Ian jolted awake, feeling as though something was strangling his throat. Coughs erupted from Ian as he rubbed his neck.

The sensation was too vivid to be a dream. He pressed down on his strangely throbbing chest and sat up in bed.

Feeling that he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, Ian left his room. The hallways of the palace were eerily quiet, lit only by the lamps scattered on the walls.

“Your Highness, should I follow you?”

The knight who had been guarding his room like a shadow approached and asked.

“No need. I’ll just take a walk and be back.”

Ian stopped speaking. He sensed someone’s presence across the hallway. The footsteps that had been reverberating on the floor ceased, and the figure revealed was Calisto.

“Thought I heard voices. So it was you, Ian.”

“Your Majesty, what brings you out at this late hour?”

Calisto chuckled as if it weren’t a problem. After all, there was always a royal guard secretly accompanying the emperor wherever he went.

“Couldn’t go back to sleep after waking up once. You seem the same, judging by your face?”

“Yes, I had a strange dream.”

“What kind of strange dream?”

Calisto looked visibly anxious as he asked.

“No need to worry. It was just a vivid dream.”

“Nothing else bothering you?”

“No, nothing. What brings you here, Your Majesty?”

The emperor’s room and the empress’s room were to the left of the dining hall on the second floor, while the rooms for the princes were on the right.

“I had somewhere to go.”

“Where at this hour?”

Calisto took the lead as he gestured for Ian to follow. They stopped in front of a room at the end of the second-floor corridor on the right, encased in bars that shimmered as if coated in gold.

“Isn’t this a restricted area? No one is allowed to enter.”

“True, no one can enter except the emperor.”

“Do you have a key, Your Majesty?”

“Yes, the only key to open this door is secretly handed down to the emperor.”

Ian squinted as if trying to gauge the room’s secrets through the bars.

“What’s in there?”

“I’d rather you never knew.”

“If that means you don’t want me to become emperor…”

It wasn’t surprising. Ian knew that Calisto had no intention of passing the throne to him, and Ian had no ambition for it either.

“Your younger brother Enoch will probably become the crown prince since the empress’s faction is strong, and eventually the emperor.”

“That’s not what I meant, Ian. Actually, in the royal family…”

Calisto paused for a moment before continuing.

“Your twenty-second birthday is in two days. I’ll tell you everything then.”

“…Is something going to happen to me?”

The anxiety he had been holding back surfaced. The sky was already lightening, and after today, tomorrow would be his twenty-second birthday.

“Ian.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

When their eyes met, Calisto lightly narrowed his gaze. He raised his hand and laid it on Ian’s shoulder.

“Nothing will happen to you.”

Although he felt a slight tremor in the touch, Ian simply nodded.

“Klein, are you going to the training arena?”

“I don’t know.”

Ian responded as he pressed against his sweaty forehead. He was coming from the mandatory theoretical class for new knights.

“Derrick is sparring with Senior Raymond. Want to watch?”

“I’ll pass.”

As he moved forward, ignoring Jace’s invitation, Ian suddenly stopped. He had overheard the name “Rosebelia” in a fleeting conversation among the new recruits passing by.

“What did you just say?”
A novice knight who had abruptly grabbed Ian’s arm asked, his eyes wide.

“Huh?”

“Weren’t you talking about Senior Rosebelia? Weren’t you?”

“Ah, yes, we were discussing that Senior Rosebelia is getting married soon.”

“…Married?”

As the word escaped his lips, his heart sank.

‘Getting married all of a sudden? With who?’

Rosebelia had said at the party that she had no plans to marry at the moment. She had been clear; she didn’t want a marriage she was pushed into.

“But it could be just a rumor like last time.”

“This time it might not be. We have Senior Ernoa in our knight order. I heard there were marriage talks between the Diaz and Winters families.”

“Senior Ernoa is from the Diaz family?”

Amid the confusion, the chatter from the group of novices pierced his ears. Ian swallowed hard and finally spoke.

“Did Senior Rosebelia come today?”

“She should have.”

Upon hearing the casual response, Ian sprinted to the practice hall. He stood in front of the closed door, took a few deep breaths, and opened it.

Inside, there was no Rosebelia. Only Linart and Conrad were present.

“Where is Senior Rosebelia?”

“Ah, well…”

As Conrad hesitated, Linart stepped forward, setting his sword aside.

“Senior Rosebelia did not come to the practice hall today.”

Linart stood upright and bowed to Ian, who observed as Conrad belatedly bowed as well.

“She didn’t come at all?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then where…”

Where could she have gone?

Ian, biting his lower lip, hurriedly walked away. He searched all the places Rosebelia might go—from the castle walls to the dining hall, then her quarters—but he couldn’t find her anywhere.