Every servant bowed their heads at the voice filled with anger. Louis scanned the faces of the maids and the footmen gathered in a circle.

Louis’ face, as he entered the house, was filled with deep concern.

It was about his youngest daughter, a forbidden jade leaf that wouldn’t hurt to put in his eye¹a person or thing is so precious and beloved that even putting them in your eyes wouldn’t cause pain.

It was evident that something had happened between her and His Majesty at the banquet Louis had urged her to attend.

Marquis Louis’ heartbeat quickened.

His footsteps grew faster as he passed through the corridor and headed towards the reception room.

His anxious mouth, worried about what had happened, felt as dry as a parched field.

Clank.

When he opened the door, Ariel was sitting on the couch, her head tilted back, gazing blankly at the ceiling.

With a trembling heart, Louis sat beside her.

He was afraid as he looked at her powerless arms and her hazy gaze.

“Why did His Majesty come for? What happened?”

Ariel adjusted her posture in response to his question.

With her warm father’s question, it seemed like tears would flow uncontrollably from her eyes.

Seeing her father at a loss for words, sudden anxiety overwhelmed her.

She couldn’t even guess how things would unfold from now on, and she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to protect her beloved family.

With her mana gone, it was clear that she wouldn’t be able to properly wield a sword.

Louis patiently waited for her to be ready to answer.

He forced himself to swallow the words, ‘I’ll be the shade for you, as I have always been.’

Ariel let out a shallow sigh and finally opened her mouth.

“Yesterday, I coincidentally met His Majesty at the palace.”

She trailed off; she couldn’t bring herself to continue speaking.

Then, after licking her lips, she continued to speak with great effort.

“He asked me to take responsibility for spending the night together. By becoming his empress.”

***

Leopold’s father, Emperor Arthur Diaz, married Rebecca Muller, the illustrious daughter of the Duke of Muller, in an arranged marriage. But he already had a lover.

That person was none other than Leopold’s mother, Christine Monroe.

She was the daughter of Viscount Veron Monroe, who came to the palace to help her desperately poor family make ends meet.

Arthur first met her when the newly arrived maids approached him to greet him when he was a crown prince.

Christine had black, curly hair and fair skin, accentuating her deep-set and distinctive facial features. She was a beauty.

Arthur’s attention was captured by her curly black hair and fair skin. Christine was a beauty with depth, and her sunken features and distinctive facial features stood out.

Even though Arthur, as a crown prince, felt love for the first time towards a woman, he did not misuse his authority in that position.

Instead, he gradually approached Christine, hoping to win her heart.

He would often outrun the palace guards and run to wherever she was.

He would secretly bring cookies, candies, chocolates, and other things., which he had hidden during tea time, or help her with her work.

As time went by, rumors spread among the palace guards that the crown prince favored Christine.

Christine was being harassed by her coworkers.

After discovering her plight, Arthur, as always, rushed towards her.

While chasing after her around the corner, Arthur witnessed her being slapped by a senior maid who accused her of being a pr*stitute.

In response, Arthur immediately rushed toward the maid and, as if avenging Christine, slapped her.

His large hand grazed the maid’s face, causing her cheek to swell.

Once the emperor and empress heard about this incident, they urgently arranged to find him a wife.

Rebecca of the then-prestigious House of Muller was chosen as the crown prince’s consort.

Arthur Diaz was furious.

He announced that he would marry Rebecca on the condition that Christine remain in the palace. His parents did not stop him.

After his wedding to Rebecca, Arthur assigned her as a maid in the crown prince’s palace.

But he showed no interest in her and left her neglected.

This was also true in his relationship with Rebecca.

After marriage, Arthur never once consummated his marriage with Rebecca.

This was Arthur’s way of protecting Christine.

Later, when he ascended the imperial throne, he gave Christine a separate residence within the palace and made her his consort in name.

His unexplained anger was directed at Rebecca. While Empress Rebecca stayed at Duke Muller’s territory, Arthur violated Christine in Rebecca’s bedroom…

The result of that night was an illegitimate child, Leopold.

Rebecca was unable to bear a child who would succeed the imperial lineage since she had never spent a night with Arthur, so she declared that she would take care of the child.

