Episode 4

"…I still don't understand."

Crown Prince Oscar, ten years old, sat cross-legged with his still immature legs and stared at Cassel with disapproval. It was clear that he was showing off his legs that were longer than those of his cousin, who was four years younger. He was still a child himself… .

"Why you?"

"… … ."

Cassel was about to face his cousin with annoyance as usual, but he closed his mouth, wondering what he could say. He had already been warned by his parents and was entering the palace. 'Although Oscar is not very mature in his actions, he is the one you should serve as your master for the rest of your life.'

Life is just until death. And Cassel was already tired of the word life.

It was hard enough to live with Ines Ballestena as husband and wife until death, but to have to look after that childish cousin until death… . To have to serve him as if he were the Emperor… .

"Cassel Escalante de Esposa."

"huh."

"Do you think what this brother says is true?"

It was funny to list his long name and say it solemnly. They say that when you're young, you look like an adult even if you just grow a few years older, but Oscar was a type of person who, despite his height that was good for his age, ate away at his adult appearance with his babbling.

At least to his cousin Cassel.

"I don't know either."

"Don't you know? Is that okay?

The Crown Prince seemed naturally intelligent and calm on the outside, but Cassel was now becoming convinced that because of his habit of nitpicking, he would eventually lose all of his subjects' loyalty.

"If you don't know, just say you don't know, that's it. Just because you have a pretty face, you can already live comfortably in this world, right? Don't you know? That's all?"

"I don't know, I say I don't know."

"That's exactly your problem."

As Oscar nervously ran his fingers through his red hair, Cassel, who had been forcibly holding the book opposite him, finally closed it with his small hands.

"If you don't know, try to find out. When you grow up, if your master asks you something, will you just blankly stare at women's butts and say, 'I don't know about that…'?"

"no."

He just didn't want to be around that bastard's cousin. He had to do this annoying thing even when he was grown up. At this point, Cassel thought back to the words of Empress Cayetana, Oscar's mother and his father's great-sister.

I was told that when I grow up, I will be able to do whatever I want and live my life. In order to do that, I have to study hard and do things I don't like—like my annoying cousin—while I'm young, and live my life in the future.

But look at reality.

When he grew up, he had to marry the cold Ines Ballestena, and help his cousin, who would rise to greater heights than he was now. Even the family duty that he had secretly tried to postpone to his younger brother Miguel became Cassel's only duty from the moment he had been engaged to Ines and was treated as a temporary adult. The only daughter of the Ballestena family could not marry a man who would not even receive the title of duke.

Thanks to this, Cassel was now the true heir to the Duke of Escalante. This was the first time in one hundred and fifty years that a crown prince had been born in the Escalante family.

All affairs of the Duke of Escalante revolved around the Crown Prince, and among all those 'affairs', their eldest son and successor, Cassel, was no exception.

He now has to spend more time with Oscar than ever before, not to mention his unwelcome fiancée.

"To Young-ae Ballestena… You definitely did something. Yes."

While enduring such an absurd conspiracy right in front of me.

Cassel did not lose his composure despite the Crown Prince's out-of-context argument, and responded respectfully, just as he had learned dozens of times from his mother.

"I am six years old, Your Majesty."

People say that he is so innocent and six years old, but he is so mature. It is hard to believe that he is six years old… He has always been smarter than his age. No matter what his unkind fiancée and her unkind father say about him.

Oscar's eyes narrowed as if he had read the proud expression that came to my mind without me knowing.

"So, you're only six years old."

"I'll be seven soon."

"How dare a boy who is only seven years old…."

He's only ten years old... ... .

"Didn't you know that kid was mine?"

"Your Majesty, Ines was once yours…."

"You dare to intercept what belongs to your lord?"

It had already been three months since Cassel and Ines had become engaged, but Oscar seemed to be reminiscing about that day as if it were yesterday.

"I won't hold you accountable for your sins just by looking at your uncle's face. So tell me. What on earth did you do to him?"

"… … ."

"It's that damn face, isn't it?"

Cassel's angelic face was clouded with fatigue. It was an expression that did not suit a child, but there was nothing that did not suit such a face.

"Nothing—."

