“Ah… Over there.”

Adelia shifted her gaze to where Deon pointed.

Just then, she caught sight of him throwing his sword.

As the sword stuck deep into the ground, a gasp of shock was heard from behind.

She felt the same.

“Is he shattering magic with his strength?”

So, it’s possible.

Seeing the method she had only read about in theory with her own eyes was both baffling and amazing.

While Adelia was astonished by his abnormal brute strength, Ariana happily ran towards him, waving her hand.

“Brother!”

Her cheerful voice echoed across the training ground.

The knights once again stared at the princess with goofy smiles at the sound of her lovely voice.

Lucian turned his head upon hearing the sound.

His gaze gradually moved up to Adelia, who was standing behind Ariana.

Their eyes met, and Lucian quickly turned his head away, then vanished at an incredibly fast speed, too fast to be caught.

Ariana’s hand, which had been waving excitedly, stiffened.

“Brother…?”

Disappointment was heavy in her voice.

Ariana’s shoulders slumped, and her head drooped.

‘This is bad!’

Adelia quickly approached her.

She knelt down, worried Ariana might be hurt and start crying. Thankfully, she wasn’t crying, but her face was gloomy.

She gently stroked her cheek and said,

“Maybe His Highness was so startled because the princess is too pretty. Or perhaps he mistook you for a fairy and got a shock?”

“Tch…”

“Since it’s about time for the court painter to arrive, shall we go to His Majesty?”

She did her best to comfort Ariana.

The sight of her cute mouth coming out to meet them and her cheeks puffed up like a squirrel hiding food was so adorable that it was hard to hold back laughter.

Eventually, the sullen princess made a cute ‘hmph!’ sound and grabbed Adelia’s hand firmly.

She hopped away from the training ground with short legs.

Adelia smiled awkwardly at the firmly sullen princess.

‘This is serious.’

Cute princesses tend to hold grudges for a long time…

* * *

‘Sh*t.’

Lucian quickly left the room.

His face, which had been burning red until just moments ago, calmed down as soon as Adelia was out of sight, though a faint blush remained.

Unlike his cool demeanor, his insides were still ablaze.

— What do you mean? I need to undress to change.

I need to undress… I need to undress… I need to undress…

Lucian hit the wall next to him with a thump.

A fist-sized hole appeared in the smooth wall.

The servants following him quietly shut their mouths.

‘Crossing him means death.’

The experienced servants kept their distance from Lucian.

Thanks to that, his mind was more chaotic.

‘Have I finally lost it?’

He hadn’t left just because he wanted to see Ariana dressed prettily first.

Adelia’s face, looking at him, wouldn’t leave his mind.

That moment when only he was reflected in those blue eyes, and only she was reflected in his red eyes.

Not avoiding his gaze and smiling leisurely at him.

Has he ever been the sole focus of someone’s gaze who wasn’t family?

He suddenly felt breathless. She was terribly enchanting.

‘I’ve seen n*ked women before… This is strange.’

There used to be countless women who entered his room n*ked.

He killed half of them and drove the rest away. Now, no one dares come near.

He thought he felt no emotion towards women’s bodies. If anything, they disgusted him; he never had a positive thought.

But why? Why was she so enchanting when she was barely undressed?

‘I know it’s a joke, but it’s not like me to be flustered.’

Lucian washed his face and moved on.

He knew from the moment she unzipped that she wasn’t undressing to seduce him.

A faint smile played on her lips, hinting at mischief.

Perhaps this is how a fish feels seeing fake bait.

Knowing it’s a trick but still getting caught–it was inevitable.

That’s why he couldn’t stay in that room. If he had stayed, his face would have turned completely red. It was better to leave than show such an unsightly look.

“Let’s go to the training ground.”

He needed to cool down this heat.

Her gaze lingered in his mind, and her voice echoed in his ears.

Lucian quickly turned his steps towards the training ground.

Swinging a sword would cool down the heat.

It was a choice he made to shake off the random thoughts swirling in his head.

