Crown Prince Liam Dawn of the Solenne Empire was in the middle of his training session.

With a mana-infused golden training sword in hand, he repeatedly struck the practice dummies before him. Normally, someone of his caliber should have been sparring against experienced knights, but Liam had been forbidden from fighting real people.

There were times during duels when he lost himself.

He would forget that it was merely training and aim his blade at his opponent's throat. Liam always killed the same way—by taking off their heads.

At some point, the Emperor of Solenne must have grown tired of seeing his most experienced knights return headless, because from that day onward, no living opponent was ever placed before his son again.

"Old bastard," Liam muttered through gritted teeth as he swung his sword viciously at another dummy.

Liam's mother had been a princess from a foreign kingdom. She had met the Emperor of Solenne during a royal ball held in Solenne. Captivated by her beauty and intelligence, the Emperor had wished to marry her.

Her family had strongly opposed the idea. If she chose to marry him, she would forfeit her claim to the throne. Despite everything, the princess and the Emperor loved each other deeply.

They risked everything and married.

At first, theirs was a happy marriage.

Then Liam was born.

Both of them adored their son.

However, the Empress had always possessed a fragile constitution. When Liam was seven years old, she contracted a severe illness and passed away.

After his mother's death, Liam should have turned to his father for support.

Instead, the Emperor met another woman.

A marquis's daughter—a young and beautiful lady.

When she became pregnant before the wedding, she was hastily elevated to the position of Empress through a rushed marriage.

Liam had not taken it well.

Only two months after his mother's death, his father had married another woman.

Although the new Empress treated him kindly, Liam viewed her presence beside his father as an insult to his mother's memory.

When his half-brother was born, the Empress tried to bring the two boys closer together.

Liam saw the child as nothing more than a shadow cast over his inheritance.

Their first meeting had ended with a crying toddler and a broken nose.

"Your Highness, could I have a moment of your time?"

Hearing the voice of his aide, Ronald, Liam paused his training.

Planting his sword into the ground, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his white linen shirt.

"What is it?" he snapped.

"His Majesty the Emperor wishes for you to withdraw your representation from the upcoming council meeting," said the red-haired man.

"And why would that be?"

"Your father believes it would be more appropriate for your younger brother, His Highness the Second Prince, to attend. He says it will serve as preparation for future council meetings."

Holding a document and a quill pen, Ronald approached him.

"You'll need to sign this, Your Highness."

"No."

"Y-Your Highness?"

Liam snatched the papers from his assistant's hands.

Without taking his eyes off the stunned man for even a second, he tore the documents into tiny pieces.

"Your Highness! Those were official imperial documents!" Ronald shrieked.

Liam couldn't have cared less.

He casually pushed his sweat-damp black hair back.

"Tell them to prepare my horse, Ronald," he said suddenly. "I'm going for a ride in the forest."

Ronald simply stared at him in disbelief.

His mouth slowly fell open.

"R-right now?"

"Yes. Right now," Liam replied with an eye roll.

Ronald clenched his fists at his sides.

Liam's behavior was more than enough to test even the patience of an experienced aide, but there was little he could do against the Crown Prince.

"Very well," he grumbled before heading toward the stables.

A light drizzle had begun by the time the black horse entered the forest.

Liam held the reins loosely, guiding the horse along the trail.

This black stallion was one of the few things Liam genuinely cared about.

Though he never showed it, the horse was important to him.

After all, they had fought in more than a few battles together.

Suddenly, Liam heard a sharp cry coming from a side path.

Startled, he turned his horse toward the sound.

It resembled the cry of an animal.

He assumed some wild creature had become trapped in one of the hunters' snares.

As usual, his assumption wasn't entirely wrong.

Something had indeed been caught in a trap set by the royal hunters.

When Liam fixed his icy blue eyes upon it, however, he realized it wasn't an ordinary animal.

The strange bird trapped in the snare possessed magnificent flame-colored feathers.

Its voice was probably beautiful under normal circumstances, but now it had become hoarse from crying out for help.

As Liam dismounted to free it, the bird fixed him with a suspicious stare through its golden eyes.

"Easy," he murmured as he approached. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The closer Liam came, the more panicked the bird became.

It screeched with its strained voice and desperately flapped its red-and-gold wings.

Slowly, Liam crouched before it.

The moment he reached out to help, he immediately jerked his hand back from the sharp blow.

The bird had pecked him.

"Hold still! I'm trying to help you."

Before it could peck him again, Liam swiftly untangled the rope around its leg.

The moment it was free, the bird spread its magnificent wings.

With breathtaking grace, it soared into the sky beyond the canopy of trees.

"You're beautiful," Liam murmured as he watched its elegant tail glide through the blue heavens.

Unbidden, his thoughts drifted back to the interrogation from two days ago.

Beatrice Willow...

For reasons he couldn't explain, that magnificent bird and the strange duke's daughter seemed oddly similar in his eyes.

When he had tried to help the bird, it had pecked him.

That reminded him of trying to help Beatrice after she'd fallen over with her chair, only to receive an irritated glare in return.

"Strange thing," he muttered to himself.

"Strange girl. Strange bird."

Without realizing it, the corners of Liam's lips curled upward.

That girl...

She truly was strange.

Strange enough to catch the attention of a Crown Prince.

"Damn it!"

Liam's eyebrows rose in surprise at the sudden curse.

That voice...

It couldn't be.

He must have imagined it because he'd been thinking about her.

Slowly, Liam turned around.

At the exact same moment, a disheveled figure with messy hair stumbled out from between the trees, breathing heavily.