The Crown Prince’s Forbidden Future and the Overprotective Brother

“Yeah… anyway… so Perion eventually labels the Edwills as enemies, and the Count smuggles Llewellyn off to the North. Though, the Crown Prince lets it happen even though he knows.”

“The North…”

One of the scattered papers on the table caught my eye. The master of the vast Northern lands, the frozen forests, and the mountain ranges was Dimension—the sub-lead of By Your Side.

“So he falls for the Duke there.”

“One man abandons love even though he knows he’ll regret it, and the other abandons everything for the sake of love—isn’t it just so thrilling?”

“If it gets ‘thrilling’ twice like that, the whole country’s going to collapse.”

Erkel let out a weird “Ahaha!” laugh. Somehow, it felt like his true nature was slipping out more and more. It was a relief he only acted like this in front of me… but if anyone else caught him, rumors that the 4th Prince had gone insane would surely spread.

“Are you returning to the estate?”

I had never once deviated from the route of going straight home. The attendant asked politely, as he always did. I hesitated, then shook my head. If I went home like this, I’d be too distracted to sleep.

“Where is Brother Leo?”

“If it’s Sir Edwill you’re looking for, he should be at the training grounds at this time.”

“Should I go check for you?” It was a tempting offer, but I figured it would be better to just go myself. Surprises make for the best gifts. My confidence had already reached the level of “The best gift for my second brother is me.” I worried that if I grew up in a few years to be a tall, bearded guy and my brother grew cold toward me, I’d be quite heartbroken.

“It’s fine. Send the carriage away.”

What if he wasn’t at the training grounds? I was worried… but if so, well, my eldest brother would take me home. If all else failed, I could just ask Erkel for a carriage.

In the Imperial Palace, which had all the latest equipment, the one thing it lacked was a travel magic stone. For external travel, one had to take a carriage to a location with a magic stone, and bringing scrolls inside was strictly forbidden.

Aniglan, who taught history at the 4th Prince’s palace, said it was to prepare against potential assassinations. Of course, such a thing would never happen in this great Empire, but even if an enemy army were to invade, it would take a full three hours to walk to the Central Palace where the Emperor resides. There is a barrier that prohibits mass teleportation magic—the “Dragon’s Covenant”—and his face was full of pride as he claimed it could never be broken.

That grand covenant might keep the Imperial family safe, but it didn’t help me one bit. Since I only ever shuttled to the 4th Prince’s palace, I had only heard that the Imperial grounds were vast. It wasn’t just “vast”—it was truly, f*cking, monstrously huge. The first Emperor must have been a madman.

I moved diligently on my short legs, yet I still hadn’t arrived at the training grounds. The attendant looked at my panting self with pity and asked, “Shall I carry you?” but I refused. I had my pride. It was enough being carried around the house by my brother; I couldn’t be carried around outside by an attendant.

“How, huff, how much further?”

“We’re almost there.”

This was already the third “almost there.” Whether it was true or not, it was certainly a magic spell of victory that kept me moving. Judging by the growing noise, this “almost there” was likely the real deal.

Walking briskly, I finally reached the training grounds. I felt like I should plant a flag and take a commemorative photo as if I had successfully summited Everest. That was how tired and happy I was.

“Shall I go fetch Sir Edwill?”

“No, no…”

If I was going to have the attendant call him, I wouldn’t have walked all this way. I called out to a nearby knight with legs that were shaking and ready to collapse.

“Um… hello.”

The young knight, with short-cropped brunette hair and tanned skin, looked surprised to see a child. He tilted his head at the attendant behind me, then met my eyes and went, “Oh?” His expression shifted dramatically. He looked like he could be cast in a Disney movie right then and there.

“By any chance, are you Llewellyn Edwill?”

“You know me?”

He laughed loudly, nodded, and knelt on one knee to meet my eye level.

“I know you well. The Vice-Captain talks about you every time he opens his mouth.”

Shit.

Come to think of it, if Leopold bragged about me to his superior (an Imperial, the Crown Prince no less), there was no way he hadn’t talked about me to his colleagues. My face burned with shame as I realized he must have been obsessing over his “cute, lovely youngest” to them, too.

Anyway, my brother is a Vice-Captain? Now that I think about it, I feel like I might have heard something about a promotion.

“You look tired. Would you grant me the honor of carrying you, little angel?”

“An… a what? Excuse me?”

“The Vice-Captain always says you’re like an angel. Luckily, you don’t have wings yet.”

