My Mom Got A Contract Marriage

The magical ointment had passed, and now she was making a few more things. 

Making wreaths with herbs that drove away insects was useful. If she hung it in or around the cabin, there wouldn’t be any bugs.

She made a few small ones and distributed them to everyone that worked in the garden for them to wear. 

“Why aren’t you using magic directly to make these things?”

Lilica pondered over His Majesty’s question and responded.

“I don’t want it to be discovered that I’m a wizard.”

“That’s right. Never get discovered. As such, use items as an intermediate. And the advantage of that is that artifacts can be used by anyone.”

The two were seated side by side before a stone table in the garden.

The round glass bottles on top of the stone table were glowing with a faint light.

It was an artifact brought by Altheos.

“I fed magic to the crystal. It’ll absorb the daylight and shine at night.”

“It’s fascinating.”

“To give it magic for a long term, you’d require a magic array…” 

He scribbled distinct lines with a pen. Lilica looked at it intently.

Recently, she suddenly felt like she had become closer to His Majesty.

She liked his head pats, and the line between praise or reprimand was distinct. 

“Your Majesty, you aren’t a wizard, are you?” 

“Yes.”

“But how do you know all about this?”

“I knew of a wizard in the past.”

His response was quite short.

A note of displeasure was mixed within his voice, and Lilica’s shoulders shrank.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“Because I’ve been asking too much…”

Altheos frowned at the mumbling Lilica.

He tapped the table with the tip of the pen. Lilica was on tenterhooks, worrying about whether the pen’s expensive tip might be damaged.

“Is that something others will usually get mad at their daughter for?”

Lilica whipped her head to look at Altheos. He frowned and continued.

“If I didn’t want to answer, I wouldn’t have answered from the beginning. I know that I didn’t raise Atil properly, but I’ve never been mad at him.”

He merely warned Atil not to trust the people around him.

Atil would also agree that he has never been mad.

Lilica spoke quietly while averting her gaze. 

“It’s not that I’m afraid you’ll get angry, but… No, that’s a little scary, but…”

“Then what?”

“It reminded Your Majesty of unpleasant memories…”

“Did you do it on purpose? Did you want to screw with me?”

“What?! N, no.”

“Well, then.”

Altheos replied, then said.

“If you were someone else, I would’ve hit you whether it was intentional or not, but you are special. First and foremost, you’re my daughter.”

Lilica’s cheeks turned red.

She looked half embarrassed and half relieved.

“Try imagining me being mad at your mother for something like this.”

“What?”

Lilica’s voice rose higher, and she also raised her eyebrows. 

Altheos laughed because she undeniably looked like she was saying, “You’ll get angry at Mom for something like that?”

“Right?”

He said that and grabbed Lilica’s face. It was soft.

Every day, Ludia would go… 

“Our Lilica is the world’s loveliest, cutest, and simply the most adorable one in the universe.”

Was it because he’d heard that?

When he grabbed her daughter’s face and smushed it, a strange sound, “Huah huah,” popped out of Lilica’s mouth, and Altheos laughed heartily.

She was so weak that it felt like she’d explode if he pressed on her, but he also liked the fact that she’s a child with a surprisingly strong mentality. 

‘If I put effort into bothering Ludia, will she chase me around with a broom?’ 

When his mind conjured up that image in an instant, he snorted. 

“So there’s no need for you to apologise for every single thing like that. Do you understand?

When he asked for verification, Lilica replied quietly, “Yes.” Only then did Altheos let go.

He turned his gaze back towards the paper. He spoke briefly, delving into explanations about magic once again.

“The wizard betrayed me. The wizard spoke words of love, but stabbed me in the back. Drugs were used to weaken me.”

The thought of it caused his anger to swell up again.

He exhaled.

Ludia would definitely be furious if she knew about this. 

‘This isn’t a story for a kid. But I’m still talking about it.’

“That isn’t love.”

He glanced over and saw indignation written all over Lilica’s face. She balled her hand into fists and said.

“Betraying the other person isn’t love. Love is always about putting the other person first.”

“Is that so?”

His sceptical voice caused Lilica to groan and speak. 

“Yes, I know because I love Mother a lot. Uhm, when Your Majesty loves someone, you’ll also understand.”

Harming another person is a result of selfishness. 

It seemed like she said something rather mature after she finished speaking, so Lilica straightened her shoulders.

“Love, you say.”

If it was uttered by someone else, he would have mocked them, but he couldn’t do that when he looked at the child’s serious expression. 

Besides, Altheos was also well aware of how much the child loved her mother.

