Berita looked up at Lunox with pitiful eyes full of tears, urging for a solution.

Lunox was known as a problem-solver among people. When people asked him about troublesome matters, he answered without hesitation, and if they acted according to his words, their headaches would disappear completely.

Berita also always sought Lunox’s advice whenever she had problems. In fact, it was just that his bold answers, given regardless of the outcome, happened to fit remarkably well.

“Hmm”

Lunox, who had been lost in thought while slowly stroking his chin, raised his eyebrows and looked down at her.

“Send a letter to Devon, asking for help. He’s supposed to return soon.”

“Y-yes, I suppose that’s what I should do?”

“Until then, why don’t you stay with his mother, Viscountess Antra Dien? She turns a blind eye to Devon’s affair and has even built a friendship with you, his mistress.”

“But elder sister will be even angrier…”

“It won’t be a problem if you make her forgive you.”

Berita’s eyes widened like lanterns. Her eyes, gazing at Lunox in wonder as if she had heard a divine response, sparkled like moonlight reflecting on a lake.

“Lunox, how can you be so wise? Yes, that’s right. Elder sister is just upset now, but later she’ll forgive me as always.”

Haha. Yes, of course. Lunox patted the back of Berita, who was smiling brightly and hugging him.

Unlike the gentle smile spread across his face, his red-tinged eyes were wicked.

Ah. How can she be this stupid?

Berita was always this stupid. That’s why it wasn’t boring to watch her.

She was extremely self-pitying and, despite being well past her prime, deluded herself into thinking she needed protection.

She took for granted that everyone cherished and loved her, and was infinitely forgiving of her own mistakes.

Look at her now, shamelessly whining despite having repaid a lifetime of kindness with enmity.

Lunox inwardly sneered and gently closed his eyes.

“Everything will be alright, Berita.”

“Thank you, Lunox. I hope Etricia elder sister calms down soon and accepts Devon and me. This is a way for everyone to be happy, not just me.”

Etricia? Lunox’s black eyebrows twitched.

Come to think of it, it was a familiar name he had heard before.

After pondering for a moment, Lunox smiled cynically and let it pass like flowing water. Anything other than entertainment held no interest for him.

Thinking that if he stayed any longer with the dizzyingly foolish Berita, he might be influenced, he left the mansion with the excuse of meeting his mistress.

Edmond Mifidian, who quickly passed the columns lined up on both sides, prostrated himself at the bottom of the platform with his hand on his chest.

As the attendant lifted the thin curtain, a man was sitting in a chair bathed in warm sunlight.

Though his appearance was merely middle-aged, his piercingly brilliant gaze still held the spirit of his younger days when he had become a formidable victor in political struggles.

As Edmond was about to open his mouth with an expressionless face, the Emperor raised his hand to stop him.

“The first words We wish to hear from the mouth of a hero returning after 9 years are not idle pleasantries.”

Edmond lazily raised his eyelids, glanced at the Emperor’s feet, and then fixed his gaze on the carpet.

“I’ve come to receive the price of our promise.”

“Ha!”

The Emperor burst into laughter, rubbing his chin. Indeed, it was a most satisfying first utterance.

The Emperor squinted one eye and gazed at Edmond, illuminated by the chandelier light.

The place where the magic beast appeared was beneath the northernmost plateau, in the Jeder Forest where dark green vegetation flourished.

About 9 years ago, the magic beasts swallowed a nearby village whole.

To exterminate the troublesome magic beasts, a subjugation team was formed, but there was no suitable candidate willing to be the commander.

When the Magic Tower announced the beast’s rank and the difficulty of subjugation, even renowned knights instinctively held back.

But soon after, a young knight who had just completed his knighting ceremony volunteered to be the leader.

It was Edmond Mifidian, the legitimate bloodline of the duke’s family, who had earned the insulting nickname “fledgling eagle with clipped wings.”

‘I will certainly exterminate the forest’s magic beast, so please return it to me.’

‘Oh? What exactly?’

‘Please give me back my authority as the Mifidian Duke that I’ve lost.’

With eyes cold as gold but burning with spirit like fire, the young knight bowed his head to the Emperor. He added the condition that the Emperor protect his sister from his uncle until his return.

And the Emperor, sympathizing with the boy’s desperate and miserable feelings, had no choice but to accept the proposal.

When the boy was 13 years old, a bloodbath suddenly occurred in the empire’s only ducal castle. It was an incident where a magic beast that manifested in the duke’s territory devoured the Duke and Duchess Mifidian and their servants.

