With his narrow eyes curved in a wide smile, Hillstain was striding towards me.

I quickly glanced left and right. Not far from Killian’s castle yet, it wasn’t a gloomy dark place as it was still bright around. But due to the dense trees, it was also a place where I couldn’t be easily spotted from the surroundings.

Usually, but especially when I’m in this mood, I don’t want to face this man.

“Don’t come any closer!”

As I raised my voice in anger, Hillstain stopped in his tracks with a small sigh, as if disappointed.

“Ah, I just got hurt.”

Though brazen, Hillstain seemed to listen to me particularly well today.

No. Come to think of it, he’s been quite obedient to my words since I imbued the pepper with healing power.

I just didn’t notice because we weren’t alone.

Stopping three or four steps away, Hillstain smiled slyly as his soft silver hair swayed in the night breeze.

“What brings your ladyship here?”

“That’s what I’d like to ask.”

Ah. This man was the Knight Commander. Even so, is he doing something like patrolling at this late hour?

Right in front of the Crown Prince’s castle? I briefly turned my head to survey the surroundings again. The area around the castle didn’t seem to need more security thanks to a sufficient number of knights already patrolling. It wasn’t to the extent that required the Knight Commander to move personally to supervise.

“What brings Lady Latieana here?”

I looked back at Hillstain. Could it be he came knowing I was here?

“I’m on my way back after seeing His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Oh. I see.”

His face showed no surprise. He did know I had come.

“May I ask what you talked about?”

“No. Don’t ask because I won’t answer even if you do.”

“Shall I make a prediction?”

What?

“Recently, the High Priest came to meet Her Majesty the Empress. He kept secret that Lady Latieana has sufficient qualities to be the Great Saint. His Highness Killian was also present and pretended not to know.”

Hillstain smiled brightly, lifting the corners of his mouth fully.

“Of course! I also pretended not to know. Lady Latieana dislikes going to the temple, so whatever the circumstances, you cleverly made a reasonable deal with the High Priest, I presume.”

“……”

“So, what kind of deal did you come to make with His Highness Killian today?”

I kept my mouth firmly shut. Though appearing gentle, Hillstain’s gaze held a coolness.

“Don’t be afraid. I need to judge whether I should help Lady Latieana or not, depending on your answer.”

“What kind of judgment?”

“I have to report to Her Majesty the Empress. Who the woman who entered the Crown Prince’s castle at this hour is, why she visited, what conversation they had, everything.”

It felt like I’d been hit on the head. The Empress monitors even such things? How old is Killian that she still tries to control him in her grasp?

I have no intention of accepting Killian’s proposal, but there’s no benefit to me in relaying verbatim what he said to Hillstain.

“If you’re curious about such things, ask His Highness the Crown Prince directly. I’m planning to return right away, so don’t talk to me.”

As I coldly threw these words and tried to turn away, Hillstain casually took a step forward.

“Isn’t the atmosphere here too nice for that? It feels just right for a secret meeting, doesn’t it?”

As I thought. I wondered why he was listening so well today. This man is trying to do something again.

“I told you not to come…!”

As I was speaking with my brows deeply furrowed, I hesitated and closed my mouth.

“…?”

Hillstain Mathias. The Empress’s closest confidant.

The only person who receives special favor thanks to his quick situational awareness and ability to cater to all the whims of the fastidious Empress.

In the past and now, this man has been constantly by the Empress’s side.

To the extent of digging up and reporting all of Killian’s private life.

He’s probably the person who knows the circumstances of what happened between Edan and Killian better than anyone.

“Sir Hillstain.”

“Yes.”

“Come here.”

I raised my hand towards him and slightly moved my index finger.

Hillstain, who had been smiling broadly at my suddenly changed attitude, tilted his head and quietly looked down at me.

“Are you toying with me?”

“Whatever it is, come when I tell you to. Just one step closer.”

Hillstain’s eyes widened briefly as if incredulous, then he strode with his long legs and stopped exactly one step away from me.

“I don’t mind. I’m quite confident in my ability to play with my body, if nothing else……”

Hillstain quickly bent down and grabbed my hand.

I quickly pulled my arm away from him as he tried to kiss the back of my hand and asked.

“You know everything, don’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“About what happened between Edan and His Highness Killian.”

“……”

Hillstain’s gaze, which had been casually laughing, sank heavily.

“Tell me. What happened between the two of them.”

“What will you do for me if I tell you?”

Always trying not to lose out.

“What more do I need to do for you?”

Previously, it was a request to hide that I was the Great Saint. Though I gave pepper in return, there’s no need for that now that the temple has started producing potions. But there’s no reason for me to give in either.

“Well, it’s not necessarily that. You know that I’m aware of Lady Latieana’s power and can take it by force anytime, don’t you?”

Though he’s speaking indirectly, he’s saying that if he sets his mind to it, he could get his hands on someone like me right now anytime.

