It was a day with a cold wind.

-Why is there always a problem where you are...?

I hated people.

There was a time when I hated him, who bestowed acts of kindness without expecting anything in return.

-Why must I be swept away by the misfortune you bring...?

Back then, I had spoken harshly to the one who had protected my father.

-I'm sorry.

He had apologized to me.

-Grip...

The wound inflicted on someone's heart is bound to return. Whether it was spoken words or words uttered in the heart, the wound always returns.

Of course, the size of the returning wound is different, but the wounds that time cannot heal always find their way back.

The person who always smiled at me had answered me with a smile that day as well.

-Don't cry.

He smiled as he wiped away my tears.

-It will ruin your pretty face.

The question of 'why' always begins in the heart and disappears, leaving only happiness at the end.

Because that time was so precious.

Because his gentleness, which allowed foolish me, sometimes foolish me, to forget my stupid thoughts, was so precious.

-I'm sorry...

I foolishly lean on his shoulder.

Yes.

Jealousy (嫉妬).

Perhaps I harbor a feeling of jealousy (嫉妬) towards him.

Because his gentleness, which always protects me, causes a small seed of jealousy to sprout in my heart.

His smile, which he always shows.

Sometimes, his foolish devotion.

Hesitant me, wanting to be like him, had a seed of jealousy planted in me.

'I am not a person who deserves to be treated like that by him,' I thought.

I knew that if he knew I was thinking this, he would surely get angry.

That I am not that kind of person.

Embarrassingly, I know he would scold me while complimenting my pretty face.

That's why I think I become more jealous.

Jealousy towards my unworthy self.

On that night when the cold wind blew.

-Click.

I took a step closer to him.

-Others may say your hair color is like a faded peach blossom, but I like it because it's like a newly bloomed flower.

That day, when it was as if the restrictions on my emotions had been lifted, had made my presumptuous feelings grow larger and then disappeared.

Like a 'whoosh' of a spring breeze.

That must be why I did such an embarrassing thing.

-Peck.

-Huh...?

-This is a token of a promise.

-...Uh...

-My one-sided promise.

-Whoosh.

"I'm crazy...!!"

Yuria, who had come to the northern soup restaurant for the first time in a long time, blushed as she recalled the past. No matter how she thought about it, the kiss (on the forehead) back then was because she was drunk on the atmosphere and her body had moved on its own.

"Aaargh....!!"

Yuria, whose face had turned as red as a persimmon for the first time in a long time, was shaking her head, but.

"Yuria!!"

At her father's urging to move the finished food to the table, Yuria fanned her face with her hand and let out a hot breath.

"Yes! I'm coming."

Why is it so hot?

It's still snowing in the north.

"I'm going crazy..."

Yuria smiled and readjusted her apron.

And that evening.

Yuria had a dream.

A dream of a sad woman's back, embracing him not in a battlefield with sandstorms, but under the shadow of sorrow where a chilly wind blew.

In that dream, the woman was.

-Why... why... why did it happen...?

Swallowing her sorrow with a face full of countless questions.

*

The empty site of the Desmunt mansion, sunny as always.

"Haaaam."

I, looking at the empty site of the mansion that had been cleaned up with the help of the academy students, let out a lazy yawn and thought of the Desmunt family that had left.

-We're going on a trip.

-I'll pack the bags.

-This is a family trip. I'm going on a trip with little Olivia, so you stay in the capital.

With a feeling of 'are they having fun without me...'

Darbab had abandoned me in the capital and gone on a trip, with the excuse that he had something to do in the east.

Considering that I was the one who had played the biggest role in this incident, to be abandoned like this... and with a mountain of work.

-Olivia's statue, a large and splendid mansion, 3 stories high, please.

-Pardon?

-You can do it. I will give you the authority of acting head of the Desmunt family, so pour your aesthetic sense into this vast site.

-If that's the case, it would be better if you did it yourself. It's the Desmunt mansion, after all...

-I don't want to. I'm going to play with Olivia.

-...?

-When the real power struggle begins, I won't be able to play with Olivia even if I want to. I'm going to laze around like a loafer for the first time in a long time, so you protect the family.

-Are you, the head of a family, saying such a thing?

-I don't want to. I just don't want to.

-I want to play too.

-What is your job?

-A butler.

-Then what should you be doing?

-I'm not an architect.

-Congratulations. From now on, you are Olivia's personal butler and the architect of Desmunt.

I, who had unintentionally acquired two jobs, let out a long sigh and began to walk around with a notebook. I had to come up with a rough plan before Darbab returned to the capital.

"Hmmmmm... I'll put the young lady's statue here..."

