In the original story, they said my father sent me as a spy for the insane Callian and demanded confidential information through letters every day, but thinking about it, my father had never once contacted me since I became Ian’s aide.

Even though he must have known that there was much more information to extract from the aide of Ian, who had been performing Crown Prince duties for 10 years, rather than Callian. After averting his gaze, my father never looked at me again.

“Come to think of it.”

Lost in thought, I had to straighten my posture in surprise at a voice I hadn’t heard in a long time.

Emperor Giltian Ricard, who always attended state council meetings but usually entrusted everything to Ian and merely sat in the highest seat listening to the meeting contents unless there was something special, had opened his mouth.

“Isn’t it about time for Callian to return from his northern subjugation?”

“….!!”

Hearing Callian’s name, I could only freeze where I stood. For the past half year, I had been so thankful that Callian was away on the northern demonic beast subjugation mission and that I hadn’t encountered him in the Imperial Palace.

The insane male lead who had chopped off my head in the original story. He was returning to the Imperial Palace after successfully completing the northern demonic beast subjugation after three years.

‘So suddenly?’

Just thinking about Callian’s name made me feel as if the original story was beginning right now, and that I wouldn’t be able to avoid my death from the original story. Gripped by this feeling, as if someone was whispering this to me, I tightly clenched my fist.

“Yes, Your Majesty. My younger brother has worked hard.”

“I was thinking of starting the New Year’s ceremony by holding a welcome party to honor the achievements of Second Prince Callian and the knights who participated in this demonic beast subjugation. What are your opinions, my lords?”

At the Emperor’s words, all the nobles gathered could not say anything. This was because despite the Emperor himself proposing this, the Empress sitting beside him had an expression that had frozen into something utterly murderous.

“If Your Majesty commands it.”

Only Ian stood up from his seat, bowed his head to the Emperor, and showed his respect.

The Empress’s gaze immediately turned to Ian who spoke and smiled like that, but Ian did not avoid her gaze and instead met it proudly.

“It is certainly appropriate to honor the knights who subjugated the northern demonic beasts and brought stability to the Empire as Your Majesty says, but looking at the long history of the Empire, it is customary for the New Year’s ceremony to begin with the debutante ball.”

“……Hmm.”

“Above all, under Your Majesty’s perfect reign, the Empire has gained the most vast territory in its thousand-year history, and if we postpone the debutante ball where nobles from distant provinces showcase their children in the capital, I worry it might hurt the hearts of the young talents who will lead the Empire in the future, Your Majesty.”

The Empress clearly avoided mentioning Second Prince Callian’s name despite the Emperor specifically bringing it up, only speaking of honoring the knights as if she didn’t even want to mention Callian’s name with her own lips.

Seeing this, I could somewhat feel the pain of Callian who had been abused and brainwashed by the Empress in the original story.

And the Emperor merely stared down at the Empress’s hand as she took his, not saying anything more. It was exactly as described in the original story and as I had keenly felt over the past half year—the puppet Emperor with no political background.

The one who broke the silence that had descended upon the state council chamber was none other than Ian.

“Pardon me for interrupting, Your Majesties. Your Majesty, please allow me the opportunity to speak.”

“The Crown Prince is permitted to speak.”

“While the Empress’s words about prioritizing the debutante ball for the young lords and ladies who will become the Empire’s solid talents in the future are quite right, what is the meaning of the debutante ball?”

“Continue.”

“Isn’t the debutante ball for noble children who have come of age and will be responsible for the Empire’s future essentially a ceremony where nobles pledge their loyalty to Your Majesty?”

“Hmm……”

“Therefore, if Your Majesty first honors the loyalty shown by Second Prince Callian and his knights who participated in the northern demonic beast subjugation, it would show the young lords and ladies participating in the debutante ball how honorable it is to be loyal to the Empire.”

“Crown Prince!”

The Empress shouted angrily at Ian, who was publicly stating that priority should be given to honoring the achievements of Second Prince Callian and his knights, whom she herself had refused to mention. Unlike the flinching nobles, Ian stared directly at the Empress’s face without changing his expression and added:

“As Mother has trusted me, the Crown Prince’s Palace will prepare well for this New Year’s ceremony.”

“……”

“I beg you to trust me.”

The Empress’s face twisted horribly. As Ian said, the preparation of the New Year’s ceremony had long been under the jurisdiction of the Crown Prince’s Palace.

“If that is the opinion of the Crown Prince who is directly preparing the New Year’s ceremony, then let it be so.”

“Your Majesty!”

No matter how powerless a puppet Emperor he might be, the Emperor was still the Emperor.

Empowered by Ian’s logical words, the Emperor nodded as he gently removed the Empress’s hand, and with his approval, it was decided that the New Year’s ceremony would begin with honoring Callian and the knights.

“I follow Your Majesty’s august command.”

***

“Haa……”

Having escaped the brutal state council chamber, I was now completely drained after witnessing the power struggle between the Emperor, Empress, and Ian in the office.

“The workload has increased.”

I frowned at Ian, who was the very person who had increased the work, yet was calmly sipping tea and reviewing documents with a relaxed expression.

