Chapter 041
"Even for a Palace Count, isn't this reckless? It could expose the family's scandals."
"Wrong. It means he has that much confidence."
Louis's lips twisted.
Corinth's move was crystal clear. His family was willing to disclose everything transparently, without hiding even a speck of dust.
The intent was blatant and obvious.
'If you want any more investigation—unless you're ignoring our family's honor—allow a thorough, unrestricted probe into all matters related to the incident, including Your Highness yourself.'
In other words, to prove my son's innocence, we'll investigate to prove you aren't the cause.
The moment Louis ordered "dig deeper into your son," it would be a declaration of full-scale war on the Parne family—and consent to having his own private life laid bare.
"Shrewd. Extremely shrewd."
Louis muttered, gazing at the ceiling. Hector set down the documents with a somber expression.
"What will you do, Your Highness? Should we proceed with the investigation independently, without the Intelligence Bureau's cooperation?"
"No."
Louis shook his head firmly.
"Postpone it temporarily."
"......Postpone?"
"Yes. Not a conclusion—a postponement."
Louis's red eyes cooled to a chill.
His instincts were screaming a warning.
Kasian. That barbarian from the sticks.
No solid evidence yet.
And yet.
'......It reeks.'
Something was there.
But it had to be shelved for now.
"......Understood."
Hector bowed without another word and withdrew.
Louis rose from the sofa and walked to the window. The imperial palace garden, shrouded in darkness, filled his view. Though its serenity was plain to see, his mind churned like the heart of a beast-subjugation field.
'This needs to be shelved.'
Not instinct, but cold reason.
Louis had a fatal weakness.
If the Intelligence Bureau launched a full investigation as Corinth proposed?
'My tracks would be exposed.'
If there were no skeletons in his closet, he might have charged ahead without restraint to seize the initiative.
But now, a pink-haired saintess floated into his thoughts.
Tracing his movements would drag her into the light—and everything would unravel.
Not only would the image he'd so carefully built crumble, but the Rosenberg ducal house might turn against the imperial family.
Public opinion would spiral out of control.
Crown Prince distracted by a saintess from a fallen noble house, ignoring the duke's daughter. Her change of heart all because of his infidelity.
All the arrows pointed at him. A political setup where Louis bore the blame alone.
"Damn it!"
Bam! Louis slammed his fist into the windowsill.
His head was a storm.
"......Lily."
The name lingered on his tongue.
Saintess Lily. She was the most grating presence in his life lately—and the one that stuck in his eyes most intensely.
The seat of empire's crown prince. For Louis, born to become emperor, it was nothing but shackles.
The emperor's crown was as heavy as it was dazzling.
The noble world's tangled schemes. Knives hidden behind smiles. Hypocritical speech where vigilance never lapsed for a second.
At the pinnacle as crown prince, he endured as the most obsessive, most perfect being of them all.
Thus, life was an endless chain of fatigue and burden.
For him, happiness was simple.
'Standing above someone.'
The envy of being superior. Gazes looking up to him. The overwhelming superiority and self-satisfaction born from it—his one true pleasure, his sole respite.
That's why his eyes turned to Lily.
Saintess from a fallen noble house. A girl with nothing, gazing up from the very bottom.
Meeting her stirred a powerful pull.
'Comfortable.'
His stuffy chest easing bit by bit. The only outlet melting the grudges layered inside him.
So he had to pursue.
Louis toyed with the empty glass.
The more she fled, the more curious she became. Why avoid him? What lay behind those fearful eyes? Her rejection fueled his arrogant desire to conquer.
Before he knew it, simple curiosity had deepened into unmistakable interest.
He needed her in his grasp to escape this suffocating ennui and exhaustion.
But today, something inexplicable happened.
Louis furrowed his brow, replaying the memory.
This evening—Elisia at the restaurant. And her face as they bid farewell before the carriage.
"......Ha."
Unbelievable.
In today's Elisia...
'I saw Lily.'
He'd always disliked Elisia. To the point of contempt.
The duke's daughter—below one, above ten thousand. A woman born with everything.
Bearing heavy duties like him, yet demanding petty things like love and attention. Greedy.
A life agonizing over the empire's welfare from dawn to dusk.
Yet beside him, that whiny girl—who'd become a woman—endlessly begging to be seen, to be loved.
