“The empire has been too generous to a princess captured as a prisoner from a defeated battlefield.”

Rudrich, who was about to say something in anger at those words, noticed that Rihast was trembling with his fists tightly clenched. No matter their competitive relationship over the throne, Rudrich and Rihast were brothers born from the same womb.

When Rihast had that completely unhinged expression, not even their father emperor’s words could reach him. He considered it natural to resort to violence until his anger subsided and felt no guilt whatsoever. Knowing this, Rudrich tried his best not to provoke Rihast further.

“It would be better not to display such unseemly behavior in front of the princess anymore. To compromise the Raon Empire’s honor in this way…!”

“If the honor that would be tarnished by my treating the princess of Reibritton this way is what concerns you, then the Raon Empire must be in the wrong.”

“Ha!”

At Rihast’s arrogant words, Rudrich’s eyes sank with a cold light.

This was precisely why he had drawn his sword against the First Prince Rihast, who was born and raised as the firstborn and heir to lead the empire. Rudrich was someone who loved the Raon Empire, while his father and brother were men who craved power that the empire provided, a void that could never be filled no matter how much they tried.

“Brother, you cannot represent the Raon Empire.”

“Now I understand why you insist on associating with the princess of Reibritton. But your method is wrong.”

Rihast looked at the disheveled princess with frosty eyes and said,

“The matter of handling a finished country is not to be discussed with royalty from an already worthless, collapsed kingdom.”

“Reibritton hasn’t collapsed yet!”

“If a country without royalty hasn’t collapsed, then what is it?”

Rihast openly mocked Rudrich for spouting only fine-sounding words.

“While there’s someone else who actually conquered that place and manages and controls the citizens of a country without a king, what could you possibly discuss with a princess who can’t even speak a word to her own people?”

At Rihast’s words, Rudrich’s expression hardened severely as he checked the princess’s face. The princess seemed so shocked that she hadn’t even managed to fix her disheveled hair, making it difficult to see what expression she wore.

Only the drops of drink falling from the tip of her chin, staining the silver dress, were visible.

Rudrich first entrusted the princess to his lady-in-waiting. If left like this, he couldn’t predict how many shameless things his brother might say in front of the princess.

“Please guide the princess to my lounge first.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The lady-in-waiting supported the trembling princess with careful hands. Feeling her thin, light body, the lady-in-waiting’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Please follow me, princess.”

“……”

The princess staggered briefly before surrendering herself to the lady-in-waiting and walking away. How pitiful that retreating figure looked.

Turning his gaze back to Rihast, Rudrich’s eyes became as sharp as a well-honed blade.

“The Duke of Ivanstein you speak of is the very one who made the princess of Reibritton stand here today as a princess. Are you saying that meant nothing at all?”  

“Does anyone not question whether Duke Ivanstein arranged this place for Reibritton, or if he simply brought her to show off the woman wearing that dress?”  

“Words carry weight, Brother. The consequences of your carelessness will fall not on you, but on the empire.”

An argument between the two princes began. Despite competing for the throne, the two princes had been reluctant to openly show their antagonism to the outside world. When two princes point swords at each other, the nobles’ blades must also be pointed alongside one or the other.

Neither Rihast nor Rudrich wanted to know yet how much the nobles’ support leaned toward either of them.

However, at this moment, for the first time since the emperor’s death, the two brothers were raising their voices in opposition to each other.

With this overt conflict between the two, nobles would express their support by adding their opinions, and the scale of that support would be revealed.

“Princess, I’ll hurry a bit more. The palace corridors are usually never this deserted, so other palace staff will soon gather.”

“……”

Rudrich’s lady-in-waiting revealed her anxiety as she looked around.

The princess of Reibritton’s appearance was a mess, and the two princes were arguing loudly over Reibritton. If someone passing by witnessed this, the empire would be thrown into an unprecedented scandal that very day. And this at a crucial time when attention should be focused on who would become the next emperor to lead the Raon Empire.

“This is the place.”

The princess of Reibritton didn’t respond to the lady-in-waiting’s words, but fortunately, she cooperated enough to quicken her steps as instructed.

