“Unfortunately, we haven’t captured Theodore yet.”
Cian, who was rolling up his shirt sleeves, suddenly stopped. He exhaled slowly, almost as if trying to calm down, and placed both hands on the desk, turning his back to Nick.
“What’s the reason? Don’t we know everything about Theodore’s appearance and residence? Is the capital guard not following my orders properly?”
Nick tensed up at Cian’s sharp tone.
“He’s more perceptive than we thought. As soon as he realized the capital guard was onto him, he abandoned his townhouse and went into hiding. We underestimated him.”
“He’s gone into hiding.”
Theodore was someone adept at hiding and evading.
For seven years, he had an affair with his mistress without Rachel finding out. He also managed to embezzle his assets while evading the Tax Bureau during that time.
Even with help, it wasn’t an easy task.
‘Should I handle it myself? I feel like I won’t be able to make him kneel before Sigar if I catch him.’
He felt he might cut off Theodore’s limbs the moment he found him.
But he couldn’t delay his promise with Rachel. He needed to erase Theodore’s presence from the capital as soon as possible.
“Understood. Continue searching with the capital guard. Contact me immediately if you find any traces. I’ll handle it personally.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, he’s just good at hiding. Don’t worry too much about it. What about Sigar?”
“As expected, he’s increasing his supply of sugar and salt. It seems he’s planning to start his operation soon.”
“He’s rushing things. Since he’s overextending himself by buying sugar and salt at high prices, it’s understandable he wants to wrap things up quickly.”
“Yes, and thanks to that, I don’t have much else to do except watch.”
“Nothing to do, you say? Actually that works out well then, I was just about to ask you to investigate something.”
Nick’s expression turned serious at the sound of something clinking.
“The death of Emperor Zeus… Is that it?”
“Do you know about the existence of the Glass Tree?”
“Yes, I do. I always try to be prepared to answer any questions from Your Highness.”
“Then this should be quick. Look into the circumstances under which Sigar obtained this. Any traces of the Black Glass Tree will do as well. I will provide you with all the support you need, whether it be money or people.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Just be careful not to do anything too dangerous. I don’t want to lose a capable aide.”
Nick smiled lightly.
“Don’t worry too much. Aren’t I Your Highness’s most trusted aide?”
“Yes, I trust you.”
* * *
“Ah, damn. What should I do?”
Stefan had been pacing in front of Cian’s office ever since he returned to the mansion.
When Nick went into the office, he looked back at Stefan as if to say, ‘What on earth are you doing?’ and as he came out of the office, he looked back again with an expression of ‘You’re still here?’.
Normally, Stefan would have pouted and picked a fight, asking what he was looking at, but today, he couldn’t.
It was the first time Cian had been this angry with him, and he had no time to worry about anything else.
Stefan, who had been pacing in front of the door, ruffled his hair with both hands and screamed.
“I should have taken it easy! I didn’t think he’d get this mad! I was just trying to mess around a bit, and now I’m going to die because of it!”
At first, he’d planned to visit Rachel and thank her normally.
But then his mischievous side took over. He wanted to see Cian get jealous, so he deliberately prepared a large bouquet and kissed Rachel’s hand.
It was just simple curiosity, a playful joke.
‘Damn it, he’s always so calm and composed, no matter what I or that damned emperor do. But now, seeing him fall in love and show different sides of himself! Who could resist such a temptation?’
He thought it would be fun to see Cian get jealous, planning to tease him about it until they were old men.
He was filled with anticipation, excitement, and amusement, making it hard to contain himself.
He hadn’t expected Cian to get so scarily jealous. He felt like begging for his life to be spared.
‘Should I bring him a strawberry cake? No, gifts are no good. No matter what I bring, he’ll just use it to hit me. I guess I’ll have to be straightforward. Yeah, that’s the only way. I’ll place my hope on his humanity!’
After several deep breaths, Stefan knocked on the office door. It felt awkward to knock on the door he usually entered without notice.
“What is it?”
Hearing Cian’s voice, his hands trembled.
“It’s me, Stefan. I have something to talk about. Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
The answer came without hesitation.
Putting aside his complicated thoughts, Stefan quickly opened the door and went inside.
Cian was sitting at his desk, looking over some documents as if nothing had happened. He glanced at Stefan and then returned his attention to the papers.
“What about the sugar and salt?”
Although the sudden question could have been surprising, Stefan answered sincerely, as if he had been waiting for it.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m preparing diligently so that you don’t have to worry. There’s enough stock, and the storage conditions are excellent. I’ll report once things get started.”
“Good. Now you can go.”
“Already? You’re telling me to leave?”
“Or do you not want to?”
“Well… It’s just that…”
Seeing Stefan hesitate at the door, Cian tilted his head.
“You seem like you’ve committed a grave sin.”
“I think I did something similar. I’m really sorry.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“About what I did to Countess Rachel. Giving her flowers and kissing her hand.”
“And what’s wrong with that?”
“…What?”
“It’s natural to express gratitude when you receive help, it’s natural to give roses when there are roses in the garden, and it’s natural to kiss the back of the hand when expressing respect and admiration.”
