(Ferdel POV)

  I did say that, but there was nothing I could do. If I said I wasn’t feeling anxious, it would be a lie.

  If nothing happened, there was no way Ria would have disappeared without leaving a trace. What happened was unimaginably ridiculous.

  However, if I voiced my suspicions, there was no way Caitel would stand back. I knew that holding back on my thoughts would bring some calmness for the day.

  Of course, Caitel knew what I was trying to achieve.

  Thanks to someone who didn’t want to return to Agrigent, our destination ended up being the Agrigient consulate in Uprichit.

  The Emperor, Prime Minister, and even other officers wouldn’t say anything but leave us be.

  Since things had to be solved, I spoke in the office where the working staff would do their tasks. The disappearance of their princess distracted everyone, but there was nothing they could do.

  “There are already a bunch of overdue payment documents.”


  “Take care of anything that we can do there.”


  “But you are the one who has to deal with this.”


  “Then, you want me to take the floating ship and deal with that?”


  The voice flowing out of spirit stones sighed at the reply. Jero seemed tired.

  He would be.

  It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand his situation. It had been two months since I left. Even thinking about the administration made me want to faint, but I couldn’t just leave Caitel alone.

  He would go crazy.

  Apart from the diplomatic issues Caitel created when he crossed many borders, the biggest problems we had were the finances needed for the country to function correctly. They were being rolled out without the Prime Minister’s seal.

  If I returned, I would end up staying in the office for an entire month. Just the thought of that future made me sigh. However, I couldn’t just feel down because of it.

  Right, I never had a vacation in my life.

  “Have I reached my limit?”


  My fingers cracked as it swiped the papers. Many thoughts were infesting my brain simultaneously, but there was one thing that bothered me the most.

  It was about what was happening around us; it wasn’t a huge deal.

  Bloody crazy Caitel, I swear that he’s a crazy bastard, but he was as annoying as one could get. Since Caitel was busy acting like himself, such incidents were bound to happen; his record for losing his cool was gorgeously on point. Man. I needed some time to soothe myself, but there was no way I could consider him as a problem.

  There was no way I could go along with his war plans. Instead, it would be fatal to say that the issues would be challenging for the person who would handle the state affairs in the coming months.

  However, if no one would fill as a replacement, would I have to work overtime? Just a thought, but that didn’t seem like a wrong hunch.

  After all, there was another problem at hand.

  “Caitel.”


  The lord of Agrigient and the Emperor that everyone was afraid of, his gaze had cooled down.

  Right, there was no way that he would quietly sit in the Imperial Palace. To have such hope from Caitel after knowing him so well was stupid of me.

  “You rotten bastard.”


  I wish I could stay quiet……

  I didn’t expect to stay quiet because I knew it would be impossible. The documents piled up, but my willingness to clear them ceased.

  Leaning back on the chair, I closed my eyes.

  There was only one person who came to mind.

  “The damned child.”


  If it weren’t for Silvia, such a thing wouldn’t have happened.

  Everything seemed to be slipping out of my hand like loose sand.

  Even as I opened and closed my eyes over and over again, the moist feeling didn’t disappear.