Betrayal (背信感).

The feeling you get when you've betrayed trust.

-What is your name?

I don't know how to express this feeling right now. Whether it would be better to express it as sadness, or as a sense of betrayal at the typhoon blowing in the refuge I had believed in.

The foolish prince couldn't get his bearings.

-Grip.

The only things visible were Yuria's startled eyes and his younger brother's face, looking at Yuria with an irreverent gaze.

He knew well.

What kind of being his half-brother was.

He was fond of women.

He flirted.

He had heard from many and seen with his own two eyes that he was a prince who enjoyed promiscuity.

"Yes, my name is Truller."

Now, like the face of his younger brother, who was looking at Yuria with eyes full of lust.

"I am the man who will become the crown prince of this empire."

-Grip...

Theo advanced without a moment's hesitation.

-Thump. Thump.

Because too many things had gone wrong to maintain his reason.

*

Meanwhile.

"You."

Truller was looking at Yuria with a murderous expression.

He had planned to take her as a concubine because of her pretty face, but she had thrown him around like a rag during class.

-My turn has finally come.

-Hello.

-My name is T...

-Let's start right away.

-Wait a minute...!

-Thump!

-Haha... this is fun. Again.

-Thump!

-Again..

-Thump...

He was angry.

To the point where his body flinched every time the woman in front of him extended her hand.

"Did you call for me?"

"...Yes, you."

"What can I do for you...?"

Truller had extended his hand towards the approaching Yuria and restrained her movement, ordering her not to come closer and to speak from there.

"Hoo..."

What should he do?

He had planned to steal his older brother's woman, but he didn't have the confidence to take a woman who was more violent than he thought as a concubine. If they were to marry, she seemed like she would tear the first wife in two.

"..."

What was even more infuriating was.

"Why... aren't you saying anything?"

It was infuriating that she had beaten him with that face. It was the common order of things for a person's personality to match their appearance.

-It seems you did the breakfall wrong just now. I'll throw you again, so please get up!

Truller, who was about to get angry to the point of his head exploding at the woman's actions of berating someone while smiling, bit his lip and barely opened his mouth.

Of course, while telling her not to come closer.

"What's your name?"

"Pardon?"

"I asked what your name is."

At Truller's call, Yuria raised a large question mark above her head, then soon gave a refreshing smile and said her name.

"Yuria. My name is Yuria."

"...You don't have a surname?"

"No."

"But..."

Truller suppressed his anger and said to Yuria.

You don't even have a surname.

A commoner with nothing special but her face...

Why.

"Do you know who I am?"

Truller asked about the reason for looking down on the imperial family of the empire.

He knows.

He knew how embarrassing and shameful it was to emphasize a name that no citizen of the empire could not know... to say that I am this kind of person.

But.

No matter how much.

Truller couldn't understand why she was treating the imperial family of the empire so carelessly.

At Truller's question, Yuria tilted her head and soon answered.

"No."

No.

"...?"

"Do I need to know?"

"...You don't know me?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Why should I know?"

"..."

"Ah... I know you're a transfer student. I also remember your name was... 'Troll'."

"It's not Troll, it's Truller. It's unpleasant, so say it correctly."

"Isn't it the same thing?"

Is it just my imagination that the more we talk, the more the scent of a familiar person wafts over?

Truller gritted his teeth and said.

"My surname is Leogard."

"Wow..."

"Yes, the imperial family of this empire."

"How. Great. Of. You."

-Grind.

"I'll ask you again."

"..."

"What is your name...?"

"Yuria."

"Yes."

Ha.

"My name is Truller."

"..."

"I am the man who will become the crown prince of this empire."

Truller made a decision in his heart.

He would never take this woman as a concubine.

Stealing his older brother's woman.

Yes, it was a sufficiently attractive affair, but he didn't want to risk his life for an adventure.

"So...!!"

Truller, who had a strong desire to tattle to Shartia, was about to threaten Yuria with a chilly voice, but.

-Crack...!

At the intense impact that grazed his cheek, Truller couldn't get the threat out of his mouth.

Who is this crazy bastard this time?

Truller, who thought there wasn't a single decent person at the academy, collapsed on the floor as if resigned and bit his lip tightly.

"What son of a bitch...!"

The moment Truller's angry voice echoed through the clearing.

"Truller."

At the low, familiar man's voice, Truller's eyes began to shake.

-Smirk...

Because he realized that something interesting was finally starting to happen.

In a situation where he had unintentionally provoked his older brother, Truller smiled and stood up. Just from the look of his older brother's angry fist, he could roughly guess what kind of misunderstanding there was.

"Who is this?"

