They had dinner together in the empress’s palace.

Around the end of the meal, he suggested that we go together to the training ground, saying that he would teach me how to shoot a bow.

I deliberately pretended to be excited, making a fuss.

Phyung, phyung, mimicking shooting arrows, I even acted cute.

I don’t know if he accepted that as cuteness, but his response wasn’t bad.

As Lionel laughed and asked him to please shoot an arrow at him while grabbing his stomach, I shouted ‘Phyung!’ with a determined expression and shot an arrow with my hand, just as he wished.

Then he started nitpicking about the direction of the arrow I shot.

Did I use his vital parts as a target?

“Your aim is quite dreadful.”

Standing with his legs apart, he put his hands on his waist and laughed in exasperation.

How can he laugh in exasperation like that?

While staring at him as if fascinated by that sight, I realized one thing.
I always have a habit of aiming for the vital spot, thinking, ‘This is the last arrow,’ when shooting a bow, and that habit unintentionally revealed itself even when pretending to shoot the bow.

“Was the aim intentional?”

As he continued to inquire,

“I’m sorry; I thought I should shoot the arrow at the most important part.”

With that excuse, I shrugged it off.

After changing into riding clothes and coming out through the empress’s palace sponsorship, the horses prepared for our transportation were already ready.

I wanted to pull the reins right away and gallop through the forest, but I calmly mounted the horse and headed slowly to the training ground with him.

After finishing the conversation with Princess Lesilia, Prince Tesler returned to his assigned room.

As soon as he arrived in the bedroom, he looked for wine.

Leaning back comfortably on the sofa, he took a bottle of wine and drank.

“Unexpected obstacles are popping up.”
He continued to have a headache over the issue with Prince Norton.

He couldn’t rashly meddle with Prince Norton.

If he handled him wrongly, it could escalate into a problem not just for the Shatoneil Kingdom but potentially become an issue between the continents.

“For now, let’s leave it to Lesil.”

At first, he ignored her words, but upon reflection, he concluded that using Norton might be better than getting rid of him.

‘I’ll skillfully manipulate Norton and bring him back under my control.’

There’s no man who won’t waver when my younger sister sets her mind to seduce him.

That applied even to a man who betrayed once; there would be no exception.

Prince Tesler believed that.

But if that guy, Norton, were to ask him about that day…

Yes, it would be enough to say that he had never received a report about the fact that he and the child fell from the cliff.

And if he blamed the Royal Knights, that would be the end of it.
Among the deputy commanders of the Royal Knights, pick the most useless one and hold him accountable for that day’s incident, and then execute him. What can that guy say to me?

“If we catch and release him, is there a way to escape? Even if it’s suspicious to hand him over to try treating Lesil well again, we have to do it.”

Using and discarding someone is Lesilia’s specialty, so she would never ruin things for political or her own child’s sake.

“Wait, Martins… did he really not know about this fact?”

At that moment when Prince Tesler’s head was tilting with a sense of disbelief.

Knock, knock, knock. [Dash]

A cautious knocking sound was heard from outside the bedroom door.

Holding a wine glass, he said, “Come in.”

“Your Highness, have you been well?”

Duke Martins entered the room with a pleased expression.

Pak! [Dash]

The wine glass flew towards the right side of the Duke’s face and shattered against the wall.
Due to the wind, glass shards splashed onto the Duke’s face, leaving small cuts on his cheek.

“…Has something unpleasant happened here?”

“You bastard. You knew, didn’t you?”

Prince Tesler shouted, his eyes squinting.

“What are you talking about?”

“That mercenary guy is alive. Moreover, he’s the prince of the Parcha Empire! Didn’t you know?”

“Even if that’s true, it’s not like that, and my face almost got cut into pieces.”

The Duke calmly spoke, looking down at the scattered glass shards on the floor.

Wiping the blood off his cheek with his hand, he approached Prince Tesler.

The prince, taken aback by his reaction, shouted again.

“Did you know, you bastard!”

“I didn’t know, you bastard.”

Duke Martins responded calmly, sending shivers down the spine.

Prince Tesler stood up abruptly from the sofa.

“…What?!”
The two were cousins. Due to their close relationship since childhood, they often spoke comfortably when they were alone, almost like siblings.

However, the atmosphere was different now.

Martins Rohain, who was quick-witted, couldn’t help but notice. Why was he suddenly speaking as if challenging him?

Prince Tesler looked at him with a slightly offended expression and said, “For now… don’t speak, Duke.”