Since it marked the beginning of a new age for the Milham Kingdom, the entire place had been thrown into a full celebration.

The atmosphere itself felt different, almost heavier in a good way, like people were letting out years of tension all at once. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Music echoed through the halls and courtyards, voices overlapped into a constant hum, and everywhere you looked, there were people dressed far better than usual, all trying to be part of the moment.

At the center of all that attention was Myrcella.

She was surrounded. Completely surrounded.

Nobles, officials, and even people with influence that I didn't bother recognizing kept coming up to her one after another. Each of them had something to say. Congratulations, praise, formal greetings that sounded almost rehearsed. It just kept going without pause, like a line that refused to end.

Despite that, she handled it well.

She stood there with the kind of composure expected from someone in her position, responding to each person properly, keeping her posture straight as well as her tone polite. Veronica and Lilia stayed close, along with several other guards, forming a subtle but firm layer of protection around her. Anyone with bad intentions would have to be either very stupid or very confident to try anything.

In short, she was safe.

From a distance, she even looked like she was enjoying it. She laughed here and there, her expressions softening during conversations, occasionally leaning in slightly as she spoke to someone. If someone didn't know her well, they'd probably assume she was having the time of her life.

That would have been a nice thought.

Except it wasn't true.

She was tired. Not just a little tired either. The kind that sits deep in your bones and refuses to go away. She had been working since yesterday without any proper rest, dealing with preparations, decisions, and responsibilities that didn't give her a second to breathe. Now she was back at it again, expected to perform perfectly in front of everyone.

Honestly, it was impressive she hadn't slipped even once.

Even so, there was only so much a person could take. Her awareness had to be dulled by now, even if she didn't show it. Thankfully, the guards around her made up for that. At least I didn't have to worry about someone taking advantage of her current state.

I stayed where I was, watching her from a distance, letting her handle things her way.

Then something poked my side.

Not hard, just enough to get my attention.

I turned around and immediately saw a small figure standing there with a grin that felt way too smug for its size.

A little gremlin.

Or, more accurately, Charlotte.

She looked up at me like she had just caught me doing something interesting.

"Hello, Leon. You seem to be enjoying yourself over there," she said, her tone light but teasing.

Enjoying myself was a bit of a stretch, but I let that slide.

"How did you even get in here?" I asked, giving her a quick once-over like that might somehow answer my question.

"Well, even if I'm no longer part of the nobility, I still have some access," she replied, as if that alone explained everything. "And considering I've formed a connection with the Princess, and I'm going to be contributing to the kingdom's military development and overall power..."

She gave a small shrug, like the conclusion was obvious.

"It's only natural that I'd be invited too, right?"

When she put it that way, it made sense.

She wasn't just some random outsider anymore. As the President of the Mercenary Guild, she held a position that actually mattered. With the guild now officially tied to the kingdom, they have a big role in the times of crises. If anything major happened, like war, invasion, or anything on that scale, they would be called in.

"Well, I guess that checks out," I said. "Still feels weird seeing you here. You don't exactly look like someone who belongs in this kind of setting."

"Well, it's not like I can completely ignore it," she said. "But it doesn't bother me anymore. I've already left that life behind."

Her tone shifted slightly after that. Less casual.

"More importantly," she continued, "the Princess asked me about something."

I already knew where this was going.

Myrcella and I had talked about it before all this.

"That's one of the reasons I came here, actually," she added. "I wanted to talk to you about it."

"Alright," I said, nodding.

We didn't stay in the middle of the celebration. The noise alone was enough reason to leave. We walked away from the crowd, moving deeper into the castle where things were quieter. The further we went, the more the sound of the celebration faded into the background.

"So, how much do you know?" I asked.

"Quite a lot," she replied. "She told me basically everything she intended to share."

That made things easier.

Still, I didn't respond right away.

This wasn't something simple. Even if Charlotte had stepped away from her past, this situation dragged her right back into it. The issue itself existed partly because of those past connections. That wasn't something you could just ignore.

"Are you okay with this?" I asked after a moment.

She didn't answer immediately.

"Well… it seems like the only way forward, doesn't it?" she said instead.

"Yeah," I replied. "If this came from Myrcella, it wouldn't hit the same."

Charlotte looked at me, her expression thoughtful.

"Then I guess I'm fine with it," she said. "Keeping him alive would just create more problems. I won't pretend I don't feel conflicted about it though. Part of me does. But in the long run, letting him live would only make things worse."

So she had resolve herself but it was mixed with hesitation.

It made sense. No matter what he had become, there was history there. You don't just erase something like that cleanly.

Right now, who we were talking about was none other than the Prince.

And more specifically, how to kill him.

The problem wasn't simple. His scales alone made things complicated. They were tough enough that brute force wasn't reliable, and attacking him head-on would only drag things out longer than necessary.

During our last fight, I noticed that his strength was tied to his confidence. The moment that confidence cracked, even slightly, his power dropped with it, and I was able to defeat him easily.

Despite everything, though, he still carried this belief that he couldn't be killed so easily. That confidence hadn't fully broken, even when he was pushed. Because of that, his scales were preventing anyone from completely lopping his head off.

It would be easy if it were me.

But since Myrcella decided that she would be the one to kill him, since he was her brother, Julius had to be weakened first and pushed past the limits of those scales.

Which meant one thing. If we wanted to kill him, we had to break him emotionally first.

Only then would there be a real chance for Myrcella to kill him.

Whether that would be enough in the end was something we would find out later.