CH 121

‘This is the capital’s mansion of the famous Grand Duke Prause.’

Sergey examined the structure and overall atmosphere of the mansion.

Even though it wasn’t long after the grand duke and his wife bought a mansion in the capital, the movement of the employees was natural.

From interior decoration to garden maintenance.

The perfectly functioning mansion of Grand Duke Prause delighted Sergey.

‘also…Rejecting Gelon’s offer was an excellent choice.’

Sergey had been told he was clever since childhood.

His brilliant mind and quick thinking were well known in his hometown, and no one wanted him in their entourage. so there were people who wanted to list him as their entourage.

But Sergey knew.

‘It’s a waste of my ability to start as an aide of a local aristocrat.’

He refused offers of patronage from lower nobles on the pretext that he needed to focus on his studies.

Instead, he listened to all the news of the capital where he would one day exert his will.

A family with strong political power.

A family with a large Merchant.

A family with the strongest knights.

He tried to discern the family that would become the center of the empire for the next hundred years, counting various criteria.

It was also around that time that the call came from the Duke of Gelon.

[If you wish to join the Family of Gelon or the Knights, we will actively support you. If you want to become a vassal of the Gelon family, we will immediately prepare you a mansion in the capital.]

One of the vassals of the Gelon family recognized the value of Sergey, who performed well at the local academy.

However, Sergey was reluctant to accept the unconventional offer to provide all living expenses including tuition as well as accommodation.

[‘Gelon was definitely a prestigious family….’]

The Gelon Merchant was still the largest in the Empire.

The Knights of Gelon, headed by the magic swordsman Sir Carlton, were the strongest.

It was a family of founding contributors who held on to ‘magic’ and even produced an empress, so their political influence was good.

but…

“It must have been difficult for everyone to come from far away, but they didn’t unpack first… Urgent work has just finished, so take a cup of tea and go.”

Sergey looked at Frey Prause, who ordered the servant to bring tea for the guests who came to greet her.

The reason for rejecting Gelon’s unconventional support. It was because Frey had told the whole world that she wanted to marry Grand Duke Prause.

‘To keep in check the crown prince who has no divine power, she has taken the only divine power outside of the imperial family.’

‘At first, I thought it was a subtle way to save her life.’

Even though not much time had passed since then, the situation in the empire had completely changed.

With each decision she made, Sergey was convinced.

There was only one risk this choice had to take.

‘The relationship between Grand Duke Prause and the Grand Duchess is going wrong for some reason.’

From the beginning, the two people’s interests were the same, so they made a contract marriage.

If the deal is done, they go their separate ways.

In that case, it was clear that the power of the grand duke and the power of the grand duchess would be apart, and it would be difficult to decide which side to stick to.

Meanwhile, Frey was also staring at Sergey.

‘The illustration of Sergey I saw in the game looked 10 years older than he is now, so it’s weird to see him so young.’

Sergey Frey knew was the one Lydia had seen as an adult.

‘About 10 years from now.’

However, even as a young man, the image of a future genius politician was already visible.

Dark brown hair and golden eyes hiding desire.

‘If I hadn’t known about the future, I would have avoided people who looked like this.’

People with a strong desire for achievement were bound to be wary.

But Frey knew what his greed was for.

‘He’s a politician who can control people even if the world collapses. Absolutely on our side.’

Frey opened her mouth with a smile.

“Are you Sergey? Nice to meet you. I was very impressed with your analysis of the ancient political history of the Empire.”

“ah….”

Sergey felt he had to be polite and make sure the Grand Duchess remembered him.

So he rose from his seat and kissed the back of her hand.

“It is an honor to have made a good impression on your Highness, Grand Duchess.”

His lips touched the back of Frey’s hand.

‘Now that’s a perfect first step, isn’t it?’ thought Sergey.

As he was about to sit down satisfactorily, he was startled by the cool energy he felt from the door.

“Nice to meet you. You said your name was Sergey.”

Daniel Prause, who was to be with them after a while because of his work, was looking at Sergey with his vertically elongated pupils.

