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Chapter 75
Pession was feeling gloomy.
The tea party was over, but he couldn’t go to the Halbern estate.
“Arellin.”
He was supposed to go see her.
“It can’t be helped. The Grand Duke of Halbern has returned, hasn’t he?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“It has a lot to do with it. You know everything, so why are you pretending not to?”
“I just want to see Arellin.”
Pession whined. It was rare to see the Crown Prince acting so petulant, and though Grien found it exhausting, it was also strangely fascinating.
Pession usually acted more mature than his age, enough to make people forget how young he was. But now, he looked exactly like a boy his age.
“Do you really like her that much?”
Pession gave Grien a look that asked what he meant.
“It’s just strange. Miss Arellin isn’t particularly nice to you, but you still like her so desperately.”
“Because I like her.”
The answer was plain but sincere.
Grien suddenly felt a pang of sympathy.
Others might not know, but Grien did. Pession liked many things, but he rarely got attached or clung to anything deeply.
But with one person, that wasn’t the case.
That reminded Grien of when Emperor Edward had once fallen head over heels for Empress Azeny, and it made him uneasy.
“That time was intense, too…”
It was known as the Edward Rehabilitation Incident.
A legendary womanizer had changed completely.
A scandal so big, it had shaken all of Albrecht.
He might be a respected Emperor now, but back then, Edward was nothing short of a total mess.
People used to say things like:
“Who would want to marry that guy?”
“That bastard’s never going to settle down.”
“Poor girl. Should we just leave him as an unmarried emperor?”
“At this rate, he’ll have so many illegitimate kids, they’ll be lining up outside the palace.”
“It’d be a miracle if he could even do his job as emperor.”
That was Edward’s reputation before he met Azeny.
He only changed after falling for her.
Back then, even the former Emperor thought his son was possessed by a demon and tried to call in a high priest to perform an exorcism.
But did Edward have an easy time with his love?
Absolutely not. Azeny didn’t like him—in fact, it would be more accurate to say she despised him.
“Now, they act like lovebirds…”
Edward went crazy, refusing to marry anyone but Azeny. She firmly said no.
No one believed the engagement would ever happen.
So what did Edward do?
Every noble family that talked about marrying Azeny faced imperial interference or destruction. Any man Azeny even glanced at—Edward would go berserk with jealousy.
He acted like an absolute disaster.
“Thinking back, it’s a miracle they got married at all. Why did she even agree to marry someone like that?”
After causing all kinds of chaos, Edward still kept trying behind the scenes.
“If I keep acting like this, she’ll never love me.”
“Then why do it?!”
Grien remembered scolding the Emperor as he drank away his sorrows.
It felt like those crazy days would never end—until Edward completely snapped and picked up a sword.
“If Azeny won’t love me, I’d rather die.”
He got drunk, stormed off to see her, and by the time Grien arrived, chaos had broken loose.
“I might do something terrible if this goes on. So I’m just going to die. I’m sorry, Azeny. I love you too much. I’m sorry.”
Tears pouring down, Edward begged Azeny to at least remember that he loved her, as knights tried to stop his suicide attempt.
In the middle of it all, Azeny just stared at him, unreadable.
“Before I do something worse… before Azeny hates me even more…”
And then—a miracle happened.
“I’ll accept your feelings. So stop crying.”
Azeny’s heart finally moved after seeing Edward crying like a child, saying he loved her.
Later, when someone asked her why she changed her mind, her answer was:
“He looked cute, crying so much because he liked me.”
Whatever the real reason, the Crown Prince’s dramatic suicide attempt ended safely.
Grien let out a quiet sigh.
“And now his son’s acting just like him.”
If anything, Pession might be worse.
“Luckily, Miss Arellin seems to accept his feelings. For now.”
But just barely.
If you asked whether she liked Pession… it was hard to say.
Still, compared to her attitude at first, she was much warmer now. So who knows?
But the biggest issue… was Arellin’s illness.
“If just a few days without her makes him this depressed…”
What if she died?
What would happen to the Crown Prince then?
Grien was already worried—because he couldn’t even predict how Pession might react.
“Your Highness, the Grand Duke of Halbern has arrived at the palace.”
Still, Grien faithfully delivered the news Pession had been waiting for.
Pession’s eyes lit up.
“Let’s go!”
* * *
With magic engineering’s full support, the Imperial Palace was a masterpiece of modern artistry—always beautiful and fun to explore.
The most massive and grand of all was the Emperor’s Palace, which never allowed for boredom.
Inside the Emperor’s personal chamber—
The Grand Duke of Halbern took a look around the room he hadn’t visited in a while.
It was a private space, decorated entirely according to the Emperor’s tastes. Only his most trusted people were allowed here.
“Still collecting things, I see.”
“I can’t leave the palace, so I have no choice but to bring the world to me.”
The voice came from right beside him as he examined paintings, chess sets, sculptures, and more.
According to imperial custom, visitors were to kneel and wait with heads bowed until the Emperor gave permission to speak.
But the Grand Duke of Halbern was not just anyone—he was an old friend and protector of the royal family. And the Emperor openly favored the five Duke families.
“It’s been a while, Valer.”
The Grand Duke shifted only his eyes to look at the Emperor—second to none.
“We met before, Your Majesty.”
“Ah, you mean that time you just reported your arrival and left without seeing me?”
Servants quickly placed tea and snacks before disappearing. Now only the two remained.
“You could’ve at least said hello. I heard you even spoke with Azeny.”
“You should’ve come to the tea party, then.”
“I wanted to! Do you know how much I wanted to go?!”
Ah, my son. How cute he must’ve been. Even Sirua, who never moves, showed up. Therion would’ve been adorable as always. And Azeny must’ve been lovely.
“You’re so mean for seeing them without me.”
“I got kicked out the moment I arrived.”
Even as Edward teased him, the Grand Duke smiled calmly without a hint of change in his expression.
Edward, acting like a proper emperor, decided to generously forgive him—not because his words had no effect. Definitely not that.
“Ha… anyway, I’m glad to see you looking well.”
His expression softened. It was a private setting now, with no need for formalities—only warmth.
“Honestly, I thought you’d return dead or missing a limb.”
“That makes two of us.”
“At least pretend to be offended, damn it.”
“Not offended at all.”
“Ugh, I’m the weird one for worrying. So… how did things go with ‘that person’?”
One of the empire’s deepest shared secrets between the royal family and House Halbern. The Grand Duke’s expression changed subtly.
Since the Emperor had served as a witness to the deal, he spoke freely. Though he didn’t know the full details.
“It had to go well. I even brought a dragon to impress them.”
“What?! That’s why you did it?”
No wonder. That explained his unusual actions.
“That dragon is already giving me headaches.”
The Emperor’s expression twisted in frustration. He was just about to begin venting when—
“Ed.”
“Yeah, because of that stupid—huh? What?”
“Does your son like my daughter?”
Edward blinked in confusion.
“……”
And suddenly, the Emperor found himself deeply worried about his son’s future.
