately, he wrinkled his nose every time he saw her, to the point where she wondered if some bad smell had gotten on her and even sniffed various parts of her body.

Though she still couldn’t tell what smell was bothering him.

“Hmm, Yolly. Shall we open presents together?”

His tail wagged out of rhythm with sharp taps, suggesting he wasn’t particularly pleased. Still, the way he glanced over each time Saena opened a gift box showed he wasn’t completely uninterested.

‘Oh my. Such a picky little guy…’

Just then, she recognized the seal on the pile she touched. These were gifts from the Debov house.

She wondered why they sent more when she had already received various things personally.

‘Perhaps they meant, don’t feel intimidated?’

That seemed to be it. They probably sent so many things to show the other side that she had a family who cared for her this much.

Though there was no one in the Kramer house who would treat Saena carelessly even without this, perhaps this was the family’s way of preparing for any possibility.

The marriage happened so suddenly that she hadn’t had time to think about much else. But seeing this made her feel her father and brother’s hearts, causing her chest to tighten slightly.

“I… I think I only tried not to be a burden, never knowing how to rely on them. Even though that’s not what family is about.”

“Kiing…”

Though she had muttered to herself, seeing Yolly nod as if agreeing made her laugh.

It was so cute how he seemed to completely sympathize with her feelings.

“Yollyyyy~”

Giggling, she hugged Yolly so tight he could barely breathe, making him struggle and whimper. Finding that cute too, she chuckled to herself before finally releasing him just before suffocation.

“Kyang!”

Seeing him quickly put distance between them like he’s afraid of being trapped again made her laugh, then Saena started opening gift boxes again.

Carelessly opening the one right in front of her.

“Gasp!”

If she had known who sent this gift beforehand, she would have opened it carefully, but she had let her guard down. Saena closed the box lid with almost a crash, too shocked.

Yolly approached with an expression wondering what happened and tried to open it with his paw, but Saena quickly grabbed the box and moved it somewhere else.

“No! You’re not allowed to see this.”

“…Kyang?”

“Just know that if I say it’s not allowed, it’s not allowed.”

Trying to ignore her clearly reddened face, Saena struggled to maintain a stern expression.

“…Kyaang?”

Though Yolly kicked his paw in the air, showing an attitude of ‘let me see, hand it over right now,’ she coldly ignored him.

Saena placed the box at a height where Yolly definitely couldn’t reach it and carefully closed it again so the contents wouldn’t be visible.

As she closed it, she noticed a letter tucked between the ribbons of the outer packaging and quickly opened it.

‘Why on earth did they send something like this…’

[Saya, for passionate nights with your husband…]

Snap! Saena quickly covered the letter too before finishing reading it.

“Really, this sister…”

It was Kirsten, of course.

There was a set of l*ngerie in various colors that looked like it was bought with Madam Willef’s help. The kind of shape that hardly seemed made for its original purpose, underwear that might as well not be worn at all.

Trying to ignore her burning face, Saena started opening other items.

Though she stayed alert this time, fortunately there were no more mischievous gifts like Kirsten’s.

‘Father, Sage, Kirsten, Evian, Floria… Remember them well.’

She organized the list carefully to send return gifts and letters.

‘Oh, Her Highness sent a gift too?’

The gift was sent to Saena rather than to Duke Kramer.

No, though they might have sent to both, it was quite unexpected that they sent something separately to Saena personally. She felt almost overwhelmed by this unexpected kindness she had shown since before.

“Wow.”

Moreover, it was a perfect gift. No, more than perfect — it was extraordinary.

A miniature crystal set of the Four Guardian Spirits!

The precise and delicate carving was so stunning it made her jaw drop, as if crafted by someone who had seen them in person.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

It looked like something that could only have been made by a master craftsman — clearly an expensive item.

Beyond the price, she wondered how they managed to send such a perfectly suitable gift.

Saena stared at the ornament for a long while with her mouth open in a smile. Yolly appeared again, hovering in front of the ornament as if something bothered him.

“…Yolly? Move aside for a moment.”

“Kyang~”

“No, it’ll break. Come here.”

“Krang!”

When she picked him up, he hit her with his tail again as if something displeased him. Rather than painful, it was an attack that made her nose tickle and want to sneeze.

“Okay, okay. What’s wrong?”

“Kyang!”

“Stop looking at the gifts? I’m almost done anyway.”

“Krang! Kraang!”

…She couldn’t understand. Saena just put Yolly down and carefully wrapped Her Highness’s gift again.

‘I’ll display this in my bedroom.’

When sunlight comes through the window, the crystal will reflect and sparkle beautifully. It will surely look even prettier then.

Saena grinned imagining that scene.

* * *

And the next day,

“Saena.”

Cool lips landed on her still-closed eyes. With a short ‘chu’ sound, the lips moved to her temple.

“Constantine…?”

Saena responded hazily, her mind still not fully awake.

“I’m sorry to wake you.”

“Mm… Is something wrong?”

Though Constantine patiently responded to Saena’s slow answers, what came out of his mouth was actually quite urgent.

“An issue has come up in the territory, and we need to leave right now — would that be alright?”

“…What?”

That woke her up completely.

“A demonic beast problem has emerged, and we can’t delay long. I wanted to give you more time with your acquaintances in the imperial capital, I’m sorry.”

“Ah… You don’t need to apologize for a demonic beast problem. I’ll get ready quickly.”

“It must be disappointing in many ways, but please bear with it for a while. We should be able to return to the imperial capital once the urgent matters are settled.”

“Yes. It’s fine. I’ll prepare as quickly as possible.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Constantine gave Saena a light baby kiss on her forehead before quickly getting up.

“Ah, wait–”

“……?”

“Can I bring Yolly?”

“Of course.”

Saena smiled at him in thanks, then put her feet down from the bed. But as soon as she did, Constantine strode over and grabbed her waist, biting her lips.

“Mmph.”

She tried to keep her mouth closed since it was morning before brushing her teeth, but she eventually surrendered to his persistent tongue probing at her entrance.

His tongue deeply invaded her mouth for a while before withdrawing. Her plump bottom lip snapped back with a pop.

“Don’t smile like that at other men.”

“…What?”

“I mean it.”

Constantine left those puzzling words and turned to leave again. His urgent stride showed his haste.

‘Don’t smile at other men…?’

Saena just tilted her head in confusion.

While she washed up and changed clothes, the capable employees had already sorted and packed her luggage. There weren’t many daily necessities. They said clothes and necessary items were already prepared at the territory.

So they only packed what was absolutely necessary to bring. This included the ancient books the maid had carefully found and the Arlesian grammar tables and reference books Saena had organized over several years in her past life.

‘We’re leaving…’

Her heart fluttered slightly.

What kind of place would the Northeast Territory be?

“If you think of anything you need later, please request it. We can send it anytime, so don’t worry.”

Through the warp gate, they said. Perhaps seeing Saena’s slightly excited face as worry, the butler added.

Though only the Duke could open that gate, so they would need to specifically request it, still, being able to travel such a long distance as easily as going to the next room was truly amazing.

There was no other way to describe it except as a cheat-like ability.