Just a moment ago, he had been in an absolutely foul mood.
It would have been more natural to shake off Leah’s hand and walk away.
But—
Her hand…
She hadn’t held Kaibel’s hand.
Yet with him, she had taken it so easily, so naturally.
A pleasant warmth spread through him, filling his chest with a quiet sense of satisfaction. His mood lifted in an instant, the corners of his lips curving up ever so slightly.
Xian ignored the fireworks and glanced down at the small, pale hand resting in his own much larger one.
Then, applying the slightest bit of pressure, he firmly clasped Leah’s hand in return.
And finally, he looked at Kaibel.
With an expression that made it painfully clear—he had won.
“Get something else instead of beer. Right now.”
“Huh? Oh, I don’t mind not drinking—”
“No alcohol.”
Xian turned to Kaibel, giving him an impatient look as if to say, Why are you still here?
At the same time, he deliberately shifted the angle of their clasped hands—just enough to make it obvious.
Leah, of course, was completely oblivious, too absorbed in watching the fireworks.
‘Wow. How childish.’
Kaibel bit the inside of his cheek, suppressing his laughter.
Still, he stood up.
Considering Xian had bought out every food stall earlier, the only thing left to purchase was alcohol—and now he was being told to find something else?
What nonsense.
‘So he doesn’t care if I get close to the Empress, huh?’
Yeah, right.
The fact that he had taken the bait so perfectly said it all.
When the Empress had called his name earlier, Xian’s glare had been sharp enough to draw blood.
Chuckling under his breath, Kaibel strolled down the hill.
Then, recalling his cousin’s smug expression just moments ago, he burst into laughter.
Xian was completely incapable of being honest with himself.
‘Still, since he’s at least figured this much out, I guess I’ll reward him by getting lost.’
That aside…
‘If he’s this bad now, what’s he going to be like once he fully realizes his feelings?’
Now that was something Kaibel was very interested to see.
From a distance, the two figures on the hill remained close—far too close.
Whistling to himself, Kaibel simply smiled.
****
“This is amazing… Seeing it in such an open space makes it even more beautiful.”
Leah pulled her robe tighter around herself, marveling at the sight.
They were just fireworks—colorful explosions in the sky. Was there really something so special about them?
Xian absently wondered about it as he unfastened his own robe and draped it over her shoulders.
“Oh, I’m fine—”
“Just don’t catch a cold and start whining again.”
“When have I ever whined?”
“You seem awfully confident now that you’re feeling a little better. I heard you whispering to yourself about having less than two years left.”
The moment he said it, the unease that had been pushed aside lately came rushing back.
“I told you, that was a misunderstanding—”
“Don’t pretend to be fine when you’re not.”
His voice was firm, expression unreadable, but his refusal to believe her was clear.
Leah pouted, looking slightly indignant, but in the end, she quietly accepted his concern.
Her eyes never left the sky.
Xian only felt at ease once he saw that her entire body was snugly wrapped in his thick robe.
The two of them sat there for a long time, watching as the fireworks painted the night sky with dazzling colors.
“It’s over now.”
“Wait. I want to stay and watch the last ones.”
Xian had no real interest in fireworks and was about to stand up.
But Leah quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him back down, clasping his arm as she pleaded.
And, for some stupid reason, every time she did that, the strength drained from his body, leaving him with no choice but to sit back down on the grass.
‘This is ridiculous.’
Flustered, Xian found himself awkwardly letting her cling to his arm, doing his best to focus on anything else.
Only half-listening to Leah’s endless stream of awed exclamations, he stared blankly at the night sky.
Then, at some point, the voice he had grown accustomed to hearing suddenly fell silent.
Tap.
Beneath the now pitch-black sky—
Leah had fallen asleep, her head resting against his right shoulder.
Her tilted posture caused strands of her silver hair to spill like silk threads.
Xian froze.
Slowly, hesitantly, he reached out with his left hand and tucked her hair gently behind her ear.
“…Mmm.”
“…I honestly have no idea what to do with you.”
His words were barely above a whisper, as if spoken in a trance.
He gazed at Leah for a long time as she slept peacefully beside him.
By the time the lights below had all dimmed and the city had fallen into quiet slumber, Xian finally lifted her carefully into his arms and carried her down the hill.
When they returned to the Empress’s Palace, the head lady-in-waiting nearly fainted upon seeing the Empress—who had gone out with the Prince of Helios—now being carried back by the Emperor.
She glanced at Xian nervously, worried they might have fought.
“F-Forgive me, Your Majesty! I will escort Her Majesty to her chambers at once.”
“She’s sleeping in my chambers.”
“Ah! Y-Yes, Your Majesty!”
Tonight had been one of the rare nights Leah had specifically requested to sleep in a separate room.
But the head lady-in-waiting, seeing Xian’s expression, wisely chose not to ask any questions. She simply prepared everything as requested, looking far too pleased.
Xian, as usual, maintained a neutral expression as he settled in for the night.
…Still lightly holding onto a soft, pale hand.
The next morning.
“Huh? Why did I sleep here?”
“Your Majesty returned with the Emperor last night.”
“Oh… I must have dozed off completely. What a shame.”
Still, the warmth she had felt in her sleep had been unusually comforting.
She wasn’t sure why.
‘Did I… smile in my sleep?’
Either way, it was a wonderful morning.
With a bright grin, Leah stretched her arms high above her head.
****
“You incompetent fool!”
