In the Capital

The carriage, guided from the city gates, headed not to the audience palace where the Emperor resided, but to a small separate palace further inside.

‘…The Second Princess summoned me?’

This was the biggest crisis since I’d possessed Scarl.

It would be a different story if the Emperor had summoned me…

The Scarl I knew was the scum of the scum, only bullying those weaker than himself, so he wouldn’t know how to deal with someone of high status.

“Please wait here, Baron Scarl Bernatore.”

“Understood.”

Guided by the caretaker of the separate palace, I waited for the Second Princess in the drawing room.

Not long after, Princess Sophia entered, smiling softly as soon as our eyes met.

‘Just finish the territory talk appropriately and…’

“Baron Scarl, it’s been a while. I’ve really missed you!”

“…?”

‘…Scarl had a connection with the Second Princess?’

“Why that expression? Are you feeling unwell?”

My head was a mess.

“No, Your Highness Princess Sophia.”

All I knew about Sophia was that her future title would be the Liar Witch.

Around this time, she would suddenly attend the academy, become close friends with Flare, and then betray her, becoming a twist character that would shock both Flare and the gamers…?

“Would this jog your memory? Ahem. Scarl, dear brother.”

It was certain.

She knew Scarl, but she didn’t know me.

‘I can’t awkwardly pretend to know things with my game knowledge, I’d rather pretend to have forgotten like Scarl would…’

As I didn’t answer, Sophia’s face was filled with disappointment.

“…Let me formally introduce myself first. I am Sophia Alexandria Arthur III, of the legitimate imperial line of the Empire.”

I awkwardly followed suit.

“…Scarl Bernatore.”

The Emperor’s secluded daughter, removed from succession due to her mother’s deposition, confined to the separate palace.

“…Have you really forgotten me?”

This was driving me crazy.

Sophia sighed and leaned her head back against the sofa as I kept avoiding her gaze.

“The Bernatore family is said to have inherited the blood of the Hero.”

The Bernatore family was indeed descended from the Hero, but Scarl, being an adopted son, was not part of that lineage.

‘Only I know that fact.’

“You speak the truth.”

Sophia frowned, and a faint scar appeared on her forehead.

“That’s different from what I heard? …You seem like a different person. Dear brother.”

‘Scarl, you damn bastard! You should have left something about messing with the Second Princess in your diary or records! You even told her about your birth secret?!’

“I’m very disappointed that you’ve really forgotten me…”

There was no choice. It was a gamble.

I quickly changed my tone as if addressing a subordinate.

“Since when were we so familiar, Sophia?”

She clapped her hands and smiled.

“Oh my. Now I see the dear brother I know? You remember now?”

“A little.”

The Princess approached and naturally sat next to me.

“You’re as wary as ever. Why would such a dear brother come to the capital~?”

“…To enjoy a life of debauchery.”

“What? Hahahahaha!”

Sophia, who kept hitting my chest, frowned and said as if she was angry.

“I’m here, you can’t.”

I understood one thing.

The reason why that guy stayed put in the territory and didn’t come out was…

‘He messed with the Liar Witch.’

“His Majesty has issued an imperial edict to you, dear brother.”

“The Emperor?”

“There’s an academy in the capital, right? He wants you to find a young and decent bride by two and a half years from now. He’s even giving you a professor position! You always liked that kind of thing, didn’t you!”

I had played countless [Regret and Obsessive Hero] games, but this was the first time I had encountered this event.

If I had to name this event, it would be something like ‘Succession of the Hero’s Family.’

Sophia, who was pouring out her words at my bewildered reaction.

“Did you think the Imperial Family would leave the only bloodline of the Hero alone? The Bernatore family must continue its line now, dear brother.”

Did Scarl’s surviving snowball roll this far?

My tone, which had risen, dropped endlessly.

“…I’ve also heard news that you’re very~ talented since coming to the capital.”

Of course.

It was clear that the Second Princess was interested in the wealth I possessed.

‘Although temporary, an academy professor… I can get closer to Flare.’

It was an event that would fizzle out on its own once it was revealed that the Hero was Flare anyway.

“I accept that offer.”

“Hehe. I’m going as a student too. When I told her that I had a connection with you since childhood, she readily agreed, you know?”

The Second Princess was always a prepared card for the Hero.

I felt somewhat sorry for her.

“…”

“Why that expression, fake Hero?”

She was being called something similar among her siblings…

I composed my face.

“You’re in a similar situation, Sophia.”

“That’s right. You used those words to ensnare me back then too.”

‘It’s an insult to say the same thing as Scarl.’

“Haa― Still, thanks to you, dear brother, I can escape this stifling place. Although it’s only for two and a half years, I’ll be grateful.”

A life confined and trapped in the separate palace for the rest of her life…

“Is that all you called me here for today?”

“No. I also need to leave a mark that you’re mine, dear brother.”

“I don’t want to.”

Getting involved with the Imperial Family was just troublesome.

“Hehehe… Do you think I, as a Princess, wouldn’t secure my starting line?”

In an instant, she approached, and I raised my hand to block her mouth.

