Contract Marriage Rewritten
Chapter 38
“A letter? What did it look like?”
Startled by Laniakea’s tearful expression, Hilde hurried closer.
“I will help you look for it.”
“It’s in a small envelope. About the same size as the paper envelopes His Majesty sends.”
“Oh dear, I see.”
At Laniakea’s description, Hilde’s hands moved even faster. Yet no matter how thoroughly the two searched, the paper envelope was nowhere to be found.
Telling Hilde that it was fine now, Laniakea sent her away and pressed a hand to her forehead.
‘Where on earth did I put it?’
Laniakea cast her mind back to the documents she had been reviewing at her desk.
* * *
She had spent the entire morning going over documents regarding the banquet.
Choosing the tea had been merely the beginning.
The colors of the fabrics and curtains decorating the banquet hall’s windows and ceilings, the colors of the tiebacks for those curtains, the colors of the decorative tassels attached to those tiebacks, and on and on.
The moment she thought she had settled one matter, a string of other choices followed in endless succession.
Of course, the former Empress had never confirmed and decided all of this piece by piece. Such matters were mostly determined by the maids in charge of the banquet before being brought to the Empress for final approval.
Otherwise, an Empress would have to spend the entire year doing nothing but banquet-related work.
The trouble was that this was the new Empress’s very first banquet to oversee.
A beginning meant setting a new tone for all that would follow.
For that reason, everything concerning this banquet had to be chosen with extreme care.
She had to uphold the regulations of the Imperial Palace and the etiquette of the imperial family, while presenting a clear contrast from the former Empress.
Consequently, Laniakea had to take part in nearly every decision whenever possible.
Fortunately, thanks to Hilde managing the maids so well, the work Laniakea had to verify in person was reduced by nearly a third.
Even so, the remainder was hardly a small amount, so by the time a rough draft for the banquet was barely pieced together, Laniakea was already thoroughly exhausted.
“Specialists… I need to catch, no, bring in more specialists….”
Muttering unconsciously to herself, Laniakea staggered over and sank into her chair.
There was no time to space out. If she had time to breathe, she had to look through documents too.
Sure enough, a fresh pile of paperwork had been placed there in the meantime.
Feeling half like crying, Laniakea reached for it. And as she did, a thought crossed her mind.
‘Days when I go to the Main Palace are nice, at least.’
On those days, to prepare for the imperial couple sharing a bed, both the Empress’s Palace and the Emperor’s Palace withheld any documents from being delivered to them starting from the afternoon.
Thanks to that, hadn't she been able to catch her breath a little before heading to the Main Palace?
Though, of course, Laniakea had ended up gathering documents of her own accord to take with her anyway.
‘In any case, the practice is definitely helping….’
She recalled the day she had first joined bodies with Hyperion.
She had been so nervous she could barely breathe. What was more, every time he touched her bare skin, she had hitched with a startled gasp.
Not anymore, though. Now she no longer jumped whenever Hyperion touched her. She had grown accustomed to him wordlessly holding her hand, and she had grown used to the touch of his lips as well.
For he had repeated the exact same actions with ruthless persistence until she no longer flinched.
Still, her ears were something she simply could not get used to; when she squirmed, he had nibbled and suckled at them until her senses spun out of control.
In the end, Laniakea had been thoroughly steeped in the sensation that was Hyperion.
‘So what comes next?’
She had grown used to holding hands and kissing. Did they join bodies again after this? But wouldn't that take the most practice of all?
For a moment, the memory of the day she had fainted flashed through Laniakea’s mind.
She couldn't let that happen again. Yet she had no idea what kind of practice was needed to take Hyperion inside her.
‘It hardly seems fair that only His Majesty gets explanations from Mr. and Mrs. Ency… Perhaps I should summon them and ask, too.’
With that thought, Laniakea looked over the newly arrived document.
“Oh?”
The instant she read the opening lines, the light returned to Laniakea’s fatigue-dulled eyes. The new document concerned palaces other than the Main Palace, the Empress’s Palace, and the Emperor’s Palace.
