“How can everyone be so cruel? This is too much.”
Clearly, Liliana’s early praise from others had sparked resentment.
“They all keep trying to take everything away from me.”
In fact, she was unjustly imprisoned, and even the Sacred Festival duties went to another young lady.
Tears welled up in Liliana’s eyes.
Knock, knock.
“Lady Valentine, are you inside?”
A familiar male voice called from outside.
Wiping away her sorrowful tears, Liliana replied, “Yes, I’m here,” and stepped out.
There stood her fiancé, holding her favorite bouquet of roses.
Astair Davillar.
A fragile-looking man with platinum hair and violet eyes behind a monocle.
Granted a duke’s title in the south due to being a collateral royal, he wore his usual tired expression.
“Astair!”
Liliana clutched the roses, voice trembling.
“You came because you knew I was having a hard time. I knew you’d come.”
Liliana spoke with playful affection, behaving like a child around her fiancé.
Some found it awkward, but to her, it was as natural as breathing.
Astair awkwardly nodded.
“Yes. I’ve heard a lot about the situation.”
“Tch. I told you not to use formal speech with me.”
Liliana puffed her cheeks, her gray eyes sparkling.
“But, Astair, where did you hide the other gifts? Should I find them?”
“Huh…?”
“Don’t you have any gifts for me?”
Embarrassed, Astair adjusted his monocle.
“Sorry, I should have prepared more…”
“More? You didn’t do anything.”
Liliana dropped the bouquet on the floor with a gloomy expression.
“You never truly love me, Astair.”
Her eyes burned with deep resentment as she clenched her fists, staring at him.
“Why didn’t you come to save me when I was taken?”
“Lady Liliana, that was beyond my control.”
Astair was the least powerful duke.
No southern duke could handle crime in the capital.
Besides, Emperor Ludwig was extremely sensitive about other dukes meddling in the capital’s affairs.
Even if he had tried, Astair could do nothing.
“And I was in the south at the time…”
“You should have come to rescue me! I should always be your first priority! How can you do this?”
Tears brimmed as Liliana shouted.
“You’re my fiancé! Didn’t you worry about me?”
“I did. I worried a lot.”
“But how could you treat me like this if you cared?”
Overwhelmed by Liliana’s insistence, Astair quietly bowed his head.
“I’m sorry. I should have come sooner.”
“But… what about the corsage I asked for? I know! You forgot the gifts because you were busy getting the corsage!”
Her tearful face instantly brightened.
“Did you fail to get other gifts because of that?”
Right after getting out of prison, Liliana wrote to Astair, requesting a white peony corsage essential for the Sacred Festival.
Other gifts she could have coaxed from her father or brother.
But the white peony corsage, currently the hottest trend, was rare and difficult to find.
The trend began just after Liliana’s tax evasion arrest, so none were available anywhere.
She believed that Astair, a duke, could use the power of love to obtain it.
“Lady Liliana…”
Astair answered uncertainly.
“We searched all southern guilds, but couldn’t find what you requested.”
“What?”
“Instead, we procured similar items. You should have them by the Sacred Festival.”
“Similar items?”
Liliana screamed, clutching her cheeks.
“That’s ridiculous! Everyone will mock me with those!”
Only the peony corsage from the Hill Guild, the most popular in society, would do.
‘It’s a completely different quality from other guilds’ items.’
The white peony corsage, crafted with multiple layers of white silk lace, looked like a masterpiece.
Even the Hill Guild announced only one artisan could make it.
“You really couldn’t get the real one? You’re not joking with me?”
Liliana stomped impatiently, but Astair just shook his head silently.
“Sorry. I wish I had connections in the eastern guilds…”
“What can you do for me, Astair?”
Liliana angrily slapped his cheek.
Smack!
“Lady Liliana… I’m sorry. I’ll do my best with other items.”
“I don’t need that! Do you think this is all just about an item?”
At her fiancé’s summons, Liliana burst into tears as if she had been slapped.
“Lord Astair ignored Liliana’s sincere plea.”
“I’m sorry. If you think that way, then it’s my fault…”
“Leave! Liliana doesn’t need a man like you!”
Liliana drove Astair out with reckless force, then collapsed, tears falling bitterly.
‘I was actually satisfied just being a countess.’
