Chapter 9.1

Chapter 9.1

A new name was written on the last line. It must have been the name of the person who precipitously stopped and broke into the Prince’s vehicle today.

When she touched the name with her finger, a new window popped out.

[ T/N: In this case, just like Ariel, his title isn’t really a ‘prince’ but son of a duke () though he’s a prince in the Dukedom. ]

The affection hasn’t shown up. While it was unfortunate, it wasn’t surprising as she was quickly ignored, and any chance of further conversation was blocked by Skyla. However, what caught her eye more was his status.

The Duke’s second son, and his relationship with the prince, Skyla, was a second cousin.

She remembered the deep blonde hair she had seen in the car. He, too, had blond hair, a symbol of royalty, probably because they had the same ancestors. Besides, seeing how informal he was with Skyla, it was only natural that he would have a high rank.

Ariel recalled the hierarchy of the Empire.

Imperial law stipulated two cases of an absolute rank that couldn’t infringe on the supremacy.

…The blood of the imperial family and the blood of the founding contributors.

The two lineages have long been held sacred in the Empire as noble beings that couldn’t be surpassed, not simply because of their precious blood, but because the genetic superiority of their blood was unrivaled.

The reason for conquering numerous kingdoms and establishing an empire alone was… lineage. The flow of blood that followed while hereditary military power was also equated with the reason for the empire’s existence.

Therefore, the imperial authority was very strong, and the class differences among the nobility were extreme.

Because of that, no matter how noble they were, they couldn’t escape discrimination or relative contempt. If you were a lower noble, it would be difficult to talk to the bloodlines of the empire that controlled the upper echelons of the Empire.

The more she looked at Racine’s profile, the more Ariel saw nothing but difficulty in her mind.

…High rank. Low likability. A tenuous relationship where she’d never even had a proper conversation.

Even his caveat was…

As she remembered the silence when she greeted him first and he didn’t say a word back, she could feel her vision go blank. Unlike Skyla, whom she had at least some contact with, since there was no reason for her to meet Racine, Ariel couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible for her to target him like this?

‘Let’s at least find out where he is.’

With a hopeful flick of her finger, Ariel activated his location information.

Something a little different than the expected sentence popped up. The system then behaved erratically and opened several new windows.

What it showed was a wide bird’s-eye view that included parts of the building plan and extended to the outside. In addition, a portrait was displayed on the map extending from the black arrow pointing to her location.

‘It can’t be tracked if they’re far away…’

Even though she thought it wasn’t a very versatile function, what was this?

In the distance, a portrait of Skyla standing still inside another building stood out from the black arrow marking her location.

While he was far away, if she kept walking, it was still a distance that she could reach so Ariel decided to put Racine on hold for now.

‘Skyla is at… the Imperial Palace building.’

It didn’t take long for her to realize that the guest room she was staying in was also part of the imperial palace. An exceptionally magnificent interior, and even a maid… in fact, she could have guessed to some extent.

Ariel was troubled. According to the maid’s explanation, she was free to come in and out of the surroundings until 22:00. And Skyla, with one affection, was more likely to talk to her.

The problem was an excuse to meet with him….

‘Should I ask… to have dinner together?’

For a moment, the image of Skyla’s sudden refusal, asking, “Why would I?” flashed through her mind. She could hear the coldness in his voice, but unexpectedly she didn’t flinch so Ariel wondered if it was because she had already experienced it.

‘Any other excuse other than food is fine. If possible, let’s make an excuse with something that would make it difficult to refuse and that’s going to lead to a long conversation…’

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