The problem was that the two of them couldn’t meet often, but they were maintaining a relatively smooth relationship. Until Edan’s mother died.

Having lost his guardian, Edan was confined to a remote place, and Killian came to his younger brother alone, carrying a whip.

‘Killian. You are the only one who can become the Emperor of the Empire. No one should be an obstacle on that path. So tell me what to do. You should know that potential future troubles must be thoroughly crushed from the start. Even the most useless vermin can sometimes become the greatest enemy.’

It was the Empress’s order.

Killian knew what kind of person his mother was.

And that if he didn’t follow her orders, she would personally go to Edan and demonstrate by wielding the whip herself.

Killian had to pick up the whip while crying.

Even then, he couldn’t bring himself to use it on Edan.

“Elder brother, why are you crying?”

At Edan’s innocent question, his appearance dirty and unkempt, Killian threw down the heavy whip and said:

“Don’t ask, you idiot.”

“Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay.”

Around that time, Killian was irritable every day. He hated himself for being stuck in the middle, unable to do either.

“Elder brother, do you want some sausages?”

Edan held out a plate to Killian.

It was sausages with eyes, nose, and mouth drawn with ketchup that Ruben’s mother sometimes gave them.

“You eat it.”

“It’s delicious though.”

Edan put away the plate and sat down quietly next to Killian.

“Edan.”

“Yes, elder brother.”

“Do you think our mother really killed your mother?”

Everyone in the imperial palace knew this rumor. The rumor that the noble Empress secretly used untraceable poison to kill the slave concubine.

“I don’t know.”

“Is that all? Why aren’t you upset?”

“It’s not that I’m not upset… but I’m okay.”

Edan wasn’t as sad about his mother’s death as one might expect.

Just as Killian felt about his own mother, Edan knew he was being used by his mother.

A pretty child used for greed. A necessary child used to flaunt her presence to the Emperor.

She never gave Edan love.

Because from the beginning, the pregnancy was for that purpose.

So even though his mother died, while he felt lonely, aside from his living and sleeping arrangements changing, he didn’t feel great sadness.

“What if our mother really did kill your mother? Then you’d hate me, right? You’d resent me, right? Mother said you would seek revenge.”

Edan blinked his large eyes.

“I like you, elder brother. You treat me much better than my mother did. I don’t want to believe the Empress did it, but… even if Her Majesty did, I won’t seek revenge on you. I won’t even hate you. I’m okay.”

Edan knew that such emotions ultimately eat away at oneself.

He knew better than anyone because he had watched his mother live a life full of revenge, desire, and anger.

He didn’t want to live like that.

“I’m not okay.”

“Elder brother…”

Killian, who had to navigate dirty political battles and social circles from a young age due to his overly dramatic Empress mother, was fed up.

“This damn Crown Prince position. I wish you would just take it.”

Edan quietly looked at Killian.

Once again, tears were welling up in Killian’s eyes. His soft-hearted elder brother.

But an elder brother who never showed it to others.

With black hair just like their Emperor father and the ability to perfectly conceal his soft heart, Killian’s social skills were sufficient as the future Emperor.

“Elder brother. I want you to become Emperor.”

“Mother says you’re after my position.”

“That’s not true. I’m not interested in such a position. You take after Father, and you’re smart and cool.”

“Tch. Idiot.”

Edan smiled brightly at Killian, who was muttering about him having no ambition.

“When I grow up, I’ll help you. When you ascend to the throne, I’ll always be on your side so you don’t have a hard time.”

“Then what should I do for you?”

Edan hadn’t said it with conditions attached. It was just according to the imperial way of calculating he had been taught. Edan pondered the answer to that question.

“Be my real elder brother for life.”

Killian was the only family Edan considered.

More than his mother who had used him, more than his Emperor father who only occasionally glanced at him.

“Idiot. You’re already my younger brother.”

Killian’s face, his tears now dried, was full of smiles.

“When I ascend to the throne, Edan, I’ll give you freedom. I’ll let you do whatever you want in the Empire.”

“Okay!”

It wasn’t always pleasant, as there were times when he had to hit Ruben because of the Empress scolding him for the whip not being bloodied.

They couldn’t openly show their relationship to others. Nevertheless, Killian and Edan were real family.

Even when he manifested his ability, and when the Empress’s wrath towards Edan reached its peak because of it, they remained constant.

“But why did your relationship worsen?”

After hearing about their childhood, I asked Edan.

For brothers who were that close to become this bad, something must have happened.

“I told you. We’re not close, but we’re not on bad terms.”

That can’t be true.

