When they arrived at House Hewitt, the Duchess came out to greet her daughter.

“I was surprised when you said you were coming suddenly. Did something happen?”

Karina shook her head with a faint smile at her mother’s concern.

“You seem worried. It’s nothing. His Highness was just concerned about me being sick for a few days and suggested I come rest comfortably.”

“Oh my. Are you alright now?”

“As you can see.”

“His Highness is really considerate. I don’t know how to thank him for such consideration…”

Karina swallowed a sigh at her mother’s words. Actually, he said he wants a divorce. If she said that, House Hewitt would obviously be turned upside down today. But even without that, she had no intention of showing anything.

Don’t be ridiculous about divorce. Unless she requested it first, she had no intention of agreeing to a divorce that Aidan wanted.

*

“Viscountess Highmond?”

Duchess Hewitt asked, putting down her teacup. Just before, Karina asked if she knew about Viscountess Highmond.

After seeing Viscountess Highmond with Aidan in his palace garden that night a few days ago, she thought about it over and over. Finally, Karina dismissed the idea of Aidan having an affair with her as nonsense.

If he wanted an affair, wouldn’t a more beautiful and younger lady be better? Or someone close to him who he could meet often. Viscountess Highmond didn’t fit any of those criteria. Though she was alluring and looked young for her age, Karina didn’t think Aidan would fall for just that.

Unless there was something beneficial to him.

But that part wasn’t very convincing either. What could Aidan possibly gain from her? There were plenty of women with better conditions to be a mistress, and Karina didn’t think she herself was inferior to her. Above all, Aidan had been sincere to Karina right up until she collapsed during dinner.

Because she was Lady Hewitt? Because he thought it would help him become Emperor?

If so, Aidan should still be treating her the same way. Not suddenly asking for divorce like this.

“Well, she is one of the Empress’s people…”

Duchess Hewitt trailed off while mentioning Viscountess Highmond. Yes, that point had seemed strange to Karina too. Viscountess Highmond was one of the Empress’s ladies-in-waiting. She had entered the palace a few years ago after catching the Empress’s eye, and perhaps because her relationship with Viscount Highmond wasn’t good, she had been practically living in the palace lately, attending to the Empress.

Aidan having an affair with such a person? It was an impossible misunderstanding. Unless there was another reason.

“Why are you suddenly curious about her?”

Duchess Hewitt showed obvious concern. She seemed worried that Karina might get entangled with Viscountess Highmond.

“It’s just that something’s been bothering me. Could you look into her in detail for me? Everything possible about who she’s been meeting recently, where she’s been going.”

The Duchess’s face grew more serious at Karina’s request. She seemed worried something bad might have happened to her daughter. Karina smiled brightly as if nothing was wrong.

“Please. Don’t ask anything now. I’ll explain everything soon. Don’t worry.”

The Duchess sighed softly and nodded. Despite everything, she trusted her daughter. She thought when Karina made such requests, there must be a reason, so it was right to help without questioning now.

“More importantly, I hear His Highness will soon depart for an inspection of the Italus border region?”

The Duchess changed the subject.

“He probably didn’t want to leave his consort alone in the palace. Looking at how he sent you here under the pretense of recuperation.”

The Duchess smiled when mentioning Aidan.

“Even this morning, before Your Highness arrived, he sent Sir Kai first. Asking us to take good care of you. He didn’t need to do that, but he sent various things to look after you, which made me feel sorry.”

That was news to her. It complicated her feelings that someone who talked about divorce procedures and suggested living separately first had sent someone asking to take good care of her.

What is he really thinking?

If he truly wanted a divorce, if he was saying he didn’t need her anymore so divorce wouldn’t matter, none of his actions made any sense.

He should just act consistently cold. His strangely swaying behavior only caused confusion.

She shook her head lightly to clear her tangled thoughts. No matter how much she worried about what Aidan was thinking or planning to do, she wouldn’t find an answer. So she decided to focus on what she could do.

*

Aidan finished preparing for the inspection of the Italus border region. He planned to leave the palace early tomorrow morning with several ministers in charge to head to the border region with Italus.

For Aidan, this was his first time leaving the palace for an extended period on official business. The Emperor paid special attention to it, and Aidan himself carefully checked everything in person.

“Your Highness.”

Kai, who was helping with preparations beside him, watched Aidan’s expression and finally called out to him, unable to hold back.

