Ileleon watched such a Balth and spoke with a soft smile.

“You’re going to lose anyway, why not have a conversation?”

“Damn you! Just because you’re good at chess doesn’t mean you can look down on people. The game isn’t over until it’s over!”

Balth bellowed as he moved the black knight. Ileleon, who had been looking down at the chessboard, dropped his head.

“You. It’s good to build muscle, but what about using your brain? Otherwise, you’ll get devoured by the weakest.”

“…What did you say?”

“Look closely. By moving your knight, you’ve left your king undefended. A foolish king who, without seeing the bigger picture, has forsaken his protective knight is…”

Ileleon trailed off as he moved his white pawn. Thud, the sound echoed as his pawn settled near the king.

“Checkmate.”

“Aaargh! You unlucky bastard!”

Infuriated, Balth flipped the chessboard, table and all. The expensive mahogany table fell to the ground with a thud.

The chessboard and pieces scattered across the floor. Unpleased with the messy room, Ileleon immediately called his servant.

“Clean it up.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The servant bowed deeply as he righted the overturned table and quickly tidied the scattered chessboard and pieces, then left the room.

Ileleon watched Balth, who was continuously cursing, with a composed face. Although they had nothing in common in appearance or temperament, both were scions of one of the three ducal houses.

Balth was the head of the Portman ducal family, while Ileleon was the head of the Gredric ducal family, which was also the maternal home of the current empress.

“Balth, you should do something about that prickly nature of yours. What will people say when they see this?”

“Let them say what they want. Do you think I care?”

Balth snorted disdainfully. Ileleon looked at such a Balth and continued to speak with a gentle smile at the corners of his mouth.
“Why did Seliya Brillion kill the emperor?”

Valt realized that Illeon was trying to change the subject, but pretended not to notice, feeling guilty for knocking over the innocent desk.

“The emperor was a womanizing scarecrow. He had his hands on more than one or two women. I’m sure there are plenty of people who harbor resentment against such a lustful emperor. She must have felt the same and assassinated him.”

Valt said, scratching his chin. Illeon softly muttered,

“…Resentment.”

“What could such a famously beautiful woman lack to resort to murder? Probably killed him out of irritation because the old emperor kept pestering her.”

Illeon sometimes envied Valt’s ignorance, who lived without much thought. If one could live so carelessly, there would be no stress.

“Do you really think she killed the emperor just for that reason?”

“Damn. How would I know? If you’re so curious, why don’t you go to the imperial palace yourself and ask her?”

“…”

“If you want to know the truth, you should hurry to the imperial palace. Unless you want to converse with a woman who’s already a cold corpse.”

Illeon frowned. Staring at Illeon’s contemplative face, Valt stood up from his chair. The chair creaked under his massive and weighty frame.

“The emperor’s mad dog will probably try to pin the assassination on her and kill her to survive in the palace now that it’s lost its master.”

“We don’t know how a dog without a master will turn out yet.”

“Damn, you don’t make it easy, do you?”

Valt moved toward the door. Just before leaving, he looked back at Illeon.

“I still don’t like you, as much as I don’t like your emotionless face.”

Valt, annoyed, exited the room with that final word. The door closed with a ‘thud.’

Alone in the room, Illeon was pondering about Dietrich.

How could any dog, climbing from the bottom with tenacity, seize total control of the palace’s military force? A dog capable of sitting atop its master’s head and manipulating him had already transcended being just a dog.

Illeon muttered to himself.

“‘Mad dog’? It’s probably a nickname created by ‘something’ wearing the guise of a dog.”

Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.

The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…

Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.

Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.

The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”

When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…

The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced