Several days had passed since the reception celebrating the Duke’s entry into the capital.

The Crown Prince, sitting on the sofa, knocked over the table upon seeing the empty bottle.

– Crash!

As the table fell, the medicine bottles on top shattered on the floor.

Seeing the shards of broken glass, the servant beside him shrank back and bowed his head.

“Your, Your Highness!”

“The medicine is empty, when is the Marquis coming?!”

Trashi irritably ran his fingers through his hair. Since seeing Adeline at the celebration, the Crown Prince had been in a foul mood.

Learning that the Duchess who came to greet the palace was not a commoner, but the daughter of the Credion Marquis family, Adeline Credion, he had been feeling increasingly irritated.

It was Adeline who had not responded to his marriage proposal for over half a year.

They said the Credion Marquis’s daughter had run away and gone missing.

‘A runaway noble daughter marries the Duke of Torpeo?’

And that after ignoring the marriage proposal from him, the Crown Prince.

‘How dare she…’

While her father follows the Empress like a dog, his daughter dares to ignore him.

Trashi clenched his fist tightly.

The Crown Prince recalled the rumors spreading throughout the capital.

“Hey, you.”

“Yes?”

The servant, who had been prostrate on the ground, raised his head.

“Is the rumor spreading in the capital true?”

‘I heard the Duke and Duchess of Torpeo are extremely close.’

‘There must be a reason they skipped the wedding ceremony, their relationship is so good.’ And so on.

The intimate appearance of the two at the reception had spread through the mouths of the nobles.

After rejecting the Crown Prince’s proposal, she chose the Duke. People were saying it was like a love story for the ages.

Trashi was the talk of the town all day. That’s why he was so displeased now.

“Yes, I confirmed it myself. Moreover… Um…”

The servant trailed off, unable to continue while gauging Trashi’s reaction.

“What? Is there more that I don’t know about?”

Trashi turned his head sharply to glare at the servant.

The servant trembled, shrinking back at his gaze.

On days when the Crown Prince glared like that, a storm would blow through the Crown Prince’s palace. Knowing this better than anyone, the servant couldn’t carelessly add more.

“Well, you see…”

“Aren’t you going to answer quickly? You know how much I hate waiting.”

Trashi stood up abruptly and approached the servant.

Just as he was about to grab the collar of the servant, who was trembling and unable to add anything more:

“That’s enough, Your Highness. Please let him go.”

Trashi turned at the familiar low voice that rang in his ears.

At the end of his gaze, he saw Marquis Credion entering the bedroom.

“If it’s that rumor, this person knows about it too.”

He approached with a noble bearing, without a hint of dishevelment, and glanced down at the servant.

The servant hastily left at Severus’s look telling him to go.

With the bedroom door closed, only the two of them remained in the Crown Prince’s chamber.

Seeing Severus who had appeared just in time, Trashi went to the messy table area and sat on the sofa.

Sitting deep in the sofa, he gestured with his chin for the Marquis to take the seat opposite.

“Tell me. What is this rumor?”

It was a gaze utterly devoid of respect for addressing an Imperial Marquis.

However, Severus seemed accustomed to such rude behavior as he took out a medicine bottle from his sleeve and set it down before him.

Trashi brightened at the sight of the medicine bottle Severus had produced. He immediately picked it up and shook it, and was about to open the bottle cap when:

“The Emperor’s mark.”

Trashi’s hand stopped abruptly at the words ‘Emperor’s mark’ that flowed from Severus’s lips.

“The deep red eyes said to be born to the Emperor.”

“…”

“Perhaps because the Duke had not shown himself in society. There are those who say the Duke of Torpeo’s red eyes are the Emperor’s mark.”

“…”

“They say two suns have risen under one sky.”

Trashi’s eyes, which always shone like a madman’s, turned cold in an instant.

‘Two suns.’

The sun symbolizes the Emperor. Trashi knew very well what those words meant.

“Indeed. Even to my eyes, the Duke’s red eyes are quite strange. Red eyes for someone not of imperial blood. I’ve never seen such a vivid scarlet except in His Majesty.”

Severus sat down on the sofa opposite, meeting Trashi’s eye level.

As he spoke about the Duke of Torpeo, he stared intently at Trashi’s red eyes.

Trashi’s eyes, which had a reddish tinge but were closer to vermilion due to lack of pigment.

“So.”

After a long silence, Trashi’s lips twisted.

“You’re saying there’s a rumor going around that the Duke of Torpeo was born with the Emperor’s mark?”

A sneer-like laugh burst out.

“Pfft. How ridiculous. For a family whose imperial connection was completely severed after Empress Dowager Emilia?”

No matter how prestigious the Dukedom, its influence had not been the same since the Empress Dowager’s time.

He laughed hysterically for a while, then stifled his laughter with a choking sound.

Severus, watching Trashi, showed no emotion. He just stared blankly at Trashi.

