The Empress Consort gave birth to a son before the Empress.

If the Empress Consort’s family was stronger than the Empress’s, this would be unfortunate for the Empress, and vice versa for the Empress Consort.

Lucas’s mother, First Empress Consort Grace’s family was an ordinary count’s family.

Not lacking, not excessive, just moderate.

In contrast, the Empress’s family, the Marquis Grant, was known for their wealth, and the ambition of the previous Marquis who placed his daughter on the Empress’s throne was tremendous.

The greed of the father who wanted to enjoy power as the Emperor’s in-laws was inherited by his son, the current Marquis Grant.

So it was unfortunate that the Empress Consort, not the Empress, gave birth to the Emperor’s firstborn son.

“Lucas, listen carefully. You must not accept anything given by Her Majesty the Empress. If it’s food, never eat it, and even if it’s a toy you’ve always wanted, you must not hold it in your hand. Do you understand?”

The Empress Consort gripped her young son’s shoulders and warned him repeatedly. However, no matter how careful they were, they couldn’t avoid all the shadows cast upon mother and son.

Some days, mother collapsed coughing up blood, and other days, son fell ill complaining of unexplained stomach pains.

Even though the Empress finally gave birth to the son she so desperately wanted, perhaps due to the resentment of losing the position of firstborn, the First Empress Consort and her son were constantly threatened.

Things didn’t change much even after Frederick was appointed Crown Prince.

Although the Emperor favored the Empress’s son and made him Crown Prince, he left possibilities open for his other children.

“I want to pass on the throne to the most valuable and capable child. Isn’t that the reward for marrying late in life?”

In his youth, the Emperor, a terrible workaholic, did not take women to his bed.

This was also largely due to the background that he had not ascended to the throne through normal means.

The Emperor forcibly pushed aside his brother, who was originally the Crown Prince, and put the crown on his own head.

He couldn’t stand that his incompetent and stupid brother was born earlier and became Crown Prince just because he was the eldest legitimate son.

In the end, he stole the throne just before his father was about to pass it to his brother.

Until he purged the opposition and solidified his foundation, he couldn’t trust anyone and didn’t let anyone close.

Only when his power as Emperor became truly his own did he belatedly choose an Empress and Empress Consorts.

The Emperor believed there was no need to have multiple children from one mother. Only one child was needed to succeed the next generation.

Thanks to this, even though he knew the fight between the children would be more fierce, he didn’t intervene.

He believed that if a child died early due to weakness, that was the child’s limit, and if they survived ruthlessly like him, they deserved to have anything.

The First Empress Consort knew the Emperor’s nature well, so she tried her best to protect Lucas.

Even to the point of shedding tears of blood and sending her young son alone to a foreign country.

She threw her whole body to protect her son from the Empress’s clutches. And Lucas watched his mother’s desperate struggle right beside her.

During his lonely wanderings in foreign lands, he too struggled to survive like his mother. And in doing so, he felt skeptical.

‘What’s so great about the throne that family members are so desperate to eat each other alive?’

Perhaps because he nearly died as soon as he was born, Lucas, who instinctively realized that he shouldn’t desire anything for survival, had no greed.

He was satisfied if he could just take care of himself. He didn’t want to be the master of the heavens or the noblest man in the empire.

But his mother, the Empress Consort, thought differently from him.

“Lucas, you must endure. If you just prove your ability, His Majesty will acknowledge you. If you keep trying like that, someday you’ll surpass the Crown Prince. Then we can live safely, happily, and abundantly.”

She hoped that Lucas would catch the Emperor’s eye and gain the crown by overtaking Frederick.

As Lucas began to slowly build up achievements by displaying talent in diplomacy while wandering from country to country, the pressure intensified.

“Mother, I don’t want to become Emperor. I’ve never particularly desired that position. I just want to live quietly.”

“Don’t say such foolish things. Do you think Her Majesty the Empress’s side will leave you alone just because that’s what you want?”