He looked like a dragon and found a rat trying to nibble on his scales while taking a nap, he had a face contemplating whether to kill it or keep it alive and play with it.

For a moment, a chill ran down his spine as if time had stopped.

“Ma’am. Are you having a good time?”

Daniel rolled his eyes and smiled and took the seat beside the Grand Duchess.

‘Are my worries useless?’

The Grand Duke’s gaze toward the Grand Duchess was so gentle.

It seemed that kissing the back of the grand duchess’s hand in front of the grand duke’s eyes was the first mistake Sergey had made in his life.

* * *

Frey’s charity party began when the scholarship students toured the capital over several days.

“Your Highness, Grand Duchess. I will spray you with perfume.”

Chick-

Emma lightly sprayed Frey with perfume, then stepped back.

After getting ready, Frey looked in the mirror.

Inside, she was seen, slightly nervous, in a gorgeous dress.

The light makeup and the light purple diamond jewelry that Daniel specially ordered and gave as a gift matched fantastically.

‘Okay, I just need to stay relaxed.’

Today’s charity party was expected to have many more people than at the previous tea party.

There were a lot of invitations sent out in the first place, and the families of those who received the invitations also visited, so the expected number of attendees was much higher.

“Your Highness, Grand Duchess. Most of the invitees seem to have arrived.”

“Okay…Thank you, Lina.”

When Frey got up, Lina opened the door.

Daniel was waiting for her, dressed in a dark navy uniform with medals.

“Shall we go, Frey?”

Contrary to the soft voice, the outline of thick muscles was reflected on his uniform.

As she placed her hand on his outstretched arm, he seemed to feel the tendons bulging above it.

Frey was startled as she inadvertently ran her fingers across his forearm.

“Yeah…”

Daniel gave her a satisfied smile and escorted her to the ballroom.

before going down the stairs. He looked at the long curtain that covered one side of the stairs and opened his mouth.

“Frey. You look especially beautiful tonight. This dress, this jewelry….Everything suits you well.”

Daniel touched her hair and looked at the light purple diamond. 

[“To show affection, it is best to wear jewelry that matches the color of the eyes of the person you love.”]

Daniel wasn’t the type to trust Luke’s words 100%, but he liked his advice.

‘If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have known that Frey and light purple go so well together.’

Instead of explaining to Frey why the red jewel was on the pin in his tie, he drew closer to her.

“You smell good, too.”

“….”

“Did you spray perfume here?”

Daniel pretended to smell the scent wafting from the nape of Frey’s neck and lightly brushed his lips against her shoulder.

“Daniel.”

When Frey turned his head to call him, a handsome face was right in front of her.

Frey stared at his long eyelashes and bright eyes, not realizing that her face was blushing.

“Frey, are you nervous?”

“Little.”

“Well, I know one way to relax.”

Daniel lightly pressed his lips against hers.

[“It’s effective to show ‘love’ regardless of the times to empower the hostess.”]

‘If we kiss here, the shadow will be reflected on the long curtain.’

‘Just like I saw in the future, I didn’t want the name of Sergey or something coming out of my wife’s mouth.’

Knowing that, he kissed her briefly and tried to pull away, but his hand cupped her cheek.

“Frey.”

A stifled voice leaked out as if blood was boiling.

If they moved away from the curtain, they wouldn’t see their shadow.

If it’s just a little more kissing. It was when Daniel stroked Frey’s cheek with his thumb thinking that.

“Oh, that’s them!”

“Brother! Shh! Let them kiss!”

“Oh!”

‘A cute voice came from the stairs which I couldn’t say I couldn’t hear.’

“…..”

Daniel gradually withdrew his hand from Frey.

He wished he could press his cheek against Damon and Arsene’s, who were looking up at him with twinkling eyes.

“Shall we go?”

He snapped back to reality and escorted Frey into the ballroom.

The guests who discovered the Grand Duke and his wife bowed with somewhat flushed faces.

Frey found an uninvited guest in it.

Wait a minute. Didn’t I just see someone… Who looks just like Crown Princess Garnet?’