Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Sham Wedding Preparations
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Under the sky spread with auroras, after the day I proposed.
I began preparing for the sham marriage in earnest.
While coordinating the details with Yelena, I also recruited a few more people to help.
"...You're marrying Lady Yelena?"
"That's right. A 'sham' marriage, though."
It was Alf.
The reason was simple. I judged that pulling off the sham marriage without his help would be nearly impossible.
Even when Cassius had been lost to his mania, he'd somehow kept the Winterguard estate running somehow. His involvement was practically essential.
Above all, both Yelena and I were nobles, after all. We needed someone to cover the parts that servants or commoners might notice.
So, I had to come clean to Alf, who was involved in so many aspects of the estate.
"Getting 'married'—a wise decision, Your Highness."
"No matter how I thought about it, this seemed like the best option. It's 'sham,' but I don't think there's any downside."
"A prudent choice. 'Marriage' is important, after all."
"......"
Something felt a bit off-kilter, but... Alf seemed to grasp that it was a sham marriage, at least.
"In that case, shall we consider the marriage ceremony already performed?"
"That'll probably be necessary."
The perfectly legitimate timing that Yelena and I had settled on... was right around when Cassius had come to the Astria family to bring her back.
On the journey from the Empire's southwest to the Grand Duchy, Cassius, overcome by mania, couldn't hold back and married her in a small church... that was the setup.
The reason that day worked was the lack of witnesses.
Cassius had moved as secretly as possible, bringing only the bare minimum of people to the Astria family and taking her away.
And even those few had been kept out of sight from Cassius and Yelena except when traveling or sleeping, so the alibi held up to a certain extent.
Of course, additional measures were needed.
"I'll arrange for a priest from a small church near the route Your Highness took returning from the Astria family. But, Your Highness."
"I know. We'll need a marriage ceremony."
Here, the marriage ceremony was more like filing a marriage registration.
By performing a rite in front of a priest swearing to the gods that they had married, they were confirmed as husband and wife.
Commoners mostly just held a simple ceremony or a small gathering.
But for nobles, a wedding was practically mandatory.
This was because weddings weren't just celebrations for the couple's future—they had the nature of a political assembly.
Above all, given his position as Grand Duke, it was all but obligatory.
'Especially for Cassius right now.'
In the coming days, he needed to declare the end of his mania while reorganizing the vassal families.
With several families plotting rebellion, he had to deliver a single, massive impact to subdue them all at once...
So, the idea was to combine the wedding with gathering the vassal families.
"I'll use the wedding as the pretext to summon the vassal families."
After instructing Alf on that, I told him to begin preparations for the wedding.
Count Kreuz would be assessing and coordinating the vassal families anyway, so there was no rush.
After my conversation with Alf ended, instead of my usual work, I headed somewhere else.
When I arrived, someone was already waiting there.
"Yelena."
"Ah, Your Highness."
It was her. The heroine of Until the Ice Flower Melts, and the person I'd be entering a short-term sham marriage with.
Yelena greeted me with a bright smile.
And on the ring finger of her left hand... was the ring I'd chosen during the proposal.
'...Still can't believe it.'
Me, marrying that Yelena, of all people.
I asked her again about something I'd already gotten permission for.
"...Are you really okay with using the wedding as a pretext?"
No matter that it was a sham marriage, openly using it for political purposes might leave even me feeling sour.
And not just any politics—this could involve purges.
If future historians studied this sham wedding, it might even earn the title "The Blood Wedding."
Yet Yelena kept insisting it was fine...
"Your Highness, I'm truly okay with it. Just being able to have a wedding like that is a blessing in itself, isn't it?"
She added with a self-deprecating note about her family's debts and rumors.
Knowing the future as I did, I couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
'You'll be the star of the Empire's grandest wedding.'
Marrying the Empress, becoming a pillar of the Empire.
She'd ultimately have a brilliant future and a happy ending, yet these glimpses of her low self-esteem were regrettable.
"Then we'll do it that way. It's not ideal to say 'in return,' but if there's anything you want for the wedding, I'll make it happen."