I shouldn’t have come. I regretted it, but regret always comes too late. The man, who introduced himself as James Seltz, didn’t wait for my answer and naturally picked me up. I belatedly struggled and asked him to put me down, but he simply said, “Don’t worry, I’m used to carrying my nephews around.” I’m not worried about you dropping me!

However, my body was already exhausted, James’s holding technique was perfect, and the chest of a knight who trained for a living was broad. My body relaxed into the stability. Fortunately, James hadn’t started his practice yet, so his shirt was clean and smelled nice.

“The Vice-Captain should be inside. It’s not open to outsiders, but if I say you’re an angel, no one will be able to say anything.”

My brother certainly has colleagues just like him. I realized there was no reasoning with people like this. That damn “angel,” f*ck. I gave up on correcting him and just stayed still in his arms. I decided to think of it as a win since he was taking me to my brother.

Fortunately, the knights focused on their training didn’t look our way, and as we entered the building, the hallway was empty. James strode down the hall, humming a tune.

“Vice-Captain, come out.”

There was no answer to the knock. James set me down and hammered on the door.

“I said, come out!”

Was he trying to break the door? It felt like he had moved past the goal of just calling the person inside. Every time his fist hit the wood, the door rattled violently. It was a miracle it was still standing. The door flew open just as he lifted his foot, looking ready to smash it in completely.

“What the f*ck? If you’re going to talk nonsense, get lost, Seltz.”

I met the eyes of my brother, who opened the door while spewing curses that made him sound more like a mercenary than a knight. Sweat-soaked hair, disheveled clothes from rolling on the floor, and a face even more crumpled than his shirt—my brother, who was about to grab James by the collar, spotted me and looked back and forth between James and me. His violet eyes shook with confusion.

Slam!

The door closed even more violently than it had opened, the draft blowing my hair back. The sound of something breaking followed from inside, then silence.

“He’s going to wash up, change, and come out.”

James, who had just been cursed at, simply smiled kindly as if nothing had happened. To think the Imperial Knights were like this. I was seriously worried about the future of the Empire entrusted to these lunatics.

The door opened sooner than expected. Had it even been five minutes? It definitely wasn’t ten. While I was half-heartedly entertaining James’s lame jokes, the door opened—this time, much more gently.

“Llewellyn.”

My brother, with wet hair as if he’d even washed it in that short time, smiled as usual. As a family member of Llewellyn—who supposedly seduces every man on the continent with a single toe—my brother was also incredibly handsome. At only twenty years old, he was the Vice-Captain of the Imperial Knights and the Crown Prince’s personal guard; that alone would make him popular, but he also had a face like a magazine cover and a ridiculous physique. Because the “named” characters are all busy rolling around with Llewellyn, it’s not as obvious, but my brother was definitely a character with “overloaded” settings. I’m starting to understand Kim Min-ji’s tastes.

“Did you even put on perfume? If the ladies of the capital knew, they’d be sighing.”

“What brings you all the way here? If you had sent word, I would have gone to you. It’s even more wonderful to see you outside of the house. You’re so radiant I thought they had changed the hallway lights.”

Not only was he acting like the previous incident never happened, but he also seemed to have decided to treat James like a ghost, thoroughly ignoring him as he invited me into the room. James, hearing my brother’s non-stop praise, followed us in with a smirk. Judging by how mischievous his laugh was, I felt like he and Erkel would get along perfectly.

“If I had known you were coming, I would have prepared something to eat. No, wait. If you wait just a little, shall we walk around the streets together? We can stop by that dessert shop you like and have dinner together. I actually had something in mind to buy as a gift; it would be good for you to pick it out yourself. This is your first time at the capital mansion, right? You have a room there too.”

My brother, blocking James by leaning his hand against the wall, laid out the day’s schedule. A town house in the capital. I was curious. Even while the two knights were having a silent test of strength, my brother’s face remained perfectly composed. It seemed he wasn’t Vice-Captain just for show.

“Are you really going to be like this? If it weren’t for me, your brother would have been a spectacle among all those rough guys out there.”

“Seems like there’s a dog wandering nearby. I keep hearing a lot of barking.”

When his voice was dismissed as barking, James sent me a pleading look. James was annoying, but he wasn’t a bad person. And as he said, it was thanks to him that I was able to get inside quickly before anyone saw me. I weighed my annoyance against my gratitude and decided to help him.

“Sir Seltz seems to be close with you, Brother. I’ve always been curious about what kind of work you do and what kind of colleagues you have.”