“The wedding has been moved to next week?”

“Yes. That’s what they say. She told me not to worry, she said she’d take care of the dress herself.”

Two days had passed since that night, the night that had been satisfying for them both. In the days that followed, he visited her constantly and without warning.

Although she threatened to lock the door if he kept barging in like that, she didn’t dislike it at all, and she always ended up falling asleep in his arms.

Consequently, the marks on her body showed no sign of fading; in fact, they increased with each passing day.

As a result, Ariadne had been eating every ‘healthy’ food and taking every medicinal ingredient she could find, not because she wanted to, but because Kieron insisted.

Meanwhile, Kieron woke up every morning contentedly with her resting in his arms. He had been summoned to the palace several times.

He offered the emperor his thoughts on succession, joking that if this were a battlefield, he would choose Sylvia as commander without hesitation.

He met with Sylvia to discuss the future, visited the Peyton Marquis several times for lunch, reinforced security around Lorelei by sending a few of his knights, and ran into Jade Derayan for a brief chat.

Every morning, for her sake — as she rarely left their room before late afternoon — he told her everything that had happened.

Ariadne spent her mornings leaning against Kieron while he fed her soup and chatted softly as she absorbed the day’s news.

And Kieron found her more endearing with every passing day.

“Oh, and this, this is the dessert you said you wanted yesterday.”

“What? You bought this? Really?”

“You said you wanted it, didn’t you?”

He placed a neatly packaged cake in front of her. It was the most popular item at the newly opened bakery. She had mentioned it in passing the previous day, and he had remembered, going out the following morning to buy it.

True to her love of sweets, her eyes sparkled the moment she saw it.

“You have to stand in line all day to get one of these! How did you manage it?”

“Mm. There just weren’t many people today.”

Recalling how the queue stretched from morning until night like a swarm of ants, he lied without hesitation.

He had stationed a rotation of knights at the front of the shop all day to keep his place in the queue. When it was finally his turn, he was fortunate enough to buy the last one remaining.

He kept all this to himself as he unwrapped the cake neatly so that she could eat it comfortably.

With a blissful expression, Ariadne lifted a slice of cake and took a bite.

“This is so good!”

“Is it?”

The moment it touched her tongue, she lit up like someone tasting happiness itself. She chewed with delight, and he watched her with a quietly pleased expression.

He thought—If I lean over and lick the cream off her lips, she’ll definitely get angry—just as something white suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Your Grace should try some too.”

She held out a forkful to him without warning.

Kieron blinked.

‘Is… is she giving this to me? To eat?’

When he looked at her in confusion, she demonstrated by opening her mouth slightly as if to say “Ah.”
He blinked, then awkwardly mimicked her, parting his lips. She slipped the bite of cake into his mouth.

“How is it? Isn’t it good?”

The truth was that Kieron wasn’t particularly fond of sweets. In fact, he simply hadn’t had many opportunities to eat them. He’d always wondered why people went out of their way to find things like this.

The taste was unfamiliar and strange.

He wasn’t sure he liked it.

But, with Ariadne watching him with bright, expectant eyes, he forced an awkward nod.

“It’s… not bad.”

In reality, he would never willingly eat it again.

But when she beamed at him and asked, “Really?”, he decided he could endure it just this once — she was far too cute.

As he watched her savor the cake, bliss written all over her face, he heard a voice come from outside.

“Your Grace. It’s Derrick.”

He’d clearly ordered that he not be disturbed.

Kieron clicked his tongue quietly. Ariadne shot him a glance.

“You should go, Your Grace.”

“I can stay a little longer.”

“Go on. If Derrick’s come all the way here, it must be something urgent.”

She stared at him with a fork still in her mouth, and he had no choice but to rise.

“Then I’ll be back shortly.”

He reluctantly took his leave and stepped outside. Once the door closed behind him, he saw Derrick pacing anxiously.

“What is it?”

Derrick lifted his head.

“Your Grace. We have a serious problem.”

***

Kieron was extremely confused by what Derrick called a ‘serious problem’. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t understand why it was so urgent.

This was certainly not what he had expected.

