“Do you think I feel sorry for you, being left alone? No, I feel the most pity and sympathy for myself. So live. Somehow survive until you come of age. Even someone like me keeps living, so you shouldn’t fall apart over a mere mother’s death.”
Ethan gritted his teeth tightly.
As a result, the muscles below his jaw bulged out.
It was a rather chilling expression for a mere eighteen-year-old child to make.
“…Do not speak of my mother like that.”
This was similar to a stroke of irritation directed at Ethan.
No matter what hardship Ethan suffered or what insults he endured, the ultimate winner would be Ethan in the end.
‘Why are you so weak? Why don’t you think about wanting to kill me yet? Why did it have to be you of all people who would take me back to reality?’
It was nothing more, nothing less than venting anger biased entirely toward his own emotions.
“You seem angry.”
Ethan’s hands trembled violently.
It seemed he was suppressing his rage toward Fel.
“Since everyone loves you, I will not love you.”
‘Don’t worry, Ethan. The flow of the novel will guide you to me.’
‘Before long, your exceptional abilities will be recognized, and rumors that you are the illegitimate son of Duke Soliar will spread far and wide. Then you will go find the Duke.’
‘The comfortable bed you’ll taste for the first time, a harmonious family, lavish treatment. Just when you’ve grown accustomed to all of that, your father will lose his life at my hands.’
‘And so on the day you come of age, you will come to my bedchamber holding a sword.’
‘A single scream will echo through the imperial palace, and you will sever my head to present to the Second Prince.’
‘A happy ending for everyone, where you become a hero and the Second Prince becomes the emperor.’
“Survive. Until this story begins, somehow.”
“…”
“…Let’s go.”
A short while after the sound of horse hooves striking the ground echoed, a heavy thud resonated from behind his back.
It was the sound of the bakery owner thoroughly beating Ethan up.
“Ugh… no matter how much he stole bread, that’s a bit too much.”
“I wonder if he’ll be beaten to death at this rate.”
Hearing the knights muttering among themselves, Philip asked Fel cautiously:
“…Why did you speak to him like that? You could have reasoned with him nicely.”
It was laughable how he had been shouting at the boy not to block the crown prince’s path just moments ago, only to worry about Ethan now.
“No matter what happens, that kid’s ending is a happy ending.”
“Pardon? What on earth does that… No, by the way, what was all that talk about begging to be killed or being a hero?”
Philip looked at Fel with a thoroughly serious glint in his eyes.
Around the time he felt Philip’s stinging gaze, Fel cleared his throat once.
Then, he tacked on a ridiculous excuse:
“It seems I was babbling nonsense while drunk.”
“Pardon?”
“You have far too many useless questions.”
Fel crumpled his face as if commanding him to refrain from any further questions.
In front of a face steeped in deep irritation, no one existed who would dare open their mouth.
Philip followed behind Fel, trying hard to brush off a slight lingering bad taste in his mouth.
“Geez, wait for me.”
“…”
“Your Highness? Can you not hear my voice?”
“You’re being awfully chatty today.”
Philip wore a thoroughly tearful expression.
However, there was no way such a thing would touch Fel’s heartstrings.
He merely ignored it and stared straight ahead.
Not long after exchanging such trivial banter, Fel passed through the entrance of the imperial palace, bathed in a golden hue.
A guard dressed in white bowed deeply at the waist, welcoming the empire’s crown prince.
Taking a right turn with the main palace at the center led to the Basel Palace, where black roses bloomed in magnificent full bloom.
It was the very palace where crown princes had resided for generations.
“I will go alone from here.”
Despite the crown prince’s command, Philip still followed Fel.
His reason was that Fel’s condition seemed strange, so he felt he shouldn’t leave him alone.
In truth, whether Philip followed him or not, Fel’s mind was still a chaotic mess.
‘Ethan, Ethan, Ethan.’
That name kept flashing through his mind, driving him almost insane—to the point where he wasn’t even aware of the fact that Philip was following right behind him.
“…Did I speak too harshly?”
‘Forget it. A villain saying villainous things won’t hurt the protagonist.’
Just as he reached the front of the Basel Palace, clearing away his tedious worries, Philip stopped Fel in his tracks with a somewhat surprised voice.
Only then did Fel realize Philip had been following him, his shoulders flinching slightly.
“Um, Your Highness…”
“Hey, since when were you…”
The voice that was about to rise vanished in an instant.
This was because Philip was looking at something over his shoulder.
When he turned his head in confusion, the Empress’s attendant was standing there.
“Have you arrived, Your Highness the Crown Prince?”
In front of the entrance to Basel Palace, a white-haired man bowed politely.
His voice sounded choked with emotion, as if he had been waiting for Felman all along.
Fel’s face instantly froze.
Within it lay annoyance rather than welcome.
“I have been waiting for you.”
Fel was not particularly pleased with his extreme courtesy.
Looking at it, it was a summons from the Empress, and he did not want to see that damned woman’s face.
“……Tiresome.”
As he dismounted from his horse, one of the servants lined up on both sides of the entrance took the reins.
Wiping his hands with a handkerchief handed to him by the chief servant, Fel snapped his head toward the Empress’s attendant.
“Is it a summons from Her Majesty the Empress?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Fel curled up one corner of his mouth as he handed the handkerchief, stained with a small amount of blood, back to the chief servant.
“You couldn’t possibly be unaware of the fact that I must pay audience to His Majesty the Emperor first.”
When returning from a subjugation or a war, it was the rule to see the Emperor first.
