/
Then the light spirits scattered in all directions, emitting blinding light and then disappearing. Carnan realizing that his voice had risen, took one deep breath to calm himself.
Rey clenched his fists under his sleeves as he looked at Carnan like that.
“If Milanaire fails to command the spirits, the imperial authority will also be lost. Without the spirit, this Milanaire would be no different from other nobles.”
In the long history of Ubera, there were those who were aiming for the throne.
But despite this, it was all thanks to the spirit that Milanaire has been the one and only imperial family for a thousand years. Symbol of legitimacy. A light that others can’t even dream of.
“But the Fried family haven’t seen the dark spirits for a hundred years, it’s been well maintained.”
“Stupid. It is thanks to the Spirit of Light that Fried can be maintained.”
Because Milanaire, paired with Fried, is alive and well so far.
Because the imperial family, Milanaire, acknowledges Fried’s authority. If Milanaire denies Fried’s authority, it is denying the spirit’s authority, so Carnan still placed Fried’s status on a higher level.
A political symbiosis, after all.
“If it weren’t for that, Fried would have been stripped of the title of Grand Duke long ago.”
At Carnan’s words, Ray bit his lip.
‘If the imperial family can only be maintained by relying on spirits, isn’t it already incompetent?’
Ray hesitated.
“At this time, will you support the disabled in the name of Milanaire? Do you want to let even the friends of Milanaire go away?”
“But they are also the people of Ubera.”
“If you want to take care of your people, take care of those without disabilities. Because their voices are much louder. Don’t do stupid things like chasing chickens to save earthworms.”
Carnan taught Ray how to set priorities.
Then Ray bit her lower lip.
“Your Majesty is the one who will put a price on the scales even to the hearts of people.”
As Rey spoke resentfully, Carnon smiled coldly.
“If it’s reasonable and I can convince everyone, then I should.”
* * *
“So His Majesty’s permission?”
Dorothea asked, and Ray shook his head, his shoulders slumping.
“It’s a failure…”
“I knew it.”
“But Dorothea, just do it!”
Ray said coldly as Dorothea shook her head bitterly.
“What do you mean, just do it?”
“I’ll take care of it. Just do it!”
Dorothea looked at him with blurred eyes at Ray’s proud declaration of a fool.
“How do you take care of it?”
“I’ll say I gave you permission to do it. Oh, that would be nice! I’ll make a plaque with the imperial name on it and present it to them.”
“Are you crazy, Ray?”
Dorothea slapped Ray in the forearm at Ray’s crazy plans. Even if that was the case, Dorothea thought that Ray would come to his senses.
‘No, should I have slapped him on the cheek to get him to come to his senses?’
“Why? It’s not a bad thing. If you say that you were worried about the lack of budget, You can take some of what comes out for me. I’ll hand it over to you through Robert.”
“how do you deal with it after that?”
“Well, I will do it in the future. Does he really want to kick me out? I am the Crown Prince.”
‘I am now the only Milanaire who can handle the spirits of light.’
Ray thought to himself.
No matter how angry he gets, Carnan will never abandon Milanaire.
Then Dorothea glared at him.
Ray shuddered as if pierced in his chest.
‘Oh,I shouldn’t have bragged about being a crown prince…’
Dorothea didn’t like the idea of him being a crown prince because he was not smart.
Furthermore.
[‘Your children could be born as incompetent Milanaire like Dorothea!’]
Considering Carnan’s treatment of Dorothea, it was only natural that he felt sorry for Dorothea’s situation.
“I…”
“Why do you even want to help me, Ray?”
Dorothy asked Ray as he was trying to correct his mistake.
Then Ray hesitated and rolled his eyes.
“I like you doing what you want to do.”
Ray’s blue eyes stared at Dorothea’s wings, which were still folded. They were tucked tightly together as if she had purposely chosen not to spread them
“I want you to spread your wings, Dorothea.”
Ray’s face was serious without a smile.
Dorothea shook her head at him.
‘It’s not that I don’t want to unfold it, it’s that I have nothing to unfold. Even if I had wings, it would be the devil’s wings.’
Then Ray grabbed Dorothea’s hand.
“Don’t deny it. You are a really great and amazing person. Dorothea.”
Dorothea’s heart fluttered at the sincerity in his blue eyes.
‘Did Ray know that the hand he was holding now, the hand that had killed him before?’
“Ray. You misunderstood me.”
“Oh sorry… Did I pretend to know too much again?”
At Dorothea’s words, Ray looked up again and apologized.
‘Why are you apologizing? I am the one who should apologize.’
“Why are you being so kind?”
Dorothy was devastated by Ray’s appearance like that.
‘I want you to be bad. Hate me a little.’
