“—Anything but breaking the engagement.”
Silence descended.
The confrontation was like a spear striking a shield.
Emperor Laios watched them with interest, his fingers interlaced over his knee.
“This is troublesome.”
It was a brief murmur.
After that, he said nothing more.
The space remained quiet.
Yet the two people concerned stood in the eye of a storm.
“......Our engagement is a formal pledge made by Imperial decree.”
Richard spoke first.
“Even if you have received an Imperial wish-granting right, if you use it to demand that the engagement be unilaterally broken, what becomes of the Imperial family’s dignity?”
“I never consented to that engagement in the first place.”
Cailus responded coldly.
“It was forced upon me. My wishes were never taken into consideration.”
“No. Even so, you were the one who ultimately signed the formal pledge, Your Highness.”
The corners of Richard’s lips curved slightly upward.
“It is only natural to take responsibility for your own actions. Yet now you intend to break it in this manner?”
Cailus’s brow twitched faintly.
But he merely stared at Richard in silence, offering no rebuttal.
Richard did not let the opportunity pass.
“Ah.”
His lips twisted coldly.
“I suppose your engagement to Lady Beatus followed the same pattern.”
He calmly struck where it hurt.
“In the end, you broke that one unilaterally as well. Is that why Lady Beatus avoids you?”
“.......”
Cailus’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Somehow, it finally makes sense. Now I understand why she is reluctant to stand beside His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“......What happened with Daphne was different.”
Cailus’s voice was low and firm.
“Because I do not love you.”
“......Ha.”
Richard scoffed.
“I neither love you nor have any intention of accepting you as my life partner.”
So that’s how you want to play this....
Then Richard had no reason to play nice either.
“And yet....”
Richard tilted his head slightly and shot back,
“you behaved that way only a few days ago?”
“......?”
Cailus’s brow slowly furrowed.
“You claimed to love me while taking me so roughly, yet now you say that?”
“...Did we not agree to treat that night as though it never happened?”
His voice sank into an icy chill.
“If this is how Your Highness intends to behave, I can no longer pretend it never happened.”
The tension continued to rise.
Their gazes sharpened, their words grew harsher, and their emotions began flying like blades.
At that moment—
“How long must I watch this quarrel?”
The Emperor spoke calmly.
At that brief remark, both men fell silent at once.
The Emperor regarded them with the indifference of someone watching children fight.
“You both received a wish right. If those wishes conflict... that puts the Imperial family in a difficult position.”
Laios raised an eyebrow lightly.
“So reach a decision. If you cannot choose one or the other, I will revoke both.”
Richard reacted first.
“...You cannot.”
Cailus shook his head as well.
The two exchanged a brief glance.
If this continued, they would both lose their rights.
Anything but that.
An Imperial wish-granting right was precious beyond measure.
Even if it killed him, Richard refused to stand by and watch the wish rights vanish into thin air.
After considerable thought, he finally spoke.
“...Allow me to make a proposal.”
Cailus turned toward him, while the Emperor raised an eyebrow with interest.
“Since our wishes conflict, rather than using the rights ourselves... why not transfer them to someone else?”
“To whom?”
Cailus asked.
Richard drew a short breath.
“...Lady Beatus.”
Even if he could not use his own right, this was still preferable.
He could surrender it to Lady Beatus without regret.
“.......”
Cailus narrowed his eyes slightly.
But at the mention of her name, he soon nodded.
“...If it is her.”
Apparently satisfied, the Emperor raised a hand and summoned an attendant.
“Bring Lady Beatus here.”
The attendants bowed and withdrew in unison.
The banquet room of the Imperial Palace.
Crimson tapestries and colorless chandeliers hung from the ceiling,
and with no food laid upon the long table, the subdued lighting cast the shadows of the three occupants far across the room.
Daphne carefully took a seat at the end of the table.
Richard sat opposite her, with Cailus beside him.
Emperor Laios reclined comfortably at the head of the table, one finger resting against his wineglass as he slowly spoke.
“Good. Everyone is seated.”
Cailus remained silent, his gaze lowered at an angle.
Richard swirled his wineglass with a faint smile,
while Daphne sat at the end of the table, unable to raise her head as she breathed slowly and evenly.
“This gathering, Lady Beatus,”
the Emperor said, shifting his gaze toward her,
“was arranged so that the wish rights could be transferred to you. There is no need to be nervous.”
“...Yes, Your Majesty.”
Daphne bowed her head as she answered.
The Emperor gave a faint chuckle and raised his glass.
“You are the only person ever to have obtained two Imperial wish-granting rights at once, regardless of the method.”
Richard’s hand paused slightly at those words,
and Cailus silently glanced aside.
“So I ask that you consider what you wish to do. You may grant one of their wishes, or make a wish of your own.”
“.......”
Daphne quietly lowered her head.
But her brows trembled almost imperceptibly.
Richard was the one who broke the silence.
“You need not feel burdened, Lady Beatus.”
He spoke with a light smile.
“We devised this solution only because we could not reach an agreement. Whatever you choose, I will accept it.”
“...Yes. Thank you, Richard.”
Amid the atmosphere frozen like icy water, Daphne cautiously spoke.
“...I do not wish to use the wish rights for myself.”
Her voice trembled softly.
Both Richard and Cailus turned toward her at once.
“They originally belonged to the two of you.”
After taking a breath, she continued.
“Even though they were given to me... they were yours to begin with. I am merely holding them on your behalf.”
The Emperor brought the glass to his lips with an enigmatic smile.
His expression seemed to say, As expected, as he watched the entire situation unfold with interest.
“And so,”
Daphne continued carefully,
“I have decided to use them for the two of you. Both of them.”
“.......”
“.......”
“For the first wish,”
she drew a deep breath,
“I wish for the two of you to share a bedroom from now on.”
“......Daphne?”
Cailus frowned slightly.
Richard stared at her as well.
His hand froze as he reached for his fork, and the red wine in his glass rippled faintly.
Daphne quietly nodded.
“I want the two of you to spend every night in the same bedroom.”
“.......”
“The fact that you, who are engaged, could not agree on how to use your wish rights and instead transferred them to me suggests that a serious misunderstanding has arisen between you.”
Her eyes were gentle yet resolute.
“But if you see each other every night and breathe the same air in the same room... might you not reconcile, even if only little by little?”
“.......”
“.......”
Neither Richard nor Cailus could respond.
Not because they agreed.
They were simply at a loss for words.
“As for my second wish....”
Daphne paused briefly before continuing.
“I would like the two of you to spend tonight together.”
Then she added,
“Very... passionately.”
“.......”
“.......”
Clink—
The wineglass slipped from Richard’s hand.
Miraculously, it did not shatter, but the red liquid spread silently across the tablecloth.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter