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21.

It didn't take Alexis many days to conclude negotiations with the two would-be kidnappers.
'Though to be precise, I should say she ‌‌negotiated with the First ‌‌‌Empress.'
Since our Empire's First Empress had become entangled in this affair, Alexis hoped I would handle ‌‌‌the aftermath, and ‌‌naturally I came to understand every detail of the process.
"Well? Am I useful or not?"
"...."
What ‌‌sort of question is that, asking me how to answer?
I regarded Alexis quietly for a moment, then turned my attention back to the remaining documents.
Soon after, she burst into hearty laughter.
"I was merely curious about your impressions. It's only natural to want to hear from someone else's lips how a completed task went, isn't it?"
Alexis seemed to rather enjoy receiving attention.
As she sat leisurely on the edge of the desk, regarding me with that gaze, I finished ‌‌the final document and exhaled a shallow sigh.
"I believe all the measures were handled appropriately. I'm grateful that you showed considerable consideration toward the concerns that Cassian Artez and I harbored."
"That's ‌‌‌not quite the raw honesty I was hoping ‌‌‌to hear."
Alexis hopped down from the desk and approached me. ‌‌
"For instance, how Count Gash Youngshik came to be regarded as a libertine."
Indeed, Alexis had sent Count Gash Youngshik back to his homeland on charges of harassment.
And she had attached quite the scandal to it—that he had harassed an Imperial guard knight and subsequently caused a commotion.
"I considered it Your Highness's magnanimity."
"Magnanimity?"
Apparently unexpected, Alexis laughed softly.
"Isn't it far more lenient than the alternative of damaging one's own nation for personal gain? If House of Gash simply sent Youngshik to the Convent, they could still hold their heads high."
Nobility exists for a reason—not merely to enjoy their station, but to labor ‌‌tirelessly for their nation.
Yet here was someone willing to stake their footing on something that could become a tug-of-war between nations, all for private ambition.
'Foolish. Utterly foolish.'
If she wished to become a concubine, she should have competed openly ‌‌‌‌with ‌‌‌‌her beauty.
"It's ‌‌‌truly a shame. I can't fathom why House of Gash fails to appreciate my generous heart, when only you—who belongs to another—seem to ‌‍understand it."
Alexis spoke playfully, tapping her chest.
Her expression utterly unbothered.
"But Your Highness, are you truly at ease with the wedding preparations?"
"Of course. I don't ‌‌‌understand why you'd think otherwise, Miss Salice."
A sly smile bloomed across her face.
"After all, ‌‌we'll hold another ceremony once we return home. As a spouse, it's only natural to fulfill my beloved's wishes for this one wedding held in my own country, isn't it?"
Though it seems Your Highness is rather enjoying the First Empress's suffering in the process....
I swallowed my words in silence.
After that day, the Third Prince told the First Empress to refrain from involving herself in his wedding whatsoever.
Alexis is an imperial matter, the Third Prince casually mentioned to ‌‌the First Empress, and what he said was truly remarkable.
'He silenced the First Empress's lips by asking how many of the deeds he'd done to the Empress he actually knew about.'
Since you already know, I wish you'd share a bit before you go.
No matter how dutiful a fire-attribute person might be, that would be too much to ask.
I simply swallowed my regret and, with the same heart as Alexis, decided to anticipate a childish yet magnificent state ‌‌‌wedding.
The First Empress's name was listed as the person responsible for wedding preparations, and the Third Prince was orchestrating a ‌‌wedding where complementary colors clashed terribly.
If wrapped very, very carefully, could it perhaps be called tropical fruit-like? Or ‌‌‌perhaps not....
He was even adding extra decorations ‌‌‌with colorful jewels to a perfectly fine wedding robe, all to showcase his refined ‌taste, or so ‌‌‌‌I heard.
"The purchase costs for my new mother's teacups keep increasing, don't they?"
I truly wanted to chime in and elaborate on how much the First Empress has been breaking teacups in frustration lately!
Unlike Count Gash Youngshik, I was someone who knew restraint, so I merely offered a soft smile.
"How ‌tedious."
Alexis looked at me as though she'd never expected an answer in the first place.
"Your Highness must be delighted to have gained such steady ‌‌pocket money."
"Of course. Enough to let my beloved dream sweetly for a long time after I return home."
Alexis's smile was leisurely and cold.
The Third Prince would likely never know her true face.
'The First Empress's natal family has been turned upside down.'
That was the second ‌‍‌reason the teacups were being sacrificed.
Roughly half of the distribution business with the Anden Kingdom had been slashed to barely cover transportation costs for a while.
The Duke Lopez's House, the First Empress's natal family, would likely be struggling for some time.
Moreover, Alexis demonstrated remarkable precision by excluding anything connected to the state from their operations and targeting only the business meant to accumulate family wealth.
Whether to call ‌‌it fair and square, or to say it's frightening because she's already grasped so much.
As I exhaled a shallow sigh once more, Alexis waved an envelope in front of my eyes.
"This is yours."
"...Pardon?"
"I'm someone who keeps promises thoroughly. Didn't I tell you?"
Alexis released her hand, letting the envelope drop into mine as she spoke.
"That I'd give you a reward you wouldn't find lacking."
"Ah...."
I'd already considered showing you the entire aftermath process with the First Empress to be quite a reward.
"Of course, it seems you've already obtained some things on your own."
She said this with a stylish wink.
As if the ‌‌information I'd obtained on my own was naturally mine to keep.
"This is what I'm giving to you, so it would be quite amusing if you showed that disagreeable Prince Cassian and extracted something from him."
"I'll do my best."
Satisfied with my response, Alexis rose me from ‌‌my seat with a relieved expression. ‌‌
"Good, then you're free now."
"...Pardon?"
"I don't want to use the word 'fired' for someone as capable as you."
Despite the praise, I stood there in a daze for a moment.
"You respond faster than anyone when told to work, yet you're so sluggish when told to ‌‌rest."
Alexis chuckled softly.
"I suppose I must return you soon. It seems only you can manage Cassian Artez."
Alexis's aide, who spent time there only during ‌‌‌regular work hours, had been growing visibly gaunt with each passing day.
"So I have no choice but to set you free."
I felt a twinge of regret at her words.
Alexis was honestly a good superior. It would be insulting to even compare ‌‌her to Cassian.
"...Thank you ‌‌for everything, Your Highness."
"Think nothing of ‌‌it."
Alexis spoke as smoothly as she had when requesting me from Cassian, then placed another envelope on top of ‌‌‌my hands.
"It's severance pay, Advisor Salice."
Wasn't that included in what you gave me just now?
No matter how I thought about it, my liver seemed far too timid.
At the slight confusion evident on my face, Alexis added a word of caution.
"Be sure to open it together with your superior."
Her lips curved into a playful smile.

