/
Smith quietly uttered a curse.
Dealing with multiple factors and considerations in the present circumstances was inherently vexing.
It’s often said that people know their own position, even if they’re unaware of others’ positions.
Smith had been treated specially in Bolsheik, so his “known position” must have felt extremely elevated.
Without it, how much greater would his sense of the “unknown position” be?
Staring at the steaming teacup, he took a deep breath as he felt the hard sensation in his chest.
It was a gift he had chosen from the ‘things Lyna likes’ that he had instructed his aide to find.
Before this, giving gifts to Lyna usually involved exploiting her for a major event, or using them to appease her when she was up to mischief.
Well, it’s still a gift to appease her while she’s causing trouble, so it’s similar.
Smith, who still couldn’t accept the reality that she had coldly dumped him, shook his head.
Time passed, and the once-hot tea had cooled, leaving a bitter aroma.
Just as Smith’s patience, who had come determined to meet Lyna today and make amends, was about to run out.
-THUD.
The door opened without a knock.
Smith made a ‘finally!’ expression but didn’t look at the door or raise his head.
It was crucial not to give an impression of being desperate or impatient in order to gain the upper hand in a relationship.
However, his nonchalant expression, despite the deep furrow on his brow, crumbled upon hearing an unfamiliar voice.
“Third
 Your Highness the Prince?”
The person who entered was not Lyna.
Even before he could raise his head, someone hurriedly approached Smith.
“It’s an honor to meet you in a place like this.”
His voice was filled with emotion and sincerity.
However, Smith was so twisted inside that his hands trembled.
The person standing before him must be a nobody from a mediocre family, as he couldn’t even remember their face.
“Whether it’s a stroke of luck from heaven or the fact that I’ve been allowed into the reception room of Bolsheik, let alone meeting Your Highness, I must say that I’ve always admired the words Your Highness has spoken
”
As the unfamiliar voice began to ramble, Smith’s insides twisted.
How could he guide such a nobody into a reception room where they could enter without knocking?
Moreover, that nobody referred to this place as ‘such a place.’
Of course, the ‘such a place’ that the nobody mentioned must have meant an unexpected location in general, but to Smith, it had a completely different meaning.
It sounded like ‘such a pathetic place where insignificant people like this wander around.’
Unable to bear it any longer, Smith abruptly stood up, and the nobody who had been rattling on about how lucky he was today also jumped to his feet.
“Call Sebastian immediately.”
Smith clenched his teeth and ordered the servant. However, even while receiving his fierce gaze, the servant simply bowed his head silently and left the reception room.
“Uh
 Your Highness?”
“I’d like some peace and quiet.”
Barely disguising his irritation, Smith’s words caused the nobody to clamp his mouth shut with a duck-like expression.
A discomfiting silence made Smith’s skin crawl. How much time had elapsed?
In that stillness, Smith clenched his fist tightly.
It dawned on him at last.
Lyna had genuinely ended their relationship, and she was no longer the woman who would cling to him, murmuring words of love.
It was a problem on a completely different level from when she had caused trouble in the past, demanding proof of love.
And at this point, even the method to solve that problem

Smith’s thoughts were abruptly cut off by a calm voice.
“Your Highness, I heard you called for me
”
Before Sebastian could finish, Smith spoke with a boiling face.
“Leading me to such a place is unforgivable. Call Lyna immediately. I must hear her explanation for this.”
Of course, there is a time difference between realizing something and letting go of old habits, so Smith reflexively tried to boss Lyna around as he always had.
“I apologize.”
The moment Sebastian bowed his head, Smith realized he had misspoken, but he couldn’t just back down without reason.
If he had been alone, he might have changed his words to say that he would go to Lyna himself.
But behind him, an unknown nobody was watching the entire situation with gleaming eyes.
With a feeling like being unable to dismount from a galloping horse, Smith finally spat out his words.
“If you don’t call her immediately, I’ll personally take your neck!”
Just as Smith was loudly reciting his privilege of summary execution – a right unique to the royal family to execute those who have committed crimes without trial – for his own authority and honor.
