Raul, unable to control his anger, grabbed a nearby vase and threw it to the floor.

A sharp noise of shattering glass rang out.

“Haa, haa…”

Though he tried to take deep breaths to control his rage, his boiling insides would not easily calm down.

‘How dare…!’

It should have been his.

He should have been the one to have the princess of Ronica Kingdom!

After putting in so much effort, to have it snatched away right before his eyes.

Raul checked again in disbelief.

“…Is everything you said true?”

“Yes. There were witnesses who saw Prince Callid leaving Princess Bellia’s bedroom at dawn.”

“That vulgar bastard…!”

As soon as he saw Bellia, he was certain she was meant to be his woman.

Her silver hair glittering in the light and those purple eyes you could get lost in.

Plus her calm and elegant demeanor.

He thought she was the perfect woman to have by his side.

Though he didn’t truly love Bellia, he was convinced there was no one more suitable for him than her. The princess of Ronica Kingdom. Her status was also impeccable.

Raul had thought that when he became emperor, Bellia would surely be by his side.

“He must have done it on purpose. He probably approached her intentionally so that I couldn’t have Bellia.”

Surely after hearing that he had proposed, he wanted to interfere.

Raul’s feelings toward Callid were complex and difficult to define in a single word.

He had to be superior in everything. Because he was the true son of the emperor.

It should have been natural that someone like Callid, raised by a mad empress, couldn’t pose any threat to him. But he kept getting on his nerves.

“Callid…!”

When they were young, he had even felt sorry for him, pitying him for not receiving the emperor’s love.

But every time he showed superior abilities, his mood plummeted endlessly.

‘Why? I should be the one chosen?’

Raul slammed his fist on the table.

He should have been the one receiving praise, the one hailed as exceptional.

Raul couldn’t understand.

Why did Callid have aspects that were superior to him?

He was always supposed to be someone chasing behind him.

That’s how it should have been.

“Your Highness. And…”

At the hesitant words, Raul looked at him with a furrowed brow.

“They say a proposal has been sent from the empire.”

“What do you mean?”

He had already delivered a proposal to the King of Ronica.

So what was this about another proposal?

“It’s an official proposal from Prince Callid to Princess Bellia.”

“…What did you just say? An official proposal? Are you telling me that His Majesty has stamped his seal on that proposal letter?!”

Raul’s voice grew progressively louder.

Even if Bellia openly showed intimate behavior with Callid, claiming they were lovers, he thought he could dismiss it all as baseless rumors since she would end up marrying him anyway.

Because he thought Callid wouldn’t be able to send an official proposal letter with the emperor’s seal.

Hadn’t he, the first prince, already proposed to the princess of Ronica? So there was no way the emperor would allow it. But how on earth!

Raul could not understand this situation at all.

“Her Majesty the Empress exerted her influence.”

Raul let out a hollow laugh.

To think she could move that empress.

Raul grew angry once again at the sight of Callid trying to take Bellia away from him by any means necessary. How dare Callid try to take what was his.

“…I’m going to meet the princess.”

Raul ran his hand through his hair.

Then in an instant, he put on his usual gentle expression.

“Tell her I’ll be visiting soon.”

“Yes.”

Callid must have approached Bellia to be wary of him.

Perhaps if she heard that he didn’t love her, Bellia might change her mind.

Raul bit his lip hard, thinking this.

[This is the timeline separator]

“You found out later than I expected?”

Bellia asked Raul with a slight smile. She no longer bothered to hide her feelings towards him.

“Princess Bellia…”

“Prince Raul.”

Bellia cut off Raul as he tried to appeal to her emotions with a wistful voice.

“I’m going to marry Prince Callid.”

“Callid doesn’t love you.”

Raul said with conviction.

“He approached you intentionally, knowing that I love you.”

That couldn’t be.

If anything, it was Bellia who had intentionally approached him.

“You’re mistaken about that, Your Highness.”

“No. You don’t know anything right now. Callid isn’t someone who can truly love anyone.”

Raul spoke to Bellia in a voice full of concern.

“If you stay with someone who has no feelings for you, you’ll end up suffering.”

His attitude was arrogant, as if he was the only one who cared for her.

“Even if he doesn’t truly love me, I’ve decided to accept his proposal.”

Bellia sneered.

She never expected Raul to tell her not to stay with someone who had no feelings for her.

Hearts are bound to change.

Bellia knew that well.

Raul had engraved that fact into her very bones.

“People’s hearts are so fickle. The same mouth that says ‘I love you’ one day might say ‘I wish you would just die’ another day.”

“What do you mean?”

“Someone who said you were their everything can suddenly fall in love with another woman and say she’s their everything in an instant.”

Raul couldn’t understand what Bellia was talking about.

Why was she saying such things to him?

Bellia looked straight into Raul’s eyes.

‘You may say you don’t know, but the things I experienced haven’t disappeared just because I’ve returned to the past.’

The sorrow of losing her family, the wretchedness of losing her country.

And the fact that she had to endure all of it just because she had chosen him.

Bellia couldn’t forget how she had been torn apart and broken back then.

‘This is revenge against you, but it’s also my atonement.’

Bellia let out a small laugh.

“Emotions are so ridiculous. Only those who believe become fools, and only those who are sincere become miserable.”

“Princess…”

Bellia closed her eyes as if recalling a distant past.

She was still in darkness.