"I'll build a dormitory for the servants here."

"...There's still land left even after this..."

My head hurts.

I was confident in plotting, but I was far from architecture, so my head felt like it was spinning. I had asked Malik, who was in the construction business, for a rough blueprint, but.

-Can I put a siege weapon in the mansion?

-They said I don't have to worry about the cost and can just go for it...

-Perfect. I'll make you the strongest weapon.

-It's a mansion, not a weapon.

I had to decide on the rough location, so I squeezed my aching head and worked hard.

-Thump.

My head hurts.

-Thump.

Since I was entrusted with a serious task, I think I'm being more meticulous. If I built it sloppily, it would tarnish the young lady's name.

I also had to deal with the crown prince's matter.

And I had to tell Mikhail about Wolfgang's identity.

Sigh...

-Thump.

It was then.

"Hmm?"

A familiar face began to appear before my eyes.

"Oh my..."

I looked at the visitor and smiled, with an expression that said I was glad since I was bored anyway.

"Lee... Koominhyuk..."

I let out a small laugh at her timid voice, raised my head slightly, and waved.

"Mikhail-ssi."

The work was all done, but it seemed the part-time job was quite profitable, as Mikhail, who was carrying an A-frame, was approaching with an awkward smile.

"It's not Ikuminhyuk, it's Lee Minhyuk."

"...Lee... Lee... Mi...yeok?"

"Puhahaha!!"

I gave a faint smile and decided to postpone correcting her pronunciation. It didn't seem like it would change no matter how much I tried.

By the way...

"What brings you here?"

"Well... that's."

"Did you come because you missed me?"

The embarrassed Mikhail bowed his head and answered shyly.

"I came to see if there was anything I could help with."

"Oh..."

I was grateful for the thought, but there was nothing Mikhail could help with, so I smiled slightly and shook my head.

"I appreciate the thought, but all the cleaning is done, so there's nothing for you to do."

"Ah... is that so? Then goodbye..."

"Still...!"

I thought it would be a shame to let her go like this, so I spoke to Mikhail.

"There is something you can do to relieve my boredom, would you like to do it?"

"I'd love to...!"

"First, please speak comfortably. It's awkward for me to listen."

"But..."

"Com.fort.ably."

"Uh... okay."

Mikhail, whose face had turned red, let out a 'poo' sound and began to speak comfortably.

"I'll try to be comfortable... no, I'll be comfortable."

"Good."

I gave a satisfied smile and said to Mikhail. Then let's work together now.

"Well then, would you like to walk around this vast site with me from now on?"

"I'd love to..."

"Alright then... what should we put here?"

"Huh?"

"I received a task from the family head. Oh, and you can't leak the blueprint to the outside."

"Yes, yes!!"

What is she so nervous about?

I gave a small smile, looked at the empty part of the site, and asked Mikhail.

"I'm thinking of building a museum here."

"A museum...?"

"Yes, the family head said he wants to show something to his descendants."

"Uh... ung... then how about here... no, how about it? I don't think it would be good to build a museum in a corner."

"Oh, that's a good idea."

Mikhail and I smiled slightly and continued our conversation.

It was fun.

So much so that I didn't think of Darbab, who had gone on a trip to the east.

Mikhail, who had been watching my expression for a while, opened her lips carefully with a shy expression and said.

"Thank you."

"Pardon?"

"Thank you, back then."

I closed the notebook I was holding with a 'thud' at Mikhail's sudden thanks. I didn't think there was anything to be thanked for.

"If it weren't for Ricardo, I wouldn't have been able to even mention my mother."

"It's no big deal."

"No."

Mikhail bowed his head with a serious expression.

"Thank you, really."

Really.

"If you're grateful, be nice to me."

She is a person I can't hate.

An uncertain future.

"Keuha..."

Endless despair.

"Keuhaha!!!"

The 2nd Prince, 'Truller,' who was reminded of the one experiencing all the misfortunes, burst out laughing, collapsing onto the sofa as he held his stomach.

The closer the Crown Prince's downfall came, the better his situation became.

"Ah~ I told my dear brother to tone it down, but why did he have to go and make things so tiring for everyone... Keuhaha!!"

The wine glass in his hand shimmered, reflecting his greedy face.

Curly blond hair.

His neck, adorned with luxuries, was reflected like a mirror as he tilted the blood-red wine towards his lips.

-Gulp.

"Kyah..."

The news about the Empire's hottest Crown Prince was spreading throughout the Imperial Palace like it had feet, unable to be hidden even if his father tried.

'The Crown Prince's position is in danger,' or 'The Crown Prince, mad with lust, purchased a slave forbidden by the Empire,' were stories spreading with a bit more embellishment than the truth.

