Frederick called out to Roshan, almost shouting, with his head completely bowed to the floor. Roshan looked at him indifferently.

“I am different from that traitor.”

Frederick seemed to understand why Roshan had said such things to him. Normally, according to his thoughts, he should have felt indignant first when Roshan compared him to his foolish sister. But the first emotions he felt were anxiety and guilt at being discovered. Therefore, Frederick continued speaking, affirming to himself.

“I will never betray Your Highness over trivial emotions. Please believe me.”

Roshan showed no reaction to Frederick’s words for a while. Then, looking out the window again, he muttered.

“Right. You’re not that kind of person. That’s why I entrusted you with this task.”

It was a statement of trust. But strangely, rather than relief or a sense that all was well, an inexplicable regret suddenly emerged.

Frederick realized that a certain emotion in one corner of his heart that had almost bloomed would never see the light of day. But Frederick couldn’t say anything other than expressing gratitude to his lord who had trusted his loyalty.

“Thank you for your trust.”

As he bowed his head deeply in gratitude, Roshan waved his hand. It meant he could leave now.

Frederick stood up, bowed deeply once more, and withdrew from Roshan’s presence. Roshan didn’t cast a single glance at Frederick even as he left. Instead, he was just deeply pondering something.

After a long while, the outside had already grown dimly bright. And just as a ray of sunlight illuminated the very corner of the curtain, someone knocked.

Despite the very early hour, Roshan told them to enter. Then a man with glasses reflecting the sunlight entered with a stiff face. After lightly paying his respects, he reported to Roshan with a serious expression.

“Just take her as you please.”

* * *

James couldn’t understand his lord at all. To behave like this because of just one woman. He didn’t seem like the lord he had served all his life.

‘Not just anyone, but Sir Frederick. To treat a close aide who has been with him for over 10 years like that. And all because of just one woman!’

James didn’t get along well with Frederick. But that didn’t mean he looked down on or ignored him. The loyalty Frederick had shown over the past 10 years was admirable.

But his lord had made Frederick kneel and reprimanded him. Since Frederick kept his mouth shut, James couldn’t know what conversation had passed between the two, but James could guess the situation inside from Frederick’s creased knees and gloomy expression.

“I heard you broke Sir Frederick’s arm on the way back to the Empire.”

James, who had approached Roshan with faster steps than usual, spoke with his head held high. Roshan looked at him indifferently and then sat more comfortably in his chair.

Roshan’s face shone coldly in the bluish dawn light. James flinched for a moment but swallowed once and continued speaking.

“……And this time, you made him kneel for hours.”

“……”

“Sir Frederick is Your Highness’s loyal servant. Please consider the past 10 years you’ve spent together.”

His resolute voice flared up. But as if the heat didn’t reach him at all, Roshan remained cold. He slightly raised his sharply defined jaw while rubbing his forehead, and then bluntly said as if annoyed,

“What are you trying to say?”

“I dare say that Your Highness is making a wrong choice.”

“……”

“The princess is very beautiful. There was no shortage of whispers saying she was worth starting a war over. So I can understand if Your Highness is momentarily captivated.”

“……”

“But she is just a prisoner and merely a woman. She has no value beyond that.”

“……”

“So just take her as you please. If you take her as you wish, you’ll surely realize. That she’s just a wench.”

James poured out his words as if he had been waiting for this moment. Roshan listened to his words without any change in expression, but at the end, he raised his eyebrows very slightly. He silently mouthed the word “wench” and then lowered the arm that had been supporting his forehead onto the armrest of the chair.

“James. I’m quite lenient with you. You know that too, right?”

It wasn’t a loud voice, but when Roshan asked that question, James froze like a mouse in front of a snake. Those red eyes scanned James’s face and then reached his neck below.

“Why do you think I’m lenient with you?”

It felt like a sharp sword had touched his neck. Unable to open his mouth, James thought about what he possessed. He had been more enthusiastic than anyone around his lord about his ascension to the throne and had done more work than anyone else. Moreover, his relationship with his lord spanned well over 20 years.

Roshan stared at James, who couldn’t make a sound. Then, with a face that seemed to have read all his thoughts, he said.

“You seem to be mistaken…… It’s not because you’ve been by my side for a long time or because you’re very useful.”

“……”

“You are Liz’s son.”

“……”

“That’s the only reason I’m lenient with you. There is no other reason.”

