The Empress finished speaking and rose from her seat, heading towards the window.

The wind coming through the slightly open window gently moved the feather ornament in her hair.

Edan’s expression cooled as he gazed at her back.

The artificial smile he had been wearing disappeared.

“The Emperor desires an amicable relationship with the Eastern Empire. You understand what that means, don’t you?”

Ignoring Edan’s lack of response, the Empress smiled softly as she looked out at the garden.

“It’s fortunate. The Eastern Empire happens to have Princess Ciela, and they’ve put her forward as a marriage prospect.”

The moment the princess’s name was mentioned, Edan’s brow twitched for the first time.

The Empress was facing away from Edan, looking out the window, but without needing to see directly, she anticipated his reaction and smiled even more.

“Though she’s a hostage princess from the fallen kingdom, she’s not a bad match for the Grand Duke.”

A bastard child, or a plain princess from a fallen kingdom.

The Empress’s muttered words struck Edan’s ears like a slap.

“Now that she’s officially become an Imperial Princess, there’s nothing lacking in her qualifications. So, Grand Duke, you must marry Imperial Princess Ciela.”

As if refusing was not an option, the Empress spoke decisively and turned around.

Seeing Edan’s hardened face, she received a scroll from her lady-in-waiting.

Click, click. Standing proudly before Edan, she held out the scroll.

“After raising you all this time, you should repay me like this.”

Her purple lips twisted up in a repulsive smile of delight.

Edan’s gaze fell on the neatly rolled scroll.

The dark brown scroll was tightly bound with a red ribbon.

“I believe I’ve already been repaying you.”

At those words, the Empress’s eyes instantly turned cold as she snapped her fan shut with a sharp sound.

At that signal, the ladies-in-waiting and servants bowed and left the room as if on cue.

Thud. As soon as the door firmly closed, the scroll fell to the ground, followed by a sharp sound echoing through the reception room.

Smack−!

The Empress struck Edan’s cheek with the handle of her fan. With a dull sound, Edan’s previously flawless cheek turned red. Yet Edan stood firmly in place without flinching. There was not the slightest tremor.

“Is it because you take after your mother? You’re utterly disgusting.”

The Empress glared fiercely at Edan’s reddened cheek.

Edan stood numbly, as if this were a familiar occurrence, and opened his mouth.

“If it’s such an important diplomatic matter, wouldn’t it be better to entrust it to my elder brother……”

“How dare you speak of an elder brother!”

Before he could finish speaking, the Empress’s fan struck Edan’s cheek again.

Edan did not dodge, and as the decoration on the fan handle caught his lip, blood burst forth.

A scornful laugh escaped through his slightly parted lips.

“I’m not giving you a choice. I’m telling you to realize your position.”

“Yes. I suppose you are.”

It had always been this way. Edan lowered his empty eyes to look at the tips of the Empress’s fingernails.

He recalled the nails he had seen on the day he was driven into a corner of the Imperial Palace as a child.

Hands that had never touched a drop of water, beautifully adorned. Lavish decorations of real gold. Even then he had thought:

Unlike his commoner mother, the real Empress, born noble, was arrogant even down to her fingernails.

The Empress hadn’t changed, then or now.

“Imperial Princess Ciela will be arriving soon. Though it’s a formal visit, make sure to receive her properly.”

“……”

“She says she still wants to marry you after all this time. Now that she’s an Imperial Princess of the Eastern Empire, make sure her attention doesn’t wander elsewhere.”

The Empress tossed her fan aside irritably and turned her back on Edan.

The fan decoration that had been barely hanging on fell to the floor with a jingle and rolled away.

Imperial Princess of the Eastern Empire…..

It was such an absurd lie that he couldn’t even manage a scornful laugh.

Though it was wrapped in pleasant words, her position in the Eastern Empire was not like that.

It was obvious that after being taken hostage when her kingdom fell, she had been adopted just to be used for something like this. This marriage probably wasn’t something she wanted either. That’s how it was between empires. Diplomatic marriages were nothing special. It was just one of the common methods.

‘You should just throw it all away and run.’

Edan recalled his last conversation with Ciela that he had forgotten.

Those were the words he had said to her. Of course, even as he said it, he fully expected that she wouldn’t be able to do so. But he never imagined they would become entangled again in this way.

When elder brother Killian hears this news, he’ll probably try to kill me this time.

Thinking that, he felt like he might finally manage a bitter laugh.

“If I refuse.”

Wiping the blood from the back of his hand, Edan dropped his smile and looked at the Empress.

“Will you threaten me again, like last time?”

At those words, the Empress turned back to face Edan.

“What?”

Looking at the wrinkles around her eyes on her distorted face, Edan let out a light sneer.

“Thanks to His Majesty, the Imperial Princess has nothing left to lose. What do you plan to threaten her with this time?”

The Empress’s eyebrows quivered for a moment before she quickly regained her composure. Then she kicked the scroll that had fallen to the floor.

