Chapter 12

Tap, tap. 

The rhythmic sound of fingers drumming against mahogany filled the office. Though the mountainous stacks of paperwork threatening to crush his desk showed zero signs of shrinking, a relaxed, genuine smile graced Clyde’s lips.

Clyde’s gaze was entirely fixed on the ring resting on his left hand. The blue diamond, perfectly mirroring the shade of his own eyes, sparkled brilliantly.

“It would have been better if we were at that specific beach, but regardless, I managed to fulfill Aiden’s romantic fantasy.”

Muttering to himself, Clyde replayed every single moment he had shared with Aiden today.

The eyes that sparkled like crushed stars the second they saw the ocean. The soft, genuine smile he wore while scooping up the sand. The way he had aggressively proposed after falling face-first into the trap. The beautiful, delicate flush that had stained his cheeks.

“It truly is quite difficult for a grown man to be that adorable.”

Ah, I suppose it’s only possible because it’s Aiden. Chuckling fondly, Clyde shifted his gaze back to his paperwork. Right at that exact moment, the heavy office doors were violently shoved open without so much as a knock.

It was a blatant display of disrespect that completely warranted a severe reprimand, but Clyde, perfectly aware of exactly who the intruder was, didn’t even bother looking up. He simply spoke in a dry, monotonous drawl.

“I greet the great star of the Empire, His Highness Crown Prince Knox.”

A scoff of pure, unfiltered disbelief echoed through the room. “Look here, Grand Duke Clyde. Do you possess even a single shred of basic manners?”

Clyde clicked his tongue lightly and finally looked up, his voice dripping with heavy sarcasm. “I highly doubt the Crown Prince—who just barged into my private office without a knock or permission—has the right to lecture me on manners.”

“Oh, but I do. I have every right.”

Meeting Clyde’s glaring ‘what kind of absolute nonsense are you spouting’ look, Knox’s lips curled upward into a wicked smirk.

“Because you aggressively extorted my incredibly precious blue diamond.”

“For something so ‘precious,’ you certainly left it gathering dust in a vault, didn’t you?”

“That is simply my preferred method of storing precious items.”

Refusing to yield a single inch, the two brothers engaged in a silent, fiercely competitive glare. The air in the office grew oppressively heavy and cold. However, the tension was fleeting. Knox was the first to break, bursting into genuine laughter. Taking a seat on the plush sofa situated in the corner of the office, he asked the burning question.

“So, how did it go? Did you tell him during the proposal that you were the boy who showed him the sea?”

The sarcastic, biting tone had completely vanished, replaced by genuine, deeply fraternal affection. Exhaling a soft sigh, Clyde stood up and took the seat directly across from Knox.

“No. I didn’t tell him.”

“What? Don’t tell me… was Admiral Rosley actually not your mysterious first love who left without even giving you his name?”

“No, it’s definitely Aiden. I even confirmed it unequivocally through the Marquis and Marchioness Rosley.”

Slowly shaking his head, Clyde recalled the breathtaking portrait of a young Aiden he had accidentally stumbled upon during a visit to the Rosley estate.

“Then why on earth didn’t you tell him?!”

“Brother. Unrequited love is just like this.”

“Unrequited love? What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s complicated. For now, I’m just going to dedicate every ounce of my effort into seducing him all over again.”

Unlike a pathetic fool like me, Aiden actively chose to bury our past as a childhood memory. The least I can do is respect his decision. The deeply melancholic words he couldn’t bear to say out loud swirled bitterly in his mouth.

“I suppose that makes sense. If he found out that the tiny, pale, incredibly cute kid had grown up into this…”

Staring at Clyde—whose current massive, terrifyingly intimidating physique bore absolutely zero resemblance to his childhood self—Knox sighed deeply, practically mourning the loss on Aiden’s behalf. But as a sudden question struck him, he spoke up.

“I heard a rumor that the Admiral absolutely despises the North. Is that true?”

“It is.”