But I sneered at him.

“Are you prepared to die when you say that?”

Do you think Edan would leave you alone if you touch me?

At my words, spoken as if ridiculing him, Hillstain finally burst into laughter as if surrendering.

“What should I tell you first?”

He stretched out his long arm and grabbed a handful of my hair fluttering in the night breeze.

“That Her Majesty the Empress separated the two? Or how the two fell for that estrangement?”

The Empress caused the estrangement?

Seeing my widened eyes trembling, Hillstain chuckled and let go of my hair.

“It’s not a difficult story.”

As he naturally started to move his steps, I followed behind him.

“There were always big and small wars near the seemingly peaceful Empire. When Princess Ciela was still a princess, she was sent as a political marriage partner for His Highness Killian. The kingdom under threat of war was small and powerless, with nothing to offer but the king’s pretty daughter.”

“But if it was a political marriage with His Highness Killian, it was going to happen anyway… Why did rumors spread that she was rejected?”

“Because she was actually rejected.”

“I heard the two liked each other.”

Hillstain, who had been walking ahead, slowed his pace and came to my side.

“Such feelings don’t matter. What’s more important is that Her Majesty the Empress didn’t want their relationship. On the surface, it’s said that His Highness Killian was rejected, but it was Her Majesty the Empress who broke off the marriage between His Highness Killian and Princess Ciela. In the Empress’s eyes, a princess who was just pretty but insignificant wouldn’t be satisfactory.”

“Then Princess Ciela saying she disliked His Highness the Crown Prince……”

“Was a lie.”

Did the Empress threaten Ciela and make her say she liked Edan to drive a wedge between the brothers and break off the marriage?

If she didn’t like Ciela, she could have just crushed her with power. Why go to such lengths…

“Was that lie instructed by Her Majesty the Empress to Princess Ciela?”

Let’s not jump to conclusions. I need to confirm each point clearly. It’s a chance to know the truth.

Hillstain nodded at my question as I stopped walking.

“That’s right. She said she would destroy the kingdom if Ciela didn’t do so.”

“Does that make sense? Even if they couldn’t marry, the result would be the same for such a reason!”

“That’s why she attached conditions to frighten her. If she lied saying she liked Prince Edan and stepped back, the Empress would protect the kingdom even without marriage.”

“Ha……”

I was at a loss for words. She fell for such a clumsy threat?

Hillstain added an explanation for my dumbfounded self.

“It’s already been over 5 years. Now His Highness Killian has firmly established his position as Crown Prince, but it was different then. Most of the deals between empires and diplomacy between kingdoms were carried out under the Empress’s connections and influence.”

“Even so…!”

Killian doesn’t particularly like his mother, Empress Henzela either. You can tell from how they met secretly despite her driving a wedge between him and Edan since childhood. Though he couldn’t openly rebel much given the situation at the time, if he had spoken honestly, wouldn’t Killian have found his own way?

“What would Princess Ciela have known? She was beautiful and modest enough to be the Crown Prince’s fiancée, but she was a powerless princess who grew up receiving only adoration in a small country. She easily fell for the lie that if she didn’t do as told, not only the kingdom but also Killian’s position as future emperor would be given to Duke Edan.”

“Her Majesty the Empress has no intention of making Edan the future emperor.”

“That’s right.”

Hillstain smiled gently at my sharp gaze, which had become as fierce as my rising anger.

“That was also a lie.”

Lies upon lies. My lips trembled.

“Anyway, that’s how it started. Of course, His Highness Killian didn’t suspect the Duke from the beginning. He immediately saw through Princess Ciela’s lie that she had come to like the Duke. It was that clumsy. The problem is that Princess Ciela didn’t stop there and committed a terrible act.”

“Don’t tell me… she took off her clothes and entered Edan’s room?”

Hillstain seemed a little surprised.

“You know a lot.”

Because I heard it directly from the Crown Prince.

“His Highness Killian was going through a period of severe first love fever. In my opinion, he probably won’t meet a woman he loves that much again in the future. He was in such a state that he would mobilize all the knights of the empire to raise her kingdom.”

And that woman he loved so much said she liked Edan.

Keeping her mouth shut about it being the Empress’s doing.

So even though he knew it was a lie… he felt betrayed by Edan?

“His Highness Killian isn’t a fool either. But even if it’s a lie, if you witness a woman who said she liked your brother instead of you coming out of that brother’s room at night with her clothes off, wouldn’t you go crazy?”

We had somehow walked to the pergola near the garden.

“And the relationship between the two is not ordinary. They are affectionate brothers, but.”

Hillstain entered the pergola and leaned his shoulder against a pillar, turning to look at me.

“Since childhood, everyone around instilled words in His Highness Killian. That illegitimate prince Edan will one day stab you in the back, they said. A hundred out of a hundred, a thousand out of a thousand. Everyone whispered to His Highness Killian as if brainwashing him.”