The survivors at that time were the Mifidian duke’s siblings. Edmond, who was also a witness, testified that the magic beast had transformed into a human. While everyone was in an uproar and half in doubt, his trusted uncle submitted a mental evaluation report to the court, claiming that his nephew was suffering from mental confusion due to shock.

Thus, the case was tentatively concluded as unsolved, and Edmond was stripped of his inheritance rights through a family council.

Since the Emperor had no authority to decide on matters under family jurisdiction, he could only watch quietly.

Immediately after that, about a year later, he volunteered to be the commander of the subjugation force, and so 9 years passed. The fledgling eagle that had fallen from its nest learned to fly on its own and soared into the sky, appearing before him.

The Emperor smiled with satisfaction as he saw the afterimage of a spirited boy in the mature man standing proudly before him.

“Yes, you should certainly be given your due. I shall proclaim it before the banquet to be held soon.”

“Before that, please bestow upon me the certificate of conferment. Soon, the subjugation force led by my subordinate will arrive at the territory.”

“Ah. I’ve heard. Your private army will stay in the territory, I hear.”

Edmond answered by lowering his eyes. He planned to expel his uncle, who had branded him as mentally ill, along with other relatives from the territory as soon as he received the certificate of conferment.

If there was internal strife due to opposition from the vassals, the certificate would empower him.

The Emperor nodded as if he understood the meaning.

“I’ll instruct my aide to ensure the knights don’t confuse their master.”

“I am deeply grateful.”

The Emperor quietly observed Edmond, who responded in a gruff voice with his head bowed.

Some call Edmond a loyal subject, but he is by no means such a thing.

Even if he were to bestow the duke’s position and all sorts of treasures, he would never possess that man’s heart.

That very point made him a man who stimulated the monarch’s desire for possession.

He was a man who was not swayed by affiliations or material things, but was bound to people.

If someone were to dwell in that man’s colorless, lusterless eyes, they would be completely dyed. Like the dawn swallowing the world in red, it would swallow his heart whole.

If only that someone could be his son. The Emperor, recalling his pitiful yet pathetic eldest son, suddenly coughed. As if it were a common occurrence, an attendant rushed over to assist.

The Emperor waved his hand to dismiss the attendant while coughing lightly.

Edmond watched the Emperor intently with narrowed eyes. It seemed to be more than a simple cold.

The Emperor’s face showed signs of illness more pronounced than during their last audience.

Well, it’s not his concern anyway.

Edmond lowered his eyes indifferently, waiting for the dismissal order. But it remained quiet above him.

The Emperor spoke while covering his mouth with a handkerchief and letting out a small cough.

“How is… that child doing?”

Edmond, aware of the Emperor’s bond with her through letters written by Etricia, opened his tightly closed lips.

“Do you mean Countess Vuel?”

“Yes, that child. I hear she’s staying at the mansion due to her connection with your sister.”

“That’s correct.”

“Tsk tsk, I don’t know what possessed her to push me away when she got married, and now I hear she’s divorcing that damned Count Vuel.”

Despite the reproachful grumbling, the smile that spread across his face revealed joy and relief.

The Emperor sighed softly and raised his hand, and an attendant brought forth an imperial edict.

Edmond received the letter placed on a golden tray.

“Deliver this letter to that child. I can rest easy if she’s by your side. Please take good care of that fragile child.”

Fragile child? Edmond’s thick eyebrows twitched.

Recalling Etricia’s cunning smile as she dreamed of revenge against her in-laws, he was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t turn to leave even at the dismissal order.

Later, upon arriving at the mansion, Edmond received an unexpected report as soon as he returned home.

It was a report that there had been a commotion when Etricia’s sister-in-law barged into the mansion.

And when he reached his office, he encountered Lilien Mifidian, who was crying.

“…Ah, elder sister.”

“Are you listening, Edmond? Isn’t that person too much? How could she do that to the husband of a sister-in-law she’s known for over 10 years…”

Edmond, taking his eyes off the approval documents, rubbed his forehead and spoke in a somewhat dazed voice.

“This is the sixth time you’ve said that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I just feel heartbroken thinking about the innocent and kind Lady Etricia you might not have known until now…”

Lilien smiled sheepishly, her cheeks flushing.

Edmond burst into laughter and gazed at Lilien with narrowed eyes.

‘I wonder who’s really the innocent one here.’

He didn’t feel the passage of time due to his sister, who hadn’t changed in the past 9 years.

It felt as familiar as if they had met just yesterday.

That’s why he had brought Etricia to the mansion.

Not knowing what that woman was trying to do to him.