Rosaline’s pupils shook restlessly.

“My one and only little sister almost got hurt.”

(E/N: Kyle means this more as a term of closeness, not literal siblinghood.) 

“You, you…!”

“You should be careful, shouldn’t you?”

Kyle softly chuckled as he grabbed Rosaline’s wrist. Rosaline’s body flinched. She tried to shake off Kyle’s hand, but she couldn’t escape no matter what. 

Trembling in fear, Rosaline whimpered, “Let go of me…!”

“I will, but before that, you have to take this.”

Kyle personally placed the broken decoration in Rosaline’s hand, as if saying that if she misbehaved, she would be next in line.

Rosaline’s face turned red with humiliation at Kyle’s next words.

“Take care of yourself.”

With a smirk, Kyle straightened himself and passed by Rosaline without another word. He didn’t forget to glance at Veronica Martin one last time.

As Kyle moved away, the young ladies rushed towards Rosaline, as if they had been waiting.

“Your Highness, are you okay?”

“Are you alright?”

Ignoring the commotion, Kyle’s face once again hardened with coldness.

“You should be grateful that it ended with a warning, Rosaline,” he muttered.

If it weren’t for Vivian’s objection, it wouldn’t have ended with just a warning.

Without looking back, Kyle continued walking and soon arrived at his intended destination.

The emperor’s bedroom.

Two knights and a servant were stationed at the door. When he saw Kyle, he approached in surprise.

“Your Highness, Prince Kyle? What are you doing here all of a sudden?”

“I have come to request an audience with the emperor.”

Confusion flickered across the courtier’s face.

“Right now? I apologize, but His Majesty is…”

“Tell him I demand it.”

But then, a low voice came from beyond the firmly closed door. The emperor granted permission, leaving no way for the courtier to stop Kyle.

As Kyle entered the room, the door closed heavily behind him.

“Yes, what is it, Kyle?”

Kyle narrowed his eyes slightly.

The emperor, leaning back against the headboard of the bed, appeared much more tired than when they had last met a few days ago.

But that wasn’t all.

The herbal concoction of narcotic analgesic he always burned seemed to emit an unusually strong odor today.

The emperor’s health was deteriorating day by day.

Kyle, who had briefly focused on the incense burner, spoke up.

“I request to be appointed as the Crown Prince in the upcoming founding ceremony.”

The emperor’s eyebrows twitched, and a trace of surprise flickered in his fatigued eyes.

Adjusting his posture, he asked, “What does that mean?”

“I am expressing my intention to carry out Your Majesty’s will and lead this empire.”

“What? Ha, hahaha!”

The emperor burst into laughter that bordered on mockery. He used his thin, bony fingers to cover his eyes.

“Even Logan couldn’t openly ask me to hand over the throne.”

After laughing for a while, the emperor suddenly stopped and turned to look at Kyle.

“Do you think you have the qualifications to do that?”

“Yes.”

“Haha, you think you have the qualification. If you’re speaking based on your performance, barely graduating as a sword expert, then that’s arrogant…”

The emperor’s voice abruptly stopped. His eyes seemed to bulge out and widen. The smile at the corner of his mouth hardened.

“Kyle, you…..”

“I believe I am not lacking to become the Crown Prince at this level.”

Weapons were not allowed in the emperor’s palace. Therefore, Kyle had left behind all his blades and weapons outside.

However, in Kyle’s empty hands, a gleaming blue sword flickered. Kyle had created the form of a sword using his aura.

And Ishad, the Emperor who received the reputation of being the smartest among all the emperors, immediately realized this fact.

“How did you awaken your aura… Could it be that you awakened as a Sword Master?”

If that was true, Kyle would rise to fame as the empire’s fifth Sword Master.

The excited Emperor tightly grasped the blanket on the bed. A Sword Master! It was no different from having a genius in the empire.

Besides, he had been troubled for years now by the rise of demons around the Ygritte Empire’s borders.

Reports stating that the border areas were like hell were piling up on his desk every day, while the capital city at the heart of the empire remained peaceful.

If Kyle, a Sword Master, stepped forward on the forefront, perhaps the issue could be resolved more easily.

However, there was a lingering question that arose before that.

“Could it be that you had been hiding your awakening all this time?”

