Lucian stroked her hair with a regretful expression. The sensation of her soft hair wrapping around his fingers felt nice.

Lucian took a deep breath. Adelia’s sweet scent enveloped his entire body. This was how he consoled his regret.

“Good night, wife.”

Lucian straightened up and lifted her hair. He lightly pressed his lips to it.

A soft kissing sound echoed in the quiet room.

At that sound, Adelia’s neck turned bright red as she hung her head low.

Lucian released her with a satisfied expression.

“See you tomorrow!”

Adelia rushed out of the room, forgetting her manners. Seeing the unusually bewitching Lucian today made her stomach flutter and she couldn’t hide her burning face.

When she disappeared, having concealed herself with magic, Lucian let out a small gasp and placed his hand on the door where Adelia had been leaning.

He wanted to grasp even the tiniest bit of warmth. Though no warmth remained on the wooden door, Lucian slumped down in his spot while stroking the door.

“Haha…… I’m going crazy.”

Just for a moment. Just holding Adelia in his arms gave him such a rich feeling. His body felt languid and heated up. Yet at the same time, energy overflowed steadily.

What would it be like to hold her completely?

Just imagining it briefly made a faint smile spread across Lucian’s lips.

“I should go see Father.”

Lucian put on the jacket that was draped over the chair.

The person who knew love best was his father. Without hesitation, Lucian headed to the Emperor, having witnessed firsthand the love story that still lingered on the imperial citizens’ lips even after all this time.

* * *

The Emperor was enjoying a rare moment of relaxation, having a light drink alone. He sat languidly, sipping his drink while looking at the Empress’s portrait hanging in the middle of the bedroom.

“If you were here, would you have praised me?”

All the stories circulating in the imperial palace reached the Emperor’s ears. He even knew about Adelia searching for Lucian all day while Lucian ran away.

When Lucian didn’t show up for the evening banquet that he had never missed before, the Emperor was certain.

“As you wished, our son has learned about love. Though he seems to be struggling like I did, I think it will end soon.”

Just like he had done. Denying the unfamiliar emotion and avoiding her before finally becoming aware of love.

The Emperor stroked his long hair and smiled comfortably.

Swirling the glass half-full of strong liquor, he whispered quietly to his love.

At that moment, a familiar presence was felt outside. The Emperor put down his glass and said.

“Come in, Lucian.”

Soon after, the door opened and Lucian entered with a slight bow.

The Emperor picked up an empty glass beside him and nodded slightly.

“Sit down, would you like a drink?”

“Yes……”

Lucian nodded and sat across from the Emperor.

The Emperor handed him the empty glass. When he took the glass the Emperor offered, the Emperor filled it to the brim with strong liquor from the bottle.

Lucian’s eyes wavered slightly at the glass full of strong liquor without any ice. But he downed that drink in one go.

“So. Have you realized your feelings now?”

“Cough cough! Father, how did you……”

Lucian coughed heavily in great surprise at the Emperor’s words. His breathing became momentarily irregular.

When Lucian asked back with round eyes, the Emperor laughed heartily while raising his glass.

“It’s written all over your face. That you love her.”

Saying that, the Emperor took a sip of his drink with a mischievous smile.

“Father……”

Lucian rubbed his face dry and ran his fingers through his hair. His drooping eyes were visible between his fingers.

Seeing his son’s anxious face, the Emperor chuckled.

“I’m joking. I just guessed because you’re walking the same path I did.”

The Emperor lifted the corners of his mouth slightly.

People say Lawrence takes after the Empress with his playful nature, but looking closely, he was identical to the Emperor.

Even the way they lifted the corners of their mouth and raised their eyebrows while scheming was exactly the same.

Realizing the Emperor was teasing him, Lucian pressed his forehead with his interlocked hands.

“I’m serious, Father.”

“I can see you’re serious without you saying so. But sometimes you shouldn’t be serious. Have another drink.”

The Emperor spoke casually while pouring whiskey into the glass. The whiskey that barely didn’t overflow sparkled as it caught the light in the glass.

Lucian reluctantly raised that glass. He gulped down the whiskey without spilling a single drop.

Lucian put down the half-empty glass and rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand.

