The early summer vacation proceeded smoothly. When the male protagonist, Crown Prince Hexion, heard that Cecilia and her father, Duke Blake, would spend six weeks at their villa on Capelli Island, he asked if he could join them.
Seeing Cecilia's excited and thrilled expression, Gillen gladly accepted Hexion's addition. He had been worried Yuan might tag along, but after learning Yuan was away handling business in his fief, all his concerns vanished. Hampton's territory and Capelli Island were at opposite ends of the continent.
The day of departure was clear and cool. Cecilia and Hexion, still in the flirting stage, blushed every time their eyes met, and the servants, who would accompany their masters to the heavenly island of Capelli, were filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
Gillen was in high spirits too. For at least six weeks, he could enjoy leisure without keeping an eye out for troublemakers. Plus, Capelli Island's specialty, the soft apple—Gillen privately called it a mango—was his favorite fruit.
Gillen's party rode horses and carriages for an hour to reach the teleportation station. It took about thirty minutes to buy tickets, register people and luggage, and complete the group teleportation.
In just an hour and a half, they traveled from the capital to Capelli Island.
"This world is so much more convenient for things like this," Gillen thought.
Exiting the station, Gillen mounted his horse. At that moment, someone rushed over from the station entrance and greeted the group.
"I greet His Highness the Crown Prince, His Grace Duke Blake, and Lady Blake. In honor of your visit to Capelli Island, our lord wishes to extend his greetings. Would that be acceptable?"
It was customary for the lord of a land to greet and host royalty or high nobles visiting their territory. However, Capelli Island's lordship had been vacant for a long time. After the previous lord committed a crime and surrendered the island to the imperial family, it had become a tourist destination.
"Has Capelli gotten a new lord?"
Gillen asked the messenger, but Hexion answered instead.
"His Majesty recently appointed one. It's been a little over a month… You should know who it is, Duke. Yuan—"
"Yuan Hampton."
Before Hexion could finish, an extraordinarily beautiful man made a dramatic entrance from behind the messenger. Though stunningly attractive, his appearance turned Gillen's face as pale as if he'd seen a grim reaper.
"Y-Yuan… Why…!"
Capelli Island belongs to that guy? Wasn't he only given Hampton's territory? Visibly flustered, Gillen prompted a scoff from Yuan, as if implying Gillen was pretending to be surprised despite knowing.
"Yes, His Grace Duke Blake, the emperor's closest confidant, surely had no idea—not even in his wildest dreams—that Capelli Island, the golden paradise of the Moore Empire, now belongs to me, Yuan Hampton, the talk of the town."
He genuinely didn't know. No matter how close he was to the emperor, Gillen didn't memorize the list of bestowed properties.
But Yuan, who believed the world revolved around him, seemed convinced Gillen had come to Capelli on purpose, pretending ignorance.
"What brings Marquis Hampton all the way here?"
Whether aware of the thorns in Yuan's words or not, Hexion asked innocently. Yuan, who had been glaring at Gillen disapprovingly, bowed to Hexion and answered.
"I received a telegram that a levee collapsed, injuring people, so I came urgently."
"Oh, then you must be busy. Go handle your business."
"It's already resolved, so no need to worry. As you know, my magic is top-tier, capable of fixing anything—levees or people."
What a consistent guy. How could he boast about himself even in front of the crown prince? Gillen looked at Yuan skeptically, and Yuan glanced at him sideways. When their eyes met, Yuan turned his head sharply, as if offended.
Wait… You looked at me too! That's why our eyes met! Why are you acting like I'm the one staring with that "hmph!" attitude?
Gillen wanted to pound his chest and shout. Yuan, acting like a princess ignoring a foolish knight's gaze, was so absurd that Gillen felt like his insides were bursting.
"I heard from the estate manager that it's proper to invite royalty and nobles visiting Capelli Island to stay at the lord's castle for a few days. Would you like to do so?"
