Huh, huh…….

Adrian’s rough breathing did not recover easily. His lips trembled as he barely managed to speak.

“……Let go, Lilburn.”

Fortunately, Lilburn obediently followed the command. However, Adrian had to squeeze his eyes shut at the pain he felt even as the hand was removed.

He had barely endured while with Layla and tried to lie down to recover, but his stomach turned again.

Seeing Adrian biting his lips to endure, Lilburn wore a displeased expression but sat back in his place for now.

He waited for Adrian’s breathing to gradually calm down before snapping.

“Why do you seem to be getting worse? Don’t tell me you used your ability again in the meantime?”

Adrian felt cold sweat running down his back as he vaguely mumbled an answer.

“……There was such an occasion.”

However, Lilburn, who had served Adrian for not just a year or two but for over a decade, quickly realized that he had pushed himself quite hard.

“You knew your body was already in shambles, yet you still did it? Don’t tell me you did this to bring that princess here.”

When dawn breaks tomorrow, rumors of a strange earthquake at the royal palace will circulate, and when it reaches Lilburn’s ears, he’s bound to get scolded again.

Adrian was already feeling a bit annoyed, but he didn’t regret it.

That bastard Reynold only understands the language of beasts. He’s the type who only behaves when beaten half to death.

“Your perception has improved, Lilburn.”

Since he wasn’t going to reflect anyway, Adrian deliberately responded as if it was no big deal, which made the already furious Lilburn shout.

“Your Highness!”

Adrian put his index finger to his lips and made a shushing sound.

“Be quiet. If you’re like that, you’ll wake everyone up.”

This wasn’t the well-soundproofed imperial palace. Lilburn seemed to acknowledge this and lowered his voice, but his words became more vicious.

“Do you really want to die?”

“Is that a threat? It’s not very scary.”

As Adrian answered with a smirk, Lilburn’s face contorted terribly, and he rubbed his face dry. Then, changing his attitude, he spoke almost pleadingly this time.

“Please, please, Your Highness….. Don’t you know that this could really lead to a disaster?”

“……”

Only then did Adrian’s mouth close. He completely removed the smile he had been wearing on his face all along and slowly raised his body. Then he looked at Lilburn, who was sitting with his head bowed, covering his face with both hands.

“Lilburn?”

He called softly, but this time Lilburn didn’t answer.

Feeling awkward, Adrian let out a deep sigh.

It seemed that Lilburn was taking the situation much more seriously than he had thought. It wasn’t incomprehensible. The damage Adrian had received while cleaning up the last Monster Wave was severe.

Just when he thought it was almost cleaned up, a large group of wyverns appeared, taking a long time to deal with and causing quite a struggle.

In the process of using too much power at once, Adrian ended up coughing up blood, and although he barely made it back to the imperial palace, he fell into bed, closed his eyes, and didn’t wake up for several days.

However, he heard that Lilburn had a hard time because this fact couldn’t be revealed to anyone, not even the Emperor. It must have been hellish days for him.

Lilburn had an almost crying expression as soon as he woke up.

After waking up, Adrian also thought it was a big deal. However, thanks to Lilburn’s clever control, none of the other siblings yet knew that Adrian was in this state.

However, since he hadn’t shown his physical condition to anyone except Lilburn, even Adrian didn’t know exactly how much damage he had taken or how much more power he could use.

He was only guessing his limit intuitively, instinctively.

It seemed to be at a dangerous level for sure at present. If he pushes himself further, he might never be able to use his ability again for the rest of his life.

To recover from this internal injury, he needs to hurry and receive adjustment, but it wasn’t feasible. He had missed the temporary method he had found because of Isabella, that Fitzroy’s First Princess.

But there was no reason to amplify Lilburn’s anxiety by telling him the whole truth straight, so Adrian comforted him.

“Don’t worry. It’s not that bad yet.”

Only then did Lilburn remove his hands from his face and raise his head.

“……If Your Highness falls, the empire could be in danger.”

“Isn’t it too disrespectful to say such things when His Majesty is present?”