‘I’d rather he remember my sins. I wish he would blame me, accuse me of my sins, punish me, hate me, and  insult me.’
“I really hate you, Ray.”
Dorothea said, pulling her hand away from Ray.
It was the first time. Being honest in front of Ray.
‘Actually, I should have confessed earlier, but I didn’t have the courage. I was afraid to bring my sins back and face them.’
“I’ve been jealous of you, and I’ve hated you, and It made me want to put a knife in your heart and kill you…do you know that?”
Ray’s blue eyes rippled at Dorothea’s confession. Dorothea looked at his bewildered eyes and then the thorn stuck in her became less uncomfortable.
Ray needed to know how far Dorothea had gone.
Knowing the reality of Dorothea, he is shocked, feels betrayed, and despised.
“You’re being deceived by me because you’re so kind as a fool.”
‘So you are dead by my hands.’
“I’m not a good person at all, Ray.”
‘I’m an asshole, and I still feel uncomfortable whenever you’re nice.’
Dorothea turned her head away from Ray. She waited for him to get angry and leave.
But…
“This is really touching, Dorothea.”
Ray hugged Dorothea. Dorothea in his arms froze with her eyes wide open.
“It’s the first time. You said that honestly.”
Ray buried his head in Dorothea’s shoulder and muttered.
‘I had no idea what he was thinking. Even though I said I hate him and I’m a bad person…’
“You didn’t hate me, you did it because you were sorry.”
Ray hugged Dorothea tightly and smiled.
‘Feel sorry? I don’t hate him?’
“I can’t believe you think you are a bad person for being jealous, Dorothea, you’re so nice.”
Ray felt like he was going crazy because Dorothea was so cute and adorable.
At the same time, he felt sorry for her. He’d been such a dumb brother, making her suffer without realizing she was feeling guilty.
‘I wish I had noticed Dorothea’s feelings a little earlier.’
But Dorothea shook her head.
“No. I’m not that nice! I really want you—”
“Dorothea. To be honest, I hated you and was jealous of you.”
Ray confessed to Dorothea.
‘Ray was jealous of me? That naive Raymond Milanaire?’
“You know how upset I was every time you didn’t accept me? Besides, I was jealous of you, who was brave, smart, and did everything on your own, even though you were younger than me.”
“That’s not the same thing, Ray…!”
‘I mean, I killed you with my own hands…I’m the one who put the knife in your heart…’
“I did it…without even knowing it.”
Dorothea lowered her head and clasped her hands tightly.
Ray looked at her fists clenched so tightly that her fingers turned white.
Long blonde hair fell down her shoulders and a dark shadow was cast on her face. In the thick darkness that had swallowed up Dorothea, Ray reached out his hand.
“Dorothea. Don’t let the shadows keep you down.”
Ray moves the hair that casts a shadow on Dorothea’s face. As he tucked her hair behind her ears, the sunlight from the window crept onto her white cheeks. Dorothea felt the warmth on her cheek.
“The bad people don’t feel guilty no matter what.”
Ray said as she met Dorothy’s eyes. His words shook Dorothea.
Obviously, she’s a bad person, but Ray was comforting her. Ray can do this because he doesn’t know what she’s done.
‘If he remembers the past, he will never be able to say this.’
‘So, his forgiveness is fake.’
Knowing that Dorothea cowardly wanted to lean on the lie.
‘I wanted to be forgiven, leaning on that ignorance for this sin that everyone had forgotten and had no place to atone for.’
‘At least before the end of this life, if only I had heard a word that said “it was okay”.’
“You are doing well, Dorothea.”
Ray’s words touched Dorothea’s heart.
Dorothea bit her lip hard.
But in the end, a single hot tear fell down his chin.
‘I couldn’t hold it any longer.’
Dorothy chose to give up. It was a bad choice for a bad person. She swallowed Ray’s word, even knowing it wasn’t real forgiveness.
* * *
“Ray, did something happen today that made you feel happy?”
Theon asked with a puzzled expression.
It was the exam period, but it was the first time that Ray had smiled like that.
Unable to hide his wide smile, Ray buried his head in Theon’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong, Ray?”
“Theon.”
Theon took a step back from Ray, who was in a strange mood. Ray couldn’t turn off the strange smile in him.
“Dorothea is so cute.”
“What?”
“What should I do? I really want to take Dorothea around the empire.”
“If the princess heard that, it would be terrifying…”
“Ha, I really didn’t know what was wrong with Dorothea until now. But, wow, how can she be so cute for some reason, haha…”
Ray slapped his forehead in disbelief.
Theon was very curious about what had happened but decided not to ask. If it’s something that Ray finds Dorothea cute, it might be a bit embarrassing for Dorothea.