The faint smile in his voice gave Stefan chills.
“Even if you fell in love with Countess Rachel, I wouldn’t care. She’s worthy of it.”
No!
That would never happen!
‘Please, have mercy, my friend!’
Cold sweat ran down Stefan’s back. He shook his head and quickly approached Cian’s desk.
“Really. This time, I was wrong. I apologize.”
Cian didn’t respond.
He was a scary guy, even when he didn’t speak. Stefan wanted to cry.
“I visited her when you were around on purpose. I thought it would be better to meet her with you there rather than alone when you weren’t. I also wanted to tease you a bit.”
“I know. I figured as much.”
“It’s a lie that I missed Countess Rachel. I said it to provoke you.”
“Is that so?”
“The roses, even though they seemed a lot, weren’t actually a hundred!”
“I know. There were 99.”
When did he count them?
Suppressing the urge to shout, Stefan forced a smile.
Cian placed his elbows on the desk and slowly leaned forward.
“And the kiss? Why did you kiss Countess Rachel’s body?”
“Hey, don’t say it like that. It sounds like I did something inappropriate. It was just the back of her hand.”
“So, the back of her hand isn’t part of her body? I couldn’t sleep for three days after I kissed Countess Rachel’s hand.”
Is that really something to lose sleep over!
Suppressing his thoughts once again, Stefan lowered his head.
“…No, it’s a part of the body. The back of the hand is a perfect part of the body. I was wrong.”
With his head bowed, Stefan looked like a big, gentle dog.
“At first, I didn’t intend to go that far. I deliberately kissed the back of her hand to provoke your jealousy. I admit it.”
“Is that so?”
Closing his eyes and letting out a long breath, Cian swallowed something before opening his eyes.
Stefan immediately recognized it as anger and jealousy directed at him.
“…Sorry. I overdid it this time. I’ll restrain myself in the future.”
“Let me ask you one thing.”
“Anything! Ask me anything. I’ll answer honestly.”
“Do you love Countess Rachel?”
“No. Absolutely not. I don’t love her.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why? Do I need a reason?”
“Of course.”
His tone suggested he couldn’t understand why Stefan wouldn’t love Rachel. He furrowed his brow and tilted his head, genuinely puzzled.
“Countess Rachel is the most beautiful and intelligent woman I’ve ever met. She’s lovely, someone I want to protect and embrace. It would be strange not to love someone like that.”
Stefan couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re seriously intense.”
“Intense?”
“Yeah. I admit that Rachel is pretty and smart. But is she so attractive that the whole world would fall in love with her? I don’t think so.”
“That’s nonsense.”
“What’s nonsense? If Rachel was really that attractive, would that guy Theodore have cheated on her for seven years?”
“That’s because he’s trash. If he’d seen Rachel properly, he wouldn’t have been able to resist falling in love with her. In fact, after his affair was discovered, he even tried to go back and clung to her.”
Stefan sighed and shook his head.
“Okay, let’s go with that. Anyway, I’m not interested. Knowing you like Countess Rachel, I don’t want to be greedy. I have no desire to become your rival.”
“Really?”
“Hey, believe me when I say something! I swear on my entire fortune, my shares in the Iacobs Merchant Guild, and the rights you entrusted me with in the guild that I don’t love Countess Rachel!”
“Well, that’s convincing enough.”
Despite saying so, his expression still showed that he didn’t understand.
‘What do you want me to do? If all the men in the world loved Rachel, you’d wipe out all the men in the world, but you also say you can’t understand why all the men in the world don’t love Rachel!’
Stefan slumped onto the edge of the desk and ran his hands through his hair.
‘He’s making such a fuss about his first love. What is he going to do if Countess Rachel were to start liking another guy? … Could it mean the downfall of the empire?’
Just thinking about it gave him goosebumps.
* * *
On the day of the next court meeting, the atmosphere in the conference hall where the nobles gathered was different than usual.
It was the first time in years that Cian and Stefan had attended a meeting together, and Rachel, who quickly completed the registration process with the Noble Council thanks to Cian’s help, was also attending for the first time.
It was a rare change in the court meetings, where there was usually little change in participants.
Another noticeable difference was that Sigar seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood. He openly glanced at Rachel with a smile.
‘How can he make that face like he’s saying ‘Today I’m going to do something mean to you’? That’s a skill in itself.’
A long meeting followed, where issues from all corners of the empire were reported and strategies were proposed to address them.
As always, Sigar conducted the meeting, feigning just the right amount of benevolence and solemnity as he accepted the proposed solutions from those who reported the problems.
Surprisingly, Cian remained focused throughout the boring meeting. It became clear why Sigar couldn’t easily find fault with him.
‘His Highness is truly an amazing person.’
Noticing Rachel’s gaze, Cian subtly glanced her way and made brief eye contact, the corners of his eyes curling slightly, making Rachel’s heart race.
As the meeting neared its end, Sigar brought up the main topic as if he had been waiting.
“As you all know, there have been changes in the capital recently.”
Count Rodotu, sitting in the corner of the conference room, straightened his back with a look of satisfaction.
Rachel realized that the plan Sigar had been scheming since entering was about to start.
