She gave herself mental slaps and stood on the balcony. The moment she looked at the sky, an exclamation burst out without her knowing.

“Wow.”

Colorful fireworks were bursting in the sky.

When was the last time she had seen fireworks?

As ‘Alix,’ she had seen them last year too, but now that she was conscious of her past life memories, it felt distant.

In her past life during her dating days, she had often seen fireworks. She had even received a proposal while watching fireworks at the Han River. Moved by the words that he wanted to watch these fireworks with her for life, she had immediately shouted okay, but the reality was different. A busy husband, life in an unfamiliar region, being overwhelmed with taking care of in-laws—what fireworks, even going out was difficult.

Stars of various colors began embroidering the night sky. They shone like lightning and faded like cherry blossoms. As she rubbed her slightly numbed ears, she suddenly became conscious of the man standing beside her. The moment she turned her head, she saw his face fixed toward her.

Their gazes met and tangled in the air.

She could instinctively tell. His gaze wasn’t directed at the brilliant fireworks.

For some unknown reason, that gaze that would be painfully intense was fixed on her.

Her heart momentarily raced at a gaze she was receiving for the first time. She had thought the romance brought by fireworks had long been worn away by the storms of reality. Why was this flutter suddenly visiting her here, standing with this nameless stranger?

Thump. Thump.

The roar of fireworks and people’s cheers faded distantly. It seemed she could only hear the sound of her heartbeat.

The man’s lips beneath the white mask drew a crescent-like arc. What would his appearance above that handsome jawline be like? She was curious about the face hidden by the mask. Without knowing it, her hand moved toward his mask.

The moment her hand touched the intricately engraved pattern of the mask, the man’s hand caught hers. Before she could even recognize what was happening, the man took her hand and untied the string fixed behind his head.

The mask fell with a thud. At that moment, her heart fell with it too.

“I was planning to reveal it a bit later, but…… if you’re curious, I should show you in advance.”

She muttered in shock.

“……Your Grace?”

When the man removed his golden wig, blue-black hair spilled out. Even in the dark night, it was a mysterious color that stood out clearly from the surroundings. He smiled wickedly.

“Let me formally introduce myself again. I’m delighted to meet you again, Alix.”

She just gaped. What filled her mind was bewilderment. Whether he knew her feelings or not, Grand Duke Nicerion answered calmly.

“You said it was burdensome for other people’s gazes to focus on you because of me, so I came in a way that no one would know it was me.”

***

About 3 hours earlier.

The empire’s crown prince, Julian, frowned slightly. Usually, dozens or hundreds of people would have rushed over, making a fuss the moment wrinkles appeared on his brow. However, the fellow in front of him at that time showed no sign of caring at all.

The second most noble person in the empire, the crown prince, had personally descended prepared to have his b*ttocks ache, riding not the cedarwood carriage with the imperial crest that he usually rode, but a commercial carriage, yet the reaction was not just lukewarm but cold.

Though it was autumn, he had come wearing a robe over the night air that still retained moisture and heat. If it had been any other ordinary noble, they would have rubbed their hands until their fingerprints wore away, bowing their heads in reverence and still having more to spare.

Well, this fellow was the strange one with firm opinions in odd places, who had refused even the precious imperial palace quarters, saying it was more comfortable to stay in a mansion under his subordinate’s name than to be in the imperial palace. He shouldn’t expect ordinary reactions.

Having changed his thinking, the crown prince looked over the young grand duke before him. What business brought this expensive body, who wouldn’t even spit toward the capital under normal circumstances, to hover around the imperial capital as if honey had been smeared on it? The eyes of a young lion seeking prey gleamed.

“Why didn’t you attend the founding celebration banquet?”

At the crown prince’s probing question, Lysander raised one eyebrow.

“Did I have to?”

“No, it was better that you didn’t come.”

The crown prince looked at Lysander with a chuckle. The rising war hero, Grand Duke Nicerion. A person who would become everyone’s topic of conversation if he came to the founding celebration banquet.

That’s precisely why he shouldn’t have come.

It seemed contradictory at first glance. However, considering the emperor’s pettiness in calling Lysander to the imperial capital under the pretext of receiving direct reports from the war commander-in-chief and not giving him even the slightest hint, there would be nothing good about standing out. The crown prince spat out mockingly.

