Annette and Theodore finally stop avoiding each other.
In order to settle the issues that had accumulated during their quarrel, the two decided to invite Hans, Ernst, and Lisa to a meeting and have a meal together.
However, because Annette and Lisa visited Favorite Hospital urgently, they were late for the meal.
When the two women arrived at the restaurant, the others had already begun eating.
Annette looked at the plate of scallops in front of Theodore as the main course, then called the server.
(M.M.: Information about scallops at the end of the chapter)
“Tell the chef to add beef to the ingredients you will use in cooking tomorrow’s meal.
If the necessary ingredients are in the kitchen now, ask him to change His Highness’s main course to steak.”
“Okay, I will tell him right away.”
The servant quickly disappeared into the kitchen.
Annette sat next to Theodore.
“If you don't like your food, ask them to change it to something else.
Why are you so grouchy?”
“These are my permanent facial expressions.”
“Stop acting like a child.
If you frown like that, you will also annoy others and suppress their appetite.”
“...I'm trying so hard to swallow this disgusting food.
Why should their appetite be affected by my actions?”
“I can't see any effort in your actions no matter where I look at you from.”
“Don't make excuses.
You just hate scallops, so now you're using me as an excuse to prepare the meat for tomorrow's meal.”
“What are you talking about?
I don’t like baby clams, but I like eating scallops.”
The two slowly continued their verbal battle.
After Hans and Ernst looked into each other's eyes for a moment, their gazes fell on the dishes that were placed in front of them.
The plate in front of them was cleanly empty.
The dinner was prepared for the Grand Duke and his wife, so it was very delicious.
The sea scallop dish was a perfect fit for both Ernst, who had an appetite and could eat just about anything, and Hans, who was a picky eater.
Neither of them ever thought the food was fishy, and they never felt that Theodore was having a hard time eating scallops.
However, as soon as Annette entered the dining room, she could tell what Theodore was thinking.
Annette insisted that Theodore was upset by the food that didn't suit his taste, but honestly, his face was as expressionless as usual.
The servants serving the meal and standing nearby felt embarrassed.
This was the first time they knew that the Palace Master hated scallops.
Until now, everyone thought that Theodore ate well without any special preferences, but what Annette said today meant that he was only hiding his dissatisfaction with food.
He was a master whose intentions and actions were difficult to understand.
Even after years of sharing joys and sorrows with each other, no one could understand Theodore's inner intentions or know what he was thinking.
But it wasn't because they lacked abilities.
Everyone was ready to swear to God that no one in this world could read the change in Theodore's expression.
He had a hot temper and was short-tempered, but this character only emerged when Theodore quietly manipulated people behind the scenes and made them like chess pieces in his plans.
But in everyday life Theodore was so like an inanimate poker that it was difficult to tell whether he was a living being or just a moving puppet.
This was a result of his training not to show emotions to others.
This was the hardest part of Hans working with him.
Theodor's face was mostly indifferent, so Hans would feel terrified and embarrassed the moment Theodor suddenly ordered someone to be killed or eliminated, so Hans would have a hard time before he knew what the problem was.
He had always wished that he had the ability to guess Theodore's intentions just by looking at his face and hand gestures.
But he never thought that the Grand Duchess would have such supernatural ability.
Hans thought that maybe somehow these two were on their way to becoming a real couple.
* * *
Hugo closed his eyes as he leaned back in a chair in the office as it began to get dark.
When he started to fall asleep due to fatigue, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
“A letter has come from Miss Yvonne.”
"Oh~!
Give it to me!"
Hearing Yvonne's name, Hugo's eyes opened in an instant.
Yvonne was his luck, his love, the thread that held his life together and kept him from being scattered.
Yvonne was the only one who could make his heart beat like this.
If he had not met her by chance, Hugo would not have realized the joy of life.
He had been busy with several political issues for a while, so he couldn't meet her recently, so it seemed like she was trying to get closer to him in this cute way.
Hugo hurriedly opened the letter as his heart began to beat.
But the letter contained something that Hugo had never expected.
Yvonne had been asking him to buy her a dress to wear to the next party.
This was the first time Yvonne had messaged him first and asked him for something.
Have you finally opened up to him?
Hugo offered to buy Yvonne a house because he did not want to see her suffer abuse in the home of her relatives who did not even treat her as a family member.
But when he took her to a small house in the heart of the capital, Lieder, and asked her to accept it as a gift from him, she refused, became angry, and became very sad.
Hugo had unintentionally hurt her pride.
He didn't understand why she was acting like this at the time, but since he couldn't force her to accept something by force, he let her do what she wanted.
However, a short while ago, Yvonne sent him a letter and told him that she would finally overcome her stubbornness and would live in the house he gave her.
Not long ago, Yvonne had a maid of honor, and at the hunting festival, she came wearing a luxurious dress he had bought for her, which made Hugo very happy.
Finally, it seemed to him that Yvonne was slowly beginning to become self-reliant and independent, so he felt proud.
The assistant started reporting on the day while Hugo was in a good mood thanks to Yvonne's message.
“And I took issue with what you told me about before.”
“How did it go?”
“He swore never to do it again.”
“So what is their reason for doing this?”
