A Fragile Alliance of Two Houses

“What are you guys talking about? Hmm?”

Abel hovered around, itching to wedge himself into the conversation, but Elliot and I had merely been settling our grim determination. For now, the fact that the Third Prince had entered earlier than Erkel was enough. In this ballroom, the order of entry was a direct map of the power hierarchy.

But if we were to move… I’d have to shake Abel off first.

Elliot let out a sigh and called for his brother. It was quite a sight—Elliot Dylan summoning his elder brother with a single gesture, and Orion Dylan happily rushing over at the beck and call. That family’s sibling dynamic was certainly far from ordinary.

“Don’t you have anything to say to a classmate you haven’t seen in forever?”

“My relationship with Abel Edwill back in our school days wasn’t exactly…”

“Or are you just lacking tact?”

At those words—sharp enough to be cold—Orion Dylan grew dejected. Unable to even meet Elliot’s eyes, he whimpered like a kicked puppy and stuck himself to Abel’s side. Abel, who had sworn he wouldn’t leave my side for a second, was dragged away, unable to withstand the difference in physical stature.

“Let go of me, Orion! I’m telling Alan everything. You hear me? Let go, you son of a b*tch!”

“No… Alan told me to listen to whatever Elliot says.”

“You—! You absolute dimwit! I told you to keep your brain capacity filled! Llewellyn!”

I’m telling you, my kid wants me by his side! Llewellyn! His desperate cries were soon muffled by Orion Dylan’s hand covering his mouth. A few guests glanced their way, but their interest quickly dissipated.

“Your brother is certainly… unique.”

“Not as much as yours, I’d wager. Besides, considering what he’s done, he should be reading the room.”

It couldn’t have been more than a few days since Orion Dylan brought his partner home. To think Elliot had already won the trust of Alan Ke… whatever. His resourcefulness was no joke. It was a loss to the Empire for a man like him to waste his life as a jobless socialite. It might actually be better for the majority if he were the one to inherit the Dylan household.

“Fine. Tell me the details.”

As I leaned back loosely in my chair, Elliot Dylan hummed a tune, resting his chin on his hand as if he liked what he saw.

“My father believes you’ll be at the center of controversy for at least the next seven years.”

“Seven years?”

“Yes. Until you, and the rest of our peers, reach adulthood. My mother added another three years to that, and I added three more on top of hers.”

Twenty-three. The exact point where the original story ends. Goosebumps rose at how Elliot specified the exact number of years without knowing the future, but I acted unbothered.

“Whether you have talent or not, the name ‘Llewellyn Edwill’ alone is enough to command attention. Regardless of your will. Of course, since I believe you’ll continue to captivate people even after that, I added six more years to my father’s estimate.”

“Go on.”

“So, as I said before, it’s only natural for me to win your favor and stay by your side. Conveniently, we see each other every day, don’t we? There’s no better opportunity. My mother gave me a mission, and I intend to carry it out faithfully. It’s a duty I owe as a member of my family.”

“Weren’t you taught that being too honest can provoke antipathy?”

“Of course I know that. But if I had played the part of a friendly neighbor by offering you trivial things like cookies, you would have drawn a line and never allowed me to cross it. We would have remained ‘acquaintances’—people who are friendly but can never stand together. Perhaps a ‘Grade 3’ relationship, lingering somewhere after family, lovers, and true friends. I can’t settle for that. I told you. I’m going to carry out my mission faithfully.”

I can’t be your family, and I don’t intend to be your lover, so I’ll have to claim the spot of a true friend.

Elliot explained this while placing cookies on the table. A chocolate cookie in the center represented me. He lined up one, two, three, four ginger cookies next to it, then moved the fourth one close to the chocolate cookie.

“So, I should wear this brooch to the banquet and flaunt our friendship?”

“Flaunt the friendship between Edwill and Dylan.”

“And what do you get?”

“Everything that comes with being Llewellyn Edwill’s closest friend.”

“And what does Dylan get?”

“We can delay the moment we have to choose between the Crown Prince—the Sun of the Empire—and the noble Lady Annette.”

Increasing our value in the meantime isn’t my job, though. Elliot shrugged. His clarity of desire made things easy. Dylan. Elliot Dylan. I contemplated. Both Erkel and I were adults in our past lives, but even so, we had been nothing more than ordinary humans. They say one should tap on a stone bridge before crossing, but we were sprinting across a creaking, rotten wooden bridge without the luxury of checking its stability. Should I refuse a rope offered with such sincerity?