Thud. James clenched his hands as he felt his heart drop. Liz. It was the name of his mother that he hadn’t spoken for a long time.

‘I……”

The mother James remembered was a useless woman who did nothing but cry every day. If she had any worth at all, it was as Lord Roshan’s wet nurse—and in her final moments, when she died taking an assassin’s knife in his place. So Roshan’s words came as a heavy shock to James.

‘Just because I’m that woman’s son……’

It was a known fact, even among his close aides and especially to James himself, that Roshan was generous to James. Roshan usually followed James’s wishes and, despite showing annoyance, would somewhat agree to his requests.

Until now, James had attributed this to his abilities and the time he had spent with Roshan. But Roshan said that wasn’t the case and attached the name of the mother James had thought useless as the reason for his leniency.

‘……I received special treatment?’

He even felt insulted. It was as if he had become a completely useless human being.

“You may go now. Don’t you have a lot to do?”

Roshan dismissed James, who was trembling with dismay. James looked at Roshan with a somewhat resentful face but soon bowed politely and turned to leave. However, the look in his eyes at the last moment seemed dangerously sinister.

Roshan, who had already shifted his gaze from James, didn’t see this as he was lost in thought. His face, tapping the armrest with his fingers, appeared expressionless at first glance, but his eyes showed a strange vitality unlike before.

“Wench.”

Roshan tried pronouncing the word that had been grating on his nerves. Then he recalled the white, slender neck and pale face of the woman who had flailed in his arms before collapsing yesterday. It was a precarious appearance that seemed like it would vanish at any moment, but at the same time, it somehow made his mouth go dry. He stopped tapping the armrest with his tingling hand.

“Just a wench…… That’s not wrong.”

He felt the impulse to bring the princess of Sedas, now a prisoner, to his bedroom, as James had suggested. If he did so, he wouldn’t have to utter troublesome words to his subordinates about this inexplicable feeling that bothered him.

But for a moment, the clear sound of beads colliding rang in his ears. At the same time, the warmth and sensation he had felt when placing the beads in the princess’s hand revived. Roshan narrowed his eyes as he clenched and unclenched his hand a couple of times.

The impulsive l*st for the princess remained. But the desire to stay hidden enveloped and concealed him. A whim he couldn’t control himself. Roshan muttered with his eyes closed.

“……I can watch a little longer.”

* * *

Unlike the Central Palace with its overflowing golden splendor, the Ivory Palace right behind it was the epitome of elegance and splendor. From the columns and walls to even the ceilings inside the building, there were carvings and various art pieces that were clearly the work of master craftsmen, as well as a spacious glass greenhouse where flowers bloomed all year round. People visiting this place for the first time couldn’t close their mouths at its beauty, different from that of the Central Palace.

And the master of the Ivory Palace held a status worthy of possessing it all. The second most noble person in the Vistius Empire after the emperor. The highest and foremost among the women of the Empire was Empress Liliana.

“Your Majesty the Empress grows more beautiful day by day.”

“Indeed. Even during her days as a duke’s daughter, she stole the hearts of many young men…… Hoho.”

Liliana’s appearance was also not lacking to be the owner of the Ivory Palace. With her rare pink vibrant hair, round olive-colored eyes, slender body, and an inimitable pure atmosphere, she looked like a precious flower in bloom.

“That’s an old story…… All of you, please stop. You’re making me embarrassed.”

Even her voice, as she tried to discourage the compliments, was gentle and soft. But the ladies around her continued their shower of praise for the powerful figure, encouraged by Liliana’s faintly hanging smile.

“Speaking of which, I heard His Highness the Crown Prince has been staying only in the palace these days?”

Someone suddenly shifted the topic to Roshan. It wasn’t particularly strange since Roshan was currently receiving the most attention in the palace. Still, some glanced cautiously at Liliana. But Liliana seemed interested in the topic of Roshan as well, listening to the conversation without any particular reaction.

With the empress’s implicit permission, the ladies excitedly shared what they knew. Some spoke of how many people Roshan had slain in the recent war, while others blushed as they praised his god-like appearance.

“No one is more suited for that position than His Highness the Crown Prince. The Empire’s future is brilliant because of him. Not to mention, the knights under him are all so remarkable. Someone told me that all the most skilled knights in the imperial palace are under His Highness the Crown Prince.”

As the talk about Roshan continued, Lady Ledis, known for her tactlessness, mentioned Roshan’s position as crown prince and lavished praise on him. Several ladies glanced at Liliana.