CH 71

Callian was really uncomfortable. 

At first, it was because of Largo.

He had come since early morning, and as soon as he arrived, he spoke only a few words that scratched his heart.

How much of an achievement he had made in the war against monsters, how greatly the Emperor was delighted, etc. 

His words were like thorns to Callian, who had not accomplished anything at the moment. 

A thorn that painfully stabs his ambition. So, Calian had a lot of sharp edges.

Meanwhile, Ophelia came. 

In fact, it’s him who called her. He called her because he wanted to know in detail what happened at the hunting competition yesterday. 

But really, he was more annoyed as soon as she came. He seemed to hate Ophelia more than he thought. 

And on top of that,

‘Your Highness, wake up.’

‘You have to believe in what’s right in front of you’

He was more irritated when she’s saying this. Callian was really angry. Why are you talking like that and scratching my heart so that a grain of doubt comes out! 

It was all Ophelia’s fault that suspected Fleur now. Because of her—!

Callian sighed while touching his forehead.

However, that did not mean that Ophelia could be sent back immediately. 

“I’m more helpful than Countess Fleur, aren’t I?”

The people who can help him are extremely limited.

Meanwhile, Callian couldn’t refuse Ophelia, the hostess of Duchess Ryzen, reaching out to him. He had to listen to it. 

“How will you help me?”

“You know.”

Ophelia replied as if she had waited. 

“I can catch the weaknesses of aristocrats.”

“—What?”

Callian asked back, wondering if he heard it wrong. However, Ophelia seemed to have said it properly. She continued to talk. 

“As soon as it became known that I was using black magic, I received invitations from many people.” 

“Invitation?”

“Yes. Of course, the purpose was not written on the invitation. But I can be sure. That they’d ask me to do something.”

Ophelia glistened her eyes. Callian also waited for her next words. 

“Of course.”

Ophelia snapped her index finger and said.

“I’m not strong enough to fulfill all their requests.” 

It’s a lie.

Ophelia has the power to grant most requests. But there’s only one reason to say this.

‘Because I can’t even trust Callian.’

Revealing all of my power to Callian would earn his trust right now, but in the long run it would be harmful.

‘What if you try to use me like the original?’

In the original, Ophelia killed Sylvester using black magic at the request of Callian. There was no guarantee that I would not be asked to do so again this time. 

Therefore, Ophelia intended to hide her power as much as possible from Callian. 

Just reveal it appropriately.

“But you can hear what they’re saying, because it’s going to make you confide in me.”

“….”

Callian opened his mouth, then closed it. 

In other words, Ophelia meant that she would use black magic to grant the request, and then deliver what they requested to him. 

That’s not a bad suggestion. 

No, he corrected it. It was a pretty good suggestion.

But Callian couldn’t relax. 

It really didn’t make sense for her to help him so much. 

“Why are you doing this to me?” 

So Callian asked. 

“The Duke of Ryzen supports the 2nd Prince. He tries to make the 2nd Prince the Emperor somehow. But you don’t seem to agree with him.” 

It is widely known that Sylvester Ryzen supports the 2nd Prince. So the biggest obstacle to Callian was Sylvester.

He was the head of the aristocracy and had an upper hand in power relations. So he tried hard to get rid of Sylvester somehow, but all of them failed. Sylvester was a formidable person. 

However, in the midst of this, the Duchess of Ryzen supports him. 

Why? 

Callian looked at Ophelia with doubt.

“Well. Do I need to have anything to do?” 

Ophelia smiled as she received Callian’s gaze.

“I don’t know much about complicated politics. I’m just—” 

Ophelia looked straight into Callian’s eyes and said.

“I hope Your Highness is happy.”

Callian’s breath stopped for a moment.

Happiness? 

Can I have such a thing? 

In fact, he was much happier before entering the Imperial family. At that time, when they were together in Fleur’s mansion. 

However, he was the Crown Prince, and Fleur desperately wanted his lottery, so he had no choice but to enter the Imperial family.

And since then, he has never been happy. 

He couldn’t be happy. 

How can he be happy when everyone is watching him and everyone is aiming for him?

But happiness.

Callian laughed in vain. It was a laugh out of excitement, but at the same time, he could feel a feeling that every corner of his chest was tingling. 

“Why do you want me to be happy?” 

“I think you know what it is.”

Ophelia replied with a still smile around her mouth.

“Because I like Your Highness.” 

Callian had another breathtaking experience. It has been said dozens of times. Still, strangely, his heart was strange today. It felt like heat was rising on his face. 

It’s strange. It’s really strange. 

Callian covered his face with his hands. 

“Go back.”

And he said without looking at Ophelia.

“Don’t come until I look for you again.”

It seemed that he should not see Ophelia for a while. 

He thought he had to. 

*****

I left the Crown Prince Palace with a little doubt. 

No, wasn’t he the one who called me today? Then why is he suddenly telling me not to come? 

It’s like a whim is boiling. So shameless, really.

He seemed strange somewhere, but I didn’t want to think deeply. 

First of all, I had to think about the 2nd Prince, Largo.

In the original, he was described as a ‘snake-like man’.

Unlike his beautiful face, he is a simple and concise person. 

When I met him today, I thought that the description was really perfect. 

Largo was terrifying. His red eyes were as if they had blood. And the skin tanned by the sun gave a rough impression, and the hands full of calluses gave a somewhat coercive feeling.

Overall, he was a person with a bad impression. 

On top of that—.

‘We’ll meet often anyway.’

Ophelia never wanted to meet Largo again.

However, as long as Sylvester supported Largo, it seemed that I was forced to run into him. 

But why does Sylvester support Largo? 

In the original, Sylvester supports Largo. Only about that was stated, but the reason was not described.

‘Why?’

I can’t stand being curious. I thought I should ask Sylvester. So as soon as I got off the carriage, I ran to the office where Sylvester would be.

“Honey!”

I opened the door even before he could tell me to come in.

Sylvester, who was hardened with a pen in hand, was seen. 

“Did you not knock on the door?”

“Yes!”

“I don’t think that’s something to say brightly.”

Sylvester smiled in vain with a dumbfounded expression.

“You came back early.”

“Ah, I didn’t have much to say.”

“What did you talk about?”

I blinked my eyes.

What did we talk about?

I did everything I could to seduce Callian—. I couldn’t tell him one by one, so I had no choice but to shrug. 

“That’s a secret.” 

“You must have had a conversation important enough to keep a secret.” 

Sylvester narrowed his forehead by dropping his pen. 

“So, what happened? There must be a reason why you came straight to me.” 

“I came because I was curious about something.” 

“What?”

Sylvester raised his eyebrows. 

I stared at him gently and opened my mouth. 

“Why do you support His Highness 2nd Prince?”