"From today, I am no longer a prince. I am simply Wallace!"

Wallace, who had officially become my subordinate, had come to my room specifically to report this.

Kurt was also visiting my room in the student dormitory.

"You're quite energetic today."

"Thanks to Liam, I was able to escape my position as prince without any issues. I can't thank you enough."

He spoke as if he detested being a prince.

"Wouldn't being a prince be more convenient in many ways?"

Wallace looked at me with exasperation at my words.

"Liam, you don't understand anything. The position of prince is extremely dangerous. My older brothers would readily trample over their own siblings to become emperor. The history of royal blood washing itself with blood is truly gruesome."

Kurt chimed in.

"Indeed, I've heard various rumors. There are rumors that the Emperor's ascension led to a significant reduction in his siblings. Urban legends often speak of unsettling things."

Wallace lowered his voice.

"--Don't spread that around. Rumors are often closer to the truth. Like my father, all my rivals before my ascension apparently died. Those who participated in the ceremony were body doubles or holographic projections."

Kurt's face turned pale.

However, I had heard similar stories in my previous life.

Siblings fighting each other—it probably wasn't that uncommon.

Wallace seemed genuinely relieved.

"In any case, I've officially retired from the succession race."

"Your claim to the throne was practically non-existent, wasn't it?"

"Liam, that's not true. The situation within the palace is very complex. It's not just about us; there are connections between our mothers. You can be made part of a faction without realizing it, and if the leader loses, the entire faction can be executed."

"Is that true?"

"Yes, it's a fact. The inner palace is not the glamorous place commoners imagine. It begins with the ugly struggles between women, and it's a place where siblings fight for the emperor's position."

Without realizing it, I had acquired a death flag.

Rather, the palace seemed to be riddled with death flags.

Princes have it tough.

Wallace began to explain that things were particularly bad about two thousand years ago, and the scars of that era still remained.

"The emperor from about two thousand years ago was particularly cruel. There are many stories that would make you cringe. Isn't it fortunate that I was able to escape from such a place?"

Wallace, however, looked happy, as if he had been freed from everything.

"Now I can live. Thank you, Liam."

It was good that I managed to make a prince my subordinate, but it felt as if I had saved him.

Well, I did manage to make a prince my subordinate.

Personally, I was satisfied.

However, there was something that bothered me.

"Wallace, wouldn't you try to curry favor with the older brothers who seem likely to win?"

It was almost a foregone conclusion who the next emperor would be.

Living in the palace, couldn't he at least predict who would win?

Wallace averted his gaze.

"There have been many cases where the person believed to be the next emperor died. What do you think happens to the siblings who were trying to curry favor with them then?"

"Execution?"

"If they could die easily, that would be the better option. If a vindictive person becomes emperor, it's terrible. Claudia—Rosetta is one of the victims of that."

It was surprising that Rosetta's name came up from Wallace.

"Rosetta?"

When I tilted my head in confusion, Kurt also didn't seem to know much.

Seeing our confusion, Wallace began to tell us about Rosetta.

"A long time ago, there was a prince who married into the Duke of Claudia family."

From there began the downfall of the Claudia family.

First building, girls' restroom.

Rosetta looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Then she told herself.

"I am the daughter of the esteemed Claudia family—I will surely escape this suffering someday."

The Claudia family, which had a succession of female heads, had complicated circumstances.

To put it simply—it was a ducal family in name only.

They were territorial nobles, holding a planet in the frontier as their territory.

Originally, they would be classified as minor lords, but the Empire treated the Claudia family as a ducal house nonetheless.

And this had been the case for nearly two thousand years.

The cause of this situation lay two thousand years ago.

At that time, the Empire was quite chaotic.

The Crown Prince, who was supposed to ascend to the throne, died before his coronation.

The Claudia family, who supported that Crown Prince, had taken the Crown Prince's full brother as a son-in-law.

However, the one who ascended was a rival prince.

From there began the revenge against the rival princes and princesses, as well as the nobles.

Naturally, the former prince, who had become a duke through marriage, was also subjected to severe punishment.

Inadvertently caught up in this, the Claudia family had their territory confiscated.

They were given a desolate planet and were driven into extremely harsh conditions.

However, their title remained that of Duke.

They were kept alive as a spectacle to show what happened to those who defied them.

They were nobles, yet not nobles.

They lived as pathetic spectacles, yet they endured.

The successive heads of the family struggled to escape this suffering someday.

And Rosetta, too, was struggling.

The purpose of the Junior Academy.

It was to train the children of nobles to a certain level.

Sometimes, the children of nobles, ignorant of the world, would embarrass themselves.

The Junior Academy provided the minimum level of education to prevent such disgrace.

However, only the exceptionally talented children were assigned to the first building for their education.

The days there were harsh, but it was also a sign of being recognized.

Rosetta had expectations when she was assigned to the first building.

However—.

"—I can't keep up with the class content."

She couldn't keep up with the content or the pace of the lessons.

Due to her impoverished upbringing, she hadn't received adequate education.

She had also used educational capsules minimally.

Her level was clearly different from those around her.

She had made efforts—but it felt like she was being shown a wall that couldn't be overcome by effort alone.

"—I won't give up. If I give up here, I'm sure I'll make my daughter go through the same thing."

Tears wouldn't stop.

Her consciousness blurred, and she slumped over her desk.

Rosetta had a dream.

A dream from her nostalgic childhood.

An envoy from the Empire—the palace—had come, telling her to attend a party.

The young Rosetta was overjoyed, but her grandmother looked sad.

Her mother hugged Rosetta and cried.

She didn't understand why they were sad.

