At the sudden appearance of the Grand Duke, all of the servants reacted as though they were about to raise the alarm.

“Your Highness! Before His Majesty grants you an audience, you can’t just burst into the audience chamber!”

“Hm?”

The Grand Duke slowly and leisurely tilted his head and inhaled and exhaled the cloudy white smoke and moved his red lips slightly.

“Your Majesty, this Aidan requests the audience with the Protector of the Nation’s Light. Of course, you’d accept my request.”

Which nation’s etiquette is it to enter first then inform later!?!

That fucking ruffian…….

The footman who stood guard in front of the audience chamber swallowed the curses he couldn’t let out of his mouth and made a tearful face. Julian looked at him with wide eyes as though he couldn’t quite believe it.

“Brother?”

Grand Duke Aidan Valentine. The Emperor’s one and only brother. The only person within the Empire who could be candid with the Emperor without fear of punishment.

“It has been a long time since we’ve met.”

Aidan roughly moved up the hairs that poked his eyes and raised the corners of his mouth.

The two people who had inherited the Emperor’s blood looked so similar to the point of twins, not brothers, during their childhood. As a result of the similar looks, when they stood next to each other, their hair color — the only point of difference — contrasted even more and thus were nicknamed ‘Black and White’.

The ‘White Prince’ always worked hard and upheld an upright and clean private life and the Royal Palace’s embarrassment, the ‘Black Prince’, who went around like a ruffian doing things that were difficult to place on one’s tongue.

Because the two were so similar, their actions which laid on the extreme ends of the spectrum, couldn’t help but be compared to each other. Until the White Prince, who had been the Second Prince, passed the First Prince, the Black Prince, and ascended the throne.

After the previous Emperor had retired, Julian completely filled the empty space of the late Emperor and was widely accepted. This was the rumor that was known throughout the entire continent.

Aidan, who continued to carry the nickname of ‘Black’, now became known as the Grand Duke of Black. His scandals continued to chase after him like an afterimage, and he, too, did not attempt to rid of such rumors.

Instead, he added more rumors on top of the ones that already existed and became the Empire’s nightmare. Now parents would strike fear into their crying children with mentions of the ‘Grand Duke of Black’ in order for them to stop their wails..

“For what reason are you here, dear brother?”

“You don’t have to feign innocence.”

Aidan curved his blue eyes that were the same exact shade as the Emperor and replied.

“Didn’t Your Majesty lure me all the way here?”

“Lure? Ha, lure, you say…….”

The two people had now matured, still looked rather similar at first glance, but when scrutinized they looked very different. The Emperor’s appearance was closer to radiance and iridescence, while the Grand Duke’s appearance was closer to darkness and decadence.

If Julian was praised as a god, then Aidan was called the Demon King or Satan. Now it wasn’t just the problem of his hair color. Just as they had both been born as princes, but separated like Yin and Yang – the rumors had changed their appearances as well.

Julian searched Aidan’s face, which was so pale one could see his veins, and dark eyes, and clicked his tongue.

Didn’t he return with an appearance even more well-fitted with his rumors than before? However, the Emperor’s face was still filled with welcome and delight that couldn’t be hidden.

“How have I lured my brother?”

At those words, Aidan started to throw the documents in his arms onto the floor one by one. They were all marriage proposals with the coat of arms and portraits of ladies of households that wished to borrow the power of the Grand Duke.

All of the marriage proposals were ones that were selected personally by the Emperor as candidates for the Grand Duchess. Of course, the majority of them held political entanglements as well.

Aidan threw the now short cigarette on top of the papers that had been piled one by one. Just like that, the white cloudy smoke was dyed black as the papers burned.