Why was there so much fuss over something so trivial?

Why had Derrick rushed all the way to the estate when everyone should have been focused on the wedding?

Being pulled away from Ariadne in the middle of their peaceful morning left him feeling mildly irritated. He tried to convince himself that there were more reasonable explanations for his frustration.

Glancing at his brother-in-law, who stood stiffly with a solemn expression, he let out a quiet sigh.

“You said you had something to tell me?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

What could be so important that he had to come here at this time of day?

The sun was already high in the sky, but Kieron’s thoughts continued to rumble quietly. Fortunately, thoughts can’t be overheard.

“What is it you wish to say? Is it urgent?”

If it was important enough to interrupt his time with his wife, it had better be truly urgent.

He looked at Heidel, the uninvited visitor, waiting for an explanation

The wedding was now only a week away.

For a groom as busy as Kieron to drop everything and hurry all the way here, there must be a good reason.

So Kieron forced himself not to grow irritated. He repeated this silently to himself like a mantra. He pushed aside his annoyance and fixed his gaze on Heidel. But who could possibly read the intentions behind such a calm, controlled expression?

Heidel Peyton worked in the palace. He was a man who could maintain the perfect poker face, changing his tone and expression at will.

Deciphering his thoughts would require time and far too much patience.

Kieron had no desire to expend that kind of mental effort, so he simply waited in silence.

“I won’t take much of your time, Your Grace.”

Fortunately, Heidel got straight to the point. Despite being busy, he had made time to come and said he only needed a moment.

Kieron folded his arms and leaned back in his chair to watch his brother-in-law speak.

“So? What did you want to say?”

“…I wished to apologize.”

The words that came out of Heidel’s mouth were far beyond anything Kieron could have imagined.

An apology.

‘An apology.’

And from Heidel Peyton of all people, out of nowhere?

Kieron stared at him, wide-eyed like a startled rabbit.

“What are you apologizing for?”

He tilted his head, looking confused.

Was he apologizing for showing up unannounced? Or was he sorry for interrupting their quiet morning? Either way, Kieron had no idea what was going on.

When someone suddenly apologizes without explanation, confusion is the only natural reaction.

When asked, Heidel hesitated for a moment, let out a soft sigh, and then spoke as though he had steeled himself.

“The truth is… I believed Your Grace did not cherish my sister very much.”

That was how he began.

He explained why he had arranged for Ariadne and Jade to meet so frequently under the pretext of preparing for the ceremony.

He also explained why he had repeatedly raised the subject of divorce and remarriage with Ariadne through his fiancée, the princess.

He did this because he thought Ariadne wasn’t being loved enough.

“To us, she’s a child so precious that we could hold her in our arms without hurting her.

The thought that she might be suffering weighs heavily on my heart.”

Half the reason he had summoned her so often was out of spite.

He felt that if his sweet sister was struggling, then Kieron should suffer too.

However, Kieron seemed completely unfazed, so, out of pure frustration, Heidel summoned her even more frequently.

Heidel apologized sincerely for behaving so childishly.

“I failed to remember that what happens between a husband and wife can only be understood by the two of them. I see now that, in your own way, you were protecting my sister.”

His voice dimmed at the end, as if he felt something had been taken from him.

Kieron watched him quietly, then shook his head.

“I appreciate you telling me. If you hadn’t, it would’ve become something forgotten and left behind.”

“No, Your Grace. I shouldn’t forget that I was in the wrong. I felt I needed to apologize properly—for Ariadne’s sake as well.”

Given Heidel’s usual temperament, Kieron had expected him to make excuses, express indignation, or even demand compensation. Instead, however, Heidel bowed his head and admitted his mistake.

He was far more conscientious — and kinder — than Kieron had thought.

Seeing him bow his head so humbly, Kieron couldn’t help but smile faintly and amusedly.

“Very well. I’ll accept your apology.”

One of the best things to come out of his relationship with Ariadne was that he could see the sincerity of the people around him more clearly.

Today, he realized that there was one more person he wouldn’t mind keeping close.

“If you have time, would you care to stay for a meal?”