“Idiotic fools.”

Kaien spat out a harsh curse as he unbuttoned his shirt that was choking his neck. Having repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists throughout the council meeting, thick veins bulged prominently on his forearms.

“What happened to make you so angry?”

“They want to wage war against Aslan.”

At those words, Silvia, who was about to sit across from Kaien, jerked her head up.

“War? That’s absurd!”

“Nothing absurd about it. Especially if the Gott marquisate recently entered the military supply business.”

House Gott was Imperial Consort Marilyn’s family. It couldn’t be mere coincidence that war talk suddenly emerged.

“How will they fund the massive war chest? What about troops? Weap*ns? Surely they’re not planning to launch a preemptive attack without any preparation? Besides, when it gets hotter soon, it will be much more advantageous for Aslan as a desert country……”

Unlike the nobles who had spouted nonsense throughout the meeting, Silvia enumerated each resource needed for war, factors to consider, and risks to bear.

Kaien couldn’t help but laugh wryly at finally hearing through Silvia’s mouth the opinions that should have been expressed in the meeting.

“We might as well have held the meeting here.”

“So what happened? Are they really going to wage war?”

“Don’t worry. Thanks to our greedy Emperor declaring he wouldn’t release funds from the treasury, those noble bastards tucked their tails and backed down. They’re not the type to bear massive war expenses from their own pockets.”

“Haa…… Next time, could you start with the conclusion?”

Only then did Silvia lean back on the sofa with a sigh of relief. But judging by her still dark expression, she seemed to be thinking about the national treasury, which was starting to bottom out due to Emperor Karl’s extravagant lifestyle.

Then Kaien casually remarked:

“If you’re so worried, why don’t you become the Emperor?”

“Kai!”

“If that stupid Crown Prince becomes Emperor, he’ll just be Imperial Consort Marilyn’s puppet.”

Kaien recalled Crown Prince Edric, who had only talked nonsense throughout the meeting. He was someone who couldn’t have gotten anywhere near the throne if not for his mother.

“The rutting Third Prince will first build a harem in the palace and frolic surrounded by women’s skirts.”

His brother Pedro had appeared at the meeting flustered and late. The lipstick mark clearly visible on his cheek and his unfastened pants zipper were enough to guess what mischief he had been up to.

“At this rate, Caledo’s downfall is all but certain, as you well know?”

“Kai, please…… Please stop.”

Silvia pleaded in response to Kaien’s scathing remarks. Her contorted face seemed filled with fear, or perhaps pain.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand Silvia. She had always been under threat of death simply for being the Empire’s only legitimate bloodline.

Never knowing when she might be eliminated for catching Imperial Consort Marilyn’s eye, she always had to keep a low profile. And thanks to living as if she didn’t exist, she had managed to survive.

‘But you can’t protect anything by just running away.’

Kaien felt a stifling heaviness in his chest, but seeing Silvia’s face turn deathly pale as if she might collapse at any moment, he refrained from adding anything more.

An awkward silence hung between them.

Kaien, who had been quietly observing the thoroughly intimidated Silvia, was the first to change the subject.

“It seems rather noisy outside. Has something happened?”

Pointing to the palace staff bustling about beyond the window, he asked, and Silvia answered with an uncomfortable expression.

“Imperial Consort Marilyn’s charity bazaar will be held soon……”

Kaien’s effort to change the atmosphere was commendable, but his choice of topic appeared to have failed.

Just as Silvia mentioned, Kaien’s face froze coldly when he belatedly spotted Imperial Consort Marilyn. Moreover, the woman standing beside her was Pedro’s fiancée.

The daughter of Count White, who was in league with Imperial Consort Marilyn, part of the corrupt forces eating away at the country.

Though it was hard to find any resemblance to her father, simply sharing the White surname was enough to make her an object of Kaien’s contempt.

Nevertheless, the reason for his persistent discomfort was that the moment their eyes met remained vividly imprinted in his mind.

‘Green eyes.’

Green was a rare color in the north, where cold weather persisted throughout all four seasons. That was why it was also Kaien’s favorite color. The tears welling up in her eyes in response to his harsh words looked almost like dewdrops on grass blades.

Just then, he spotted Pedro in the distance, grabbing a maid’s wrist and disappearing somewhere. The thought that Shasha might also be in an unwanted engagement made him feel even more uncomfortable.

‘What pointless hypocrisy.’

