Chapter 1
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1
Prologue
Rhythmic footsteps echoed through the darkness. Gareth, who had been staring at the pond from a garden bench, turned his head toward the corridor.
Barkas, dressed impeccably in the uniform of the Imperial Knights, was walking through the long arcade connected to the garden. His movements were like a serpent gliding slowly through deep, dark waters.
Gareth occasionally wondered why.
Pale blond hair the color of faded flax, silvery-blue eyes, skin like plaster...
Why did this man, rendered in hues as pale as aged parchment, exude such a chilling, sinister aura?
Whenever Gareth faced him, a shiver would run down his spine for no apparent reason.
"Your Highness."
The man placed a hand over his chest and bowed. Gareth waved a hand dismissively, his expression twisted with irritation.
"Cut the useless formalities."
Even if he was currently serving in the Imperial Guard, this man was destined to succeed the Grand Duke of Sieorkan and rule the Eastern Region. He was not of a status Gareth could normally treat lightly. Yet, Gareth jerked his chin at him as if addressing a lowly subordinate.
"How long are you going to make me look up at you? Sit."
Despite the rude behavior, the man’s face remained unchanged. With an indifferent expression—neither offended nor submissively obedient—he sat on the marble bench.
The Crown Prince scrutinized the man’s refined features, which lacked even a trace of human warmth. While he appeared the same as usual at a glance, it wasn’t difficult to guess that he was not in a particularly good mood.
Did things not go well? Gareth narrowed his eyes and threw out a sharp demand.
"How did the interrogation go? Don’t tell me you failed to find the mastermind."
"I have uncovered everything there was to find," the man replied in a monotonous voice, pulling at the collar of his tightly buttoned coat with one hand. "However, it likely won’t be the answer Your Highness desires."
Gareth arched an eyebrow. "Explain in detail."
"The substance placed in the Princess’s cup did not come from the Empress’s Palace."
"Then where?"
"It was prescribed by an Imperial apothecary to a maid working in the Main Palace. It isn’t even classified as a poison. It simply causes side effects like vomiting and abdominal pain when taken in large quantities, so it isn’t strictly regulated."
"So you’re saying a maid from the Main Palace suddenly lost her mind and drugged my sister’s cup?"
The Crown Prince let out a hollow laugh of disbelief. However, the veins in his thick neck were bulging—a sign that his temper was reaching its limit.
Yet, Barkas’s gaze remained utterly dry as he watched Gareth’s face flush with rage.
"The maid did not drug the cup herself."
"Then who is the culprit!"
Losing his patience, Gareth raised his voice.
"Stop dragging this out and get to the point! If the Empress didn’t pull a stunt and a maid didn’t cause an accident, who dared to mess with my sister’s drink?"
"The Second Imperial Princess did it."
Gareth, who had been huffing with rage, froze at the calm reply.
"That wench?"
The Crown Prince’s face contorted savagely. When Gareth spoke of the Empress, he was like boiling lava. But when he mentioned the illegitimate child she had brought with her, he looked like a man who had something utterly filthy in his mouth. The sound of teeth grinding leaked from his tightly clenched jaw.
"That crazy bitch is more than capable of it. When it comes to my sister, she loses all reason, her eyes twisting with a jealous madness..."
Barkas showed no reaction to the vulgar insults that sounded more suited to a common thug. Gareth stared intensely at the man, unable to let go of his suspicions regarding the Empress.
"Even so, isn’t it too early to be certain that Senevia... that woman’s influence wasn’t involved? There’s every possibility she egged her daughter on—"
"If she had, she would have used a proper lethal poison, not a drug that seems like a prank," Barkas said coldly. His pale eyes shimmered faintly in the dark. "If it were the Empress, she wouldn’t have handled the aftermath so clumsily as to be caught."
Gareth fell silent, unable to find a rebuttal. He was annoyed at being interrupted, but the contempt laced in the man’s voice satisfied him.
It was immensely gratifying to him that this young man, who was usually indifferent to everything, showed such a sharp edge when it came to the stain on the Imperial Family, Thalia Roem Guirta. It felt like a reaffirmation that this man was on his... on their side.
"True... Senevia wouldn’t jeopardize her position with such a stupid stunt."
His mood slightly improved, Gareth spoke in an animated voice.
"Thalia, that wench dug her own grave. I knew she’d cause trouble eventually."
He flashed a mischievous, boyish grin, much like he did during his days running wild at the Academy.
"She must have lost her mind because she lost you to my sister. How much has that illegitimate bitch, who doesn’t know her place, been lording it over everyone, ordering the heir of the Grand Duchy around with a flick of her chin? Now that the personal guard she treated like her toy is about to become the 'real' Princess’s partner, her temper must have finally snapped."
The man did not respond. Barkas Raedgo Sieorkan was a man who never said more than what was absolutely necessary. Thus, his silence was not particularly strange.
However, Gareth sometimes found this man’s silence unbearably grating. Like right now. He stared at Barkas as if demanding an answer.
