Jeffrey, who had just handed over the last report, stamped it.

He had just finished the work for the upcoming hunting festival. He smiled with satisfaction and slowly pushed his chair back.

Knock knock-.

That’s when the knock sounded. He supported himself by placing both hands on the desk to stand up and gave permission, and the door opened.

The one who entered the Crown Prince’s office was Dennis, a man with a businesslike expression wearing glasses, a trusted aide of the Cellano Grand Duke family.

Jeffrey glanced at the calendar and clicked his tongue softly. Is it already that time?

Once a month, Dennis would visit Jeffrey to give a regular report.

The contents of the report were, as usual, mainly about the Crown Prince’s current location, recognition, popularity, stability of position, and influence in political and business circles.

The Cellano Grand Duke family began managing the Crown Prince after proposing to give their eldest daughter to Jeffrey.

They instructed him to participate in events that would show a positive image to the public, and directly wrote statements that would be good to mention in speeches.

They manipulated Jeffrey like a puppet on strings.

And Jeffrey acted accordingly and received evaluations like this once a month.

He felt that something was terribly wrong, but he couldn’t help it.

The Cellano Grand Duke family was the only hill Jeffrey could lean on, unable to set foot anywhere between the rising new nobility and the old nobility.

If they withdrew their support, the Crown Prince would become an emperor in name only.

Rather than that, he chose the path of becoming a puppet of the Cellano Grand Duke family.

Although his pride and dignity as a royal didn’t allow it, survival was reality.

His base rationality constantly emphasized the fact that the Cellano Grand Duke family was practically semi-royalty to justify himself.

Although he was in a position to be monitored and instructed for every action, if he could become such an emperor, Jeffrey was satisfied.

“That’s the end of the report.”

“Good work.”

Jeffrey gave a casual compliment to Dennis, who was pushing up his glasses, and smiled faintly.

After closing the report he was holding and placing it aside, Dennis stared intently at Jeffrey.

After the report ended, it was usually followed by questions, instructions, or orders that the Cellano Grand Duke had told him to convey.

Dennis pushed up his glasses again and paused for a moment.

Unlike usual, he took a long time, and just as Jeffrey’s patience was wearing thin, Dennis let out a long breath.

“…His Grace the Grand Duke was greatly disappointed recently.”

“Was my behavior not to the Grand Duke’s liking again?”

Dennis shook his head slightly.

He came closer and opened the pile of closed reports, taking out a few photos and holding them out.

The photos showed Aden, Jeffrey, and Celia. They were photos from the day they had met recently.

He knew they had people following and monitoring him, but this was the first time they had been so blatant about it.

It was unpleasant, but at the same time, cold sweat ran down his back. His eyes, which had been staring at the photos with downcast eyes, rose vertically.

“His Grace the Grand Duke is not very pleased with His Highness the Crown Prince associating with such a person. He considers meeting with a duke called a ruffian to be unbefitting of the dignity and decorum of royalty. And that…”

“Furthermore, it tarnishes the honor of the Grand Duke family that is to become an in-law of the royal family – that’s what you mean, right?”

As Jeffrey finished his words, Dennis nodded briefly.

Jeffrey sighed slowly and rubbed his face, then turned to look out the window.

From the palace guards to the police force and the knights, training was ongoing in all directions in preparation for the upcoming hunting competition.

Jeffrey, who was scanning the scene with dry eyes, shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

“It seems the Grand Duke still wants to make me a well-behaved puppet. Seeing how sensitively he reacts to just one such meeting. But isn’t it the Grand Duke who actually wants to eliminate that duke?”

There was really nothing to be surprised or upset about. It was just another warning and overstepping of authority he had received several times before, just differing in degree.

The momentary displeasure could be suppressed and erased. However, what remained at the end?

He had resolved that it was okay to become an emperor only for the Grand Duke family and even abandoned his pride, but he hadn’t given up the honor of his position as Crown Prince.

The Cellano Grand Duke’s behavior, which was getting worse by the day, was gradually crossing the line.

It was already this bad without even holding the royal wedding with his daughter, so he couldn’t even imagine how much worse it would be once he officially became a son-in-law.

Jeffrey let out a long sigh.

The new nobility and old nobility, and Haberts. And on top of that, the Cellano Grand Duke family.

The tangled web made him sick today.

Jeffrey wanted to put an end to this exasperatingly entangled line with no end in sight. For that, first, Haberts.

“Tell him not to worry. After the hunting festival is over, there will be no more entanglements with Duke Haberts.”

There was a need to settle things with them.

The stage was already set.

From the moment Kedilen tried to kidnap Emma and cause trouble, Jeffrey, who had been tracking Ludmila’s location, noticed some strange things.

