After that, for several days, Casius did not seek out Vivian.

The rumor spread like wildfire.

The conference hall, filled with nobles after a long time, became noisy with nobles close to Diarob.

“Your Highness, with His Majesty in critical condition, you must have an heir for the stability of imperial power.”

“That’s right. What is the reason for not consummating with Her Highness?”

Some nobles with transparent motives pressured Casius as if swearing allegiance to Diarob.

Casius mocked them and threw down a ‘mark’ stamped with Snowfel’s seal.

“Lord Diarob must be very busy. Moving ministers in the morning and doing such things at night.”

The nobles, upon confirming the mark and the snowflake seal on it, began to murmur.

The topic that had been heated up about the crown prince couple’s wedding night instantly shifted to Snowfel’s actions.

The imperial faction nobles, who had seized an opportunity after a long time, noisily rose up.

But Diarob was a sly snake.

Like a seasoned nobleman, he calmly countered Casius’s words.

“Your Highness, you misunderstand.”

“Misunderstand?”

“Although he was a magician under our jurisdiction, he was a troublemaker who moved independently.”

His brazen attitude of cutting off ties as if it had nothing to do with him was beyond shameless.

Casius’s face was as cold as ice as he looked at him.

“The magician who entered Rosemary territory under false pretenses has already paid for his crime with death.”

Casius added with a sneer towards Diarob, who slightly bowed his head:

“Of course, you must also take responsibility for letting such a colt run wild.”

If Diarob were to take responsibility here, he would have much to lose.

The issue of a magician freely crossing the boundaries of other territories was by no means a light matter.

But Diarob, having much to be guilty about in this affair, had no choice but to accept Casius’s proposal disguised as a threat.

In the end, Diarob handed over the Benedict trade route, which had great potential value for the Snowfel family, to the imperial family.

Casius’s actions, not long after presiding over the grand council, were those of a majestic ruler.

The many rumors that had followed Casius for several days while he was out of sight were instantly quelled.

The nobles who finished the meeting under suffocating pressure returned to their respective territories and spoke about Casius.

‘Casius is a demanding and stifling ruler,’ they said.

For the weakened imperial power, no evaluation could be better than this.

*

Casius returned to the palace with an expressionless face and let out a long sigh.

The face of the flustered Duke Diarob, his underlings who failed to coordinate their words…

‘Betrayal between a supposedly close father and daughter…’

Duke Diarob had clearly turned pale when the Benedict trade route was mentioned.

He clearly hadn’t coordinated with his precious daughter at all.

Until entering the conference hall, Casius had thought all of Vivian’s advice was the result of coordination with Diarob…

His expectations were completely off.

‘What was she thinking giving such advice?’

That woman clearly understood how important that trade route was for her family.

The content she spoke clearly was surprisingly accurate, showing she knew everything.

If this were true, Vivian would be the most powerful spy.

But the fact that she was a ‘Snowfel’ made it hard to believe easily.

His thoughts quickly jumped to another direction. Well, with evidence already against him and nowhere to retreat, she probably spouted such nonsense to look good to me.

Casius shook his head as he looked at the darkening night sky.

‘To be thinking so much about such a woman.’

It was ridiculous.

*

Even after the meeting ended, Casius continued his forced march.

An unreasonable amount of work was handled by Casius’s hands.

He could not be anything but the most diligent and sound ruler.

But when night came, he always wavered like a candle in the wind, as usual.

Today too, Tikan faced the precarious Casius.

His lord was still denying his sister’s death.

Tikan also longed for and searched for his sister, but now he had no choice but to accept her death.

“Your Highness, it’s been 7 years already.”

Despite that long time passing, Casius had never once considered her dead.

After receiving the letter said to have been sent to Rodgo, he intensified the search even more.

“You need to pull yourself together now.”

“I’ll reorganize the search team first. Prepare it.”

Tikan blocked Casius’s path as he tried to go out.

Casius thought it fortunate that Tikan didn’t resemble Rachel.

It would be torture to be reminded of Rachel while looking at Tikan, when it was already painful enough.

But that didn’t mean he would let Tikan stand in his way.

“Move aside.”

“Your Highness, please let go of my sister now.”

Tikan’s words were objectively correct. She couldn’t be found even after using all the imperial manpower for years.

