“Mela, how about that? I think it would go well with your hair.”

Leoprick picked up a jeweled pin placed on the display stand and brought it to my head with an exaggerated gesture.

With a seemingly serious face, he appeared to be genuinely contemplating whether the pin would suit me or not.

I awkwardly smiled and gently lowered his arm.

“It’s alright, Leo. I already have many at home.”

“But Mela, that’s not enough. Haven’t I told you that you need to surround yourself with beautiful things befitting your beauty?”

Leoprick shook his head with a look that said it was out of the question.

Beautiful things befitting my beauty…

Unable to bear it any longer, I barely managed to lower my head to prevent a strange reaction from bursting out.

“Well, but…”

“Ah, perhaps you don’t like it? Shall we go somewhere else then? Oh dear, I came here specifically because they said all sorts of items come in…”

I’ll say it again, Leoprick was truly a good actor.

How could he act so effortlessly as a husband dissatisfied with not finding anything suitable for his beloved wife?

I didn’t know for sure, but it was obvious that when Leoprick became emperor, the nobles would be helplessly swayed by his every expression.

“Are you alright, Mela?”

Again, he met my gaze with a look that could melt one’s heart.

I had told him several times that he didn’t need to overdo it since it was just acting.

Acting.

Yes, it’s acting.

He and I are currently acting out the roles of ‘a doting husband who thinks nothing is too good for his wife’ and ‘an extravagant wife’.

Due to my personality, it’s difficult for me to act like that, so the ‘extravagant wife’ is becoming ‘a wife who refuses kindness to obtain even better things’…

As I let out a small sigh, Leoprick this time embraced me with an apologetic face.

“I’m sorry, Mela. In my desire to give you the very best, I became a bit greedy, and this is the result.”

“There’s no need to apologize, Leo. Your heart is always overflowing.”

“Still, I always want to give you only the best.”

It’s too much. It’s excessive.

Unfamiliar lines, unfamiliar skinship, and unfamiliar gazes.

He did say before we started that it’s okay to say if I don’t like it, but is this something I can refuse to do just because I don’t like it?

The reason we started this ridiculous play in the first place was for the sake of the country.

So, this is how it happened…

* * *

Clearly, the atmosphere until this morning was just calm and peaceful.

A normal and quiet morning, no different from usual, like when we were at the marquis’ residence.

The service from the staff was excellent, breakfast suited my taste perfectly, and Leoprick treated me appropriately, maintaining proper boundaries.

Perhaps if it weren’t for Lord Daeon coming in with something in his hand, I could have carried that mood throughout the entire day.

With a solemn face, he handed over what he was holding and immediately whispered something to Leoprick.

Following behind him, Betty entered with a light yellow envelope in her hand.

“My lady, it’s a message from Lady Hayley.”

Betty whispered softly as she handed over the envelope, and I opened it without hesitation to check its contents.

[Certification complete. The last known whereabouts of ‘Isolde’s Tear’ is Waynes Port.]

“What is this?”

I could understand the words ‘certification complete’, but suddenly mentioning Isolde’s Tear that disappeared a few years ago?

“It’s about the whereabouts of the jewel you were looking for until recently, my lady. Don’t you remember?”

“Me? I was looking for this?”

I handed the letter to Betty, and after confirming its contents, she discreetly tossed it into the fireplace behind her.

Isolde’s Tear was a treasure passed down through generations in the imperial family.

A blue diamond, transparent enough to see through, intricately cut in the shape of a teardrop.

Known as a jewel favored by the first empress of the Reinhart imperial family, Isolde’s Tear was treated no differently than a guardian deity protecting the peace and prosperity of the imperial family.

It was said that whenever the first empress appeared wearing Isolde’s Tear, miracles occurred.

It brought rain to drought-stricken areas, victory to places of war, and there were even stories of it showering untimely flower petals at small village festivals.

Whether true or not, Isolde’s Tear had adorned the crown of empresses for generations.

However, a few years ago, it suddenly vanished from the imperial treasure vault.

Isolde’s Tear disappeared without a trace, with no signs of intrusion and no instances of the guards leaving their posts.

The emperor issued a gag order regarding the whereabouts of the jewel.

Even now, there were only rampant speculations, and no one knew whether the real Isolde’s Tear was in the imperial palace or not.

As I looked at Betty with a surprised face, she made a slightly frustrated sound, “Tsk, tsk.”

“You don’t remember again? That’s why Lady Hayley searched high and low. She complained about you so much.”

“Sorry. I forgot about it.”

I had forgotten while being preoccupied with the changed Leoprick.

Isolde’s Tear was something that needed to be found before anything else.

‘Hayley has already started investigating…’

The reason for the investigation was clear.

In my previous life, I searched for Isolde’s Tear for Lloyd’s sake.

It was obvious that if the nobles found out about the loss of a jewel said to bring prosperity and abundance to the country, they would swarm like bees.

