An unexpected guest arrived at the palace.
Contrary to its dazzling exterior, which seemed to contain the sun itself, the palace was subdued.
In order not to disturb the temperament of the emperor, who disliked noise, the palace staff kept their mouths shut and lived quietly. However, recent rumors circulating within the empire continued to tickle their curiosity.
One such story involved the runaway daughter of the Grand Duke. And to make matters worse, that beloved daughter was the fiancée of the Second Prince.
Aside from the Emperor and Empress, most of the palace’s guests were from Lausanne’s salon or Cameron’s.
Very few guests came to visit Demimore and his mother. In particular, Demimore’s mother had no visitors.
The palace staff occasionally referred to Demimore and his mother as beautiful tropical flowers in the emperor’s greenhouse.
The metaphor made sense to their graceful eyes, but their true intentions were a little more cruel.
The flowers in the imperial greenhouses had been imported and forced to grow in the first place.
It was all because the emperor liked beautiful and splendid flowers. They might be favored by the Emperor, but they were just ornaments.
“Why are they meeting?”
“Maybe to talk about the Grand Princess?”
“Then why is Rex Bluea coming, when there are three princes above him?”
“I don’t know.”
The fact that Rex Bluea was visiting the palace to meet Demimore was enough to cause a stir in the already noisy palace.
“Could there be some kind of connection between them?”
“Perhaps.”
The two servants, who had chuckled lightly and lowly at the mention of Demimore, an imperial prince, and Rex, the outcast from the Duchy of Bluea, became expressionless again as if they did not laugh.
It would be troublesome if they were caught laughing and chatting because this place was an imperial palace and there were many eyes watching. However, the mouth that had a lot to say continued to move.
“By the way, do you think they will break the engagement?”
“Well, since she ran away like that, it’s inevitable. No matter how high-ranking the Grand Duke’s beloved daughter is.”
“I’ve heard that Grand Duke Conler isn’t doing too well either…….”
“Is the empire, where the sun never sets, now a thing of the past?”
Having said that, the servant briefly gazed at the sun pattern stubbornly carved into the imperial palace. The entire empire was in an uproar because of the story of the Grand Duke’s daughter.
Ever since she was born, she had been like this, always causing trouble. If the Grand Duke’s family crumbled, how long could this empire hold on?
“Look, that Rex Bluea is here.”
Interrupted from his reverie by a hand, the servant turned around, and sure enough, there was a slight commotion in the palace again.
Rex and Demimore shake hands.
“They make quite a picturesque sight.”
The servants genuinely admired their appearance, forgetting their earlier disparaging remarks.
The sight of them standing face to face was like a painting.
It would be no exaggeration to say that if two painters were asked to paint the most beautiful boy in the world, one would paint Demimore and the other would paint Rex.
However, their inner feelings were not as beautiful as the painting.
“Have you heard anything new about Mary Conler?”
“No, and even if there was, I don’t think I could tell you easily.”
“Well, that’s disappointing.”
Demimore said disappointed, but in a calm tone, as if he’d expected Rex to say it.
After looking at Demimore with the same calmness, Rex asked him.
“Have you heard from my sister…….”
“What?”
“News about my sister?”
Rex’s voice trembled.
No, Rex was actually trying to stay calm.
He hadn’t been calm since the day his sister, the person he loved most, had suddenly disappeared, leaving behind a letter saying she was leaving to protect her father.
That’s why he disliked the relaxed demeanor of the person in front of him. How could he be so laid back when his fiancée was missing?
“Ah.”
“Do you have any?”
“No, I don’t.”
“…….”
“And I can’t tell you easily either.”
Rex clenched his fists as Demimore shrugged. Rex himself knows that this strange war of nerves he’s having with Demimore is useless.
Perhaps the Demimore in front of him knows it better than anyone. But strangely, when facing this person, Rex’s ability to judge becomes useless.
‘Because he’s engaged to my sister…….’
Maybe in the future, his sister and Demimore will marry. The only ‘couple’ that Rex had seen since he was born was one formed out of necessity.
When Rex Bluea was no longer needed he lost his family and was exiled to the Grand Duchy. Paradoxically, Rex learned what a true family is like in the Grand Duchy of Conler. Among them, Mary Conler was the family he cherished the most.
To Mary, Rex was a younger brother to protect, but to Rex, Mary Conler was a person he had to care for and protect until the end.
She was a sister who he would protect no matter what. Even if the wind blew him away, even if it rained and made him wet, or even if the sun rose and made him hot.
Sometimes Rex would look at her and have a profane thought that if there really was a god who handed each of us our own destiny, then that god was really mean.
To him, that Demimore guy……. Well, he thought, maybe his fate wasn’t decided by such a nice god either.
But with all those thoughts out of the way, the only person who could help Rex Bluea right now was the Demimore Arstans in front of him.
“It must have been a difficult decision. Thank you for accepting it willingly.”
“You’re right, it wasn’t easy.”
Demimore readily agreed without the usual formalities.
Mary Conler’s absence had a greater impact on Rex than he had realized.
It wasn’t unreasonable, Demimore thought, remembering the frightening warnings he’d given him before his engagement to Mary.
Rex would always follow her around like a chick chasing its mother.
“Aren’t you feeling uneasy?”
“Hmm?”
Rex asked in a low voice as Demimore turned to sip his tea. When Demimore raised an eyebrow, Rex fidgeted with his fingers and continued speaking.
Mary has that habit too. Being together so much, he even picked up such habits. As Rex finished his sentence, Demimore’s raised eyebrow returned to its original position.
“She disappeared… and I heard rumors of a breakup…”
“I….”
Just as Rex hesitated to ask the question, Demimore also realized that it wasn’t an easy question to answer.
To say it was nothing. It couldn’t be nothing. How could it be nothing?
“Trust Mary.”
He heard it in her letter that she was leaving to protect her father.
Mary would find a way and come back. Especially if it’s for someone else’s sake, not hers. Demimore decided to think that way and put his mind at ease.
No matter what happened, it was Rex’s responsibility to trust and wait for Mary until the end.
Before Mary ran away, Demimore had a dream. No, he thought it was just a dream.
It was night when Mary came to him while he was dozing off by the window, reading a book.
It was probably her first visit to his room, and it bothered him a bit that it wasn’t as clean as it usually was.
Mary apologized to him and said they would definitely meet again. It was clear that she deliberately visited him before leaving because she cared about him.
Mary’s departure made him incredibly angry and frustrated. But now, in front of Rex, he couldn’t unleash his rage. He felt sorry for the people of the Conler family who were probably in chaos.
The fact that he was the one who was on her mind before she left eased her anger a little.
“But we’re searching in various ways, so please don’t worry too much.”
“Of course.”
Rex spoke in a stern tone, not knowing what Demimore was thinking, simply because he didn’t like the look in his eyes.
Demimore took it all in stride, then said as if he’d had a sudden thought.
“But why is our nice and cute Rex doing this?”
It might have sounded sarcastic at first glance, but Demimore genuinely asked out of curiosity.
Rex, as if understanding, didn’t twist his words and listened intently.
“I’m sure your sister will be upset when she finds out.”
“She probably wouldn’t just be upset.”
“You’re right.”
Sometimes Mary would talk to Demimore about Rex.
She told him that sometimes when Rex was lost in thought, whether he was happy or sad, he would lower his eyes, and it was so wistful that it made her feel sad inside. For the first time, Demimore understood.
“Maybe she’ll come back soon, just to get mad at me.”
