GIF 11

Chapter 11

But Iris seemed unaware of that point and showed no sign of thinking about it, and Jack had no intention of going out of his way to tell her either. Jack looked at the closed door for a moment, then walked down the hallway and took the stairs down to the first floor.

As he came down to the first floor, someone slid out and attached themselves behind him. Jack, as though used to it, took off the hat worn only by servants and swept his hand through his hair once.

His red hair, swept back roughly, stuck up crookedly. With eyes glinting ominously in the darkness, he spoke to the one following behind him.

“Keep watch on the Crown Prince’s surroundings. Report even the smallest things.”

“Understood.”

“Be careful not to get caught by the Crown Prince’s information network.”

“Yes.”

At Jack’s command, the man who vanished back into the shadows soon melted away without even the sound of footsteps. Jack did not go outside the mansion but glared through the mansion window at some part of the garden.

‘So he’s put someone on us.’

Jack clicked his tongue and shoved his hands into his pockets; instead of going outside the mansion, he put the short cigar Iris disliked into his mouth. Instead of lighting it, he only chewed on it, his lips twisted as though something displeased him. Jack’s eyes observed someone watching her mansion. The mansion under the moonlight was full of shadows.

The Crown Prince, Cliff, returned to his palace after finishing today’s pleasant schedule. His aide went to the office, and the remaining palace attendants helped him undress.

“I had quite a peculiar experience today.”

“Did you, Your Highness?”

His attendant who remained beside him asked that. The Crown Prince laughed as though in good spirits. The attendant, unaccustomed to such a face on him, only smiled awkwardly.

‘He is not usually one to smile like this.’

The attendant wisely did not add anything and kept his mouth shut while the palace attendants finished helping him undress. If the Crown Prince had something he wanted to say, he would open his mouth first.

As expected, the Crown Prince, now changed into indoor clothes, soon spoke to the attendant.

“She’s an interesting woman.”

“You mean Lady Iris?”

“Yes. About now, she’ll be racking that little head of hers over how I’ll act next.”

He spoke as though satisfied that he occupied her thoughts. The attendant, as his close aide, knew that he had chosen Lady Iris to avoid the Empress’s marriage candidates.

‘But strangely…….’

He seemed to genuinely enjoy being with her. Yes, whatever the task, enjoying it is better than suffering through it — but in the Crown Prince’s case, it went a little beyond that.

“You haven’t given her your heart, have you?”

At the attendant’s words, the smile vanished from the Crown Prince’s face, which had been smiling. At the Crown Prince’s chillingly changed face, the attendant realized at once that he had misspoken and hastily bowed.

“I apologize. I spoke out of turn.”

“No. Actually, I find this version of myself quite awkward too.”

He spoke honestly.

“The past me, who thought of her as a foolish common woman with nothing but a flower garden in her head, feels like an idiot.”

Had he not known Iris? Since her second divorce, the Crown Prince had known of her existence. When she was divorced a third time, he had thought her a rather amusing woman.

‘But from the fourth, it was strange.’

Just what problem could there be that she divorced as routinely as one eats meals? And because of that, he had thought a fifth divorce would be easy too.

‘A Crown Princess investiture?’

Perhaps that would not be bad.

He had told Madame Hestia it was to have her beside him as a decoy, but in reality, stripped of her public image, she was more cynical and clever than he had expected.

‘Wouldn’t a woman like that suit the position of Crown Princess?’

More than other women desperate only to bring benefit to their own families. In fact, a woman with no maternal relatives to speak of becoming Crown Princess would be the most convenient thing for him once he became Emperor.

‘Of course, it’s the same as losing a pawn to manipulate.’

But looking at the history of the imperial family, which always ended up at odds with the maternal family, having none at all might be better.

‘Should I go all in and put her in the position of Crown Princess?’

The thought of her flabbergasted face already came to mind, and he felt like laughing. Up until now, it had been the feeling of looking at a cute kitten — exactly that much.

Truly, exactly that much.

Knock, knock—

Just then, someone knocked on the Crown Prince’s bedroom door. Ah, the bite is finally coming. The Crown Prince thought so and commanded.

“Enter.”

Creak—

The one who opened the door and came in was, as he had expected, a maid of the Empress’s palace. She greeted the Crown Prince politely and stated her business.

“Her Majesty the Empress has requested a tea time with His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Can I refuse that? I’ll go.”

The Crown Prince, pleased that the other side had taken the bait, headed with his attendants to the imperial greenhouse where the Empress was waiting.

The gold-gilded imperial greenhouse was a magical greenhouse said to have been built by the first Emperor himself for the Empress, and it had been passed down through generations of Empresses.

“Welcome, Crown Prince.”

“You called for me, Mother.”

The Crown Prince and the Empress did not share a single drop of blood, yet there was not the slightest awkwardness in using such titles for each other. The two smiled at each other and met eyes, but the temperature was utterly frigid.

“Please sit.”

The Crown Prince sat in the chair a servant quietly pulled out and offered a brief greeting.

“The weather is fine.”

He wore a light smile, but his eyes alone were not smiling — his face was like a well-made sculpture.

The Empress, Roberia, with her radiant red hair and green eyes, looked at him and let out a short sigh.

“Crown Prince.”

“Yes.”

Contrary to the returned greeting, it was the Empress, Roberia, who brought up the main point first.

“I also respect the Crown Prince’s will. But Crown Prince — Lady Iris?”

“Why, what is wrong with that?”

Lady Iris was a woman useless as a pawn to the Empress. A commoner girl with no backing — of course she would not like her.

“I wanted to find a good match for the Crown Prince. A woman who is not even a first marriage…….”

“Above all, is this not a position that requires wisdom? First marriage or not, what does that matter?”

“Wisdom?”

The Empress, Roberia, curled her lips slightly.

“How wise can a woman who has been divorced four times for her husbands’ adultery be, Crown Prince?”

The Empress’s words jabbed at the absent Iris. The Crown Prince looked at her silently with a slight smile.

The two gazes clashed without either yielding an inch. Soon the Empress’s mouth opened again.

“Surely the Crown Prince’s eyes are not wrong, but I must see her for myself.”

“Wouldn’t that be premature?”

“What is there to be premature about, Crown Prince? Now that you have even confessed before everyone.”

The Empress covered her mouth with her fan and smiled slightly.

“As a mother, I must see her once. I will handle it myself, so do not concern yourself, Crown Prince.”

The Crown Prince thought he would need to discuss this with Iris, given how quickly the bite had come. To think the Empress would move so hastily.

“I think it would be better if I were present.”

“No.”

The Empress showed a firm smile.

“Should not a woman be seen by a woman to be truly known?”

The Empress looked at the Crown Prince with hawk-sharp eyes.

“I will see for myself whether that child is sufficient as the Crown Prince’s partner.”

The Empress’s interest had fixed on Iris. The Crown Prince felt, oddly, displeased even though things were going according to his plan.

[How wise can a woman who has been divorced four times for her husbands’ adultery be, Crown Prince?]

How that remark grated on him. The Crown Prince ended that grating tea time with a forced smile.