“This is no joke. What will you do about the princes you’re currently suppressing with power? And if Isabella Fitzroy really goes on a rampage, how do you intend to keep her in check while treating your body so carelessly?”

At Lilburn’s words, Adrian wore an awkward expression.

Indeed, if Adrian failed to keep his position and was ousted, there was a possibility that the current imperial family would be divided and fall into chaos.

Although the first Empress had passed away, Adrian, her child, had the Emperor’s support, and his maternal family was also one of the four ducal houses, giving him absolute influence. Apart from him, the remaining three princes could be considered to have equal power.

And Isabella Fitzroy was certainly a headache for the empire.

It’s already difficult to control Fitzroy due to its strong national power, and Isabella has an aggressive and radical personality, so if she takes the throne, the two countries might end up in a power struggle for continental hegemony.

In other words, war.

Currently, the two countries are essentially in a state of ceasefire, and it’s unknown when a crisis might be triggered.

But is there a need to worry now when he hasn’t really lost his power and fallen from grace?

“Well…… If it can’t be done by force, it can be done by strategy.”

“Your Highness.”

“You’re nagging too much today, Lilburn. More importantly…… Is there any more news from Fitzroy or Wessex?”

As he appropriately changed the subject, Lilburn wore a displeased expression. However, as if acknowledging that worrying about Adrian’s health was endless, he provided an answer.

“There’s no way there could be more in such a short time. Even that intelligence was barely obtained.”

Isabella realized at some point that her affairs were leaking to Adrian and completely replaced the people around her. The previous statement was Lilburn’s defense that intelligence had become scarce since then. However, for Adrian, this part was quite important.

“We need to know more about when it will be executed. Isabella is too impulsive a person… It’s difficult to hastily guess the timing, and it’s hard to move based on inaccurate speculation.”

“According to the Count, it seems that the day of execution is not too far off…”

“Then Wessex might be burning this very night. We just haven’t heard about it yet.”

Lilburn neatly agreed with Adrian’s cool assessment of the situation.

“That could be the case.”

Since Filmer and Wessex were not too far apart, if Isabella’s plan had begun, rumors would soon reach them.

Adrian furrowed his brow as he thought.

If Wessex was now being overturned by Isabella’s hand, it would be better if that news arrived before Layla returned to Wessex.

‘But if that happens…’

While the worst might be avoided, even Adrian himself found it difficult to be certain that Layla could be saved unscathed.

If the Kingdom of Wessex were to fall right now, the daughters of Wessex who had become queens of other countries might have some way to survive, but the situation was different for those who hadn’t settled somewhere, like Layla.

With too high a use value but no ability to resist, what would become of them?

All countries had clearly watched as the Hankin Empire treated them well only to be backstabbed, so learning from that example, it was clear that no place would come forward to treat those with the Wessex name in such a way in the future.

This meant that the sons and daughters of the Wessex royal family were very likely to be dragged away as prisoners of other countries and exploited.

However, even in an emergency, if Hankin were to jump in while Fitzroy was already in Wessex, it could immediately restart the war between the two countries, so the risk was too great.

Above all, the Emperor of Hankin would never agree. There was not a single reason to help Wessex, which already looked down on Hankin.

Adrian gritted his teeth at the actions of the Wessex king, who had made the worst judgment of digging his own grave.

‘Damn it…’

He should have made enemies moderately.

No, at least he shouldn’t have rashly provoked Isabella Fitzroy.

Adrian let out a deep sigh, unable to interpret the situation positively no matter how he looked at it.

“For now, Lilburn.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“If news comes that Isabella Fitzroy has entered Wessex, relay it to me immediately without worrying about the situation. And we will finish our plan and return to the empire as soon as possible. That seems to be the best course of action.”

“Understood.”

Adrian, who dismissed Lilburn with a gesture, rose from his seat.

And standing by the window, looking down at the garden faintly bathed in moonlight, he became lost in thought.

Layla Wessex.

The clear eyes of the girl who had been so small came to mind.