Chapter 39
January 20th, afternoon.
Vivian, Belita, and I were gathered in the Crown Princess’s office to design the consecrated ring that would be used for Heine’s wedding.
Leon, the priest sent from the temple, had taken a seat across from us, urging us on.
“Heine, do you have a gemstone in mind? I can work it into the design.”
Even though it was a consecrated ring, it was still an imperial wedding, so I was thinking of giving it a rather lavish design.
“A blue diamond… the same color as His Highness’s eyes.”
Heine said it shyly. Belita simply nodded as if that made sense, while Vivian and I shot Heine a subtle side-eye.
A blue diamond.
Like red diamonds, it was a gemstone that boasted an astronomical price due to its rarity.
There were plenty of gems that resembled Lucas’s eyes—sapphires, topaz, turquoise—but she had specifically chosen the outrageously expensive blue diamond.
Heine, you’re quite sly. As expected of Count Fame’s daughter.
She claimed to hate such things, yet in the end, she truly was a merchant’s daughter.
Vivian began sketching on the paper, filling it densely with blue diamonds. As Heine watched, her face gradually brightened.
“Heine, how is it? Do you like it?”
Heine nodded at Vivian’s drawing, and Belita, standing beside her, looked equally satisfied.
“Then we’ll have the Marquisate’s trading company produce the ring using this design. I’ve always been told that we use the marquisate’s legal advisory team for free—this is a good chance for me to finally return the favor.”
Belita stamped her seal onto the design and handed it back to Vivian.
Once Heine’s ring design was finalized, Leon leaned forward and cast us a meaningful look.
“Well then. Now, let’s design the rings that will be sold at the temple.”
He slid a fresh sheet of paper toward us. We were already exhausted from working on Heine’s ring, but we still drew something for him.
“Duchess… aren’t two circles a bit too much?”
Ahem. I was so tired that I had drawn two simple circles, and he openly called me out in front of everyone.
“That’s a double ring. You wear two thin silver rings together.”
I had just slapped together whatever explanation came to mind…
but the reaction was better than expected.
I was about to shamelessly push it as if it were a legitimate concept, when Leon slid over another blank sheet.
“Fine. I’m drawing properly now.”
In the end, I decided to give him a real idea.
“Commoners will have difficulty using gemstones. If the ring is made of silver only, you can offer twelve different patterns. And if gemstones are used, they can be set into those same positions.”
As I drew twelve small motifs around the ring, Leon stared at me blankly, clearly not understanding.
“Why twelve?”
“A consecrated ring is used when praying for the one you love. Twelve represents the twelve months of a year. And since there are twenty-four hours in a day, turning the ring twice makes twenty-four. Also, the scriptures are divided into twelve sections, so there’s meaning in that as well.”
I had originally drawn it just because I thought it would sell better if it were pretty, and I’d made up the symbolism on the spot—but the more I explained, the more convincing it sounded.
“I see. Your Grace’s thinking is quite profound.”
Leon stared at my drawing for a long time, visibly moved. The others looked at me with expressions that said, You’re more impressive than we expected.
I shamelessly blinked slowly, as if I were naturally a deep thinker.
“Duchess. It seems we’ll be meeting often starting in February.”
Leon’s eyes sparkled as he looked at me. I flinched for a moment—but it was fine. I wouldn’t be here by March anyway. Letting Leon siphon off a few of my ideas for about a month wouldn’t hurt.
+++
The next afternoon.
Margaret, Stella, and I secretly carried cushions and floor pads up the hill behind the annex palace where I was staying.
“When is Her Highness arriving?”
I had pulled Belita into this plan so that if we got caught, I could use the Crown Princess card.
“She’s coming now.”
As Margaret said that, Belita approached at a brisk pace with one maid, while several maids followed behind, struggling under the weight of large cushions.
The place we were standing was a hill behind the Lily Palace where I resided. Snow had fallen all day yesterday, piling up thickly, and the slope was fairly steep.
Once everyone had gathered, I dropped a large cushion onto the ground with a thump.
“I’ll demonstrate first, so watch carefully and do exactly as I do.”
Truthfully, this was my first time too—but I’d seen it often on TV in my past life, and it had always been one of my dreams.
I sat on the cushion, gripped the front tightly with both hands, pushed myself forward slightly with my feet, and then lifted them as the cushion began to slide.
“Kyaaa—!”
Oh! Riding this cushion sled for the first time was even more thrilling than I’d expected.
Snow poured into my dress, soaking my ankles and calves. Snow that had been resting on tree branches blew into my face with the wind, making my head spin even more.
“I’ll try it too.”
Belita, who had been watching, grabbed a cushion and slid down after me. Soon, her high-pitched scream rang out, followed by the elegant Margaret sliding down as well.
“Why isn’t it working for me?”