Truller, who had stolen the fiancées of countless nobles. His cheeks, which had been slapped by nobles countless times, were developed enough to read emotions.

"Isn't it the Crown Prince?"

"..."

"The one and only Crown Prince of the empire... ah... not anymore. You've relinquished the position of Crown Prince..."

"Truller."

Theo looked at Truller coldly with a cold expression and said.

"What were you just doing?"

Truller shrugged and gave a nonchalant answer.

"I was just asking a passing woman for directions."

"You were asking for directions?"

"It's been a long time since I've been back at the academy, and so much has changed that I don't know my way around."

"..."

"So I asked. A passing classmate."

"Don't give me that bullshit."

"Calling your younger brother's words bullshit. I'm disappointed, brother."

"Truller!!"

A smile formed on Truller's lips at the sight of Theo, who easily showed his emotions. The more he was shaken, the more his own position would be solidified.

Moreover.

It was so much fun to see his older brother, who had always looked down on him from the top, suffer, so Truller smiled cruelly and dreamed of a scheme.

Yes, just like now.

If he were to embrace the woman his older brother liked in his arms...!

-Hum.

"...?"

Truller raised a question mark at the sensation of his arms wrapping around empty air and turned his head.

'What. Where did she go.'

Yuria had been gone for a long time.

Truller, at the sight of the woman whose back was not even visible, let out a sigh and a low curse.

'Clueless wench.'

The moment hostility appeared in Truller's annoyed gaze.

"You...!"

Theo, who had roughly grabbed Truller by the collar, opened his cold eyes and began to spew insults at him.

"Don't provoke me."

"..."

"I barely managed to pull myself together and come back to the academy."

"..."

"I don't care about the emperor or anything. But if you touch Yuria, I won't let you go."

Truller roughly pushed Theo's hand away and brushed off his collar with an annoyed gaze.

While taking a step closer to his powerless older brother.

-Click.

"What can you do, brother?"

-Clack.

"Does that woman even like you?"

-Click.

"You're not even the Crown Prince, so how do you plan to have her?"

"...Shut up."

"You are nothing now, brother. You've lost all the glory, power, and strength you had in the past, and you're approaching her shamelessly. This is torture. Torture."

"...I said shut up."

Truller smiled cruelly, put his hand on Theo's shoulder, and whispered in a low voice.

"Why don't you just give her to me? You know, right? That your situation is the worst right now..."

"..."

"I'll take her as a concubine and let her live a happy life."

"I told you to shut that mouth...!!"

"Whoa, whoa... calm down."

The brothers' fight began to ignite.

Of course.

"Oh..."

There was someone who was observing this whole situation.

"The situation is getting strange."

"I know, right?"

Shartia and I, who were hiding in the bushes and watching Theo and Truller's fight, were eating popcorn and having a discussion.

"I didn't know Truller disliked the Crown Prince so much."

"Ah..."

Shartia smiled wryly and spat out bitter words.

"He stole her."

"What?"

"His fiancée."

"Hmm...?"

Shartia began to speak with a nostalgic smile, as if reminiscing about the past.

"Was it when he was 14? Or 15... My second older brother had a woman he really liked, but she fell for my first older brother and the engagement was broken off."

"...Wow."

"When he was engaged, he was smiling as if he had the whole world, and he even gave me a gift and apologized for everything he had done so far..."

"Then..."

"When you think about it, it was Theo who ruined him."

I, who had heard an unexpected story, looked at Truller with a dumbfounded expression.

'...He's pitiful, but he's a bad guy.'

I didn't know he had a sad story, so I suddenly felt sorry for Truller. Of course, the wrong of tormenting Shartia did not disappear.

"It's a mess."

"I know, right?"

Shartia let out a scoff and muttered to herself.

"The one who's supposed to give the rice cake isn't even thinking about it."

"Exactly."

Still, I was going to run to Truller if he did anything to Yuria, but I was glad that didn't happen. No matter how much I loved love and peace, I couldn't stand someone messing with a pretty woman.

I picked up some popcorn, looked at Shartia, and asked a question.

"So what are you going to do now? All the actors are on stage."

"I know, right?"

"Pardon?"

"Don't you think the actors will come looking for the director now?"

I tilted my head at Shartia's sophisticated vocabulary and waited for an interpretation.

"To ask to be made the main actor."

"Aha...?"

"It will be fun."

Shartia looked at her two kinsmen with an eerie smile.

"Because I am the director of this story."

"Alright everyone."

I gathered the students in the training grounds and looked at them standing there with bewildered expressions, a bright smile on my face.

-... ?

The students' faces were all mixed with confusion. It wasn't common to do physical training in an economics class.

I know.

Of course, I know.

In an economics class.

