Chapter 001
BANG-!
Rainwater poured down at the same moment a gunshot pierced through the dark, cloud-filled sky.
A frightened deer fled from the sound of the shot, prompting Theodore to furrow his brows as he watched the animal vanish from sight.
It wasn’t unusual for the falling raindrops to interrupt yet another failed hunting attempt.
It had been an unlucky and miserable day from the moment he woke up that morning.
This chase had been futile.
The fact that he would have to return empty-handed only fueled his anger further.
But Theodore wasn’t foolish enough to wander through a rainy forest in search of new prey.
Instead, he was rational and objective enough to recognize the root of the problem itself: he had come to the hunting grounds before sunset in the first place.
Yet, today was the day he felt compelled to kill something to soothe his frayed nerves.
Judging by his mood, returning to the palace would also be a mistake, so he had no choice but to spend the night in a small cabin located on the hunting grounds.
The only thing he had done well today was dismissing the guard to secure an empty room for himself.
Theodore turned back, cursing the muddy hunting grounds.
He intended to shake off his mud-soaked boots and go to sleep after downing a glass of strong liquor.
But the gods were not on his side in the slightest today.
It happened when he roughly opened the cabin door…
“Hello.”
There was someone in the room who shouldn’t have been there.
It was a woman whose face Theodore knew well.
She was a beautiful woman who shone brilliantly even on a dark, rainy day.
Even in this dreary weather, her hair gleamed as if it had stolen the sun hidden behind the dark clouds and tucked it into her wavy locks.
It was Annette Cheringen, renowned for three things: her beauty, her family’s reputation, and her unrequited love for the crown prince.
Theodore sometimes found her a comical figure due to the fact that she was the daughter of Marquis Cheringen and harbored feelings for the crown prince, but he had no intention of mocking her appearance.
She was far too beautiful for him to deny.
“I didn’t summon a harlot here.”
Her blonde hair was dry, without a trace of dampness.
This meant she had been waiting for Theodore in the cabin before the rain began.
“Of course, the Grand Duke isn’t the type to invite women to his hunting grounds.”
The girl didn’t flinch even when described as a harlot.
She was quite the brazen one.
Theodore thought as much.
“If you already know that, then get out of here. I failed to kill my prey, and now I’m inclined to fire my rifle even at people.”
“What if I came here as a harlot?”
Annette laughed.
Even her smile was full of charm.
It was as if she were a woman born to seduce men.
In fact, there were plenty of men ready to throw themselves at her feet with a single gesture of her finger.
But, of course, that didn’t seem to be the purpose of Annette’s visit today.
“Knowing Your Highness’s sharp temperament, I’ll skip the unnecessary pleasantries. Just because it’s a beautiful day doesn’t mean I can jest with the Grand Duke so freely, it seems.”
“What business does the daughter of Marquis Cheringen have with me?”
Mentioning the Cheringen family name meant that she and Theodore were political rivals, and the title of Marquis indicated that her father held a prestigious position, considered one of the main pillars of the Odentia Empire. The word daughter implied she had little direct business interacting with Theodore.
After all, it was primarily her father who clashed with Theodore for political reasons.
Still, the reason Theodore remembered her was Hugo.
She was a woman who stood out in society, even when staying silent behind closed doors, due to her beauty and her immense love for the crown prince. Even Theodore, who cared little for others’ romantic feelings, couldn’t help but know of it.
He had heard she’d been busy lately harassing the crown prince’s lover, Yvonne.
Theodore couldn’t fathom how such an empty-headed, foolish woman had entered his private hunting grounds.
“I asked you what you want from me.”
“I have a favor to ask of you. If I disappear in the near future, please look for me.”
“Are you saying you want to play hide-and-seek with me?”
“I suppose so, if you put it that way.”
“Does playing hide-and-seek with a hunter in the hunting grounds mean it’s acceptable to catch and kill you?”
Theodore weighed whether he had more bullets or patience left.
Why had this woman suddenly come here and asked him to look for her?
Theodore despised people who spoke without context or logic.
He took off his muddy boots and tossed them beside Annette.
The chair they hit shook slightly.
This gesture was a sign of his dissatisfaction with her nonsensical behavior.
“There’s no use threatening me.”
Annette smiled again without so much as blinking.
Theodore’s mood was as low as the sincerity of her smile.
“Five minutes. That’s how much time I have left before my patience runs out. If you have something to say, say it quickly and get out of my sight immediately.”
“That’s enough for me.”
Annette took another step closer to Theodore.
This was somewhat intriguing.
Theodore was a man capable of all sorts of evil, yet he still disliked dealing with women.
Nothing a woman could offer him—be it love or her body—could satisfy him.
Despite his appearance, which made women want to touch him, they didn’t dare because they knew his foul temperament.
It had been a long time since a woman wasn’t afraid to approach him.
“Would Your Highness believe me if I told you this world is a world within a book?”
“Four minutes.”
