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Episode 56: Strategy Affairs
So Rixus made people flustered and suggested that we have lunch together.
I agreed to that.
This was because I thought he would ask questions such as, ‘Why, do you think we secretly kissed in the Imperial Library?’
In any case, he was a player who made people shy by being cheeky.
‘Why does he keep looking at me
?’
Rixus was savoring my face despite having a delicious steak in front of him.
Just like a person who hungered for my face for several days.
The place where his eyes touched tickled, so I couldn’t concentrate on the meal.
“Candy.”
“
What?”
I lifted my head at Rixus’ call.
As our eyes met, his clean mouth rose into a smooth arc.
It was a very sweet and warm smile. The expressions he made when he looked at me were getting warmer day by day.
My heart fluttered as if I was standing under the spring sun.
“Why did you call me?”
Without showing my thoughts, I lowered my eyelids and dipped into the salad.
Rixus asked, playfully narrowing his eyebrows.
“I have a question.”
“What?”
“You said my sleeves were long at the last banquet, didn’t you?”
‘No, he still remembers that
?’
I forgot what I said after I said it.
Rixus slowly raised his knife.
Gold-embroidered sleeves were dangling under the blood-stained knife that had just cut the medium-rare steak.
“I don’t know why. Why did you say that?”
Thinking about it now, it was a childish remark.
What was wrong with his sleeves, did I have to say it to him?
Of course, at the time when Yuria grabbed Rixus’ sleeve, it was very annoying.
It stung like a fish thorn stuck in my eyeball.
But now that I think about it

‘It was too needlessly childish of me.’
My face slowly turned red. I said slowly and carefully.
“You can just forget about it, because it wasn’t much.”
“Hmm. It didn’t seem like it wasn’t a big deal.”
“

Why?”
He said, pointing the tip of his knife in the direction of my eyes.
“Your eyes were raised higher than usual, and you looked sulky.”
“!”
My heart pounded. Did I really?
I was just jealous of that, did I glare and narrow my eyes
?!
Hearing that from someone else’s mouth, moreover, from Rixus’ mouth, I felt very embarrassed and ashamed.
I wanted him to never know why I said that. My heart was beating so fast because I was afraid that he would find out even now.
“Were you jealous?”
“Uh?”
Surprised, fresh lettuce fell from my fork.
He tapped his chin in a relaxed manner and looked at me.
I felt the eyes that seemed to suck people in persistently following the change in my expression.
“I think you were. Who in society said something useless like this?”
He was quite savvy.
“No?”
Oh, shit. My tone was really weird just now.
!
I could see a slight smile on his lips.
I was perplexed like a sea otter who discovered the location of a treasure trove of 100 shells and starfish.
“Why would I?”
So I deliberately hardened my expression.
“One only has such feelings for someone he or she likes, Rixus.”
“I know. That’s why I was jealous to death.”
“

.”
Such a pure acknowledgment. There was not even a moment of hesitation.
I felt the desire to provoke this confident man.
“How long did it take? That jealousy.”
He replied indifferently.
“I guess you didn’t see me roll my eyes.”
Rixus kept his gaze on his plate and cut out pieces of meat with a sharp knife.
“

.”
He didn’t talk back at all, and he didn’t even give the other person a chance to misunderstand.
It was a very candid and direct confession.
How could he express his feelings so openly
?
How could he express his jealousy in such a gentle way without hurting his dignity?
The attitude that did not show any pride at all made him look superior.
‘I’m the only one who’s panicking.’
I was embarrassed and ashamed, so it seemed like I was the only one who lost.
Concentrating on the meal again, I said,
“It’s your uncle. I don’t think there’s a need to stay away.”
“I wish you could stay as far away as possible.”
“The reason?”
I was very curious. Because what he just said was unexpected.
In the original story, there was only information of Johann criticizing and limiting Deborah. What Rixus thought of Johann was not revealed.
‘He wants me to stay away from him?’
Rixus answered my questioning gaze simply.
“I’ve always had a bad feeling about my uncle.”
Then he casually chewed the meat.
“It’s just a feeling
”
Even though it was so blunt, I could understand Rixus’ position to some extent.
Johann was second in the line of succession to the throne, and he was the other person who shared the emperor’s seal.
If Rixus had seen Johann speaking up for him in the original story, wouldn’t he have known?
It wasn’t like that, so he could simply be wary and feel bad.
“I want to be friendly with the Archduke.”
Rixus’ expression hardened like a stone.
Even though I just said that I wanted to get along, there were signs that his eyes were about to ‘flip out’, so I had to add in haste.
“It’s for us! Rixus.”
He stopped eating and looked at me quietly.
“If we persuade the Archduke to join us, the Nine Nobles will lose their center and wander. Because there is no one on their side to put forward as the emperor.”
“