“From what he told me, he said they wanted to prove their loyalty to you.”
“Sometimes there are people who act recklessly like this and mistake it for loyalty.”
These were the people Hugo was talking about who tried to assassinate Annette at the hunting festival.
Hugo clicked his tongue at the stupidity of those idiots.
They thought they could prove their loyalty to Hugo by taking Theodore's life.
Those who had been with him for a long time knew Hugo's principles well, so they did not try to do anything extreme like assassination.
This was essentially a plot by those who had just entered the balance of power to try to attract the attention of the next emperor and get him on their side.
“How could a pathetic man who thought this was the only way to show his loyalty to the next emperor become a major aristocratic vassal in the imperial court?”
Hugo frowned at their actions.
He believed that he could defeat Theodore at will without having to assassinate him.
Hugo did not even consider Theodor a competitor in the first place.
Of course, it's true that some changes have caught Hugo's attention lately...
But this did not mean that he would stoop to the point of trying to get rid of a lowly slave like Theodore.
This was his pride as the legitimate eldest son.
“Is there anything else to report?”
“Yes, Grand Duke Theodore recently purchased a hospital.”
"hospital?"
“Yes, that famous hospital on Trester Street.”
The news that Theodore had taken over the hospital aroused Hugo's strong suspicions.
“Is Favoritin Hospital profitable?”
“Not at all.
Although this is not a general measure, that hospital mainly serves the general public, which is why it is in rather overwhelming deficit.
I also heard that the director was very concerned that the hospital would go bankrupt because it was difficult to manage economically.”
As the assistant's words continued, the gap between Hugo's eyebrows began to narrow more and more.
Why would Theodore even invest in an unprofitable business?
Some say he is a heretic of mixed blood from the imperial family.
Others also say that Theodore is the bane of the imperial family.
But in reality, Hugo was the only one who knew the intelligence of his uncle, who was the same age.
His father, His Majesty the Great Emperor who had already safely ascended the throne, would not suffer any losses after his death, and since his mother the Second Empress had already passed away, there was no embarrassment in her son's failure to ascend the throne.
Therefore, the damage caused by Theodore's defeat would favor Hugo.
Therefore, Hugo never considered Theodore a competitor to him, but rather he constantly monitored him and kept him under surveillance.
He watched him uselessly for a long time as Theodore repeated himself like a parrot that he would fight and defeat Hugo from time to time.
So Hugo became bored and unimportant with Theodor.
The more he thought about it, the more Hugo became convinced that Theodor was not his opponent at all.
But recently...
Theodore's behavior changed suspiciously.
He did a series of things that he would not have done in the past.
First of all, he won the bet against Hugo for the first time.
Not just once, but from the mermaid statue to the fishing festival, Hugo has been defeated twice in a row.
He thought it was just a stroke of luck when Theodore won the bet, but after the hunting festival, Hugo also noticed something strange.
Not once did Hugo think that he would be defeated or that he might lose his position as crown prince to his uncle.
Hugo had never even been betrayed in his life, nor did he have any brothers to compete with him for the position of emperor.
No nobles dared to oppose him, he was loved by all the inhabitants of the empire, and he possessed the qualities of a ruler which he himself considered highly acceptable.
He was surprisingly physically strong, which he attributed to the fact that he was a Heaven's Chosen Emperor.
Hugo was born to be Emperor.
No one dared to dispute this fact.
Except for one person...
Theodore.
Theodore was openly and shamelessly coveting the throne.
But Hugo was the perfect crown prince, so he shouldn't have been defeated.
Especially in front of lowly scum like Theodore.
When Hugo was a child, he watched Maria lift the seal herself and tattoo her son's back with a slave tattoo.
Theodore was screaming and biting his lips until they were torn and bloody as he stared at Hugo.
But that was all.
No matter how much Theodore cursed and cursed Hugo, nothing happened to him and he continued to be the crown prince.
The more Theodore rebels and tries to defeat the Crown Prince, the more the tattoo of a butterfly with torn wings becomes deeply embedded in his back.
The two 10-year-old boys learned each other's identities that way back then.
From that day on, Theodore became the lowly son of a contemptible mistress and a slave at Hugo's feet.
Hugo knew nothing about Theodore, but he knew that the latter was undoubtedly still suffering from the effects of the trauma his mother had caused him in his childhood.
That's why Theodore could never defeat Hugo even once in the past, because his mind was programmed to actually be a loser.
So his recent victories have been dirty annoying.
'This can't be happening...'
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing.
Just get out.”
Hugo motioned for the assistant to leave.
Hugo, alone again in the study, was lost in thought.
Recently, various incidents have occurred in unexpected places.
He didn't know what was wrong, but Hugo was uncomfortable somewhere out of his control.
This was also one of the changes made by Theodore.
No…
“It's not Theodore.”
His instincts warned him sharply.
The reason for this change was someone other than Theodore.
But the reason must be near Theodore.
If there was a recent change in Theodore's daily life it would be...
“Annet Scheringen.”
That woman.
Annette Scheringen was at the center of all the changes.
When he thought of her, Hugo's eyes lit up.
It seemed like it was time to remind that slave of his place, even though he didn't want to sink to the same level as before.