Chapter 3
Since Lombre would obviously go without complaint if ordered, I had to step in and firmly say that he couldn’t go.
Do they have any idea how brutal deployments are? And sending him out again after just one month—what kind of nonsense was that?
“Then perhaps Prince Piola could go instead.”
I deliberately poked at the youngest—the third prince.
“Piola is still far too young.”
“Yes, yes. If I went, I’d only be a burden to everyone.”
At the emperor’s words, the third prince immediately agreed, and I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek.
It wasn’t like I actually wanted the third prince to go—but if it was always just us, wasn’t that unfair?
When I spoke, the emperor didn’t even listen. Yet the moment the youngest prince spoke, he stepped in.
Watching that, I clicked my tongue.
“The third prince is too young, and the second prince doesn’t seem to have any intention of volunteering.”
“……”
“Then before Prince Lombre arrived—who exactly was going on these expeditions?”
No one, obviously.
They were only running Lombre ragged under the excuse of ‘deployment’ the moment he entered the imperial palace.
Because the emperor wanted Lombre dead.
“It may be tiring, but it would be best for the first prince to go again this time.”
That was practically telling him to go die.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Even at the emperor’s thinly veiled death sentence, Lombre accepted calmly.
I had no idea how to grab and shake sense into a man who became a complete yes-man only in front of the emperor.
The Monter beasts would undoubtedly swarm like mad dogs, eager to kill Lombre, whose blood carried a strong trace of Hermann lineage.
At the emperor’s decision, only Rinoel looked pleased.
Tch. What was there to smile about?
“Assign the knight order to accompany him as well.”
As if there was nothing left to discuss, the emperor rose from his seat.
I sighed, flipping him off in my heart as he left the audience chamber.
“So it’s you again, Brother.”
The moment the emperor exited, Rinoel spoke with clear provocation.
I responded with a bright smile.
“I wish you luck on this expedition as well.”
“……”
“Oh, right—Amber Siderwood. I heard your resignation was rejected again today?”
How did he hear about that already? Which loose-lipped bastard went around spreading it?
They say even walls have ears in a workplace—guess it’s true.
Seeing the protagonist’s direct antagonist up close like this was really, truly—
Unlucky.
“If you dislike working under my brother so much, you’re welcome to come work under me.”
“If I’m submitting my resignation because I don’t want to work at all, wouldn’t working under you defeat the purpose, Lord Rinoel?”
At my gentle refusal, Rinoel merely shrugged once and left the chamber.
Only the third prince bothered to bow toward Lombre.
How was it that Rinoel had worse manners than the youngest?
“You went on an expedition just a month ago. Do you really want to go again?”
“There’s no one else.”
“That was basically a death sentence. And you just said ‘yes’ without hesitation?”
“If I refuse, he’ll find fault with me anyway. Better to go when ordered.”
“……”
“And besides,” he added.
Our steps toward the main palace stopped, and Lombre turned to me with a grin.
A rare smile—directed at me.
I’d thought that once he returned to the palace, I’d never see that smile again.
Apparently, he still had room to spare.
Relief washed over me before I even realized it.
“What did I say?”
“That I’d never die at the hands of the Monters.”
That’s right.
Because Lombre was the protagonist of this story, he wouldn’t die.
And as his subordinate, neither would I.
Even with that guarantee, expeditions were exhausting—everyone knew that.
“If it’s the Friek territory, then it’ll be near Mount Monde.”
“Yes, near Mount Monde—wait, what?”
Mount Monde?
My eyes flew open.
“What is it?”
Mount Monde…
“N-no. It’s nothing.”
That was where Lombre proposed to Aurora and asked her to become his fiancée.
The place where the protagonists first met.
Even with the hooting of owls echoing through the dark night, I still hadn’t left work.
There was simply too much to finish before the expedition in two days.
What sin did I commit in my past life to deserve this?
I remembered advice office workers used to share—never be too visibly competent at work.
Why was I so capable that I couldn’t even pretend to be bad at my job?
“And now my life’s at risk, too.”
Until Lombre ascended the throne, my life hung by a thread.
The current emperor had no interest in the succession battle, and before Lombre returned, Rinoel—the next in line—wanted him erased entirely.
