“Your Majesty, why are you drinking all alone...?”0

Alberth el Lyndis, the Crown Prince of Lyndis, snatched the liquor bottle from Emperor Deorte's hand before he could continue silently drinking the strong alcohol.0

“You insolent brat! How dare you take the Emperor's bottle?”0

“Haaah. Father, why are you blaming yourself again?”0

The address, the atmosphere, and the tone were different than usual.0

However, Deorte didn’t hold it against him.0

“Honestly, what happened to Vashas is no one's fault. It was just a disaster,” Alberth said with conviction.0

“Do you truly think so?”0

“Pardon? Is there something else I didn't know?”0

“No, what you know is correct. But Vashas will assume there was something more he doesn’t know, since no one could have predicted that disaster.”0

“That's just his delusion...”0

A delusion became a person's reality once it was held as a belief. At least, talking to Vashas about that day's accident in the present day would be utterly useless.0

He was a pitiful soul who loved his mother more than anyone, was unable to accept her early death, and thus closed his heart off.0

That was the fundamental reason why the noble faction in Lyndis still held power. It was the very reason why the imperial family member who lent strength to the noble faction could still be alive. 0

“How did that brilliant boy end up like this…”0

Alberth had become the crown prince long ago, but Emperor...0