When Selheim released Rockbell’s hand and gave a nod, the door opened, and Emperor Vincent, restrained by knights, shrieked.

“Let go of me! Release me at once, you scoundrels!”

After Selheim demonstrated why the afternoon meeting couldn’t proceed, he gave another signal, and the Emperor was taken away.

Rockbell seemed unable to believe what he had just witnessed. Selheim cast his shadow over the bewildered Rockbell and spoke.

“When you give up fighting, you go from ruler to ruled, just like that. Do you think the revolutionaries will create some amazing new world if they replace us?”

He sneered.

“I doubt it.”

“…”

“Humans will create classes again in any new world anyway. It’s like an instinct. If not us, someone else will sit in these seats. So if you’re going to spout nonsense about neutrality, get out of here.”

Wiping all traces of humor from his face, Selheim spat out his final words.

“Our Sys is an empire ruled by strong imperial authority and military might. With that, we’ve expanded our colonies and absorbed Gerion, enjoying unprecedented prosperity. But if we let those Gerion thugs take our leadership and shake the imperial foundation of our nation, everything will end, won’t it?”

Isn’t that right, Rockbell?

As Selheim’s gaze turned to him, all the nobles’ eyes bore down on Rockbell. Their looks urged him to submit to Selheim and save the country.

This was the Crown Prince’s clever ploy to pressure Rockbell.

All the nobles here were from the Kingdom of Hobra.

Originally, nobles who valued tradition and face would not harm ‘commoners.’ But things changed when the revolutionaries were labeled as ‘colonial rebel elements.’

There was no discomfort or sympathy in deploying troops to prevent national division and stabilize the system. The Crown Prince had given them a clear conscience.

And now he was offering the same absolution to Rockbell.

Come on, take it, his expression seemed to say.

Rockbell felt his throat tightening and adjusted his cravat. He had always thought Selheim was extraordinary since childhood, but he hadn’t realized his convictions were this firm.

As Rockbell hesitated, Selheim approached closer and commanded with ice-cold eyes.

“Choose, Rockbell.”

* * *

Reizen laughed.

“So you swore allegiance to the Crown Prince’s side?”

Duke Rockbell looked at Reizen’s laughter with bewilderment.

“Would I be here if I hadn’t? I’d be six feet under in a graveyard by now.”

“How disappointing. Oaths should only be sworn to me.”

“Since the last oath was the real one, shall I swear again here?”

“Would you really?”

At Reizen’s words, Duke Rockbell gave a hollow laugh.

“Please be lenient, Your Highness. This old man has already spent too much energy, and at my age, I don’t have the strength for such games.”

Duke Rockbell wiped his sweat with a handkerchief, saying he didn’t want to abruptly end what little life he had left in that place.

Seeing this, Reizen paused the conversation, telling him to rest before their serious discussion.

Unlike the tumultuous world, the sky was blue, cicadas were singing, and children were giggling.

Looking down from the third-floor terrace, Reizen’s eyes caught sight of a child.

It was a girl with black hair and red eyes. The girl delighted in pointing at the statue in front of the central fountain.

Her father, who appeared to be a peddler, held her hand. He lifted her up so she could touch the water flowing from the fountain.

But it didn’t last long. A noble young lady came out of a nearby jewelry shop, grumbling. Apparently in a bad mood from not finding what she wanted, she deliberately bumped the father’s arm while passing, nearly causing the child to fall into the fountain.

It was clearly intentional. But the commoner father couldn’t voice a single complaint and quickly left, watching his surroundings carefully.

The fountain area became a place for the young lady to cool her temper.

Reizen’s intention to give a brief rest changed. With a smile, he spoke languidly.

“We need to quickly take control of the imperial palace before the knights sent by the nobles arrive. You’ll open the gates from inside.”

“Yes, but what about the weapons situation?”

Duke Rockbell looked worried.

“If Arthur is discovered, he’ll be killed on the spot. The direct knights will try to search the ship.”

Reizen spoke while looking at the now-abandoned fountain.

“Don’t worry about that.”

He raised his head to meet Rockbell’s eyes.

Rockbell, who was once as authoritative as Duke Grey, now looked at Reizen as a friend.

Having witnessed the end of the Grey family firsthand, the Rockbell family couldn’t remain neutral no matter what.

Reizen had allied with the Rockbell family from the start, and originally, he was supposed to marry Rockbell’s granddaughter.

But if he had formed ties with the Rockbell family, Reizen and Rockbell’s relationship would have been publicly known, and the situation would have been completely different from now.

‘If I hadn’t married Melissa Grey.’

Had that happened, Reizen would have become Rockbell’s son-in-law and moved more actively, empowered by the connection.

The revolution might have progressed faster than this.

He wouldn’t have needed to be confined to his territory like a prisoner because of the Emperor, and the Emperor couldn’t have forced Rockbell’s granddaughter to bear children or not.

But…

Back then, after imagining both possible futures, he had chosen Melissa.

As Reizen gazed at the fountain, Melissa’s image appeared in his mind. She was a woman who had always influenced his life but could never be close to him.

It was the same even when he saw Melissa walking in the Rose Maze garden during their youth. Her long, thin black hair would flutter among the roses with each delicate step.

Melissa, whom he could only watch from afar.

At first, he was drawn to her beauty, and then he became interested after secretly watching her by the lake, seeing her interact without prejudice with a woman.

He thought she was such a kind child.

Before he knew that ‘Grey’ was attached to her name, he would wait for days just wanting to see her on his own.

Since one had to pass through the Rose Maze garden to reach the temple, he would deliberately stand playing with his feet at the path when it was time for her to come.

He would wait for hours at the front, not even knowing if she would come, and when she appeared, he would hide behind rose bushes.

He liked her. His eyes and heart kept being drawn to her, and he wanted to become friends. Until he was twelve, he had never been outside the Rose Maze, so he naturally didn’t know she was the Crown Prince’s fiancée.

That is, until the sharp-witted Selheim noticed Reizen’s gaze and had other siblings beat him senseless in front of the lake.

“Arrogant bastard. How dare you covet what belongs to His Highness?”

You know what?

For teenage Reizen, even watching or waiting for Melissa from afar was a grave sin.

He heard terrifying threats about having his eyeballs gouged out for daring to look at what belonged to them, calling him a filthy half-breed.

At that time, Reizen considered it his last pride not to cry even while being beaten until his face was unrecognizably swollen.

“Gouge out his eyes. So he can never look at Mel again.”

When Selheim tried to gouge out his eyes, while even his mother walked past pretending not to see, only one person stopped it.

“Shouldn’t you stop doing this?”

Only Melissa Grey.

Unlike the children in the Rose Maze who scattered quickly at Selheim’s command, she stood firmly blocking the way.

It seemed admirable that she, despite being the youngest, was the one Selheim found most difficult to deal with.

To the Rose Maze children, Selheim was an object of terror. Those who fell out of his favor would disappear, weeded out without even leaving bones behind.

If Reizen had lost his eyes that day, he too would have been destined to be weeded out by the Emperor. Melissa prevented that, but she showed no sign of remembering it.

Perhaps that meant Reizen’s existence meant less than dust to Melissa…

Just as one doesn’t remember the faces of all passersby, she must have helped countless others.

Reizen’s eyes, holding a coffee cup, gradually turned black.

When he left the palace at age twelve, carrying his mother’s urn, the only thing he regretted was not being able to see Melissa.