“Sebastian?”
Finally, the voice Smith had been waiting for, which had been annoyingly bothersome until this situation arrived, echoed in his ears.
“I heard you were here, why is it so noisy?”
“Lyna!”
Smith, more than ever before, eagerly called Lyna’s name and approached her in a single stride.
However, their dramatic reunion did not go as Smith had hoped.
“Uh
 Ainar? Why are you here?”
Ainar, whom he hadn’t expected at all, suddenly appeared and naturally blocked him.
Ainar looked down at Smith and chuckled.
“I wanted to ask the same thing. Smith, what’s all the commotion about?”
As the two men confronted each other, Lyna immediately signaled to Sebastian with her eyes.
Sebastian then politely but firmly escorted the nobody, who had been watching the conflict between the two princes with great interest, out of the room.
Following Sebastian, who bowed deeply, the servants also bowed their heads and left their positions.
Now only three people remained in the reception room.
Ainar, who smiled leisurely, and Smith, who glared at him.
And Lyna, who watched the two of them with a dry gaze.
“Lyna
”
Unable to bear the indescribable silence, Smith tried to call Lyna, but Ainar stopped him again.
“From the noise you’ve been making, it seems like you wanted to use your power of summary execution.”
Ainar poked at a point that was difficult for Smith to handle.
Smith reflexively looked for Lyna’s reaction, but she wasn’t even looking at him.
Lyna, of all people

Smith’s insides twisted with humiliation, but he wasn’t foolish enough to let those words out.
In his mind, Lyna was only ‘of all people,’ but in reality, it wasn’t like that.
In terms of the power structure according to the ‘authority’ that the Third Prince relies on, Lyna currently stands far above the Third Prince.
Before Lyna chose Smith, he was nothing more than a prince without presence.
Smith could not rely on external forces like the First Prince, nor did he have the talent to stand out to the point where everyone would lament, like Ainar.
He had never achieved any significant merit, so his name was on the list of candidates for the Crown Prince, but that was about it.
‘Your Highness the Third Prince? I’m not sure about him.’
‘Does he have anything worth expecting?’
‘Since he’s not visible, he’ll disappear soon.’
The conversation of the heads of the prominent families that he happened to overhear after the emperor’s conference ended was a reality colder than midwinter.
He didn’t want to go back to that time.
Hiding his feelings of humiliation and anxiety, Smith did not give any answer to Ainar, maintaining his composure.
He decided to completely ignore Ainar.
It would be a waste of time to engage with him since the only response would be useless words.
He tried not to think about the fact that he could not forcibly push Ainar away with his own strength.
Smith put aside the question of ‘Why is Ainar with Lyna?’ for now.
His urgent task was not to dig into their relationship.
Lyna was the one he had finally met after enduring all kinds of humiliation and hardships.
He had to somehow win her back.
He intended to say something about being treated like this even when the tea had cooled down, but the insight gained after the shock from the nobody’s words belatedly but eventually began to influence Smith’s decision.
“I’ve been busy lately and haven’t been able to pay attention to you. It seems you’re upset about that, Lyna. That’s why I’ve prepared something personally for you today.”
As he took out the ‘gift,’ or rather the ‘bait’ to lure her, Smith tried to take a step towards Lyna, but was stopped by a voice colder than a glacier.
“Please speak from there. And
”
Lyna, who hadn’t even looked at Smith until now, finally gave him her attention.
However, Smith couldn’t feel relieved or happy.
There wasn’t a trace of warmth in her blue eyes that reflected him like glass beads.
“It’s Lady Bolsheik. I have already told you several times, Your Highness. Is that head of yours just a decoration?”
With a blank expression, Lyna dryly tapped her cheek.
Her words were so blatantly sarcastic that even if one woke up from sleep, they could tell it was a taunt, but Smith pretended not to hear her and laid out his words.
“Ly
 No, I found something that Lady Bolsheik said you liked.”
Seeing the small box that Smith brought out, Lyna shook her head indifferently without even knowing what was inside.
“Whatever it is, I don’t like it anymore.”