Like other governments, my mother was called the Empress, and although I was conferred the title of Prince, to them, Lucius was no different from a government child.

‘Maybe it was a reaction to such looks.’

Once, Reneb was friendly with Lucius in front of the Seiren family.

Of course, they glared at Lucius with dagger eyes.

‘It’s getting late, so it would be best for Your Highness to return to the Imperial Palace today.’

Though polite, the meaning of “get lost” was clear.

Reneb rebuked the Count then.

‘Today, I planned to play dolls with His Highness. Father, so don’t send His Highness away.’

Reneb snapped back at Count Seiren, and he couldn’t move an inch in front of his only daughter’s words.

Although Reneb was more mature for her age and didn’t play with dolls, Count Seiren who had spent a long time in the west didn’t know that fact.

The next year at the founding festival, as a gift, he filled a carriage with all sorts of dolls.

Lucius pondered his longstanding question until the sight of Count Seiren’s mansion completely disappeared from his view.

‘When exactly did it start? When did Reneb’s feelings begin to change…’

Lucius thought about the young Reneb who first held the hand of Count Seiren and visited the Imperial Palace, and Reneb today who had become a lady after puberty.

At first, Reneb who looked at him with eyes that criticized him for being a government child had changed at some point.

As if her core had completely changed.

Since then, Reneb had been showing unreserved affection toward Lucius.

Was there anyone else who poured infinite affection on him unconditionally besides Reneb?

‘No. Was that affection really unconditional?’

Lucius chuckled at the thought that suddenly crossed his mind.

There was a condition to Reneb’s affection.

That was to win Lucius’s heart.

‘Women, whether they are children or adults, are all the same. Once she thinks she has completely won your heart, she will no longer treasure you as a prince. Therefore, never open your heart to the grace of Count Seiren. Understood?’

Young Lucius had taken his mother’s words at face value.

So, he tried not to show any weakness to Reneb.

What was the result?

Lucius gave a sardonic smile.

There was a time when the family saw Reneb, who looked friendly with 1st Prince Lucius, as a threat.
So Trader Baron Youngae feigned friendship, secretly watching and mocking Renéve as she copied the knights’ training.

And then he got a good beating from her.

Though Renéve had always seemed quiet yet strong-willed, that day was truly something else.

Startled by this new side of Renéve who became extremely irate when angered, it became a reason for him to act cautiously around her thereafter.

Until the facial wound healed completely, Lucius had to avoid his mother.

If the fact that Renéve had punched him in the face had reached his mother’s ears, he wouldn’t have been able to visit Count Siren anymore.

Lucius smirked when the carriage stopped.

Now that he couldn’t bring Count Siren into his sphere of influence, he had to grow stronger on his own.

So that he could crown Renéve as the empress without his mother’s interference.

Lucius wore a mask covering half his face and his eyes, and flipped his hood to cover his noticeable blonde hair.

And he descended from the carriage and turned into a dark alleyway.

After the salon meeting, Countess Dürenburg and Ashika grew closer.

Though both had different intentions, they had something in common.

That was, they didn’t like Renéve.

In fact, the first guest Countess Dürenburg had invited to her salon was Renéve.

Renéve politely declined Countess Dürenburg’s invitation, and her next target was Ashika.

This was due to a rumor that had reached her from the palace’s informants.

‘Many have seen the Emperor and Princess Solti walking together in the garden.’

Countess Dürenburg thought the young emperor had finally awakened to love.

The natural next step would be to welcome a wife.

In Bashuker, the empress ranked second to the emperor, and if an empress emerged, the social hierarchy would likely change as well.

Countess Dürenburg was currently the queen bee of Bashuker’s social scene, and the existence of the next empress was of great concern to her.

If the future empress were to consider Countess Dürenburg an enemy, it would be the end of her glamorous social life.

That’s why she was personally helping prepare for Princess Solti’s tea party, despite it being a bit tedious.

“How about seating Princess Raina and Viscount Benistan here? What do you think, Princess?”

Countess Dürenburg asked Ashika for her opinion, pointing with a finger on the parchment.

The parchment showed the table layout for the tea party, and she pointed to a spot close to the central table.

“Um… it seems fine.”

Ashika pretended to ponder for a moment and slowly nodded her head.

Then she glanced at the maid standing next to her.

The maid quickly wrote the names of the two people on the parchment she was holding.

“So, for this seat…”

Countess Dürenburg talked about the next invitee’s seating arrangement, and Ashika sighed inwardly.

‘Really, can’t they just sit anywhere.’