Savior’s First Lady

Thinking back to that excitement gave me chills. Neither the emperor nor the pope had ever enjoyed such popularity.

Eden, who was once loved by everyone, was now almost worshiped.

‘Could it be that the person Eden is looking for… is needed in two years?’

Two years later. Eden didn’t enter the dungeon alone. He had a companion for that mission.

An unknown prophet.

“Is that research related to the person you’re looking for, Eden?”

I asked, pretending not to know.

“Right now, I don’t know how to explain it. But if my research is correct, and if what I fear really happens, we will need the ‘prophet.’ And that prophet will awaken soon. I’m searching for that person.”

I was right.

So, he’s using temple missions as an excuse to look for the prophet.

‘Hmm, I don’t know much about that prophet either.’

The prophet’s gender wasn’t even known. Only that they were tall and slender.

And they had severe burn scars, with bandages covering their arms to their face, always wearing a hood.

People called him the Great Seer, the Great Prophet.

‘Oh, right. There was one more thing! They had a small star-shaped birthmark on their hand, right?’

The prophet had asked to keep his identity strictly confidential.

The fact that the only thing left to reveal was a birthmark made it a big deal.

Since I couldn’t help with this, I would support Eden in his mission.

“Is that research very important?”

“I can’t ask you to understand it now, but—”

“I understand.”

I said firmly.

Eden sees what others can’t and understands what others don’t.

For such an Eden, there was nothing I could do. I could only support him.

“Sir Eden never does anything without reason. If you thinks it’s important, then it is. I believe in you no matter what.”

How could I not believe him? This man can solve anything in this world.

Eden looked straight at me. He picked up and put down his fork a few times as if something was broken.

“I’ve never heard that before.”

“Really?”

“Anyway, I’ll try. Once I find the prophet, I’ll reduce my business trips as much as possible.”

“Can you do that? But won’t it affect your promotion…”

“It won’t. I’m confident I can get promoted regardless.”

If Eden said so, it must be true. After all, who would dare exclude Eden from a promotion review?

If he wanted, he could even become the pope one day.

“Do you want me to stay home?”

“Of course. I don’t like being alone. And I genuinely want us to be friends.”

“Friends?”

Eden’s brows furrowed slightly.

“What about what we did last night?”

“Uh, well… it was friendly…”

My cheeks turned red.

“Do you usually do such things with friends?”

“No. I don’t really have friends.”

“Good. Don’t keep male friends close, and definitely don’t do such things with them.”

Eden said, furrowing his brow quietly.

“What do you think of me? I wouldn’t do that. What would you do anyway…?”

“It would make someone’s life quite difficult.”

“Mine, or the friend’s?”

Eden looked at me calmly, as if I were an idiot, then answered.

“Your life would get difficult.”

“Why? Would you kill the friend?”

Well, in this era, dishonoring one’s wife was a serious crime among knights.

Noble society was conservative, so unfortunately, a woman’s infidelity was worse than a man’s.

“You understand well.”

“Are you serious?”

“No, I’m joking.”

Eden’s expression hardened again, and he quietly resumed eating.

“Your sense of humor is strange, Sir Eden.”

“Hmm.”

Eden smiled faintly as I pouted.

… Really, he has an odd sense of humor.

“By the way, Sir Eden. Speaking of last night. Are you really okay with being married to me?”

“What do you mean.”

“I mean, in the end… nothing happened between us. You didn’t need to marry me.”

“Why do you keep saying that?”

“Because I don’t have much to offer. It was a marriage without a dowry. Of course, I’m grateful that you said you’d give money to Burke, but still.”

Ah, so that becomes my dowry.

‘-Even so, it’s far too little to deserve a groom like Eden.’

In this era, marriages among nobles or wealthy middle class were somewhat like business deals.

Men provided a home and supported the woman for life. In return, women brought a dowry and household items.

The dowry was managed by the bride but contributed to the family’s wealth.

It wasn’t unusual for men to secretly prepare a dowry for a poor bride.

“I’ve told you many times, money isn’t important.”

“But rumors keep spreading.”

I said softly.

In the future I dreamed of, rumors nearly drove me crazy.

“Articles speculating what if Sir Eden married someone else instead of me. Although they used pseudonyms, they detailed the conditions of the bride candidates. They were dazzling, unimaginable to me. They guessed how it would have helped Sir Eden’s career, how much wealth he could have gained. There were even articles with charts and graphs, estimating how much he lost by marrying me.”

Once I started, I couldn’t stop. These were sharp criticisms I could never forget.

One article even called me a ‘woman who arranged her own prostitution and got married with the money.’

It added that my lack of education was because I didn’t have decent parents.

I couldn’t bring myself to say that part.

“I see. So that’s why you believed this marriage was doomed from the start.”

“Not only that, but growing up in the monastery, I learned the importance of a dowry.”

“I understand.”

Eden quietly picked up his fork again.

“Pardon?”

Wait, why does that feel ominous? Understand what?

Last time Eden said he understood, Burke got arrested… and his ribs got broken…

“Sir Eden? I really don’t need anything. You know I’m happy with my life now, right?”

“Is that so.”

Eden nodded. He finished his meal in silence.

“By the way, I’ll be home by six this evening.”

That was all Eden said as he left coldly.

***

The next day, the house remained quiet.

Eden said he would be late because of a Holy Knight event.

I went to work at the café as usual in the morning.

In the afternoon, I was coming home when I met a guest on their way to our house.

“Hello. I’m from the Imperial Bank.”

A well-dressed man greeted me kindly. I flinched. Banks, institutions. I don’t like these names.

“What brings the bank to me?”

I don’t know much, but I do know my father paid off all the debts before he passed away. Could it be a debt I didn’t know about?

“Yes, ma’am. I apologize for coming without notice. I’m from the ‘Preferred Customer Service Team,’ also known as the VIP Service Team.”

VIP?! Was the debt that huge?

I slowly stepped back, gripping the doorknob. If Sir Eden finds out…

“Sir Eden sent me.”

“Sir Eden?”

My grip on the doorknob loosened.

“Shall I explain it here?”

I looked around.

“Please come in.”

I cautiously opened the door to the garden and led the bank employee to the garden table.

“I’m here to inform you that the requested transfer has been processed. We found that the account had been inactive for a long time, so transactions were suspended. If you sign here, you can withdraw money from the account anytime.”

The employee placed an envelope containing documents on the table.

I carefully opened the envelope. In this world, bankbooks are leather-bound notebooks.

“I had an account in my name?”

“Yes. It was created about twelve years ago.”

“…Ah.”

So, it was made just before my father passed away. I never knew. When I opened the bankbook…

‘What am I looking at?’

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

My father had gathered all his wealth before he died and paid off the debts. If this wasn’t a negative account (if such a concept existed in this world), I would be lucky.

The amount in the account was enormous.

7,500 gold coins.

Unconsciously, I converted it to the currency of Yun Sihyeon’s world.

‘More than 700 million won.’

Next to the amount, it was labeled as:

Dowry.