“Hoho, is that really true?”

“Yes, it’s really true.”

The emperor was dumbfounded, but soon changed his mind. At any rate, it wasn’t a bad outcome for him.

The emperor’s gaze soon turned to Cassian standing below.

“How does my fifth child feel about this?”

“It’s so sudden, I don’t know what to say.”

Cassian gritted his teeth. His turbulent eyes turned to Veronica. She was smiling as if she knew nothing.

Her attitude was confident, as if there wasn’t a single lie in her words.

Cassian chose to take a step back for now. He must have thought he couldn’t argue and question in front of His Majesty the Emperor. But Veronica didn’t miss the opportunity.

“Your Highness Cassian, have you forgotten? The letters we exchanged, the feelings we nurtured.”

“This-!”

-What nonsense! The words he held back through gritted teeth seemed to reach Veronica’s ears.

Surprised by her statement, Harry looked back and forth between the two. The emperor did the same.

Asher was stiff but wore a confused expression.

Cassian clenched both fists. She had deliberately stopped the emperor from sending him away just to say these words.

Moreover, he had never shared his heart with her. It was a complete lie.

His face turned red, and his whole body trembled. The emperor misunderstood this as Cassian being shy.

“My, who would have thought our fifth child and the young lady of House Hardness were sharing their hearts.”

The emperor’s eyes were like a bird’s anus.

“I thought you had feelings for the fourth child.”

“At first I did, but Your Highness Cassian comforted my heart. He sincerely worried about me, and gave words of comfort saying he hoped I would be truly happy. He embraced me, and said if there was a next life, he would like to meet me fully and share his heart.”

“Oh ho- I didn’t know our fifth was so affectionate.”

“I know Your Highness may feel burdened, but I don’t want to hide these feelings any longer.”

“Of course, of course, I understand.”

What do you understand? When you don’t know anything. Veronica wanted to sneer at the emperor’s interjections. Inwardly, of course.

“Now I see. Why you came to see me. You came to request marriage to my fifth child.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. This time, I wanted to ask directly to avoid causing confusion. Of course, that is if Your Highness Cassian accepts my heart.”

“Of course. I’ll gladly accept it.”

“Your Majesty!”

Cassian hurriedly intervened to stop the conversation between the two, but the emperor frowned.

“You’re being noisy. Who do you think you’re raising your voice in front of?”

“…I apologize.”

Cassian bowed his head and returned to his original position. Though hiding his expression, his resentful feelings could be felt in his clenched fists. Asher glanced at him.

Of course, the emperor didn’t care at all about his feelings. It was clear what his position was within the imperial family.

“I will grant permission. You two will surely make a good couple.”

For now they would start with an engagement, but in any case the emperor had personally promised that the two would hold a wedding ceremony in the future.

This was like an imperial decree. It could not be refused, and unless he revoked the promise, its effect would never disappear.

Veronica smiled very happily.

“Thank you, Your Majesty the Emperor.”

“Veronica. What do you mean? You exchanged letters with Prince Theron and shared hearts?”

As soon as they left the audience chamber, Harry grabbed Veronica and asked.

Even he had not noticed when the two had been sharing hearts.

“I’ll tell you later, Father.”

Veronica said, glancing to the side. There was no time now to satisfy her father’s curiosity. Because Cassian was walking towards her, fuming.

“Veronica Hardness!”

“Oh my. Your Highness Cassian. Did you come here to meet me?”

Even though his face was full of indignation, Veronica greeted him as if she didn’t know. She casually uttered words that would shock the listener.

In fact, Cassian’s face became even more fierce. Unable to raise his voice in front of Duke Hardness, he gathered his patience.

Veronica turned to Harry with a smirk.

“Father, I’d like to have a private conversation with His Highness for a moment.”

“Go ahead.”

Though the atmosphere was ominous, Harry bowed to Cassian and stepped aside as she said.

As he left, Veronica turned back to face Cassian. He had just turned his gaze after following Harry with his eyes.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“What is this rudeness? When did we ever exchange letters and nurture feelings? The one you exchanged letters with was Asher, not me. And I clearly rejected your heart last time, didn’t I?”

“We can exchange letters from now on, and nurture feelings from now on. If we’re going to be engaged anyway, you’ll see my face often whether you like it or not. As that happens, feelings will grow even if there weren’t any before.”

“Are you seriously saying that now?”

“Yes, what about it?”

Veronica was rather brazen.