Her obsession suffocated him. He was sick of it.
So he pushed her away. Acted cold on purpose, hurled insults, sicced Hector on her pride.
He figured she'd tire and fall away.
But today.
That cloying obsession and yearning were gone from Elisia.
She no longer begged for love.
Just calm, polite smiles.
Yet it felt profoundly off.
In her indifferent gaze and hollow smile, he sensed the subtle comfort—and distance—he'd felt from Lily.
'What is this feeling?'
Looking at him, but not seeing him. Holding his hand, but no warmth. An emptiness like grasping at air.
And it grated on him like madness.
Thud! Louis irritably slammed the glass on the table.
"Tsk."
Irritation boiled.
His own reaction made no sense.
Wasn't this what he'd wanted? Elisia losing interest in him.
So why relief turned to defeat?
Like watching his possession leap from the display case on its own legs. Unsettling.
His gut twisted.
"Pathetic."
A self-mocking laugh escaped him.
Even Hector deemed this a private matter beyond duty and stepped back.
The crown prince, who should be coldest of all, losing composure to a mere shift in his fiancée's attitude—emotions leaking onto his face.
Days like this, where he gave himself a failing grade, were rare in a lifetime.
He had to admit it.
He was shaken.
Caught between the fantasy of Saintess Lily and the reality of Elisia.
And exploited by the enigmatic variable: Kasian del Parne.
"......No wonder Evelyn is worried."
Louis muttered bitterly.
He'd brushed off his sister's concern as overblown.
But she'd already seen it.
The crack that had started somewhere.
The next morning, I grabbed the lab door handle.
'Ah, this is bliss.'
Breathing feels like bliss. Wonder if a person can be this relaxed. The world looks beautiful. Mercy wells up enough to sidestep even passing ants.
I flung the door open in high spirits.
Bang!
I stepped in and froze solid.
'Huh?'
The lab was a sight.
The pink-haired saintess wielded a broom, sweeping the floor. Trailing her: a brown squirrel, a white rabbit, and a sparrow perched on the windowsill—all spectating her cleaning.
The tension from last Friday's scolding? Vanished. Everyone in full flower-field-brain mode.
Normal me would've scowled: 'Loosened up in one day? Time to crack the whip again?'
But today was different.
Why? My heart held 40 billion—including future comp.
My mental space had ballooned 40 billion pyeong wide.
I stepped in with a benevolent smile.
"You're here?"
Lily startled, clutched the broom, and greeted me.
"Yeah. Early bird, huh?"
"Y-yes......"
"Hard work on the cleaning. Real diligent."
Warm praise. Gentle, caring—ideal roommate vibes, even by my standards.
But the reaction? Catastrophic.
"......!!"
Lily's shoulders popped up like popcorn kernels.
The beast trio—lounging on the floor—perked their ears and stared up at me in terror.
Gulp! Lily swallowed hard.
Her pastel eyes quaked like an earthquake, tears welling up.
"Um...... Kasian-nim."
"Yeah?"
"Am I...... ultimately getting kicked out......?"
"......?"
What?
Lily sniffled, hugging the broom to her chest.
I stood there, speechless and blank.
A deep sigh rose from my gut.
'......Fuck.'
Try to be nice, and it still rubs her wrong.
Truly a talent to instantly cram 40 billion pyeong full of frustration.
What the hell was my usual vibe that a compliment sounds like an eviction notice?
"No, look here."
Frustrated, I loosened my tie.
"When did I ever treat you that viciously? Huh? Fed you, gave you a room, even disciplined you. Why twist my goodwill?"
"I-it's not that...... You're just so different from usual......"
"Go on, curse me out."
I let out an incredulous chuckle.
When did I...? ...Well. Thinking it over, yeah, I hadn't been exactly sweet to Lily.
Every encounter: scram, annoying, stay away.
But admitting it meant defeat, so I clammed up.
"Hehe. That's a relief."
Lily beamed, broom in hand.
That harmless, pure, worry-free smile.
My spine chilled.
That. That.
That heart-melting moment.
30 billion on the line—if I got attached here, it'd be real trouble.
"Don't smile like that. Shrinks the distance. Hate getting attached. It's exhausting."
Gonna be seeing her long-term.
"Y-yeah......"
Lily pouted, her lips drooping.
I could almost see puppy ears flopping down.