Chapter 17

“It’s even more beautiful than he described in the letter.”

Halting his steps in a magnificent garden overflowing with blooming lilies, Aiden admired the scenery. It was a secluded spot Clyde had mentioned in his letters, though Aiden would sooner die than confess to Logan that he had intentionally arrived early just to see it.

“Though, it still doesn’t compare to the sea.”

Chuckling softly to himself, Aiden pulled his silver pocket watch from his vest. He had roughly twenty minutes left before the official meeting commenced.

“I suppose I should head back now.”

The exact moment the words left his lips, Aiden violently leaped backward, simultaneously drawing the heavy revolver from his holster in a blindingly fast, fluid motion. The deadly muzzle was aimed directly at a man whose outstretched hand was now hovering awkwardly, pathetically in the empty air.

The man—Julian—offered a painfully awkward smile and slowly retracted his hand.

“Haha… Aiden. Come on, I haven’t even done anything yet, have I?”

“Julian Lamour. Have you been discharged for so long that you’ve genuinely forgotten that attempting to assault a superior officer is an arrestable offense?”

“What are you talking about?! I wasn’t trying to assault you…! I just wanted to hold your hand for a second! We’re Academy classmates and comrades who survived life-and-death battles together! Surely we can hold hands…!”

“For a pervert, you certainly talk a lot. Besides, out of all my classmates, you’re the absolute only lunatic who constantly tries to grab my hand without permission.”

At Aiden’s merciless, razor-sharp rejection, Julian’s obnoxiously sparkling purple eyes instantly filled with pathetic, trembling tears. The corners of his mouth drooped, and his shoulders slumped so dramatically that anyone else would have felt an immediate pang of guilt. Aiden, however, merely scrunched up his face in profound, unadulterated disgust.

“Whyyyy?! Why are you saying such heartless things and looking at me with such cold, cruel eyes?! I’m seriously going to cry!”

“Go ahead.”

As Aiden scoffed dismissively, Julian dramatically heaved his shoulders, sobbing exaggeratedly.

“I waited so patiently for a reply, but you completely ignored my letters! And now, the first time we meet in months, you point a loaded gun at your precious comrade and call me a pervert…!”

This is exactly why I didn’t want to see him. 

Feeling a massive migraine rapidly approaching due to the relentless whining, Aiden finally lowered his revolver. Despite keeping his head entirely bowed in his fake sobbing act, Julian somehow sensed the threat was gone and instantly snapped his head up.

The face that had looked ready to burst into tears mere seconds ago was now plastered with a massive, beaming smile. Exhaling a heavy, exhausted sigh, Aiden complained.

“If my lifespan is permanently shortened by half, I am holding you entirely responsible.”

“Really?! If that’s the case, I’ll happily take full responsibility for your life!”

“What kind of absolute nonsense are you spouting now?”

The moment Aiden shot back with a deadpan, thoroughly unimpressed glare, the brilliant smile vanished from Julian’s face. Staring intensely at Aiden, his purple eyes darkened with sudden, deadly seriousness.

“It’s not nonsense. I’m telling you I will take responsibility for your entire life. Aiden. Run away with me.”

What the hell did he just say…? Even though Julian was speaking perfectly fluent Celton, Aiden couldn’t process the words. When Aiden merely stared at him with a deeply crooked, skeptical glare, Julian repeated himself.

This time, placing heavy, deliberate emphasis on every single syllable.

“You don’t want to be forced into a marriage with the Grand Duke. So, let’s seek asylum in another country together. I refuse to live another second in a pathetic nation that treats a war hero—and my precious comrade—like a sacrificial pawn.”

A hollow scoff of sheer disbelief escaped Aiden’s lips. It was true that he desperately wanted to escape the North and the forced marriage. However, not even once had the concept of ‘asylum’ or ‘defecting’ crossed his mind.

His beloved sea, his precious memories of that child, his family, the monumental achievements he had bled to build as an Admiral—absolutely everything he cared about was rooted in the Celton Empire. Where the hell would he go?

Completely oblivious to Aiden’s true internal anchor, Julian passionately pressed his case.

“To force you into an arranged marriage just because you wrecked a single, outdated ship? It’s an absolutely ridiculous, nonsensical justification.”

