Chapter 84
For the past ten years, Killian’s life had been very different from before.
Duke Litra and Callista had assigned him tutors and, though few in number, provided him with attendants.
It wasn’t impossible for him to go outside anymore, and I’d heard he even spent time with Seyd like a friend.
“I said I would give it to you.”
Yet the gaze that had never left me since I entered the garden remained unshaken.
Nothing had changed since ten years ago.
I looked directly at Killian.
This time, not just to admire his beauty, but to observe him as a person.
Killian didn’t avoid my eyes or push me away. He simply stood there, as if waiting for me.
In his eyes, the purity of a child coexisted with the sharpness of a predator.
Looking more closely, I saw a relentless and blind determination I hadn’t noticed before.
What else could you call it but blind devotion — adjusting his own body precariously just to bloom a single flower over ten years?
“Harper, I want to give you everything you want.”
Killian lowered his head slightly and whispered.
“I’ll become Emperor. Because to give you the world, I must first possess it myself.”
He added.
I couldn’t decide. Had the once naïve Killian changed? Or had I simply been wrong to think of him as naïve?
One thing was certain.
Ten years ago and even now, Killian’s gaze was always on me.
In the eyes of the man who spoke of possessing the world, there was only me.
***
“The King of Obelia has sent Your Grace a gift.”
Theon held up a small box encrusted with jewels as he spoke.
Callista responded indifferently.
“What is it?”
“Fragrance. A very expensive one that lasts a whole month with a single application. Even Marchioness Luceik offered a hefty price for it but was refused.”
“Really? That sounds like a fine item.”
She raised her head and looked at the box.
For the first time that day, a faint flicker of interest appeared in Callista’s eyes.
“Give it to Harper. It’s been a while since I gifted her perfume.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Theon placed the box back down, as if he had expected that response.
“Speaking of which, there was another gift from the Imperial Palace. A ceremonial dagger passed down through the royal family.”
This time, Aramis, who stood nearby, chimed in.
“It’s in return for lending private soldiers from the ducal family during the recent monster subjugation campaign.”
“A dagger? The one from the Fourth Emperor’s era? Inlaid with an amethyst in the center and a golden sheath? The one used by the legendary warrior Galatea?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“Give it to Harper. She’ll like it. It’s pretty.”
“Understood.”
Aramis nodded, clearly used to this sort of order.
“Ah, Your Grace.”
Vittoria, who had come to check on Callista’s health, began packing up her diagnostic tools as she spoke.
“Count Rostiang sent a heavy gold bar. As thanks for sending me to help his ailing wife.”
“Keep an appropriate portion for yourself, and the rest…”
Callista stared into space for a few seconds, lost in thought.
“Shall I give it to Miss Harper?”
“That’s an excellent idea.”
Vittoria asked with a kind smile, and Callista nodded.
“Her birthday gifts seemed a bit lacking this year.”
Vittoria stood up, and Aramis and Theon gave brief farewells before returning to their duties with Callista.
All the while, Kenneth, the Chairman of the Council of Elders, had to maintain a calm expression for several seconds to hide his disbelief.
Lacking?
Lacking?
Her birthday gifts were lacking?
To his recollection, there had never been a year in the last ten where Harper Luperne received too few gifts.
From the moment Callista took control of the ducal household, she had showered her younger sister with wealth.
On her sixteenth birthday, she had gifted her a luxurious seaside villa.
On her seventeenth, she bought an entire island in the eastern continent for Harper to use as a resort.
Most recently, for her eighteenth birthday, she had gone so far as to transfer one of her own noble titles — a Countship.
The vast territory of Valdemore, famous for its rich pastures, belonged to Harper.
Young nobles throughout the Empire envied her.
Especially those who, not born as eldest sons or daughters, had to constantly be wary of their older siblings.
But even without that, she had more than enough wealth in her hands.