"You kept hanging around in front of that kid, with that damn face."

"… … ."

"I said there is no such thing as a separate work."

Oscar muttered as if spitting to the side. He too had the same refined features as the emperor, and his face was already quite handsome, giving off a sense of being tall and handsome, but he knew very well that it was no match for Cassel's inhuman face.

"It's because of, or rather, thanks to, Her Majesty the Empress."

"That marriage was meant for the royal family. She wasn't born to look after the Escalante estate."

It was the Crown Prince's mother, Cajetana, who originally wanted to form a perfect alliance by marrying the Ballestena family and grafting Cassel as Ines' playmate to achieve this.

And when Ines refused the engagement in front of him, saying, "I hate the Crown Prince even if he dies," and pointed to Cassel, who was sitting there unawares, saying, "I'd rather marry someone like that," it was the Crown Prince's mother, Cayetana, who brought her niece in front of him as if she had been waiting for it. She kept saying the nonsense that, "Marriage is only possible if the woman is happy," to a mere six-year-old child.

If Cassel had grown a little more, he would have noticed that naked willingness. He would not have scolded the girl for her impiety in daring to boldly reject the emperor's son by saying, "I don't want to die," but would have hidden a hidden intention behind her kindness in saying, "Choose whatever you want."

His aunt did not want a dull girl as much as the Duke of Ballestena needed, and she needed Ines, but not enough to give up her own son.

Cassel was a suitable link. It would allow them to keep Ballestena's daughter close by but not so far that it would intrude on their lives, and it would also solidify the alliance with Ballestena.

However, since Cassel was a child who did not know English, he just felt wronged. If he had known English, he would have felt even more wronged.

"Your Majesty, the choice is Ines's."

"Because of your damn face, that child lost his chance to stand at the highest point of the empire. Because of one moment of misjudgment… Do you know how much you ruined that child's life?"

It's an unbelievable statement. He ruined her life? I don't know if it was the other way around... ... Cassel shook his head firmly. Oscar sighed, resting his hand on his forehead.

"… The only one who rejected me and chose me was this idiot. That damn black hair like a crow…"

"… … Didn't you like Ines?"

"Do you like it? Who?"

"Your Majesty."

"Me? That crow?"

"…You wanted Ines."

To the extent of tormenting a person like this. Oscar burst out laughing at Cassel's words as if he had suddenly heard something funny.

Then he looked at Cassel with a hint of bravado, as if he were looking at a very young and innocent child.

"Kassel, what you want is different from what you like."

Very different. He nodded as if he was thinking that way, then rested his chin on his hand haughtily. It was the way he looked when he believed himself to be very mature.

"I wanted to marry Ines Ballestena. I didn't love her."

Instead of saying what was on his mind, "Either way, Ines doesn't like you, so your opinion doesn't matter anyway," Cassel tilted his head as if he had only a little bit of doubt left.

Oscar laughed.

"Of all the women we could marry, there is no one with better bloodline than her."

Cassel also knew that among the prestigious noble families belonging to the Grandes de Ortega, there were only five families that were considered the highest class of dukes, and that among these five families, Ines was the only girl of their age.

Whether it was a boy or a girl, the decision-making power tended to lean toward the one with the rare value. The Grandes de Ortega was not a position that the imperial family could suppress by force, and as a result, the young crown prince experienced the first frustration in his life. Just as Cassel was immediately put on a leash.

"Of course you could have married my sister."

"…no, I do not want."

"You hate my sister more than the crows of Valestena?"

It was no surprise. Marrying your cousin? How disgusting… When Cassel nodded, Oscar snickered and removed the hand that was resting his chin.

"It seems like you like crows more than I expected."

"After all, if we have to live together for the rest of our lives."

It was now the third month of their engagement, and Cassel was trying to control his emotions every day. Oscar smiled.

"Now that you mention it, I want it even more."

Well, it must be hard to live off of someone's face for the rest of your life… The crown prince stood up, muttering to himself something that an old woman might have muttered.

"Okay. Let's go see your crow."

"… … ?"

"You still have a long way to go before you become adults."

He said something so suggestive and meaningful as if he were an adult.