Even if that was how it was when they were young, the fact is that Killian has now banned Edan from entering his temple.

And he suffered because of it.

As I didn’t remove my suspicious gaze, Edan reluctantly opened his mouth again.

“After I manifested my ability and went to the North, assassins came for me almost every day.”

There was something Ruben had said in front of the Northern Grand Duchy.

That portals were forbidden inside because of assassins.

“Even with my ability, I was young. It wasn’t easy to deal with well-trained assassins. Do you know how I survived each time?”

“How did you survive?”

Edan gently smiled, stroking my cheek and tucking my hair behind my ear.

“My elder brother told me. That an assassin would come tonight.”

Ah.

“That’s how I lived.”

It felt like I had been hit on the head. Killian really did care for Edan. And Edan likes Killian. It doesn’t seem like Killian does, but at least Edan’s feelings seem to be the same as when he was young.

It was a bit sad.

How did it end up like this?

As I unknowingly made a sad face, Edan, as if trying to change the mood, pinched both my cheeks with his fingers.

When I glared at him with narrowed eyes, Edan was giggling as if it was hilarious.

“You’re not crying?”

“Stohp iht.”

I warned you.

“They’re so soft and squishy. Are your cheeks made of flour dough?”

“Stohp iht nohw.”

Edan let go of my cheeks and started kneading them with his whole palm.

“Should I put them in my mouth once?”

“Don’t you dare!”

When I shouted, Edan finally removed his hands.

And then.

“Good. That was charismatic just now.”

He gave a lifeless compliment.

As I was fuming in disbelief, Edan burst out laughing and suddenly buried his face in the crook of my neck.

Then, with a low voice mixed with laughter, he sighed lightly and muttered.

“Damn, I’m going to go crazy.”

I’m the one who’s going to go crazy. What are you saying!

Edan, who had been nuzzling my neck for a moment, suddenly lifted his head as if he remembered something.

“More importantly, Lati.”

“Yes?”

“You remember what I said last time.”

What did he say? I shook my head.

“I told you the monster subjugation is coming to an end.”

“Ah! Is that true?”

“It’s not completely over, but we won’t have to fight every day like we do now.”

That meant it had been almost a year since Ivy became the Grand Saint.

The flow was a few months faster than in the original work.

Originally, Edan met Ivy when he was trapped in extreme pain after finishing the war.

“So can you rest a little now?”

“I don’t have much time to rest right away since we need to prepare for winter in the territory, but I’ll have some time.”

“Winter preparations?”

Edan nodded.

“Winter in the North comes earlier and lasts longer than other places. The East is still at the end of summer, but the North has already moved into autumn. That’s why we harvested the wheat early.”

Come to think of it, that’s true.

I was so busy visiting the desert and searching through books that I didn’t pay much attention, but the seasons were steadily changing.

“How do you prepare for winter? It must be very cold, right?”

“Terribly so.”

“How cold is it?”

At my question, Edan leaned back, resting his head on the chair’s backrest.

The sharp jawline below his upturned lips arrogantly revealed its line.

“Want to experience it?”

That chilling gaze that surely has some scheme behind it.

“Why are you looking at me like that? It’s scary.”

“If we go to the mountains in midwinter, you’ll cling to me tightly, saying you’re freezing to death and begging me to hug you. That doesn’t sound bad.”

It’s ambiguous. It would feel nice to be hugged by Edan, but I have a feeling I’d be teased terribly.

I shook my head vigorously.

“If it’s that cold, I don’t want to go.”

“Why not? Let’s go once.”

“I don’t want to.”

“If you ask nicely, I’ll hug you.”

“I’ll pass.”

Hmph, hmph.

“I’m just joking, this winter won’t be that cold. Once the subjugation is over, the knights will help prepare well for the winter.”

Edan went on to explain various things they needed to do to prepare for winter.

Things like magical heating items, helping territory residents who couldn’t afford them gather firewood, stockpiling sand in preparation for icy roads, and so on. When sand was mentioned, he even joked about ordering Dante to offer sand. He also joked about dragging Hillstain along to work when bears sometimes wake up from hibernation and come down to the villages.

As Edan calmly explained about the North’s winter, a quiet joy seeped into his face.

“How long does winter last? I’m curious about spring in the North too.”

The last time I went, it was summer in the North.

There were green leaves, but the overall temperature was cool, so it didn’t feel like summer at all.

So I was genuinely curious about what spring would be like.

“Spring?”

I nodded. What would spring in the North be like?

Edan answered dryly, as if he had never really thought about it.

“As far as I remember, spring has never come.”