This place wasn’t geographically important at all. Its only pride was its well-preserved nature and beautiful scenery. For the Emperor to visit such an insignificant place three times a year was no ordinary matter.

Beautiful nature. A leisurely life. The former Emperor had come here seeking such things. Though His Majesty the Emperor often invited the former Emperor to visit the capital, the former Emperor was so fond of this place that he hadn’t stepped a single foot outside the fief. In the end, His Majesty the Emperor had visited this place several times to see the former Emperor.

Of course, no one knew that the Emperor had unofficially visited that mansion five or six more times.

♣ ♣ ♣

“Ugh, it’s already winter, and being in the north makes it even colder than the capital.”

Crusis, now a proper twenty-one-year-old young man, said with a grimace. The servant standing nearby, watching carefully, trembled nervously and looked at Elios sitting across from Crusis. Elios sighed.

“It’s fine. His Majesty seems cold, so have more firewood added.”

At Elios’s words, the servant finally bowed his head and immediately left the room. When he returned with an armful of dry firewood and added it to the stove, the large room quickly became warm.

“Can you bear living in this cold place? Akelan is much warmer. And there’s that cozy, comfortable mansion I acquired for you in Akelan some time ago.”

Crusis said, thinking he was tempting Elios.

It’s so cold here, why not return to the imperial capital Akelan?

“This level of cold is just pleasantly cool. Crusis, have you been lacking exercise lately?”

Of course, Elios wasn’t tempted in the slightest. Crusis grumbled. Elios was more concerned about whether it was appropriate for his brother to visit so casually, as if coming to his own home.

“Crusis, why have you come again this time?”

An unavoidably reproachful tone emerged. But Crusis was now someone who shouldn’t leave the imperial palace so frequently. Elios was thinking of persuading Crusis not to come more than once a year from now on.

“Why did I come? It’s your birthday in a few days. Your twenty-third birthday.”

Ah. Elios remembered his birthday date, which he had forgotten. Right. Now that he thought about it, gifts had been pouring in from everywhere recently.

Elios didn’t want a birthday celebration and thought he wasn’t in a position to hold such an event. So he had strongly expressed his wish to spend his future birthdays quietly. But instead of celebrations, porters carrying enormous gifts had been knocking on the mansion door almost every day.

“Still, you shouldn’t come down here too often. Especially officially, you should be more careful. This is already the third time. Bringing all these elaborate processions.”

“This time I deliberately came in such splendor. Shouldn’t I officially visit for your birthday? I did it on purpose to show others how close the former Emperor and the current Emperor are.”

After he put it that way, it was difficult to tell him not to come anymore. So Elios just kept his mouth shut with a worried expression. Crusis shrugged once and clapped his hands. Strong men began carrying large, heavy boxes into the room one after another. It seemed that bringing a splendid procession wasn’t all.

“What is all this?”

Elios asked.

“Do you really need to ask? These are birthday gifts for my precious brother whom I see only about ten times a year, officially and unofficially combined.”

Elios made a troubled expression. But Crusis didn’t bat an eye.

“Crusis. It’s not ‘only about ten times,’ but ‘as many as ten times.'”

For His Majesty the Emperor to visit such an insignificant countryside ten times a year is itself uncommon… Elios added, but Crusis ignored him.

It wasn’t just because today was Elios’s birthday. Crusis brought loads of gifts like this every time he came. When Elios first came down here after abdicating the throne, Crusis had built and gifted him a mansion more magnificent and larger than the lord’s castle. Of course, the lord, who was merely a baron, had no right to speak or complain about what His Majesty the Emperor and the former Emperor did.

Elios had originally intended to live quietly, maintaining a level appropriate to his status, but his life had become excessively luxurious entirely because of Crusis.

Elios couldn’t use even half of what Crusis brought in such abundance. So he converted what remained after his own use into wheat or money to aid the poor or generously distribute during natural disasters. As a result, among the local people, the reputation of the “former Emperor” was higher than that of the lord.

Crusis was born with the qualities of a thorough and meticulous natural leader, but he was excessively devoted only to his brother. He thought that no matter how much he gave and gave, it wasn’t enough. His brother had originally lived enjoying everything, so no matter how abundantly he lived here, it wouldn’t compare to being in the imperial palace in the capital.

“Coming down to the countryside like this and living alone quietly, it’s obvious that people will whisper that you abdicated early because you did something wrong. Still no thought of coming up closer to the capital?”