“If I consistently show that I have no intention for the throne, they’ll come to their senses and stop, won’t they?”

Lucas sincerely believed this. It was also why he didn’t show any major political moves even after returning to his home country.

But the world never flowed according to one’s wishes.

Although he had no desire for the throne, he wanted to live using his talents.

He wanted to learn new things, have a good influence on others, and live while fully utilizing his abilities.

And this inevitably could only become a threat to Frederick.

“His Highness the Crown Prince is more emotional than expected. If it were the right emotions it would be fine, but I’m worried because it’s not.”

“Isn’t Prince Lucas more similar to His Majesty? If His Highness ascends to the throne, he will surely become a wise ruler.”

“To be honest, if His Highness the Crown Prince ascends to the throne now, I’m worried about how overbearing Her Majesty the Empress and the Marquis Grant family will become.”

“To prevent chaos in the country and the loosening of imperial discipline, let’s support Prince Lucas from now on!”

Even without doing anything, those who followed Lucas gradually increased. The Emperor took note of this, while the Empress’s side viewed him as a thorn in their side.

Decisively, when Lucas took Demian’s side regarding his punishment, Frederick came to dislike him even more than the Empress did.

Still, Lucas thought things would be okay if he just endured and persevered a little. He believed that patience could bring peace.

He realized what a big misconception that was after the people around him were sacrificed.

First was the young master of the count’s family who had known Lucas the longest. His family suddenly went bankrupt and the entire family was scattered.

Next was the servant who had worked under Lucas for a long time. He was falsely accused of theft, beaten, lost one hand, and was driven out.

Then there was the noble who enthusiastically supported Lucas, the knight who swore loyalty to him, the maid who always checked if there was poison in his food…

“Your Highness, terrible news! Her Majesty the Empress Consort—!”

It wasn’t until his mother was also seriously injured in an assassin’s attack that Lucas snapped to his senses.

He realized that this was no time to be optimistic and leisurely.

He investigated who was behind all that had happened so far. He guessed it was the Empress like when he was young, but it wasn’t.

It was Frederick.

His half-brother who wanted to secure the throne stably was trying to cut off all his siblings’ arms and legs.

This wasn’t just a tantrum thrown out of anger for helping Demian.

It was closer to rushing in to behead the enemy general when meeting on the battlefield.

“Your Highness, forgive my impudence. His Highness the Crown Prince already considers you a political opponent. If you continue to do nothing, only your life will be in danger.”

The advisor knelt and gave his honest advice. Lucas let out a hollow laugh, his days of endurance rendered meaningless, and asked.

“…What do you think I should do?”

“Do whatever Your Highness truly wants to do. That will be the right answer.”

At those words, Lucas fell into deep thought. If the result of patience was this bitter, there was no reason to keep taking it anymore.

He wanted peace, not an ending where he alone lost everything.

To protect, one must fight. Finally coming to this conclusion, Lucas suddenly thought of Demian.

‘I want to become Your Highness’s ally. Would you consider forming an alliance with me?’

If he had accepted Demian’s proposal then, what would be different now?

It was a pointless assumption. Demian had left for the northern battlefield, and only his wife remained alone in the capital, fighting a lonely battle.

‘If we could join forces even now…’

Last time Demian approached him, so this time it was his turn to approach.

In the end, Lucas firmly decided to confront Frederick. This was the circumstance that led him to seek out Arasila.

Arasila greeted the prince who suddenly visited with a bewildered face.

“What brings you here?”

“My lady, the truth is, last year I received an alliance proposal from Lord Vandermir. But I refused. I was afraid to fight then.”

“Pardon…?”

Arasila, unaware of the situation at the time, looked at him in confusion as he made this sudden confession.

But seeing Lucas’s face so serious, she also straightened her posture and began to listen attentively.

“But now that things have come this far, I’ve realized that avoiding isn’t always the best option. So now I’m going to confront Frederick.”