“You speak as if you know why I came.”

“How would I know that? It’s just from experience. Though you might think you can do anything with thorough preparation and planning, love doesn’t flow as you want it, so being so serious won’t help.”

The Emperor leaned back on the sofa. He took a sip of his drink in a crooked position, crossing his long legs and hanging one hand over the backrest.

The story with Ariel, his first and last love, wasn’t as beautiful as what was known to the public. Rather, it was messy. Though the Emperor wasn’t ashamed of their love in any form, he had kept quiet because people said Ariel lowered the Emperor’s dignity. He had hidden the messy stories even from his children.

But for his son’s love, the Emperor was willing to bring out even those messy love stories.

“So that’s why you came to me tonight?”

“……”

The Emperor asked while nodding his head.

Lucian hesitated to speak for a moment. Though he had come seeking advice about love, his face burned at the thought of saying it out loud.

Once he realized it, the name of the emotion swelled up in the blink of an eye and took over his entire being. Because his love for Adelia was greater than his embarrassment, Lucian opened his mouth.

“I want to keep Adelia by my side. Not as a relationship bound by contract, but I sincerely want her to stay by my side. What should I do to bind her?”

“That’s a very simple matter.”

“Pardon?”

“You already have sincere feelings for her, so you just need to turn her heart around.”

“I don’t know how. How to make her turn her heart……”

“Since everyone has different eyes for love, I can’t give you a definite answer. But Ariel, your mother, said she liked my face.”

The Emperor spoke while recalling memories. Though he had experienced passionate love, he had only met one woman, so he couldn’t generalize about women.

He could only relate his own experiences.

“Your face?”

“Yes, though I offered her flowers, jewels, and expensive things, she said she fell for my face.”

“Face……”

Lucian listened to the Emperor’s words with a skeptical expression. As someone who hadn’t fallen for Adelia’s face, it was incomprehensible, but he had to pay attention since it was about his mother.

“She said even though my personality was terrible, looking at my face made her feel it wouldn’t be bad to live together. I grew my hair this long because your mother said she liked it.”

“…… Would someone as calculating as Adelia fall for a face?”

“Are you and I just decent-looking? You take after me with an outstanding face, so it won’t be ineffective.”

The Emperor said proudly while lifting the corners of his mouth.

Whether subjectively or objectively, the imperial family’s beauty was never lacking anywhere. Rather, their faces made surrounding men look like ugly potatoes.

When the Emperor was courting Ariel, no matter how much he appealed with money and power, she didn’t budge. But when he changed tactics and used his looks, she fell completely.

Later she came to love everything about him, but it definitely started with his face.

“Isn’t there another way?”

“Think about it. Taking after me, you have a bad personality, and though you have money and power, she has those too. What’s left is your face. I gave you good looks, so use them actively.”

Lucian was lost for words at the Emperor’s too objective assessment.

He had long known his personality was bad. He thought it was fine since he had treated Adelia respectfully, but he realized that wasn’t exactly an advantage.

Moreover, since Adelia wasn’t lacking in money or power, his face really was all he had.

Lucian stroked his face with a serious expression.

“Will she fall for it?”

“Your mother fell for my face. Of course, don’t forget to be gentle and courteous. Don’t think you’re deceiving her since it’s not your nature. Being gentle and courteous to someone you love is natural.”

“I understand.”

Lucian took all the Emperor’s words to heart.

After being lost in thought for a moment, Lucian opened his mouth.

“Why did you love Mother?”

“I’ve told you occasionally, haven’t I? Your mother was the only one who approached me without prejudice. Though I was sent to the academy almost like being expelled for not meeting the Emperor’s approval, no one approached me just because I was from the imperial family. But Ariel was the only one who greeted me as a classmate. That’s how I fell for her.”

“I feel that’s not everything.”

“You’ve become sharp now that you’ve realized love. You’re right, that’s not all. On the day of the academy festival, I ran into Ariel in an alley. She was surrounded by men at the time, and I was going to just pass by, but I faintly heard something that stopped me.”

The Emperor chuckled while reminiscing about that time.

When he told this story to Ariel, she laughed and earnestly asked him never to tell anyone else.