He swung his sword.

“Feels better.”

Swinging the sword cleared away random thoughts, allowing sole focus on movement.

Before long, his thoughts of Adelia faded away, and the heat of the hot sun filled his body.

But this nagging feeling remained unresolved.

Lucian threw the sword in a fit of anger. The sword stuck to the ground with a loud noise.

“Gasp!”

The knights around, without exception, covered their mouths.

The training ground for the imperial family was protected by magic. The floor was no exception.

It was a sight unseen anywhere else for a casually thrown sword to pierce through the protective magic and stick into the ground.

“Sigh…”

Lucian ran his hand through his hair, damp with sweat.

The light shirt he wore clung tightly to his well-defined muscles due to the sweat.

He flapped the collar to shake off the heat.

Then.

“Brother!”

He heard a familiar voice. His lovely sister, Ariana.

Lucian quickly turned his head.

His gaze did not linger on the princess for long. Because next to her stood Adelia, who brought warmth to him.

His mind made a swift decision.

Let’s get out of here first.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

He murmured softly and hurriedly left the spot.

At that moment, his decision excluded Ariana. It was a decision made solely considering himself and Adelia.

He realized this only after he had reached his room.

“Ariana…”

For Lucian, who had lived as the crown prince since birth, emotions were not a priority.

As with the emperors before him.

As his father did.

The utmost priority was the empire and the honor of the imperial family.

It was a given that the youngest and most delicate Ariana was important in personal matters.

But just now, he acted impulsively.

He should have hugged Ariana, who ran towards him in her pretty dress.

He should have complimented her on how well her dress suited her.

‘Why did I run away?’

Was it because he felt awkward meeting Adelia? Or because he felt dizzy from the overlapping heat?

Lucian could not answer his own question.

In the end, he left it as just an impulsive day.

The realization of this day’s emotions would come in a story of the future.

* * *

Exactly a week. Ariana’s pout was resolved after a week.

Lucian had bent over backward from day one, but her anger towards her brother, who ignored her and left, was not easily resolved.

Eventually, after numerous gifts and sincere apologies, he was barely forgiven.

“Ah… It’s so relaxing.”

The biggest beneficiary during that week was none other than Adelia.

With Ariana avoiding Lucian and roaming around here and there, the guests coming to her room had completely stopped.

“Being busy is good, but the quiet is not bad either.”

Adelia muttered as she sat at her desk.

The desk, previously piled with documents, was now neatly cleared.

She had finished all the backlog of trade work and inner palace work.

“It’s about time to start making artifacts.”

Adelia took out a box she had kept in the drawer.

Inside were four red gems.

These were magic stones processed from the heart of a black lion, brought back by Kai from his travels.

Adelia took out one of the gems and held it up to the sunlight. The gem emitted a red light upon receiving light.

Though it contained no magic yet, she planned to spend time engraving white magic into it.

“Maybe I should look for some reference books in the library.”

Even if there were no books on white magic, there should be some on artifacts.

It was the imperial library, known to have the most books. It would be helpful in making more intricate artifacts.

She headed to the library with only Gina, a maid she brought from her territory.

“Gina, I will be spending time in the library today, so could you come back around dinner time?”

“Yes! Understood.”

After sending Gina off, Adelia entered the library.

A building so tall that one had to tilt their head back to barely see the ceiling was entirely the library.

Inside the massive interior that spanned several floors, books were packed tightly together.

Following the guide written on the bookshelves, she moved towards where the magic books were located.

“Incredible…”

The imperial library was incomparable to any other place.

There were more than three bookshelves filled with books related to artifacts alone.

The bookshelves were taller than Adelia and wider than if she stretched out her arms.

She carefully chose books and settled by a window.

On one side, she placed blank papers, and on the other, books to find necessary information.

“Defense and healing are basics.”

Adelia muttered as she tapped on a book.

Engraving multiple magics into one artifact would make the magic formula very complex.

There were magics that could not coexist and others that amplified effects when together.