"Ah, um... Then, there's one thing I do want..."
"Tell me."
"Oh, just so you know, this is partly for the public eye too. Less my personal desire and more to simply show everyone how close we are..."
"I get it. Just say it."
"...C-Calling each other pet names."
Her face flushed slightly as she murmured in a small voice.
'...Pet names?'
It was something I hadn't even considered. Not just out of the blue.
'In the original story, she never used pet names for the 3rd Prince, did she...?'
It had always been something formal like "Your Highness" or "Prince." I'd assumed she wasn't the type to fuss over nicknames...
"If we call each other pet names, other people will be less likely to suspect it's a sham marriage."
"Hm... Then, should I call you Lena?"
"...Y-Yes."
Lena. Lena.
It wasn't hard at all.
Just dropping the first syllable of her name... I could call her Lena when others were around.
The problem was Cassius's nickname.
'Casi? Us? Kai? Kas? All awkward.'
Kai seemed the least bad...
"And what will you call me?"
"...Kash."
"Hm?"
"Ka-Kash."
......Kash?
No, Kash?
A completely unexpected nickname popped out.
'What is this.'
How on earth did "Cassius" turn into "Kash"?
So flustered I wondered if I'd misheard, I asked again.
"...What was that?"
"Kash. Kash......"
Even as she said it, she fidgeted with her fingers, gauging my reaction.
I nearly refused outright, but no other nickname felt quite right either.
And since she wanted to use pet names...
'Whatever.'
"Hoo... Do as you like."
"...Really?"
"You wanted pet names, didn't you? Better to use what feels natural."
And we wouldn't be calling each other that often anyway.
Plus, when it was just the two of us like now, we could stick to Yelena and Your Highness Cassius as before...
"...Call me Lena."
"......"
"Ka-Kash."
"......Lena."
......What even was this feeling.
Like that—though she didn't know it—we'd settled on pet names for roughly the next five months.
While focused on wedding preparations and territory affairs, word came from the Engineering Research Institute.
The heating research I'd requested had progressed significantly, and they'd completed a prototype.
'Nice.'
Seeing the heating device built into a log cabin like those ordinary territory folk lived in, I nodded in approval.
Putting the right people on it really yielded quick results.
Meanwhile, the territory family living in the cooperative log cabin trembled at the sight of me.
They probably never imagined the mad Grand Duke would visit their home.
"You all."
"Eek! Pl-Please spare our li...!"
"Did you feel the warmth when lying here?"
"......Pardon?"
"Did you not feel the warmth?"
As I glanced at the Engineering Research Institute staff, both they and the family startled.
"N-No, it was warm! My children were thrilled they wouldn't shiver every night...!"
"Yes, yes. Our staff tested it themselves, and we've fully assessed safety concerns."
"Good."
"Your Highness the Grand Duke."
Then, an elderly man from the family approached me.
The Storm Knights guarding me, the staff, and the family tried to stop him, but I held them back first.
"What is it."
"I wanted to express my gratitude. My bones ached every day with this frail body, but thanks to that, I barely feel the pain now."
Ah.
It was that sensation elders often call "toasty."
Especially here, where direct body-warming methods like this floor-heating system were scarce... the satisfaction was probably doubled.
"So, I wanted to thank you."
Hearing the old man, I realized my efforts weren't in vain.
"I'm glad."
I said calmly, then left the log cabin and spoke with the research staff.
"Plan to supply this first to the directly governed lands, then expand across the entire Grand Duchy."
"Understood. Oh, and the glass garden is ready as well."
"Is that so."
"Yes. Do you have any plans for plants to cultivate inside?"
Originally, I'd intended for Yelena to handle it from start to finish.
But with the sham marriage, she'd be busy ahead... Better to leave it to the institute.
'Still, might as well... fill it with things she'd like.'
"I'll fill it with plants common in the Empire's southwest. Prepare accordingly."
"Ah, understood."
One day, imagining Yelena wandering the glass garden amid southwest plants made me feel inexplicably proud.
And the next day, construction on the glass garden began in earnest.