Stella complained that she wasn’t sliding properly, so Margaret and I simply rolled her sideways. As Stella tumbled down once, she even cleared the snow beside the sledding path.
“Hahahahaha! My lady, this is so fun!”
After rolling in the snow once, Stella stopped caring about her clothes altogether and enjoyed the sled just like the rest of us.
We were a mess.
The hems of our dresses were soaked, snow splashed onto our faces, freezing our cheeks, and our wet hair clung to our skin—but it was unbelievably fun!
We became completely addicted to this cushion sledding.
+++
On his way to an agricultural trade meeting with the Luna Empire, Silas stopped when he heard women’s cheerful chatter.
Beyond the Lily Palace, on the hilltop, several women were holding something.
“Your Highness. That’s Princess Belita and the Duchess.”
Dennis confirmed the identities of the women Silas was watching and observed their actions with him.
“Truly… no sense of propriety whatsoever, and no regard for etiquette. Even after being taken as a hostage, she’s still as reckless as ever.”
Where on earth had she learned something so indecent? Filina was sitting on a cushion and screaming as she slid down the hill. Even uneducated commoner women wouldn’t behave like that.
Filina and the women’s laughter echoed throughout the garden, as if they were announcing that the Abel Empire was a place overflowing with joy.
Startled by the laughter, birds resting on tree branches fluttered their wings and circled around them, watching in fascination.
Silas frowned deeply, his expression clearly displeased, and began walking toward the women.
“Your Highness… it’s time. That direction is the opposite way.”
“Tell the Luna Empire… to wait.”
Dennis hurriedly tried to stop him, but Silas continued walking toward them.
+++
Chester was hurrying with his entourage to a meeting with the Nebula Empire when he spotted Filina screaming and playing in the distance.
“Young Duke, the young lady is lively even here.”
One of the attendants noticed the smile spreading across Chester’s lips and said so with a grin.
He knew well that even back in the Luna Empire, Filina often caused small incidents, and Chester always cleaned them up with a smile.
With Duchess Agnes bedridden for so long, the ducal household had always felt gloomy. Everyone in the Luna Empire knew that Filina was the one who had filled that household with laughter. That was why, even before her formal adoption into the ducal family, the orphan-born Filina had been a popular prospective bride among noblemen.
“Without Filina… the ducal estate felt empty.”
“The Duchess must have been deeply distressed….”
Chester reminisced about the old ducal estate once filled with Filina’s laughter and was about to move on.
Silas?
Then he saw Silas leading his group toward Filina.
“Please go on ahead. I’ll stop by to see Filina for a moment.”
After sending his entourage ahead, Chester quickened his pace—then broke into a full sprint toward Filina.
+++
“Silas! Move!”
“I’ll catch you.”
While we were in the middle of enjoying the sledding, that red-haired man suddenly appeared, standing squarely in my path and saying something utterly ridiculous.
I can’t crash into that bastard!
I dug my feet into the ground to avoid colliding with Silas.
Snow flooded into my dress, but the sled had already picked up too much speed to stop, and I was destined to crash into someone.
I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut.
Thud—
After slamming hard into someone, I was caught in their arms. We rolled across the snow three full times before finally coming to a stop.
I’ll kill you, Silas!
Since the last person I’d seen was Silas, I naturally assumed the one who had rolled with me was him.
“Filina? Are you okay?”
At the familiar voice, I opened my eyes—and gasped as I recognized its owner, immediately wrapping my arms around him.
“Brother Chester!”
He was lying on his back on the ground, holding me.
“Yeah… Filina. You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No. Thanks to you.”
I didn’t miss this chance and continued clinging to my brother’s arms—knowing that once he became a married man, it would be much harder to do so.
Sorry, Olivia. Just let me hold him a little longer. Once spring comes, you’ll be the only one who gets to hug him anyway.
“Oh dear… Filina, you must’ve been very startled.”
My pure, innocent brother had no idea of my impure intentions and continued gently patting my back while lying on the ground.
“Young Duke. Filina. Get up now.”
At Silas’s cold voice, my brother came to his senses, helped me to my feet, and brushed the snow off my clothes.
Ah… the position was nice and suggestive… This is your fault, Silas!
Snow had soaked into my dress, and I was furious both at that and at having my ulterior motives ruined. I glared at Silas.
“Your Highness Silas. What reckless behavior is this? I nearly collided with you. And do not call me by my name so casually. I am, without question, a noble lady and a duchess.”
As I snapped at him, Silas’s ever-present, artificial smile slowly deepened.
“After seeing the carriage accident last time, I thought Lady Filina’s heart was rather weak, so I tried to help. And… you called my name first, so I assumed we were on a first-name basis. You called it quite loudly—Silas.”
Petty as ever, he brought up that incident again to pressure me. Perhaps pleased by the thought, the man who rarely smiled now had laughter even in the corners of his eyes.