Thinking of Aiden, who hated both the freezing cold and disgusting things just as vehemently now as he did back then, Clyde chuckled softly.

“Then couldn’t you just return to the capital, Clyde? Do you really have to forcefully drag someone who hates the North all the way up there—”

Knox abruptly cut himself off. As far as he knew, Clyde never did anything without a highly calculated, flawlessly logical reason. Moving to the North was no exception. While Clyde publicly claimed he left because he despised the heat, Knox knew perfectly well that wasn’t the entire truth. As if confirming Knox’s realization, a dark, incredibly intense smirk spread across Clyde’s face.

“Dragging him to the absolute safety of the North—even if it requires a forced marriage—is an infinitely better option than losing him forever.”

A suffocatingly resolute, fiercely intense blue glare pinned Knox in place. The casual, relaxed smile had completely vanished from Clyde’s face.

“This is a decision that Father, Marquis Lucen, and Marchioness Celestia all unequivocally agreed upon.”

A year ago, when Clyde finally discovered that the first love he had desperately searched for all these years was Aiden Rosley, he had absolutely zero intention of executing something as petty and cruel as a forced marriage just to drag him to the North.

His original plan had been to simply let Aiden freely roam the oceans he loved so dearly, intending to slowly, carefully approach him whenever he returned to land. But that noble resolution hadn’t lasted very long.

Aiden’s actions were borderline suicidal, beautifully packaged under the title of a ‘Hero.’ Willingly throwing his life on the line even after the war had ended; charging headfirst into pirate subjugations with a terrifying, reckless attitude that screamed he didn’t care if he died.

As Aiden’s reckless, death-defying actions piled up, an agonizing, suffocating terror of losing him consumed Clyde. Ultimately, Clyde decided he didn’t care if he had to be petty, cruel, and manipulative. The only thing that mattered was that Aiden would continue to live and breathe safely within his grasp.

He knew perfectly well that Aiden hated the North enough to constantly plot his escape, but Clyde was absolutely certain Aiden would eventually come to love it. After all, Clyde was the exact same person who had made Aiden—a boy who used to be terrified of the water—fall deeply, unconditionally in love with the sea.

Thinking of the elaborate preparations he had meticulously arranged for Aiden, a languid, intensely possessive smile touched Clyde’s lips. Suddenly recalling another detail, he chuckled softly and added,

“Ah, there is actually one more reason.”

“Another reason?”

“Yes. There are simply far too many people in the capital.”

Why is he suddenly talking about people? Before Knox could even begin to decipher the underlying meaning, Clyde’s chillingly dark voice struck his ears.

“Unlike you, Brother, I possess a rather extreme personality. When I love and cherish something, I prefer to hide it away so deeply that absolutely no filthy rats can ever lay their greedy eyes on it.”

In an instant, a violent shudder ripped through Knox’s entire body, raising every single hair on his arms. When exactly did my little brother turn into such a terrifying lunatic? Utterly repulsed, Knox physically recoiled.

“Why? Is there a problem?”

At Clyde’s innocent question, Knox aggressively scrunched up his face and vigorously shook his head. He absolutely did not want to hear any more of this terrifying, possessive madness. Regardless of how twisted it was, on the surface, it was technically an action taken to protect Aiden’s life.

…Though, of course, Aiden himself viewed it as an entirely unwanted, violently forced kidnapping.

“What are you going to do about the cursed sea? I heard it’s completely frozen solid.”

Aiden’s obsessive love for the ocean was famous throughout the entire Empire. It was practically a running joke that Admiral Aiden Rosley was legally married to the sea. Furthermore, Knox was intimately aware of this obsession, having personally witnessed the legendary incident where Aiden staged a furious sit-in protest demanding to be demoted to Captain just so he could keep sailing.

“I will put every ounce of my effort into lifting the curse, of course. Because Aiden loves the sea.”

Thank the Gods. At least my brother hasn’t completely lost his mind. Just as Knox was exhaling a massive sigh of relief—

“However, I will ensure it thaws very, very slowly. We can’t have Aiden running away, after all.”

