“Sigh…….”

Angri let out a deep sigh and looked up at the ceiling.

‘Was I also just a person who could only amount to this much in the end?’

The former emperor, his father, could not see an heir between him and the lawful empress.

Born with a playboy disposition, the emperor used that fact as an excuse to create many consorts.

He himself was one of those results.

According to the national law, a bastard child can never succeed to the throne.

Because of this, Angri was in the position of walking a narrow and dangerous cliff path alone until he was acknowledged as the legitimate son of the former emperor, being adopted as the empress’s son.

During those times, Angri’s mother, who should have cared for her son, always worried more about her own future than her son’s safety.

To her, her son was nothing more than a means to make herself empress, nothing more, nothing less.

Even that connection was severed once Angri became the empress’s adopted son.

As a young boy, Angri grew up alone, experiencing neardeath five times.

Three of those instances were caused by his halfbrothers, and twice he brought them upon himself.

After his last suicide attempt, he still remembered the face of Valliere that appeared before his despairing, awakening eyes.

She had cried so much that her eyes were swollen to the point they could barely open, and her snot had dried white under her nose as if she hadn’t even thought to wipe it.

Snicker.

Seeing her ugly appearance, Angri couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

‘What’s the matter? Why are you laughing? Do you know how worried I was?’

When he gently touched Valliere’s puffy cheek, everything suddenly felt as if it had returned to its place.

He realized that he still wanted to live, that he wanted to stay by her side more.

Although he had to form an alliance with the Fransuar family and engage in a political marriage he didn’t want to, in order to become emperor, he planned to dispose of Ermedillin when she was no longer useful and make Valliere the lawful empress.

Unlike his father, he intended to love his first love, who had given him a reason to live, for the rest of his life.

But now he found himself getting tired of her.

Watching Valliere breathing heavily, Angri was overcome with fear.

All the fears that he had overcome with Valliere by his side hadn’t disappeared.

He had simply not felt them thanks to her.

The idea that Valliere might die and he would be alone again overwhelmed him with an enormous terror.

For a moment, he hated himself for thinking his feelings for her had cooled.

‘No! That can’t be! How could I… How could I ever do that to you…’

Angri’s eyes, blankly staring into space, began to fill with tears.

Living a life where you don’t have to do anything is indeed comfortable.

When you wake up in the morning, warm water is prepared for washing, and in the evening, you can bathe in a luxurious tub, attended by maids.

There’s nothing to do yourself, not even eating, or putting on a dress.

‘I can see why everyone wants to be rich.’

Of course, the annoyance caused by the fear of impending execution and Valliere made him irritable, but as his body relaxed, strangely, his mind seemed to become more generous too.

Not having to worry about what to eat tomorrow, what to wear, how to afford dental treatment for his aching tooth, or how to find this month’s rent. There’s no luxury like this luxury.

‘The best part after moving to a leased house was that. Not having to worry about falling behind on rent once a month…’

Though he was still paying principal and interest monthly because of the loan he took to buy the house, being in debt to a bank was more comfortable for his mind.
‘What happens if the loan isn’t paid off and falls behind?’

Suddenly, a terrible situation arose in which she woke up one day to find herself back in her original world, and her home was gone.

‘Uh… Uh… No! Absolutely not! Ah, but it won’t happen… since I’m already dead?’

Ermedillin looked suspiciously at Loony, whose expression kept changing strangely as she chewed her brunch.

“Your Majesty, is it not to your taste? Shall I have it replaced?”

“No? Why?”

“You suddenly looked so serious.”

“Ah, I was just lost in thought.”

“Lost in thought? What were you thinking about?”

“It was nothing special.”

“But your expression was too… uh!”

Not wanting to engage in deep conversation, Ermedillin used her fork to scoop up a large portion of dessert and put it in Loony’s mouth.

“Is it good?”

Loony tried to send Ermedillin a resentful glare, but the sweet fragrance filling her mouth instantly melted her confusion.

“It looks great, but what if I’m caught taking food from Her Majesty the Empress? It’ll be big trouble for me!”

Loony said it would be big trouble, but she was savoring it once again.

“Come here! Sit down, let’s eat together!!”

This time, Ermedillin pulled Loony’s arm and made her sit next to her.

“Ah! I’m really going to get in trouble!”