“Looking at the list you submitted, I can see this detached palace is severely lacking in supplies. Come to the Third Prince’s Palace and take everything you need.”

“A-alone? By myself?”

Lars replied coldly to the maid’s trembling voice.

“Yes.”

The maid felt like someone had smashed her head with a rock. She thought she’d only have to monitor Elysia, but now she was the only person assigned to serve her? 

The maid’s lips quivered, but she couldn’t bring herself to refuse and hung her head low.

“I understand…”

She’d be worked to death by the time she finished moving all those supplies. Since the Emperor’s orders prevented any other maids or knights from being assigned, she could clearly see the hardship awaiting her.

Meanwhile, Lars felt his anticipation swell at the thought of creating another opportunity for Claes and Chohee to meet. He’d been relieved when Claes’s complexion returned to normal after holding Chohee while he slept.

‘I know exactly how precious Elysia is to him.’

Though Claes tried not to show it, Elysia was his one and only weakness. That’s why the Emperor’s words—that Elysia should be treated as nothing more than a breeding vessel—must have wounded him even more deeply.

‘Brother, please wait just a little longer. I’ll relay everything Elysia said, without leaving out a single word.’

Lars headed toward the Crown Prince’s Palace, making no effort to hide his excitement.

It was a day where the fresh scent of roses stood out beautifully.

* * *

Karad had just finished his administrative duties and turned his steps toward Elysia. However, he clicked his tongue when he didn’t see the maid who was supposed to be monitoring her.

“How irresponsible… Hah, there really isn’t a single person I can trust.”

He walked with measured steps and turned the door handle. But he flinched when he heard the sound of quiet talking. Judging by the voice, it wasn’t a man’s voice—it was a woman’s.

“Since I revealed my name as Chohee… I hope Claes believes me right away. Hehe.”

‘Chohee? …Could it be…’

This voice—could Elysia have told Claes her real name?

Karad felt like he’d been struck in the head. He thought she was keeping it secret that she could speak to all the princes, including himself, but in the midst of that, she’d even told Claes her real name?

Then did she tell Lars too? Leaving only him out?

Though his emotions seemed to boil over, Karad remained perfectly still and listened to her words.

“There’s definitely a connection between the dark mages and those murders. I hope this can be a good hint for Claes. Hehe.”

Her voice was truly sweet and melodious.

Karad felt he could live his entire life just listening to this voice. His c*ck stirred, and an intense urge to thr*st inside her surged through him.

Moreover, the content itself was incredibly stimulating.

‘Dark mages… What exactly did she tell Claes?’

But suddenly, Chohee’s words cut off.

Then, she spoke again.

“The door…”

Karad immediately released the handle and silently moved around the corner to hide. His heart seemed to plummet violently.

Chohee was slightly startled to find the door open, but when she saw no one outside, she quietly closed it.

Since the detached palace lacked or had broken facilities everywhere, she assumed the door was just another example of that.

“…”

‘Her name was Chohee. And Claes knows her real name.’

Though he knew the Elysias were humans from another world, this was the first time he’d heard an actual name. Since his own mother had only been called Elysia and never told him her real name, Karad felt a thrill course through his entire body.

Excitement spread to his fingertips.

“Chohee…”

When he rolled the name around in his mouth like he was savoring it, it clung to his tongue better than he expected. Karad clenched and unclenched his fists, feeling like he’d just gulped down pure sugar syrup.

‘But if she only told Claes… does that mean Lars doesn’t know her real name?’

Thinking that Chohee’s heart belonged only to Claes, Karad felt his chest tighten. Breathing became difficult, so he took deep breaths to calm himself.

Then the jealousy churning inside him felt like it was spilling outward.

‘What do I lack compared to them?’

Inferiority flooded him to the top of his head.

“He was just born earlier, that’s all. Everything Claes learned was provided because he was the eldest son…”

Biting his lip, Karad couldn’t move from that spot for a moment. After murmuring the name Chohee once more in his mouth, he felt his chest grow cold and peeked his head around the corner, directing his gaze toward Chohee’s room.

‘…I won’t hold back anymore.’

He thought he understood that Chohee, whom Claes treasured so dearly, was his weakness. Then he’d make sure Chohee rejected him. A cruel smile formed on his lips as he thought of the perfect person to consult.

‘Duke… Serow.’

Though he’d killed Altair, Serow’s lackey, Duke Serow hadn’t said much to him about it. A high priest who’d lost his influence was nothing more than a pawn to be used once and discarded.

‘In fact, he’ll probably be pleased now. Since he’s gained me as an ally.’

Karad turned and walked out of the palace.

