Drawing the Line on Our First Night
The hours dragged on. I was left alone in the bedchamber prepared for a newlywed couple’s first night. The room was quite spacious and ornate, but true to the North, a biting chill lingered in the air.
“Ugh, it’s freezing.”
My body, accustomed to the warm ondol rooms of the capital, felt the cold even more sharply. And it was quiet. Deadly quiet.
I was being completely ignored.
After one maid had asked if I needed anything shortly after I arrived, no one else had come looking for me. I had no idea how many hours had passed. Was there no clock in this room? Nope. Glancing out the window, I saw that the sky had already turned pitch black. It was deep into the night.
“Hah, at least they gave me a soft bed. That’s something.”
I rolled around on the wide bed in the empty room, organizing my thoughts. First, the guy I’d possessed—Kael. As I carefully examined the memories that had flooded into my head, I realized he was far more pitiful than I’d expected.
I wasn’t an expert on romance-fantasy or palace intrigue novels, so when I’d read the original story, I hadn’t realized things were this bad… But the power struggles in this empire were genuinely terrifying. Poisoning attempts were everyday occurrences, and waking up to find that the nanny or servant who had been by your side the night before had been assassinated and vanished was completely normal.
That was why Kael had started acting like a clown from a very young age—just to survive. He had thrown himself into the role with his entire body, screaming, I have zero interest in power! Just give me alcohol and gambling and I’m good!
It was his way of proving he had completely withdrawn from the imperial succession race. The problem, of course, was that at some point the act had completely consumed him, and the performance had become his true self.
That said, I didn’t feel any sympathy for him. I still hated the bastard. No matter what tragic backstory you slapped onto him, he was ultimately the one responsible for Giselle’s death.
“Anyway, that’s not the issue right now.”
The real problem was what I needed to do going forward. A brutal winter was coming soon. What exactly had the imperial family done to the North around this time?
Ah, I remember now.
The Emperor had played games with their food supply. He had blocked all large-scale grain transactions heading to the North. Even if Giselle tried to buy food with legitimate money, it would all be confiscated at the imperial checkpoints.
The reason? “Stockpiling military provisions for a rebellion, was it?”
So they even pinned a ridiculous false accusation on her. Seriously, there’s a limit to how shameless you can be.
“Then what I need to do is…”
Click.
At that moment, the firmly shut door opened and Giselle stepped inside. She was still wearing the same uniform I’d seen her in earlier that day. She even had a longsword strapped to her waist. No one would have mistaken her for a bride coming to consummate her marriage.
I quickly fixed my expression and spoke.
“You’re here? For our first night together, don’t you think your outfit’s a bit too murderous?”
As I lay crookedly on the bed and sneered, Giselle looked down at me with an icy gaze.
“Let’s skip the unnecessary greetings. Or should I call you husband now?”
She remained standing as she continued.
“Let me be clear from the start. I already know the shallow intentions of the imperial family. You’ve come to monitor me and observe the movements of the North, correct?”
“……”
“But keep this in mind. There is nothing you can do in this North. I have no intention of giving you even the slightest authority over the duchy’s management, let alone military command.”
Her assessment of the situation was spot on. Giselle was drawing a clear line from the very beginning. She intended to turn me—the spy sent by the imperial family—into a complete puppet.
She toyed with the hilt of the sword at her waist, driving the point home.
“Naturally, we will not be sharing a room. Your quarters will be prepared in a separate building by tomorrow. The only place within this castle where you may move freely is there.”
There would be no place for the Empire’s dog by her side. It was exactly as described in the original novel. She would thoroughly isolate and monitor me.
But knowing the full story, I could see the desperation hidden beneath her firm resolve. I could feel the immense weight she carried as she struggled desperately to protect the North under the pressure of the imperial family.
Yes. You have to reject me. That way, when I cause trouble later, you won’t get caught up in it.
I smiled inwardly and slowly rose from the bed.
“Hah! My, my, the Grand Duchess seems to be quite mistaken.”
I let out a hollow laugh and walked toward Giselle. Her eyes narrowed warily.
“Do you really think I want to live rubbing shoulders with a bloodless country bumpkin in this frozen wasteland?”
“…What did you say?”
“A separate building? Sounds perfect. Looking at your face was starting to make me nauseous anyway.”
I flicked one of the medals on her uniform with my finger and sneered.
“But still. I am, after all, a prince of the Empire. How can I be treated like some freeloading parasite? The imperial family has its dignity to uphold.”
“What do you want?”
Giselle’s voice dropped even lower. I deliberately brought out the most trash-like aspects of Kael from the original story—the greedy, luxury-obsessed behavior of a typical tyrant.
“Money. In short, the funds needed to maintain my dignity.”
“……”
“Starting tomorrow, prepare a personal budget for me. I intend to enjoy the same luxuries and pleasures I had in the capital, even in this backwater.”
I saw Giselle’s fist clench so tightly that it turned white.
