Chapter 4.8

Chapter 4.8

Kuhn placed an envelope on the table. Dian asked with joy.

“Money?”

Kuhn glanced at Dian before taking out another envelope from his breast pocket and shaking it.

“The money is in this one.”

Kuhn felt that Dian’s shamelessness seemed admirable at times. He didn’t show a bit of hesitance whenever he received Kuhn’s money. He just confidently took it as if it were his own.

Stephan, who was in charge of the finances, had once said this of Dian: ‘If that man wasn’t a member of the imperial family, he would have been a con artist.’ Kuhn had burst out laughing when he heard this, but now he felt that his words were correct.

‘Isn’t he still a con artist? He’s running his business with other people’s money.’

With the imperial power of the Empire as the grand prize.

“You’re giving me an envelope before the money… I wonder what it could be. Last time, you told me that you’d be out of the capital for a while, so why did you return so quickly?”

“Something came up.”

“You have something going on, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“You answered too quickly. I feel that you’re hiding something…”

“I know you’re just trying to make me tell you by being annoying. Shut up and open the envelope.”

“Shut up? You know, you need to learn to show some respect to a prince…”

Dian mumbled as he opened the envelop and read the documents inside. His face began to harden. His hands holding the documents began to tremble. He looked at Kuhn in disbelief, his eyes asking him if this was true. Kuhn silently nodded.

“That person1 is… truly alive?”

“Yeah.”

“Is it really them?”

“Without a doubt.”

“I… I can’t believe it. I need to meet them. Where are they?”

“Dian.”

Dian suddenly stood up and grabbed Kuhn’s arm. The always easygoing and mischievous Dian was panicking as if he was about to jump off a cliff.

“I need to see them with my own eyes. I need to see them!”

“Calm down!”

Kuhn yelled out.

“You can’t meet them yet. I’ll bring them somewhere safe first. Since they’re alive, you’ll be able to see them soon.”

His panicked eyes began to calm down. Kuhn felt relieved for a second when Dian suddenly grasped his arm.

“I can see them as long as they’re alive? That’s what I used to think, too. When I said goodbye to my mother, I was waving my hand at her, telling her that I would see her in a few hours. I never knew that it would be my last farewell. I’m sure I’ll see her tomorrow. Once tomorrow comes, I’ll be able to meet her. Do you know what it feels like to torture yourself with a sliver of hope until you almost go insane? No man knows what tomorrow will bring. Please, Kuhn. Take me to them.”

Kuhn stared at Dian for a long time before releasing a sigh. There was no way he’d be able to convince him otherwise. He had never seen Dian this desperate before.

“Now isn’t a good time.”

“I know.”

“The Princess’s coming-of-age party is only a few days away.”

“There won’t be as many people paying attention to me because of it.”

Kuhn put his hands on his hips and looked up at the sky and then looked down on to the ground repeatedly as he considered it.

‘I should have waited a bit before telling him.’

It was too late to regret it. He didn’t expect such an extreme reaction from Dian.

Whenever Kuhn had told him that he was looking for that person, Dian never seemed to be interested. Kuhn just thought that since it had been so long since Dian had seen this person, he didn’t hold as much affection for them now. Looking back, Kuhn felt that it was just Dian’s way of shielding himself from the disappointment if he could never find that person.

“Later when the sun goes down.”

Usually, when the two disagreed, Dian always yielded. Now, Kuhn was the one to step back.

Dian nodded his head enthusiastically.

“I’ll send someone. You know what to do, right?”

“Of course. It’s not my first time.”

Occasionally, when Dian needed to see to matters outside the Palace, Kuhn sent one of his men disguised as an errand boy to him. Then Dian would put on the disguise, leaving the man to stand in as himself. Dian would then leave the Palace, disguised as the errand boy.

Because it was dangerous, they didn’t do this often. The Red King was bent on catching Dian’s tail. If she found out that he had been leaving the Palace secretly without the approval of the Emperor, she would definitely publicize it and unreasonably accuse him of wrongdoing.

Up till now, Dian had been building a stone tower that could collapse at the slightest attack. This was because the foundation of the tower wasn’t sturdy. Nothing was there to keep the stones secured together.

The inside deal he made with the Emperor, the marriage alliance with Duke Grosi, his preparations to politically advance the nobles who supported him. Duke Rimone’s death would mark the beginning of the battle between the ducal families.

Everything was proceeding to completion. Each step would serve to strengthen the wall around Dian, but until then, it was all sand that could be scattered by one gust of wind.

“Have you met that person? How is their health? Did they seem to be uncomfortable about anything? No, don’t tell me. I’ll meet them soon enough anyway.”