"At any rate, she won’t escape punishment this time. If we play our cards right, we might even frame it as an attempted assassination—"
"It will not go as you wish."
He interrupted the Crown Prince for the second time. Gareth’s eyes instantly turned fierce. But the man’s gaze as he looked at the future Emperor remained tranquil.
"First, there is only circumstantial evidence; there is no definitive physical proof. If she decides to deny it, it will not be easy to prove she is the culprit."
"We can just bring forth the maid who provided the drug as a witness—!"
"Do you truly believe you can put Senevia’s eldest daughter on trial with nothing but the testimony of a single maid?"
While Gareth struggled to find a counterargument, Barkas continued calmly.
"Second, even if it is clearly proven that this was the Second Imperial Princess’s doing, it is difficult to impose a harsh punishment for merely spiking a drink with a drug that causes a stomachache. If she insists it was a lighthearted prank, it will likely end with nothing more than house arrest."
"A lighthearted prank?"
Gareth, who had been listening in silence, finally exploded. He lunged from his seat and grabbed the future Grand Duke by the collar.
"Do you have any idea what kind of humiliation your future wife suffered in front of everyone? A girl who has never once shown a disheveled appearance collapsed in the banquet hall, vomiting! Do you know how much pain Aila was in? How can you call that a lighthearted prank—!"
As if reliving the memory of that day, the Crown Prince’s bronzed face turned a visible shade of red even in the darkness. He panted, teeth clenched.
"Right, I was too distracted then to notice, but I saw it clearly! When Aila collapsed, Thalia—that bitch was smiling from afar! That filthy illegitimate wench who deserves to have her limbs torn apart dared to touch my sister—!"
"Your Highness."
Gareth’s hand flinched and let go. The man hadn’t even raised his voice, yet a cold sweat broke out on Gareth’s back. Gareth took a step back, eyeing Barkas warily.
The man adjusted his disarrayed clothes with calm hands.
"That woman is not a being worthy of such attention from the Crown Prince."
His voice was monotonous, as if stating a simple fact like the sun setting and night falling.
"The extent of her capabilities is merely harassing people with these sorts of nasty pranks. Should the future ruler of the Empire really be getting worked up over such trivial mischief?"
He spoke as if soothing a child.
Normally, Gareth would have fumed, asking how he dared to lecture him, but knowing he had crossed the line first, he remained silent.
The man slowly stood up. Even though he was committing the rudeness of leaving without the Crown Prince’s permission, his movements were as natural as flowing water.
"I have already sent medicinal herbs to the Princess to settle her stomach. Furthermore, I intend to strictly supervise all wine and food served at Her Highness’s table from now on."
"So, you’re saying I should just drop it and move on?"
"If Your Highness insists on uncovering the truth of this matter to punish the Second Imperial Princess, I will not stop you. However, I wish to be excluded."
Gareth flushed at the indifferent response. Barkas seemed intent on dismissing the incident as nothing more than a spiteful prank by a jealous, immature girl.
As he said, if the Crown Prince and the heir to the Eastern Grand Duchy got worked up over such a trivial matter, it would only damage their own prestige.
However, Gareth felt a strong sense of resistance toward his coldness. It wasn’t just because of his indifferent attitude toward his sister. Gareth glared at him with suspicious eyes.
"Don’t tell me... you’re protecting her?"
The man, who had turned to leave, paused and cast a freezing gaze over his shoulder.
Just then, a breeze from the lake softly ruffled his ashen-blond hair. But the man’s impression did not soften in the slightest. A smile like a well-honed blade spread across his lips. It was the first expression to appear on a face that had been as still as a mask.
"Me? Protecting her?"
Barkas let out a low chuckle as if he had heard something amusing. But a sharp, jagged rage flickered in his blue eyes.
Gareth was momentarily speechless. He knew this man loathed Thalia. But he hadn’t known he harbored such intense hostility.
Was he not a man whose emotions had been thoroughly castrated by the priests? In fact, Gareth had never seen him show any emotion in over a decade.
Just what had she done to make this stone-like man bare his teeth like this?
Gareth scrutinized him with curious eyes.
He had heard stories of the various humiliations this man had suffered at that woman’s hands during his time as Thalia Roem Guirta’s personal guard, but he had never thought Barkas would be affected by them.
Was he not a man far too noble to be swayed by the hysterics of an immature girl? Gareth had assumed Thalia Roem Guirta was nothing more than a nuisance and an annoyance to him. But it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Barkas’s blue eyes, devoid of even a hint of warmth, shimmered eerily as he spoke through gritted teeth.
"I simply never wish to be entangled with that woman ever again."
With that, as if he had nothing more to say, he turned and walked back the way he came.
Gareth watched him recede silently, like a water snake crossing a lake, and a thin, predatory smile touched his lips.
Thalia, I don’t know what you did, but this works out well for me.
Since the man who needed to be his strongest supporter hated his enemy, their alliance would only grow stronger.
Gareth stood up with a satisfied face.