Knox violently choked on his sigh, swallowing it back down.

“You—You! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

Despite Knox’s horrified, appalled shriek, Clyde simply offered a wicked, unapologetic smirk. Admiral Rosley, I am so incredibly sorry. Mentally offering an apology that would never reach its intended recipient, Knox let out a pained, suffering groan.

“Regardless, thank you for the blue diamond, Brother.”

Chuckling softly, Clyde lightly patted Knox’s shoulder. Right at that moment, a series of low knocks rapped against the door.

“Enter.”

At Clyde’s permission, a servant opened the door and stepped inside.

“Your Grace, a letter has arrived for you.”

“A letter?” Tilting his head in curiosity, Clyde waited for the explanation.

“It was delivered from the Rosley Marquisate, sir. The courier requested that it be handed to you as quickly as possible.”

“From the Rosley Marquisate? Did Marquis Lucen send it?”

“No, sir. It was sent by Admiral Aiden Rosley.”

At the entirely unexpected sender, the corners of Clyde’s mouth instantly curled upward.

“Here you are, Your Grace.”

Accepting the letter, Clyde’s thumb gently traced over the elegant, flowing signature scrawled across the front of the envelope. Turning to his brother, he spoke in an inexplicably, terrifyingly sweet voice.

“Have a wonderful night, Brother.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going. I’m leaving.”

Clicking his tongue in deep exasperation, Knox exited the office alongside the servant. Thud. The moment the heavy door slammed shut, Clyde carefully broke the seal.

Inside the envelope were two sheets of high-quality parchment. Clyde gently unfolded the letter.

To His August Grace, Grand Duke Clyde,

Last night, due to my own profound carelessness, I became intoxicated and committed a severe disrespect against Your Grace, the shining star of the Empire. I offer my deepest, most sincere apologies for this transgression. Despite my actions being highly offensive and entirely deserving of severe reprimand, I am endlessly grateful that you graciously overlooked the incident, acting as if nothing happened for both my sake and my subordinates’. I am moved to tears by Your Grace’s boundless generosity…

Perhaps still trembling from embarrassment, the normally impeccable handwriting was slightly crooked and erratic in places. Furthermore, completely unlike Aiden’s usual blunt manner of speaking, the letter was aggressively polite and absolutely saturated with excessive, flowery honorifics. Smiling faintly, Clyde continued reading.

…I shall take the utmost care to ensure such an incident never occurs again.

From Aiden Rosley.

Having read down to the final sentence, Clyde tilted his head slightly.

“Did he remember absolutely everything? Well, that is slightly problematic.”

Despite claiming it was problematic, Clyde’s lips were curved into a highly satisfied, impossibly fond smile.

“Though I suppose it doesn’t really matter, since he won’t be able to run away from me for the rest of his life anyway.”

Folding the letter with exquisite care, Clyde tucked it safely into the deepest, most secure drawer of his desk. Then, pulling out a fresh sheet of parchment, he began to draft his reply. After writing meticulously for quite some time, he signed his name and reached for the bell—only to pause.

Upon further reflection, meeting face-to-face would be infinitely better than simply sending a letter.

He didn’t possess a sadistic hobby of teasing people, but seeing Aiden’s flushed, hopelessly embarrassed face was a sight he could never, ever get tired of. And more importantly, he had to dedicate every waking second to actively seducing him.

Shoving the drafted reply into the same deep drawer, Clyde quickly penned a completely different letter and rang the bell. The moment a servant entered, Clyde issued the command.

“Deliver this to Marquis Lucen immediately.”

“Yes, understood, Your Grace. Is there anything else you require?”

“Send a request to His Majesty the Emperor; inform him I wish to request an audience.”

“Understood.”

The servant bowed deeply and hurried out of the office. A few minutes later, the servant returned, confirming the courier had been dispatched to the Marquisate and that His Majesty was ready to receive him in his office.