***
Shaw left as soon as he finished instructions for two weeks’ worth of medication. He left as quickly as he came.
Lilian was planning to meet the housekeeper after taking a short break until dinner, but Damian showed up sooner than that.
“Are you busy right now?”
“Your Highness.”
“I’ll tell you in advance, I changed my clothes and took a break in my own way.”
Damian pretended to be serious. A smile appeared on Lilian’s lips as well.
Confident of his success, Damian lowered his brows and asked pitifully.
“Can I go in now?”
“As much as you like, Your Highness.”
Ivan came in following Damian, who entered happily.
His expression looked as if he’d bitten off a flying insect.
It didn’t matter. As if it was natural, Damian stepped forward, quickly taking the seat next to Lily on the long sofa and sat down, pulling Lilian’s hand.
“Your Highness.”
Her fingers were entangled before she could stop him.
“How have you been during the day? Did you eat well?”
“I don’t think we were apart long enough to call it during the day, but thanks for your concern, I was fine.”
To even ask for half a day’s regards.
To anyone’s eyes, it was as if the new groom was fascinated by the bride. When in fact, they hadn’t even had their first night.
Lilian thought carefully about the reason.
‘Looks like I need to thoroughly portray a loving couple. This is the Capital, and no one knows how rumors will spread.’
If so, she’ll have to adjust to that rhythm. Lilian was a little embarrassed but decided to sacrifice her hand.
Damian, who was looking at her figure with a smile, gestured toward Ivan.
In fact, before Ivan entered the room, he had been warned by Damian, “Don’t say a word unless I order you to.”
Ivan naturally rebelled against the irrational and unexplained order.
“No, if I can’t even say a word to Her Highness, how should I greet her? What should I do if Her Highness misunderstands me as some kind of bastard?”
“It won’t happen, so don’t worry unnecessarily. Until I tell you to, you’re not in that room.”
“You’re really…”
Ivan thought that he’s trembling with all sorts of plagues, but he endured it because he knew the other party was a gangster.
“Ivan Isaac welcomes Her Highness.”
“Please get up, Sir.”
“The reason I wanted to meet you today is because the arrangement of matters that urgently require the approval of Her Highness has been completed.”
“If it’s about that…”
When she looked behind him, a small handcart was mobilized because they couldn’t carry all the piles of papers.
“All…of that?”
“Yes, first of all, the first documents you will see are related to the property to be transferred to Her Highness according to the prenuptial agreement you signed the other day. Most of them are simple things that you just have to look at and approve.”
A pile of papers with the ignorant modifier ‘simple’ was placed on the table.
“Um…”
She was a little afraid of how much it would be if she counted the value of that pile of papers.
‘If I collect them all, I might be able to buy at least one small county with that money.’
Even as she admitted it herself, Lilian had a lot of money.
After the death of her father in an unfortunate incident, his lands and dominion passed to his eldest son and heir, Cedric. However, the inheritance from her mother’s side, which was tied under her mother’s name, and the property in the name of a dowry, which her father had arranged separately, were considerable.
There were also many things that Cedric gave away when she got married.
“Since you’re now part of the Rupenwein family, you will have a lot of things to spend money on. If you don’t spend money properly when you need to, you’ll be treated like a joke. I don’t know anything else, but I’ll make sure to take care of the emergency fund.”
…it was the tax right on a salt island somewhere.
This island, which was also a natural tourist destination, belonged to the net exhaust of Cedric’s personal wealth. She didn’t know the detailed scale, but it was absolutely not the scale that she could receive as an emergency fund.
Lilian straightforwardly reprimanded him but it was useless. He didn’t send her away empty-handed, saying, “How can I send you away empty-handed?” and through his nonsensical insistence, Lilian ended up surrendering. Cedric, who obtained her declaration of surrender, said, ‘hide it well and use it when you need to’ while smiling triumphantly.
‘I wonder if that’s fine.’
The more she thought about it, the more absurd it was.