Sophia spoke nonchalantly even though it was on the back of my hand, not my lips.

“That’s the second time.”

‘…What?’

“I only―”

She only kissed me? The Scarl of the world?

“Don’t say it. I’m still embarrassed.”

I carefully observed Sophia, who had a faint blush.

The faint scar on her forehead was not visible.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

That’s a lie.

She hasn’t even had her first kiss yet.

“I’m a Princess in my own way, you know? How is it? Do you like it?”

“Yes, yes.”

From what I could see, Sophia seemed to be trying to escape the separate palace by marrying me.

After that, we also discussed the territory issues.

“The Emperor said that there’s a lot of backlash from the nobles above the rank of Count because one Baron is managing four territories. It’s even more so because the territories aren’t all connected and are separated. If you marry me, it would be resolved immediately… How about it?”

She’s been making a huge push since earlier.

‘Does that mean she’s that desperate?’

As I talked, I understood the knack for dealing with her.

“According to what you said, the high-ranking nobles know that I’m the owner of Aiden.”

“Of course. The Aiden Guild manages all four territories, right? Isn’t it a spy if you don’t know Aiden in the capital these days~?”

‘Did I expand too quickly?’

I heard roughly everything I needed to hear.

“If you’re done talking, I’ll be going.”

I was about to leave when she called out as I put on my coat.

“Wait a minute!”

“What?”

Sophia spread her arms in front of the door.

“You can’t go!”

I approached, lowered my head, and made a fierce expression.

“Why!”

“M, Meal!”

She’s this scared, but she’s still blocking me?

But the reason is a meal?

“A meal?”

“Yes. Please stay with me a little longer, dear brother.”

I admired her courage and agreed.

The formal name of the separate palace where the Second Princess resided was the Secluded Palace.

‘I think it was named that because it’s a space where secluded members of the Imperial Family stay.’

I sat at a small table, waiting for Sophia’s cooking.

“The food is served~”

“I’ll enjoy the meal.”

A pasta made by the Princess herself.

‘It’s bound to be tas—’

“It’s delicious.”

“Really? …It’s worth practicing while only thinking of dear brother!”

‘That’s a lie. In the game, she said she learned it because there was nothing to do inside the palace.’

Nothing from start to finish was not a lie.

“Dear brother said that a woman’s hands must also be delicious.”

That’s the truth.

I don’t know what Scarl said to her.

After sitting across from each other at the table, drinking tea, and having simple conversations about territory issues, the moon had already risen.

The territory issues were on hold, I received the Emperor’s imperial edict, and I moderately accepted Sophia’s whining.

“I’m really going now.”

“You can’t!”

Ignoring Sophia, who was blocking me again, I grabbed the doorknob.

“Move.”

Our hands overlapped, and a tremor was transmitted.

“I don’t want to. This way…”

Before I knew it, the location had changed from the drawing room to the Princess’s bedchamber.

“Do you know what this means, Sophia?”

Sophia, who was lying beneath me, carefully caressed my body.

“Be rough as the rumors say, and do as you please, Scarl, dear brother.”

In the game, Sophia was said to have a habit of showing when she was telling the truth.

‘The faint scar on the left side of her forehead that appears when she frowns.’

It wasn’t visible like before.

“…Dear brother?”

It was true that we met in childhood.

It was also true that I was needed for her escape.

Like the appearance she was showing now, the Emperor might have ordered her to sleep with Scarl, the only descendant of the Hero.

‘But she probably doesn’t want to be embraced already.’

What woman would want that without any mood?

Besides, according to the imperial edict, there was also freedom for two and a half years.

I moved my hand at the act of seduction based on the rumors of Scarl Bernatore.

As I went inside her clothes, past her startled and shrinking shoulders, I felt her goosebump-covered skin.

‘See? Her body is instinctively rejecting it.’

No matter what the past connection was, if she knew the rumors of Scarl, even more so…

I took out the hand I had put under her shoulder.

“More. Please do more.”

Sophia grabbed my arm and desperately clung to me.

The figure on the bed felt like a small bird trapped in a cage, not a Princess.

I didn’t originally intend to embrace her anyway.

I wasn’t so desperate as to embrace a woman who instinctively hated it.

‘The first time should at least be…’

What would Scarl say in this situation?

‘Was it 10 pieces of apple that Luna brought on the plate the other day?’

“…I’m tired today. I dealt with over 10 people yesterday. I’ll eat you in the morning.”

The relief that she had bought half a day was clearly visible on her face.

‘And yet she’s doing this.’

“Hmph… Ah? I did it because I was disappointed. I was looking forward to this moment with dear brother―”

“Stop talking nonsense and sleep. I’m tired.”

I lay down next to Sophia.

‘She probably won’t pounce on me first in that state.’

As I pretended to sleep, a finger passed in front of my eyes not long after.

“…Are you really sleeping? Are you really asleep?”

I could see Sophia’s face approaching through my slightly opened eyes.

“Good night. My savior. Not yet…”

Chu-

Sophia, who kissed me on the cheek, held onto the tip of my finger all night long and didn’t let go.