After a long silence, Severus opened his lips.

“I merely relayed the rumor to you. The more provocative the gossip, the more interesting it is. It’s just the words of those who like to chatter.”

“Hmm.”

Trashi crossed his legs at Severus’s words.

Then, looking at the Marquis with a sidelong glance, he tapped the sofa arm with his hand.

“The mark, huh.”

“…”

“The Duke of Torpeo’s eyes are indeed unpleasantly red.”

Saying this, the Crown Prince stared at the Marquis.

Even though he had known Severus for a long time, Trashi found it difficult to gauge the Marquis’s true thoughts.

He had never seen him get angry or lose his composure. The Severus he knew never wavered, as if he were a human without emotions.

‘I really can’t tell what he’s thinking.’

Trashi fell into thought for a moment as he looked at Severus.

Although they were on the same side as the Empress’s people, he often wondered if the Marquis was truly on his side.

That doubt deepened when he saw the Marquis’s only daughter married off to the Duke of Torpeo.

‘Did he plant his daughter as a spy to watch the Duke?’

Empress Bergamo had said so, but well.

What better marriage alliance than for Adeline to become the Crown Princess? Would someone seeking power choose a different path when the highest position was easily attainable?

‘Hmm.’

He stopped tapping his fingers as he looked at Severus.

The deliberation was brief. If you don’t know, you just have to test it.

“Let’s send them far away from the capital.”

Severus raised his head and met the Crown Prince’s gaze at his next words.

“I was getting sick of seeing them anyway. If the Duke and Duchess are not in this capital, that rumor will naturally die down.”

“…”

“I’d like to banish them from the empire forever, but there’s no justification for that.”

An indecipherable smile bloomed on Trashi’s lips as he stroked his chin.

“Justification. Right, we just need to create a justification. Isn’t the area hit by the flood in the Duke of Torpeo’s domain?”

Trashi recalled Cologne, the region affected by floods from the late autumn rains.

According to informants planted in the Duke’s territory, it was the region the Duke had returned to midway, turning his carriage around due to Adeline’s escape.

Coincidentally, an epidemic had started in that area, so a suitable excuse had arisen.

“Yes. It would be good to spread a rumor. That God is angry at the Duke for neglecting his territory, distracted by a woman.”

In times of great disaster, people need someone to blame.

He will forcibly dispatch them, holding the Duke responsible for not managing the flood-stricken village because he was busy looking for his wife.

“Are you saying you’ll send the Duke and Duchess to the Cologne region now?”

“Yes. It’s perfect. A place with landslides and the threat of an epidemic.”

‘It wouldn’t be strange if they died a violent death there.’

Trashi’s lips curled up endlessly.

At that moment, Severus’s lips tensed slightly across from him. Though he quickly returned to an expressionless face, the Crown Prince noticed the subtle change.

“Ah, the Marquis’s daughter is the Duke’s wife. Right.”

The Crown Prince swirled the medicine bottle he was holding, mixing it. As he opened the cap of the bottle, Trashi’s eyes glinted maliciously.

Severus ignored the Crown Prince’s gaze and stood up.

“Do as you wish, Your Highness. I’ll take my leave.”

Severus had no reason to listen to this madman’s sophistry any longer.

Moreover, when the Crown Prince starts on the medicine, he becomes an uncontrollable beast.

It was the moment he tried to leave quickly.

“That’s right, you should have given her to me. Why did you send your only daughter to the Duke?”

Severus stopped in his tracks at Trashi’s voice as he was turning to leave.

“You don’t seem to care much for your flesh and blood, yet you’re concerned about sending her away?”

As Severus turned around, he saw the Crown Prince looking at him with a sneer.

“I’ll make sure not to touch your daughter. I can’t look upon her fondly, but considering the loyalty you’ve shown me, Marquis.”

“…”

“At least Adeline…”

Before Trashi could finish his sentence.

Severus quickly retraced his steps and approached him. He took the medicine bottle from Trashi’s hand and crushed it.

– Crack!

“Your Highness. You seem to be under some misunderstanding, so let me tell you.”

The broken glass pieces tore Severus’s hand to shreds.

The medicine from the shattered bottle in his hand flowed out along with Severus’s blood.

There must be a stinging pain, but Severus couldn’t take his eyes off Trashi.

“I am Her Majesty the Empress’s man, not yours.”

Trashi’s eyes wavered.

Reading his agitation, Severus’s lips slowly curled up and twisted.

“Though old, a lion still has a lion’s nature. Don’t keep provoking me.”

“…”

“You never know when the blade might turn towards you, Your Highness. Always keep that in mind.”

Severus murmured towards Trashi and shook off the medicine bottle in his hand onto the floor.

It was a warning that next time, it might be Trashi who would be shattered in his hand.

Only after the Marquis slowly left the bedroom did Trashi exhale.