The Shadow Of The Red Eye and a Changing tide

‘This boy’? I hadn’t even heard such a derogatory term from the Crown Prince. Even the Emperor himself wouldn’t dare refer to me as ‘this thing.’ I was dumbfounded. I thought he was just a fool, but he was a complete lunatic.

I wasn’t the only one frozen. The Third Prince looked flustered, and the expressions on Elliot and Lucia’s faces were grim. If Erkel had been there, he probably would have forgotten where he was and smacked the guy upside the head. Save for the background music, the surrounding area went deathly silent, leaving only the Second Prince’s frivolous laughter echoing in the air.

“You looked particularly interesting even from afar. Lykion, you aren’t exactly the type to build friendships, so I figured there must be something special here.”

I struggled to stay calm as the Second Prince’s hand lingered on the shoulder of the ‘special thing.’ He was clearly being insolent, but that didn’t mean I could simply point out his rudeness. Touching an Imperial’s body or making eye contact without permission was technically lèse-majesté—but the law worked differently for the higher-ranked.

To claim sexual harassment was difficult; he was only thirteen, and I was just a young boy. He hadn’t touched a young lady of a house. Making a scene over someone merely grabbing my shoulder would be seen as an overreaction. It wasn’t so much that I felt violated as it was that I felt incredibly disgusted.

The little brat is far too bold. Damn it. A memory of his shouting, which I had forgotten for a while, resurfaced. As those buried days came back to me, my head began to throb.

“I half-dismissed the rumors that the youngest Edwill’s looks were legendary. I suppose rumors aren’t to be ignored after all.”

“Brother.”

When his hand finally slipped down toward my waist, the Third Prince stepped in. He seemed to realize that he was the only one in a position to fix this mess.

I have no idea what there is to touch on a child’s waist, but commoners can never truly understand the psyche of perverts. Elliot’s face was a mask of fury, but Lucia’s was even worse. She was using every ounce of her willpower not to hurl her fan directly into the Second Prince’s face. If I were the Second Prince, I would have had nightmares just knowing that murderous gaze was directed at me.

Where on earth is Abel? He told me to let him know if a weirdo showed up. Is he going to wait until I actually speak up? I didn’t know how far Orion Dylan had dragged him, but at this moment, I desperately needed him.

“When you grow up a bit more, how about it? Becoming a member of the Imperial Family…”

“That will never happen.”

It was a chilling voice that made one’s skin crawl just by listening. The Second Prince, who had been pestering me while ignoring the Third Prince, gasped. I turned my head, which felt stiff from sheer rage.

“It’s strange. Half of you carries the same blood as I, and the other half isn’t lacking either. I wonder where this vulgarity sprang from.”

Black hair and pale skin. Red eyes that mirrored the Crown Prince’s. It was the only child born of the Empress among the siblings—the Princess, Linea Akareon.

They said that if the Crown Prince hadn’t been born with both red-gold hair and red eyes, she would have broken the tradition that a woman cannot be Emperor and ascended the throne herself. Indeed, her chin was held with elegance, and her arrogant eyes were those of a ruler.

Erkel, standing beside her, glared at the Second Prince with a look of pure nausea. Had they entered together? I had been so distracted I hadn’t even heard the announcement of their arrival.

“Sis—Sister…”

“Thesion, are you thirteen now?”

“Yes, Sister.”

“Too old to be considered a child’s prank, yet too young to be the drunken rampage of an adult.”

As the Princess calmly stared at the hand still resting between my waist and hip, the Second Prince pulled it away as if he’d been electrocuted. If he was going to be this terrified, why on earth did he pull such a stunt at a crowded banquet? I tried to rationalize his behavior once more, then gave up.

“What shall it be, Thesion?”

“I…”

At her question—asking how he wanted his actions to be interpreted—the Second Prince began to take short, sharp breaths as if he were being strangled. After a few attempts, he managed to stammer out some words.

“I… I got carried away by the excitement and touched the wine too much. My, my behavior… uh.”

“Hmm.”

“Forgive… forgive my rudeness.”

It was an insincere apology made while eyeing the Princess’s reaction without even looking at me, but I accepted it. I had no other choice. Being in a position where one could even receive such an apology from a Prince was already a special circumstance.

“Do not bring shame to my name, dear brother.”