Liliana had been betrothed to Duke Davilar, who possessed a princely and magnificent appearance.
Of course, Iris had received her marriage proposal first.
But that was an unfair arrangement based on age order; Liliana simply accepted what came to her.
‘But now I understand.’
While Iris’s status might have matched it, Liliana’s place was not among such heights.
Standing before the mirror, Liliana gazed at her sparkling appearance—her golden hair radiant, eyes tender but flushed red.
“A man who makes me cry like this is not suited for me.”
She should have opposed the engagement from the start but was too soft-hearted to decide.
In hindsight, Duke Davilar had seemed to praise or hold fondness for Iris.
Perhaps only friendship or respect, but Liliana was unaware, lost in bitterness over her fiancé’s indifference.
“A man with no consideration doesn’t suit a girl wounded like me.”
Raised without a mother’s love, she needed someone who would nurture and cherish those wounds.
“I’m sorry, Lord Astair.”
Liliana deserved a kinder, more powerful partner—
Someone who could grant her wishes and hold the highest power in the empire.
For example…
His Majesty the Emperor himself.
“Surely, His Majesty remembers Liliana, daughter of Valentine?”
Iris, already married off, was surely not in His Majesty’s mind.
Blushing, Liliana clasped her cheeks and smiled shyly.
Certainly, spring had come earlier to the capital than Leontheim. Though early spring, the weather was mild.
Iris found herself oddly unfamiliar with the capital’s climate.
‘Perhaps I am becoming more of a Leontheim native.’
If so, she thought she would be glad.
As usual, she checked the response of the Sacred Sword, then sank into thought.
[Find the key, that is the beginning.]
Yet Iris still did not know what key the tome referred to.
She had sought more information on the Sacred Sword but gained little; much remained unreliable.
‘I hope to find new clues in the capital.’
The sword’s reaction suggested something was there.
But nothing was guaranteed to go smoothly.
Even if all had gone well so far, trouble could arise anytime.
‘What if I ruin it again?’
Familiar anxiety crept in.
The past pressed down on Iris like a living entity; learned helplessness weighed heavily.
‘Could Cedric accompany me to the Sacred Rite banquet in the capital?’
Especially since Cedric had moved at her word, the burden felt heavier.
‘No.’
Iris tightly clasped the ring Cedric had gifted her. Strangely, warmth spread through her body.
‘This time will be different.’
Cooling her mind, reason returned.
‘I will do what I must.’
Her immediate concern was attending the Sacred Rite.
While the rite itself was important, this one held particular significance—
It would be Iris’s first official public appearance as Duchess.
‘I had thought the title merely ceremonial before, so I avoided it.’
But now that she was to attend the banquet, she must be flawless.
Everyone would be curious about the wife forced upon the Duke of Leontheim by the Emperor.
‘I cannot be a burden to Cedric.’
Perhaps sensing her resolve, or simply wishing to help,
Cedric began sending extravagant gifts for the Sacred Rite as if he had been waiting.
Iris almost refused, saying, “This is too much,” but Cedric’s cheerful smile disarmed her.
“This is a gift to commemorate our first Sacred Rite together, my lady. As your husband, this is only fitting.”
“But this doesn’t fit the occasion…”
At that moment, Iris held up a dress unsuited for the Rite, gifted by Cedric.
Yet Cedric was unfazed.
“This was purchased to celebrate our first visit to the capital together. Surely, one must have seasonal clothes when visiting the capital often.”
It sounded reasonable, if one ignored the overflowing contents of Iris’s dressing room.
When Iris pointed out the flaw in his logic, Cedric smoothly countered, as if prepared for such a situation.
Holding up a white dress, he began, “This is because Iris seems to lack a white dress, so I gifted it.”
Then he explained, “I bought this to commemorate Iris’s sky-blue eyes,” or, “This dress is for when you return to the North.”
Every time he chose an item, it was astonishing how many stories and reasons he had for it.
For some reason, when Cedric said such things, Iris found it hard to refuse.
“I don’t need you to do any more, really.”
Iris was carefully organizing Cedric’s gifts, wanting to cherish each one in her memory.
Knock, knock.
Cedric knocked on the door.
“Is this a good time?”
“Your Highness?”
“I came because I wanted to see you for a moment.”
Cedric entered, holding yet another new gift.
A white peony corsage.