“In fact, this world is nothing more than a stage created for a specific protagonist. What do you think our roles are, Your Highness, as characters on that stage?”
“If you don’t hurry up and speak, I’ll assume this nonsense is your last will.”
“We are the wicked villains. The main character is Yvonne.”
“Well, then, I suppose the protagonist is Crown Prince Hugo, who loves Miss Yvonne.”
“Yes. The crown prince is indeed Yvonne’s destined partner and the hero of this story. That’s why Your Highness Theodore can never defeat the crown prince, even if you die and come back to life.”
Theodore stopped scoffing and immediately grabbed his long hunting rifle.
The idea that he could never surpass Hugo provoked him.
The last remnants of rationality in his mind, which had held on thanks to the thought of the glass of wine he’d drink after the woman left, vanished with the wind.
Hugo was Theodore’s nephew, the same age as him.
His foolish nephew, promised the title of crown prince from birth due to his lineage.
On the other hand, Theodore was the son of the late Emperor’s second wife.
The late Emperor had been very fond of his son (Theodore) from his beautiful mistress, but that was all.
The throne had undoubtedly been given to his eldest son, Theodore’s half-brother, Filibert.
Barring any extraordinary circumstances, the next Emperor would be Hugo.
No one believed Theodore, who was neither the legitimate son nor the eldest, could ascend the throne.
Except for Theodore himself.
“My patience has run out. I won’t listen to you for another second, so get out now.”
The barrel of the rifle, previously aimed at deer, now pointed at Annette, but unlike the frightened deer, she didn’t flee.
“I heard another gold mine was found on the crown prince’s land today? Isn’t it quite a coincidence that gold suddenly appeared from land that was once barren when it belonged to Your Highness, the Grand Duke?”
Theodore’s grip tightened.
An unprecedentedly massive gold mine had been discovered in a poor southern town.
The land of Mimingen had originally belonged to Theodore, but it was taken from him in a bet with Hugo.
It had been barren when it was his, but the moment it fell into Hugo’s hands, it turned into a gold mine.
And today, the reason he had come to the hunting grounds so late to vent his anger was precisely because of the gold mine found in Mimingen.
Things had always been this way.
Theodore was smarter and more capable than Hugo, but no matter what he did, victory always went to Hugo, no matter what they competed for.
Every victory at the hunting festival, every imperial competition, even this entire damned empire—everything bright seemed like a gift prepared solely for Hugo.
It was only natural that the man with no interest in the imperial throne was granted the title of crown prince.
On the other hand, Theodore was treated as a criminal simply for coveting imperial power.
He had wondered his entire life why his intentions and ambitions were judged and condemned by everyone just because he was born the Emperor’s son.
“The Grand Duke can never surpass the crown prince. Just as, no matter what evils I commit or how hard I try—whether by honorable or crooked means—I can never defeat Yvonne to become the crown princess.”
“This is my final warning. I don’t want to declare war on Marquis Cheringen, so leave now.”
“My father will die soon. And, of course, so will I.”
Annette sounded sad as she spoke of the Marquis’s death, but it wasn’t enough to turn Theodore’s anger into sympathy.
Specifically, it was because he couldn’t see her sadness, and even if he could, her sorrow wasn’t something he’d care about.
“Our conversation today will be my first and last with the Grand Duke. The next time you see me, I won’t be me.”
Annette lifted the hood of the cloak she was wearing.
“I’m tired of playing the villainess. But the Grand Duke is perfectly suited for that role. As a show of support from my side, I’ll let you in on the secret of this world that I learned the hard way.”
Annette pushed aside the rifle barrel aimed at her head and approached Theodore…
Then whispered in his ear.
Theodore’s expression shifted slightly as he listened to her.
Her words were obvious nonsense.
After finishing her whisper, Annette picked up a pistol from the weapons on the table.
“I’ll take this as payment for threatening my life. Goodbye now.”
Annette, pistol in hand, disappeared into the roar of the rain.
It was as if someone were heading to a place far beyond sight.
* * *
At the residence of Marquis Cheringen, a few days after the night Annette visited the hunting grounds.
Someone who was not her awoke in Annette’s body.
She blinked with an empty mind.
As her blurry vision cleared, she tried to lift her body, but it was incredibly difficult to support her weak limbs.
The moment she finally raised her hands slowly, with jerky and heavy movements…
“Aaahhh!”
A horrific scream echoed through the place.
She opened her heavy eyelids and saw Marquis Burhardt Cheringen, collapsed on the ground from a gunshot wound, blood flowing from his body like a fountain.
He was a lifeless corpse.
The Marquis had died without even closing his eyes, clutching his deep wound to stop the bleeding.
After witnessing the gruesome scene, she hoped this moment was just a nightmare.
But what happened in that moment was a reality more terrifying than any nightmare.
That day was the day Marquis Cheringen died.
And his only daughter, Annette Cheringen, was accused of the crime.
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Note: Filibert is Hugo’s father.