‘Love.’ 

He pondered and said.

“I’ll consider it.”

“Yes.”

With a nod, they focused on their class once again.

After taking Lilica back to the White Dragon Chamber like usual, Altheos returned back to the bedroom.

He found Ludia in the midst of writing a letter diligently in the Silver Dragon Chamber’s study. 

She seemed to be meeting with people from merchant groups these days, and there was chatter that she was signing a contract with the condition of being the first to acquire the fashion items that she made.

She looked up as he leaned against the doorway. Ludia spoke with a strange look.

“If you’re here, you should’ve said that you’ve arrived. What are you doing, just standing there?”

“Just because.”

Ludia snorted.

“You seem to be going out often at night these days, so please keep it quiet if you’re having a rendezvous. I still have to maintain my position as a favoured empress.”

Those words made him feel a slight mental burden.

In other words, his mood worsened.  

Altheos strode over, placed his hand on the desk and said.

“Someone told me to try experiencing love.”

“What? Is there anyone that dares to say that to you?”

Yes, your daughter.

Altheos barely held back that reply and said.

“There is. It seems like my notoriety isn’t enough yet.”

“Don’t tell me, are those lines from a young lady that fell for Your Majesty at first sight?” 

“That’s not the case… Anyways, I thought about it after hearing that, and it didn’t sound bad.”

“Hmm.”

It didn’t matter much, but it would help her as the empress if they seemed like a devoted married couple. 

“If you don’t confer your mistress—”

“I have a wife, so why would I?”

“What?”

“Am I not supposed to love my wife?”

“What??”

Ludia’s brows furrowed. 

She turned around instantly and said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Wait a moment, are you expressing that you don’t want to?”

“Then am I supposed to agree? Goodness. I don’t need a man anymore. I’m sick of it. Lilica is all that I need in my life.”

“What…… Wait a moment, you’re sick of it? It sounds like it wasn’t just one or two men.”

“Anyways, try and look for someone else to love.”

When Ludia waved her hand in disgust, that stimulated Altheos instead.

“I don’t want to, though.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to.”

“No, this guy, seriously.”

Ludia raised her eyebrows angrily, but Altheos didn’t care.

“We have to play the part of a devoted couple anyways. It doesn’t matter if I treat it seriously.”

“Uh, well, yes, feel free to do so.”

In order to escape the subject, Ludia said that and turned back to the letter.

“……”

Altheos grabbed her shoulder. 

He lifted her cascading golden hair and began teasing the back of her neck with his lips.

“……”

Ludia tried to ignore him, but she couldn’t. The body that was used to him was responding first. She turned around and tugged the collar of his shirt.

Their lips approached like they were about to touch. Her blue eyes narrowed.

“If only the body is involved, then fine.”

“Let’s begin from there then.”

Altheos swallowed a slight sigh from her lips.

Just before the end of his reason, Altheos thought.

‘Is the first thing I need to win over Lilica?’ 

Lilica was her top priority, no, Ludia only has Lilica or whatnot, so winning Lilica’s heart was the first priority.

The first thing Altheos thought of was the same thing that countless men who fell in love with Ludia would do. 

* * *

Lilica looked at the cabin’s shelf proudly. 

There were a lot of magical items on display, there was only one ointment at first, but now there are around three or four.

They were luminous stones, warming bags of grain, and crystals that could purify the water. 

She’d already made several purification crystals and thrown them into the water vat and the well. 

Of course, there was also a wreath on the wall that chased away bugs.

“It was a good idea to lay a stone path in the garden. Though we had a hard time making it.” 

Diare, who was looking outside, spoke with a smile. Lilica nodded.

It was a good idea as changing the dirt path to a flat stone pathway made it easier to walk and their shoes didn’t become dirty. 

Lilica stood next to Diare. A footstool was placed there so that she could look out of the window.

She could see Lauv hanging a swing onto the tree right in front of the cabin.

It was a swing that he made himself.

Lilica praised him, saying that it was brilliant, and Diare remained silent. 

A parasol and a table were placed at the side.

Lilica sighed quietly as she looked at it.

“Is something wrong?”

Diare asked. Recently, this often happened when Lilica was happy.

“That’s…”

“Won’t you share them with me?”

At Diare’s words, Lilica finally confessed her worries.

“There’s someone that I requested to be my conversational partner.”

“Yes.”

“But I didn’t get any contact…”

“Is it because they don’t want to do it?”

“No!”

Lilica spoke strongly. Diare blinked her green eyes.

