The Crown Prince looked at the refreshing drink and chuckled, then looked up at Ricardo.

“Do you remember? I used to be the best dancer in this empire.”

The Crown Prince shifted his gaze from Ricardo and stared down at his toes, which wouldn’t move at all.

“Well, that’s because I hardly danced at all, so you earned that reputation.”

At those words, the Crown Prince laughed uncharacteristically. “Is that how it goes?” He added, still with a hint of laughter.

“Mariette is having a hard time. She used to love dancing.”

Ricardo briefly recalled a scene of a couple gliding across the dance hall. It was a sight anyone would call beautiful.

“The paralysis starts from the farthest point from the heart. My toes stiffened, then my legs, and eventually it became difficult to stand. Soon, I won’t be able to move my hands or arms, and in the end, even my heart will stiffen.”

“……”

“If only the heart would stiffen first.”

Ricardo put down the glass he was holding and handed a new one to the Crown Prince. Seeing him, Stewart laughed bitterly.

“I’m not drinking.”

“Weren’t you enjoying it?”

“If I drink this, I’ll have to go to the bathroom one more time, and that would inconvenience many people.”

Stewart was a bit of an odd royal even before his illness. Typically, a Crown Prince wouldn’t be concerned about others’ discomfort except for his own circle. It would be more accurate to say they wouldn’t even think about it.

But he was different. Perhaps this was why Ricardo had sought out Stewart back then. His wife probably loved her husband so much for the same reason.

“I heard Mariette went to see the Duke.”

“……”

“You understand. When I suddenly couldn’t walk and collapsed, she acted as if her reason had been paralyzed. No matter what I said, she couldn’t accept it. That my life hasn’t been shortened, but extended.”

Ricardo maintained an impassive expression. In truth, he couldn’t understand the feelings of someone who had to leave something behind. He intellectually understood Mariette’s emotions, but he couldn’t say he felt them in his heart.

What was he thinking on that day that only the Crown Prince remembered? He didn’t even try to recall. So far, nothing had been uncomfortable.

Just days without enthusiasm, and nights without sleep.

Just today, having to rush towards an unwanted goal, and tomorrow, the despair of achieving everything and having nothing left to grasp.

“You came to see me when you were about this age.”

“……”

“A lot has changed. That’s why Mariette is anxious.”

“Nothing has changed.”

“Mariette doesn’t know you well.”

Ricardo thought that statement was quite ridiculous. He didn’t even know himself well.

“Then do you know me well, Your Highness?”

“No, I know well the promise of that day. That it’s a promise that can’t be broken carelessly, and I know your temperament that dared to do it despite knowing that.”

“……”

“And I still know that God loves me especially.”

Ricardo downed the lukewarm champagne that had gone cold in his hand. Stewart, whom God especially loved, was destined to die soon.

His father, the current Emperor, was given the name of the founding Emperor because he was born in the year of the empire’s millennial anniversary. Wesley II was as ambitious as the founding Emperor of Dermayer and was obsessed with expanding the empire’s borders.

He grew the empire stronger than ever under the pillar of Rochester. But unfortunately, when he received the Emperor’s oracle, there was no labyrinth map.

The Emperor’s misfortune didn’t end there. His eldest son, Stewart, will die within 5 years from now at the earliest, or if God is more merciful, within 10 years, probably somewhere in between.

It was a devastating situation for Wesley II, but the royal power was given to Stewart, who was soon to die. This is probably what the soon-to-die Crown Prince meant when he said God especially loved him.

An Emperor without the labyrinth map, a Crown Prince who inherited royal power but couldn’t become Emperor.

Everyone in this empire knew the Emperor’s anxiety had reached its peak. So his next move was clear.

Although the timing of the onset was hidden, the obvious symptoms couldn’t be concealed. Since he could no longer walk, the Emperor would soon make his move. Even while Stewart was still alive, the Emperor would try to depose him from the position of Crown Prince and name another son as his successor.