Kyle sheathed his aura without answering. The brilliant blue light that had illuminated the darkened room vanished in an instant. Regret flashed across the emperor’s face.

Originally, Kyle had no intention of revealing the fact that he had awakened as a Sword Master.

However, through the incident that occurred today with Vivian, Kyle realized one thing.

That simply retreating from the competition for the throne without any ambition was not necessarily the correct answer.

He could already deduce why Rosaline had done such a thing to Vivian without even needing to hold her and ask.

It was all because he had become a competitor to Logan, his half-brother.

And Vivian was the first to be targeted because she was the closest to Kyle.

When Kyle saw her in tears, wearing a tea-stained dress, he felt his heart sink.

They dared to touch Vivian.

‘To even dare to touch my Vivian.’

All he wanted was a happy future with Vivian, not a bloody battle for the throne.

Kyle knew that if he became involved in a power struggle, Vivian would be swept up in the aftermath.

He decided that once he graduated from the Academy, he would take Vivian on a trip to see the world.

Traveling with Vivian would certainly be very satisfying at first.

He would have a lot more freedom of action.

But could they live their whole lives wandering outside the system like that?

Vivian was kind-hearted. She would want to return to the system where her family remained.

Unless Kyle completely abandons his status as a prince, he cannot completely escape from the empire.

But what if every time he returns to the empire, someone targets Kyle, or even Vivian?

Didn’t he personally experience the pressure from others even now, just after returning from the academy?

In that case…

‘To protect Vivian, I must be the emperor… and no one else.’

As his first step, Kyle revealed to the emperor that he was indeed a Sword Master.

Since it was the power he had hidden from the beginning for Vivian’s sake, he didn’t feel regret.

“Please grant me permission to follow Your Majesty’s will.”

Kyle knelt before the emperor. Like a knight waiting for an oath, Kyle bowed his head loyally.

“I will never disappoint Your Majesty.”

He would surpass Logan and become the next Emperor.

And he would make sure that nothing would ever touch Vivian.

That day was the day Kyle chose the direction his life should take.

***

When my father and mother saw me return, wounded after attending the princess’s tea party, they were furious.

“How dare she hurt my daughter!”

Father immediately sent a letter of protest to Marquis Martin. It was a letter of reproach, asking how he could cause such an incident and remain silent.

Soon, a reply came back.

[We are unaware of any accident involving Miss Vivian Rosier. It seems there may have been a misunderstanding among the young ones. Nevertheless, as a fellow father, we are sorry to hear that the marquis’s daughter was hurt, and we will send the best medicine from our company as a gesture of goodwill.]

The item Marquis Martin included with the letter was a common ointment easily obtainable even for commoners.

“Martin, you scrawny little rat!”

Dad got angry once again.

“Vivian, don’t worry about anything.”

Marquis Martin was of a similar stature to the Marquis de Rosiere.

I nodded confidently, thinking that if I leave it as it is, Father will surely take sufficient revenge. I have to return the favor to those who dare to touch me!

Since that day, rumors often circulated that there were fierce arguments between Rosiere and Marquis Martin during the imperial council meetings.

As Father fought against Marquis Martin, time passed quickly.

“Vivian, hurry up.”

Suddenly, I had to attend the imperial founding anniversary banquet that was approaching.

At my mother’s urging, I boarded a carriage adorned in blue decorations. As everyone got on, the carriage door closed, and soon the carriage started running on the road leading to the palace.

I lightly touched the curtains of the carriage with my fingers. I could now see the street where the sun was just setting.

“Vivian, it seems like you’re still not feeling well, right? Your face is red.”

My mother, who was in the carriage with me, examined my complexion with a worried expression.

Father was in the carriage right in front, riding with my older brother.

My sister-in-law, who was still in postpartum recovery, decided not to attend this event due to her discomfort.

I lowered the curtains and turned my body as I spoke.

“No, I’m fine now. I’m completely okay.”

“Well, that’s a relief, but…”

Her expression still showed concern about my health.

I smiled brightly, trying to convey that I was really quite fine.

However, despite my casual facade, my inner thoughts were chaotic, as if two dozen people were clamoring for my attention all at once.

‘I will see Kyle today.’

Just the thought of it made my heart beat faster.