“This is the North.”

I secretly smiled as I watched Marquis Karmel clear his throat awkwardly after his blatant attempt to boast about his daughter. Trying to compare someone to Ilena?

“I’ve felt this for a while—the North is truly united!”

“Indeed. That is the North’s pride.”

“I should have helped as much as I could earlier, but only now have the conditions allowed it.”

“Until now, no one has paid attention to the North. Your Highness is not late at all.”

“Marquis.”

“The abundant food Your Highness has already distributed through civilian merchant groups has revitalized the North. Once again, I sincerely thank you on behalf of the North.”

Watching the Marquis bow his head, I finally realized that I had gained the North’s absolute, unwavering loyalty.

In truth, even when the Northern nobles suddenly knelt and pledged their loyalty in the banquet hall, it hadn’t felt real.

All of this was thanks to Ilena. She had managed to redirect the attention of the Northern nobles who had come to the capital looking toward Callian.

‘Here’s the first draft of the plan for the North’s water management project.’

Ilena had presented me with a plan she had spent several sleepless nights working on alone.

‘Even the Empress agrees that Your Highness turning the water management project into a national initiative is crucial while competing with the Second Prince. The Imperial faction nobles will watch the Empress and voluntarily contribute funds.’

Ilena not only perfectly deceived the Empress but now even shamelessly emptied the Empress’s back pocket to offer to me.

‘I’ll be your shield against the Northern nobles and ladies.’

And today. With a solemn face, she had said those words, taken my hand, and thrown herself without hesitation among the Northern nobles who were wary of her.

“None of this was accomplished by me alone.”

“……Do you mean we should treat Lady Weiana with the utmost respect?”

“You understand my meaning well.”

“Perhaps, do you have feelings for the lady?”

“……”

I couldn’t readily answer the Marquis’s question. Ilena was an attractive person. No, more than just attractive—Ilena had the power to make people happy.

She was the first person who approached me when I couldn’t figure out how to navigate the numerous challenges before me, becoming my light and illuminating the path.

“She is a very precious person to me.”

A person I never wanted to foolishly lose again. That’s who Ilena was to me.

“So she’s another person toward whom the North’s loyalty should flow.”

“That is my fervent wish.”

“Haha! Even Your Highness, who seems to have mastered everything, is just an ordinary man when it comes to matters of the heart!”

“That’s what makes a man, doesn’t it?”

“Indeed! Haha, your glass is empty. Hey, pour His Highness some more wine!”

“Marquis, I have a state council meeting tomorrow……”

“Your Highness, the nights in the North are long. Hahaha!”

***

“Urgh……”

“Hic……hic……”

“Ilena……”

“Your Highness……! Haa……please.”

My legs trembled and my breathing grew rapid. Supporting Ian’s heavy body pressing down on mine was no easy task.

Ian had downed glass after glass of wine offered by the Northern nobles, and by the time the banquet ended, he was completely drunk.

In the end, supporting Ian fell entirely to me. I hadn’t known until now because I’d never had reason to, but supporting someone completely drunk and passed out was several times harder than supporting someone conscious.

“Why does he have to be so tall……”

Even though I was carrying him on my back, his feet were dragging on the ground. As soon as we arrived at the palace with Ian, I looked around for knights to help support him, but for some reason, no knights were to be seen for quite a while.

So, unable to leave him in the carriage in this cold weather, I was now walking toward his bedroom with him on my back.

“Please pull yourself together, Your Highness. What about tomorrow’s state council meeting?”

“Mmm……Ilena? Is that you, Ilena?”

“Yes, Your Highness, it’s me. I feel like I’m dying.”

“That’s why you should train your physical strength……”

“Your Highness, are you not drunk? Are you conscious?”

“Don’t know……”

As he said this while freely stroking my hair, I became confused about whether Ian was truly drunk out of his mind or just pretending to be.

“Oh my. aide?”

Walking down the Crown Prince’s Palace corridor—unusually empty today without the knights who normally stood guard or any servants—I finally raised my head with difficulty at the voice that would save me.

“Ah……Chief Chamberlain.”

But the person holding the candle was the Chief Chamberlain. I couldn’t possibly dump Ian onto this white-haired, elderly Chief Chamberlain, so with tears in my eyes, I properly hoisted him up and said:

“As you can see, His Highness is completely drunk.”

“My goodness……why didn’t you call for the knights?”

“I wanted to call the knights, but I couldn’t find any.”

“Let me help you……”

“No, Chief Chamberlain, you’ll hurt your back. It’s better if I support him.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you. I’ll light the way ahead.”

The Chief Chamberlain turned his back on me immediately, as if he’d been waiting for me to say that, and I honestly felt a little hurt. Shouldn’t he have insisted at least three times?

Somehow, with the Chief Chamberlain’s guidance, I reached Ian’s bedroom, where I felt a surge of irritation seeing knights guarding the entrance.