It stated that the detached palaces of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Princes and all the villas they had owned had been reclaimed, and that a new report regarding any missing items within them would be submitted within a week.
Naturally, the document also mentioned the Detached Palace where Laniakea had once stayed.
It stood empty now. The few maids and servants who had stayed with her had been given generous severance pay and sent on their way if they wished to leave. Those who wished to stay had been assigned to the Empress’s Palace.
The document inquired whether that place should be left as it was or newly redecorated.
‘Since there are no other imperial family members, there isn't really a need to decorate it, is there?’
A detached palace was originally granted to each direct descendant of the Emperor.
Otherwise, it went to an Empress Dowager, or to other imperial relatives who had received permission to reside within the Imperial Palace for other reasons.
Naturally, at present, there was not a single such imperial relative.
‘It will probably be granted when an heir is born.’
If a child was born between her and Hyperion, that child would likely receive one of the detached palaces previously used by the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th Princes.
‘Either way, it will remain empty for a while.’
In that case, it could be turned into a VIP Guest House for foreign delegations or guests invited by the imperial family.
However….
As she stared blankly at the document, Laniakea was snapped back to reality by the tolling of the bell from the Imperial Palace’s distant bell tower.
Checking the clock, she rose from her seat and spoke to Hilde.
“I shall take a brief walk in the Rear Garden. I will go with Lucy, so do not worry.”
At those words, Lucy, who happened to be standing by the door, immediately stepped up to Laniakea’s side.
She hurried toward the Rear Garden. The time she had promised the Mole yesterday had arrived.
As Laniakea headed to the exact same spot as yesterday, Lucy surveyed their surroundings, her eyes glaring sharply to ensure no one else could approach.
In the meantime, Laniakea spoke toward the ground.
“Mole, can you hear me?”
Those with weak power like Laniakea had to call out to spirits with an audible voice.
‘Only my unnies could summon them purely through will.’
Even for her unnies, summoning by will alone was quite taxing, so they usually just called the Spirit King’s name in everyday situations.
She had heard that if someone without the proper ability tried to summon by will alone, they would be severely injured.
At any rate, the spirit could only appear before Laniakea if she called out while picturing its form—like “Mole” or “Crow-tit.”
“Mole?”
Usually, the Mole appeared immediately upon being called. Strangely, though she had called twice, the earth remained completely still.
“Mole? Can you hear me?”
A sudden wave of anxiety washed over her at this unprecedented silence.
‘Should I try calling another spirit?’
Just as she began to panic, wondering if she had suddenly lost the ability to summon spirits—
「Pfft-ha!」
The ground heaved, and the Mole popped out.
“Why are you so late?”
When Laniakea shouted with a mix of worry and resentment, the Mole flopped onto the ground and spoke.
「Ugh, don’t even get me started. Why are the earth spirits far away so uncooperative…? It was exhausting trying to explain that I didn't come to live there, but came to help the people farming on that land.」
Just then, Lucy stepped closer, looking at the Mole with pity.
“Half-size.”
“…….”
At Lucy’s words, Laniakea could not help but nod in agreement. The Mole had truly shrunk to half its usual size.
“Was it that hard?”
「It was a bit rough, but who do you think I am? I’m the Earth Spirit! I checked out every single detail of the situation in the place you asked about!」
The Mole thumped its chest proudly as it spoke.
Just then, something clattered to the ground from the Mole’s body.
“What is this?”
Laniakea crouched down and picked up what had fallen.
「Oh, that? It’s a seed the spirit over there gave me as a present. I asked what kind of plant seed it was, but they wouldn't tell me. I smelled it and even tasted one, but it seems to be a plant I don't know.」
“Really?”
A plant unknown even to a spirit. It was undoubtedly a rare plant that grew only in extremely restricted regions.
“I wonder what will sprout if I plant it.”
As she rolled the seed between her fingers, the document she had been reading before coming out flashed through Laniakea’s mind.
And at that moment, she realized.
What she wanted to do with the Detached Palace where she used to stay.