Stewart now had a 5-year-old son. If he dies, all that’s left for his son is to die at the hands of his grandfather, or at the hands of his uncle, or if not, to take his own life unable to withstand the vicissitudes of life.

And his wife too.

That’s why Stewart welcomed Ricardo who sought him out then. He probably thought this too was evidence that God especially loved him.

No matter how the situation was turning out, isn’t this too quick a change of stance?

Ricardo clicked his tongue as he watched a group of people causing a commotion as they entered. Since when did the Second Prince dare to set foot in a banquet where the Crown Prince and the heirs of the three ducal families meet?

And leading people who were clearly given by the Emperor, in such an ostentatious manner.

“You were in a hurry.”

The Crown Prince laughed dejectedly, as if he had anticipated this as well.

“There’s probably no place where rumors spread faster than here, so can it be considered a smart move?”

“You’ll face enemies that much faster, so it’s a foolish choice.”

“Since that enemy will be you, it is indeed a foolish choice.”

The two men looked down at the crowd from the place with the best view of the hall, as if with the eyes of God. Seen from above, everything looked small and infinitely light. The Crown Prince, perhaps feeling the same as Ricardo, uttered words that resembled a sneer.

“At times like this, I think there’s only one reason why God is different from humans.”

“What… is it?”

“Love.”

Ricardo’s brow furrowed at the incomprehensible words. Love was the most unfamiliar word, most unsuited to the current situation.

“The reason humans can only struggle through life is all because of love. If I didn’t love my wife and son……”

Ricardo felt as if he had already heard the latter part of what he was hesitating to say.

If he didn’t love his son and wife, he wouldn’t have listened to Ricardo’s proposal, which was almost like a threat. If so, the damn fate wouldn’t have tangled up to give birth to another fate. So his words might be right.

Even if it’s an emotion he doesn’t remember, Ricardo’s choices must have been based on love.

“Anyway, if a person wants to become like the gods, they shouldn’t love. That it’s humanity’s greatest weakness. Isn’t it funny?”

“Facing death seems to have turned you into a philosopher.”

“Yes, death must really be imminent. Looking at how the end that only felt frightening is no longer scary.”

Ricardo laughed. He too was not afraid of death. But at some point, he became afraid of something unknown. It was a vague fear that he might lose something he had never even possessed.

Ricardo always kept those emotions well tucked away inside. As a result, living became truly boring.

He doesn’t know since when such cynicism existed within him.

Of course, there were things he gained thanks to becoming so cynical that people shivered from the cold.

Ricardo developed the ability to observe all situations with a third person’s eye. To him, the world was nothing more than a farce unfolding before him.

Most of it just felt like someone else’s business.

“The sorrow of the wife left behind, the danger that will befall my son, are far more frightening than my own death. It seems humans truly have no weakness other than love.”

“……”

“Ah, there appears the only human who doesn’t consider that great love a weakness.”

The Crown Prince spoke excitedly, as if he had discovered an interesting animal.

The only human he referred to was Julian.

Julian Bow Paquin, heir to the Paquin ducal family.

“Today, we might as well call him the peacock.”

A beautiful young man with brilliant red hair and sweet honey-colored eyes. Men called him the greatest playboy of the century, women called him everyone’s lover, but Ricardo simply called him an opportunist.

“I heard their family’s ship sank recently, and they lost an enormous amount of money to the sea.”

For the first time, the same smile appeared on both Ricardo and the Crown Prince’s faces.

“I can guess what he’s up to again.”

“To think one could live like that. As light as the wind. Just like his lower body.”

“Today’s yellow roses should all be given to the Paquin family.”

“No, he doesn’t need yellow roses. He should become a yellow rose himself today.”

The sneers on their faces deepened. The sinking of Paquin’s ship meant that his family’s fortunes had declined that much more. So his target today would be the Countess Sullivan, who they say recently inherited a massive fortune after her husband’s death.

“There’s a reason he’s dressed more lavishly than usual today.”

“Shall we make a bet?”

“What kind of bet do you mean?”

“On whether Julian will go to the Second Prince first and pretend to know him or not.”