“Wow…… Northern President…….”
Klisha’s almond-colored eyes grew quite large. Eugene’s face was already appealing to Klisha.
In front of Eugene, who deliberately put on a seductive expression, Klisha’s face flushed without her even realizing it.
“President…… Wow…… Really…….”
Klisha raised both hands to cool the heat on her cheeks as she spoke.
“You looked like a total con artist. That expression just now.”
“Con….. artist?”
“You know, those guys who approach wealthy ladies and swindle money out of them….. What are they called again? Oh. A gigolo?”
“…….”
“Puhaha.”
Duke Andrew couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
“Hey bro. Never thought I’d live to hear someone say that to you. It’s so new! So fresh. Kinda thrilling, actually.”
Andrew glanced at Eugene, who stood frozen and speechless, then shook his head slightly and reached out and picked up a thin robe.
“Let’s wrap up the conversation here for today. Well, it’s not like I was insisting you invest anyway.”
When Andrew came over and draped the robe over Klisha’s shoulders, only then did Eugene seem to snap out of it, running a hand through his hair.
“Gi… golo?”
The Duke gave a light pat on Eugene’s back as he stood there dazed.
“Bro, it’s already late. I’ll see Shasha off, and we’ll talk tomorrow night.”
“Okay…… Let’s do that.”
“Shasha, have beautiful dreams and sleep well.”
A smile never left Duke Andrew’s face, even as he waved his hand gently. Eugene had always known he was a cheerful person, but he was surprisingly polite and kind until the very end.
Klisha also bowed as she had been taught.
“Then, Your Highness, no, Andy, please rest well. May you find peace under the wings of the golden eagle.”
After finishing her greetings, Klisha grabbed Eugene’s arm, who wore a very dissatisfied expression, and quickly left the reception room.
“Let’s go to the beach. I didn’t get to see it properly earlier.”
“…….”
A subtle smile crossed the Duke’s eyes as he watched Eugene’s back being dragged out.
“Wow. I guess this is the night market. Have you been here before, President?”
Eugene glanced briefly at Klisha before turning his head the other way.
“What’s going on? Since earlier. You’ve been acting weird. Northern President, you looked uncomfortable when you met Duke Andrew earlier this afternoon. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“……I’m perfectly fine.”
“I may not know everything about you two, but.”
“?”
Klisha, who had been looking at various trinkets under the lights of the night market, spoke casually.
“No matter how wonderful His Highness the Duke is, I’m on your side, President. After all, we’ve built up a friendship between us.”
“……Friendship?”
“Yes. The Northern President is the first friend I made after leaving home. Anyway, you helped me in Myuta and in the capital. You even treated me to meals. Thanks to you, I get to see this beautiful island.”
“…….”
“So. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”
Klisha raised her arms, showing off her small, cute bicep, and smiled brightly.
“I may not look it, but I’m actually pretty strong.”
Eugene’s eyes widened as if caught off guard by her words.
“Lady. So you’re saying…..”
“Well, yeah. But even so, forcing things isn’t right. I mean, sure, you’re good-looking, but you keep following me and stuff.”
“……Pardon?”
Eugene rubbed his forehead, wondering what on earth she was talking about.
This woman… She must’ve misunderstood something again. Better clear it up before her imagination runs any wilder…
But before Eugene could say anything more, a loud cheer erupted from somewhere nearby.
“Woooow!”
“Flip him! Flip! Flip him over!”
“He’s the best! That’s Ruben for you! Looks like he’ll be this year’s champion too!”
“I heard the prize money is huge! That would be great, that would be great.”
Unable to hold back her curiosity, Klisha bounced forward.
“President, let’s go over there. Looks like there’s something fun going on.”
At some point, Eugene found himself quietly watching Klisha, who now took his hand without a second thought, and the corner of his lips lifted slightly.
“Yes, Lady. Let’s go.”
“Buy me some mango gelato on the way, too.”
“I thought you only ate meat?”
“Meat is a staple. Ice cream is always welcome as dessert.”
“Ha. Seriously, where in that body of yours does all that food even go?”
As Eugene walked alongside Klisha with a gentle smile on his strikingly handsome face, one that would turn heads even in the southern lands, the crowd filling the night market couldn’t take their eyes off him.
A red-haired young lady with a rare golden hibiscus tucked in her hair, and a breathtakingly handsome young man who looked as if the Goddess of Beauty herself had sculpted him.
Behind the dazzling couple, undeniably eye-catching by anyone’s standards, two pairs of eyes met in passing.
Noah, the former captain of Servan’s Royal Guards, who never let Eugene out of his sight no matter the time or circumstance, and Dorothy Fever, the trusted aide of Homer Ryuiken, the 14th head of the Ryuiken Merchant Guild, and the leader of his personal intelligence network.
Though aware of each other’s presence, they silently trailed behind the ‘young couple’.
* * *
Ian, who had dozed off for a moment in the Third Office of the Inner Palace, opened his eyes.
A chillingly cold light flowed from his eyes, which held the clear blue of the sky.
As he rose from the sofa, he saw a familiar face, now marked with deep wrinkles, quietly reading a letter.
“……Uncle.”1[T/N: ‘외숙’ refers to maternal uncle to be precise. Count Yuton is Ian’s maternal uncle.]
