Chapter 7
The Vertiz imperial family consisted of four princes and one princess.
However, only the Fourth Prince was of legitimate birth. The others were all born to concubines.
By tradition alone, that meant the Fourth Prince—not the firstborn—should have become the next Crown Prince. While this wasn’t explicitly written into law, the most ideal successor had always been the child born of the Empress.
But as the Empress’s influence weakened, so did the faction supporting her. Meanwhile, the concubines—whose maternal families wielded strong power—rose rapidly, and the balance tipped.
With the Crown Prince still undecided, the current strongest candidates were—
The First Prince.
And—
“Hi.”
The Second Prince.
“What are you supposed to call your younger brother’s wife again? Sister-in-law? Or something else?”
“…….”
“Oh, sorry.”
“I’ve never had to call anyone that before.”
“I was in prison during the wedding, you see. So I thought I’d stop by while I had the chance.”
“…….”
“You’re smaller than I expected.”
The man reached a hand over my head and tilted his head, as if puzzled. I felt like prey caught in someone’s grasp. A large shadow fell over my face—and instead of fear, irritation welled up.
Without question, he had the most unfriendly first impression of anyone I’d met so far. His actions were just as unpleasant.
“Call me Cedric. ‘Brother-in-law’ is fine too, but that makes me sound old.”
Deciding the form of address on his own, the man casually brushed back his bangs.
Unlike his carefree demeanor, my nerves were sharpening at the presence of this uninvited guest.
His intrusion into my room was bad enough—but his identity was anything but ordinary.
‘This is that Cedric of Vertiz?’
Cedric.
Cedric de Vertiz.
The Emperor’s second son, and—along with the First Prince—a leading candidate for Crown Prince.
The factions backing the First and Second Princes’ mothers were stronger than the rest, which was why Cedric remained a Crown Prince candidate regardless of his personality.
But for someone who might one day rule the Empire, Cedric’s behavior was closer to that of a madman.
If he were merely indulgent and hedonistic, that would’ve been one thing.
But a prince who had gone so far as to end up in prison was a constant headache even for the Emperor.
Usually, people don’t wear “I’m insane” on their faces.
And judging by his appearance alone, he didn’t look like someone capable of such madness.
In fact, he looked almost gentle.
But hidden beneath that gentle face were sharp teeth.
Those types were always the most dangerous.
The moment you let your guard down, they’d tear out your throat.
“So this is the first time we’re meeting properly.”
Yesterday, the Emperor had come by—
“Nice to meet you, Sister-in-law?”
—and today, a lunatic had arrived.
***
In Dead, Cedric played a major role.
It was a grimdark novel, so finding a normal character was nearly impossible—but even among them, Cedric stood out as an exceptional madman.
His way of thinking was fundamentally different from everyone else’s.
To put it kindly, he was unconventional.
To put it bluntly, his personality was utterly broken.
In the original story, he eventually attempted to kill his father—and was assassinated by someone else instead.
The identity of the one who killed him was never revealed. But considering how many grudges he’d accumulated, it was probably one of them.
“What’s your name?”
“……Shattrina.”
“Shattrina?”
His gaze pressing down on me was unbearable.
Eventually, I gave up on meeting his eyes and awkwardly lowered my gaze.
Cedric studied me piece by piece, as if inspecting something.
After rolling my name around his mouth for a while, he suddenly broke into a bright smile.
“That’s a pretty name.”
“Thank you—”
“It’s the name of a poisonous plant.”
“……Yes.”
Even a simple conversation was impossible to predict.
It wasn’t even noon yet, and I already wanted to lie down.
It had been a long time since I’d met someone who drained my energy this quickly.
“Who gave you the name Shattrina?”
“My late mother.”
“Hm. Really?”
Too tired to bother, I answered carelessly.
Shattrina’s mother had died early, after all—there was no way to verify it.
She hadn’t been welcomed in Revillia either.
At my reply, Cedric propped his chin on his hand, looking puzzled.
A brief silence followed.
Unable to endure it any longer, I lightly clenched the hem of my dress.
At present, Cedric was a Crown Prince candidate. In terms of status alone, he outranked my husband, the Fourth Prince.
