Kieron went to the palace that morning with two objectives.

Firstly, he needed to meet with Sylvia to hear her true stance.

Secondly, he wanted to speak with the Marquis of Peyton to confirm something that had been on his mind.

Since Sylvia had been the first to respond, saying she would be free after breakfast, he headed to her chambers first. When he told her he wanted to discuss the previous day’s events, she simply agreed and set aside the time — no questions asked.

“We’re not close enough to waste time on pleasantries. If possible, let’s start with the main point.”

Of course, Sylvia did not bother to hide her displeasure. But Kieron didn’t mind. That was simply the kind of person the Second Princess was.

He spoke plainly, without circling around the subject.

“It’s about the matter of Your Highness asking my wife to be your bridesmaid.”

“And what about it?”

Sylvia tilted her head, as if the issue was already resolved.

Why bring it up again when the decision had already been made?

It might have been over for her but not for him.

“I want to hear the real reason.”

“…You came all the way here just to ask that?”

“It concerns my wife and my household’s safety. Of course I did.”

When he asked to hear her true motive, Sylvia let out a weary sigh. She clearly had not expected him to be this persistent.

Watching his utterly serious expression, she gave a small, incredulous laugh.

“Does your wife know you’re doing all this?”

“She doesn’t know I came to see Your Highness.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

Sylvia let out another laugh, sounding both baffled and amused. She looked undecided about whether to voice her thoughts.

After muttering something under her breath for a moment, she finally looked him straight in the eye.

“Well, it’s between the two of you, so I won’t meddle. But here’s a piece of advice, your wife would be very pleased if you told her why you came here and what you said to me.”

“…That’s not the answer I asked for.”

“I know. Fine, I’ll tell you.”

Sylvia waved a hand as if brushing off her earlier comments about the duchess having a hard time and people with slow wits making their bodies suffer as a result, which Kieron didn’t understand at all.

Then she hesitated, as though deciding whether to be blunt.

“I’ll be honest. I want Ambrose on my side.”

It was a direct, unvarnished admission—the real reason she wanted Ariadne Ambrose as her bridesmaid.

“I had suspected as much.”

“I assumed you’d figured out at least that.”

Publicly, the Second Princess was known to have no interest in the throne.

She always insisted that she would never act on behalf of her sister, Lorelei, and rejected anyone who tried to support her.

However, Kieron, who had been raised on battlefields and hardened by war, knew the truth.

Sylvia was a predator, hiding her true nature beneath a calm exterior. She was a creature who held her breath until the exact moment she chose to strike.

When he told her that he understood her intentions, she wore a completely different expression to the one she had worn in front of Ariadne the day before.

“You’ve been through war, haven’t you, Duke? Then you know exactly what I need right now.”

Yesterday, she had pretended to be a modest, kind princess. But the moment she revealed her true intentions, she exuded the air of a satiated predator.

The atmosphere changed dramatically with just a shift in her gaze.

Kieron sighed as she invoked war in an attempt to secure cooperation.

“War is a dreadful thing, Your Highness. If you intend to wage war in order to secure an advantage—”

“Who said anything about war? I asked if you knew what I needed. What I need is military strength, not a pointless war.”

And war only births tragedies.

Sylvia shot him a deeply displeased glare.

“Why don’t you go pray at the temple instead? Beg them to overturn your wife’s decision.”

“What I want to know is why Your Highness needs Ambrose’s strength at all. Isn’t Peyton alone enough?”

He tilted his head, unable to hide his confusion.

Despite its size, Lorelei’s faction was nothing but a shell. Many people claimed to follow her, but most of them were empty vessels with no substance or capability — just noise.

This was partly because the truly competent ones had quietly gravitated towards Sylvia over the years.

Even so, aside from the Emperor’s vague promise to name Lorelei as his successor, her faction had no foundation.

She had never bothered to earn the respect of those inside the palace.

No matter how virtuous someone pretends to be on the surface, a dam that’s rotted from within will eventually collapse.

Lorelei’s faction was made up entirely of such people.

Sylvia, on the other hand, was surrounded by people like herself: individuals with real authority, hidden strength, a sense of duty, and pride in their roles.

The difference in the quality of their supporters alone created an undeniable power gap.

Kieron could easily understand why she would want to reinforce that lopsided advantage with military force.

If she secured her position and gained unmistakable military backing, the succession could be decided without a battle.

