Deciding to pretend to sleep and ignore the situation, Adelin let the silence and the sound of rain outside be her lullaby.
She counted the falling raindrops until she fell asleep.
Elsewhere, someone else was unable to sleep.
Light seeped through the cracks of the office door of the Crown Prince.
Crash!
The Crown Prince, Trasis, was furiously throwing everything in sight at a man standing before him.
The office floor was a mess, littered with objects he had thrown.
Kneeling on the floor, the man's forehead bled from a vase hit, yet he only repeated his apologies.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. He must have died after falling off the cliff."
"Died? You couldn't even find a body? Are you telling me this, really?"
"I'm sorry."
The man prostrated himself before the prince.
Enraged, the prince was at his limit. Who was the Duke of Thorpeo, after all? He had always been a thorn in the prince's side.
'The red eyes, a symbol of the descendants of Goddess Helena.'
The Solterius Empire's royal family had always had someone with red eyes in every generation.
And that person with red eyes always ascended the throne.
This generation's red-eyed heir was none other than Crown Prince Trasis Solterius, who also had the same black hair as Goddess Helena.
He was born to be the next emperor.
Until the day a child with black hair and red eyes was born in the Thorpeo family.
Ever since he was a prince, he had to endure whispers when he stood alongside Cassius.
"Doesn't the Highness's hair look brownish next to the prince? It doesn't stand out at all."
"Look at the eyes of Duke Thorpeo. Isn't it obvious to anyone that the duke has distinct red eyes?"
Compared to Cassius's pitch-black hair, the crown prince's black hair seemed faded, and his eyes lacked that same intensity.
He felt filthy when compared, but that was it.
After all, he was the only true heir of the royal bloodline.
That was until one night when the emperor suddenly collapsed.
"Prince, you must obtain the duke's hair. It's the only way to ascend to the throne."
"…"
"It's the only way."
That night, the empress quietly called the crown prince and revealed a secret.
Upon learning this, the crown prince resolved to eliminate the bothersome duke.
The day they went hunting together, the duke was supposed to return as a cold corpse, mistakenly hit by a poisoned arrow meant for a bear.
But this fool in front of him had messed it up.
The prince had even administered a potent sleeping potion.
He returned to the palace without the duke's body.
At the central council the next day, it was announced that the duke had secretly been sent on an expedition. No one dared contradict the prince's words.
But this excuse wouldn't last long. The prince needed to find the duke's body soon.
Even if he was alive, he had to be killed again.
Unable to contain his rising anger, the prince unsheathed his sword and stabbed the man's thigh before him, twisting it.
Unfazed by the blood splattering on his face, the prince coldly commanded.
"Find the body now. If you return empty-handed again, those useless hands will be gone."
After tossing the bloodied sword aside, the prince stormed out of the office.
The palace was often stained with blood due to the prince's furious nature.
Yet, the servant guarding the door still shuddered with fear, unaccustomed to the terror.
When the prince was in such a frenzy, one mustn't meet his eyes, lest the blade turns towards oneself.
As Trasis passed the bowed servant, something suddenly came to his mind, halting his steps.
He turned back and approached the servant closely, asking,
"Ah, right. What happened to the proposal sent to the House of Credion?"
The pouring rain added a more ominous atmosphere.
Lightning and thunder brightly illuminated the corridor's windows.
The flashes lit the prince's figure, his murky eyes glittering threateningly.
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