“Hersia. Marchioness. Once our children grow a bit older, we’ll visit you more often. Right now, they’re still too young, making it difficult to meet.”

Truthfully, I couldn’t meet them because Romi kept chattering after reading people’s memories.

Fortunately, Seo Yeon knew my situation and pretended not to notice.

“Excuse me, where did Lord Aaron and the Marquis go?”

“Ah. They’re inside, preparing for the wedding.”

Ah, right. I nearly forgot Reidox is the Chancellor.

“Then shall we head in as well?”

“Yes. Please go ahead. We’ll follow right after Durion arrives.”

“Alright. Do that.”

After Hersia and Seo Yeon left, we wandered around the palace, waiting for Durion.

Inside the palace, it felt less like a wedding and more like a festival.

It wasn’t just nobles who came to see the King’s wedding. The palace gates were thrown wide open, allowing citizens to witness the royal wedding if they wished.

Romi, who hadn’t been outside in a long while, was excitedly trying to peek into people’s memories, so Sikar kept a firm grip on her.

After waiting a little longer, Durion arrived, having left his carriage at the stables.

The moment Sikar saw Durion, he immediately handed Romi over.

“Take Romi and go ahead. I need to talk with my wife for a bit.”

“Yes. Your Grace.”

“Thank you, Durion.”

Occasionally, we’d leave Romi with Durion like this, just to catch our breath.

Once Romi disappeared from view, Sikar—who must have also read the children’s memories—spoke to me.

“Hmm. Heron is the same age as Romi, yet he still can’t control his bladder.”

Father and daughter are exactly alike.

“I heard that from Romi. And Romi still does that sometimes too.”

“That son of Reidox dares to set his sights on our Romi.”

“Set his sights? I think they suit each other well. Honestly, I couldn’t ask for a better son-in-law than Rikaon.”

“I’m against younger men, Madam.”

“But you’re younger than me too.”

“I swear, not once have I ever thought of you as older. To me, you’ve always just seemed like a child.”

It wasn’t unpleasant to hear, so I chuckled softly.

The wedding was scheduled to take place in the main hall. Our seats allowed us to see the guests from the front.

Upon arriving at the VIP section, we were greeted by Veronia and her husband.

“Welcome, Duchess Blake.”

It had been a full seven years since we last met. Thankfully, Veronia and Valije looked much healthier, their complexions rosy, which eased my worries.

“Your Highness, how long has it been? I’m honored to finally see you again on such a joyous occasion.”

After exchanging greetings with Sikar, Veronia’s gaze turned toward Romi.

Her eyes didn’t ask who this child was—they asked whether this was indeed my daughter.

Even eccentric Romi, subdued by Veronia’s charisma, behaved unusually well. Romi bowed gracefully toward Veronia like a proper young lady.

“Romi Blake greets Your Highness, the Princess.”

Veronia smiled warmly at Romi.

“You look very clever, Romi.”

Romi, who had been smiling brightly, took Veronia’s offered hand, then looked puzzled as she stared at her own hand. She calmly stepped back afterward.

“Thank you for your kind words, Your Highness.”

As always, Romi promptly marched back over to me and whispered.

“Mom. The Princess is like His Highness Oppa. I can’t see anything.”

So I had no choice but to whisper back.

“That’s normal. Royalty don’t show anything, Romi.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re very, very noble beings.”

“Then am I not noble?”

“Of course you’re noble too. But your nobility shines in a different color.”

Romi began scanning the crowd with a confused expression, as if trying to confirm what color other people’s nobility might be.

Then, as if she’d discovered something, she suddenly exclaimed.

“Eh? Mom! Mom! Vika! Vika!”

“Goodness, Romi. ‘Vika’? You should say ‘Lord Vika.’ Wait—did you just say who?”

Frustrated, Romi shouted again.

“Oh come on, Vika! Vika!”

My heart sank. Vika?

I turned my gaze toward where Romi was shouting.

I didn’t know what was happening, but Vika himself was walking toward us. Had I seen wrong?

No. To be sure I wasn’t imagining things, I poked Sikar repeatedly.

His reaction matched mine. Sikar frowned and looked ahead to confirm.

Unfortunately, Durion had stepped away for security reasons.

“Sikar! Go get Durion, quickly!”

Sikar swiftly handed Romi back to me and left.

“Understood. Madam.”

How happy Durion must be. According to Romi, though Durion never said it aloud, he missed Vika.

Vika, whom we hadn’t seen in ages, still wore his black leather jacket and leather pants, still radiating that inexplicable mystique.

“It’s been a long time, Madam.”

“Indeed, Lord Vika! Far too long!”

I couldn’t help but tear up—I’d thought I’d never see him again.