“The other party mentioned first that they wanted to do it.”

“Well, then perhaps the family is against it.”

“Is that so? But if that’s the case, it would be nice if they’d just contact me. I sent a letter because I was quite worried, but I still haven’t received a reply.”

“In that case, aren’t they just being full of themselves?”

“What?”

When Lilica turned and looked at her in astonishment, Diare spoke unhesitatingly.

“But the princess agonised so much over it, and was the first to reach out to form a connection, but they didn’t think that it would be in such a manner, so they’re being full of themselves.” 

“Miss Diare, please watch your language.”

At Brynn’s words, Diare said, “Oh, my!” and tapped her own mouth, before saying, “I was discourteous, discourteous.”

“But still, Fjord…”

Diare stiffened momentarily and asked back.

“Fjord? That Fjord? Fjord of Barat?”

“Uh-huh……”

“You’re saying that that person’s the conversational partner?”

“Yes.”

Diare had a lot that she wanted to say, but she didn’t find it hard to hold her tongue when she looked at the princess’ expression. 

Instead, she said this. 

“If it’s Barat, they’re capable of refusing.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Diare nodded while internally hoping that it wouldn’t work out.

“Still…”

Lilica sighed again.

Diare suddenly felt restless.

While she might find it desirable that Barat cannot be the princess’ conversational partner, Lilica was upset about another matter. 

Like a puppy that sensed its owner’s bad mood, what did she do? She spotted Lauv pulling on the ropes in confirmation, so it seemed like the swing outside the down was hung properly. 

“It seems like the swing is ready!”

“Oh? Is that so?”

Lilica tiptoed.

She could see Lauv packing his tools. She spoke to Diare with a brightened voice.

“Let’s go out and take a look.”

“Yes.”

She changed the subject. 

Diare nodded while rubbing her chest internally.

The both of them opened the cabin door and rushed towards the swing.

“Are you done?”

Lauv nodded and smiled faintly at Lilica’s question.

“It’s ready for a ride now.”

Lilica willingly gave up the first round to Diare.

“Me?”

“Yes, Diare, get on it first.”

“No, you go first. Here.”

At those words, Lilica hesitated in front of the swing and spoke quietly.

“Actually, I’ve never been on a swing before, so I don’t know how to ride it.”

“!!”

Diare widened her eyes and quickly sat on the swing.

“This is how you ride it. Here.”

Use the feet to push the ground away as hard as possible, lean backwards and reach forward again.

As the swing went higher and higher, Brynn grabbed Lilica and retreated back.

When the swing reached its peak, Diare jumped off the swing, “Hah!”

She spun circles in the air. 

“!!”

Lilica was startled, and Brynn’s face turned cold.

After making a perfect landing, Diare smiled and said. 

“This is how you ride it.”

“No, it’s not.”

“No, it isn’t.”

Brynn and Lauv spoke at the same time. Lilica looked back at the two.

“It’s not?”

“It’s right, though?”

When Diare rebutted while feeling aggrieved, Brynn smiled sweetly and spoke to Lilica.

“You don’t have to jump like that at the end.”

“Yes, sometimes the Wolfes, I mean, oftentimes…Haah…”

Lauv sighed. Diare felt puzzled.

“This isn’t right?”

Wasn’t it about jumping from the highest place at the end and competing how far away they flew and how many turns spun in mid-air?

“You can just ride up and down gently and stop. Don’t do such a dangerous thing. Here.”

Brynn said that and urged her onto the swing’s seat. Lilica sat on the swing and held onto the rope tightly.

The tree was rather huge and the rope was rather long.

“Lift your feet up, I’ll push you.”

“Mm.”

Brynn pushed her on the back slightly. The swing began rocking back and forth.

As the speed of pendulum movement gradually increased, Lilica’s heart pounded and she was excited.

Lilica burst into laughter.

It was great to feel her hair flying in the wind, and the scenery she saw at the peak was also great.

Diare’s eyes squinted at the sound of laughter. 

Whenever she came to the garden, no, all the time spent with the princess as her conversational partner was always fun.

‘The princess is really good at working.’

She moved with her small body so quickly and diligently, and the cut grass disappeared to the other side instantly. 

She was as fast as a squirrel moving around with an acorn in its mouth.

Ulrang was also impressed.

As she watched her laugh and work diligently, Diare also enjoyed the work.

It was different when she was with others. She felt a sort of calm river flowing deep within her heart.

“I see.”

Diare came to a realisation and let out a long exhale.

‘I don’t have to put up with anything when I’m by the princess’ side.’