Over the past ten years, she’d earned a massive fortune collecting tolls on the Karnai trade route. More recently, she had acquired a massive emerald mine — second only in value to the opal mines of House Luceik.
“Kenneth, is there something you were meant to tell me? You’ve been staring.”
“Ah—no, nothing at all.”
Startled, Kenneth straightened up and responded.
“Good. Now then… I have a question for you.”
Callista put down the documents she’d been reviewing and leaned back against the sofa.
In contrast, Kenneth sat up straighter, tension running through his body.
He’d watched her since she was young. Now she was the absolute master of Luperne.
Callista knew every tiny matter in the territory, from politics and farming to inter-noble relationships. Nothing could happen without her knowing.
Which meant that if he didn’t answer this young lord’s questions properly today, even a man of his age would find himself in hot water.
“What has the Second Prince learned so far?”
After a short silence, her question came — and it was unexpected.
Kenneth wiped the sweat from his brow and answered as best he could.
“As I mentioned before, I haven’t heard anything in the past four years.”
“You were the one who introduced his tutor, weren’t you?”
“Yes, Your Grace. You trusted me, so I introduced Viscount Belheim — a retired scholar and my old friend.”
“And that man hasn’t said a word about how the Prince has been?”
Kenneth shook his head.
He had wondered as well.
But Viscount Belheim, whom he saw only once a year now, acted as if they had never been friends. He refused to answer any questions.
Even after the Prince returned to the palace, it was the same.
“Apologies, but the Viscount seems to have chosen to become solely loyal to the Prince.”
“…”
“As I said before, he even returned the funds he had received from Luperne. Said he didn’t want to owe us anything.”
Kenneth sighed heavily.
Eight years ago, when Callista had told him the Prince’s whereabouts and asked him to find suitable teachers, he thought it was his chance to prove his loyalty and competence.
He had carefully chosen a discreet, capable scholar with no political entanglements — hoping that would help draw the Second Prince fully to their side.
It had backfired.
Belheim, whom Kenneth had believed to be on his side, had been completely won over by the young prince. For the past four years, he’d all but disappeared from society and severed ties with Kenneth.
“There’s nothing to apologize for. All the other tutors did the same.”
Callista gestured toward the sweating Kenneth.
She meant he could leave now.
“Even the financial support he received from House Litra — he returned all of it.”
With those words, Callista rested her chin on one hand and fell into thought.
Harper had once said the boy reminded her of a leopard.
Roaming dangerous forests alone, without a pack.
But Callista had always thought Killian was a wolf. A leader of a pack.
Whenever she tried to send in a trainer, they ended up joining his pack instead.
Even ten years ago — it was the same.
Before she had sent him to House Litra after his injury, she recalled a brief conversation with him at Iris’s tavern, after sending Harper outside.
“Listen closely, Prince Killian.”
Even when her voice was cold and sharp, the boy hadn’t flinched.
“Don’t expect me to speak respectfully just because you’re royalty. There are only two members of the imperial family I’d gladly behead and toss to the dogs.”
It was a threat.
But to her surprise, the boy simply nodded.
“My mother and older brother. I agree.”
Killian replied without hesitation. When Callista raised one brow, he added:
“Then I shall speak respectfully to you, Lady Callista.”
“Why?”
“Because in Luperne… there is someone I want to give everything to.”
He said it without blinking.
Had he been older, she might’ve scolded him for an inappropriate joke. Had he been younger, she would’ve dismissed it entirely.
But he was mature enough to understand the weight of his words — and serious enough to mean them.
“You speak well for someone who owns nothing.”
“…I’ll make something of my own.”
He said it with force. Confidence that didn’t suit his situation.
A strange boy. So different from someone like Klein, whose thoughts were transparent. Even more so, according to Sion.
He remained calm in moments that would unnerve others, stayed cool in dangerous situations, and held unwavering belief in himself despite having nothing.
He followed Callista’s orders because he understood the urgency — but he never obeyed her.
Thank’s for translation !