Count Lampell hurled his glove across the room.
With a loud smack, a red mark appeared on Pangston’s cheek as he collapsed to the floor, groveling.
“I-I’m sorry, my lord!”
“Losing to some Applelum nonsense? Some rootless, nobody’s product?!”
Count Lampell crushed the latest dessert industry sales report in his hand and beat Pangston mercilessly with it.
His own name had been used to market an extravagant new cocktail made with premium ingredients.
And yet, its sales were only second place.
Meanwhile, some fruit tea—sold through a mere guild, with no known owner—had taken first place?!
“The Imperial Dessert Competition’s registration has begun! Are you telling me to humiliate myself by changing my entry now?!”
“Ghk! I—I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure your cocktail wins!”
Only after Pangston clasped his hands together in desperate prayer did Count Lampell finally storm out, still seething.
Left alone, Pangston pressed a cold egg to his bruised eye, biting his lip in frustration.
‘There’s only one way left.’
It was the same method he had used to eliminate countless competitors before.
He still had no clue who the real owner of Applelum tea was…
But it didn’t matter.
Whoever they were, they wouldn’t be able to beat him.
Not unless they were the Emperor himself!
“Heh. No doubt it’s some pathetic, small-time merchant. They’ll be weeping by the time I’m done!”
Smirking, he strode off toward his distillery.
****
“Applelum tea in the Dessert Competition?”
I nodded and handed Lindo the competition guidelines.
“If we win, it’ll explode in popularity. And we’ll secure even more funding.”
Right now, the one secretly supplying Applelum tea to the guild was a small merchant group under Lindo’s name.
But in reality, all its funding came from my personal budget as the Empress.
Since we had no official merchant guild, no building, and no dedicated business partners, it was basically a ghost company in name only.
‘If we win, the merchant guild’s name will gain real value—making future negotiations way easier.’
And, of course, the more money, the better.
Applelum tea was just the beginning. Once we expanded the business, we could introduce even more products.
‘It almost feels like I have a second identity.’
Like having a side character in a game alongside my main character.
Even if I ended up divorced and had to live outside the capital, I’d still be set for life!
But just a few days after submitting the application—
I burst into incredulous laughter.
“Applelum Cocktail?”
The audacity of this man!
The name belonged to none other than Pangston’s merchant guild, the same one that had been exploiting orphaned children.
His cocktail had been stuck in second place for ages—so he had blatantly stolen my drink’s name.
And the cherry on top?
“Refreshing flavor, specially aids digestion?”
Until now, no other beverage had been marketed with those effects—except Applelum tea.
Yet, there it was, clearly written on the Dessert Competition application.
“This is a complete rip-off.”
“They didn’t even bother changing anything… except for adding digestive medicine.”
Lindo had purchased a sample of this so-called Applelum cocktail and analyzed it.
The results were infuriating.
They had mixed in a subtle digestive agent—one so discreet that without suspicion, no one would even notice.
“It’s not dangerous, but technically, adding medicine means it isn’t a regular beverage anymore. And if they didn’t disclose that to customers, that’s even worse.”
“Of course they wouldn’t disclose it. Their whole goal is to trick people into thinking it’s the same as mine.”
Since both had the same name and similar effects, customers weren’t questioning the difference.
After all, most people didn’t bother checking where their drinks came from.
Because of that, Applelum tea and Applelum cocktail were now neck and neck, sharing the number one sales ranking.
‘In other words, the two drinks are now direct competitors in the Dessert Competition.’
Lindo crumpled the competition application, looking annoyed.
“What should we do? If we officially file a plagiarism complaint against Count Lampell’s guild, it’ll delay our preparations.”
It was obvious what Pangston’s guild was trying to do.
With their established reputation, they were slyly planting the idea that they were the original Applelum creators.
‘Cunning little snake.’
But if they wanted to pick a fight, they really should’ve chosen their opponent more wisely.
I smiled sweetly.
“Let’s change the rules.”
“…What?”
“The competition used to have only one winner, right? Let’s change the theme—to a dessert set instead.”
The Dessert Competition was an Imperial event.
Which meant I controlled the judging criteria.
“They tried to steal Applelum tea from me. Shouldn’t they be punished accordingly?”
I was going to make it crystal clear which one was the original.
And more importantly—
‘I just came up with a brilliant way to utterly humiliate that copycat.’
As I explained my plan, Lindo’s eyes gleamed with admiration.
“Oh… That expression just now—you looked exactly like the Emperor.”
“Don’t insult me.”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
Without wasting time, I immediately ordered the Imperial Management Bureau to revise the competition rules.
Two major changes were made:
The competition would now require a dessert set—consisting of at least two items from drinks, cakes, cookies, sorbets, or ice cream.
The judging would be anonymous.
In the past, Imperial officials made the final decision through private discussions.
But this time, contestants’ identities and guild names would be hidden.
The judges would be nobles and high-ranking officials invited to the final selection round.
Although the rules had changed suddenly, the contestants were thrilled.
Before, Applelum tea and Applelum cocktail were dominating the rankings—but with the new dessert set requirement, other competitors now had a real chance to win.
Meanwhile—
Count Lampell and Pangston’s merchant guild were absolutely livid.
They were now desperately trying to uncover who was behind Applelum tea, hoping to copy our entire dessert set.
But it was pointless.
I had twisted and disguised the business ownership so thoroughly that unless Lindo betrayed me, they would never figure it out.
Hah. Good luck with that.