”
“Even if we can’t convince the Archduke, wouldn’t it be nice to understand his movements? 
It’s a bit of a leap, but the Archduke is the ‘head of the enemy camp’.”
“

.”
“It will help us if we are close enough that we can talk to each other at any time.”
Rixus, who had been listening to me, sharply countered.
“If you get close, you don’t just find out about that person’s movements
”
The tip of his knife pointed at me.
“You’ll give him information as well. Then it’s just as dangerous for our side.”
“

”
Rixus was right. Johann was more than capable of digging up information from me.
If he wanted to.
As Johann was never an easy opponent.
However, that was something to worry about only when Johann had a ‘scum of desire’ to rise to the position of emperor.
‘I don’t think Johann will dig up information and hand it over to the Nine Nobles to start a war.’
He was just a scholar. I didn’t know if the Nine Nobles would forcefully overturn the board and put him on the throne.
He didn’t seem like a person who would step up and do such an insidious thing.
Above all else, didn’t he have the same side?
“I asked why I should be ignoring procedures and laws.”
“

”
“For Your Majesty.”
Thinking back to that time, I still felt embarrassed and my earlobes burned.
He was a man who said everything openly. The subjectivity was clear.
And he was also quick-witted.
Thank goodness, he was devout and had no desire for power, so it was a relief

How difficult would it have been to deal with such a character if he had a great desire for power?
That was the fortunate part.
“It will be very difficult to convince my uncle.”
“I know, Rixus.”
“It’s almost impossible to convince someone who has lived with that belief all his life.”
But in my experience, at the end of a difficult road, very sweet fruits were bound to open.
‘There are people who quit right away if they don’t think it’ll work, but I’ll try until it does.’
Since I decided to help Rixus
 I wanted to do my best.
The easiest and fastest way to make Rixus emperor was to get Johann on our side.
Rixus would think it was impossible, but I was able to see the other side of the characters.
Since I read the original.
I knew how friendly he was to his nephew.
And

It wasn’t just for Rixus.
‘I have to twist the original as much as possible.’
Then wouldn’t my fate be twisted too?
Then
 Maybe the fate of that blue rose would steer away from me.
I had such a small hope.
Of course, I would not be able to predict neither the parts where the original story proceeded as it was, nor the parts that were twisted.
But couldn’t I try?
It was better to do something than sit back and wait!
There was no way of twisting the original more than making the hostile forces against Rixus collapse.
‘Because it’s a typical fantasy novel.’
It meant that the opposing force of the male lead was the most important factor.
So the friendship with Johann was both for Rixus and for myself.
I looked at him quietly as he ate across from me.
Suddenly
 The doubts that had been pushed back rose like a mist.
‘If the blue rose blooms just like the original
 How will Rixus react?’
‘Will Rixus still care about me?’
“If you can’t see me, will you die?”
“Well.”
“

”
“If I don’t see you, I will die.”
The man who said he would die if he didn’t see me for even three days.
“Of all I have, I want to give only the most precious.”
The man who gave me his heart as a wedding gift and gave me all the precious things he had.
“Think of me as home, Candy.”
“

”
“So come back to me every day, wherever you go
”
The boy who promised to be my home.
“Berylia Spinel, you are the worst human being that shouldn’t have existed in the first place.”
‘
Will he hate me?’
Just thinking about it made my heart feel crushed.