“Isn’t it a plausible story? The love story between Your Highness and me.”

“Where are you lying.”

“But His Majesty didn’t notice at all, did he?”

Even if he had noticed, he wouldn’t have cared. Still, she had worried that the emperor might ask for his opinion and reject her proposal.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

“Love stories usually have some exaggeration mixed in, don’t they? If I were to share hearts with Your Highness, I thought this kind of story would be appropriate after some consideration.”

Cassian was dumbfounded. He felt heat rising to the top of his head. To Cassian’s reaction, Veronica smiled brightly instead.

“It would have been good if Your Highness had listened well to my words when I said you would marry me.”

“-Ha.”

Cassian let out a short laugh. Of course, it wasn’t a sincere laugh.

When his face came up after going down, his eyes had become even fiercer.

“You’re crazy. I heard you had a high fever recently, seems your head got messed up too.”

“That could be the case.”

If he asked if she was crazy, she was indeed crazy. Veronica readily admitted to his words.

“If you disliked it so much, you could have rejected it like last time.”

“Who didn’t reject-”

Cassian closed his mouth again. In fact, he was not in a position to ‘reject’ her request.

Veronica also knew his position very well. Unless you’re an idiot, you’d know that his will was not reflected at all in the situation just now.

As a prince, there exists a hierarchy as much as bloodline, and not everyone receives equal treatment. It was already one of the famous stories in the empire that all of the emperor’s children had different birth mothers.

Of course, Veronica gladly took advantage of that fact.

When was it?

She didn’t know which past it was, but she learned that the reason Asher, who had always rejected her courtship, suddenly came to propose was because of His Majesty the Emperor’s order.

After receiving the emperor’s command along with her father’s request, Asher proposed to her and they got engaged.

It was a forced engagement from the beginning, and a one-sided relationship. So there was no way feelings could develop.

Knowing this fact, Veronica went directly to the emperor to request marriage to Cassian.

She knew the emperor would not reject her request.

For now, an engagement would come first, but getting a promise of future marriage was enough of an achievement.

Since the emperor ‘personally’ promised, he wouldn’t revoke it. At least not until her family is completely destroyed.

“Don’t I look pretty to Your Highness?”

“What did you say?”

“I’ve been told I’m quite pretty growing up. I’ve heard praise that I’ll grow up to be a beauty until my ears are numb. My figure isn’t bad at this level, and everyone in the empire knows the wealth of my family. Aren’t you happy that you’ll marry someone like me in the future?”

“Are you saying I should be honored that such a great person like you is marrying me?”

“That wasn’t my intention, but if that’s how you hear it.”

“…Why are you doing this to me?”

Cassian asked, suppressing his anger.

There was also frustration mixed in about the situation he was in and her actions that he couldn’t understand the reason for at all.

“What are you telling me to do about Asher…”

“…”

His anger was directed at his precious older brother rather than himself.

He worries about the hurt he must have received, and feels sorry for the hurt he must have received. Veronica stared blankly at such a Cassian.

It was always just the two of them like that. Always caring for and cherishing only each other.

As if comforting each other’s wounded souls, Asher kept him by his side until the very end.

Even if he abandoned his fiancée, he didn’t abandon the only brother he cared about.

She heard that Cassian was a great help when Asher ascended to the throne as emperor. It was Cassian who took the lead in purging those who rebelled against him.

How disgusting. Veronica slowly moved her lips.

“Didn’t I tell you? That I came to admire Your Highness.”

“…”

“If happiness lies ahead in my path, I want to be with Your Highness.”

And I want to share the misfortune in my path with you too. That’s how I’ll take revenge.

On your precious older brother, on that man I want to erase without a trace from this world.

If he was hurt in his pride, that’s what I hoped for. I don’t care about the hurt you’ll receive because of this either.

Just as they didn’t care about my misfortune, I won’t care about their misfortune either.

‘If you wish for my death, I will gladly resist.’

Veronica decided.

If despair was all that lay ahead in her future, she would drag Asher’s precious younger brother into her despair.

So watch closely, Asher. How your beloved brother falls apart.

Veronica hid her cruel intentions and smiled prettily.

Cassian’s face showed he was creeped out, but even that didn’t matter. Didn’t she say from the beginning? That his feelings don’t matter in this marriage.

Anticipating the despair she would share with him in the future, she whispered quite affectionately.

“Let’s live well together, Your Highness Prince Cassian.”