Anyway, thanks to that, Lilian’s current personal financial situation was not envious of even a country’s princess. She’s already rich now, and when that paperwork is over, she’ll be terrifyingly rich.
No matter how much it is, it’s too much.
“Let’s start with the most important and urgent issues.”
Ivan held out a flat, pure white box with a golden double-headed eagle seal on top of it. Lilian recognized that the seal engraved on the box was not that of the current imperial family, but belonged to the previous emperor, Emperor Idoel.
Damian reached out and opened the box.
“As you know, among the things the Emperor bestowed upon me, there was one that received the most opposition from the people.”
“That’s…”
“This is the title of Imperator Leyengrad.”
Imperator Leyengrad.
Traditionally, an imperator is an emperor or military commander.
It’s more the former rather than the latter meaning.
It was a commonly used word meaning “emperor”.
However, what made people frown was the additional privilege granted to the title rather than the dictionary meaning of the word.
“According to the title Imperator Leyengrad, I have been granted permanent immunity from the imperial family as an honorable Marshal of the Imperial Army.”
“That means…”
“Simply put, even if I rebel, I will not be executed.”
“Pardon?”
The scope of immunity far exceeded expectations.
And that wasn’t all.
“This is the right to be inherited by my direct descendants and their descendants, that is, to our sons and grandchildren, including me.”
So, when Idoel gave the title, people said, ‘it’s like inciting a rebellion’ and protested.
The just and benevolent emperor, with unprecedented stubbornness, overcame all opposition and managed to bestow the honorable and absolute title on his younger brother.
“And one more condition… The same title applies to my wife.”
“Pardon?”
“From here on out, I will explain.”
Ivan stepped out.
“According to the rule given by the late Emperor, those who officially marry His Highness Damian will be given the title of ‘Imperatrix’.”
Usually, women in the imperial family are given their own position and rank as an ‘Imperial Lady’.
According to the precedent, Lily also had to become an ‘Imperial Lady’ and be assigned a reasonable rank…
“If Her Highness becomes an ‘Imperatrix’, you will naturally be on par with Her Majesty the Empress.”
“Then, His Highness as well.”
“Yes, His Highness is also on par with His Majesty the Emperor. It’s a bit limited in scope, though.”
The reaction of a man equal to the Emperor of an Empire, albeit within a limited scope, was simple.
“So even when Claude became Emperor and took control of the palace, he was able to take Matteo out.”
“However, considering the precedent and circumstances, in reality, you will be positioned below the Emperor and his wife.”
Even if it was a rank below, it was still too much. Damian explained to Lilian, who was trying hard to understand.
“It’s easier to think of it as between the Crown Prince and the Emperor.”
“Ah.”
Lilian was convinced. This meant that, apart from the Emperor and Empress, she was the second in ceremonial order in court, meaning that she didn’t have to bow to anyone except to the two highest lords.
“In any case, it will take some time to enter the ballroom from now on. In the meantime, it’s a big deal just to call Her Highness’ title.”
When entering the venue, an invitation is given to the attendant standing at the entrance, and the attendant who receives the invitation will say, “So and so from so and so has arrived!” while shouting out loud.
Damian had a long official title that would only appear in their nightmares.
“That’s fine.”
“If you come out uncooperative when doing a review, it might take a little while. So I would appreciate it if you could take a look at it as soon as possible and approve it.”
Lilian stared at the papers in silence. Her heart began to beat violently with a thump, thump, to the point where she became conscious of it since a little while ago.
Noticing Lilian’s hesitation, Damian added.
“You don’t have to feel pressured. That title is more than an actual privilege, it’s the minimum protective shield bestowed by His Majesty the late Emperor to protect me and my loved ones.”
“If it’s a shield…”
“I don’t know. Perhaps the late emperor had anticipated to some extent that the situation would turn out like this.”
It was a reference to the current situation in which his second brother rebelled and the youngest brother protected the sole heir.
In any case, those words made Lilian feel more burdened.
What Lilian and Damian did was a political marriage, as others have said, but in fact, it was more like a marriage contract.
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