Dian paced around before covering his face with both of his hands.

“I feel like I’m dreaming.”

Kuhn thought that Dian didn’t look this happy even when he received his title as prince.

“I heard that the imperial family lack emotions, but I can see that it’s not true.”

Those that received the blood of the gods lacked the warmth of humanity. But that’s what made them ideal to rule. The reason why the emperors had been able to rule the world for so long was due to their cold logic.

No one knew who started this saying, but it spread far and wide and became a well-known fact. The imperial family was fundamentally different from other humans. Their rule was absolute.

Dian shrugged and replied.

“I’m a different kind.”

‘That’s what I thought in the past, but I don’t think it’s quite true anymore.’

Kuhn recalled Princess Sienna. He didn’t get the impression that she was cold-blooded. She was full of confidence and very direct. As the successor to the imperial throne, he could understand where her arrogance came from.

The Princess was incredibly hot during the masquerade. And Kuhn had helplessly fallen into her heat.

He thought it would get better with time, but that wasn’t true. Instead, his memories of their kiss transformed into something more amazing. Kuhn felt like a man who had been drinking salt water all this time to quench his thirst. He had trouble falling asleep these days. When would he ever be able to heal from this sickness?

“I’m leaving.”

“Kuhn, thank you.”

“Yeah. You should be thankful.”

Kuhn playfully replied. Dian didn’t laugh.

“Really, thank you. That’s not to say that I haven’t been thankful for all the help you’ve given me so far. With this today, I will be in your debt. I will never forget it. I will pay you back no matter what.”

Kuhn and Dian. The secret relationship between the two was forged by a contract. Kuhn would help Dian become the emperor both physically and mentally, and once Dian became the emperor, he would fulfill the wishes of the Raad family.

They took a liking to each other’s personalities and quickly became friends, but they still knew what kind of man the other was. They each had people relying on them. For the sake of the people they were responsible for, they could always turn their backs on the other.

When Dian told Kuhn that he would repay the debt, he was talking about something that was beyond their contractual relationship.

Kuhn silently patted Dian’s back. As he left the Palace, his footsteps were light.

‘Today’s business was lucrative.’

It would be a lie to say that Kuhn wouldn’t be gaining anything from this. However, if he only thought about the benefits, he wouldn’t have sent so many men out on the search.

Dian was alone. Even though his father was still alive and he had many half-siblings, a family he couldn’t open his heart up to was not a family at all. Sometimes, Kuhn thought Dian looked lonely. It would have been nice if he had one person to rely on. With that in mind, Kuhn began his search.

He learned from his late father that business dealing with the heart was always good business. That in order to win over someone’s heart, one had to be sincere. He gained a profit from this investment. If Dian became the emperor, he would be the most reliable ally for the Raads.

Kuhn recalled his father’s face for the first time in a long while. He laughed faintly as he muttered.

“Father, if I heard that you were alive somewhere in this world, I would have had a bigger reaction than Dian’s.”

Kuhn missed him. He wanted to hate his father for dumping such heavy responsibilities on his son’s shoulders before leaving this world, but he couldn’t.

* * *

That night, Prince Dian received a visitor.

There were always people watching Dian’s every move. Since the moment he stepped into the Palace, Dian had never had time to himself.

Even though he knew this, Dian pretended not to notice. He sometimes used his enemies’ eyes to his advantage.

However, occasionally there were others that watched Dian, unknown to the basic observers. Neither Dian nor Kuhn knew about them. These men were more sensitive and skilled when it came to observing Dian in secret. They would catch the smallest of crumbs.

Until yesterday, they had been watching Dian from near his palace. However, they were withdrawn in the middle of the night. They had received other orders from the higher-ups.

Like any other night, Dian’s watchers thought little of the visitor. Even though Dian was powerless, he was still a prince. People often contacted him to receive even a kernel of help.

As the visitor entered Dian’s palace, the registry at the entrance of the palace received an identification record.

‘The Aurora store? It’s just a family-owned store.’

The guard never heard of this name before. Lately, any person could set up a store and call themselves a merchant. The guard grumbled.

‘It looks like he’s trying to win some favors by giving the prince some pocket money. They’re just wasting their breath.’

The visitor didn’t stay long. He came back out in no time. The guard didn’t realize that the person who went in and the person that came out was not the same.

Dian doesn’t specify the person’s gender in this conversation. Becasue of the way Korean sentences can be structured, you don’t have to say a pronoun or a proper noun when speaking about someone. Frustratingly enough, this is one of those cases. I have no idea who Dian wants to see so badly, so I’m just using ‘they’ and ‘them’ as a way of addressing this person. However, Kuhn and Dian are talking about one person here.\n