Chapter 7: Unexpected Invitation Letter (2)

If I was asked who was the person I was most annoyed by, the first name I would say would be Caelus Von Valencia, the first prince of the Ingrid Empire.

Why did I annoy him? The answer is quite simple; he is a hypocritical bastard! The ruthless nature he hides behind the kind smile he wears on his face and his cold-bloodedness that can stab you in the back at any moment makes me afraid of him.

Yes, such a man should have been the villain of the novel, but strangely enough, he was the main male character. I never understood what Alicia liked about him. He was nothing but a ball of pretentious arrogance.

At the age of 12, he became the youngest swordsman in history, creating an aura sword. He was also the only one who could make a pact with the five great spirit kings. He was a rare genius, beloved by the kings of the spirits of Light, Water, Fire, Air, and Earth.

Because of his confidence in his abilities, he had a disdain for those who were inferior to him. He ignored anyone inferior to him in terms of ability and deemed them unworthy of his attention.

He was a survivor of the brutal court after the death of the first empress. Although the emperor valued his children, he did not interfere in the war of succession. Because according to him, if you don't survive, you are not worthy to be the next emperor.

Maybe it sounds harsh, but the world I lived in was not a world where you could talk things out. If you wanted to survive, you had to pick up your sword when necessary and kill someone.

You had to be good at negotiation skills and never let your guard down. The life of the princes competing to become the next emperor was even harsher. It was surprising, though, that the second prince was not the main male character of the novel.

The second prince, Björn, was a man with a knightly spirit. He was also quite skilled, though not as skilled as the first prince. At the age of 16, he had achieved swordsmanship by creating an aura sword. But his weapon against the first prince was his divine power.

He was a paladin and was supported by the Temple, another ruling power in the Ingrid Empire. As in every novel I read, the Temple was not innocent. But that was not my concern. After all, the protagonists of the novel would deal with it when the time came.

"The question is why is this idiot sending me an invitation letter?" I frowned and threw the letter on the table in front of me.

And there was no reason for this man to send me a letter unless he wanted to annoy me! The problem between him and me stemmed from a sword contest one years ago.

That year I won first place in the sword competition, beating many talented swordsmen. I seemed to have earned his hatred for beating the prince who came first every year. Since then, our stars have never made up and we have never stopped causing trouble for each other.

When there was a knock at the door, I took the letter from the desk and put it in the drawer. My eyebrows rose as Andre walked in and the maid behind him wheeled in a cart and placed tea and snacks on the table. I went and sat across from him as I watched in silence.

"You're a guest but you're acting like a host," I said, my eyes cold as I looked at Andre.

"I was just saving time," he explained calmly as I clicked my tongue and looked at him, crossing my leg over the other and resting my arm on the armrest of the sofa.

"To what do I owe this visit?" I asked as the maid left the room.

"After the anniversary celebrations, I'm leaving the Duchy of Cloden for the Marquisate of Osborn," he said, cutting straight to the point. This was to be expected as neither of us liked to beat around the bush.

"It's none of my business whether you go or stay," I said as I took a sip of my tea, not caring if there was an emotion in his eyes that I couldn't decipher.

"Did you get a letter from the prince?" my right eyebrow twitched when he changed the subject.

"Did you know he was sending me a letter?"

"He decided right after he saw you at the restaurant today," he shrugged when I looked at him blankly.

"You and him both do nothing but annoy me."

"Aren't you being too hard on your brother?" he asked calmly and I looked at him silently.

"Why did you come here?" I asked, and the hand holding the glass to his lips stopped.

"I heard you're leaving soon," he said and I almost spit out the tea I was drinking.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I smiled and he looked at me with one eyebrow raised.

"You should have warned your master better if you wanted to keep it."

That old windbag!

Someone like him wouldn't just talk my secret around. He probably did it on purpose. Does he still want to stop me or something? He's annoying!

"So?"

"When are you leaving?"

"Why? Do you want to see me off or something?" I teased and he looked at me with serious eyes.

When he said, "Yes," I almost showed my surprise because I didn't expect such an answer from him. "It's better to have someone to see you off than to leave like that without anyone knowing."

He didn't ask me why I was leaving or anything else. I didn't know what thoughts were going through his head as he silently waited for my answer. Even though I sometimes got angry with him, he was not responsible for anything my family did to me.

That's why at these times I wished he would keep quiet like he always did, but somehow there was a connection between us that I didn't understand.