I Shall Be Your Kingmaker

Late night had fallen, but the lights of the Imperial Palace remained lit. In particular, the lights in the Princess's office burned brighter and longer than usual.

While reviewing a mountain of documents for the next day's work, the door to the office swung open. Rina, Princess Shuren's closest aide, hurried inside, adjusting her glasses.

"Your Highness Shuren, we have just received the delivery of all the Blue Stones from the Lorend Merchant Guild."

A report that everything had been completed just a single day after the contract was finalized.

Shuren couldn't help but feel a touch of admiration at such swift execution.

"They work fast. They must have been preparing in advance."

"Yes, it certainly felt that way."

They had already been prepared to supply them. It was a minor detail, but such meticulousness was precisely what determined a merchant's credibility.

In her mind, Shuren elevated the Lorend Merchant Guild to a much more trustworthy partner.

"Does this put out the immediate fire?"

"Yes. You've worked hard, Your Highness."

Though the conflict with the North had caused numerous issues in the capital, the most critical of them all was the Blue Stone crisis.

In the smaller villages on the outskirts, a lack of Blue Stones to power defensive barriers meant the residents could be slaughtered in monster raids at any moment. Consequently, the scramble for Blue Stones had grown fiercely competitive beyond imagination.

Under these circumstances, the Lorend Merchant Guild's decision to sell hundreds of tons of Blue Stones to the Imperial Family at list price made it possible to distribute them systematically according to priority.

Shuren leaned back in her chair with a sigh and took a sip of her cooled black tea.

"Hard work? This is nothing compared to the burdens Father carried."

How exhausting must it have been for her father to do this for twenty-two years? Shuren was beginning to understand a fraction of the Emperor's struggle.

"What is my brother doing?"

Taking advantage of this brief moment of respite, she checked on her biggest headache.

Rina answered cautiously.

"He has remained confined to his room ever since that day..."

"Is he doing absolutely nothing?"

"Well... they say he occasionally writes letters and sends them out."

"My brother... writing letters?"

"Yes. I am told he writes them with great care."

Rina's words triggered Shuren's intuition. A gut ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠feeling told her she might finally discover the reason behind her brother's bizarre behavior.

"...Shall I have him tailed?"

"Yes. Just in case, put someone on it."

"Understood, Your Highness."

At Shuren's command, Rina quietly slipped out of the office.

At that very moment, in the Crown Prince's bedroom within the Imperial Palace, the prince was staring out the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠window at the moon, murmuring to himself.

"Meriel... I miss you so."

Crown Prince Lucas still could not forget that day.

Born as the eldest son of the Empire, he had received an elite education from a young age. Swordsmanship, statecraft, magic, diplomacy, horsemanship, etiquette—he had silently endured the grueling training required to become the future Emperor.

But at some point, the suffocating atmosphere of the Imperial Palace became too much to bear.

Slipping away from his stifling duties, he disguised himself and snuck out into the streets. His official excuse was an inspection, but in truth, it was a mere escapade.

While basking in his rare freedom...

The Crown Prince met Meriel in the bustling heart of the capital.

"Excuse me, handsome noble. You dropped this."

"Are you speaking to... me?"

"Yes. Isn't this your wallet, handsome noble?"

"...Ah, yes."

Even now, the Crown Prince could not forget that moment.

The scent of lavender, tickling his nose just like his late mother's, and a smile as bright as the sun. A being of peerless beauty, like a goddess descended to earth, stood right before his eyes.

"I am Meriel. May I ask your name, sir?"

"I am Lucas... no, Luca."

The Crown Prince spent the entire day with Meriel. It was an ordinary date—strolling through the streets, sharing desserts—and through it all, Meriel listened to his worries with genuine sincerity.

"Cheer up, Luca. I'm sure everything will work out for you."

Her words had brought him immense joy. He felt that with her by his side, he could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bear the crushing weight of the imperial crown. No, for her sake, he was willing to cast the empire aside entirely.

"Meriel... as long as I have you, I need nothing else."

The Crown Prince gazed at the moon, lost in his memories of her.

At that same hour, at Meriel's estate, a trusted agent sent by the Crown Prince tapped on her window.

Tap. Tap.

"Lady Meriel... His Highness the Crown Prince has sent another letter."

"Oh... yes... I understand..."

Meriel had no choice but to open the window. As usual, the agent handed over the letter and vanished without a trace.

The letter contained the same desperate pleas as always.

Reading those words, Meriel buried herself deep beneath her blankets.

"I had no idea Luca was the Crown Prince..."

Even when she had seen his face at the social gathering, she hadn't realized that the Crown Prince was her "Luca." It couldn't be helped. To Meriel, the handsome noble named Luca was merely one of many passing encounters in her life.

It had been a pleasant afternoon, but certainly not something worth throwing her entire life away for. It was a fleeting memory destined to fade with time. That was the extent of her recollection of the Crown Prince.

