"No way! What's wrong with your mother?!"
"She wasn't remembered as a good mother to me, but if she was a good mother-in-law to Asha, I am satisfied with that."
"Thank you. If Carcel is doing this because you can't stand it anymore, I won't say anything either."
Carcel shook his head.
"No. And Asha... about the wedding my mother mentioned..."
"Ah!"
Right. There was a wedding, wasn't there?!
I spoke before him.
"Then shall we have a wedding?"
Upon hearing those words, Carcel hesitated with his lips parted.
He seemed to be struggling to understand what he had heard.
"...Do you want to do it?"
"I don't really have any romantic notions about the wedding itself, but we don't intend to break up anyway, do we?"
"Huh?!"
Carcel's eyes flushed in an instant.
"Are you serious?"
"We even kiss on the cheek, and we share a bedroom. You haven't been toying with me all this time, have you?"
I asked mischievously, even though I knew it wasn't true.
Then Carcel shook his head desperately and shouted.
"That's impossible. No, who would toy with whom? Absolutely not. I have no intention of doing that."
To think that a man who would normally speak nonchalantly with an indifferent face and an eloquent tongue would act so innocent in front of me.
I found that funny, so I leaned my upper body toward him for no reason.
“Then?”
"That's not it... Ha, Asha."
Carcel, noticing that I was making fun of him, raised his hand and covered his face.
To think of the embarrassed face of a man who doesn't even know how to hide his awkwardness.
'Cute.'
"I told Asha with my mouth that I would never give my place to another man, but if you really desperately want it."
“If I want?”
"I thought that I might let Asha go once I was no longer useful."
Carcel lowered the hand covering his face and looked down at me.
I still leaned forward and observed his face.
A slow, sensual light shone over Carcel's cheek, which had been dying of embarrassment just moments before.
"What if I have no intention of leaving and want to marry Carcel?"
"I have no choice. Asha's choice will simply guide my decision."
He lowered his head toward me this time and whispered.
"But Asha, are you really okay with having your ankles tied to me forever?"
The languidly subdued bass cracked slightly.
As if trying to shove excitement in.
Carcel's gaze was unbearably raw.
I gasped for a moment at the look in his eyes as he looked down at me diagonally.
"Hmm..."
The affectionate atmosphere suddenly turned suffocatingly sticky, and I bit my lip for a moment.
My throat burned.
"It seems like it will be fine for now, but does Carcel not want to have a wedding?"
I forced a faint smile, trying hard to push away the suffocating tension.
Then Carcel also looked at me and gently curved his lips as before.
“That can’t be possible.”
He whispered to me as if confessing a secret.
"Actually, I have been waiting only for this moment to let everyone know that Asha is mine."
"That is. That is a relief. Since our opinions align!"
"And I had a brief conversation with my mother earlier."
Carcel continued speaking slowly.
Come to think of it, Carcel and his mother disappeared after the meal, saying they would have a private conversation for a moment.
Unlike the tension I felt fearing a fight might break out, Carcel returned with nothing to lose, which was quite anticlimactic.
"It seems Mother wishes for Asha to hold our wedding at the Grand Temple if His Majesty the Emperor grants permission."
"The... The Great Temple? Isn't that a place only accessible to the royal family?"
"Among the ancestors of the Duke of Lakan, there are some who married into the royal family."
Carcel continued speaking.
"Of course, since we can only reveal our status as Marquis externally, we won't be able to emphasize that, though."
"Then, is it really necessary to go so far as to ask His Majesty the Emperor for a favor?"
"It seemed like Mother also wanted to give Asha the best of everything."
Carcel spoke calmly.
"That is at least why I didn't tell my mother to leave the house. Because she is someone who genuinely cares for Asha and your daughter."
"Honestly, since I have a child and am remarried, I thought she might dislike me a bit, but I am grateful that she are so favorable."
"Even if Asha had about 10 children and had been remarried three times, honestly, Mother wouldn't care."
