To bring such a sacred tree.

Regardless of how impressive the Emperor’s actions were to comfort the Empress’s heart, it was difficult to understand the act of uprooting the sacred tree from the Empress’s beloved hometown village.

If I were the Empress, I would not be pleased with such an action by the Emperor. Thinking of the hometown people who would be saddened by the loss of the revered sacred tree, she might even feel guilty that it was because of her.

“I feel sorry for Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Indeed. What Her Majesty the Empress missed most was the sandy beach of her hometown. Since we couldn’t bring the sea all the way here, we had to settle for a small lake as a substitute. If we had skilled magicians, they could have even recreated the salty wind blowing from the seaside with illusion magic.”

Ian did not properly understand why I felt sorry for the Empress.

At that time, I realized that as a commoner, I could never follow the mindset of the royal family, and let it go. In any case, the imperial palace of the Kalovanian Empire was so vast that even if you put in an entire domain, it wouldn’t be noticeable.

So it was natural for me to get lost. Not because I was particularly bad with directions… but because the palace was the problem.

“That’s beyond my abilities. If there’s no wish I can grant you, how about marrying me instead?”

When Ian spoke, her eyes widened. She seemed to be trying to gauge whether Ian’s words were a joke or not. Finally, deciding it must be a joke, she asked:

“Your Highness, there must be something wrong with my ears. I think I heard something strange. Would you please repeat that? That is, if you didn’t just propose to me.”

Ian felt a little wronged. He had spoken with all sincerity, yet why did she take it as a joke?

“I’ll say it again. Marry me.”

Did she understand this time?

Jane frowned and stared at him intently. When she gazed at him like that, Ian couldn’t help but smile.

Strangely, his usually stiff expression would melt like frost under spring sunshine when he stood before her.

Ian forcibly held back his smile. If he smiled again, she would surely treat his proposal as a joke. She observed his face slowly for a long time, perhaps to determine the sincerity of his words.

While Jane was observing him, Ian took the opportunity to look at her to his heart’s content.

‘I see. Her expression says she doesn’t understand why I’m doing this to her.’

Having known Jane for a long time, Ian could roughly tell what she was thinking just by looking at her expression.

She thought her exotic appearance wasn’t very attractive.

Ian could praise for hours how well her deep, dark eyes matched her lovely smile if he could hold her.

Although she considered her exotic appearance, which looked somewhat different from the people of the Kalovanian Empire, not very beautiful, to Ian, even that aspect was incredibly special.

However, it wasn’t because of her physical beauty that Ian liked her.

He was certain that no matter what appearance she had, even if she were cursed by an unknown magician and took on the appearance of an old woman, he would recognize her at a glance and still love her. Because she was a special person to him.

As expected, she seemed to have taken his words as a joke this time as well.

Not knowing his true feelings, she mentioned the blacksmith. What was so great about a blacksmith who just hammered iron bars that she would reject the proposal of a crown prince like himself?

The Crown Prince decided that he should soon make it impossible for that blacksmith to do business in the capital.

When a little affection develops, it’s best to send them away. It wouldn’t do to ignore and leave alone someone seemingly insignificant, only to have Jane suddenly give her heart and the two decide to marry.

For the Crown Prince, driving out a single blacksmith from the capital was no big deal. It wasn’t the first time he had removed men who circled around Jane. Though she probably didn’t know it.

Men who showed interest in her, or tried to gain her favor by hovering around her, were made unable to set foot in the capital for various reasons.

Since she wouldn’t want it, he proceeded quietly. The Crown Prince’s harboring feelings for Jane was such a long-standing affair that such efforts felt natural.

Although he was displeased that she rejected his proposal because of a mere blacksmith apprentice, he could only show a dejected smile, knowing that as always, she had dismissed it as a joke.

He wanted to spend more time with her, but due to a servant appearing to urge him to attend an official meeting, he had to send her away early.

That official meeting was held because of Daniel. He was a guy who wasn’t helpful in many ways.

He insisted on riding someone else’s horse… Ian had lent it to Daniel expecting trouble because of the horse’s nasty temperament, but he thought at most Daniel would end up with broken arms and legs.

If his neck broke, it couldn’t be helped… But because Lady McCain intervened to save him, things became more troublesome. It might have been better to leave him be and let Daniel’s neck break.

‘I’m already uneasy because of an unpleasant dream, and now I have to send Jane to the pharmacy alone.’

Anyway, because of his younger brother who covets what belongs to others despite lacking ability…

Ian decided to take this opportunity to banish his troublesome younger brother to a place far from the capital. It might be good to get rid of him cleanly, but that would surely create its own annoying problems.

It gave him a headache to think that when Daniel died and he was left alone, the greedy and talkative nobles would start spouting nonsense about how the royal bloodline was too thin and they were worried about the country’s security.

He wasn’t worried that the Emperor might take another wife and have another heir to compete with him for the position.

He simply didn’t want to stir up the sleeping lion and cause a commotion in society. The Emperor would not tolerate nobles who suggested he take another empress.

The nobles were as foolish as the stupid Daniel. Some believed that the reason the Emperor didn’t take another empress was due to the Empress’s jealousy.

Most of them hoped to persuade the Emperor to place their own daughters in the position of second empress. It was a ridiculous notion.

It was meaningless to pretend to worry about the future of the Kalovanian Empire. The only person the Emperor cared about was the Empress.

If a time ever came when he had to choose between the Kalovanian Empire and the Empress, the Emperor would choose the Empress without a moment’s hesitation.

He was the kind of man who wouldn’t feel the slightest guilt even if that choice resulted in the death of everyone in the empire.

Ian had no complaints about that. After all, if a moment came when he had to choose between the safety of the Kalovanian Empire and Jane’s safety, he wouldn’t hesitate either. His choice would surely be no different from the Emperor’s.

The only object of the Emperor’s obsession was the Empress, and he didn’t want to share her with anyone. Not even with his children.

Although it was natural for a mother to care for her children, even that displeased the Emperor. If a child were to gain even a little of the Empress’s attention, his gaze would turn infinitely cold.

Ian was sick of the Emperor’s abnormal obsession with the Empress. Every time he saw the Empress withering away, unable to overcome his love, he could see how exhausting that emotion was for the other person.

Even at a young age, Ian thought, I must not be like that. But it seemed blood couldn’t be helped. The Emperor’s twisted obsession was deeply engraved in Ian’s blood as well.

At the age of 6, a sudden fever left him perplexed. He suffered from high temperatures day and night and dreamed of images he couldn’t understand.

When the boundary between dream and reality became blurred, his eyes turned red. At first, this red color didn’t last long, but it was enough to send Simons, Ian’s head servant, into a panic.

Simons frantically tried to call in renowned healers for treatment, but Ian knew exactly who he needed. When told to bring the blind pharmacist, Simons wore an expression of incomprehension.

But he had already given up, knowing there was no other way, and the loyal Simons would have done so even if the young crown prince of just 6 years had told him to bring a sorcerer from the Kingdom of Stefan instead of a pharmacist.

Repeatedly losing consciousness unable to overcome the high temperature, when he finally regained consciousness and opened his eyes, what he saw was the face of a girl full of concern.

The moment he met her slightly larger black eyes, the thought that filled his mind was ‘She is mine.’

It wasn’t that Ian was the type to fall for someone easily, or that she had a particularly beautiful appearance.

Of course, she had a soft and calm voice that eased the listener’s anxiety, cute freckles on the bridge of her nose, lovely red hair and black eyes.

It would have been the same even if she had a different appearance.