I know very well that there is no reason to tire oneself out in a class that delves deeply into economics.

-The strong become the kings of the economy.

It was just a plausible phrase I made up to motivate the students...

-What...?

-Why are we suddenly in the training grounds?

Seeing that there was no reaction at all, let alone motivation, I should have just told them to come outside. That would have been easier to understand.

Anyway.

-Clap.

I, who had to make the most of the given time, clapped my hands loudly and began to speak to the students. That the class from now on would be a time to learn something completely unrelated to economics.

"From now on, you will all learn simple self-defense. Please form pairs of two."

As soon as my words echoed through the training grounds, one male student raised his hand with a look full of dissatisfaction and began to speak about the absurdity of the class.

"Professor."

"Yes."

"Do you think it makes sense to learn self-defense in an economics class?"

It would have been better if he had just spoken nicely.

I let out a small smile at the student's natural question, came down from the podium, and stood in front of him.

"Student."

"...Yes."

"Watch carefully."

It was a fleeting moment.

"Ta-da."

When I took the wallet from the student's pocket.

"Uh...?"

The student looked at me with a dazed expression, then began to search his pockets, realized that the wallet in my hand was his, and started to reach for it.

"Well... this is the reason."

I returned the wallet to the student's hand, leisurely returned to the podium, and continued to speak. Of course, knowing full well that this was all a stretch.

But what could I do?

In a situation where the Empire's political situation is unstable and cultists are rampant, I thought it was better to teach them how to protect themselves rather than learning something useless.

"I just took a wallet from one of your fellow students."

"...Oh."

"Wallets are precious, right?"

"Yes."

"We can call this wallet 'the economy' and me, who stole the wallet, an 'economic criminal'."

"...Oh."

"Then, what should you do to protect this wallet?"

"Don't get it stolen!"

Feeling burdened by the gazes of the students looking at me with sparkling eyes, I continued my explanation.

-How did you do that...?

-If I just learn from the professor, I can become rich too...

-Then the professor's wallet too...!

'This isn't what I was hoping for...'

After briefly thinking that teaching might be my true calling, I said to the students with a bright smile.

"Shall we form pairs of two?"

"..."

"Today, I'm not going to teach you how to steal wallets, but a way to get out of a difficult situation... hmm... I'll teach you about 'Economic Martial Arts'."

I had no intention of teaching them how to plunder. Because I was the only one who needed to know how to plunder legally.

So.

"This is just a way to protect your own property. Understood?"

"Yes...!"

I began the class for their future.

At that moment, Truller was striding towards Yuria.

'What the hell is he doing? He's not crazy, is he....'

He didn't understand the situation of teaching self-defense in an economics class, but perhaps Truller thought of this class as an opportunity.

Because if he naturally helped her with her posture and made skinship, feelings that weren't there before would surely blossom.

The moment Truller, who was confident in his looks, was approaching the hesitating Yuria.

"What."

The green algae smiled at Truller.

"Hey."

"Hey...? How dare you speak so fearlessly to the prince of the Empire..."

"Yeah, you."

And a short while later.

-Thud!!!

Truller began to roll on the ground.

"How dare you!"

Ruin was beaming as he looked at the fallen Truller. Realizing that this was the taste that bastard had tormented him with.

"Get up!!!"

"Shut up... before I kill you, that arrogant mouth of yours..."

"I said get up...!

He was already annoyed because that bastard, whether his name was Troll or Trull, was looking at Yuria with strange eyes. Ruin, who had seized the opportunity, was sweating out all his stress so far.

"Kuhaha!!! Hahat! Get up!!!"

Ruin, receiving mirror therapy, smiled as he knocked Truller down.

"Keoheok...!"

Truller was covered in dust and burning with killing intent.

"I'll kill you."

At that time, when Truller forgot Yuria and was fighting with Ruin.

"Excuse me..."

I smiled at the visitor who had come.

"Don't you have a partner?"

Yuria replied with a smile.

"No."

Clenching her fists, Yuria took a stance. As if she had no intention of doing it with half-hearted thoughts.

I, who had my hands in my pockets, let out a small laugh and took a stance.

"Please be gentle."

"Yes, professor."

Yuria pushed off the ground and rushed forward.

-Craaack...!!!

Yuria's punch was strong.

So much so that you wouldn't think she was a healer.

But.

"Legs."

"Pardon...?!"

"Your legs are open."

Yuria had to become stronger.

Because at this point, Yuria was the king of the economy with the highest value.

*

At that time, when Yuria and Ricardo were sparring.

-Clank.

The sound of chains being undone was heard in the tightly locked room.

-Creeak...