“Read it with your own eyes. See what choice the Imperial Princess made.”

Edan picked up the scroll.

At the very end when it was fully unrolled was the name Ciela Hestina. Edan’s eyes darkened. Next to the name was Ciela’s signature agreeing to the marriage proposal.

“For the sake of my son, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do. It’s not difficult to clean up after fools like that Imperial Princess or vermin like you.”

Ha, Edan let out a scornful laugh and then fell silent.

“Don’t forget that it’s thanks to me you rose to the position of Imperial hero by going to the North.”

“……”

“You’re trash that deserves to die, nothing more.”

“……”

Edan’s face was dry and expressionless, as if accustomed to hearing such baseless abuse.

There was no point in continuing this conversation; it wouldn’t get through to her and was meaningless.

He knew better than anyone that when the Empress had sent him to the North, it was in hopes that he would take his own life, suffering from the pain of his abilities.

Thick veins stood out on the back of Edan’s hand as he silently gripped the scroll.

Knock knock.

At the sound of knocking, Killian lightly waved the pen he was holding.

At that signal, the door to Killian’s office, located on the highest floor of the Crown Prince’s palace, opened.

As Killian’s masked subordinate entered, the attendants standing nearby quickly withdrew outside.

Despite the early dawn hour, Killian sat upright in his chair in an impeccable uniform.

His expression was cold and impassive as he signed the pile of documents with his pen.

“Did you find out?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Killian stopped his pen mid-stroke.

“Report.”

After finishing his conversation with Ivy, Killian had ordered his subordinate to investigate recent events.

Whether Edan had definitely entered the temple, if there had been contact with Ivy, if Latieana Merigold had come and been taken away by the Grand Duke – these were the things he wanted to know about.

The subordinate who had swiftly gathered the information Killian had requested began to speak.

“We were unable to confirm that His Highness Edan had infiltrated the temple.”

From the first point, it was a report that didn’t sit well with Killian. He pressed the tip of his pen into the paper with a thud.

“You couldn’t confirm it?”

“It’s not certain. However, while there were no witnesses, given His Highness Edan’s abilities, it’s quite possible he could have secretly infiltrated the temple.”

“Is that all?”

“One of the holy knights witnessed Lord Hillstain taking away a woman with cherry blossom-colored hair. The strange thing is, Lord Hillstain personally silenced him.”

Tap tap. Killian tapped his pen a couple of times.

“Hillstain did it personally?”

“Yes.”

What could he be planning? In preparation for his future ascension to the throne, Killian had a schedule of visiting nearby empires once a year. This time it was the Southern Empire. During the month or so of traveling together, they had faced each other several times, yet Hillstain hadn’t mentioned anything about Latieana.

Was it because he wasn’t interested?

Was it because the Empress, his mother, was nearby?

Or did he have some other scheme?

Recalling Hillstain’s fox-like eyes, Killian set down his pen with a dry gaze.

He’s an opportunist and a cunning man.

He didn’t show his face at Ivy’s Imperial ball either, and then he turns up with his shoulder completely shattered, claiming it was just an accident.

He acts like a strong and faithful dog, earning the Empress’s favor, but sometimes it’s irritating. After all, someone who has captured the heart of his picky mother, the Empress, to that extent can’t possibly be a decent person.

He’s greedy, so he might have tried to seize the Great Saint’s privileges and failed, keeping it a secret.

“And, next.”

“We’ve found Prince Edan’s hidden castle.”

Killian himself had a hidden castle or two, so it wasn’t something to be concerned about.

He dipped the quill pen in ink.

“The location?”

“In the countryside of the East, right next to the Central region. It’s a quiet village with a small population.”

Killian nodded slightly, gesturing for him to continue.

“Latieana Merigold is living together with Prince Edan in that castle.”

At those words, the pen paused briefly before resuming to finish the signature.

An unpleasant smile broke out on Killian’s lips as he moved the document to one side.

He’s really something.

“Does he know what privileges would be given if Ivy brings Latieana Merigold, and that’s why he’s keeping her?”

“I apologize. We couldn’t find out that much. However.”

The masked subordinate paused to catch his breath before continuing his report.

“The castle is surrounded by knights from the North. They’re hidden so discreetly that the villagers probably haven’t noticed, but there are at least twenty of them.”

Thud. Killian threw down his quill pen.

The skills of the Northern knights are above average even within the Empire.

No matter how well-trained the capital’s knights are, they can’t compare to the Northern knights who often fight monsters in real combat.

And he’s stationed such knights in a quiet countryside.

About twenty of them at that.

It’s as if they’re protecting Latieana Merigold.

Killian leaned back in his chair.

The severe headache he had today was particularly irritating.

His head felt constricted and his temples throbbed, making it impossible to concentrate on work.

He closed his eyes and made a slight gesture, causing the subordinate to withdraw and an attendant to enter.

“Your Highness, Her Majesty the Empress has requested to have breakfast together.”