Elios found Crusis’s words both admirable and touching. But he shook his head.

“I can’t go back there. Besides, I don’t care what people say.”

“That’s your thought. But I can’t stand it. I need to show abundantly how much the current Emperor loves his brother.”

It was three years ago that Elios had ascended to the throne. He had occupied that dizzyingly high position for exactly two years, then immediately abdicated in favor of Crusis.

Of course, he had never intended to become Emperor. But even that didn’t go according to Elios’s wishes. It was because his father had passed away too suddenly. At that time, Crusis was only eighteen, and Elios was twenty.

As the calamity subsided, the rumors surrounding Elios about being hated by God naturally died down. In such a situation, he couldn’t use rumors as an excuse. Above all, no matter how talented Crusis was in politics, they couldn’t suddenly put a child who hadn’t received proper successor education on the throne.

In the end, Elios succeeded his father to the throne. It was a situation he couldn’t avoid.

When he ascended the throne, the ministers advised him to take an empress. It was natural. Once on the throne, he needed an heir. But Elios didn’t take an empress and solved the succession problem in a different way.

That is, he appointed Crusis as his successor. In other words, Crusis became the Crown Prince.

Elios, citing health issues, made it clear in advance that he didn’t intend to remain on the throne for long. Only until everything left in the wake of the calamity was sorted out, and until Crusis was fully mentally prepared to become the next Emperor. Only until then.

Two years. It took exactly two years for Crusis to memorize all books related to imperial studies with his eyes closed. He didn’t lose in any political debate, and several policies he helped draft achieved great success, playing a significant role in relieving the poverty that had intensified during the calamity.

Crusis was called a genius. In fact, he had been studying imperial studies on his own even before becoming the official successor, but even considering that, he was indeed a genius.

When there was no one in Akelan who didn’t know about “Crusis Riman Akelan,” Elios stepped down from the Emperor’s position as if he had been waiting for this moment. Since the Emperor had been hinting at an early abdication to Crusis for some time, the nobles’ reaction wasn’t as chaotic as one might expect.

If asked whether Elios hadn’t governed well during his reign, that wasn’t the case. He too had been revered among the nobles as Crown Prince material since his days as a prince.

He succeeded the former Emperor who had suddenly fallen ill and passed away at an early age. He embraced the empire devastated by the second calamity and achieved rapid recovery in a short time, and excellently defended against foreign invasions that took advantage of the empire’s internal weakness. That alone was enough to be called a wise ruler.

But the smile that many people often cited as his greatest virtue could no longer be seen after he ascended the throne.

He was just like the former Emperor, Ikanel Riman Akelan, in his younger days. Like his father whose laughter had abruptly ceased at some point, Elios too wore such an indifferent expression in everything.

As soon as Crusis came of age, Elios relinquished his position as if he had been waiting. He had no lingering attachments. He just packed a few belongings and immediately went down to the countryside with beautiful scenery. Of course, the excuse was for health recovery.

In reality, few people, including his personal physician, knew that Elios, or “the former Emperor,” had no health problems at all. During the second calamity, after he had not appeared in official settings for a while, saying he was unwell, Elios always looked tired when he reappeared. He seemed precarious, both physically and mentally at his limit. So people believed he was ill.

Within the imperial palace, only Crusis knew exactly why Elios was in such a state.

His brother firmly believed that the dead saint would one day awaken. For Crusis, who had been watching from the side, it was maddening.

Though she was clearly dead as she wasn’t breathing, except for that, she looked as if she were merely sleeping, so Elios couldn’t easily let go of his attachment. No, he seemed to have no intention of letting go at all.

“About the saint’s condition, has there been any change?”

Crusis asked. He knew that the saint was in the best room in this mansion. Previously, Crusis had made the mistake of referring to her as a “corpse” in front of his brother several times. Though his brother tried not to show it, his already gloomy expression had rapidly hardened. Since then, Crusis had always been careful with his words.

‘Still, it would make more sense for the best room to be used by the former Emperor, my brother, rather than someone who shows no sign of waking up.’

Crusis grumbled inwardly.

“I wish there were, but she’s still cruelly just sleeping.”

Elios smiled. With an incredibly awkward expression, he smiled. That was a forced smile. His brother’s smile hadn’t been like that. Crusis regretted asking.

Crusis didn’t believe the saint was “alive.” Like some saints of old, he believed it was a kind of mysterious miracle where the body doesn’t decay after death.