“Confront, meaning…”

“I will take the Crown Prince position from him. And I will succeed my father. For this, I plan to formally gather my forces.”

Arasila’s eyes widened in surprise. The Lucas she knew was a gentle character without a fighting spirit who believed that what’s good is good.

But now Lucas’s eyes were shining more brightly than ever before.

“I think both Lord Vandermir and you are capable people. It would be reassuring to have you on my side. I will be that kind of person for you too. So, will you join hands with me?”

Lucas held out his hand neatly.

Arasila silently stared at that hand for a moment.

She thought it would be good to have even one more person, but in fact, the additional card she truly wanted was…

It was the imperial bloodline that could take the Crown Prince position from Frederick. Only then could they finish the work perfectly without future troubles.

Meanwhile, because a trustworthy imperial bloodline was needed, Arasila had thought of Lucas first.

But knowing his tendency to avoid fights as much as possible, she gave up, yet now he came on his own to propose an alliance, so there was no reason to refuse.

“This works out well. I was thinking I wanted to join forces with Your Highness too.”

Arasila grasped Lucas’s hand with a bright smile.

“I will dedicate everything I have to help Your Highness. So please, Your Highness, be sure to win and return a peaceful daily life to me and Demian.”

“I promise on my name. What I want is no different from what you want.”

Lucas said, placing his hand on his chest.

Smiles bloomed on their faces as they gained reliable comrades in each other.

After swearing to be in the same boat, Arasila shared with him the materials Demian had left behind.

Even without any explanation, just showing him the ledger, Lucas saw through Frederick’s treason with amazing insight.

“Frederick was preparing for treason. Moreover, looking at when he started buying weapons, it’s likely he started on his own initiative.”

The first weapons purchase by the Marquis Grant family was when Frederick was nineteen years old.

Since it was after he came of age, the possibility of the Empress or someone else’s influence was small.

Unlike his gentle appearance, he had a strong will of his own and while he was obedient as a child, he became more willful as he grew up. Because of this, even the Empress had difficulty controlling him.

“But why on earth is he plotting treason?”

Arasila asked, as if she couldn’t understand.

In fact, this had been a constant question for her. No matter how much Lucas was rising, treason was too extreme an option.

Moreover, three years ago, Lucas wasn’t even around, so there was no rival at all.

When his position as Crown Prince was most solid, why did Frederick want to start a rebellion?

“Only he knows the exact reason, but in my opinion, I think it’s because His Majesty the Emperor won’t easily hand over the throne.”

Lucas cheerfully provided the answer. The Emperor was almost grandfather’s age to them, but he was very healthy and strong for his age.

There was once a prediction that he would entrust regency to the Crown Prince in advance and step down, but it was far from the truth.

The Emperor still firmly held the throne.

In a situation where he wasn’t fully satisfied with any of his children, there was absolutely no chance he would lay down the crown before his father’s death, and Frederick must have seen through this as well.

“He wants to become Emperor quickly, but his father doesn’t seem to want to step aside, so he’s getting impatient.”

“Was there a reason to be in such a hurry?”

“Well, an Emperor can have more than a Crown Prince, can’t he? Besides, Frederick is the type to struggle desperately to get something when he wants it.”

Arasila nodded slightly with a furrowed brow.

She understood, yet didn’t understand. What did he want so badly three years ago, and in the prophetic dream, that he drove so many people into misery?

‘…Surely, it’s not me?’

She frowned and shook off the chilling conjecture. Whatever the reason, what mattered was that Frederick was crazy.

That crazy man was the one who did wrong, no one else was at fault.

“Anyway, since the existing merchant group that was buying weapons has dissolved, Frederick must have found a new merchant group.”

Lucas’s serious voice captured attention and focused the conversation.

“I’ll try to find that new merchant group.”

“Then I’ll dig into why the Duke of Leicester family suddenly joined hands with His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Good.”

The two smiled in satisfaction as they quickly divided their roles.