Iris knew the item well.
It was currently one of the most fashionable pieces in society, along with frilled lace dresses.
“He must have worked hard to get it for Liliana.”
Especially since the Sacred Festival banquet was just around the corner, it must have been even harder to procure.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Iris smiled quietly at Cedric’s calm response.
She knew firsthand how difficult it was to obtain this corsage, having searched for it herself.
“I’ll treasure this gift as well.”
“Just so you know, you don’t have to use every gift I give you.”
As Iris slowly blinked, Cedric smiled gently.
“I heard this has become popular recently, so I just managed to get it. It might come in handy for you someday.”
Cedric spoke with warmth and calmness.
“My gift’s purpose is simply to offer you more choices.”
“……”
“I hope you can do everything as you wish.”
Suddenly, Iris recalled traces of the past from Cedric’s current demeanor.
In the past, whenever she had nightmares, she would flee to a secluded place and cry alone.
And then Cedric had once found her like that.
‘Iris.’
Cedric stood quietly, speechless as he watched her tears.
‘You don’t have to force yourself to smile for anyone.’
Then Cedric carefully approached and wrapped her gently in his embrace.
‘You don’t have to strive so hard, struggle desperately, or swallow your tears every night.’
Why he said those words, what he knew that made him say that to Iris—she could never tell.
‘But Cedric always…’
‘Please, then cry in my arms, Iris.’
Cedric had always spoken such kind words to her, unbelievably tender no matter how time changed the circumstances.
Why hadn’t Cedric changed at all?
“Is there a reason behind this?”
Cedric asked, smiling playfully after a brief pause.
“I wanted to give this to the twenty-year-old Iris. Isn’t that enough?”
Recalling a past long vanished, Iris smiled faintly.
If she could return to that time, she would promise to smile for him again and again, even if no one else remembered.
“No, it’s more than enough. Thank you.”
Bowing her head slightly, Iris gently caressed the corsage like a treasured relic with her pale hand.
Cedric’s sharp red eyes gleamed keenly as he looked at her.
‘Why do you always look so sad?’
Even as she smiled as if happy before him, Cedric somehow felt a pang of pity for her.
‘Thinking back at the Ducal Castle…’
Iris would smile happily, but sometimes her expression was drenched in anxiety.
‘I wonder about you.’
Yet Cedric instinctively sensed that such questions would burden Iris.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Cedric’s affection for Iris was too deep to contain.
“D-Duke?”
Unable to hold back, Cedric pulled Iris into his arms.
Though much smaller in stature, Iris buried herself in his embrace.
Cedric knew Iris was not weak; she was wise and capable of protecting herself.
But still, why did she seem so small and fragile?
Leaning slightly forward, Cedric pressed his forehead to the delicate nape of Iris’s neck, like a wolf showing affection to his mate.
“My lady, I am always on your side. Please remember that.”
“I will remember.”
Iris nodded softly.
Like a young creature, she leaned into Cedric’s steady embrace.
Rustle—
At that moment, the texture of paper brushed against Iris’s collarbone.
Startled, she opened her eyes wide and looked up. Cedric pulled out a list from within his robe with an “Ah.”
“This is the list of designers reserved for the Sacred Rite. I picked out several dresses, thinking they might be needed.”
“When did you prepare all this?”
“Just a little ahead of time.”
Originally, Iris had no plans to come down for the Sacred Rite. So Cedric must have prepared it after that decision.
‘He must have prepared it right after.’
Cedric lightly pointed to the list as he looked at Iris.
“You may visit each and bring back whatever dresses you like. If there’s a dress you fancy on someone else, you may take it.”
“How can you say that?”
Iris laughed softly at Cedric’s seemingly joking remark—though Cedric clearly wasn’t joking.
Cedric shrugged.
“Don’t worry. A husband’s power extends that far.”
Iris scanned the list lightly.
It was filled with the names of the empire’s most renowned atelier designers.
‘How did he manage to book them during such a busy season?’
Among the names, one stood out as particularly familiar.
‘Baron Elbert Pergia.’
Currently hailed as the finest designer, he had once been Liliana’s exclusive dressmaker.
Of course, he wasn’t always Liliana’s dedicated designer.
‘Famous and highly skilled, but didn’t quite suit Liliana.’
Chapter 55