But when the scandal erupted and her father realized she might be the cause of it all, he had hurled an ashtray at her.

Clang!

"Aaaah!"

"Are you... are you determined to ruin our family?!"

Her father immediately placed her under house arrest and ordered absolute silence on the matter.

For Meriel, who only wanted to meet a kind, ordinary man, marry, and live a peaceful, happy life, this entire ordeal was nothing short of a tragedy.

"I... I never wanted any of this..."

Everything felt like a living nightmare. If only she could turn back time and prevent that fateful meeting...

With those thoughts, she wept silently into her pillow once again.

I wonder if things are playing out like this by now?

The morning after a highly enjoyable night, I was lazing around in bed, recalling the plot of the original novel, Stop Loving Me!.

Meriel was probably locked up in her estate right about now, wallowing in those exact thoughts. I wouldn't have to worry about her for the time being.

As I was lost in thought, Elina, who had risen first and was already grooming herself, spoke up.

"By the way, Young Master."

"Yes? Elina, do you want to go another round?"

At my words, Elina shot me a freezing glare. A Siberian blizzard instantly swept through the bedroom.

Elina was perfect in every way, but as if in reaction to our passionate nights, she always became exceptionally cold the morning after.

"..."

"Sorry... just kidding."

Elina let out a soft sigh and continued fixing her hair as she spoke.

"I heard that all routes leading to the North are currently blocked. How do you plan to get there? Are you thinking of using Outerloon?"

Following the Crown Prince's incident, the North had locked its gates tight. Currently, not even a mouse could slip in or out. The only viable path was the smuggling routes through the back alleys of Outerloon, but we couldn't use those now.

"If we go through there, we'll end up as illegal immigrants. We won't be able to conduct any proper business."

"Then how..."

When she asked how I planned to proceed when all paths were blocked, I decided to make full use of my transmigrator privileges.

Heh, don't go telling anyone about my genius cheating skills!

"If we can't slip in quietly... we'll just have to make a grand entrance."

"Pardon? A grand entrance?"

"Exactly. We'll escort the Lady herself, with trumpets blaring and flags flying. The Northerners will have no choice but to open their gates for us."

Elina's expression froze.

Seeing a cold beauty's face completely freeze up like that wasn't an everyday occurrence. It was a delightful sight.

"By 'the Lady'... do you mean Lady Matilda?"

"Yep, precisely."

This was the method to cross into the North that I had devised by cheating off the original plot!

It was to use Lady Matilda Lee Ludmilly—who had been publicly humiliated and abandoned by the Crown Prince, leaving her with nowhere to go—as our spearhead to enter the North.

I immediately brought my proposal to Princess Shuren, who stared at me with an utterly bewildered expression.

"I knew you were an entertaining man, Kyle... but I didn't realize you were this wild."

"I do pride myself on my sense of humor."

Shuren's face stiffened. Oops, maybe I pushed the joke a bit too far.

"Do you actually understand what it means to escort Lady Matilda back to the North right now?"

"Of course I do."

Lady Matilda was currently confined to the Imperial Palace. In this post-annulment climate, someone needed to escort her back to her homeland, but absolutely no one was willing to step forward.

And the reason was simple.

"You... once this crisis blows over, you could be targeted and killed by my brother's faction."

Indeed, it was all about imperial politics.

Now that the Crown Prince had officially declared the annulment, Lady Matilda was an enemy to all political factions aligned with him. If anyone stood by her side or escorted her back to the North, that action would be interpreted as a direct declaration of hostility against the Crown Prince.

Knowing this, even the Zeb Merchant Guild, whose primary sphere of influence was the North, didn't dare to make a move.

Under such circumstances, my offer to escort Lady Matilda must have looked like a suicide mission to Shuren.

"It's fine. I won't die."

"Sigh... how can you be so sure?"

She massaged her temples, looking as if a massive headache was coming on.

I looked at Shuren—no, the future Empress—and spoke.

"Because I have you, Your Highness."

Shuren froze, as if caught completely off guard by my response. After a brief silence, she averted her eyes.

"I... I don't have as much power as you think, Kyle."

While Shuren was currently leading the political cleanup, it wasn't because she possessed absolute power. Rather, it was a temporary alignment of various factions lending her their strength because the Crown Prince had abandoned his duties.

If we let things fall apart now, we all ruin ourselves, so let's cooperate for now.

She was fighting a grueling battle amidst a delicate balance of power, which was why she claimed to be powerless.

"Perhaps for now. But you will have it in the future. And I will help you achieve it."

"Kyle..."

Of course, I wasn't quite at that level yet, but my intention to ride her coattails as she climbed to the throne would be clearly conveyed.

Understanding my intent, she pondered for a moment before making up her mind.

"Fine!... I will speak with Lady Matilda. But if you show her even a shred of disrespect, I will personally see to your demise."

"How could I ever? Do not worry. I will ensure her journey is exceptionally comfortable."

Three days later, my official departure to the North was finalized.

Winter was coming.