Of course, along with the news of the arrest of his closest aide, Wolfgang.

Truller looked at the crimson wine that was once again filling his empty glass and thought. The power his brother had lost would become his.

Because the vacant spot of the fallen Tae-oh would be filled by him.

People were flocking to him.

The aides who had heard the news about Tae-oh, realizing that their life-long bet had failed, were rushing towards him like dogs.

One noble sent a letter asking for a marriage with his daughter who was not yet of age, and one of the high-ranking nobles even sent a letter asking him to take his daughter as a concubine, which showed that their situation was dire.

That 'Ah, we've backed the wrong horse.'

"Keuhaha...!"

Laughter erupts.

He can't stop laughing at how amusingly the situation is unfolding. He had just been indulging in women and playing around, but the opportunity that came to him on its own, thanks to his brother who fell into the fire pit by himself, was so funny that the smile on his lips wouldn't disappear.

How should he express his gratitude?

Should he visit his dear brother and present him with a bouquet, or should he send a huge gift to Desmunt to express his thanks?

"Keuha... Keuhaha!!!!"

Truller, thinking the world was on his side, raised his glass once more.

If there were two things that bothered him, it was that none of the dukes had sent him any word, and the other was Shartia's overly quiet movements.

Normally, Shartia would have used the media and her faction to spread information favorable to her to seize the opportunity, but her overly quiet movements were so bothersome that it was annoying just to have her be still.

Well, Shartia must be quiet because she has realized who the true king of this empire will be...

"...Hoo."

Well, what can you do?

For now, he just had to enjoy the opportunity that had come his way.

From long ago, he had to have what he wanted to be satisfied.

Whether it was a woman.

Or a vast treasure.

Whatever it was, he wanted to take it and make it his own.

Among them, the most coveted was what his brother had. Because from long ago, his brother had things that he did not.

The position of Crown Prince.

An environment where he was praised even for doing nothing.

The factor of not being scolded even when indulging in freedom, and the beautiful women who flocked to him.

Women, he could have them if he put his mind to it, but the daughters of high-ranking nobles were all beautiful, so a mutual agreement was necessary.

"...Finally."

The thought that he would soon seize the highest position in the Empire made Truller surrender his body to the pleasure that was rising from his toes.

"I... can have everything."

Because in this empire, there was no one who could defy his words anymore.

Not the nobles.

Not his brother.

Not his father.

The moment he became king, the moment they would have to flatter him was approaching, so a thrill was rising.

If he becomes king...

"Keuhat...!"

Truller, who was having a happy delusion, looked at the old man filling his empty glass in front of him and opened his mouth. With a heart full of gratitude for having hastened the scheduled downfall of Tae-oh.

"I have gained much thanks to you."

"...You flatter me. All of this is the power of Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"Crown Prince...?"

"If the title is uncomfortable, I will correct it. Your Majesty."

"Keuhaha!!! I like it. How did you know I hate to wait... It's the same with wooing women. I absolutely hate waiting."

"That is correct. Waiting only delays the future."

Truller raised his head and looked at the old man sitting demurely, and spoke.

"You said you were Wolfgang's butler."

To Wolfgang's old fox.

"I have now abandoned the name Wolfgang."

"When you first came to me after abandoning your master, I thought you were really crazy."

"There was a teaching from my former master to cut a rotten rope before it breaks, so I mustered the courage to come to the emperor who is the strongest in the empire and will be a wise ruler."

"I could have killed you...?"

"If that is the will of the king of the Empire, I can gladly offer this life."

"Keuhaha!!! You're a man like a jackal. It's a waste for you to remain at the rank of Viscount..."

Truller wasn't particularly fond of Wolfgang's butler, who had abandoned his crumbling master, but he patted him on the shoulder in consideration of the favor he had done in hastening Tae-oh's downfall.

"You've come to the right place, Viscount Rude."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Truller, who put strength in his shoulder, sent a chilling gaze and spoke. With the thought that the flattery was enough, and it was now time to talk about work.

"So... are you sure your name is not in the ledger?"

"Yes, that is correct. Not only have I never purchased a slave, but I was also in charge of visiting the slave trader from time to time to check the ledger, so there will be nothing for Your Majesty to worry about."

"Alright..."

Truller said.

That he believed he would do what he desired without him having to say it.

"You just have to keep doing what you're doing."

"Understood. I will continue to act as an informant within Wolfgang's circle and to testify against the Crown Prince. Of course, with some embellishments..."

"I like it very much."

"I will make sure to link him to the cultists' activities as well."