Yuan asked Hexion halfheartedly, his tone clearly hoping for a refusal.
"Since we'll be here for six weeks, staying at the lord's castle for a day or so shouldn't be a problem. What do you think, Cecil?"
Hexion sought Cecilia's opinion.
"Well… I'll follow Dad's decision. Dad, do what you want."
Cecilia deferred to Gillen, aware of his discomfort with Yuan and giving him the chance to decline.
My filial daughter…
Gillen gave a warm smile, but inside, he was shedding tears of blood.
With His Highness the Crown Prince here, I can't make decisions on my own, Cecil… This is a filthy hierarchical society…
And just now, Hexion had casually expressed his opinion. He said it seemed fine to stay at the lord's castle for a day.
A forty-five-year-old man, seasoned by the ways of a hierarchical society, swallowed his tears and spoke as calmly as he could.
"Marquis Hampton, I accept your kind offer."
"Of course you would."
Yuan tilted his head, as if he had expected Gillen to agree all along.
That… that…!
As soon as Yuan turned away, Gillen glared at him with icy eyes. How could there be such an insufferable guy? If only he could land one solid punch on that glossy silver head, he'd have no regrets.
As Gillen secretly clenched his fist, Yuan suddenly turned back. Gillen quickly unclenched his hand, plastered on a fake smile, and softened his eyes kindly.
"What's the matter?"
"Could we have a word in private?"
"…Haha, sure."
At Yuan's response, Gillen nodded, and Yuan primly stepped into a side path. Hexion and Cecilia gestured for Gillen to go ahead. Gillen gave a slight bow to Hexion and a wink to Cecilia before heading down the side path where Yuan had disappeared.
Once they were alone, Yuan revealed his true colors.
"You couldn't handle it alone, so now you're dragging Cecil and His Highness the Crown Prince into this, Duke?"
"What…?"
"Are you saying I'll have to hand over yesterday's projection to the newspapers to make you come to your senses?"
"Look, Yuan—"
"With Cecil here and His Highness present, I'll let it slide for today. But!"
Yuan glared fiercely at Gillen and pulled something from his pocket. Gillen immediately recognized it. A magical contract, worth 200 gold per sheet.
"These are the rules Your Grace must follow while in Capelli."
The rules listed on the contract were as follows:
𝓝𝓸 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓼𝓾𝓰𝓰𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓵𝔂.
𝓝𝓸 𝓼𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓼 𝓲𝓯 𝓪𝓭𝓶𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝔂 𝓭𝓪𝔃𝔃𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓫𝓮𝓪𝓾𝓽𝔂.
𝓝𝓸 𝓼𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓯𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀 𝓶𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓘 𝓼𝓪𝔂 𝓘'𝓶 𝓰𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓸𝓶.
𝓝𝓸 𝓱𝓾𝓰𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓪𝓬𝓮 𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓫𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓷 𝓲𝓽.
𝓝𝓸 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓾𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓘'𝓶 𝓽𝓻𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓴 𝓽𝓸 𝓒𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓵𝓲𝓪.
𝓝𝓸 𝓫𝓸𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓭𝓾𝓴𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓮𝔂 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓮𝓷, 𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓼, 𝓸𝓻 𝔀𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱.
𝓝𝓸 𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝓮 "𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓼 𝓗𝓪𝓶𝓹𝓽𝓸𝓷" 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓬𝓽 𝓭𝓲𝓰𝓷𝓲𝓯𝓲𝓮𝓭.
𝓝𝓸 𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝓮 "𝓨𝓾𝓪𝓷" 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓬𝓽 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓵𝔂.
𝓝𝓸 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓮 𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰, "𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓭𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼."
𝓝𝓸 𝓼𝓾𝓫𝓽𝓵𝔂 𝓻𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓹𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓯𝓵𝓪𝓾𝓷𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓪𝓵𝓹𝓱𝓪 𝓭𝓸𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮.
Is this guy serious?