“…”

“The Emperor is terrible, yes, but the Grand Duke is the absolute worst. He was exiled to the frozen North because he lost the political succession war, yet he’s so pathetic he desperately wants to desperately cling to the title of ‘Husband to the Empire’s Hero’?”

Julian was clearly insulting the Grand Duke in a misguided attempt to take Aiden’s side, yet for some inexplicable reason, the words deeply irritated Aiden. Yes, the Grand Duke was undeniably a bizarre, eccentric lunatic. But did he really deserve to be subjected to such baseless, vicious insults from someone who didn’t even know him?

No. Absolutely not. Furthermore, even if someone is going to insult him, I should be the one doing it! Who the hell are you to curse him? As a surge of intense displeasure caused Aiden’s brow to furrow, Julian, entirely misreading the reaction, smirked confidently.

“Don’t worry about the logistics! I’m insanely rich. I am the Master of the legendary Della Merchant Guild, after all. Even if we seek asylum, I have more than enough wealth to ensure you live in absolute luxury for the rest of your life.”

Aiden let out a dry, exasperated chuckle at the incredibly sudden, unprompted flaunting of wealth. It was genuinely baffling how a former Lieutenant and current Guild Master could misread his facial expressions this catastrophically.

Should a guy this dense really be given exclusive trade rights? Muttering the critique internally, Aiden deployed the most childish, yet undeniably effective weapon to shut this ridiculous conversation down immediately.

“The Della Guild is massive, sure, but my personal wealth vastly exceeds yours. You might be a Guild Master, but I am an Admiral of the Celton Empire and the youngest son of the Rosley Marquisate.”

“…Huh?”

“Given those facts, why on earth would I willingly abandon my fortune and defect to a foreign country just to avoid a marriage?”

Failing to conjure a logical rebuttal, Julian grumbled something completely incoherent under his breath. Then, as if struck by a brilliant epiphany, he shouted loudly.

“B-But I’m incredibly handsome! If we defect and live together, I promise every single day will be absolute bliss just looking at my face!”

Aiden narrowed his eyes, running a slow, highly critical gaze up and down Julian’s body. Having high self-esteem was certainly commendable, and objectively speaking, someone out there might find Julian’s face attractive. But he was absolutely not Aiden’s type. Furthermore, if he were going to base his life decisions entirely on choosing a pretty face to look at every day, Clyde was the unequivocal, absolute victor.

“I strongly disagree.”

Hearing Aiden’s merciless, muttered verdict, the color violently drained from Julian’s face, leaving him deathly pale.

“I-I’ll have you know I received an insane amount of marriage proposals! I was incredibly popular! People confessed their love to me constantly…!”

Leaving the wildly babbling, desperately flustered Julian behind, Aiden pulled his pocket watch out once more. He had exactly ten minutes left before the meeting officially commenced.

Regardless of whether Julian’s absurd asylum proposal was a joke or genuine, the meeting took absolute precedence. Despising tardiness more than almost anything, Aiden turned his back without a shred of hesitation and marched toward the conference hall.

“Enough with the absolute nonsense. I’m leaving.”

“W-Wait! Hold on a second, Aiden!”

Julian desperately reached out to grab him, but his hand grasped nothing but empty air.

“Haa, seriously.”

Staring blankly at his empty hand for a fraction of a second, Julian violently ruffled his own hair and sprinted after Aiden.

“Just think about it seriously, okay?! I swear I’m only offering because I desperately want to save my comrade!”

“I’m not interested.”

“Aiden! Are you actually going to marry that Grand Duke?! Are you seriously going to do it?!”

“I will handle my own life.”

Offering rapid, dismissive replies, Aiden accelerated his pace. Feeling an impending sense of dread that he might actually be late if he didn’t hurry, Aiden was just about to break into a light jog when—

“Admiral Rosley.”

A perfectly composed, incredibly pleasing voice called out from behind him. Aiden instantly halted his steps. He was in a desperate rush, but the owner of that voice was someone he fundamentally could not ignore.

“It has been a while, Your Grace.”

Your Grace? 

Julian reflexively snapped his head around. Standing there was a man with brilliant, liquid-gold hair and staggeringly sharp, perfectly defined features.

He was a man so devastatingly, outrageously handsome that it practically forced a gasp of admiration from anyone who looked at him.