‘Isolde’s Tear? But everyone knows it’s in the imperial family’s treasure vault.’

‘Yes. That’s what everyone believes. But we can’t let His Majesty the Emperor deceive the people forever.’

I had used that fact as a catalyst to make the anti-emperor faction nobles support Lloyd.

Then I should get my hands on it first this time too.

The mere existence of Isolde’s Tear is a powerful weapon.

Recalling the past, I tried to figure out how to use this fact in reverse.

I thought that perhaps I could use this to dismantle the nobles before Lloyd could form his faction.

Just as I raised my head, thinking I should move immediately, my eyes met Leoprick’s, who had been watching me for some time.

“What are you thinking about so intently?”

“…Ah.”

He smiled gently.

I smiled awkwardly, contemplating whether I should tell him about this fact.

Although Isolde’s Tear was last seen in Waynes, I had only brought Betty with me as someone who would move for my sake.

If Leoprick helped, things could become much easier…

The problem was that I might have to tell him why I was investigating Isolde’s Tear.

I couldn’t honestly tell him about the obvious things I had done for Lloyd.

As I kept my mouth shut, Leoprick met my eyes with his usual smile.

And with a face that looked thoroughly amused, he asked this.

“My lady, do you perhaps like jewels?”

* * *

Neither he nor I spoke about the contents of the letters we had received.

As we moved in the carriage, Leoprick briefly explained the things we needed to do.

Through that, I could only roughly guess the contents of the letter he had received.

He said we needed a ticket to go ‘somewhere in the back alleys’.

If my past memories were correct, he probably meant the illegal auction house where black market trades took place.

He said we had to play the roles of rich and foolish nobles to obtain entrance tickets to that place.

We had to appear as if we were obsessed with spending money, not sparing any expense on luxury.

It’s a good method.

However, after looking him over once, as his appearance seemed quite different from the description, I suggested he play the role of a wealthy noble who loves spending money on his wife.

And for me, he suggested the role of a wife who absolutely loves luxury.

And the result of that is now, here.

This was the jewelry store rumored to have the largest and most splendid jewels in all of Waynes.

“If nothing pleases you, my lady, shall we return to the capital?”

“Hmm…”

“Indeed, all the precious things are in the capital, aren’t they? I heard that Madam Lemagne’s boutique recently received some precious silk, shall we go there?”

He had been excessively faithful to his role since earlier.

Gently stroking my back, Leoprick once again set his gaze on the display case.

I smiled awkwardly, pretending to encourage him by not answering.

“It might not be as good as Isolde’s Tear, but I was hoping there would be at least something similar…”

At his words, muttered with a thoroughly displeased face, the owner standing next to us carefully asked with a somewhat restless expression.

“Ha-have you seen Isolde’s Tear, my lord?”

“Of course. Any noble of the empire should have seen it at least once.”

“But wasn’t Isolde’s Tear reported stolen several years ago?”

“Who said it was stolen? I saw it clearly with my own eyes in the imperial palace just recently.”

“Is, is that so?”

“It’s an imperial treasure, so isn’t it natural for it to be in the imperial palace?”

What a silly person.

As Leoprick replied nonchalantly, the lips of the jewelry store owner with his stylishly groomed mustache twitched slightly.

Seeing his expression, desperate to say something, I exchanged a quick glance with Leoprick.

“Has the owner seen Isolde’s Tear before?”

“It’s a jewel that’s hard to see even once in a lifetime, my lady. How could I see Isolde’s Tear here, so far from the capital? I’d be lucky to have even heard of it.”

When I asked in a curious voice, Leoprick shook his head teasingly and made an expression that said it was absurd.

What would this person have become if he hadn’t become a politician?

Inwardly clicking my tongue, I pretended to smile at him, and he responded with a pure smile and spoke again.

“Well, I understand why there are no jewels here suitable for my wife if you don’t know about such a gem. No, even if I were to plunder an entire country, it wouldn’t be too much for my wife.”

“Stop it, Leo. People will gossip.”

“Who would gossip about me cherishing my wife? Speaking of which, my lady. Didn’t you say you liked Fernan silk recently? Shall we buy a workshop in Fernan while we’re at it?”

“Oh, my. You’re going too far, Leo.”

This isn’t acting, it’s sincere.

I hit his arm while trying hard to suppress the goosebumps all over my body.

How can this person deliver such lines so naturally?

It’s not like he practices in front of a mirror every day.

While I was lost in these silly thoughts, the owner kept hesitating and didn’t open his mouth.

Does he not intend to speak?

I gently pulled on Leoprick’s sleeve.

Just as I was about to lead him to a place where we could more certainly obtain tickets than this lukewarm place.

“Rather than buying an uncertain workshop in distant Fernan, how about purchasing another rare jewel for your wife this evening?”

The owner, who had been holding something back while his lips twitched, opened his mouth with a grave expression.

No, he took the bait.