I recalled ten years ago, when I was fifteen, back when the Valdafric family was still a count’s house.
Before the original story began—during a fragment of the male lead’s past in which I existed.
At the time, Lombre was hiding at the count’s estate to avoid being discovered by the emperor, and my grandfather—my guardian—was serving as head butler there.
Naturally, I thought I’d someday become a head maid or steward at the estate.
But entirely unintentionally, I crossed paths with Lombre—and became his attendant.
I slowly closed my eyes, sinking into the past.
In the Hermann Empire, one royal was born every generation who was neither fully human nor fully beast—a half-blood.
Lombre’s mother, half-mad with desperation, staged his death to save him and sent him to the Valdafric family.
To prevent the emperor or anyone else from discovering his existence, Lombre even dressed as a girl when he was very young.
‘Your Highness, congratulations on your thirteenth birthday. Is there anything you desire?’
That was the day the count and countess—friends of the empress—celebrated his birthday.
Contrary to everyone’s expectations that he’d want nothing, Lombre spoke up.
‘I want something.’
Thin from years of poor nourishment, Lombre’s gaze settled on me.
‘I want Amber Siderwood.’
And just like that, I was ensnared by the male lead.
“I’m losing my mind.”
Before Lombre ascended the throne and things became even worse, I wanted to disappear from the palace.
“Why now of all times?”
Why did the original story have to start now?
Of course, there were good things about the story beginning.
Rinoel—the one standing opposite Lombre—would die, and Lombre would ascend the throne.
And the curse plaguing the Hermann Empire would finally be lifted.
“But there’s nothing good in it for me.”
I clicked my tongue.
Sure, Lombre wouldn’t abandon his longtime confidant once he became emperor—but that also meant even more work.
More money. More prestige. And far more work.
The male lead’s right-hand person was the perfect candidate for death by overwork.
Honestly, with the money I’d already saved, as long as I didn’t live extravagantly—or get scammed—I could live comfortably for the rest of my life.
I’d lived as a corporate drone in my previous life, and I was one now, too.
I wanted to be a rich, unemployed layabout—but Lombre had no intention of accepting my resignation.
Not in the past. Not now.
“Quitting is disgustingly hard.”
As I was lost in memories of the past and the original story, a light knock at the window made me whip my head around.
Seeing a messenger outside my private office, I quickly walked over and opened the window.
“You’re here? Did you find out what I asked?”
“Yes. Right here.”
I accepted the documents from Artian and flipped through several pages.
At the top was the name Aurora Dwan, followed by her personal information and a summary of her life so far.
Aurora Dwan.
The sole savior capable of lifting the empire’s ancient curse.
“I did what I could, but after her last known residence, she vanished without a trace.”
“Just Aurora? Or her mother as well?”
“Both.”
“I see.”
The Hermann Empire.
Before its founding, the northern continent was home to magical beasts—rejected by humans and monsters alike.
The Hermann bloodline belonged to beasts who betrayed their kin, slaughtered them, and sought to become fully human.
According to the empire’s founding legend, the enraged beasts cursed the Hermann lineage, declaring they would never become human.
Because of that curse, one half-beast child was born in the imperial family every generation.
In this generation, that child was Lombre.
“Secretary?”
Artian cautiously called me as I silently read the documents, but I didn’t answer.
To the Hermann bloodline, the curse was cruel.
But the method to break it made it strangely romantic.
True love.
If two people truly loved each other, the curse that had lasted hundreds of years would be broken.
And in a royal line where only sons were born, proof of that love would be the birth of a daughter.
That was why Aurora Dwan was the salvation of Lombre—and of future generations.
Aurora Dwan.
And her mother, Lilie Dwan—the emperor Reynard’s one true love.
I thought of the founding myth, the curse, and the emperor I’d seen today.
“Is there something missing, Secretary?”
The emperor loved Lilie Dwan.
Lombre would love Aurora Dwan.
Did that mean father and son shared the same taste?
“Shall I investigate further?”
“No. There’s no need.”
The original story would begin the moment we entered Friek territory.
And at Mount Monde, Lombre and Aurora would meet by fate.
At the thought that everything was finally beginning, I also sensed—somehow—that the story was nearing its end.
And the relief I expected to feel was replaced, strangely, with unease.
