“Go kill him for me, Hans.”

“How should I do it? Should I kick him so hard that he can’t even call himself a man anymore?”

“Grind him to dust—make sure there’s not even a trace of him left. I want him to die in the most agonizing way possible.”

Hans suddenly stopped dancing when he felt Rosé’s hand trembling on his shoulder.

“Wait a minute. Didn’t you used to like Kasiax?”

Realizing that his sister wasn’t joking, Hans looked at her in shock.

She used to throw whatever she could get her hands on whenever someone badmouthed Kasiax— yet now, she was asking him to kill him?

Something had changed.

Rosé, too caught up in her emotions, felt like she had wholly exposed her true feelings and panicked.

“No, no! It was just a joke.”

She forced an awkward smile and buried her face in Hans’s chest again.

“That bastard is bad news. Stay away from him.”

“Yeah. I will.”

Rosé smiled as she answered, then gently added,

“I might have to travel far away soon, so please look after our parents while I’m away.” It’s my first and last request.”

“What do you mean, ‘go far away’? Where would you go, leaving home behind?”

“There is such a thing.”

This time, she meant it.

“You’ve really changed since I last saw you.”

“I finally came to my senses.”

Hans chuckled, and Rosé followed suit.

As the music neared its end, someone caught Rosé’s eye.

“I have one more favor to ask.”

“Hm?”

While dancing, Rosé subtly led Hans toward the corner of the hall. She then took Helen’s hand, pulling her away from where she had stood alone against the wall.

“Ro… Rosé!”

Helen flinched in surprise. Upon seeing Hans, she couldn’t even meet his gaze correctly.

Rosé naturally placed Helen’s hand in Hans’s and then stepped back.

Hans grinned as he noticed the look in Rosé’s eyes, silently entrusting Helen to him. He then placed his hand around Helen’s waist.

With a charming smile, Hans led Helen to the hall’s center.

“Tsk tsk. I don’t get what’s so appealing about that shameless flirt.”

Rosé shook her head in disapproval, yet she couldn’t help but smile fondly as she watched Helen, flustered and unsure of what to do.

‘A bad man like Hans needs to meet someone like Helen and learn his lesson. I’d love to see him regret it—deeply and painfully.’

She entertained herself with such thoughts as she watched the two of them.

“Finally, it’s just the two of us.”

Startled by the voice in the darkness, Rosé quickly turned around. At some point, Kasiax had appeared behind her.

“Y-Your Highness!”

Kasiax grabbed Rosé’s wrist and waist, pulling her toward him.

“Let’s have a little talk.”

Rosé met Kasiax’s gaze head-on as he looked down at her.

His eyes burned with barely restrained anger.

‘Looks like he’s lost quite a bit of his composure. Good. This is enough.’

“As it happens, I was also looking for you, Your Highness. Let’s go somewhere quiet and talk.”

Rosé coldly shook off his arm and adjusted her dress.

***

Rosé and Kasiax stepped onto the terrace connected to the hall.

“If you were trying to provoke me, you succeeded. This reaction of mine—it’s quite refreshing, isn’t it?”

“……”

Despite his words, Kasiax seemed different from usual. He forced a smirk as if trying to hide his impatience.

Rosé said nothing, gazing absentmindedly at the roses scattered in the garden.

With a face that suggested he was willing to forgive all her rude behavior today, Kasiax slowly approached her.

He planned to wrap his arms around her from behind naturally, and if she were startled, he would drop to one knee and propose on the spot.

He envisioned the entire sequence as he closed the distance between them.

‘A proposal from the Crown Prince—she’ll be so overjoyed she won’t know what to do.’

With that thought, he took one final step toward her—

“Hngh…!”

Rosé trembled and covered her face with both hands.

“Rosé. What’s wrong?”

Alarmed, Kasiax turned her toward him, only for Rosé to sob even harder.

“What on earth is the matter?”

“Lady Muriel… she’s so pitiful. Why… why must it be her? She’s so kind and gentle… Hngh!”

“What are you talking about?”

“She has to go to Hellevant… Sniff… That’s no different from telling her to die.”

Realizing what she meant, Kasiax rubbed his forehead in irritation. He had no patience for weeping women.