Too many circumstances implied her death to believe she was alive based on one mysterious letter said to have come to Rodgo.

Perhaps Rachel was really dead, as the nobles muttered.

No, accepting that would be the sensible thing to do.

But emotions weren’t an area that could be resolved by common sense.

So Casius had no choice but to let his emotions overwhelm reason.

“Rachel isn’t someone who would leave so easily.”

There was no way the Empire’s greatest archmage would pass away so feebly.

Even if they sent any assassin, no one could defeat her.

He could still see Rachel smiling brightly and accepting his confession when he closed his eyes.

‘And now they want me to accept her death?’

Casius’s eyes suddenly turned fierce as he recalled Rachel.

Of course, it wasn’t directed at Tikan. It was only towards himself.

“My sister wouldn’t want you to be like this, Your Highness.”

Casius habitually gulped down the rum placed on the table.

“If it weren’t for me, this wouldn’t have happened to Rachel.”

These days, Casius made such regrets dozens of times a day.

That if Rachel hadn’t been involved with him in the first place, she wouldn’t have had to go through this.

All of this was because of himself, who made such a vain confession when he couldn’t even protect her.

Whenever he thought of Rachel, he wanted to give up everything, be it his position as crown prince or anything else.

Thus, he was slowly dying every second.

“Your Highness, that’s not your fault…”

Tikan’s voice echoed in Casius’s mind like scattered reverberations.

Gradually, his consciousness blurred and his surroundings flickered.

Thud−

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

*

Not long after Casius collapsed, the healer, Hilter, rushed in urgently.

He immediately examined Casius’s condition.

Blue energy emanating from Hilter’s hands floated and enveloped Casius’s body.

For a long time, this process continued, but a diagnosis was not easily made.

Tikan, who stood by during the prolonged healing, couldn’t hide his tension.

“What’s going on? Why did His Highness collapse?”

“His Highness collapsed due to accumulated fatigue. However…”

Just as Hilter was about to continue his explanation, Casius slowly opened his eyes.

“Your Highness, are you alright?”

After surveying his surroundings and realizing he had collapsed, Casius pressed his temples firmly.

“There’s no need for a fuss. I’m fine, so you can leave.”

However, for some reason, Hilter hesitated, looking uneasy.

His face was even tinged with solemnity.

“What’s wrong?”

“I sense a strange energy in Your Highness’s body. This time, you must undergo an examination.”

“Strange energy?”

Come to think of it, lately he hadn’t even felt the intermittent pain he used to experience.

‘They say when a person is about to die, they don’t even feel pain anymore… Is it really my time to die now?’

Casius stared out the window with empty eyes, his expression resigned.

Honestly, he just wanted to disappear from this world.

‘If I could turn to dust and vanish, would this painful tangle be cut and my heart find peace?’

But he couldn’t come to such an irresponsible conclusion.

He still needed a little more life.

Until he could take revenge on Snowfel, who had made him and Rachel like this.

He had a clear reason to prolong this wretched life.

Casius entrusted his body to the healer in a half-resigned state.

As the blue energy enveloped Casius, his tumultuous emotions began to run wild and rampage.

The healing time was long and arduous.

Strong pressure enveloped Casius’s entire body as if restraints were tightening around him.

Tikan couldn’t bear to watch his lord writhing in excruciating pain.

Just as cold sweat covered his entire body and even his breath was restrained, the blue energy receded.

“Your Highness.”

“What’s wrong?”

Hilter’s hesitation looked ominous.

Tikan quickly approached and urged him.

“What’s going on?”

After examining Casius’s body several times, the healer cautiously opened his mouth.

“Your Highness’s illness is no longer progressing.”

“What does that mean?”

“A white energy that has seeped into Your Highness’s body is blocking the black energy.”

“Didn’t you say before that nothing could be done?”

“I certainly did…”

“Are you saying you misdiagnosed?”

“That’s certainly not the case. I don’t know what’s going on either.”

Tikan, incredulous at Hilter’s words, spoke sharply with fire in his eyes.

“And you call that an explanation!”

Intimidated by Tikan’s outburst, Hilter offered his own conjecture as if making an excuse.

“There is something called revival magic, but…”

Hilter looked around nervously and then stopped speaking.