Khalid recalled Axel and Hailey’s wedding that had happened in the blink of an eye.

The most absurd and shortest wedding in the world, where Axel had abruptly put a ring on Hailey’s finger in the prince’s office and received her glove as a dowry.

Khalid was the only witness to the wedding. It didn’t even take five minutes.

A procedure that no properly educated noble would ever call a “wedding.”

Given the circumstances at the time, the young madam didn’t seem to mind.

It suddenly struck Khalid as remarkable that the young madam had never once complained about having her once-in-a-lifetime wedding disposed of in such a manner.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but wouldn’t it be better not to do this? I recall your first wedding didn’t receive a particularly satisfactory response.”

Axel’s impromptu plans had rarely earned praise from Hailey. Khalid thought it best to dissuade him, regardless of what it was.

“That’s exactly why I need to do it again. How could I let Hailey’s first and only wedding remain such a memory? Hailey deserves the most magnificent wedding in the world.”

Khalid wanted to retort, “You’re only realizing this now?” but he held back and said to Axel:

“So you’re hoping to earn praise from the young madam for this. But is it possible to prepare a wedding without her knowledge? She’s involved in all affairs of the inner castle.”

“That’s why I’m entrusting this mission to you. Khalid, show me the full extent of your competence.”

Axel looked proudly at Khalid as if he had come up with a brilliant idea.

‘So he’s just dumping the important work on me.’

For Khalid, this meant nothing but extended overtime. However, he accepted willingly because doing something good for the young madam always brought positive results for him too.

“If you suddenly gather everyone and discuss this, the young madam will notice. First, I’ll divert her attention elsewhere, then I’ll communicate with people individually as the situation allows.”

“Excellent. Report progress regularly.”

And so began Axel’s “Give Hailey the Most Magnificent Wedding in the World” operation.

* * *

Though occasionally disrupted by various incidents large and small, Winchester was more peaceful than it had ever been.

The biggest topic on this peaceful island these days was the wedding of the young lord and lady being prepared in secret from the young madam.

Today was a meeting to gather various opinions about the scale of the wedding and the guest list. Khalid was the first to offer his opinion.

“What about inviting nobles from other territories to the young lord’s wedding? They would naturally attend the reception, and we could foster relationships at the same time.”

“I agree with Sir Rethel. Since we’ve come this far, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have mages help decorate the wedding magnificently, especially with guests coming from outside.”

Everyone seemed to agree with Khalid’s suggestion, nodding or showing approval. While the purpose was to celebrate the wedding, it was also a good opportunity to interact with other territories and create a positive image of magic.

Only Axel was contrary. Khalid, keenly observing Axel’s reaction, asked:

“Is something bothering you? If you don’t like it being too lavish, we can prepare according to your taste. The important thing is the invitations, after all.”

“That’s not it. It’s not that…… What if it looks like we’re using the wedding for political purposes?”

No one actually said, “So you’re concerned about what the young madam will think?” but everyone thought it.

“I want a wedding solely for Hailey and me. I don’t want to create anything that might make Hailey feel even slightly disappointed.”

“Yes…… Well, since you’re not having the wedding just by yourselves, you need to invite someone. If you insist, we could keep the ceremony simple and only invite people to the reception?”

“No. Skip the reception. We’ll leave right after the ceremony.”

“Pardon? Leave? Where to?”

“A honeymoon, of course. That’s the purpose. We’re going to a warm southern country. Just Hailey and me.”

Everyone remained silent but thought the same thing.

‘Wasn’t this just about pretending to have a wedding with her wearing a dress?’

Axel’s expression suggested he couldn’t understand why they would even ask such a question.

“Anyway, there’s no need to invite people unrelated to Hailey. That would only burden her. Send invitations only to noble families within our territory who have connections with Hailey.”

Khalid found himself seeing Axel in a new light while preparing for his second wedding.

The most surprising thing was that Axel now considered how Hailey would feel before thinking about himself.

‘I’ve lived long enough to see something truly remarkable.’

Axel moved on to the next agenda related to the wedding.

“Report on the progress so far.”

Khalid took out his notebook and reported.