At that time, Arthur was widely criticized by public figures for this behavior.

To protect the imperial throne, which had weak support, Arthur had no choice but to snatch Leopold, who had fallen asleep in Christine’s arms, and send him to the empress’s palace.

Disappointed by Arthur’s act of separating a mother and child for his own future, Christine left the palace and returned to Monroe.

Since Leopold had now become Rebecca’s foster child, there was nothing Christine could do for Leopold’s sake. She could only pray for him from afar.

Rebecca seized every opportunity to exact revenge on Arthur and Christine by criticizing everything Leopold did.

Whenever she noticed Leopold falling behind in his imperial education, she spread various criticisms and insults.

At times, she put spoiled food only on Leopold’s plate, causing him to suffer from gastroenteritis and various digestive problems.

After Christine left, Arthur increasingly spent nights with the palace maids to fill the void in his heart.

His bright and upright image gradually transformed into a mischievous and malicious personality.

In the end, Emperor Arthur considered Leopold a flaw in his life and passed harsh judgment on him.

He told him that if his illegitimate son was to become his heir, he would have to endure some of the empress’s abuse.

With his father’s acquiescence, Leopold was treated worse than a rolling stone in the palace.

He was a crown prince whom even the palace servants did not acknowledge.

Leopold carried the label of a bastard born from a maid wherever he went.

When he was young, he wanted nothing more than to hide, but as he grew older, a longing to survive in the worst environment welled up inside him.

Arthur’s complete indifference, Rebecca’s abuse, and the glances of the palace servants waiting for him to make a mistake. That was an environment that pushed him toward the edge, unable to tolerate any mistakes. Rebecca plotted to offer one of Leopold’s arms to the demons under the guise of demon extermination.

All these things made him grow stronger to protect himself.

Once the decision was made, he swung his sword into the air in the late hours of the day in the palace courtyard when no one was watching. To come out of it alive and without a single bodily injury.

The day he first met Ariel was ten years ago. It was a day when big, white snowflakes fell from the sky.

After successfully suppressing the demons in the north, he quickly rode his horse before the echoes of the war faded. Looking forward to sharing the news of his victory with his Imperial Father and Imperial Mother.

Snowflakes settled on Leopold’s face, covering him with white snow, but it melted as soon as it touched his warm body temperature.

But the snowflakes that had fallen on his eyelashes did not easily melt.

When his eyelids became heavy, he brushed the snow from his eyes with the hand that held the reins dozens of times.

Finally, he passed through the gates of the Atlan Empire.

Dismounting his horse, he ran straight to the throne room to meet Arthur, but he couldn’t find him.

The doors of the empress’ palace were also closed to Leopold.

Leopold’s gaze changed as he stood quietly in front of the door without even blinking.

From hope to despair, from despair to resignation.

‘I suppose you were hoping I wouldn’t survive the demon subjugation.’

His mouth turned bitter.

The heat that had been overwhelming him slowly dissipated from his body, replaced by cold.

At that moment, Richard hurriedly ran over and covered Leopold with an umbrella after hearing the news of his return.

“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

He brushed off the snow that had accumulated on his battle attire and covered him with a thick cape.

Looking into Richard’s eyes, filled with pity and concern, Leopold recalled the countless brushes with death he had experienced on the battlefield.

Some twisted fate had led him to awaken as a swordmaster when the demons swarmed him from all directions.

But despite his return and mastery, he had no family to rejoice with.

He sighed as he looked up at the heavily clouded sky, lamenting his circumstances.

He never wanted to enter the palace. He had never once wished for the position of crown prince.

He merely wanted to stay by his mother Christine’s side…

At the end of his resentment, he remembered Christine’s pleas as she watched him being taken away.

The sobbing of a mother whose child had been taken away seemed to echo in Leopold’s ears.

An intense pain surged through his heart. He tightly closed his eyes as if gripping a faltering heart, accepting his fate.

Thump, thump.

Then he heard footsteps approaching over the accumulated snow. Leopold thought it was merely a passerby.

But the shuffling sound of footsteps came closer until they stopped right in front of him.

Leopold sensed someone’s gaze and gently opened his eyes.

In front of him stood a young girl and a woman who appeared to be a maid.