“Absolutely not.”

“……Absolutely?”

Nelly straightened her back and spoke in a confident tone.

“Absolutely, never, not even the slightest chance. I have not the tiniest desire to become your wife.”

“……”

No, there was no need to deny it so firmly, was there?

With wounded pride, Cedar leaned back heavily against the backrest with a thud and grumbled.

“Ah, I see. If you don’t have even the slightest desire, then why do you want to maintain this marriage?”

“Because if I’m married to you, Diana won’t try to kill me.”

“You knew your sister was trying to kill you?”

“Of course. That’s why I fell into a catatonic state in the first place.”

‘She’s not as docile as that woman said, is she?’

Cedar tilted his head. Nelly continued speaking in a clear voice, enunciating each word.

“In a married state, even if I’m killed, the inheritance would go to you. So there’d be no reason to try and kill me.”

“What if I’m after your inheritance too?”

“Do you need the inheritance? Shall I give it to you? But anyway, if you maintain the marriage with me, it becomes joint property, so is there any need for that?”

To Cedar’s probing question, she responded as if ready to hand over her entire fortune.

“Didn’t you say you had more money than you knew what to do with? If that’s what you meant. I’d appreciate it if you’d start remembering what I say.”

“I remember. I have a good memory. In this case, I should say there’s no trust.”

“You sure are chatty.”

Cedar felt extremely tired from the conversation with this woman. The problem was her unpredictable responses that he couldn’t anticipate.

While Diana’s greed was too transparent, Nelly’s thoughts were completely unreadable.

Cedar asked in an indifferent tone.

“You don’t seem too attached to your inheritance. Why not just hand it over to your sister instead of giving yourself a headache hiding behind me?”

“I don’t want to do that.”

For the first time, Nelly’s face hardened as she spoke firmly.

“If that child hadn’t tried to kill me, I might have handed it over. But Diana has already killed me once. With that, my relationship with that child is over.”

The word ‘killed’ sounded a bit strange, but Cedar let it slide.

After all, someone who had actually died couldn’t come back to life.

“You don’t seem to be as much of a pushover as I heard.”

“Pushover?”

Suddenly, why a pushover? Nelly tilted her head. Cedar shrugged.

“I have no particular desire to maintain this marriage with you. If you want to keep it, you’ll have to offer more appealing conditions.”

Cedar pressed his fingers against his eyes.

Seeing his indifference, for the first time, a trace of anxiety crossed Nelly’s face. Fidgeting with her fingers, Nelly made a pitiful expression.

“I can’t think of any good proposals to persuade you. Does this mean we can no longer maintain our married state?”

Just as her expression wavered, Cedar’s interest was piqued once again.

Cedar answered with a languid expression like a sleepy cat.

“Don’t give up, think about it some more.”

“Then give me a hint.”

“I’m not interested in your inheritance. So what do you think Diana Periway offered in exchange for the contract marriage?”

Nelly quickly found the answer.

“Did you perhaps need a wife?”

“Correct.”

“Wow!”

At Cedar’s answer, Nelly rejoiced like a child.

Having spent most of her life in the academy, she inevitably had some simplistic aspects.

“Then I’ll be an excellent wife!”

Cedar rested his chin on his hand and asked indifferently.

“What kind of wife is an excellent wife?”

“A wife who pleases her husband?”

“The wife I like best is one in a catatonic state.”

At Cedar’s response, Nelly’s body flinched.

Her green eyes rolled around. After seeming to ponder for a moment, Nelly asked cautiously.

“…Then can’t you just pretend I haven’t woken up from the catatonic state? Surely you won’t forcibly make me unconscious or half-dead?”

At her unexpected answer, Cedar couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

‘This woman is interesting.’

The displeasure and embarrassment he felt at her waking up contrary to his plans had completely disappeared.

[This is the timeline separator]

Although I had awakened from a long sleep, I didn’t feel like any time had passed at all.

It was natural, if you think about it. The catatonic state due to mana depletion was no different from time simply stopping.

‘It turned out just as Grisha researched.’

I just wiggled my fingers and toes out of curiosity.

Only the layers of mana accumulated like geological strata vaguely indicated how much time I had spent.

Yes, 3 years. It’s a long time if you think about it.

