TER𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

LVlV

.𖥔 ݁ ˖₊˚✩.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ᰔᩚ.ᰔᩚ ⭑. ݁ ˖₊˚✩.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ ⭑
A Step Closer To The Truth (1)

The fact that the empress had suddenly gone to the separate palace today was a sure sign that someone had tipped her off. He didn’t want to doubt Ivan, but if anyone could have slipped through strict surveillance and told his mother, it was him.

Ivan… if only we were even half related, I would treat you fondly as my own brother…

This whole time, Ivan had always treated Lustian like a blood-related family member. And Lustian, in turn, had also treated him as his own younger brother. The empress had only ever given birth to one child, which was Lustian. He was also the only member of the imperial family with legitimacy. Most of the other imperial family members were the children of concubines. For the emperor had not only the concubines of his harem but also many concubines from the Arpen Empire. So much of the imperial family was born of them.

Of these, Ivan alone was recognized as a child of the empress. As a child, it was Ivan that had been brought by a bird carrying him in a basket and placed on the emperor’s bed. None other than the immediate imperial family knew that he was not a child of the empress by birth. It was a secret about his birth that even he himself did not know.

…Who could his birth mother be… tsk…

Lustian had heard that the birth mother had died after giving birth to Ivan. Since the emperor was unwilling to disclose her identity, he wondered if maybe his mother also had a slave background, like Viola’s.

“I’m really curious. Why did you hide your identity from the start?”

“You don’t need to know.” Lustian’s tone was cold.

“I might be able to help you, you know.” Ivan urged on unfazed. “So don’t be so difficult and tell me.”

Lustian sighed. He raked his hands through his hair turning it into a mess. Even such a messy appearance had a charm that would enrapture anyone. Ivan found himself looking in awe at him without even realizing it. It was not an overstatement to say no matter which living thing in the world laid eyes on him, would fall in love with him. People young and old, even beasts, didn’t show hostility before him… The otherworldly aura that flowed from him had a sense of overbearing that was beyond words.

But there was one person who was not overwhelmed by him, and instead held her head up high in front of him.

Viola…

“I’m going to disband the Blood Army. Since there won’t be any more war.”

Ivan’s eyes widened in surprise. Lustian had absolutely no reason to disband the Blood Army, which stood at the forefront of any war, yet he still seemed burdened by its existence.

What? Why? Is the Blood Army being a stumbling block to him somehow?

Currently, the Blood Army was a special army led by the crown prince. It was formed by rounding up the most elite knights of the empire, and the head, that had been passed down from generation to generation, was technically the emperor. With such an army, even if Lustian was the current leader, it would not have been easy for him to decide to disband it. At that moment, Ivan thought of Viola.

Could it be…? Perhaps… Has he become the object of a grudge that Viola was holding? Did the Blood Army cause the death of someone who was related to her?

Ivan finally understood why Lustian had used a false identity.

“— But, Lustian … This is very dangerous. If she turns out to be God’s Companion, she’s a woman that you cannot have.”

“God’s Companion has already been decided.”

“Hoh… has she been found already?!”

“Princess Guinev.”

Ivan’s eyes trembled as Princess Guinev came to his mind: a beautiful blonde princess with innocent eyes… she had been the most beautiful princess before Viola’s arrival at the castle. However, she had disappeared before passing the final step of the training. No, perhaps there had been no need for confirmation… Because she had met the crown prince right in front of him…

A small laugh escaped from his lips. This whole thing was becoming very interesting. It was impossible to tell where to begin unravelling the threads that had hopelessly entangled together. As the cogs in his mind churned, Ivan burst forth into a peal of hearty laughter.

“Then, is it correct that the emperor hid her away somewhere? Where did he hide her, I wonder? He must have had to hide her very thoroughly. Although it’s fun to see two women competing for a man~”

Lustian glared at him. Ivan looked at the other and shrugged his shoulders.

“Or is it you that wants to keep her hidden? Since she’s the only princess that has made it to the final step of the crown prince. Hahaha!”

That was a stretch. It was the emperor’s plan. No, she had tricked both the emperor and him into pretending not to be a candidate.

When he first saw her, she had been introduced to him as a princess of the Arpen Empire. And she had said that she was coming in as an official concubine, not into the harem as someone who was only a concubine in name. One day, he saw her in the Lake of God. Unaware that she had come through the wall like Viola, he had thought she was his own concubine.

It had been a very dark night. After drinking the alcohol that the emperor had given to him, he was aroused in his drunk state and threw himself into the lake. Being soaked in the water, he became more mindless. It wasn’t until morning that he realized the liquor had been something else. He’d spent his first night with a woman he didn’t want. Not by his own volition but by another’s…

Lustian clenched his fists tightly.

That he would go that far just to make certain…

From then on, his rebellion increased against the emperor’s attempts to force the Godly Duties onto him, and he completely rejected the final step of training even more than before. It was also from then on that he started sending Ivan into the bedchamber on the first night.

Shit… . It’s all just annoying.