Haberts, who had been experiencing financial difficulties, showed surprising results in business, and Aden’s return to Haberts coincided exactly with the news of Ludmila’s disappearance.

There were even traces of attempts to manipulate this schedule.

‘There’s a possibility that Ludmila is in Haberts.’

Ludmila had quite a lot of business information.

With that information, the business results Haberts has shown now wouldn’t be unusual.

Reports continued that they could clear all debts within a few years by selling large quantities of high-quality timber.

That means when he becomes emperor, they will have even stronger and more powerful strength than now.

He couldn’t just stand by and watch the seeds of rebellion grow.

If they had kidnapped Ludmila and wanted to monopolize that information, naturally Kedilen would be the biggest obstacle.

Therefore, Jeffrey finished preparing to hunt the beast named Aden by throwing Kedilen as bait on the stage of the hunting competition.

All that remained was how well the actors would perform.

If there was anything that bothered him, it was Ludmila. That name, circling around and grating on his nerves, made Jeffrey’s brow furrow.

“Then, I will report as such.”

Dennis bowed his head and quietly withdrew.

The door opened and closed, and in the silence that fell over the office, Jeffrey’s eyes, staring blankly out the window, sank into the stillness.

Ludmila received Barhan’s sudden report on the day she was supposed to meet with the representative of a new investment target.

It was an important task that needed to be finished before the schedule in the capital ended today.

It was a contract with a company to not only sell timber but also directly process it and manufacture furniture or musical instruments.

Bill Edith, who was passionate about furniture, proposed a new business instead of monopolizing the goods.

If Haberts supplied timber to the musical instrument manufacturing company under Edith, they would give Haberts family shares in the instrument manufacturing company and list them as co-representatives.

It could be seen as risky, but it was also an extremely generous condition.

It was a proposal from none other than Bill Edith. A man said to have a genius eye for business.

At first glance, the conditions seemed too good, making one wonder if he was trying to scam them.

However, there was nothing suspicious in the proposal, and when consulted with experts from three places, they all praised it as excellent conditions.

Moreover, Ludmila knew well that Bill Edith, who was already doing well, was not the type to throw away a businessperson’s trust, which was said to be more important than life, just to expand his business unnecessarily.

Therefore, Ludmila was going to accept his proposal.

The fact that Haberts would not only make money by simply supplying but also profit from processing and sales had significant implications.

Also, if rumors spread that the rough and violent Haberts had started a precise and delicate musical instrument business, their image would change as well.

It would have been a problematic business if Haberts had proceeded alone. But since Bill filled in all the lacking parts, could it be more perfect?

Thus, Aden expressed his intention to proceed with the contract through yesterday’s meeting with Bill.

And today, he was going to meet with the representative of the company Bill introduced, along with Barhan, to proceed with the contract.

“Ardina, the representative of the musical instrument company Bonrad, is currently in the royal palace. It seems there was an issue with the wind instruments they supplied for use in the hunting festival, and he had to rush to resolve it.”

“The royal palace…”

Ludmila sighed softly and covered her forehead with the back of her hand.

If it were an ordinary situation, they would wait, but if he had entered the palace, they probably wouldn’t be able to see him until the hunting festival was over.

The eve of the hunting competition, the day of the competition itself. And then the awards ceremony and the post-festival. At least three days.

Even if they waited that time to meet, they couldn’t depart for Send Plateau on that day, so it would take about another day.

And if you factor in the return time, it would be at least ten days.

Three-tenths… no, half of the time she had left. Because quite some time had already passed.

She couldn’t spend so much time when she had already set all the work she needed to do upon returning.

Ludmila bit her lip and let out a long sigh.

“Should I ask Bill Edith if he can discuss the contract on our behalf?”

“That’s probably difficult. Even though it’s a company under Edith, it’s independently operated, and it’s an overreach to discuss a contract on behalf of a place that clearly has its own representative. Even if we sign the contract, if problems arise later and it escalates into legal issues, Haberts will be the one to suffer.”

Barhan rolled his eyes at the sight of Ludmila running her hand through her hair in frustration.

Ludmila’s eyes, which had been staring at the floor with downcast eyes, sank into stillness.

Last night, when she shared breaths with Aden in the quiet darkness, Ludmila brought up a new assumption amidst the fragments of intense emotion.

Reality won’t change anyway.

Then, what about the future? She imagines herself returning here in the hazy future, like a misty dawn.

If she asks him to wait until then, will he smile as usual and say he understands?

She couldn’t know. But she allows herself to be greedy.

“…Send a letter to Ardina.”

Hoping for days to be with you in the future.

“Tell him to meet on the day of the hunting festival.”

Therefore, she could take any gamble to change the future.