Chapter 3

Suspicion was one thing, but Idina was actually embarrassed by the fact that she was his childhood friend. She didn’t think about asking any more questions.

However, it was natural for her to have doubts about the situation itself. The Duchy of Bride was already considered the second-in-command of the Escass Empire. Because of that, she couldn’t even begin to guess what he meant by “much better conditions.”

Could there really be such conditions?

When getting engaged to the Lilles family, there had been no promise of rights or anything from the Bride family. It was a union between two dukes of the same status. To push for an engagement while insisting on such trivial gains would have been insulting to both parties.

Anyway, if something had to be exchanged, it wouldn’t have been too late to do so after the families had formally married. That was the implicit agreement generally followed, and since the Bride family was wealthy enough as the second-in-command of the empire, there was no need to be stingy with exchanges.

Even though he knew all that, he still said “much better conditions.”

‘It wouldn’t be a marriage to the royal family.’

There was a young princess in the royal family, but she already had a partner decided for her—Lord Bride, Idina’s second younger brother. He was still attending the academy, a fluffy brat, so marriage was far from his mind. They hadn’t even officially become engaged yet, but talks with the royal family had already been concluded.

That was why it was even more of a mystery.

Of course, that wasn’t an important issue for Idina. In fact, she was actually quite thankful that Lord Lilles had said it.

However, Duke Bride’s suspicion that the issue was due to her own faults still needed to be resolved.

“Don’t you trust me, Father? I’m the one who’s never gone out of line.”

Although she occasionally cursed Lilles, it was true that she had never crossed any boundaries. In fact, there were other children in the Bride family who often got into trouble, but Idina was an exception.

Fortunately, since they had built trust in this area, the Duke was quickly convinced.

“Yes, our daughter wouldn’t do that. In that case…”

The Duke turned to the vassal from the Lilles family and spoke.

“I need to see the Duke of Lilles in person tonight and decide. Tell him he must meet me at the banquet today. Surely, he won’t avoid the banquet because he’s scared of me!”

The vassal sent by the Duke of Lilles made an awkward expression at the almost threatening words but soon lowered his head.

“…I will tell him as it is.”

In truth, today was a very inappropriate day to discuss the breakup. Many nobles would gather at the banquet held at the imperial palace that evening. So, everyone would talk about the breakup between the Bride and Lilles families today.

Idina would be the topic of conversation among the wealthy.

And that was a bit of an awkward situation for Idina as well.

In that sense, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Lilles family had declared war on the Bride family. She couldn’t understand why they were taking such an extreme approach.

‘Is there another reason?’

Curiosity arose, but it wasn’t something that could be resolved right away.

***

Clip clop, clip clop…….

Amid the sound of horse hooves echoing freely, Idina, sitting in the carriage, opened the small window and peeked outside.

In front of the carriage she was riding in, she could see other carriages carrying members of the Bride family, along with carriages adorned with the emblems of various noble families, all lined up.

It was sunset, and the streets would usually be empty, but today was different.

It was the first banquet held by the royal family in a long time. The event had been announced six months ago, and quite a few nobles had traveled from the provinces to attend.

Before this emperor ascended to the throne, banquets were held at least four times a year. But this great emperor had been somewhat reluctant to host them. In fact, this banquet was the first in almost a year, and she had heard that it was going to be a grand affair.

Since Thanksgiving Day was approaching, the event was planned to be one where people could truly enjoy themselves. The imperial family had also announced that they would make an important declaration at the banquet.

Duke Bride seemed to be expecting that they might announce the official engagement of their second son and the princess. Yet, the imperial family had shown no signs of such a development. If no contact had been made, then it probably wasn’t happening.

Idina muttered to herself as she gazed out the window.

“Today… will the crown prince make an appearance?”

Since no one was listening, she felt freer. The Crown Prince of the Escass Empire, Killian Escass.

Idina had only seen him a few times. When they were children, they would attend the same academy, and she had expected to see him more often, but Killian remained elusive. There simply weren’t many opportunities to cross paths.

The reason for their rare encounters was that Crown Prince Escass himself rarely did anything that stood out.

An emperor who seldom held banquets.

A crown prince who rarely ventured outside.

Some people even whispered that the father and son were behaving strangely.

In particular, the crown prince had hardly been seen in recent years, and as a result, all sorts of rumors had been circulating.

However, Idina, who had seen Killian a few times, knew that he was just a completely normal person.