…Huh?

It was only for a fleeting fraction of a second, but the gaze Clyde swept over Julian was lethally cold, completely devoid of even a single shred of human warmth.

Assuming he must have hallucinated the terrifying glare, Julian blinked and looked at Clyde again. The Grand Duke’s gaze was now entirely locked onto Aiden. As if the murderous aura had never existed, his blue eyes were overflowing with a sickeningly sweet, profound affection.

“What brings you to the Imperial Palace today?”

Clyde reached out, gently and intimately enveloping Aiden’s hand within his own. Aiden’s face scrunched up slightly in annoyance, but crucially, he didn’t pull away.

“You are already perfectly aware, Your Grace. I am here for official naval business.”

“Yes, of course I am.”

Clyde offered a brilliant, eye-crinkling smile. It was so overwhelmingly beautiful and radiant that Aiden entirely forgot his irritation over Clyde’s blatant, teasing nonsense.

“There are several critical details regarding our wedding that we must discuss. Could you spare some time for me after your meeting concludes?”

Truthfully, he could easily carve out the time if he wanted to, but having been burned far too many times by this man’s manipulative traps, Aiden responded with a sullen, highly defensive tone.

“If it concerns the wedding, it is my understanding that the Imperial Palace and my family are handling all the preparations flawlessly without our required input. Furthermore, as Your Grace is well aware, my schedule starting from this meeting today is incredibly packe—”

Before Aiden could even finish his rejection, Clyde let out a languid, dangerously smooth chuckle and slowly, silently mouthed a single word:

—Warship.

…I will endure this solely for the sake of that insanely expensive warship. This is a necessary sacrifice for the warship. Mentally chanting the mantra, Aiden forcefully, desperately dragged the corners of his mouth upward into a smile. Even if the blazing irritation burning in his crimson eyes was impossible to hide.

“…However! If the glorious Star of the Empire, His Grace the Grand Duke, requests my time, I must absolutely manufacture it, even if it means staying up all night to finish my work! Haha!”

An incredibly awkward, painfully strained laugh echoed down the grand corridor. Simultaneously, Clyde covered his mouth with his hand and stared intently at the ceiling. He was clearly struggling to suppress his laughter, but all Aiden could do was violently clench his fists in silent fury.

“Then, I shall come find you the absolute second my meeting concludes! His Grace the Grand Duke, whom I love more than anyone else in this entire world!”

When Aiden added the final, sickeningly sweet declaration through violently gritted teeth, Clyde could no longer endure it. His shoulders shook as he burst into quiet, helpless laughter.

This absolute, crazy lunati— Swallowing the vicious curse before it could escape, Aiden spun on his heel and marched away, completely abandoning the laughing Grand Duke. However, Clyde—who should have been heading back to the Princes’ Quarters—instantly ceased his laughter, swiftly caught up, and matched Aiden’s rapid pace.

“Why are you following me this way? The Princes’ Quarters are in the exact opposite direction.”

Meeting Aiden’s highly suspicious, glaring eyes, Clyde answered with effortless nonchalance.

“Ah, did I forget to mention it? I will be attending this meeting in His Majesty’s stead.”

“Excuse me?!”

“I simply couldn’t resist my burning curiosity regarding what my beloved husband does for a living.”

Despite Aiden shooting him a look that practically screamed, ‘What kind of absolute, unadulterated nonsense are you spewing now?!’ Clyde simply maintained his serene, blindingly perfect smile. Even if he’s a Grand Duke, shouldn’t I be legally allowed to call him a crazy bastard? Just this once?

While Aiden’s mind violently spiraled with a hundred different colorful insults, they arrived at the grand doors of the conference hall. Thankfully, due to their rapid pace, they hadn’t been late.

Exhaling a profound sigh of relief, Aiden took his designated seat at the head of the table. Without missing a beat, Clyde smoothly pulled out the chair directly beside Aiden and sat down. Julian, who had clearly intended to snag the seat next to Aiden, was unceremoniously directed by the ushers to the opposite end of the table, seated far away among the other Guild Masters.

“It appears everyone has arrived. Shall we commence the meeting?”

At Clyde’s subtle, authoritative nod of permission, the crucial strategic meeting officially began.

***