Derek, already exhausted, started getting irritated as even the Crown Prince acted like a child. 

Moreover, the attendants glaring daggers at the knights while still treating him like the Crown Prince grated on his nerves. 

This was why he hated territorial inspections. 

Derek swept his gaze over the attendants standing behind them, then turned his head back to the Crown Prince.

“If you really want to do this, use a wooden sword. I can’t allow real swords against Your Highness.”

“But…”

“Or you can leave.”

Derek, who’d been trying to persuade the Crown Prince to leave, looked at the attendants standing like shadows beside him. Still that haughty expression. 

Though he wanted to just send the Crown Prince away, Derek sided with the Crown Prince because he disliked the attendants who’d looked displeased throughout the entire territorial inspection. Sure enough, their expressions twisted even more at his words.

The Crown Prince, dissatisfied with the instruction to use wooden swords, seemed to realize he wouldn’t get to do anything if he refused further and quickly put away his real sword and grabbed a wooden one. The arena stirred again.

However, unlike the difficulty in starting, the sparring ended anticlimactically. Even the knights who’d said it was an honor to spar with the Crown Prince couldn’t hide their bewilderment. In the end, Derek had to wrap things up tactfully.

There was no way the Crown Prince, who’d only recently begun formal heir training, could win against well-trained knights in sparring. Perhaps knowing this himself, the Crown Prince smiled bitterly after the sparring ended. Derek found his expression somewhat puzzling.

“Why aren’t you satisfied after throwing such a tantrum?”

“A tantrum? Isn’t that too blatantly treating me like a child, Duke?”

“I mean you’re doing something that doesn’t suit you. You don’t even like martial arts normally.”

“…”

The Crown Prince wiped his sweat with a towel an attendant handed him, put away the wooden sword, greeted the knights, and left the training grounds again. 

When Derek, following behind, asked, the Crown Prince chose his words for a moment before answering slowly.

“I thought I needed to show them something, whatever it was.”

“…”

“They say they came along to help me, but they’re essentially my watchers.”

“…”

“In the end, it would’ve been better not to do it at all. I was too arrogant. There’s no way I could beat knights.”

Derek, moving back to the main castle with him, swallowed a low sigh at the Crown Prince’s true feelings. He’d seemed fine, smiling and cheerful all this time, but apparently the duties weighing on him weren’t light at all.

Then which side should he take in this moment? Derek’s head hurt.

“Your Highness needs to understand your position first.”

“I know my position well enough.”

“I don’t mean you don’t know you’re the Crown Prince. I mean you should understand what you can do in this situation, what you can’t do, and what you must do.”

“…”

“Just jumping in without thinking isn’t the answer. On the battlefield, that gets your head cut off.”

“…”

“Aren’t you essentially in the middle of a battlefield right now?”

After deliberating, Derek ultimately conveyed his honest thoughts to the Crown Prince without hiding them. 

In truth, he wanted to distance himself from the Crown Prince as much as possible, but this young and naive Crown Prince seemed to cleverly draw him to his side. 

Of course, he didn’t have a brilliant enough mind to calculate all that, but it was true that Derek felt uneasy every time he found himself giving him advice.

He wasn’t supposed to get entangled with this person like this. Derek even regretted his past self.

“Are you really not considering coming to the capital?”

The Crown Prince, who’d been silently listening to his words, suddenly stopped walking and looked at Derek. When Derek also stopped to match him, their eyes met—the gloomy expression gone, replaced by a stiff face staring at him.

“My answer is always the same.”

“Reconsider.”

“I’ll think the same even if I reconsider.”

“How can you refuse before even knowing what I’ll propose?”

“You want me to become your ally, don’t you?”

“Do you dislike that?”

“Yes. I dislike it.”

“Why? Because I’m incompetent? A worthless Crown Prince in name only?”

Occasionally, the Crown Prince would get excited like he’d lost his reason. The bitter look quickly disappeared, and his gaze became persistent, like he’d pierce through Derek. 

It seemed to say the smiling, good-natured Crown Prince wasn’t his true self, and Derek always found that face irritating.

This time was no different. Looking at his stiff face, Derek began suspecting whether the previous conversation and the incident at the training grounds had been lies fabricated to win him over. 

Even though he knew the Crown Prince wasn’t quick-witted enough to use such tricks. Derek thought if he weren’t the Crown Prince, he wouldn’t keep him close.

“Sylvester Territory is close to the Land of Fire.”

“…”

“You wouldn’t tell me to abandon my people with that land right before us, would you, Crown Prince Alburn Idha?”

Derek also stopped lightly deflecting him. This child kept throwing tantrums, consumed by the anxiety strangling him.