Still sniffling, Rosé clung to his arm.

“Why must our great Solstern Empire send a woman to those savages? Your Highness, please tell me.”

“That’s… That’s just how it’s always been for the sake of our alliance. It’s a political matter—you don’t need to concern yourself with it.”

“But you’ll soon be emperor, won’t you? You can deal with those barbarians however you wish. Right, Your Highness?”

Kasiax looked at her, his expression hardening.

There was still an emperor on the throne, yet she dared to speak recklessly.

“Watch your mouth, Rosé.”

His voice turned cold as ice. Rosé seized the opportunity, clinging to him even tighter.

“If you’re a real man, declare war immediately to His Majesty. Protect Lady Muriel, Your Highness!”

“Stop spouting nonsense when you don’t even understand the situation!”

The long and complicated history between the Solstern Empire and Hellevant—too intricate to explain in a few words.

Of course, Rosé already knew that.

The fact that even the Empire dared not recklessly provoke them was a bitter disgrace for the Imperial family.

She deliberately emphasized that disgrace, continuously provoking Kasiax.

“Those savages who challenge the authority of the Imperial family! Your Highness, you must crush them immediately and show them your majesty!”

“Shut that mouth of yours at once!”

“They’ll only look down on us more if we cower. Your Highness! How can we even call ourselves an Empire if we can’t protect a single woman?”

Looking at Kasiax’s face, it was clear that any thought of proposing to her today had vanished entirely.

“Don’t speak carelessly when you don’t even understand, Rosé.”

“No, I understand very well. I’ve come to realize just how powerless Solstern truly is.”

“Unless you intend to go in their place, shut your mouth immediately!”

The veins on Kasiax’s neck bulged, and his voice growled like a beast baring its fangs.

Seeing how much he was suppressing his anger, Rosé inwardly scoffed.

‘More. I need to push him further.’

Rosé spoke resolutely, as if she had made her mind.

“Then I’ll go instead.”

“What?”

Kasiax stared at her in utter disbelief.

“If someone must be sacrificed anyway, I’ll take their place.”

Kasiax couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

‘This foolish, reckless woman!’

His eyes, filled with contempt, seemed to be screaming those words as he stared at Rosé.

He had planned to propose to her today. So why was he being forced to listen to such nonsense instead? Irritation and frustration flared up inside him.

Barely managing to suppress the curse that almost escaped his lips, he bit his lower lip.

If Etoile weren’t her father, he would have shut that mouth of hers immediately, he thought, struggling to calm himself.

“Rosé, my love, let’s not waste time on this. Let’s talk about us instead.”

Trying to change the subject, he pulled her into his arms.

He sought her lips, intending to silence that noisy mouth with a kiss if necessary.

“Let go of me! I don’t want this!”

Horrific memories from her time in the Imperial Palace raced through her mind like lightning.

Smack!

Rosé slapped him across the face. The sound was so loud that it seemed to bring the entire world to a halt.

Kasiax glared at her in shock, his expression one of utter disbelief. A stinging sensation spread across his cheek, and droplets of red blood soon began to form.

Her large ruby ring had deeply scratched his cheek as she struck him.

“Y-Your Highness!”

“Hah! You must have lost your mind completely. You dare lay a hand on the Crown Prince?”

Even Rosé was momentarily stunned by what she had done.

Her goal had been to provoke him into losing his composure, but she hadn’t intended for it to go this far.

To wound the Crown Prince—such an act was punishable by execution. No sane person would ever dream of doing such a thing.

However, Rosé, having already gone too far, decided it was for the best.

Kasiax was a man who lost all reason at the sight of blood. She remembered the bloody massacres he had carried out after ascending the throne.

‘But what if it’s his own blood?’

“Y…Your Highness! I have committed an unforgivable sin. I was so overcome with emotion because of Lady Muriel that I…”

Rosé dropped to her knees before him in supplication.

The wound across his cheek was long, and the blood began to trickle down more quickly.

Kasiax wiped the flowing blood with his hand. His pristine white glove became stained with crimson.

Grinding his teeth as if crushing them, he spoke to her.

“Do you understand the meaning of injuring the Crown Prince?”

“I have committed a crime worthy of death.”