*

From then until Alexis's return home, Cassian and ‌‌I were swept up in relentlessly busy days.
The ‌‌‌‌First Empress was shirking her duties just enough to avoid the Emperor's notice, and she was subtly venting her ‌‌frustrations on ‌us.
'Does she think we're easy ‌targets? Easy targets?!'
I methodically collected evidence of her private treasury expenditures, ‌‌‌nursing the fury of one day making her pay.
Moreover, to thoroughly upset the First Empress, I poured extra effort into tasks comparable ‌‌‌to the First Prince's work, while subtly withdrawing from the Third Prince's lavish festival events.
After ‌‌‌‌all, she had told us to ignore this side while the ‌‌‌‌Third ‌‌‌Prince's state marriage was underway.
Now she wanted attention? It was absurd.
'Cassian smoothed things over well with the Emperor.'
My superior's cunning worked perfectly, and the First ‌‌‌Empress seemed to have heard some rather ‌‌‌‌unpleasant words ‌‌‌‌‌that day.
Everyone working in the Palace knew that Cassian's workload was explosive.
To such a degree that when I passed by, the gazes of people who had looked at me with criticism or reproach a year ago had shifted.
'They're pitying me now....'
If they're going to pity me, do it with money—or better yet, ‌‌take some of our work off our hands.
Particularly the First Prince's aides, who had clearly been burning with competitive spirit just six months ago, now seemed strangely hesitant.
If ‌‌‌‌‌you have something to say, come and say it. ‌At least let us vent our stress.
As a result, Cassian and I only confirmed the gift and severance pay Alexis had left after the state marriage was safely conducted and we had finished seeing her off on her journey home.
Incidentally, watching the Emperor silently curse the First Empress with his eyes at the wedding, where ‌‌‌‌not a single monochromatic tone could be found, was rather enjoyable.
'The nobles and state guests had questioned the Third Prince and First Empress's taste.'
Everyone had really struggled to find words of praise.
In any case, after ‌‌‌all the events concluded, the moment I eagerly pulled out the envelope.
"Which would you prefer—money, ‌‌‌or having your wishes granted?"
"...I beg your ‌pardon?"
"Surely you don't expect to gaze upon Rose's belongings without offering something in return?"
Cassian Artez made his move first.
"Otherwise, whatever emerges from that envelope, I fear I won't be able to resist claiming Rose for myself."
He added this cryptic remark with ‌deliberate ambiguity.

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