âWhat kind of misunderstanding did you get? Did you think I wanted you to kiss me?â
Welp. I guess he didnât mean a kissâŠ
Embarrassed, I quickly played dumb, âHow could I?â
âWell, Iâm willing to respond anytime you want it.â
âAhh, fine, I misunderstood!â
âHahahaha!â
When I finally confessed that I had misunderstood him while trying to pull away, Lark burst into laughter with tears in his eyes.
Iâm so ashamed. My cheeks flared up.
âUgh.â
âCough. Haha, haaaâŠâ
While sulking, I waited for his laughter to die before asking, â⊠What is it then? How can I lend my lips?â
***
After the filming, I lent my lips according to Larkâs wishes. Not that kind of lending lips, of course.
âHa, is this going to be okayâŠâ
Lark, who had found something to make fun of for the next 10 years, laughed for a long time before leaving.
I laughed out loud when I saw the result of âlending lipsâ to him, that is, a notice written by mutual agreement.
[T/N: The word is âì ì ë§ì¶â which means âto kissâ, or it could mean âto make excuses together. Ruby misunderstood the comment as its first meaning, while Lark meant the second]
âSienna.â
âYes, my lady.â
I passed the notice to Sienna, who was waiting, and said, âAt the same time as the video goes out, hang this all over the store and boutique streets.â
***
<Blanc de Ruby> introduced menswear and accessories for the first time.
On the long-awaited opening day.
Since it had already been advertised for several days, the boutique street was crowded even though it was still long before the shop opened.
A few nobles who had been camped out since early morning looked at the bulletin board in front of the shop and whispered.
âWhat is this? What help did His Highness the Crown Prince do?â
âWho knows?â
I express my great gratitude to His Highness, Crown Prince Lark van Rashmagh Descarde, the Little Sun, who willingly helped to revive the Empireâs commerce.
Representative of Blanc de Ruby, Madame Ruby
*
Encourage the passion of small business owners who contribute to the Empire and wish for the endless development of commerce.
Crown Prince, Lark van Rashmagh Descarde.
A notice written in the handwriting of Madame Ruby, the head of the mysterious <Blanc de Ruby>, and Crown Prince Lark van Rashmagh Descarde.
Tailor Becky, who was looking down from the window on the second floor at each puzzled person, was nervous.
âTen minutes to go.â
Becky glanced at the streetlight video board in front of the building that was still off and took a deep breath.
After the first introduction, the video version was quickly created everywhere, which caused a great deal of attention. And in 10 minutes, a new promotional video would be released in every street and every neighborhood.
âIt was crazy enough with Sarah, but this timeâŠ!â
How the hell did she ask for these heavyweight public models? Becky was scared of her bossâ ability.
Phat!
Soon, the video boards turned on all at once.
The winter of <Blanc de Ruby>,
the secret of the man youâve been waiting for.
Then came the magnificent background sound.
A phrase written like a caption in white letters on a black background.
The eyes of the people huddled together under the video board were focused.
And thenâŠ
âOh, my God!â
â⊠W-W-What?â
Everyone who recognized the close-up of the manâs face filling up the video boards opened their mouths and doubted their eyes.
âI-Isnât that the crown prince?â
â⊠? Hey, wasnât this a promotional video for the new winter product?â
Confused, people couldnât take their eyes off them. The video went on and on.
The whole body of the crown prince, lark, dressed up and down in a stylish black suit, was captured in a full shot this time.
âOh GodâŠâ
âHeâs so amazingâŠâ
âOh, my God.â
It was puzzling when the crown prince appeared in a clothing promotional video out of nowhere, but people still spit out admiration.
Of course. Lark was said to be the most famous person in the Empire because of his shining beauty.
â⊠Oh my goodness.â
âWowâŠâ
As he walked beautifully, showing off his new suit, Larkâs face was zoomed in again.
Everyone held their breath again, and soonâŠ
The luxurious manâs secretâ
[From the winter of Blanc de Ruby.]
The moment when Larkâs unique husky yet soft voice was laid out in a single line of dialogue.
âWhatâŠ?!â
âOooohh, how can he be so-!â
âKyaaaa!â
The capital was literally ârockedâ.
***
Going left, going right.
As I was anxiously biting my nails and standing around, Wishit grabbed my shoulder and stopped me.
âYouâre distracting.â
âIâm so nervous. Will it work?â
âAre you worried that your clothes wonât sell?â
âThe clothes will definitely sell well. What Iâm worried about is the princeâs image.â
âIf you were worried about that, you would get another model from the beginningâŠâ
âAt first, I would be happy as long as my shop did well, so I didnât even have time to think about Larkâs imageâŠâ
âAre you worried now?â
âOf course.â
âDidnât the prince say he would take care of it? Trust him.â Wishit shook his head as he grabbed my hand, which I had brought to my mouth again out of nervousness.
Then, the door burst open, and Sienna jumped in like a bullet.
âMy lady!â
âS-Sienna!â
My anxiety crept up.
âH-How⊠Is it okay?â
âT-ThatâŠâ
The corners of Siennaâs mouth, which had been frowning, suddenly curled up. Then she put both of her thumbs under her chin.
âOh, seriously!â
âHahahaâŠâ
âYou scared me!â
Where had the image of the stern secretary of our first meeting gone? Sienna was full of mischief the more I knew her.
