Imperial Brother, Am I in Both Your Nightmares and Your Sweet Dreams

As the only imperial prince, Solor was naturally the emperor’s designated heir.

Precisely because of this, he had to shoulder part of the emperor’s workload, yet no one shared his own responsibilities.

The trivial matters of the political arena left him exhausted.

Although none of them were particularly serious, the constant back and forth still made the documents in his hands feel densely packed, as if countless neat little ants were crawling across the page.

Those words made his eyes ache, and he even felt as though he might need a pair of reading glasses.

“Haah……”

After finishing the last relatively urgent task at hand, Solor let out a long breath.

He took a sip of the coffee in his cup, which had already gone cold because he had forgotten to drink it.

The bitterness made him stick out his tongue slightly.

He was not someone who liked heavy bitterness.

He had not yet reached that level of profundity.

Making such a strong cup of coffee was simply a way to force himself awake.

Coffee had already lost its effect on him.

Only the bitterness could still stimulate him.

Once he got used to even that bitterness, he might end up putting chili water on his desk instead.

Solor stretched lazily.

After his arms and shoulders loosened up a bit, he decided to steal a moment of rest and lie down on the sofa.

The most urgent work was already done.

Compared to the mountain of miscellaneous tasks still piled up, Solor felt he should care a little more about his own body.

He could not afford to work himself sick at such a young age.

There were still many burdens awaiting his shoulders in the future.

Solor swayed slightly as he stood up from the chair, yawned once more, and lay down on the sofa.

Coffee had completely lost its effect on him.

Even though he had just taken a few sips, by the time he lay down, before he could even adjust his sleeping position, he was already asleep the moment his head touched the cushion.

People often say that when someone is exhausted, they lack the energy to dream.

But perhaps because of constant thoughts during the day, or because his attention had been too focused on it, once Solor closed his eyes, drifting in and out of consciousness, he vaguely felt as though someone was calling him “big brother.”

In fact, at this very moment—about ten minutes after Solor had fallen asleep—Ellie arrived at his office.

To avoid awkwardness, she had brought some tea and snacks with her.

They were not homemade, but as long as they tasted good, that was enough.

After entering the office, Ellie poked her head in.

When she saw Solor lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, her first reaction was to wonder whether he had died right there.

After all, the two of them had fought each other for an entire lifetime.

Sometimes, when Eric got particularly worked up, he really had thought that Solor might as well just drop dead on his bed one day.

She walked over to Solor, placed her fingers under his nose, and tested his breathing.

After confirming that he was still alive, she shrugged.

Seeing Solor lying there so defenselessly was actually quite rare.

At least, it was rare for her.

In their previous life, when they lived in the same palace, Solor would never have dared to sleep so carelessly on a sofa.

He would have worried that his younger brother might come over and strangle him in his sleep.

Of course, Ellie could still strangle him now.

It just would not mean much.

She carefully placed the prepared tea and snacks, which were packed in a box, onto the coffee table.

Then she moved to Solor’s side.

She neither sat nor stood, but squatted down, resting her cheek in her hand, quietly watching this rare sight of Solor.

How long had it been since she last saw Solor sleeping so peacefully.

He slept as though the nation were at peace.

Short golden hair fell across equally golden eyelashes.

If he were to open his eyes now, he would surely see the red eyes she had longed for day and night.

The two of them shared the same golden hair.

Yet their eyes—one red, one pink—were worlds apart, instantly placing them on entirely different levels.

Watching Solor sleep so soundly, a sudden urge for mischief rose within Ellie.

“Imperial brother.”

She quietly leaned close to Solor’s ear and called out to him.

Back when she had been Eric, at the moment he was pierced through the heart and fell from the high platform, he had said one thing to Solor—

“After I die, will you dream of me.”

It sounded like a joke.

But the heavy emotion behind it made even Ellie, now standing here, wonder whether Solor in that world had ever dreamed of him after his death.

Unfortunately, she would never be able to know the answer now.

So now, as if to make up for that bit of malicious curiosity, she kept softly calling Solor’s name at his ear.

—She wanted to enter his dream.

She wanted him to see her in his dream.

Although she could not really control what kind of person she would appear as in Solor’s dream.

Maybe an obedient little sister.

Maybe a shy girl.

Whatever.

It did not matter.

It was just a prank anyway.

She did not even expect this method to work.

She simply felt like doing it, so she did.

And on Solor’s side, this strange trick seemed to actually work.

He hazily heard Ellie’s voice.

The blurred scenery of the dream made him narrow his eyes slightly.

He truly was dreaming.

A dream about the person calling out to him.

He dreamed that he was sitting beneath the shade of a tree, the book in his hands rustling as the wind flipped its pages.

A slender figure sat beside him, just like him, with golden hair.

But the dream was terribly vague.

No matter how hard he tried to focus, he could not make out the person’s face beside him.

That should have been his familiar little sister, yet…

Did his sister have short hair when she was young?

“Imperial brother.”

The figure in the dream called to him.

The indistinct voice made it hard for him to tell whether it was male or female.

“Imperial brother.”

“Ah—mm.”

Solor froze for a moment.

It was only at the second call that he came back to himself and looked toward the person beside him.

“Haha.”

The person laughed softly, leaned closer to Solor, and pressed down the book that had been blown about by the wind.

“I was just joking earlier.
You don’t need to be so nervous.”

“……？”

Solor had no idea where this line connected from.

In this dream, where everything was already so blurred, everything felt even more confusing.

“I was just asking casually.
I believe in you, imperial brother.”

There was a smile in that person’s words.

Yet Solor still could not see the person’s face clearly, nor hear the voice distinctly.

Calling him imperial brother… it should be… Ellie, right?

Was this a memory from their childhood?

Solor could not quite tell.

After all, he and Ellie had grown up together.

They had sat beneath trees, chatted, and read books together countless times.

Was he reminiscing about the past?

Was that why he was dreaming of his younger years…?

“You wouldn’t kill me, right—”

The instant the word “kill” was spoken, Solor’s breathing hitched violently.

In the next moment, in the blink of an eye, the scene before him changed.

Day turned into night.

Sunlight turned into firelight.

The tree shade vanished without a trace.

In its place were shattered high platforms and a swaying figure before him.

He could not see that person clearly.

All he could see was golden hair, and the long sword embedded in that person’s chest.

“—Imperial brother… imperial brother… big brother……”

The voice was weak and trembling.

The hoarse throat barely forced out a few words.

He heard the calling voice.

Yet the only things that were truly clear were the wound in that person’s chest, and the blood on his own hands.

“……Big brother… after I die… will you dream of me?”

Solor sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, his eyes flying wide open.

A name burst from his lips, filled with terror and despair.

“—Eri—”

“—I’m here, imperial brother.”

“—?!”

The nightmare made him jerk awake.

The moment his eyes focused, he saw Ellie sitting beside him.

“……I’m right here, imperial brother.
Did you notice that I came?”

She was smiling cheerfully, completely different from the figure in his dream.

“……”

Solor froze for a moment, then took a deep, heavy breath.

…Was it… a nightmare?