I thought it was a joke.

…I’m sorry.

I haven’t had a chance to meet yet…
Rembrandt, who was reading letters one by one from Empress Maria and Prince Kyle, scratched his forehead.

“Ah.”

That ‘letter’?

I’m not sure if I can call it a letter…

“…”

I thought it was a joke.

… I’m sorry.

I haven’t had a chance to meet yet…

Rembrandt, in front of his personal mailbox, glanced at the ‘previous letter’ from the prince, placed on top.

Unlike putting it in an envelope, the prince’s letter, roughly crumpled and handed over without sealing, revealed its contents as if to show it as it was.

【Dear Lady.】

【Please take care of Arthur.】

【It seems Arthur has been thinking about you for a long time.】

【Waiting for our reunion.】

【From Ryan Dalton and Arthur, envying us,】

【A wine deliveryman familiar with homelessness.】

【P.S. I won’t prepare alcohol next time. I’m sorry.】

Arthur continued calmly.

“When I was about to turn one year old, my eye color changed, and it became gray. However, it didn’t have much meaning. Although my great-grandfather, the former emperor, had gray eyes, who would bother remembering an illegitimate child with no foundation, whom the former emperor turned away? Even the former emperor, who passed away at the age of thirty-five, had blue eyes in his youth, which later turned gray.”

“…”

The child’s eye color changed, resembling the great-grandfather. Isn’t it your lineage? Shouldn’t you take a closer look?

Even if someone argued like that, it seemed like a forced commonality found by someone struggling to find one.

Honestly, even if it were me, I would have laughed it off.

Arthur’s voice was indifferent.

“…”

“But as more time passed… I learned about a more definite evidence of a certain lineage unique to the imperial family, rather than something like eye color.”

“…”

Arthur’s voice paused for a while around that point.

Looking up at him, Reyna asked cautiously.

“…So… did the imperial family acknowledge it?”

Arthur smiled faintly and replied.

“Well… they didn’t acknowledge it outright, but it’s similar. From that time, it seemed like they started bouncing around the idea of using me as insurance, whether to use or discard me.”

“…”

They needed someone to go to war.

I didn’t have anything, but luckily, there was Julius.

If I went to war under the name of the Julius family, it wouldn’t seem like the imperial family suddenly tried to use an illegitimate child they hadn’t acknowledged until then.

“…”

When I come back successfully,

It might have seemed like they hadn’t acknowledged me until then, but it seemed like the imperial family was quietly arranging a good place for the illegitimate child and trying to give me an opportunity to regain honor.

―Well, that’s one way to save face.

“…It’s not a very beautiful story.”

Arthur laughed.

“But thanks to that, I got a guaranteed contract and a good opportunity.”

“…”

Reyna held her breath and listened carefully to all his stories.

Even with diligently collected newsletters,
It was her hero who made it happen, her own story.

“So, I ended up at Julius.”

“…”

“I had no choice in the matter.”