Whether it was guilt or sympathy, he couldn’t tell, but it was clearly something that didn’t suit him. As Kaien was about to withdraw his interest, he noticed Shasha walking in the direction where Pedro had disappeared and unconsciously furrowed his brow.

At the same time, he vividly imagined the expression she would make upon witnessing her fiancé’s infidelity. Green eyes filling with tears, a face flushing red, lips pressed together to hold back tears.

‘Why am I thinking about this nonsense?’

Kaien shook his head, trying hard to clear away the strange images filling his mind. Yet he couldn’t understand why his gaze kept drifting toward the window.

※※※

“Ugh……”

Shasha groaned as she slumped into her seat.

Imperial Consort Marilyn, already known for her picky temperament, was being even more sensitive today. She became even worse after receiving some message from a maid. Judging by the whispered words “meeting” and “rejected” that Shasha overheard, it seemed the Imperial Consort hadn’t achieved what she wanted at the council meeting.

As a result, Shasha bore the brunt of her frustration. The Imperial Consort picked at every little thing, leaving Shasha completely drained.

Splash.

Shasha flinched at the sound of a fish jumping in the pond below. Only then did she notice the dark pond that had swallowed her last night.

If the imperial guard on patrol hadn’t found her, she might have lost her life. Remembering how her body sank deeper and deeper, she felt goosebumps all over.

‘I’ve been reborn twice now.’

Thinking that this was her third life made her determined to live it properly. This time, she wanted a life without regrets.

Just as Shasha was strengthening her resolve, she heard a sultry voice from somewhere.

“Oh my, Your Highness~ Why are you being so naughty?”

The maid tapped Pedro’s shoulder with her small fist but didn’t resist his hands exploring her lower body. Soon her legs spread apart with an excited moan. Pedro smiled as if he had expected this and proceeded to crawl under her skirt.

The affair taking place in broad daylight, right in the middle of the imperial palace, was not just bold but vulgar.

‘To think this is an Imperial Prince…… And my fiancé at that…..’

Shasha couldn’t help but lament. The only consolation was knowing she wouldn’t have to marry Pedro. She could be certain of that just from how Imperial Consort Marilyn consistently treated her with contempt.

While breaking the engagement would be welcome, the problem was that it would lead to the bankruptcy of the White family. It was clear that her already difficult life would become even more arduous if her family collapsed and she was labeled as a jilted fiancée.

Even if she wanted to break off the engagement before being completely drained by Imperial Consort Marilyn, Count White, puffed up with the vain dream of becoming in-laws with the imperial family, would never allow it. Similarly, Imperial Consort Marilyn wouldn’t easily let go of the White family, which still had plenty to be squeezed out of them.

‘I should just…… run away!’

The mere thought made Shasha feel like she could breathe again.

Yes, she could simply leave behind both her family, who treated her with near-abusive neglect, and her fiancé, who constantly committed infidelity.

Upon returning home, Shasha immediately searched her room for anything of value. However, all she found were a few pieces of jewelry.

It was far from enough to purchase a new identity and start a new life elsewhere. Shasha wrinkled her nose as she poked at the jewels with her finger.

“This isn’t even enough to make a decent investment.”

While investments could multiply money, they couldn’t create something from nothing.

Seed money.

Without capital to serve as the foundation for investment, one couldn’t even begin to invest.

“To think a noble lady has so little…… I should have saved up something earlier……”

Shasha couldn’t help but lament her situation.

What was even more frustrating was that the only items of value were all gifts from Pedro. Among them was a large sapphire necklace that had arrived today.

Pedro would send gifts to Shasha whenever she caught him in the act of infidelity. The greater his transgression, the more valuable the gift he sent. Judging by the rather expensive item he sent this time, he must have considered being caught with Rose a significant issue.

Until now, Shasha had considered this Pedro’s way of apologizing. She had also pretended not to notice, somewhat moved by his effort to console her in this way.

“It was just a way to prevent gossip.”

She now felt disgusted by his simple and narrow-minded thinking that such trinkets could buy her silence.

However, unpleasant feelings aside, the items themselves were blameless.

The items, likely purchased through merchants dealing with the imperial family as befitting an Imperial Prince, were of excellent quality. Looking at their brilliant colors, Shasha almost wished Pedro would cheat even more diligently.

“But I can’t just go around looking for places where Pedro is cheating……”

At that moment, a rather good idea flashed through her mind.

Pedro’s philandering was an incurable disease anyway, and before long, he would be fooling around with another woman.

Would it be a problem to accelerate that timeline a bit?

“I’ll help you this time, Pedro.”