I wonder if Grisha has received recognition as a magician at the academy? Three years seems long enough to become a proper magician.

‘Since this isn’t our house, I don’t have the communication device Grisha gave me.’

I wanted to contact Grisha.

‘I guess I’ll have to write a letter after all.’

In the end, the only option left was analog. I just kept my mouth shut and thought about the letter I would send to Grisha.

‘…Grisha might faint when he reads this.’

A husband. Even when I first heard it after waking up, it sounded crazy, and even after sleeping and hearing it again, it still didn’t feel real.

Me, a married woman. Already almost a full year into marriage.

This morning, after diligently looking around the mansion, I stared at the man who came to invite me to have breakfast together.

Large facial features, sun-tanned skin, black hair that looked both messy and neat, and gray eyes.

With shoulders broad enough for me to ride on, Cedar turned to look at me.

“What are you thinking about so intently?”

He was none other than the husband Diana had arranged for me. I bit my lower lip.

‘I thought he had an unusual aura, but to think it would be Cedar Granite.’

He was famous enough to be familiar even to my ears, long confined in the academy.

The Granite ducal family is a prestigious lineage said to have descended from dragons.

Perhaps because of this, the family has produced many magicians and magic swordsmen.

But among them, Cedar Granite was special.

He was one of only three Sword Masters in the empire. Just as there are many magicians but only a handful become Grand Magicians, not all magic swordsmen become Sword Masters.

‘When he became a Sword Master, even the academy was in an uproar.’

Remembering that time, I frowned. I had never seen the professors unite across all research fields like that before.

[To become a Sword Master before even reaching adulthood!] [We must analyze the mana circuits in his body. They must be different from ordinary people.] [Even though he’s a swordsman, there must be something we can learn from his mana manipulation techniques.] [It’s a Dragon Heart! His ancestor was a dragon! There must be a secret in his heart!] [Magical Creature Analysis, keep your mouth shut. Surely you’re not suggesting we dissect the heart of the young master of the Granite ducal family!]

‘I managed to survive well among those crazy people.’

Lost in memories of when he became a Sword Master, I forgot to answer his question. Cedar’s gaze sharpened as he looked at me.

“If you have something to say, just say it. I don’t like hesitation.”

I wasn’t really hesitating.

Unable to say that I was remembering the time when I had to stop a professor from trying to dissect him, I made up a suitable answer.

“I was just looking around the mansion. It’s very different from the academy.”

He was currently showing me around the mansion.

A small two-story building with a modest garden attached. That was the mansion where Cedar Granite and I were living.

‘Rather than modest, frugal might be the right word. Even the Periway mansion had a larger garden than this.’

My gaze inadvertently passed over the garden to the solitary mansion.

As if aesthetic considerations had been completely ignored, the building was as plain as could be.

‘At least the inside was decorated with some care.’

The interior was at least neat and tidy.

There were several strange points, but what bothered me most was that we hadn’t encountered a single other person until we came out to the garden.

Passing through the garden, too small to be worth walking around, and entering the foyer again, I spoke to Cedar.

“Weren’t you supposed to become the Duke of Granite soon? Yet you live in such a secluded place.”

Cedar’s answer came after a slight delay.

“…I dislike the presence of many people.”

I nodded obediently.

‘As expected, a Sword Master’s senses are keen.’

It wasn’t strange if I thought of it as similar to my own sensitivity to mana.

“It’s perfect conditions for me to maintain a catatonic state.”

“You sure know how to talk.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

At my indifferent response, Cedar’s brow furrowed. He seemed annoyed that I had taken his sarcasm so calmly.

Even now, the area around Cedar appeared slightly distorted to my eyes.

It was because I could clearly sense the abundant mana within his body.

‘I can understand why the professors were excited about Cedar possibly having a Dragon Heart. With that much mana, he couldn’t be an ordinary human.’

But isn’t he too irritable to be a descendant of dragons?

‘Is he so combative because he’s a Sword Master?’

It was hard to understand why he was so confrontational with every word.

I had no choice but to think it was just a Sword Master’s habit?

Even as we entered the foyer and passed through the reception room, not a single person was in sight. I asked Cedar.

“Um, so which room will I be using?”

Cedar frowned. By this point, his frowning face seemed to be the default.

“That was your room earlier, wasn’t it?”