Though of commoner origin, he was a proper Crown Prince. Derek knew the nobles surrounding him still disapproved, but that was something that would improve with time. 

As long as the Emperor supported him, no noble would rebel. Yet he was drowning in this situation itself, unable to be rational.

Derek knew he still had a long way to go, but even he had limits to tolerating these constant provocations. While it was right to support the Crown Prince for the country, he had absolutely no intention of entering the central government. 

He was sure he’d told the Crown Prince this repeatedly, yet seeing him still like this, Derek’s irritation rose.

“I should pray to the gods for someone capable enough to replace you to appear.”

“I’ll cheer for that.”

Fortunately, the Crown Prince, who seemed ready to throw another tantrum, backed down. Derek let out a hollow laugh watching the Crown Prince, who’d been glaring fiercely at him one moment, coldly turn his head and go his own way the next.

Derek hoped the Crown Prince’s party would leave as soon as possible.

* * *

The inspection party’s schedule, which had felt so long, finally ended. Etia, who’d grown increasingly worried as temperatures kept dropping, felt relieved at the news they’d soon leave.

Given her personality of naturally disliking crowds, the past few weeks had been quite an exhausting series of days. Moreover, with the incident with Derek on top of that, she just wanted to quickly regain her quiet daily life. 

Fortunately, whether the Crown Prince had some change of heart, the schedule moved up slightly, and the quiet daily life she wanted arrived faster than expected.

“When the season changes, please visit the capital. I’m planning a grand banquet, so I’d be truly delighted if you attended.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“I wasn’t talking to the Duke, but to my lady.”

“My wife also says she’ll think about it.”

“My lady hasn’t said anything, so what kind of nonsense is that?”

However, just before the Crown Prince left, Etia felt only torment, unlike her comfortable feelings. Though their relationship had seemed quite good, the Crown Prince she met in the morning looked somehow sulky, and Derek was the same.

“What are two grown men doing right now?”

Etia thought something must have happened between them, but felt somewhat absurd. They should resolve their own issues—why were they having a power struggle with her in the middle? Etia, who’d just come out to see them off, found all her embarrassment about facing Derek after the unexpected atmosphere completely vanished.

She smiled while answering, trying not to show her bewilderment as much as possible.

“It’s an unparalleled honor that Your Highness invites us. But as you know, the lord is so busy that I cannot give you an immediate answer. Please understand. If circumstances allow, we’ll definitely come.”

At Etia’s calm answer, both men’s gazes immediately turned to her. Though Etia was smiling at the Crown Prince, she felt like she could see Derek’s gaze falling from above her head. 

But with the Crown Prince standing firmly in front, she couldn’t turn her head. Moreover, the Crown Prince also seemed displeased with her answer, his expression stiffening slightly before forcing an awkward smile.

“Haha, when you put it that way, I can’t say anything more.”

“I apologize.”

“No. I’m not forcing you to come. I just wanted to see you both again.”

However, having no intention of discussing it further, the Crown Prince turned his back after those words. 

Following him past the luggage wagons toward the Crown Prince’s horse, Etia glanced sideways at Derek. Still expressionless, but since he always wore that expression, it was difficult to grasp what he was thinking.

“Stay healthy.”

“Travel safely.”

After somewhat curt farewells, the Crown Prince mounted his horse. With him at the center, many people filed out of the castle, and like a storm had passed, the castle grew quiet again. 

Sylvester Castle had always been this quiet, yet feeling crowded for just a short while made it feel quite strange.

“Let’s go inside too.”

Etia, who’d been watching until they became dots, turned her head at Derek’s voice. Derek, still with an unreadable expression, was looking down at her, and the two silently met eyes for a moment.

While facing each other like that, Etia felt a strange sensation, though it was fleeting. A strange feeling that made even the surrounding scenery feel unfamiliar.

Somehow, this man seemed more suited to leaving with that party. Because his appearance when she’d last seen him two years ago hadn’t been much different from theirs.

Yet today, this man didn’t leave like them but remained beside Etia. He’d even suggested going inside together. Etia found that disconnect so strange she couldn’t tear her gaze from him.

Even as wind swept between them and tickled her cheeks, Etia didn’t turn her head. She still thought his deep blue eyes looked like the bottom of an abyss.

And Derek also didn’t turn his head from Etia.

“It’s cold. Let’s go in.”

“…Yes.”

After standing like that briefly, the two moved toward the main castle a bit late. Etia pulled her thick shawl tighter and followed behind Derek. 

Derek, who was walking ahead, kept turning back to check on Etia. Each time their gazes met, Etia felt even stranger.

This winter would probably flow completely differently from her expectations. That’s what Etia thought.