“Yes. First, it’s been suggested that we use the garden inside the grand ducal castle as the venue. Archmage Greta said it could be modified as much as we want using spatial magic.”

“Excellent. What about the jeweler?”

“The jeweler has been arranged and will soon arrive in Winchester. The problem is the dress…”

“What about the dress?”

“They’re saying two months is too tight a schedule……”

“Who dares to complain about making a dress for my wife? If I say do it, they do it. Tell them I’ll pay whatever it costs to create the most beautiful custom dress.”

“Yes. I’ll immediately instruct the dressmaker to enter the castle. For now, I’ve told the young madam that the heir of the Duchy of Valverde and his wife will be visiting. She’s planning to host a banquet for them, so she doesn’t seem suspicious yet.”

“Well done. But won’t Hailey try to actively participate in preparing for the banquet? She’ll notice something’s up.”

“Yes. I anticipated that and prepared a plausible story. Everyone is actively participating in the role-play, so don’t worry.”

The wedding, known to everyone in the grand ducal castle except Hailey, was progressing smoothly with everyone playing their respective roles with one heart and mind.

“So all that’s left is to recruit the kid to our side.”

“That’s actually a major concern. Roto says Young Lord Theo has absolutely no talent for lying. I’m not sure if it’ll be alright.”

Before telling Theo, Khalid had approached Roto, his apprentice, for cooperation, and Roto had immediately expressed concern.

‘Our young master is truly terrible at lying, Master! He’s the type who would claim he didn’t eat chocolate pudding today while his mouth is completely smeared with chocolate cream.’

‘That sounds serious. It’ll all be revealed within a day.’

‘It’s not that bad… maybe three days?’

“That will be our biggest challenge. Still, the kid is essential for this wedding. I’ll talk to him directly and recruit him.”

Axel concluded the meeting with firm resolve to recruit Theo. As they left the meeting room and headed toward the office, Axel and Khalid exchanged ideas on how to recruit Theo.

At that moment, Khalid spotted someone walking toward them with tremendous energy from the opposite direction.

“Young lord. Look over there.”

It was Hailey, who should have been having tea time with Theo. The way she strode purposefully seemed ominous, and Khalid quickly racked his brain for an excuse to leave.

However, the oblivious Axel simply smiled broadly, happy to see her.

“Hailey? What brings you here at this hour? I was just thinking about you.”

Pleased that she had come to find him without notice, Axel spread his arms to embrace her, but Hailey, who stopped in front of him, spoke coldly:

“We need to talk.”

“Great. How about having tea time just the two of us in the garden? The flowers these days……”

“No. Forget the flowers, this is important. Sir Rethel, what’s the young lord’s schedule after this?”

“Ah, it’s fine! I can adjust it. Don’t worry. Then…… I’ll leave first so you two can talk.”

Seizing the opportunity, Khalid quickly bowed and hurried away.

Axel entered the office with Hailey.

‘What is it? I haven’t done anything wrong. I didn’t make the twins cry, and I didn’t tease the kid about being short. I even told him he’d grow tall soon.’

No matter how hard Axel thought, he couldn’t imagine what he might have done to be scolded by Hailey. He couldn’t think of anything despite thoroughly reviewing recent events, yet somehow the atmosphere suggested he was about to get a serious scolding.

As soon as Hailey sat down, she looked at Axel and said:

“Don’t you have something to tell me?”

“Something to tell you? Hmm……”

Faced with this sudden, incomprehensible question, Axel fell into brief contemplation. He had nothing to say. Should he just say what he wanted to say?

Soon he smiled broadly and patted his thigh.

“Come over here and I’ll tell you.”

“I’m not in the mood for jokes. I know you’re hiding something from me. If you tell me honestly now, I’ll forgive you.”

Hailey frowned at Axel’s frivolous answer.

Axel flinched momentarily at her claim that she knew what he was hiding.

‘Which idiot blabbed carelessly.’

Who told her that they were preparing for a wedding? Couldn’t they have just pretended not to know? And after all the effort to prepare in secret.

Deflated, Axel sullenly closed his mouth and gave no answer.