“About Her Highness…”

“Again? Stop with the useless talk and just don’t forget what I ordered.”

Aidan cut off Kai’s words. Kai swallowed a sigh at his response that suggested he knew what he would say and didn’t need to hear more.

“She will misunderstand.”

“She probably already has.”

Having heard Kai mutter the same thing several times already, Aidan responded dismissively while rechecking the negotiation proposal from Italus. Though he had practically memorized it, he was cramming every single letter into his head to avoid even the slightest mistake.

“What happened with Viscountess Highmond?”

Even amid this, he never forgot the tasks he had assigned.

“Nothing special yet… It seems we need more time.”

Aidan’s eyebrows twisted slightly at Kai’s answer. He wanted to resolve it as quickly as possible, but it seemed that matter would have to be pushed back in priority. For now, he had separated Karina from the Empress’s attention, so they should be able to buy some time.

The issue on the Italus border was also important. He needed to properly conclude this matter to prove his political capabilities as a prince. No matter how well he cleaned up his surroundings, it would be useless without his own ability. Just like how, despite the fact that ‘Aidan’ have strong supporters behind him, nothing was achieved because ‘Aidan’ himself lacked will.

He wished he had about ten bodies. Then he could handle multiple tasks simultaneously.

He chuckled, thinking it was a greedy complaint. When living as Park Jin-hoo, he wasn’t even given opportunities even when he wanted them. His capabilities were irrelevant as what he could do was very limited because he wasn’t qualified.

Prince Aidan could do many things if he just wanted to. Just showing a little ability made everything possible because of his birth.

The more he felt the difference between Park Jin-hoo and Aidan, the more bitter he felt. Though the person inside was the same, with the same abilities and knowledge, other people’s treatment differed dramatically just because of different social status.

If you ask him which was better, it wasn’t even worth answering. Aidan was obviously better. That’s why he had decided to adapt and live in this strange world in this form. Compared to Park Jin-hoo’s life, he thought facing death threats as Prince Aidan was nothing. Park Jin-hoo also felt death threats from others every day. The only difference was whether it was from the bottom or a fight in the imperial family that others couldn’t even dream of.

He thought he could win without failure this time since he started with more… but Karina became a variable. ‘Park Jin-hoo,’ who had never valued ‘people,’ didn’t know. That when you have someone you want to protect, you can waver.

No, he just needed to cut off any variables from the start. Shouldn’t he be allowed to have everything since he finally got a chance at a different life? Because ‘Prince’ Aidan could certainly do that.

After steeling his resolve, he smiled. He knew what Kai was worried about, but that wouldn’t happen. Aidan trusted Karina as much as he trusted himself.

*

An attendant who wasn’t from the Empress’s palace approached hurriedly.

“Who are you?”

When knights blocked the entrance, he pulled out a letter envelope from his chest. Unusually, it had no sender’s seal.

“Please deliver this letter to Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Who sent it?”

The attendant shook his head at the knight’s question.

“I’m not sure either. A knight gave it to me earlier.”

“A knight?”

“When I asked which division he belonged to, he just said palace guard and hurried away like he had urgent business.”

Though he’s increasingly suspicious, the attendant left after delivering the letter as if his job was done. The knight who received the letter frowned in contemplation. Since it was addressed to the Empress, he couldn’t handle it carelessly, but he also worried whether it was proper to deliver an anonymous letter to the Empress.

“What is that?”

Startled by a voice from behind, he turned to find the Empress standing there. The knight quickly bowed.

“It’s a letter for Your Majesty, but without a sender’s seal, I wasn’t sure how to proceed with it.”

When he reported honestly, the Empress’s eyes narrowed.

“Bring it here.”

The Empress held out her hand. The knight handed her the letter. As she opened the envelope and scanned the paper inside, her face gradually hardened.

“Who delivered this letter?”

The knight bowed deeper, sensing the Empress’s tone sharpen.

“It seemed to be an attendant from another palace. He said he received this letter from a knight of the palace guard.”

In the end, it meant no one knew who originally sent the letter. The Empress pressed her lips together and gripped the letter so hard it crumpled.

The letter contained just one short sentence:

[If you come personally, I will not avoid meeting with you.]

And at the bottom of the letter was a familiar crest. It was the Belmont family crest.

Belmont, whom she had searched so desperately for, had made contact first. And now he wanted to meet with her directly to settle things.

*