Now that I knew he was a prince, I had to show at least the minimum courtesy.
“It is an honor to meet you, Second Prince.”
“Huh?”
“Please forgive my delayed greeting.”
As I bowed my head, a quiet laugh suddenly escaped him.
The laughter grew clearer, and I frowned.
‘Why is he laughing?’
It didn’t feel like mockery—but his inexplicable amusement set my nerves on edge.
Timing it carefully, I slowly raised my head.
Cedric, who had been staring intently at me, reached out.
Instinctively, I almost grabbed his hand—then froze, biting my lip.
“You.”
Grabbing a fistful of my waist-length hair, he whispered,
“Have you ever killed someone?”
For a split second, I failed to control my expression and glared at him.
I didn’t bother asking why he would ask something like that.
Even though it ended in a question mark, there was a quiet certainty beneath it.
‘Is he testing me?’
To be honest, saying I’d never killed anyone during my many possessions would be a lie.
I’d taken lives—monsters, dragons, and even humans.
They’d been villains, and the circumstances had been war—but still.
I didn’t want to deny it outright.
I had at least that much conscience.
But this wasn’t something I could answer easily here.
His tone—as if he already knew everything about me—was unsettling.
And yet, Cedric couldn’t possibly know I was possessed.
“No.”
“…….”
So I denied it lightly.
If I wanted to, I could answer honestly.
But there was no reason to do so here and now.
Whatever his intention was.
“And you, Your Highness?”
“…What?”
“Have you ever killed anyone?”
At that, Cedric suddenly burst into laughter.
He doubled over, laughing freely.
I had no idea what was so funny.
Unable to follow his sense of humor, I pouted.
After a long bout of laughter, Cedric finally managed to calm down.
“This is fun. Really.”
It sounded like genuine admiration.
Since it didn’t feel entirely negative, I gave a brief nod.
“Thank you.”
“You’re good with a whip—and good at lying.”
“…….”
“If I offended you, sorry. I was just curious.”
Trailing off, Cedric shrugged.
I couldn’t tell whether to be impressed by that line of thinking.
Meeting someone even more unhinged than expected, I couldn’t hide my dismay.
Was my husband really the only normal one here?
Seeing my sour expression, Cedric laughed again.
“They say you shattered the chief attendant’s legs with a whip.”
…Seriously? That spread already?
“I thought the palace was big…”
“The news travels fast.”
I didn’t answer.
“You lied right to His Majesty’s face. Was that a protest, asking to be executed quickly?”
“…….”
“Still, that’s a relief.”
“At least you didn’t die.”
“Aren’t you busy, Your Highness?”
At this rate, the conversation would never end.
I already had too much to do—there was no time for this kind of idle chatter.
But Cedric lightly ignored my irritation and dropped a bomb.
“I don’t want anything else. I just want us to get along.”
“…Pardon?”
You and me?
Reading my expression, Cedric continued casually.
“I like that you defy His Majesty. And you’re more interesting than I expected.”
“And if you think about it, we’re family, aren’t we? Family should get along.”
‘After seeing your parents and siblings, you can say that?’
I let out a dry laugh at the sheer absurdity of it.
There was no word less fitting for the Vertiz imperial family than family.
Bound by blood alone, there was no affection or bond between them to begin with.
‘Of all the excuses…’
Among countless options, he picked that one.
As expected, his way of thinking was truly something else.
“…Yes. Family is great.”
“Right? And I think you and I are kind of similar.”
That was crossing a line.
You?
I’d rather be called insane outright.
Being compared to Cedric made my skin crawl.
“So let’s get along. I think we’d get along pretty well.”
We’d met exactly once, yet Cedric spoke as if we were destined to be compatible.
The look in his eyes shimmered dangerously.
Wanting absolutely nothing to do with that interest, I slowly stepped back.
I didn’t know why Cedric had taken an interest in me—
But something was clearly going very wrong.
“I’ll come visit often.”
“You’re busy, though—”
“I’m not.”
Smiling sweetly, Cedric asked,
“If you have time, want to have dinner together?”
I smiled back.
No.