Since there were no maids besides the lackey the Empress had attached, the detached palace itself was a mess. That meant he could install anything in this palace and avoid watchful eyes.

As soon as Karad arrived at his palace, he summoned Duke Serow.

“Understood.”

But though the knight accepted the order, he found it distasteful inside. As one of Claes’s left-hand men, he looked for the right timing to secretly report Karad’s actions against him to Claes.

And so, each harboring their own ulterior motives, Philip Serow was summoned to the Second Prince’s Palace.

* * *

Claes furrowed his brow.

From the knight’s report, he could tell that Karad had completely turned against him. Moreover, he’d discovered that Karad was allied with his political enemy Duke Serow and the Empress.

The knight’s report also included information that Karad was using knights from the order he commanded to report Lars’s actions to the Empress. Even though they were brothers, Karad was nothing more than a spy who could no longer be trusted.

“Brother, what will you do?”

Now Lars couldn’t act properly either. Claes ground his teeth as he had to devise a plan to remove Karad. But as soon as he stated his plan, Lars vehemently opposed it.

“If I violate Elysia without warning after you did the same, Elysia will think both you and I have abandoned her!”

“That’s right. But if we don’t do that, we won’t be able to avoid Karad’s watchful eyes. Moreover, Karad is already a murderer who killed High Priest Altair, and he’s allied with Duke Serow and the Empress to drag me down from the Crown Prince position.”

Lars lost his words. Claes bit his lip but soon ground his teeth and spat out each word.

“If they succeed in stripping me of the Crown Prince position, they’ll obviously install Karad, who’s cooperative with them, as Crown Prince.”

“That’s…! Hasn’t it been over ten years since you were appointed Crown Prince? How could they…”

“The current Emperor will say yes even if the Empress picks his pocket in broad daylight. Moreover, Duke Serow is the Empress’s older brother, so he trusts him and constantly disrupts state affairs.”

Come to think of it, Duke Serow had recently been attending state council meetings and raising his voice in opposition to Claes’s pro-citizen policies.

The Seherta Empire was a class-based society. But Serow was completely opposed to Claes’s proposal to guarantee commoners a certain degree of rights, instead arguing to solidify an even stronger class-based social structure.

“If things go according to his arguments, the Seherta Empire won’t last long. Already, wealthy commoners with power are forming groups that oppose the nobles’ words, so if we don’t allow commoners a certain degree of rights according to the policies I’ve created, Seherta will have to worry about civil war.”

Moreover, even among high-ranking nobles, there was a confrontation between those who wanted to guarantee commoners’ rights and those who dismissed commoners as nothing more than lower-class people. If this balance wasn’t maintained properly, Seherta would fall into chaos.

‘Not only that, but dark mages are appearing and openly creating sacrifices while offering them to the Demon King…’

If they didn’t catch the dark mages’ spies quickly, Seherta’s chaos would intensify. At least Chohee had given him a hint about this problem, so he could quickly set a trap to catch the spies…

Claes showed a rare anxious expression and let out a deep sigh.

“I have something to report.”

Claes, who’d been sitting on the sofa, calmly commanded regardless of his inner feelings.

“Come in.”

The door opened and a knight approached, kneeling on one knee.

It was Damon Saber, a vice-captain of the knights under Karad whom he trusted. He’d given orders to report if Karad made any rash moves, and it seemed such behavior had caught his eye.

“I greet Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Skip the pleasantries. I’d like you to get straight to the point.”

“Understood.”

He drew in a breath and quickly continued.

“After His Highness Karad had a private meeting with Duke Serow, he ordered me to select knights to guard the detached palace.”

“Did he order you to directly monitor Elysia?”

“Yes, that’s correct. He ordered me to prevent anyone from contacting Elysia. Recently, as Lady Elysia has been visiting the library, several people saw her and seemed to realize that Lady Elysia isn’t just a simple breeding vessel… He even personally stated with his own mouth that he was giving direct orders to prevent that.”

“Karad…”

Claes ground his teeth audibly.

Lars wore a dumbfounded expression at the knight’s words. He seemed unable to believe that Karad would go so far as to drag Elysia down into ruin.

‘What grudge could possibly…’

Karad had been ashamed of his mother, who was an Elysia, from long ago. Moreover, he’d been desperate to curry favor with the Empress, who had abused him. But Lars thought such behavior would gradually disappear as Karad became an adult…

“His Highness Karad seems to hold a grudge against Elysia… Otherwise, he wouldn’t go this far.”

“Since he came to regard the Empress like his own mother, this would have happened even if it wasn’t about Elysia. Of course, I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case, which is why I made him my left-hand man… but now that hope has proven futile.”

Claes narrowed his brow and continued speaking.