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“This is my first time trying it,” Aden said as he took another sip. The taste didn’t improve the second time around, so he put the floral teacup down.

A fork was suddenly shoved in front of his face, and peering over it, Ilyin’s eyelashes fluttered as she said, “Try this too.”

Aden thought the person who said the cake was sweet looked sweeter, and he smiled warmly. When he didn’t respond, Ilyin tilted her head and frowned slightly.

She then looked at him as if she’d remember something quite important, and quickly pointed at the silver cake fork, “This is the one that I used, and the one I’m holding now is clean. Before Ilyin could continue, Aden stretched out his hand suddenly and took the fork in front of her. And the clean fork with the fresh cake in Ilyin’s hand also changed direction and was now going towards her mouth.

“If Elo didn’t have the manpower to hold off the Esters, they wouldn’t have set their main base there.” Aden lowered his fork and looked at the map that Ilyin was studying. He pointed at the Elo’s symbol that was right beside Ester’s territory and asked, “Have you heard of Elo’s light?”

Ilyin took her attention off the map for a moment. She’d heard about it in her dream, and she recalled something about Elo’s wedding hall that had light. “Sort of,” she replied as she raised an eyebrow.

“That light is not as bright as the warm region’s sunshine, but it’s warm and strong enough for the Esters not to like it.” Aden stared at Ilyin again as she sipped the tea. He wondered how she drank something so bitter without a change in her facial expression. Pushing the thought aside, he continued, “Also, the temperature is pretty high for April. Even if the northwest wind is too much, why couldn’t they even handle a small invasion while having their main base in the northwest?” Aden squinted as he spoke. It was his way of expressing his displeasure of Elo.

It was a rightful thing that Delrose’s power was so great because they had a master with divine power. But it wasn’t like the other three houses were old and weak. However, they didn’t want to waste their resources, so they always asked for Delrose’s backup.

Aden got a fright when a fork was shoved in front of him again just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, and Ilyin said, “So what you’re saying is that there’s no need to backup Elo now because the succession that required a divine object, is completed, right?”

She’d summarized it well, Aden thought as he took a bite of the cake she’d offered, despite himself. He wasn’t too fond of sweet things, but he seemed to enjoy the fluffy cake she fed him. “That’s about right.”

“Still, I’m a little bit worried. Not just about Elo, but about the safety of the mansion too.”

Aden placed a finger on her worrying mouth, and her moist lips brushed against his hand. “Never mind that, have you decided?”

Ilyin placed the teacup on the saucer and looked out the window. It looked like she needed cake as her expression changed to a more serious one. “About whether I will go to the warm region or not, right?”

“Yes.” Aden had told Milo that he would accept the trade for now. But only on condition that he met the Viscount himself. Of course, he wasn’t planning to meet the Viscount as the Duke of Biflten.

Aden proceeded to share his thoughts about the House of Viscount Arlen with Ilyin. He said that if she wanted to, he didn’t mind if she told them she was in Biflten. Ever since Aden became the Duke of Biflten, the connection between the winter region and the warm region was all but gone. But that was because of Aden’s personal preference, and it had nothing to do with any political situation.

Ilyin said that she wasn’t ignoring his question, just because it was regarding the Viscount House. And she explained that her heart was torn in two because she couldn’t decide whether to meet the Viscount in person or not.

She knew Viscount Arlen well. If he were to find out that she’d married the Duke of Biflten, he would only be interested in how he could profit from this. Ilyin could read him like a book and knew that the Viscount would inquire about how the couple’s relationship was doing and whether or not they were on good terms. And then he’d try to manipulate the situation to see what he could get out of The Duke. Ilyin’s hair stood on end just thinking about it. Of all things, she didn’t want to become the weakness of Biflten.

“Are you worried?” Even with Aden’s cake prescription, she didn’t lighten up. So he pushed the cake and the map to the side and kissed her on the cheek. “Shall I help you a little?”

“How?” Ilyin looked at him with big sad eyes.

Aden was silent for a moment. He put his hands on the desk and leaned forward, kissing her until her heart was beating fast. As their warm tongues entwined, he could feel her slowly relaxing. After some time, when he thought she was feeling better, he spoke again, “Ilyin.”

“Yes.”

“What do you want Viscount Arlen to be doing in about ten years?” Aden was aware of lots of things from Ilyin’s small talk every night. She didn’t bother hiding how she’d lived in the estate, nor how she was treated by people in the Arlen house. Even then, Ilyin’s situation was still too complex for Aden to understand, as he lived a life of raising the sword; to slay or not to slay was all he knew. Although Ilyin seemed to dislike her father, it didn’t seem like she would stab him to death if the opportunity arose.