Even after seven years, Daymond and Luciel’s relationship hadn’t significantly improved or worsened. Daymond decided to treat him indifferently as he was someone who magically appeared and disappeared from the castle.
However, Daymond was quite sensitive when it came to his son. For a few years, he heavily restricted Luciel, fearing he might do something to their son.
But, in the end, Luciel adored Eariel. Over the years, the time Luciel spent wandering around Eariel increased, and now he seemed to settle down in the Grand Duke’s castle.
Once, while Eariel was strolling, there was a moment when he almost fell, and Luciel, appearing out of nowhere, swiftly caught him. More than once, in such situations, Luciel showed up to help.
After this repeated a few times, Anne realized that Luciel was quite dedicated to his role as Eariel’a godfather. She convinced Daymond that Luciel wouldn’t harm their son.
Thus, Daymond didn’t completely block Luciel’s approach, but he didn’t warmly welcome it either. The dislike originated from past entanglements that would take some time to untangle.
“Eariel, don’t take everything Luciel says at face value.”
“But Godfather knows everything, doesn’t he?”
Luciel’s existence and abilities were still unclear, like an unknown mystery. Daymond himself admitted that he didn’t know the true extent of Luciel’s power.
Did he have eyes that can see the future? Anxiously pondering, Anne eventually shook her head. It was because she recalled an answer when she had subtly asked Luciel about.
“Hmm. Daymond not being infertile doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy to get pregnant.”
After pondering for a while, Luciel gave a rather uninformative answer. It seemed that he, too, was in the dark about it.
Anne pressed her lips together, then affectionately ran her fingers through Eariel’s hair, who was innocently blinking his eyes.
“Even Luciel doesn’t know much about matters between couples.”
As Anne explained, Eariel nodded with a somewhat understanding expression.
“Then I’ll wait patiently.”
In the meantime, as the lanterns that had been floating in the sky completely moved away and the lights that had been turned off simultaneously came back to life, a bead-like light enveloped the entire city from the Grand Duke’s castle.
When the festival officially began, Daymond recited the opening speech. Despite it being nighttime, the gathered people clapped and cheered.
It was the beginning of the 7th Northern Flower Festival.
*
The festival, held for a week, passed swiftly.
Following the wedding ceremony, the festival that ensued achieved the greatest success since its inception. Now, revenue from tourism had become the largest source of income in the North, surpassing personal asset managements.
In the quiet office of the Grand Duke, Anne’s face turned pale as she read the revenue figures in the document that Ashton handed over.
“Daymond, have you seen these numbers?”
“Yes.”
Without much of a reaction, Daymond responded dully. Anne, noticing his different reaction from before, tilted her head with a smirk.
“You don’t like it?”
“What’s there for me to like?”
Daymond, who had been massaging his sore shoulders from sparring with Eariel all morning, responded somewhat grumpily.
Daymond’s face today seemed irritated, like a particularly stubborn child. Consistency in a person was a problem, but too much change was also an issue.
Anne set down the documents she was holding on the table with a thud.
“Well, if you have something to say, just say it.”
“Why are you trying to expand the business when the additional income from the existing assets alone is enough for Eariel to live comfortably for thousands of years? What’s the need?”
He asked, scanning through the documents as if he couldn’t understand. The papers in his hands were the ones Anne had already reviewed and approved multiple times, but he seemed discontented.
“Don’t you like the plan?”
Daymond, who had been cooperative with everything Anne did until now, suddenly became uncooperative, leaving Anne bewildered.
“I heard there was a shortage of accommodations during this event. It’s an opportunity to prepare in advance for the increasing number of tourists next year.”
“That might be a good thing. If we prevent them from coming, that’s fine.”
As if it were a very simple solution, Daymond said with a clenched fist. Watching her husband present an unreasonable argument, Anne narrowed her eyes slightly.
“How do we plan to stop people who came all the way to the North to see the festival?”
“What about the knights? I can immediately deploy all my knights to prevent them from setting foot on the land.”
The suggestion he made as a solution seemed so absurd that Anne widened her eyes. Deploying knights during the lively festival season and even resorting to threats? It was such an unreasonable suggestion.
Ashton, accustomed to such matters, took the documents and neatly filed them in the ledger.
“What a good solution.”
“So, are you suggesting that we just triple the accommodations right now?” Daymond asked, slightly raising his eyebrows.
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