"Isn't that a bit too exaggerated...?"
I asked him back, looking bewildered, as he tried to reassure me even today by giving extreme examples.
Then Carcel bared his teeth and laughed heartily.
"So stop worrying about ridiculous things, Asha, just live your life as you please. Don't be mindful of my mother's feelings."
"I understand. Then I definitely don't want to do it at the Grand Temple. Alternatively, we could do it at the Marquis's Mansion, but since this place also serves as an office, it wouldn't be possible for security reasons, right?"
"All the places we're not supposed to enter are thoroughly protected by security spells, so shall we just do it at home?"
Home.
The word he spat out felt somehow ticklish.
I always wished I had a real home to return to.
Hearing Carcel say it, it really hit me that I had a home.
"Yes. I want to do it at home."
"All right."
He listened to my opinion and nodded without a word.
"How about a garden wedding? Honestly, I just thought weddings were a headache, but hearing that we're having it at home...Maybe it's because the pressure has lifted a bit, but I suddenly feel like doing something."
"Great."
"And I think it would be good to keep it simple, just like a regular social event."
I asked him.
"When do you think Carcel will be okay? I'd prefer it as soon as possible."
At my question, asked so casually, Carcel looked flustered for a moment.
"Like a regular social event... just fitting the wedding dress would take at least three months."
I shook my head.
"The dress just needs to be white, so let's just buy one."
"...It might remain in the portrait for the rest of your life. Are you sure you’re okay with that?"
I argued strongly.
"I have to earn money right now and I'm so busy that I don't have time to even get a wedding dress custom-made!"
Moreover, since Linea is involved with Lucian, she is bound to get involved in Lucian's attempted assassination cases.
'Grand Duke Dischlie will make a move, even if not right away.'
I had to be prepared before he did anything.
Before that, I should first build up the magic stone mining business, which might become a weapon for me.
"Understood. I will tell Mother as well, so Asha don't need to tell her separately."
"Your mother won't be disappointed, will she?"
"So what if she feels hurt? It is Asha's wedding, so please do as Asha wishes."
He grasped my hand and met my gaze as if to give me reassurance.
"Thank you, Carcel."
That was when the wedding venue was decided.
Apart from my wishes, discussions about a wedding were taking place elsewhere.
***
At that moment, in the imperial palace, the Emperor raised his head with a weary face.
"So, you're saying Duke Lakan's wife has remarried and has a child with her?"
The Emperor's gaze, with its deep dark circles, was unappealing.
"The spouse chosen by the Duke, who rejected all the partners I recommended, is the former Countess of Delmore."
The Emperor had wrinkles around his eyes from not having slept properly for a long time.
Count Tabes nodded, gazing at him with concern.
"From what I found out, she did not have any personal details that would cause any problems."
"But that girl with her... coincidentally, didn't she become close with Lucian as well?"
"Yes. According to the escort knights' report, they met by chance after bumping into each other in the market."
"That's strange for a coincidence."
The Emperor believed that there is no such thing as coincidence in anything.
The fact that his wife happened to drink a medicinal tea said to be good for postpartum recovery, and that it happened to be incompatible with the food she usually liked.
So, even the fact that she died not long after giving birth to Lucian.
'Those eyeing the imperial family are always swarming everywhere.'
In fact, the Emperor's suspicion fortunately saved Lucian's life time and time again.
If he loses even Lucian, who at least reminds him of his wife...
"Countess Delmore met Duke Lacan by chance, fell in love, and married him. On top of that, my son met his adopted daughter by chance and became close to her."
"There is a saying that when coincidences pile up, it becomes destiny."
"It’s not just a simple inevitability. I suspect it might be some kind of honey trap."
Very few people know that Marquis Rivandel is Duke Lakan.
What if that woman, Countess Delmore, found out about this and approached him pretending it was a coincidence?
And what if, later on, she even got her own daughter entangled with Lucian under the guise of a mistake?
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