Why hadn’t I thought that knights would naturally be guarding the entrance to Ian’s bedroom, causing me to go through this ordeal? I should have just run quickly to call the knights instead of waiting.

But that thought was brief—the knights were desperately avoiding my gaze. Knights who normally greeted me warmly with “Aide!” whenever they saw me were now ignoring me despite seeing me sweating profusely in this winter.

“I apologize. We cannot leave our posts while on duty.”

“……I wasn’t expecting you to.”

Finally, I was able to carry Ian into the bedroom opened by the Chief Chamberlain and practically throw him down onto the bed.

“Oof! Ah!”

“Mmm.”

After removing the shoes of Ian, who was wriggling on the soft bed—apparently enjoying the sensation despite being completely drunk and unconscious—I finally collapsed against the bed, gasping for breath.

“Haa……”

For the first time since our dawn training sessions, sweat poured down like rain, which was actually refreshing. After pushing back my soaked hair, I pretended to remove Ian’s socks while actually slapping his foot hard—the one who had made me suffer so much.

Slap!

The sound echoed louder than I expected, startling me into looking at the bedroom door, but fortunately, only the voices of the Chief Chamberlain and knights talking could be heard—it seemed no one had witnessed my *ssault on the Crown Prince.

“I want to hit him more.”

After dutifully removing the other sock as well, I thought I had completed my duty as an aide, but somehow, I felt uncomfortable leaving with Ian still wearing his coat, jacket, vest, and tie.

“Mmm……”

As if sensing my thoughts, Ian began roughly tugging at his tie, which made me flinch. Finally, with a sigh, I slapped his hand and said:

“Stay still for a moment, Your Highness.”

“……Mm.”

Sigh. Yes, as an aide, this kind of service is only natural. I decided to consider this an extension of my duties. Of course, I would definitely charge this to my overtime pay. There’s no such thing as labor without compensation.

Somehow, I managed to undo his tie and unbutton the first few buttons of his shirt, which made Ian’s previously labored breathing much more comfortable. Encouraged by this, I quickly succeeded in removing Ian’s coat, jacket, and even his vest all at once, determined to get it over with.

“Your Highness! Stay still! I’m trying to undress you!”

“Hey, seriously. Let go of me, Your Highness.”

“If you stay still, this will be over soon.”

The process wasn’t entirely smooth, of course. I finally achieved my goal while removing Ian’s hands as he suddenly grabbed mine or wrapped them around my waist in resistance(?).

Now Ian was wearing only his shirt and pants. This seemed perfectly fine for sleeping.

With a sense of satisfaction at having overcome a great obstacle, I wiped the sweat from my forehead and turned around, nearly falling off the bed in shock.

“……Chief Chamberlain?”

“……aide.”

Seeing the Chief Chamberlain’s expression flickering in the candlelight as he stood holding a candlestick and looking at me in shock, I realized he might easily misunderstand the current situation, so I jumped up from the bed and shouted:

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s absolutely not what it looks like!”

“If you stay still, this will be over soon……what will be over?”

“Chief Chamberlain!”

Though he clearly understood the situation, he seemed to be teasing me, but for some reason I felt embarrassed and tried to get off Ian’s bed.

“Mmm… noisy.”

“Ugh.”

Ian’s strong arm wrapped around my waist. Before I could do anything, I was pulled by the force of Ian turning over and ended up lying in bed, cradled in his arms.

“……Have a good time. I’ve always been rooting for you.”

“Chief Chamberlain? You need to help me. Where are you going?”

“Finally, a joyous occasion in the Crown Prince’s Palace……hohoho.”

As the Chief Chamberlain closed the bedroom door and left, muttering words with an unclear meaning and laughing, I could only raise my head slightly to confirm his departure before collapsing back in frustration and bursting into laughter.

“Haha. This is crazy.”

Meanwhile, Ian was pulling me further into his embrace, as if determined never to release his arm from around my waist. It hurts, it hurts. My waist is caught in your muscles and it hurts, you muscle monster.

Quickly accepting that no amount of struggling would free me from drunk Ian’s muscles, I held my breath and waited for Ian to loosen his grip.

The bedroom was very dark without even a single candle lit. Lying still in Ian’s arms with my eyes open, I could hear his breathing very clearly against my ear.

“……”

Being completely embraced by him, not only his breathing but even his breath fell on my ear, giving me the strange feeling that the fine hairs were standing on end.

And gradually, not just my ear where Ian’s breath touched, but my cheek and neck began to itch as well. It was maddening.

Thinking it might be enough by now, I tried to push Ian’s arm away, but he pulled me closer to his chest as if to say there was no chance. As a result, my face was completely pressed against Ian’s chest.

“……That’s the second time.”

The first time was my mistake, but this time it wasn’t. I swear, right now I was putting as much strength as possible into my cheek pressed against Ian’s chest. That meant I was trying to empty my mind, without any dark intentions or personal desires to enjoy this golden opportunity that had come my way.