Opening her mouth slightly, she gave him a piercing look.

‘Heh. As expected.’

Prince Edwin raised the corners of his mouth subtly and reached out his hand.

Given his prince status and objectively attractive appearance, most young nobles would blush in front of Edwin.

‘It seems the princess is no different.’

However, Evelia’s thoughts were completely different.

‘What the heck, this snail. What is he smiling at, so annoying.’

Because of her father, her brother, her demon friend, and the prince’s friend, Evelia, who had involuntarily raised her sights to the sky, saw no difference between the prince in front of her and a snail.

Wasn’t he the one who was tormenting her friend Louis?

There were even rumors that Louis’s mother, the queen, was also poisoned by these people.

The prince, who completely misunderstood Evelia’s increasingly sullen expression as her affection for him, dropped his shoulders once again.

“I will show you around the palace, princess.”

Unlike the crown prince who lost his mother, he had a strong mother to support him.

It wasn’t easy for ordinary young nobles to be disrespectful to him, who had the potential to overthrow the current crown prince and become the emperor in the future.

Even the noble and highranking young lady Seres of the Defont family was not disobedient in front of him, the prince.

Prince Edwin’s life, overflowing with rights and devoid of responsibility, perfectly suited Edwin’s arrogant and dissolute personality.

And so, Edwin made a big mistake.

He thought that Princess Artina in front of him was also just stiffening her face to act arrogant, and since he was a prince, she would obediently let him hold her wrist and tour the palace.

And so, he reached out without permission.

Thump.

“How dare you touch me, Edwin.”

Edwin’s wrist, which was heading towards Evelia, was grabbed with a strong grip before it even reached its target.

A firm hand covered with callouses from intense sword training.

It was Ludwig’s hand.

And precisely at the same time Ludwig grabbed Edwin’s wrist,

“Undine.”

Splish A refreshing spray of water splashed in the palace corridor.

Undine, who appeared in response to the summoner’s call, waved her vicious tail and set up a small water barrier to prevent Edwin’s hand from getting any closer.

If she could, Evelia would have liked to ask Undine to tightly wind around his wrist and bruise him, but she knew well that injuring a royal body was a crime that would be hard to escape severe punishment under the imperial law.

Ludwig, who grabbed the hand reaching for his little friend and emitted a fierce energy from his red eyes, and Evelia, who called Undine at the same time to block his advancing hand.

The two childhood friends’ eyes met.

‘Are you okay?’

Ludwig asked with his eyes.

Evelia responded with a soft smile and gently nodded her head at Ludwig.

As if to tell him to stop.

Ludwig, who intended to break the hateful halfbrother’s wrist for daring to touch his little friend, reluctantly let go of his hand when Evelia seemed to be shaking her head.

What does that little brat intend to do with that?

Ludwig, following Evelia’s intention, let go of Edwin’s wrist but glared at the prince and the queen as if ready to pounce at any moment.

On the other hand, Evelia felt as if all her unpleasant feelings had been washed away thanks to her childhood friend standing protectively in front of her.

‘Well, he is really like a white puppy.’

Thanks to him, Evelia was able to suppress her anger and speak with a steady voice.

“Your Highness, the prince, I should receive an apology for the rudeness of trying to touch my body arbitrarily, but I guess it is too much to expect.”

The oceanblue eyes directed at Edwin sank coldly like the deep sea, and the voice that flowed out was even colder.

A firsttime attitude. A firsttime voice. Ludwig glanced at Evelia with slightly widened red eyes, as if surprised.

“I only stopped because I cannot hurt the body of a royal, but if a similar event happens next time, I don’t know what will happen, Your Highness. The spirits do not always move according to my will.”

In response to Evelia’s words, Undine created a fierce spray of water near Edwin.

“How dare you, threatening the royal family!”

Even if he was only nine years old, still not fully out of childhood, he was fundamentally a prince.

Just as there is a saying that even if it rots, it’s still a stick, the prince didn’t even blink an eye at the show of power by Wundine, which would usually scare children.

“Lower your voice. It’s irritating.”

“Brother!”

“I don’t even like that title, little brother.”

Edwin gritted his teeth.

In front of a mere princess, it was difficult to endure the disgrace from Ludwig.

A younger brother who wished for his elder brother’s death more than anyone else. An older brother who received countless life threats from his younger brother.

The two halfbrothers calling each other brothers seemed like watching a wellwritten play.