“Judging by the wedding not having started yet, I suppose I haven’t arrived too late.”

“You’ve come at just the right time, Lord Vika. I was so sad thinking I’d never see you again. Truly…”

“Human weddings are supposed to happen only once in a lifetime… Ah, well, some do it twice. Since you and the Duke did it twice, I figured I’d come anyway.”

Though he spoke bluntly, I was deeply moved—he’d come purely out of care for Kian.

And the fact he still called me “Madam.” I was touched to tears.

Just as I was about to introduce Romi to Vika, Sikar and Durion arrived.

Durion, having run breathlessly, rubbed his eyes when he saw Vika.

“Good heavens, Vika?”

“You’re still as rowdy as ever. Noisy fellow.”

Durion immediately pulled Vika into a hug.

“You rascal! It’s so good to see you after all this time!”

Vika frowned unpleasantly and gritted his teeth.

“Get off. You’re filthy.”

As always, Sikar and Vika skipped exchanging greetings.

Sikar eyed him as if he were an uninvited guest.

“How did you even know about the King’s wedding?”

“The rumor that King Recador is getting married has already spread everywhere.”

“Vika. You haven’t changed at all.”

“Neither have you, Duke. Actually, you’ve aged a bit.”

“Everyone ages when they raise children.”

Since Sikar had immediately taken Romi from me upon arrival, Vika glanced at Romi clinging to Sikar’s side.

“Is this your child? She certainly looks disobedient.”

Romi instantly grabbed Vika’s arm.

Vika, startled, tried to pull his arm back, but Romi wouldn’t let go.

“What is this brat doing now?”

Romi stared at Vika without blinking.

“Vika. You missed us, didn’t you?”

“Not at all. Never happened.”

Romi glared at Vika with a face that clearly said, “Don’t lie.”

“Lying is bad, you know.”

Flustered, Vika scowled at the Duke.

“Duke. Handle this reckless child, will you?”

Instead, Sikar chuckled and passed Romi into Vika’s arms.

“She seems to like you. Watch her until the ceremony ends.”

“No. Why me?”

Though Vika protested, when Romi stretched out both arms and leaned into him, he couldn’t refuse and ended up holding her.

Romi’s habit of clinging to people without hesitation was to read their memories.

That didn’t mean she liked everyone. If she disliked someone, she’d just glance at their memories and cut off interest immediately.

But clinging even more tightly to someone whose memories she’d already seen meant she genuinely liked them.

So right now, Romi liked Vika.

Still, Vika was startled by Romi’s next words.

“You like milk tea. Mom likes that too.”

Vika regretted ever allowing Romi into his arms.

“This kid also reads memories. Damn Duke’s bloodline!”

When Vika tried to pry Romi off, she clung tighter to him and said,

“Vika. You missed Mom, didn’t you?”

Romi knew better than anyone how to manipulate people.

Vika, about to hand Romi back to Sikar, pulled her close again.

“Fine, fine. I’ll play with you, just be quiet. The Duke is exhausting in every way.”

We smiled as we watched Vika.

“The ceremony will start soon. Let’s take our seats.”

Finally, Kian and Lucy’s wedding commenced in the palace’s vast main hall.

Lucy was a bride so beautiful that even “dazzling” felt inadequate. With Reidox’s permission, Luid walked Lucy down the aisle and handed the bride to Kian.

Once the ceremony began, we moved forward to get a closer view.

Before handing Lucy to Kian, Luid held her hand tightly, as if reluctant to let go.

Then Lucy hugged Luid tightly in return. It was such a warm and beautiful scene.

Of course, without Vika, we’d probably have thought it was just a genuinely heartwarming moment.

But according to Vika, Lucy had said this to Luid:

“Act like affectionate siblings. Or I’ll exile you to the frontier.”

So that was why Luid’s expression had turned so rigid.

Regardless, outwardly, they looked very affectionate.

Lucy and Kian looked exactly like a male and female lead deeply in love, to anyone watching.

“Finally, the end of this story is here.”

Sikar smiled and wrapped his arms tightly around me from behind.

“They really suit each other, don’t they?”

“Yes. As well as we do.”

While Sikar and I were lost in emotion watching Kian’s wedding, Vika, still holding Romi, muttered as if she were a handful.

“So how long must I keep holding this brat?”

“Did we force her on you? Seems to me you voluntarily took my daughter.”

“That’s only because this brat blackmailed me!”

That brat Romi, who had been diligently clinging to Vika to read his memories, suddenly turned her gaze toward him as if she’d seen something.

“Eh? Lord Vika, presents! Give us presents!”

We all stared at Vika, wondering what she meant.

“Presents?”

“Yeah. Lord Vika brought presents for us.”