However, what he truly wanted to understand was why she had felt the need to involve the military in the first place, and why she was willing to risk everything by trying to win over Ambrose.

Ambrose was meant to remain strictly neutral. The Emperor had only allowed him to keep a private army on the condition of this neutrality. The Emperor wanted that force to be used solely in the service of the imperial family. Yet Sylvia clearly had something very different in mind.

“You already have Peyton, Your Highness. Isn’t that enough to tip the scales?”

Peyton alone was worth more than several lesser families combined. Gathering a bunch of nobodies changed nothing.

“Duke El has declared his support for Lorelei.”

“…Duke El?”

Kieron’s brows knitted sharply.

One of the Empire’s two dukes.

El, who had almost no contact with Ambrose, was a virtual recluse who rarely appeared in public. Rumor had it that he disliked politics and power struggles, preferring to hide away as much as possible.

Nevertheless, because the El family’s wealth and influence slightly surpassed that of the Peytons, society still sent them invitations out of formality.

But why would someone like that suddenly change his stance?

“More precisely, it’s the young Duke of El. I heard the current Duke recently handed all authority over to the young Duke and went into seclusion.”

“Was he not already in seclusion?”

“…That’s what I don’t understand either.”

At Kieron’s dry remark, Sylvia snorted. If he had already been living like a hermit, what kind of seclusion was he supposedly entering now?

“Then the young Duke of El has effectively become the Duke?”

“It seems so. About two weeks ago, the young Duke came to the palace to receive approval for succession.”

Sylvia nodded, her expression weighted with thought.

Normally, receiving official approval for a title took at least a week.

However, there had been no announcement that the young duke had formally succeeded to the title, and Kieron himself had heard nothing.

This could mean only one thing: before he had even become the official duke, the young heir had declared his political stance.

Kieron searched his memory for what little he knew of the man, whom he had only glimpsed once or twice. The young duke rarely appeared in society, and Kieron had never been one to frequent those circles.

There was almost no information about him. He would have to investigate the new Duke of El. Setting aside neutrality, the real issue was clear: the political landscape was shifting rapidly.

“What’s the reason? If he’s declaring a position this quickly, there must be a reason.”

When Kieron asked, Sylvia exhaled a long sigh. She hesitated, then sighed again.

“Is it something absurd?”

“Well… I wouldn’t say it’s absurd. Peyton is supporting me for a similar reason, after all.”

“…Surely not.”

Kieron’s face tightened immediately.

Peyton supported Sylvia because she was engaged to his heir. Of course, there were more intricate political dealings beneath the surface, but that was the official explanation.

Was Sylvia implying that the young Duke of El also supported Lorelei for that reason?

“Did he fall in love with her at first sight or something?”

“That’s exactly it.”

Sylvia pressed her fingers against her forehead as if she had a headache.

While visiting the palace to receive approval for his title, the young duke had met Lorelei for the first time and proposed to her on the spot.

Startled, Lorelei fled, but even that had seemed beautiful to the young duke, who had immediately ordered his aide to find out who she was.

It seemed that the young duke had become Lorelei’s ardent suitor.

“What a ridiculous reason.”

“My thoughts exactly. At first, when I began forming my camp, I assumed the El family wouldn’t participate, so it didn’t matter. But now they’ve become the biggest problem.”

‘Now you see why I need the Duke’s support?’

Sylvia looked at him with a troubled expression.

If House El joined the quiet power struggle, the balance would indeed shift dramatically.

If the El family took Lorelei’s side, Sylvia would need another force to counterbalance the two great houses, since the El family possess as much wealth and influence as the Peytons.

“So that’s why you chose Ariadne.”

“That’s part of it, yes. But I also genuinely want to grow closer to her.”

‘Please don’t twist my words too much.’

Sylvia offered Kieron a faint smile as she spoke. Even if she hadn’t meant anything by it, her expression seemed to ask, ‘And what exactly would you do if I did?’

Whether or not that was her true intention, that was certainly how Kieron felt.

He weighed her words in silence before releasing a quiet sigh.

In principle, staying neutral was the right thing to do, but if he allowed his wife to be Sylvia’s bridesmaid now and then took a different political stance later, it would put an even greater strain on Ariadn.

If she had already accepted the role, he needed to take a consistent position.

In that case, he would have to give the princess what she wanted and take something of equal value in return.

After a short moment of thought, he finally spoke.

“In exchange for supporting Your Highness, I have one condition.”