‘Merri, you were always kind to everyone. It saddened me that your kindness wasn’t directed only at me.’

After learning he was the Emperor’s illegitimate child, Forcite went to the Emperor to get Merrien out.

Thanks to that, he gained the position of Second Prince and uncovered Duke Hartez’s secret.

He could return things to how they were. He could put Merri back in her rightful place.

But… how?

‘How can I keep her by my side?’

Perhaps it was because of such feelings.

Forcite was able to communicate with the rectangular object inside the top-tier magical beast.

-Prince. I can give you what you desire.

“…Merri?”

-Yes. If you help me kill the Tower Master, I’ll make it possible for you to have her.

He readily agreed to the unknown voice, all to possess her.

And so, an object full of inferiority that could do nothing on its own settled inside Forcite’s body.

***

And this time too…

“…Ugh, Merri.”

Forcite coughed up blood and reached his hand toward Merrien.

This time, too, Merrien would willingly extend her hand to him.

Bitterly, because Merrien was kind and gentle to everyone.

She would run to him with a worried face as he lay dying, and soon infuse him with Holy Power.

Perhaps she might even shed tears. They were close, after all.

No, we weren’t just close, we were a pair who promised a future together.

We agreed to live together.

That makes us more special than others.

‘You’re really Merri, not someone wearing Merri’s shell, right?’

Come, Merri.

Give me your hand. Hurry…

But Merrien, who approached closely, looked down at Forcite and then quickly turned her head.

“Ariel!”

She embraced Ariel’s neck.

As if she hadn’t even seen Forcite.

“…Merri?”

Forcite’s hand, which he had barely raised, fell to the floor.

Was it still too early to give up?

White light began to spread over Forcite’s body. He held a slight hope in the Holy Power entering his body.

‘Yes, Merri wouldn’t abandon me. This is Merri’s…’

But Merrien was still holding Ariel’s hand.

The person infusing him with Holy Power was Charlotte, with eyes that merely regarded him as a patient.

“……”

Forcite denied it. He forcibly shook his head, which could barely move.

“…No, no.”

My Merri isn’t like that.

She should be healing me. She should be running over, bursting into tears, and healing me.

Why…?

Why is she ignoring me?

Why…?

Something that had been firmly locked with a latch inside Forcite began to rattle.

No one spoke until he was completely recovered.

Even Charlotte, after finishing his healing, stepped back as if her job was done.

Merrien thought it was finally her turn to step forward.

She had been tightly holding Ariel’s hand, but now she let go and approached him. This time, Ariel didn’t hold her back.

“Forcite.”

“…Merri.”

Was his name really called? Was it really Merrien who called him? Forcite raised his head with a face of disbelief.

Even as everything inside him was crumbling, he didn’t let go of his last thread of hope.

But what came from Merrien’s mouth was:

“I’m sorry, Your Highness Prince Forcite de Vergne.”

It was neither a warm lie nor a brutal truth.

“…What?”

Seeing her bowing her head deeply as if facing a stranger, Forcite didn’t know what expression to make.

“I am not the Merrien you know. I’m sorry.”

Merrien apologized sincerely to him for the first and last time.

It wasn’t something she had wanted, and according to the original story, she should have already died a long time ago.

“…But you are Merrien?”

Perhaps because the situation had become so twisted, the current Forcite couldn’t accept anything.

Even though he clearly knew that the Merrien before his eyes was a different person.

“…No, no.”

Forcite’s pupils shook violently. He covered his face with both hands, then raised his head as if something had occurred to him.

“You… liked my red eyes, didn’t you, Merri? Right?”

When I was sad about my cursed eyes, you comforted me saying they were like the rising sun.

He blurted out, almost wailing.

At that exact moment, Ariel stood beside Merrien. Soon, Merrien took Ariel’s hand.

“I like Ariel’s blue eyes.”

He simply wanted to deny that Merrien was not the person he knew.

Forcite’s eyes examined their clasped hands. His entire body trembled.

“You don’t want just a shell, do you, Your Highness?”

“……”

“I am not a good person. I’m capable of ignoring Your Highness collapsed before me. You tried to harm people.”

No matter if he was the male lead of the original story, joining hands with the axis of evil crossed the line.

This was all Merrien could do for him now.

At those words, Forcite crumbled.