Startled by a title he hadn’t heard in a very long time, Minister of State Affairs, Yuton looked up.
“You’re awake. It seemed you had fallen into a deep sleep for the first time in a while, so I made sure not to disturb you.”
“……Lian?”
“I just received a letter from His Highness the Grand Duke. He said he has something to investigate in Schmarin, and it will take a little longer.”
“Did that guy take some guards with him?”
“Maybe…….”
“Tell him not to go alone. No matter how much of a genius he is, there’s no defense against an ambush.”
“You know him.”
“Tsk.”
As the Emperor rose, his half-unbuttoned shirt revealed a sculpted physique. The servants attending him, both male and female, blushed and did not dare to raise their heads.
With his vibrant blonde hair disheveled, Ian spoke in his emotionless voice.
“I’ll need to get a haircut. By the way, I heard the southwest border has been a bit unstable lately.”
“It seems the Arman royal family is mobilizing troops. For now, it’s just a show of force…..”
“They have lost their minds. Is everyone going crazy just because it’s peaceful lately?”
“…….”
Ian casted his gaze out the window.
“Send words to the Naval Defense Force. Tell them to sweep everything away. They’ve waited ten years, I’ve been patient enough.”
“……Understood.”
Ian leaned against the window, watching the sky of Zekrit, which was darkening behind the blood-red sunset.
‘Red… the color that devours the sun.’
Ian’s lips curled into a slight smile as he thought of someone with red hair.
‘She, too, went far away.’
Because Lian had issued a warrant for her throughout the capital, ‘that boy’ couldn’t even come near the Sunset Tailor shop and seemed to have headed to Miami instead.
Klisha and her companion were quite cautious, and since they were traveling by ship, the guards didn’t follow closely but only confirmed the port of call. Anyway, their destination is an ‘island’. He hasn’t heard any reports of them leaving, so they’re probably still there.
‘Tomma Ryuiken.’
The same ‘handsome rich president’ she mentioned. The third son of Ryuiken Merchant Guild. Judging from the fact that he’s already being called the successor, even though he’s still young, it seems he’s quite gifted when it comes to managing money.
Still, if his wife’s taste isn’t….. that ‘Homar Ryuiken’, then maybe that’s a blessing…. It’s fortunate, actually.
A small flame flickered from the depths of Ian’s dull blue eyes.
On days like this….. for some reason, his thoughts always grew deeper.
* * *
“Foolish ruler.”
The Crown Prince of Perza spoke.
“The father of the nation failed to protect his own child. It is right to take responsibility with death. Emperor of Servan. Do you have any last words?”
“Well said, Young Perza. My old age is nothing but regret. But remember, the me of today is your future.”
Swish.
The old emperor’s head fell.
Soon after, the trembling Crown Prince prince of Servan also had his head severed.
“Take the body away.”
Carelessly flicking the blood off his sword, the Crown Prince’s gaze landed on a young boy with red eyes, hidden among the crowd.
The boy was draped in a black cloak from head to toe. However, the Crown Prince of Perza found the vivid venom reflected in the boy’s eyes and face to his liking.
‘Eugene…… Wigner.’
For some reason, Ian thought of his younger brother who was left in the palace.
The Crown Prince gave a subtle smile, then gestured behind him.
“I’m going back.”
“Your Highness, what about the remaining forces?”
“That’s for you to figure out. Should I do everything myself?”
With a smile brighter than the sun, the Crown Prince mounted his beloved steed and shouted.
“All troops, retreat. This war is over.”
The territorial war that had dragged on for ten years had finally come to an end. The outcome of this battle could no longer be reversed.
The roar of three hundred thousand Perzan soldiers shook the very earth.
* * *
Engulfed in a sudden blaze of scholarly passion, the blond knight Lian, unaware of his older brother’s concern, had been buried in books for five days straight, completely absorbed in his ‘research’.
“Hmm…..”
“Wow…..”
“Hoo……”
Having devoured the ten books recommended by an unnamed girl, he was now also binge-reading a newly serialized work on his own. The Northern Duke couldn’t help but be impressed at the newfound knowledge and quietly reflect on his actions.
‘How ignorant I was. Truly, knowledge and culture are not things to boast about in front of others. Before pure scholarship, how small we humans become……’
They say you see only as much as you know, and now, he understood.
「Problem 1: What is the representative average of the Northern Archduke?」
There was no need to even calculate the average based on the latest works. As everyone knows, the illustrious ‘Northern Archduke’ all consistently averaged [3 days]. Three days. According to the side stories, if they truly set their minds to it… even a full week was within reach.2[T/N: I’m kinda confused as to what they’re referring to with three days.]
‘But…… is that even possible?’
Our Grand Duke Lian Bartier laughed in vain.
“……I have to work hard.”
He was a Northern Duke too… but somehow, it felt like he was losing.
And black hair with red eyes, no less. Doesn’t that sound suspiciously like someone in particular?
With his eyes closed, Duke Lian Bartier gathered his thoughts, and when he opened them, a chilling gaze flashed by.
‘I can’t lose…… I have to work hard.’
The Emperor’s disobedient younger brother, no, His Highness the Grand Duke, who is not so young anymore, found himself a new goal.