“Let me ask you in return. How can you be so sure? Have you never thought that those feelings you claim will last forever might just be a temporary desire?”

“I love you sincerely. Why do you keep denying my feelings?”

Because I’ve already experienced it.

Because I still remember the moments when Raul betrayed me.

“I see. Perhaps one day he too will say he’s come to truly love someone else.”

“That’s why you shouldn’t choose him…!”

“But it’s alright.”

Whatever happens, it’ll be better than you.

“Because I want to choose him even if it means enduring all of that.”

Faced with Bellia’s resolute attitude, Raul had no choice but to leave without being able to persuade her further.

[This is the timeline separator]

The second prince of the Ingot Empire, Callid, officially sent a proposal to Princess Bellia of the Ronica Kingdom.

The fact that the second prince had also sent a proposal to the person the first prince had proposed to threw both countries into an uproar.

Everyone’s attention was focused on Bellia.

Would Princess Bellia choose the first prince or the second prince?

Most people unanimously said that Princess Bellia would choose Raul, the first prince.

The son the emperor cherished most, the son born to the woman the emperor loved most.

Even when rumors openly circulated that the next emperor would be the first prince, bypassing the second prince who was the legitimate heir, the emperor remained silent.

As a result, future power naturally concentrated on Raul.

So it was widely predicted that the princess of the Ronica Kingdom would also marry the first prince.

However.

“Please deliver this letter to the Ingot Empire.”

Bellia handed the letter she had written to the chief attendant.

Bellia’s letter was to be enclosed with the king’s affirmative reply to the emperor.

Soon after, the king and princess’s letters arrived at the emperor, and her choice was officially announced.

The answer everyone had been curious about was proclaimed.

– Princess Bellia had chosen the second prince, Callid.

The news stirred up the entire empire.

“Damn it!”

Raul couldn’t believe it.

How could Father agree to this marriage!

“What did Father say?”

“He said that since the alliance with the Ronica Kingdom is involved, we must respect their opinion.”

“…Damn it!!”

Damn it all!

The search for the gold mine was still stagnant, and Callid had snatched away the woman he had been working on.

He had come all the way to the Ronica Kingdom and achieved nothing.

Raul gritted his teeth.

“When was the monster subjugation scheduled?”

“Mid-next month, sir.”

“Move up the schedule. We leave at the end of this month.”

“But the preparations…”

“Is it that difficult to catch one Alarag?! That’s not something the empire’s knights should say!”

He had to at least claim the merit of subjugating the monster.

No matter how much the emperor loved and cherished his son, he couldn’t openly favor him if there was nothing to show for it.

“This must succeed no matter what. If Callid realizes and gains the merit for monster subjugation as well…”

He would be the one becoming a laughingstock.

Raul looked out the window with a dark expression.

The monster subjugation must succeed no matter what.

All the measures for the subjugation had been set.

While it’s not common for an Alarag to come down from the mountains and stay by the river, it’s not entirely unheard of either.

They had also gathered and checked all the data on subjugating Alarags that had come down to the river.

There would be no failure.

[This is the timeline separator]

A letter from the emperor arrived from the empire.

It expressed hope that the alliance between the two countries would be further strengthened by the engagement of Prince Callid and Princess Bellia. This meant that the emperor officially recognized and supported their union.

Many letters were exchanged between the two countries to proceed with preparations for their engagement. Busy days continued.

And one day, Prince Raul set out for monster subjugation, leading his knights.

“What do you think?”

Callid and Bellia were leisurely enjoying a walk in the royal castle from which Raul had departed.

Though Callid would soon have to leave to rescue Raul, who would fail in the subjugation, they decided to take a little time for themselves before that.

Callid asked, swinging Bellia’s hand that he was holding tightly.

“Hmm. First, since we’ll have to subjugate other monsters on the way, it’ll take longer than expected to reach the river.”

“We are all prepared.”

The knights under Callid had already completed their preparations for the subjugation.

From the moment they realized Raul was secretly stealing information, they had even conducted training in preparation for it.

They had perfectly memorized the location of the gorge to block the water and the method to subjugate the Alarag.

Now only the actual operation remained.

“It’s only been a day since Prince Raul left, so follow after him in four more days.”

Callid nodded.

Bellia’s tactics were so clean that even the knights acknowledged them.

It was a strategy that made good use of the terrain characteristics and the monster’s weaknesses that she could know as a person from Ronica.

“Subjugating the Alarag won’t be difficult. Once the waterway is blocked, it’s a level that can be handled sufficiently with the knights’ strength.”

Callid kept wanting to ask how she knew such things.

But he had said with his own mouth that he would trust her and therefore not ask anything. He couldn’t go back on his word on that subject.

‘Sigh… There’s still a long way to go.’

It seems it would take quite a while before Bellia fully trusted him and completely entrusted herself to him.

“More importantly, keep quiet about the gold mine for now. We plan to spread the news after returning from subjugating the monster.”

The investigation team Callid had brought had headed south very discreetly, so currently no one knew about the discovery of the gold mine except those involved.

“I’m thinking of revealing you in a dramatic way. The plan is already set.”

“What kind of plan?”

“Well, first succeed in the subjugation and come back.”

Bellia smiled brightly with a playful expression.

“It would be fun to tell you now, but leaving it as a surprise when you return might be good too.”

“In that case, I hope it’s something amazing enough to surprise me.”

Callid’s voice was full of joy as he said this.