Flustered, Leonhardt gave chase, trailing after him as he bolted out of the ballroom.
As Shushu hastily ran down the stairs, one of his dress shoes slipped off his foot.
However, realizing that stopping to retrieve the shoe might mean getting caught by the Crown Prince and exposed as Gem, he ignored it and kept running.
Noticing Shushu fleeing in a panic, his personal guard knights rushed over to intercept.
They blocked Leonhardt, who was pursuing him with Shushu’s shoe in hand.
“What is the meaning of this, Your Imperial Highness?”
“Young Master Damian suddenly rushed out of the party, so I followed him out of concern.”
Leonhardt stepped forward toward Shushu, holding up the shoe in his palm. Shushu shrank back, shaking his head.
From the top of the stairs, Callix was looking down at him like a raven eyeing its prey from the sky.
The icy glare and the warning-laced pheromones radiating from the hyper-dominant alpha conveyed one absolute command: Reject the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, it appears my younger brother’s heat has not fully subsided yet. You needn’t worry yourself over him.”
“Ah…”
Letting out a disappointed groan, Leonhardt reached out to hand the shoe to Shushu.
Shushu carefully grabbed the toe of the shoe, making sure his fingers didn’t brush against the prince’s skin.
“Thank you. Your Highness, I am feeling rather unwell, so I will take my leave now.”
“Very well, Young Master Damian. The next time we meet at a party, will you grant me the honor of being your very first dance partner then?”
Shushu shook his head, acutely conscious of Callix descending the staircase toward them.
Leonhardt asked with a wounded expression.
“Do you find me burdensome? Or is my status making you uncomfortable?”
Having reached the bottom of the stairs, Callix answered in his stead, acting as if he were Shushu’s official spokesperson.
“As Your Highness is well aware, the rift between the Imperial Family and the Vesper family runs deep. I must ask you to kindly withdraw your excessive interest in my younger brother.”
“If we were to arrange a marriage alliance through this, it could serve as a wonderful opportunity to mend our relationship. Young Grand Duke Callix, I have fallen in love with Young Master Damian at first sight. I shall send an engagement certificate to Duke Maldini before long.”
“—My younger brother is still young. Please take back what you just said.”
Shushu was dumbfounded to hear that the male lead had fallen in love at first sight with someone who was merely an extra.
This development completely derailed the original story.
Seeing Shushu staring with wide, round eyes, Leonhardt crinkled the corners of his eyes into a smile.
“Well then, let us meet again later.”
The Crown Prince finally backed down.
Callix watched him with narrowed eyes, maintaining a guarded stance until the prince climbed the stairs and re-entered the ballroom.
Shushu slipped one of his dress shoes onto his foot, thinking it was finally over.
Then, Callix knelt down on one knee and yanked the shoe right back off Shushu’s foot.
“Get on my back.”
“Big Brother.”
“I said get on. Damian Vesper.”
Shushu didn’t want to cross him while his mood was this thoroughly twisted.
He climbed onto Callix’s back. Callix rose with Shushu carried on his back and gradually moved away from the annex where the party was still in full swing.
During the walk back to the main building, Callix didn’t say a single word.
Along the way, he simply tossed the single shoe he had stripped from Shushu deep into a thicket of bushes.
Now that Callix had revealed he knew Shushu was Gem, everything was going to change.
Shushu felt overwhelmed and terrified about what he should do next. Burying his face in Callix’s shoulder and sniffing back tears, he finally heard Callix speak.
“Nothing changes.”
“I’m not Gem.”
“No, you are Gem. So you have to be careful never to let anyone find out. The Crown Prince is a 6th-circle mage. If he touches even a single strand of your hair, he’ll figure out you’re Gem.”
Arriving at the bedroom, Callix laid Shushu gently down on the bed. He used his hand to softly wipe away the tears soaking Shushu’s cheeks.
“I’ve had a husband in mind for you for a long time. A recessive alpha from a minor noble family who isn’t a mage, someone kind and diligent who won’t cheat. Shushu, how does Cain sound for a husband?”
Cain was a long-time subordinate whom Callix had planted by Damian’s side—someone from a poor, minor noble house who could be easily manipulated, blindly obeyed his commands, could become a son-in-law to the Vesper family so Damian could keep living in the same castle, and wouldn’t lay a single finger on his own wife.
Callix had planned to stage a fake marriage between Damian and Cain by the time Damian turned thirty, but the Crown Prince had thrown that plan out of order.
To have to arrange an engagement at such a tender age felt as painful as severing his own arm.
“…C-Cain? But Cain is my friend.”
“Before the Crown Prince sends an engagement certificate, you have to hurry and get engaged to Cain.”
No matter how powerful the ducal family was, there was simply no way to dare refuse a marriage proposal from the Crown Prince.
Besides, Duke Maldini would undoubtedly be thrilled by the Crown Prince proposing to Damian.
Since it was a golden opportunity to mend relations with the imperial family—which had been strained by a long history of bad blood—he certainly wouldn’t let it slip away.
“Don’t worry. Big Brother will protect you.”
At those words, Shushu felt his anxiety melt away into relief.
‘That’s right, I have a caring older brother.’
Look at how hard he was trying to protect him.
Perhaps his doomed future really had changed after all.
A large hand stroked Shushu’s hair, then gently cupped and shook his cheek.
“Sleep well, my Shushu.”
Callix sat on the edge of the bed until Damian fell asleep, then finally stepped out of his younger brother’s bedroom.
His heart was burning with fierce hostility toward the Crown Prince, who dared to cast covetous eyes upon his Gem.
His murderous gaze then shifted toward Cain, who was lingering outside his master’s bedroom late into the night.
“Tomorrow, I’m going to get you engaged to Damian. Don’t get any wrong ideas. You’re just a decoy put up as a scarecrow, not a real fiancé.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
The young attendant bowed deeply, revealing his submissive obedience to the Young Grand Duke.
Only after the Young Grand Duke vanished did the young attendant straighten his posture.
Even though it was a false engagement, the boy’s face flushed with a bursting heat at the thought of getting engaged to the person he harbored a one-sided crush on.
He had to make sure this feeling was never exposed.
Only then could he stay together with Damian.