Even what had been firmly locked inside him slowly turned to sand.

The key to open it was never here to begin with.

Only the real Merrien could have played that role.

Forcite wept aloud.

***

“…Therefore, Second Prince ‘Forcite de Vergne’ is sentenced to exile in the North.”

The noble trial was quickly held.

The incident at the Imperial banquet hall was concluded to be the work of Second Prince ‘Forcite de Vergne’ and the remnants of a malicious dragon from the past.

Forcite was exiled to the North, which had been devastated by magical beasts, by the Emperor and the noble trial.

There were many opinions that he should be demoted to Former Prince, but considering that he had been called the ‘Hero of the Empire’ and had devoted himself to magical beast subjugation, the punishment stopped at that.

It was also because he was recognized as having been under perfect mental control by the dragon’s grudge, according to the Tower’s research data.

Even the Emperor couldn’t rebuke him since he himself had been under mental control once during that time.

Forcite, with handcuffs on both wrists, stared into empty space with vacant eyes.

He hadn’t spoken a word since that day.

Being dragged away by the Imperial Guard, he looked so lifeless that he seemed unaware of whatever might be done to him.

Even though Merrien was in the same room, he didn’t even glance at her.

Forcite seemed to have become a completely empty shell.

Just before Forcite passed by the Emperor, the Emperor stopped him briefly.

“My son.”

“……”

Forcite’s eyes briefly turned toward the Emperor, but nothing was reflected in his pupils.

“…I’m sorry for scolding you too much all this time.”

The ‘Hero of the Empire’ being his illegitimate child—it was a blessing too great, and immediately registering him in the imperial family had been the root of the problem.

He had scolded him severely, trying somehow to make him a virtuous ruler for the Empire.

Looking back, there wasn’t a single memory of treating Forcite warmly.

That might have led to his obsession with Saint Merrien…

But it was already too late to turn back.

Where exactly had it gone wrong?

Forcite passed by the Emperor in silence.

Thud-. Only after the courtroom door closed did the Emperor slowly rub his face.

“Haah…”

They had barely prevented him from becoming a Former Prince, but it was an intense incident that would be remembered by the entire Empire.

No matter how much support he provided, sending him to the North essentially meant abandonment.

Because no one knew what those with grudges there might do to Forcite.

If he went to the North, there was nothing the Emperor could do with his aging strength.

The First Prince was not fit to be Emperor.

So what should be done? The Emperor fell into contemplation.

Someone whom the entire Empire would support and who could care for the North in one go.

If such a person would become the next Emperor…

The Emperor glanced at Ariel and spoke.

“Perhaps if the Tower Master would…”

“Absolutely not. It’s impossible.”

“But the Empire like this…”

“No.”

Ariel, who had clearly seen through what he was about to say, firmly refused.

The regretful gazes of all the nobles were fixed on him, but he even pretended to clean his ear.

“Honestly, I find even playing Duke annoying and might quit anytime. Don’t say such strange things.”

“Ahem…”

Come to think of it, it was already remarkable that he regularly attended noble meetings and showed courtesy.

Of course, that was probably only because Saint Merrien was watching him with stern eyes.

Merrien discreetly pinched Ariel’s thigh.

It meant to stop the power struggle and say what they had prepared beforehand.

“For now, let’s dispatch the Tower’s magicians to restore the collapsed buildings in the Imperial Palace.”

But for some reason, Ariel was not only straightening his back stiffly while speaking properly but also slowly turning his ears red.

Sensing something strange, but since he had stopped speaking, Merrien quickly added:

“He says they’ll also look at the festival streets gradually. Those areas were also devastated by magical beasts.”

Then she stuck close to Ariel and whispered quietly:

“Ariel. We agreed to talk about the festival streets too. How could you forget?”

“Ah, I was just thinking about something else.”

“What?”

“Why did you suddenly touch my thigh? I can’t concentrate.”

“…!”

While whispers were exchanged quietly enough that others couldn’t hear, Merrien’s face turned bright red.

T/N: Ariel just gave me a not-so-subtle reminder that I’ve got the spicy R19 version of this novel hiding on my hard drive.

When I can steal some free time from my responsibilities (and fight my inner lazy *ss), I’ll hunt down those steamy chapters for our reading pleasure.  (¬‿¬)
But don’t get too excited too soon – this will take a while xD