“Father seems to hate new heroes being highlighted quite a bit.”

The crown prince smiled bitterly. His father, the emperor, had deliberately recalled the commander-in-chief who was fighting well and temporarily dispatched Duke Este, the crown prince’s most powerful ally, to that position. Yet he hadn’t even created a place to honor the commander-in-chief he had bothered to call to the imperial capital, even as a courtesy.

It was a measure to both limit the achievements of Grand Duke Nicerion, who was defeating the enemy faster than expected, and to keep Duke Este, the crown prince’s uncle, in check. In other words, an act to reduce the power of the empress and crown prince. Duke Este was also a rival to Duke Picart, whom the emperor had been favoring lately.

Such paranoid pettiness, being wary of even his wife who had shared his bed for decades and his own son. The crown prince puffed out one cheek. Sharp gray-blue eyes blinked between the black hair hanging beneath the robe. At least his appearance resembled the then young emperor and was handsome.

Sometimes he felt goosebumps when he saw traces of the emperor in the mirror, but the crown prince decided to think of even this as protective coloring he was lucky to be born with, judging that without it, the emperor would likely rant that he wasn’t his real son.

In any case, what he couldn’t understand in the midst of all this was the grand duke’s behavior before him.

This young grand duke, three or four years younger than the crown prince, had deliberately obeyed the emperor’s strange command. No matter how much the emperor called, he could have refused to come by making excuses about being at war. Of course, he would have to be prepared to antagonize the emperor, but if the northern conflict became prolonged anyway, it would be the emperor’s side that would end up pleading.

The grand duke had treated the imperial capital like sh*t to such an extent that there were rumors that the grand duke’s castle used the countless invitations sent by various factions trying to recruit the grand duke as firewood instead. A person who wouldn’t even set foot toward the capital had now come to the capital because of an imperial command? Something felt fishy.

Ah, perhaps. The crown prince glanced at Lysander’s empty wrist. In old tales, noble ladies used to tie handkerchiefs on the wrists of knights who had dedicated honor to them. The crown prince’s eyes gleamed mischievously.

“By the way, I’ve been hearing here and there that you’ve finally taken a noble lady under your care. Will we soon be able to see the mistress of the grand duchy?”

The crown prince asked subtly. Lysander’s face stiffened slightly. Well, look at that. Feeling like he had landed a blow on that stone, the crown prince laughed pleasantly.

“The Nicerion grand ducal family is like sworn brothers to the imperial family. If a grand duchess comes in, wouldn’t she be like a new family member to me soon?”

“What are you talking about?”

The crown prince, who had been rolling around the court’s deadly political arena since childhood, couldn’t have missed the agitation mixed into Lysander’s low voice.

“Come now, tell me. That lady you’re serving…… was it Miss Victoire?”

Grand Duke Nicerion’s eyes flashed dangerously. He muttered something low and fast. Something about that aide bastard, security, and taking care of whoever heard it first seemed to be heard. Well, surely he wouldn’t take care of the crown prince. The crown prince smiled wickedly.

“Introduce her to me soon.”

“No.”

At the sharp refusal, the crown prince’s lips twisted.

“Come now, I’m just saying let me meet her. Does introducing her wear you out?”

“It does.”

At the concise answer, the crown prince was at a loss for words. The crown prince, who had just been gaping for a moment, barely managed to open his mouth.

“How disappointing. Even though I’m the one who will inherit the next throne? I’ll be your future lord.”

“You’re not right now, are you?”

At the sharp refusal, the crown prince fell silent for a moment. While any ordinary noble would act as if they’d give him their liver for the emperor’s only legitimate son, Grand Duke Nicerion seemed to not care at all that he was the crown prince.

“Ah, surely you’re not…… worried that the lady might fall for me? Of course, I do receive excessive love from ladies, but you know I’m devoted only to my consort.”

Feeling Grand Duke Nicerion looking at him with incredulous eyes, the crown prince deliberately laughed frivolously. Though he passed it off with jest, the bitterness like swallowing bile couldn’t be helped.

This master of the north still didn’t acknowledge him as his lord. Though he hadn’t had high expectations, it was disappointing.

In a situation where the emperor was showing sudden whims and threatening him, if he could gain the grand duke’s support, smooth succession without disturbance would be possible……