Mikael looked down at the unexpectedly delivered invitation.

“It seems the opponent is not as easygoing as I thought.”

The Blandidche crest was stamped on the invitation. Due to its different format from the letters Annette had sent before, it was immediately clear that she didn’t send this one.

As expected.

The protagonist of the invitation was Duke Blandiche, Hertian.

“Didn’t Annette mention the invitation last time?”

The man who received the invitation tilted his head with a smirk.

“There was no mention of the Duke when we met in the alley. Your Highness.”

The opponent was none other than the Prince, Cersedis, who could be considered the one and only in the empire.

Not long ago.

Mikael received an absurd proposal.

A contact offering him the opportunity to be the temporary aide to the Prince.

In addition, he added that he would be seated as the next marquis, bypassing his brothers.

The opponent is Cersedis, the prince, wielding power. There was no room for doubt.

It was just a moment to mimic Annette’s letter friend, simple, right?

But mimicking someone else was nothing compared to following an order to deceive a woman with a lie.

Even if the order was as simple as deceiving a woman, it felt incomparable to what he was given.

‘Can’t I refuse to deceive a woman with a simple lie, even if I followed orders to kill people?’

Mikael decided to simply enjoy this moment.

He thought of Cersedis as naive in this moment.

Holding a position almost equivalent to the next emperor but unable to properly have even one woman.

‘Even if she’s a step-sister, can’t he just kill her?’

Even if she had no powerful backing, what did it matter? If it were him, he would have found a simple solution, either kill or forcibly bring the woman.

“What should I do?”

But he didn’t express his inner thoughts.

Anyway, he received special treatment because of this limited aspect of himself.

“A troublesome bastard.”

Cersedis, leaving aside the stack of documents he was holding, glanced through the invitation first.

“Really? But if that guy personally brought the invitation, Annette must have told him about you.”

Annette never spoke of her own story first. She only spoke a word after the door to her heart opened sincerely.

She didn’t know about Hertian’s story when talking to Cassian, who was already in a close relationship. She didn’t know how to tell Hertian about Cassian’s story.

Their relationship was deeper than expected.

‘Why? It’s just a contractual marriage relationship.’

No matter how much he squeezed his brain, he couldn’t understand it.

Cersedis quickly felt disgusted.

“Should I refuse? I’ll do as you say.”

Mikael, who keenly sensed his change in expression, spoke subtly.

Cersedis immediately raised his head.

“If you refuse the invitation, it goes along with his plan. If you don’t go, and Casian’s trust in Annette keeps decreasing? He’ll just make you into Casian and cut off your tail whenever he wants.”

If that happens, the reason for creating a fake Casian disappears.

“Do go and act as Casian perfectly. Since you’ve memorized the letter, it should be simple.”

Cersedis turned his gaze away and looked at Mikael. It was a look that meant to do it well on his own. Otherwise, he would take over the position at any time.

‘Will it be easy?’

Mikael got up from his seat without saying a word.

“If your ultimate goal is to build friendship with the Duchess, I will do my best to become Casian.”

“Goal? My goal is to kill that guy. Just kill him at the right time and come back.”

His eyes widened at the blatant words.

“Do I have to kill the Duke now?”

If Cersedis was going to kill him, he didn’t know, but personally shedding blood when he hadn’t even become the marquis was a significant risk burden.

Even if he were given the position of the next marquis.

“Are you pulling back now?”
“No… It’s just a bit embarrassing.”

“Think about why I bothered to associate myself with the Marquis, making you the next Marquis. Positions aren’t given to just anyone. Am I wrong?”

“No, you’re right.”

He immediately agreed.

No matter how much he rolled his head, it was a situation where he couldn’t easily back out now.

Cersedis, who had been subtly pushing him, observed his attitude in silence and then burst into laughter.

“Hahaha.”

Unlike before, it was a face that seemed to find it amusing to the point of death.

Mikael didn’t understand the meaning behind that laughter.

Was it because he found it amusing that he was submitting? Or was it because he was happy that someone had emerged to kill the Duke directly?

After a long sigh, Cersedis wiped away the tears in his eyes and said while chuckling, “It’s a joke, so relax.”

A joke about killing people.

Mikael thought that the prince might be enjoying this situation.

Playing with a mouse trapped in a corner and slowly killing it like a cat. Perhaps he thought that he could have it anytime he wanted.

Sure enough, Cersedis, as if asking when was the last time he felt bad, looked at the air with an expectant gleam in his eyes.