WARDV 24

CHAPTER 24

“This is the necklace worn by Her Majesty the Empress’s mother. It’s the very item Her Majesty has been desperately searching for.”

Azeph’s brow furrowed at the statement.

She’d boldly insisted on coming to the imperial palace first, and now she suddenly brings in a random necklace, claiming it belongs to the Empress?

‘What is she plotting?’

Could it be that his younger brother had fallen for a cunning woman?

Azeph looked at Leticia with displeased eyes, concern subtly creeping into his expression.

Leticia, seemingly expecting this reaction, calmly added an explanation.

“If you check the initials engraved on the back, you’ll see that this necklace indeed belongs to Her Majesty.”

Azeph examined the back of the necklace with skeptical eyes, but his gaze wavered.

V.N.

It was the Empress Vanessa’s initials.

Still, something didn’t sit right with him.

“…The Empress has never mentioned this necklace before.”

“Of course she wouldn’t have told Your Majesty. If she had, you would’ve made the search public, and that would’ve placed you in an awkward position.”

“…”

“Her Majesty the Empress chose to worry about her beloved husband’s position before her own wishes.”

Empress Vanessa had been the illegitimate daughter of a neighboring kingdom—Ludim.

The ambitious King of Ludim had coveted imperial territory, launched a war, and lost.

As a sign of reconciliation, he sent his illegitimate daughter to the Empire.

Despite having legitimate princesses of his own.

Fortunately, Azeph had accepted Vanessa as his consort.

However, the people of the Empire—who had lost their families in Ludim’s war—disliked Vanessa simply for being a Ludim princess.

They paid no mind to how she had been treated by her own family in Ludim. All they cared about was directing their anger at her.

In such circumstances, Vanessa couldn’t publicly search for her late mother’s necklace, even if she wanted to.

‘If the Emperor got involved, public opinion would turn sour.’

And that particular point seemed to strike a chord in Azeph’s heart.

‘Of course. If he just found out his wife had been suppressing her grief for his sake, it must be painful.’

Leticia had anticipated that emotional reaction, which is why she had deliberately called him the “beloved husband.”

And her plan worked perfectly.

No—it was bound to work.

Because the Emperor truly loved the Empress.

‘Is this what real love looks like?’

Putting the other person first. Stepping back for their sake.

Just as Leticia realized what she had once felt for Peidan hadn’t been love at all, Azeph asked:

“Did you bring this necklace here today as some kind of bribe?”

He still clearly didn’t trust her.

‘Well, a mere necklace wouldn’t be enough to make a scandal-ridden duchess look favorable in his eyes.’

But Leticia had expected this too.

More than that—

‘It was the reaction I was waiting for.’

With a gentle smile, she gave the answer she’d prepared.

“I only wished to return the necklace to its rightful owner. That’s what’s proper and just.”

“…”

“But if receiving it like this makes you feel indebted, then… we could treat it as a transaction instead.”

“…A transaction?”

“We give each other what we want. No debts, no obligations.”

Azeph fell into thought for a moment.

‘It’s a bold proposal, but probably the best option.’

If he simply accepted the necklace, it would feel as if he were endorsing a relationship between Leticia and Idris.

But if he accepted the necklace and dismissed Leticia coldly, that would feel equally wrong.

Finally, he made up his mind and asked:

“What do you want?”

Leticia smiled, as if she had been waiting for this very moment.

“If Your Majesty permits, I’d like to reclaim the land that Peidan Farnese submitted in place of tax payment—land that originally belonged to my mother.”

“Pfft… hahaha!”

In the carriage ride back to the Grand Duchy after her audience with the Emperor, Idris still couldn’t stop chuckling.

Negotiating with the Emperor himself must have been that amusing to him.

“To strike a deal with the Emperor—my partner is truly resourceful.”

At first, Leticia had worried she might have overstepped.

But seeing how delighted he was, maybe she had been impressive after all.

Feeling a bit sheepish from his praise, she tried to shift the credit.

“Really, it was only possible because His Majesty truly cares for Her Majesty and isn’t the type to use power to suppress others.”

“Even so, not many would have the nerve to propose such a deal directly to the Emperor.”

Hmm. He had a point.

In the end, the Emperor had gotten so caught up in the negotiation that he never even got to his original goal—likely something along the lines of ‘Break up with my brother!’

“My partner would make an excellent entrepreneur.”

“I’ll have to bring you along every time I meet the Emperor.”

Leticia pretended not to hear Idris’s chilling half-joke and moved on to the main topic.

“Anyway, now that the land is officially mine, we can proceed with the contract.”

“You mentioned starting a business, didn’t you? What kind of business do you have in mind?”

“I haven’t quite decided yet. But there’s something I need to do first.”

She smiled mysteriously at the puzzled Idris.

“What I need to do is…”

A few days later.

A grand business presentation was held at the Delua Grand Duchy.

It was customary for entrepreneurs to host these quarterly gatherings to unveil new ventures—networking with allies, seeking investors, or keeping rivals in check.

To everyone’s surprise, Peidan also showed up.

‘Let’s see what kind of impressive business a cheating scumbag like him has planned.’

Truthfully, Peidan didn’t even want to see Idris’s face, but not attending would’ve felt like losing.

Everyone already assumed his relationship with Leticia was over, so he might as well attend just to stir trouble—remind everyone that Idris, too, was part of the scandal.

“Oh, you’re here, Duke Farnese.”

The attendees were visibly unsettled to see Peidan walk in—none had expected him to show.

Peidan brushed off their greetings and sat down nonchalantly.

Once everyone had taken their seats, the star of the event—Idris—entered.

Upon spotting Peidan, he smiled with his usual composure and began.

“Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend.”

Though Idris held the title of Grand Duke and was of imperial blood, in these gatherings, the presenter had to use polite speech regardless of rank.

Watching Idris confidently give his introduction, Peidan sneered inwardly.

‘The nerve of this guy. Breaking up someone’s marriage and still having the gall to stand before everyone like nothing happened.’

Not that Leticia could push for a divorce without her dowry being returned. So as far as public perception went, Idris was still the adulterer.

Soon, the presentation began.

Contrary to Peidan’s hopes, the crowd was completely captivated by Idris.

Naturally so—every venture Idris had touched so far had turned into a massive success.

Feeling everyone’s attention on him, Idris began.

“Over the next two years, I plan to develop an airship.”

“An airship?”

Everyone began murmuring, clearly unfamiliar with the term.

Idris elaborated.

“As the name suggests, it’s a ship that sails through the sky.”

“Is something like that even possible?”

“Our research over the past few years suggests that it is—very much so.”

Peidan, frowning in disapproval, raised his hand.

“What’s the principle behind it?”

“The principle is a company secret. I can’t disclose it.”

“You expect us to invest without even explaining how it works?”

Other entrepreneurs nodded in agreement, thinking Peidan’s question had merit.

But Idris smiled calmly, as if expecting this very pushback.

“I can’t show you the technical documents, but I can show you a working model.”

With a snap of his fingers, Heather entered, carrying a transparent case.

Inside—larger than a grown man’s torso—was a small model of a ship.

At its center was a glowing, translucent blue stone.

A magic stone.