“Are you joking right now? Winter is coming soon. We don’t even have enough food for the people of the territory, and you want me to fund your debauchery?!”
“That’s your problem as the lord. Before I am your husband, I am someone who came here by His Majesty the Emperor’s command. If rumors spread in the capital that my treatment is lacking, I wonder how His Majesty will react?”
A despicable threat. But to Giselle, it was a lethal poison. The North currently lacked the strength to wage war against the imperial family, so they could not afford to offend a prince and give them any justification.
Giselle’s crimson eyes flickered with rage. I could clearly sense the impulse she was suppressing—the urge to draw her sword and slit my throat right then and there.
“…Understood.”
Her lips were bitten so hard they were on the verge of bleeding. Finally, she answered in a suppressed voice.
“I will provide you with the minimum funds necessary to maintain your dignity, as you wish. But nothing more. Do not stand in my way.”
With those final words, Giselle turned and left the room without looking back.
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
“Whew…”
Only after confirming that she was completely gone did I finally let out the breath I had been holding and collapse onto the bed. Cold sweat trickled down my spine.
Giselle’s presence up close was far more overwhelming than I had imagined. The pressure in her gaze alone felt like it could cut a person in half.
Food shortage… Of course.
It connected to what I had been thinking earlier. Giselle probably believed that if she held onto that budget, she could somehow feed the people of the territory. But since I knew the original story, I knew it was impossible.
The Emperor had already blocked all large-scale grain transactions heading to the North. It was a fucked-up situation where, even with money, you couldn’t buy a single grain through legal channels.
Of course, there was still a way. The classic method—smuggling.
But Giselle, with her noble and upright knightly spirit, knew nothing about the dark dealings of back-alley smugglers and bribes. Even if she did know, her personality would never allow her to do such a thing.
Which meant it was something only I could do.
What if the Eighth Prince, known as the Empire’s greatest piece of trash, squeezed money out of the North to buy mountains of the highest-grade wine and luxury goods for his own pleasure?
The imperial spies would gladly let the wagons through. They would think I was finally ruining the North’s finances. And then I could simply fill those wagons with food.
What choice do I have? The trash has to step up and take the bullet.
Giselle would despise me. The vassals of the North would probably plot to tear me apart. But getting hated a little isn’t going to kill me.
“I guess I’ll have to get used to my favorite character treating me like garbage.”
I smiled bitterly in the empty room. Winter was coming.
Two days passed. Morning came.
I opened my eyes on the cold bed in the separate building.
“…Ugh, I’m actually going to freeze to death.”
My breath came out in white puffs. There weren’t even many logs in the fireplace, and the few that had been there had burned out overnight, leaving the room freezing.
Giselle had indeed kicked me out to the annex as promised, but I hadn’t expected the treatment to be this terrible. Maybe I should have brought up the budget issue after being assigned the building? Even I would want to punch someone who said something like that.
Still, I understood. Right now, the North probably didn’t even have enough firewood to waste on trash like me.
Shivering, I roughly grabbed some clothes and put them on.
Click.
Then the door opened cautiously, and a young maid entered carrying a small wooden basin filled with steaming warm water. She kept her head bowed low, moving quietly while stealing glances at me.
She must be scared of me. Well, since I’m a prince with a terrible reputation, that makes sense.
She carefully set the basin down. Without thinking, I spoke.
“Ah, thanks.”
“…Pardon?”
The maid flinched and jerked her head up. Her eyes were wide open like a rabbit’s. She looked utterly shocked.
Oh no. I messed up.
My original way of speaking had slipped out too naturally. If she realized I was acting like trash, it would be a problem.
I quickly hardened my expression and cleared my throat.
“Ahem. What are you doing? Leave it there and get out.”
“Ah, y-yes! Yes!”
The maid jumped in surprise, quickly set the basin down, and fled the room. The door clicked shut a moment later, but I thought I could hear her murmuring voices echoing down the hallway.
Damn it. I have to be careful even with the smallest things.
I scolded myself inwardly and quickly washed my face.
Still, there’s no time to rest. I need to move fast.
The North’s financial situation was obviously terrible at a glance. Years of poor harvests, endless waves of demonic beasts, and above all, the imperial family’s vicious economic sanctions. Was this really the treatment a territory on the front lines deserved?
The imperial family poured in support and expected gratitude, yet here they were imposing sanctions instead. Even a passing ant would probably think, Are they idiots?
I knew that Giselle had been selling not only her personal assets but even the family’s treasures to feed the people of the territory, but even that had reached its limit.
And soon, the first snow of the harsh winter would arrive.
At that time, thirty percent of the North’s people starved to death or froze, right?
To prevent that tragedy, an enormous amount of food would be needed. I had to smuggle it in from the southern part of the Empire as quickly as possible.
And to do that, what did I need? A massive amount of cash.
“Alright then.”
I straightened my collar in front of the mirror and curled the corners of my mouth upward.
“Shall we go suck some marrow out of our dear Grand Duchess’s spine?”