Bringing in a guy whose head worked this well would certainly make things easier. My only hesitation was whether I could trust his “sincerity.” No. From the start, there was no such thing as sincerity here. The Dylans were businesspeople; they simply chose what benefited them. We were forming a partnership, not swearing a lifelong oath.

“Fine.”

“A splendid choice. I won’t disappoint you.”

“Without hearing my conditions?”

“I’ve prepared for most prices you might ask. Tell me.”

Elliot, who had been chewing on a cookie, suddenly wiped the smile from his face.

“Just asking in case… you don’t want to make Prince Erkel the Emperor or something, right? I think the Prince is a good person and I like him personally, but that’s impossible.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not that. I want the Crown Prince to surely inherit the throne.”

“Right. The Crown Prince…”

He was a quick-witted fellow. Feeling a sudden dryness in his throat, Elliot quickly gulped down the rest of his tea. He leaned forward, lowering his voice.

“Are you planning to… handle Lady Annette? Get rid of her?”

“It’s going to happen sooner or later anyway. The Fifth Prince is young, the Emperor is aging, and the Crown Prince is already prepared. Who would dare dispute the succession given his red-gold hair and red eyes?”

This time, Elliot tapped the table as he ran the calculations. Crown Prince, Annette. Crown Prince, Annette. The answer was already there. Even in the original story, the Crown Prince triumphs over Annette. Even if I didn’t lift a finger, the Crown Prince would become the next Emperor.

“Count Edwill is supposed to be close with Lady Annette.”

“My father is not the type of man to ruin matters by getting swept up in private emotions.”

That was a lie. The Count fails to abandon Annette and ends up putting the family in danger. Ultimately, the Count cannot be absolved of blame for Leopold Edwill’s death. I love the second son, and I love the Count. I don’t want the second son to die, and I don’t want the Count to weep over a dead child taken by his own mistakes.

“Prince Erkel is with me on this.”

“…Lady Rowena is—no, never mind.”

After agonizing with a serious expression, Elliot reached a decision. Even in the original story, hadn’t the Dylans supported the Crown Prince after weighing him against Annette? Since Erkel didn’t remember the original story in detail, there was no one to answer that, but if it were Elliot, he surely would have.

“Do your brothers feel the same?”

“Didn’t you see me acting all cute in front of them?”

“I did. It was quite disgusting.”

“Just think of it simply. I’m not saying you should drag your whole family into this yet. Who would attach much meaning to the actions of children?”

When I threw Elliot’s own logic back at him, he raised his hands in surrender.

07. What to Discard, What to Take

Approach leisurely. Avoid unnecessary stares.

The Third Prince, who hadn’t been able to attend gatherings for a while, seemed uneasy about Erkel’s established position and didn’t miss a single key figure. He showed no hesitation in exploiting the fact that he had entered before his siblings. It was a much wiser choice than maintaining a clumsy sense of pride.

Watching the Third Prince converse effortlessly with both his young peers and older guardians, Elliot wore a triumphant smile that seemed to say, See? Having witnessed the Second Prince’s tyranny myself—and Elliot having seen him too—we had instantly agreed to abandon him.

‘Discard any expectations for the Second Prince. Honestly, I can’t believe he shares even half his blood with the Crown Prince.’

I hadn’t had any expectations either, but I didn’t have the courage to speak so bluntly. Looking at him now, this guy was getting bolder by the day since our negotiation. When I told him he’d be arrested for lèse-majesté against the imperial family, he told me to go ahead and try. I couldn’t exactly go and report him. I couldn’t refute his point that once we officially crossed Lady Annette, our lives would be hanging by a thread anyway.

If one intended to meet the faces who would lead the future, one could not overlook the Edwill and Dylan families. Both houses had enjoyed glory for generations. To survive as a prestigious family in the Empire for so long meant being quick to act and standing on the side of the winners—and winners grow fat by plundering the losers. There was no one in politics who could ignore the Count, even if he was retired and merely a member of the Advisory Committee, and no money moved in the capital without passing through the Dylans. Even if that weren’t the case, we were Erkel’s playmates, so it was only natural that the Third Prince would come looking for us.

“He’s taking his sweet time.”

“Don’t worry. We’re not the only ones getting impatient.”

To avoid suspicious glances, we engaged in small talk with others, but all my nerves were focused on the Third Prince. In fact, I couldn’t even tell what was coming out of my mouth. The best I could do was laugh along whenever those around me broke into laughter.

The optimal time to talk would be before the Second Prince entered. If that idiot Second Prince didn’t show interest in us first, we wouldn’t need to care—at the latest, before the Princess’s entry.

The plan wasn’t bad. What I hadn’t accounted for was that Llewellyn Edwill was a presence that drew far more attention than I had thought.