It sounded as if she were saying she would kill him if he did. Her voice was soft and her expression gentle, but the content was anything but kind. Pale as a ghost, the moronic pervert of a Second Prince was escorted out of the hall.

“The punishment was likely insufficient.”

“Not at all.”

I bowed my head politely. The Princess certainly had the power to punish him further, but there were many people at the banquet. From children to the next generation of socialites about to debut, and their guardians. In a situation where rumors could easily fly, she had acted perfectly.

If anything, this shitty experience confirmed that the Second Prince was a piece of trash not even worth using as a disposable tool. I quickly scrapped any plans to utilize him. If he had just remained a fool without accosting me today, I might have approached him later, but who knows what would have happened if the Princess hadn’t appeared to stop that bastard?

The Princess, after her grand entrance, left coolly. It was a bit funny seeing her mingled among ten-year-old children anyway. I watched her back until she disappeared, naturally heading off to reign over her own peers. Perhaps the Crown Prince’s true rival isn’t Annette or the Empress, but the Princess.

“Really…”

Lucia’s voice trembled, unlike her usual self. Right. You must have been very shocked. I reached out to comfort her, but I couldn’t get close because she turned away, covering her mouth.

“She’s so cool…”

What?

Come to find out, Lucia’s face was flushed bright red. It was the face of a girl who had completely fallen in love. The trembling voice wasn’t from shock, but from being overwhelmed with admiration; the way her eyes shook was quite serious.

Even the Third Prince, who usually seemed sane, was watching Lucia’s reaction with a satisfied look. Smirking, he approached Lucia and began sharing his own “best moments” of the Princess. He wore a genuine smile, as if the chatty business-talk from earlier had been a mere facade.

It was a familiar sight. It overlapped with William Justia, who cared for nothing but his older sister. Is a “sister complex” trending in the Empire these days?

In the midst of the chaos, I exchanged looks with Erkel and Elliot.

‘I want to quit.’

‘Me too.’

Despite the unpleasant incident, the banquet concluded successfully.

Erkel successfully proved his presence was worth something, transforming his image from an insignificant prince hidden in Rowena’s shadow to a clever boy who received quite a bit of trust and affection from Annette. We also promised to meet the Third Prince again soon. When he mentioned visiting the Fourth Prince’s palace in the near future, Erkel responded in kind. It’s not unusual for an older brother to visit a younger one. And it wasn’t surprising for the younger brother’s playmates to be there at the same time.

The Princess left quickly—making the Suenil family’s influence feel a bit wasted—and the Crown Prince never showed up. He said he’d see me at the banquet, but I guess that was just an empty pleasantry.

Since it started with everyone being conscious of me and ended quite grandly, it was a win for Annette. I understood why the Princess and the Crown Prince wouldn’t be pleased. As long as Annette held the Emperor’s favor, these gatherings would continue, and the next spotlight would move to the Fifth Prince. After that, they might fade away or fall entirely into Annette’s hands, but regardless.

Several small and large gatherings followed, and summer passed.

Abel joined the Imperial Magic Department, and Cale was promoted. The Count dodged the order to return to duty by using me and his health as excuses, eventually receiving an unofficial, honorary position as a consultant for the Imperial Administration. As everyone became tied to the Imperial Palace, Cale cautiously suggested moving our primary residence to the townhouse. I packed my bags and left the beloved Edwill Castle for the mansion in the capital. Leopold, despite his looks and physique, still had zero interest in women. This seemed to provoke a competitive spirit in some young ladies, who occasionally tried to send him gifts through his brothers.

Because some of those ladies were in the Magic Department, Abel came home about twice a week carrying scented letters and gifts addressed to ‘Lord Leopold.’ I figured he’d snap eventually; he ended up throwing a box at the second son, who got hit in the back of the head by a pocket watch. Sadly, the second son wasn’t the type to just let Abel’s temper slide, and for the first time in a long while, I got to watch them fight like actual brothers.

I continued to exchange letters with Cici. As we both got busier and the intervals between letters grew longer, it became easier to just send several entries written over time in one go. She never answered questions about her name, but she replied diligently to everything else. It was strange, but given that I had suspected her before and her tone had become markedly kinder, I felt too guilty to pry and gave up. Regardless of Cici’s status, she was already a comfortable friend I could talk to.