# Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Raphael raised his hands in front of him and silently looked at them.
He was like a scholar who was facing a deep problem.
He looked down at his hands, not realizing that the heavily brewed tea on his table was getting cold.
He was so focused that he didn't even notice Jeremy looking at him strangely from the side.
That's exactly what affected him.
He went through a life-changing event today and was deeply troubled.
“The contact was not unpleasant.
For Raphael, this statement had major implications.
It was the first time he felt something like this, and the person who made him feel like this was Princess Cayena.
“Am I better now?”
Was he no longer repulsed by touching people?
He tried it immediately.
“Jeremy.
Jeremy, who was looking at Raphael's unusual behavior with suspicious eyes, was taken aback.
“Y-yes!
Go ahead.
Raphael reached out to Jeremy.
Jeremy tried for a moment to interpret what that hand meant.
Hmm.
He had no idea.
He gave up on making an interpretation and asked: — … what do you want me to give you?
“Hold my hand.
Jeremy was taken aback.
In the study, the two were alone.
His master's strange behavior and peculiar request...
Jeremy carefully held out his hands.
The two men held hands.
Anyone who saw the scene would find it strange.
“…
Raphael felt like hives were breaking out all over his body.
He took his hand away as if he couldn't hold it.
Jeremy, who felt somehow mistreated, bitterly took his hand away.
It was the first time Raphael had asked him to hold his hand since becoming his assistant.
“Why did he suddenly do this…?”
Often his master acted on a whim.
It was definitely because he had a weird side.
“Did something happen to His Highness?”
Jeremy had heard that Raphael escorted Princess Cayena.
Jeremy turned to Raphael, wondering if he would see some pink and flowery atmosphere around him, but his master was as dry as usual.
There was no sweet emotion in a boy's first puppy love.
Black hair, red eyes, and a perfectly polished, practical face.
A mouth without a trace of a smile.
It looked like an extremely dry desert.
Baston repeatedly insisted that there was something between Raphael and Cayena.
Jeremy shook his head.
“It can't be.
Is Rafael in love?
He couldn't even imagine.
“Jeremy.
So, Raphael called him.
“Yes sir.
He wouldn't ask for a hug this time, right?
Jeremy waited in silence for Raphael's next words.
“Do you know anything about Henverton Gillian?
“Henverton Gillian?
Of course he knew.
Henverton Gillian was the son of one of Kedrey's vassals and the next successor to Gillian's viscountcy.
“Yes.
He is Viscount Gillian's eldest son.
I heard that he is taking succession preparation classes these days.
“Is he single?
“He is.
He had a fiancée, but they broke up about two months ago.
This was probably after he danced with His Highness Cayena in the banquet hall…” Jeremy said.
Then, he frowned.
“I also heard that Heir Gillian acted discourteously towards His Highness today.”
He never looked kindly at the Gillian family in the first place.
Viscount Gillian was known for being shameless, with more than five lovers.
And his son, Henverton, was known for mixing with bad company.
“Find out more about that man.
It was unexpected, but Jeremy quickly responded, lowering his head.
“I will comply with your order.
It was natural that Raphael needed to know about Henverton Gillian, the successor to the duchy's vassal.
Of course, Raphael never ordered him to investigate someone for no reason.
“What the hell did Henverton Gillian do?”
Raphael couldn't forget the scared expression Cayena made today.
He also remembered the calm expression she made after seeing him.
“…
Something inside his body was itching.
Cayena was very tired after being away from home for a long time.
It even rained, so his body became more exhausted.
“I'm going to prepare a bath.
Vera noticed her tiredness and went out to drain the bath water and get the products.
Cayena leaned against the sofa and touched her forehead.
A sharp memory related to Gillian surfaced.
“Let’s not think about useless things.”
It was better to forget the memoriesbad ones.
Either way, she intended to never get involved with him in this life.
She would create and marry an illusion, then leave behind her position as the world's premier villain.
Viscount Gillian's family had a great influence on the empire because they produced war horses.
She couldn't touch Gillian if she wanted Raphael's cooperation.
But if necessary, I could take him down.
In the short period that Cayena lived as Viscountess Gillian, she discovered several problems with the family.
“I don’t want to increase the time I spend at the palace by doing something like that, though.”
She just wanted to live the rest of her life quietly in the countryside, where the scenery was calm and the sunrises and sunsets were beautiful.
She had been through a lot.
In an empty room, Cayena looked over the tapestry on the wall and said in a slightly choked voice: — Why don't you stop now, Rezef?
After Cayena passed out after eating a nut cookie, Rezef was ordered to be on probation indefinitely and was locked in his room.
Knights were positioned from the living room to the hallway to prevent him from leaving.
He remembered the eyes of the emperor, who looked at him and found him pathetic.
“Someday, I'll kill them all!
“Your Highness!
Saying that kind of thing…!
—Rezef couldn't overcome his anger.
He started screaming and destroying the room.
“Ahh!
— One after another, the servants fell when they were hit by the objects he threw.
Rezef didn't mind at all.
They were expendable anyway.
Only those with noble blood could be treated as humans.
This is what the emperor taught him.
“Y, Your Highness!
Please get yourself together!
— With varying degrees of injuries, the injured servants continued to emerge from Rezef's room.
However, a new servant was pushed in to replace them each time because the prince's room could not be left unattended.
The people around them even told the servants to leave a will, just in case.
“If His Majesty finds out about this, things will only get worse.
It was the first time Zenon had seen the prince go crazy like this.
As it was, the possibility that the prince he supported would be deposed by the emperor could not be ignored.
It was something that should never happen.
“Shut up!
— Rezef was aggressive and violent.
There seemed to be nothing that could stop him.
“He’s acting like some kind of pathetic beggar…”
Zenon left to summon the nobles.
Rezef barely calmed down after everything got messy.
The servants who were holding their breath began to clean the room.
“What the hell went wrong?”
Should he have murdered Emperor Esteban sooner, even if it was unreasonable?
He didn't have a shred of affection for his father.
That's why he didn't hesitate to think of something so cruel and cold-blooded.
Shortly afterwards, however, his indefinite probation was reduced to ten days.
“They say His Highness is kneeling in the middle of the castle to petition the emperor, — said Zenon, who had access to Rezef's chambers.
He also said that soon after, authority over internal affairs was temporarily transferred to Cayena.
As if everything had been arranged, everything was progressing in order.
His position was decreasing.
“The Emperor…!
—The strength he accumulated was not an illusion.
Still, the emperor treated Rezef as if he had no power.
If he was really his son, he wouldn't do this.
He was treating him as the product of a dishonest act, but wasn't the emperor himself the one who made the mistake?
The emperor's eyes were always cold.
He despised him.
Rezef couldn't understand when he was just a child.
He had no intention of being understanding now.
"No need to wait.
I will take the throne myself."
A day passed while he was locked in his room.
He heard the news that his sister came to visit him.
"Yes of course.
Cayena can't be without me."
Now, she would say that having power over internal affairs is too much.
She would be the candle that would burn to light Rezef.
However, Cayena did not give up her authority.
It was strange.
She would never have done that, would she?