âSales pierced the sky in half a day after the video transmission.â
âNo, no, no. I knew that sales would be good. What Iâm curious about-â
âYou donât have to worry about that at all.â
âHow is it? Did it really go according to our plan?â
âYes! All the merchants of capitals nowâŠâ Sienna smiled brightly with a happy face as if it were her own business. ââŠare full of praise for the crown prince!â
***
At that time, the Monat Palace, where the male imperial family of the Descarde Empire resided.
The room of the 2nd Prince, Nathan van Rashmagh Descarde.
Sean, Nathanâs aide who came to report the situation of the chaotic capital, said with trembling lips, âT-The ripple effect of video has significantly increased the number of visitors and business districts in the capital. All the merchants are praising the crown prince.â
âIs that so?â Nathan answered quietly, tilting the teacup he was holding. Long gray hair with a good texture tumbled down like silk.
Pure white skin, a skinny physique, and a face so beautiful that it was hard to tell the ownerâs gender at first glance.
At first glance, Nathan seemed gentle and weak, but Sean was well aware that he was a completely different personality from his appearance. Once his mood was twisted, one never knew when the teacup he was holding would fly to his head.
Still, Sean had to make a report Nathan wanted to avoid hearing.
âItâs not just merchants. Collaborating with a high-end boutique targeting rich aristocratsâŠâ
âWell, yes. It was unexpected for my older brother to take care of the poor. The nobles must have liked it quite a bit.â
âY-Yes. Merchants, as well as nobles, are quite enthusiastic, especially the younger generationââ
âOh, stop it. Get out.â Nathan smiled and waved his hand, and hesitantly, Sean ran out of the room.
Nathanâs eyes flashed as he tipped the teacup with an elegant gesture.
Whooshâ
Crack!
In an instant, the teacup sharply thrown into the air hit the wall and shattered.
âOh, itâs driving me crazy.â
Afterward, Nathan released a nervous sigh and leaned over, touching his forehead.
âThat freaking bastardâŠâ
It seemed that Lark intended to solidify his position as successor.
Helping with publicity in a noble boutique that sells high-priced items under the pretext of encouraging commercial activities⊠At least, it was clear that the move was aimed at attracting the approval ratings of the high-ranking aristocrats, who were the base of support for Nathan.
Nathan knew very well that no matter how hard he struggled, he couldnât bridge the stark gap with Lark, who had been destined since birth.
So if he wanted to be Lark, there was only one way.
âHow can I killâŠâ
He must remove him altogether.
But at some point, it felt like Lark could read his movement.
âStrange. Itâs too strange.â
Like the traps planted to keep Lark and his aide Ren apart, for some reason, Lark didnât blink an eye and even tracked it in reverse and started strangling Nathan.
Was that all?
He tried to sway Larkâs younger sister, 5th Princess Lisbeth, but even that failed.
He wondered how he seduced the daughter of Duke Diollus and made her perjury for Lisbeth so she got out unharmed.
âNo matter how I think about it, itâs strange. Heâs as alert as someone whoâs been prepared. Shouldnât he at least falter?â
The face of a young white-haired boy cut into Nathanâs field of vision as he gritted his teeth.
A childlike face of about ten years old. However, his eyes had a profound experience, and his playful expression looked cold.
âYour expression is scary.â
âGet out of here, you useless asshole.â
âHey, Iâm sad that you said that. If it werenât for me, would you have dared stare at the emperorâs crown?â
The boy floated up into the air, turned his body upside down, and giggled.
His name was Pose. He was Nathanâs spirit.
âNathan, do you wonder why all your plans are read?â Pose asked with a smirk, and Nathan raised his eyes sharply.
âThirty years if youâre curious~â
âShit.â
Spirits could communicate with each other, so they could know each otherâs secrets. However, leakage was strictly taboo. They could have been forced to leak, but the contractors had to bear the enormous risk.
Their summoning would be limited.
The âthirty yearsâ that Pose spoke of was a period during which summoning was restricted. It must be enormous if it was a secret worth thirty years.
âDo you have any information that could be of help to me? Something short, not worth thirty years?â
âHmmâŠâ Pose, who had been contemplating while fiddling with his lips, spoke. âThree months? No, four months? To be honest, I probably wonât be summoned for the rest of my life, but will it be that much if I leak it around? Although I donât know if my contractor understands because heâs stupidâŠâ
âAre you sure itâs useful?â
âOf course!â Pose straightened up and pushed his face closer. The mischievous expression on his face was suddenly reversed. âThe moment you know this, the head-wrenching number of fights becomes meaningless. There is no need to engage in a power tug-of-war with the crown prince, and there is no need to carry out a backdoor operation in vain.â
âWhat?â
âA very, very great and important key. Well, unfortunately, the crown prince holds it in his hand right now.â
Nathanâs eyes twinkled.
As expected, Lark had something.
âDo you want me to tell you?â
âFour months?â
âHey, wonât you miss me?â
âSay it. Hurry up.â Nathanâs eyes lit up with madness.
As if he had expected it, Pose giggled.
âRubetria Diollus.â
ââŠ?â
When the unexpected name popped up, Nathanâs eyebrows narrowed sharply.
The grinning Pose added, âShe actually has a spirit.â
At the same time, his summon was cut off, and he disappeared without a trace.