Emperor Tenstheon left for the Valley of Chaos to seal the Door of Darkness and returned after a month.

“…Is he okay?”

“He is fine. They managed to block the door without any injuries.”

“I’m sure they did since they are strong.”

Blake worried about his father, and he was relieved when he heard that he was safe. But that was all.

“Your highness, someone came from the blacksmith’s.”

“Okay.”

I went out of the room with Hans. When we came down to the first floor, Hans said quietly, “Actually, no one came from the blacksmith’s…”

“Is the Emperor looking for me?”

“’Yes. Did you know?”

“Yes.”

I had already predicted that the Emperor would call for me when he came back. Hans used the blacksmith as an excuse, hoping that Blake wouldn’t notice.

Rather, If Blake knew, he would definitely come in my place and I would’ve blamed Hans.

“It seems like he’s angry at the loss of the servants.”

“If His Majesty asks, say you didn’t do it. If I tell His Majesty a little secret that the servants insulted the prince so you drove them out, His Majesty will not blame you too much.”

Hans spoke calmly, but in the end, it sounded as if he was taking responsibility for this instead of me.

Hans was a commoner with no title. He didn’t have the family or money to protect him, so he could die if he did something wrong.

In the original novel, he sacrificed his life for Blake.

“Hans.”

“Yes. Your Highness.”

“Don’t sacrifice your life so easily. Without you, who would support the Crown Prince?”

“…..”

“You have nothing to worry about.”

***

After telling Blake that I had to go to the blacksmith’s place, I headed for the Emperor’s palace.

A cold-hearted father who left for a month and had no thoughts of finding his son after he came back. However, I knew that this was just how it appeared on the surface, and in fact, he really missed Blake.

It was all because of his son that he came back running without a day’s rest as soon as he sealed the Door of Darkness.

Tenstheon was the most powerful Emperor in the history of the Empire.

Richard was very narcissistic, but even he acknowledged Tenstheon’s ability and felt inferior to him.

Emperor Philip, who founded the Empire, betrayed the goddess of light, which led to the curse of his descendants.

However, the Imperial family’s honor would have fallen to the ground if this fact became known. Who would respect and follow the Imperial family under the curse of the Goddess of Light?

Hence, the Imperial family hid this fact thoroughly.

[The goddess of light loved the Empire, and cursed the fallen soul to reveal the seeds of the tyrant.]

The Imperial family made a false announcement to defend their honor.

One person’s suffering could protect both the Imperial family and the Empire. It was the sacrifice of a person for generations to come.

They all believed so, and the secret was never revealed.

The ‘Heir to the Curse’ was criticized by the entire Empire because they thought that they were a sinner who was cursed by the goddess because of their corrupted soul.

Besides, there was a rumor that the curse could spread.

For this reason, if someone became the heir to the curse, they would be abandoned on the southern island until they died. Even the Emperor was no exception.

So when Blake’s curse appeared, he was immediately deprived of his Imperial title and had to be kept in the southern island.

However, Emperor Tenstheon sent Blake to a remote palace and did not do much. Naturally, the people and the believers protested. They were also astonished.

However, they were forced to give up because of Tenstheon’s achievements.

But Tenstheon only showed indifference to Blake. He left him alone as if he had no affection left to protect him.

The Duke of Cassil deliberately left a spy at the Crown Prince’s palace because he doubted the Emperor’s true intentions.

The Emperor never reacted unless someone harmed Blake directly.

He left Blake at the palace, and even though he knew Blake was being treated unfairly by the servants, he turned away and swallowed the lump in his heart. Yet, he searched desperately for a way to lift the curse in secret. Then, finally, he found a way.

He found a black magic spell to transfer the curse of the goddess to another person.

He wanted to take Blake’s curse for himself.

But the black magic spell was a fake one made up by Richard, and so the Emperor would lose his life this year.

After Tenstheon died, Blake would be deposed and driven away to a faraway island.

He was left alone in the world, and even in his last minute, he was killed by loneliness.

Not knowing until the end that his father gave up his life for him…

I had to stop this tragedy at all costs.

The Emperor loved Blake, and Blake was also starved for his father’s affection.

If there was only one person who could convey the sincerity of the two in the midst, the misunderstanding would be easily resolved.

My heart thumped as I arrived at the Emperor’s study.

‘First of all, I need to get the Emperor’s favor and then act as a bridge between the two. I can do it.’

I entered the study with a firm determination.

“…….”

And as soon as I saw Emperor Tenstheon, I stiffened up on the spot.

He had silver hair and red eyes like Blake. Their faces were similar too. But the atmosphere around him was completely different.

He was like a beast.

Almost like Richard, the main character of the original novel. If Richard was a greedy wild beast, Tenstheon was the king of beasts under whose feet lay the entire world.

The dignity of the Emperor radiated from his red eyes.

He was not described like this in the original. He was only mentioned to be a powerful middle-aged Emperor.

But the person in front of me now seemed to be in his late twenties at most.

In addition, the combination of his intense charisma, destructive atmosphere, and strangely languid gaze made him full of dangerous sexiness.

Why wasn’t he the main character instead?

I felt as if his whole being shouted ‘I’m the male lead of a R-19 romance novel’ from the moment he was born.

“Long time no see.”

Tenstheon said in a low voice. As soon as I heard his voice, I realized that it wasn’t welcoming at all, so I was a bit afraid.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I looked around. Two men stood beside the Emperor, but they were both overwhelmed by Tenstheon’s charisma.

Dark brown hair, a plain appearance, and glasses. This must be Colin, the Emperor’s aide.

“I heard you had the chief servant of the Crown Prince’s palace placed in prison. What’s going on?”

Tenstheon asked in a rough voice.

It was like the voice of a fierce beast.

“I only punished him for embezzling the budget assigned to the Crown Prince’s palace.”

Hearing my answer, the man next to him shouted noisily.

“What do you mean embezzled? My son has always devoted himself to the Empire! He had taken on a mission that everyone was reluctant to do only because of his devotion. But you’re putting this ridiculous crime on him! It’s not fair!”

This must be Marquis Hamel, the father of the chief servant who was expelled.

“Unfair?”

I handed the books of evidence to the Emperor.

“This is how clear the evidence is, and you’re still claiming it’s unfair?”

Tenstheon took one of the books.

“You’ve done a lot.”

Marquis Hamel shuddered at the faint voice. However, he still raised his voice as if he had suffered an injustice.

“It must have been manipulated! My son is more loyal to the Empire than anyone else!”

“Is the loyalty of a servant only serving the Crown Prince cold soup and giving the kitchen so few ingredients?”

The Marquis woke up at this fact. His eyes were filled with contempt and anger as he looked at me, and it was as if his gaze was saying, ‘How dare you insult me when you’re married to the Monstrous Crown Prince?’

I could see where Brown Hamel inherited his behaviour from.

“Or is it loyalty when a servant uses the Crown Prince’s budget to spend money on gambling?”

“Be careful of what you say.”

Marquis Hamel looked at me threateningly. His right hand flinched as if he was about to slap me.

Then Tenstheon, who was listening to us quietly, opened his mouth.

“Marquis, do you want to die?”

“What? Your Majesty, why all of a sudden?!”

Tenstheon looked at Hamel with red eyes as if his eyes were filled with sorrow and he did not just say that.

“Watch your words when you talk to my daughter-in-law.”