In the end, Sylvia glared at him for a long moment before leaving her seat.

“If our wedding is more important to you than the duchess, then contact me. Until then, don’t come to me — and don’t send word.”

If they continued talking like this, she would definitely end up mentioning calling off the engagement. At this rate, she might even suggest that he go and live with his sister, since he cared so much about her.

Sylvia held no resentment towards Ariadne herself, but because of her unreasonable older brother, she was beginning to feel resentful towards her.

Knowing herself better than anyone, Sylvia hurried to leave before Heidel could say anything else. Otherwise, she might take out her frustration on Ariadne as well, and the duchess didn’t deserve that.

She was just about to step out of the room, determined not to take out her anger on her innocent future sister-in-law, when—

“Your Highness. A moment, if I may.”

Judging by the voice, it was Jade Derayan. It was only then that Sylvia realized where she was.

Since the Duke and Duchess of Ambrose had left earlier, she and Heidel had been stuck in a fruitless conversation. By now, the Duke and Duchess of Ambrose must have been home for hours.

What on earth was she still doing in someone else’s house?

Unable to hide her sigh, Sylvia opened the door.

“What is it, Lord Derayan?”

“…Someone has come seeking Your Highness.”

“Me?”

Officially, she was supposed to be at the Imperial Palace at this time. The fact that someone had come looking for her all the way to the Derayan estate piqued her curiosity.

When she looked at him questioningly, Jade hesitated, his lips parting slowly.

“To be precise… they came looking for me.”

“And?”

If someone had come to see him, he could simply meet them.

Why hesitate to say so?

For a moment she watched him, puzzled until her thoughts shifted, and clarity struck.

“You mean they came to see you, but there’s something they need to tell me, isn’t that right?”

If Jade’s visitor was there for a reason that also involved her, then there was only one possibility: The bridesmaids’ dresses. Or anything related to the wedding attire.

Sylvia already knew that the Count of Derayan had an exceptionally discerning taste. After all, he owned and sponsored several boutiques and jewelry houses.

As he was overseeing her entire wedding wardrobe, she had entrusted every preparation to establishments under his patronage.

But surely this wasn’t about that?

Even as she asked what had happened, a cold prickle ran down her spine and her hand opened and closed anxiously.

Jade let out a long, heavy sigh.

“My apologies. The boutique was broken into. The bridesmaids’ gowns have been stolen… and the wedding dress has been damaged.”

“…What?”

Her uneasy premonition had been right.

***

She couldn’t understand how this could have happened.

After receiving Jade’s message and setting off in pursuit, that was all Ariadne could think about. At a time when everything was supposed to be under control, an accident had occurred.

“Do you think we can remake the clothes before the wedding?”

“…Well. We’ll have to see.”

They had been talking when the news arrived and Kieron immediately offered to accompany her.

It was getting darker by the minute, and he didn’t want to leave Ariadne alone with the erratic Heidel Peyton.

Unaware of his true feelings, Ariadne was simply grateful that he was going to accompany her.

“I feel so bad for Her Highness. You only get one wedding in your life…”

Ariadne looked close to tears, as though she had lost something. Kieron couldn’t quite fathom why, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

Instead, he merely nodded in agreement and looked sympathetic.

“Hopefully the dress can be repaired. Bridesmaids’ gowns can be replaced easily enough, can they not?”

“Yes, but… it’s still sad when things don’t go the way you hoped.”

Especially for something like a wedding.

Ariadné sighed with genuine regret.

‘A wedding.’

Somehow, that word lodged in his throat.

Kieron looked at her quietly, hesitating whether to speak.

“That reminds me—”

But Ariadne spoke first. And because of that, he swallowed his words for the moment.

“Your Excellency, was there anything you wanted to do at the wedding?”

When the chance came again, Kieron was thrown off guard.

His mind was a tangled mess.

What was he supposed to say?

While he struggled to organize his thoughts, she continued gently, encouraging him to speak freely.

“If it feels burdensome, you don’t have to answer! I can just talk instead.”

She repeated herself, telling him not to worry, as he tried to untangle the jumble of thoughts in his head.

“You can even say you don’t have anything in mind. It’s really fine.”

But Kieron wasn’t silent because it felt like too much effort to answer; he was silent because he truly had nothing to say.

Yet she had misunderstood something completely.

He debated whether to correct her, then finally spoke up.

“It wasn’t that I felt burdened.”

Hearing those words, Ariadne froze in her tracks, cutting off her flustered rambling.

She slowly turned her gaze towards him. Her expression looked a little eerie at that moment, but there was something far more important to address.

Kieron gathered his thoughts briefly before speaking.

“Well… to be honest, I never really thought much about the wedding.”

“Ah…”

Was she expecting something?

Her face visibly wilted and he couldn’t help but laugh briefly.

It was unmistakably the look of someone whose expectations had just been shattered.

Yet she tried so hard to pretend nothing had happened that it became unintentionally funny.

Cute, even.

“…”

No, he took that back.

Startled by the thought, Kieron’s shoulders jerked sharply.

Calling a grown woman cute was absolutely not something he should be thinking.

He hurried to add, “I meant that’s how it was back then. Not now.”

“But a wedding only happens once.”

Ariadne said, pushing out her lower lip in protest. How could that possibly make sense, her expression seemed to say. But he had his own plans.

“Now, I think it would be nice to have the children act as flower boys someday. And maybe we could hold it in a better venue. But back then… I didn’t know any of that.”

He didn’t know, he hadn’t grown up seeing anything like that before. He had no idea what a wedding should look like.

When planning their own wedding, Kieron simply told Herald to “take care of things appropriately”.

Having spent years at war, he had never attended anyone else’s wedding, and there was no one to show him how it should be done.

To him, what Herald had prepared was the best he could do.

“Were you disappointed?”

So he asked. She might have had her own dreams about a wedding. But she shook her head.

“I wasn’t disappointed. I was just thinking about how Her Highness’s wedding is going to turn out, and it made me curious about how it was for you.”

“And our wedding is already over.”

Ariadne smiled faintly. There was something she wasn’t saying, and this made him feel uneasy.

What was she trying to hide?

His brows drew together, and she seemed to sense that something was wrong. Her face flushed and she glanced at him nervously.

“Your Excellency?”

His thoughts remained unshaken by her tentative voice.

Did she dislike something about their wedding?

He searched his memories, but couldn’t recall anything amiss.

Their wedding had taken place in the grand ballroom of Peyton Manor. Aside from his formal attire and the gifts prepared for the bride’s family, the Marquisate had arranged everything else.

Her mother, the Marchioness of Peyton, had devoted herself to every detail.

He remembered being told that.

And it showed.

Even someone like him — hardened by years on the battlefield, with no real eye for beauty — thought the hall was breathtaking.

If he had found it beautiful, how magnificent must it have been to others?

Every flower, ribbon and jewel decorating the hall and Ariadne’s gown had been beautiful that day.

Had there been something she didn’t like that day?

While he searched his memory, she cautiously spoke.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Ah. I was wondering if there had been anything you didn’t like about our wedding.”

Kieron answered lightly. Even if something had displeased her, the day had already passed—it couldn’t be changed. Still, it was better to know than not.

He was still thinking through possibilities when—

“Actually… on my wedding day, something happened at the manor. Something similar to what Her Highness is dealing with now.”

“Something similar?”

“Yes. It wasn’t as serious as Her Highness’s situation, but…”

And the story she began to recount was something he had truly never imagined—even in his dreams.