Truller, with a smile, let out a yawn and clenched his fists. Because there was something he wanted to do while waiting for his brother's downfall.

"I should start moving too."

Because he had to choose the woman who would become his concubine before he became emperor.

He had thought of the official wife.

He had obtained information that the head of the Velian family, who was protecting the family alone, was a woman, so he planned to make her his wife. Even if her looks were a bit disappointing, he could just have fun with a concubine.

Right, the academy.

Although he had been expelled, he thought that if he asked his father, he could somehow arrange it.

"My dear brother's woman must be there too..."

He was a third-year when he was expelled, so if he went back now, Truller was sure that he could enjoy the same things his brother had enjoyed.

"I should go see my younger sister for the first time in a while."

He hoped his dear sister would be waiting for him. With a humble appearance, having seen the king of the Empire.

*

Shartia rolled her pen with a faint smile.

"The 2nd Prince is returning to the academy?"

Unlike the information guild master, who had a troubled expression.

"He was definitely expelled, how can he return to the academy..."

"He must have asked our father. Saying that he'll learn his lesson this time, and to please open the path of learning for him."

"Even so..."

Shartia picked up her pen and began to dip it in ink. As if the shocking news the guild master had delivered was nothing.

"Our father must be having a headache too. The son he was planning to make the next emperor is on the verge of being deposed due to being embroiled in a scandal.... He'd be reluctant to make me, who is at least intelligent, the Crown Princess because there will be nobles who will bring up my birth..."

"..."

"Well, more than that, our father's stubbornness about primogeniture is probably the biggest factor."

"Your Highness..! Now is the chance. If you ask His Majesty the Emperor for the position of Crown Princess now...!"

Shartia shook her head with a bright smile.

"Let's wait. I will be the emperor anyway."

"...You seem different from usual. You don't seem like the princess who would get fired up and curse whenever the 2nd Prince's name came up."

"I have more leeway now."

Shartia, who had picked up a cup from which steam was rising, took a leisurely sip of tea and spoke.

"You don't have to be in a hurry."

"..."

"Didn't I tell you? We have the strongest family in this empire with us."

"Still... Desmunt, because of the cultists' invasion..."

Shartia let out a small smile at the guild master's words and clicked her tongue. Because the guild master's words, worrying about the strongest family in the empire, were amusing.

"Counselor, do you know what the most useless worry in the empire is?"

"...What is it?"

"Worrying about Desmunt."

Shartia said with conviction.

"They won't fall. That family."

"..."

"Probably, even if the empire falls, that family will remain until the end."

-Swish...

Shartia's pen moves.

She knows it too.

What the 2nd Prince is thinking.

She knew better than anyone that he would make things difficult for her when he returned to the academy.

But.

[Signature: Shartia.]

She was no longer afraid.

Because she believed that the most reliable support in the world would protect her.

*

-Click.

In the academy classroom at 9 a.m. on a sunny morning, someone's footsteps could be heard.

-Click.

The students were buzzing with new news.

"Did you hear the news...?"

"What news...?"

"About the 2nd Prince. I heard he's returning as a third-year."

"What...?"

With curiosity at the return of a new royal.

-Click.

The 2nd Prince had finished all his groundwork.

Malicious rumors about him.

He had already raised his value with rumors that he had not been expelled from the academy, but had left temporarily due to unavoidable circumstances.

-Click.

Of course.

-Screech...

His return was brilliant.

"Wooooow..."

He shines brilliantly.

Truller, who had opened the classroom door, felt the students' admiring gazes and walked forward with a faint smile on his face.

And.

"...Hmm?"

Seeing the woman with pink hair, a delicate smile formed on his lips.

He knew at once.

"Hmm..."

The desire to make that woman his.

One step.

Two steps.

Truller, who was approaching the woman with pink hair, pulled the empty chair next to her with a smile full of lewdness.

"May I sit?"

With a gentle voice, he sat next to her.

"Nice to meet you."

"..."

"I'm Truller. Of this empire..."

It was then.

-Screech.

The moment Truller's voice was directed at the woman. The door on the other side opened, and a familiar face was seen.

-Click.

The man who had opened the door and entered said with a refreshing smile.

"Student."

"..."

"Please go out into the hallway."

"..."

"What are you doing coming in before I introduce you? I'm the main character today."

"..."

"Please leave."

-Click.

The man who had chased Truller out into the hallway approached the front of the lectern, picked up a piece of chalk, and began to write something on the blackboard.

"Nice to meet you, everyone."

"..."

"I, who am standing before you as a temporary professor."

-Tap. Tap. Tap.

[Ricardo]

"Am named Ricardo."