The lady-in-waiting could understand the princess’s reaction, having heard that high-born people freeze in such dishonorable situations. The lady-in-waiting, who had been sympathizing with Rudrich’s compassion for the princess, felt an intense desire to help her somehow.

“Everything you need is here, so it should be comfortable enough for you to rest.”

Upon entering Rudrich’s lounge, the lady-in-waiting first firmly closed the door and surveyed the room. After confirming that not even a mouse was present, she sighed with relief and turned to the princess.

“Your wet dress must be uncomfortable, so I’ll help you change into this prepared lady-in-waiting uniform.”

The lady-in-waiting pulled out an imperial palace uniform from somewhere in the lounge drawer. The princess abruptly stopped the lady-in-waiting’s hands as she was about to unfasten the buttons of her wet dress.

“I can do it alone.”

“Are you sure?”

Rudrich’s lady-in-waiting felt relieved at the princess’s voice, however faint. She had been worried about her, who seemed so dazed and lost.

“I’m fine. I can manage that much myself, but could you find me a suitable dress to wear?”

“Yes!”

At the princess’s request, the lady-in-waiting answered with a more relaxed face before hurrying out of the lounge.

‘Her voice is trembling a bit.’

She quietly raged at the humiliation suffered by the princess, who must have needed indescribable courage just to appear in society after being captured as a prisoner in the empire.

Because of this, she closed the lounge door too forcefully, not noticing that it had opened slightly.

“……”

And Mel didn’t notice either.

Mel sat quietly in the place prepared by the lady-in-waiting and recalled her mother’s voice that naturally came to mind.

“If you want to see someone’s bare face with their pretenses removed, there are mainly two ways, my dear. One is to become close enough for them to confide their true feelings, and the other is……”

Her mother’s advice, which came to her at crucial moments, had always been a great help. Mel had never once suffered a loss by following her mother’s counsel.

“To provoke their hostility.”

And this time was no exception.

From under Mel’s smooth jawline where the drink dripped, the corners of her red lips—hidden by disheveled hair—curved upward into a pleasant smile.

“Heh, haha……, ahahaha!”

The trembling body and voice that Rudrich’s lady-in-waiting had worried about were all because Mel was trying to hold back this laughter.

“I did it, I actually did it.”

Mel’s joyful laughter, anticipating her own success, filled the quiet lounge.

This was important enough to Mel that it wouldn’t be wrong to say she had made a deal with Duke Ivanstein for this day. Mel could pride herself on achieving results that would greatly satisfy Genoa.

‘It’s not like Duke Ivanstein specifically insisted that the First Prince and he must get along well.’

In any case, she had managed to see the First Prince’s blatant true face, so Mel had come one step closer to the goal Genoa wanted. From now on, the First Prince would remove the artificial and noble mask he wore even in front of Genoa when he was with Mel.

“Hostility rather than goodwill lets you know a person’s true nature better. This actually worked out well.”

Mel brushed back her disheveled hair. Though the damp hair clung to her cheeks and exposed skin, she felt no discomfort.

“This is actually quite polite. As expected of royalty.”

In truth, when provoking Rihast, she had prepared herself for a slap or even a kick. All the nobles and royals she knew were like that.

If it had been the real Amelia, she would have hated such humiliation during a party more than taking a slap to the face.

Just the excuse to end today’s party here and return to the duke’s mansion made Mel feel like she could breathe a little.

‘I should thank the First Prince.’

She raised her internal score for First Prince Rihast a bit more as she stood up.

Second Prince Rudrich’s lounge was located not far from the party hall and boasted a magnificent size befitting a prince’s use. As the lady-in-waiting had said, it had everything Mel might need.

“Its more splendid than the princess’s lounge.”

Mel unconsciously compared Amelia’s lounge with Rudrich’s. At a glance, the elaborate decorative items, antique furniture, and paintings filling the walls looked several times more valuable than what Amelia owned.

Unlike Amelia’s lounge, which was filled with flashy, sparkling, and expensive items bought without any discernible taste, Rudrich’s lounge revealed his simple yet classic preferences at first sight. Just by looking at this lounge, one could guess what kind of person Rudrich de Raon was.

“He would make an emperor worthy of respect.”