The man looked at the opening door and frowned with a tired expression. Because he didn't know how long it had been since he had seen sunlight.

"..."

He had drawn all the curtains.

Because he didn't know with what face he, who had ruined everything, should look at the fallen Desmunt.

-Be confined.

-Father...!

-I will try to do something, so you stay confined in your room until the matter with Desmunt is settled.

It felt like the world was collapsing.

The anger towards Wolfgang.

The fawning of the nobles who had promised to follow him.

It had become a momentary anger that kept him from sleeping.

The most infuriating thing was his father's despairing expression.

When he first entered this room, he had denied everything. He couldn't believe the situation he was in, nor the malicious rumors about him.

That it wasn't the end yet.

That he could start preparing from now on.

He tried to prepare for the future with his boiling anger, but he realized that too many things had gone wrong to put the broken puzzle back together, and he let go of the lifeline he was holding onto tightly.

Because he realized that the lifeline he was holding was a rotten one.

It's the worst.

-Creeak...

The imperial knights who had opened the door and entered were holding a change of clothes and approaching him.

"Your Highness."

"..."

"I have come to deliver a message from His Majesty."

Seeing the plain clothes, it seemed his title of Crown Prince had been stripped long ago.

Right.

"Am I going to prison now?"

He thought this was better. He wanted to end this dream rather than live in a fantasy.

But, contrary to his expectations, the knight began to say something else. Not endless despair, but bringing him a seed of hope.

"His Majesty has bought you some time."

"Bought time?"

"Yes."

The knight began to relay his father's words. Perhaps, the words that were no different from a death sentence for him began to be cruelly uttered from another's mouth.

"I will now deliver the message of His Majesty the Emperor."

"..."

"Leogard Tae-oh."

"..."

"From now on, the title of Crown Prince of the 1st Prince of the Empire, Leogard Tae-oh, will be stripped, and he will be forbidden from entering the Imperial Castle for 3 months."

The blade of the guillotine falls.

He would have preferred to be told to go to hell in prison. The knight's expression was making him feel miserable.

"Furthermore, his allowance for maintaining dignity and all his luxuries will be confiscated, and his servants will be dismissed."

"..."

"His title of royalty will remain, but he will be restricted to the point where he can no longer live as a royal, and he will live with a heart of atonement..."

"..."

"It is proclaimed from this time."

It's ridiculous.

"..."

It was truly ridiculous.

"Keuha..."

"..."

"Keuhahaha!!!"

"..."

"Is that all...?"

"That is correct."

It was so ridiculous that he was on the verge of tears.

He thought there would be something big.

He thought there would be the worst punishment...

For just...

"This is all...?"

He felt like he was going crazy that the punishment ended with just this.

"Just...."

He couldn't guess what had been given to Desmunt in exchange for downplaying the incident and leaving his royal status intact.

Had he opened the gate to the national treasure, which could only be opened by becoming emperor? Or had he handed over the influence of the west, beyond the east, to Desmunt... he couldn't guess at all.

Tae-oh swallowed a bitter breath and slowly rose from his seat.

"What else did my father say?"

"..."

"Don't hide it, just tell me. It's alright."

The knight smiled a bitter smile and said to the Crown Prince.

"This is a personal letter from His Majesty."

"From my father...?"

The letter read:

[My beloved son, Tae-oh.]

It began with love and then said he was disappointed.

And.

[Live quietly. Whether it's the academy or the frontiers... Don't cause any more trouble and live quietly.]

The letter, filled with his father's worry that he would lose the will to live, was in his hands.

[When time passes, your lacking father will prepare a place for you, so stay away for a while.]

-Grip...

Why am I thinking of that child's face in the midst of this?

Tae-oh clenched his fists and let out a sigh.

"Can you prepare a carriage?"

"Understood."

The place to return to was set.

The reason to hide his feelings had disappeared.

He's going to throw himself into it.

For love.

Thinking of the encouragement she had given him.

-Don't run so hard, and take a rest as you go. It will hurt if you fall.

-...What do you know.

-I know someone, and that person really doesn't seem human. Even if they fall.... no, I've never seen them fall.... Anyway, Tae-oh-ssi, you're different from that person, so go at your own pace.

-I don't fall.

-Puhahat... is that so?

-...You're a good listener. Without any hidden thoughts.

-Me? Hmm... I think it's because I learned it too.

-Learned?

-There is. A very amazing person.

When he returns, he will confess his feelings.

Not as the Crown Prince, but as a man named Tae-oh.

-Grip...

And that carriage.

"What is your name...?"

"Yuria."

"Right, my name is Truller."

Stopped in front of his own hell.

"The person who will be the Crown Prince of this empire."

With the betrayal of an unexpected person.