“May I go home now as you promised?”

“Of course not. I told you, the workload has increased.”

“……”

The only thing that could soothe my exhausted body and mind was going home, but last night I had not only inspected ledgers throughout the raid on the capital’s casinos, but also skillfully managed the journalists I had brought along in advance to ensure Ian’s image as a righteous and fair Crown Prince. On top of that, I had reviewed state council materials all dawn and attended the state council meeting.

And now Ian, who had promised that I could go home as soon as the state council meeting was over, was changing his words as if he had never made such a promise.

“Our Ilena is going to make a lot of money.”

“……”

“If you keep working like this, you might be able to buy your own townhouse in the capital soon.”

My mind was already preoccupied with thoughts about what I should do now that Callian was returning and the original story was about to begin, yet I had no choice but to deal with the mountain of documents piled up right in front of me.

Oblivious to my feelings and seemingly finding it amusing to tease me, Ian smiled brightly as he spoke. Looking at his face, I finally felt the anger I had been suppressing for half a year explode in my chest.

“What if I submit my resignation letter, saying I don’t need such wealth?”

“What?”

“Have you never once thought that you’re overworking me too much, Your Highness?”

“……Ilena?”

“It wasn’t easy to apply for the position of Your Highness’s aide in the first place! I had to go against my Noble faction family and my father’s wishes to become your aide!”

“……”

“I did need a lot of money! But I could have comfortably received support from my family and applied to another department, or not worked at all. Your Highness, you seem to forget sometimes, but my family is also a well-known prestigious family with a long history.”

Although I barely managed to suppress my voice from rising, once my complaints started pouring out, they wouldn’t stop.

I had worked for the past half year without going home, wanting to stay by Ian’s side to prevent the original story from starting, but now that Callian was suddenly returning to the Imperial Palace, my anxious heart and feelings of resentment burst forth.

“In the first place, didn’t Your Highness thrust a labor contract at me without a proper interview, thinking that I, as a member of the Noble faction, might look for opportunities to leak your every move or confidential information?”

“No, Ilena, I think there’s a misunderstanding, I……”

Ian seemed genuinely surprised by my sudden outburst after working faithfully without a single complaint for half a year.

He abruptly stood up from the chair where he always sat leisurely and approached me.

Despite the disrespect of remaining seated while the Crown Prince stood before me, I was already blinded by anger and looked up at Ian with cold eyes as I raised my voice.

“You didn’t! You might not believe this, but my father never said anything to me either!”

“I know, Ilena. I know better than anyone that you wouldn’t do such things.”

“How do you know! Did you have someone follow me?”

“If I don’t trust you, my only aide, who would I trust? I’ve never even thought of doing something so petty.”

It was strange to see Ian, who always maintained his composure despite the overwhelming workload and had never once shown a disheveled appearance—the same Ian who had ultimately defeated the Empress in their battle of wills by getting what he wanted—visibly flustered in front of me, but I was in no mood to care about such things.

“I’m resigning! I’ve just realized that there are some things that won’t change no matter what I do!”

Saying this, I yanked open the table drawer and slammed the resignation letter I had written in advance on my first day of work onto the table, causing a loud bang to echo throughout the spacious office.

“I don’t need any retirement benefits either. I’m going back to my family.”

“……”

“Thank you for your hard work all this time, Your Highness. If you hire a new aide, I’ll help with the handover at that time.”

Leaving Ian staring blankly at the resignation letter I had slammed on the table, I grabbed my coat and left the office.

‘Run away or not, do whatever you want, you terrible boss.’

Why had he, as the Crown Prince, volunteered to help honor Callian’s achievements in the first place? The reason he needed to publicly honor the Second Prince’s achievements to the extent of engaging in a power struggle with the Empress.

‘Obviously, he wants to transfer the position as crown prince to Callian according to the original story, now that Callian has returned to the Imperial Palace after three years with a diminished standing!’

If I assumed that the original story couldn’t be prevented from starting, Ian’s intention to look after Callian’s achievements could only be interpreted this way.

Unlike Ian, who possessed the qualities of a perfect sage king, Callian, the male lead of the original story, was a tyrant who brought nobles and the Empress to their knees solely through his pure individual might.

‘My idea of connecting Lady Fleur with Ian was all useless too.’

Last night in the carriage, Ian had mentioned the reduction of nobles’ private armies and strengthening national defense as what he would take from the nobles affected by the illegal gambling and drug distribution.

Thinking about it that far, I felt sick at the thought that Ian might really be systematically preparing to establish Callian’s position one by one and exit according to the original story.

Since I now knew that no matter what I did, Ian was destined to flee as in the original story, I was thinking of not just returning to my family but going all the way down to our territory.

After all, my father’s eyes, which had been staring at me intently in the state council chamber today, weren’t at all frightening for someone looking at a daughter who had abandoned and betrayed her family.

If I asked to go down to our territory under the pretext of recuperation to manage it, I could escape from the capital where the original story was about to begin, and perhaps the terrible fate of losing my life at Callian’s hands might not happen.

“It’s time to start Plan B.”