"Grandmother, Mother, why are you crying?"

To her, who knew nothing, they offered smiles—but they were crying.

"It's nothing, Rosetta. Yes, the party will be fun. Let's dress up as much as possible for it."

"Yes!"

Her mother, despite their poverty, prepared a dress for Rosetta.

Her grandmother styled Rosetta's beautiful hair into a vertical roll.

Rosetta liked this hairstyle.

When she attended the party on the capital planet, all dressed up, she was met with ridicule.

She recalled the voices of the nobles.

"Oh my, what a dirty dress."

"That must be the new clown from the so-called Duke of Claudia family."

"How did you manage to come to the capital planet?"

She had expected a fun party, but upon attending, she realized the reality that they had been summoned specifically to be laughed at.

It was a game established by the now-deceased emperor.

Periodically make examples of those who defied him.

This custom had continued for nearly two thousand years.

It had gone on for too long for anyone to stop it midway—and it became impossible to stop.

Some nobles looked at her with pity.

However, they couldn't lend a hand.

When Rosetta, having learned the reality, returned to her territory, her mother said.

"Remember the gentlemen who showed you mercy. In the future, you will bear children with their essence. That is how the Claudia family has continued."

The reason the Claudia family had a female lineage was because they could never find marriage partners.

If it was a female lineage, they would bow their heads and receive the essence from a man of a prestigious family.

"Rosetta—become beautiful. Then, men will be drawn to you."

"Huh?"

"That's how the Claudia family has had children."

—She learned for the first time why she didn't have a father.

And the reason the Claudia family had a female lineage was also because it was cheaper.

If the head of the family were male, there would be no women willing to marry into the family.

Even if a male were the head, children could be conceived with money and facilities.

They would purchase eggs from women—but the problem in this case was the cost.

The current Claudia family did not have such余裕.

Being poor, they couldn't afford expensive methods, and the easiest way to continue the bloodline was through a female lineage.

Some heads of the family had tried to end this miserable life.

However, they were being watched, and even that was not permitted.

Rosetta had no choice but to achieve success to escape this hell.

When she woke up—it was morning.

"Oh, no!"

She hurriedly got up, realizing that breakfast time had already passed.

She quickly got ready and headed to the school building, but Rosetta was late.

Her uniform was disheveled.

Her hair was messy.

As she entered the classroom, her classmates were laughing.

When Mr. John saw Rosetta,

"You're late, Rosetta. —Hurry and take your seat."

"—Yes. I am very sorry."

Her treatment was lighter than that of other students.

Although he was the type of teacher who would normally yell at a late student, he didn't seem to want to get involved with Rosetta.

"I suppose I'll be a spectacle here too."

The gazes of her classmates in the classroom were filled with ridicule, pity, and curiosity—in any case, they looked at her as if she were a strange animal.

She could hear the voices of the boys.

"She's late. Is she a delinquent? What's with that outfit?"

"At least she should pay attention to her appearance."

"—No, Tom. You have no room to talk. You should do something about that hair."

As she walked to her seat, in her haste, she hadn't even showered.

The girls pinched their noses.

"She smells awful, doesn't she?"

"My nose is going to fall off."

"She can't even study, and she's so clumsy."

She knew she was the most inferior in the class.

And then, she passed by Liam, the top student.

"—Banfield."

She clenched her molars.

He was looking at Mr. John with a cool expression.

He had an expression that said she wasn't even on his radar.

But that was understandable.

He was evaluated for his domestic skills as an Earl at a young age, and in martial arts, he was a master of his school.

More importantly, he even had the epithet of "Pirate Hunter Liam."

He was a prodigy who possessed status, honor—everything. He was completely different from her.

Mr. John also never yelled at Liam.

To be precise, there was no reason to yell at him.

His academic performance was top-notch.

Furthermore, he was excellent in all practical subjects.

His greatest strength was probably martial arts.

Even when facing Kurt, who was second best, he always won.

Liam was pure and upright, and no one could defy him.

No student in the same class would ever pick a fight with Liam.

Because they knew they couldn't win.

—Everything about him was different from Rosetta. A person who had everything, unlike herself.

Rosetta—hated Liam with all her might.

"You probably don't even notice me. I hate you, who has everything from birth. —I can't help but hate you."

—A dark alley in the capital planet.

There stood the guide.

Watching the vagrants rummaging through trash cans, the guide gritted his teeth.

"Damn it—why am I in this situation?"

The current guide was the same as them.

His connection with Liam was too strong, and he could only efficiently absorb negative emotions related to Liam.

The current guide was in a state of living by drinking muddy water.

His chest ached from Liam's gratitude.

Clutching his chest, he walked unsteadily, collecting negative emotions.

However, the absorption efficiency was poor.

He was accumulating power while mitigating the pain caused by Liam's gratitude, making it very inefficient.

The reason the guide wanted revenge on Liam—was to sever this connection and be freed from suffering.

For that purpose, he was diligently collecting negative emotions for now.

Then, in front of the guide, the vagrants started fighting.

"That's the food I found!"

"Shut up! This is for drinking my sake without permission last time!"

However, as the guide passed by them, their stern expressions softened.

"—I, I'm sorry. I'm also hungry, so is half okay?"

"I apologize. I—I was wrong to hog the sake last time too."

They apologized to each other and shared the food.

This was the result of absorbing their negative emotions.

The guide muttered.

"Liam, just you wait—I'll definitely drag you down to the depths of misfortune."

Brian (´；ω；｀) "This is tough. Rosetta-chan looks so miserable—it's tough. But Liam-sama is also working hard, you know!"