What is it that you like so much about the Emperor?

It was a question the Red Demon had kept buried ever since the very first moment he laid eyes on Lee Han upon the battlefield.

Back then, Xie Lye had yet to ascend the throne.

He was still only the Crown Prince.

And his position was anything but secure.

Though he bore the title of Crown Prince, countless others coveted his place.

Within the Imperial Palace, where hidden struggles never ceased, nothing was ever guaranteed.

Becoming Crown Prince did not mean one would inevitably become Emperor.

The moment one revealed a weakness, they would be dragged down.

If possible, they would be killed to eliminate future trouble.

No one born into the Imperial Family was ignorant of that rule.

To be born of imperial blood was to spend one’s entire life walking across thin ice.

The greater the power one possessed, the thinner the ice beneath one’s feet became.

And the deeper the water below.

To survive, one had to shatter the enemy’s footing before one’s own gave way.

Xie Lye was no exception.

After becoming Crown Prince, he was forced to prove his worth over and over again.

To make matters worse, his mother’s family—the Empress’s clan—had begun to lose its influence.

Meanwhile, the factions coveting his position only continued to multiply.

That was why he had gone to war.

The battlefield was safer than remaining in the palace where assassins lurked behind every corner.

There, he needed only to accumulate strength.

The method hardly mattered.

He could earn great military merit himself.

Or he could recruit those who had.

During those years, Xie Lye would use any means necessary to solidify his position.

Because of that…

The Red Demon did not frighten him.

Quite the opposite.

He was an irresistible opportunity.

Someone Xie Lye desperately wanted on his side.

Unfortunately, the demon’s brutal nature made approaching him anything but easy.

Then one day…

The Red Demon approached him first.

“Where is that one?”

“Who are you referring to?”

“The one who trails after you like fish droppings.”

…

Fish droppings.

The comparison was so bizarre that Xie Lye found himself momentarily speechless.

His expression blanked for only an instant.

Soon, his usual gentle smile returned.

“Do you mean Han?”

“I don’t know his name.”

“It must be Han, then.”

Xie Lye smiled.

“The young fellow about this tall, with black hair tied high like a horse’s tail?”

The Red Demon offered no reply.

Apparently he had guessed correctly.

Meeting the demon’s silence with the same courteous smile, Xie Lye continued.

It wasn’t because of the phrase fish droppings that he had identified Lee Han.

He had no peculiar hobby of comparing his subordinates to excrement.

Rather…

He had long since noticed that the Red Demon’s gaze lingered on Lee Han far more than it did on anyone else.

That observation alone had spared him from being struck down for failing to understand what the demon meant.

Moreover…

Xie Lye already knew exactly how the Red Demon had first wandered into the Xie Empire’s military camp.

Quietly weighing how much he ought to reveal, he spoke with practiced kindness.

“Han couldn’t come.”

“He has a terrible fever.”

Lee Han’s father had been a man of unwavering loyalty.

After Lee Han’s mother died while he was still an infant, his father had dedicated his only son to the Imperial Palace to serve the royal family.

Though still far too young for war, he had dressed the boy in an oversized military uniform and brought him to the battlefield.

If even such a father had chosen to leave Lee Han behind this time…

Then the fever must have been severe indeed.

Having never actually met Lee Han himself, Xie Lye silently pitied the child.

The Red Demon suddenly interrupted.

“What is that?”

Apparently…

The demon had never experienced a fever.

Born with an impossibly strong body, the only injuries he had ever known were wounds carved by blades on the battlefield.

So Xie Lye explained in terms the demon could understand.

“It means he’s sick.”

“Like being cut by a sword.”

“…Someone stabbed him?”

“Not exactly.”

Xie Lye smiled awkwardly.

As he considered how to explain illness to someone who had never truly been ill…

An idea suddenly crossed his mind.

The smile on his lips subtly changed.

No longer merely polite.

It became calculating.

“Do you want to see Han?”

The Red Demon remained silent.

Not because he was ignoring the question.

Judging by the look on his face…

He simply didn’t understand what it meant to want to see someone.

The man couldn’t read.

He didn’t even know how to use chopsticks properly.

Before coming to the battlefield, he had probably never formed anything resembling a genuine relationship with another person.

How could he possibly recognize his own emotions?

Xie Lye, on the other hand…

Had spent his entire life reading people’s hearts.

It was an instinct born from surviving within the Imperial Palace.

And once again…

That instinct served him well.

Perhaps…

He could truly make the Red Demon his ally.

An unexpected opportunity had practically rolled into his lap.

Suppressing the widening smile proved impossible.

Leaning closer, he whispered warmly,

“Shall I tell you how you can see Han every single day?”

At that time, Xie Lye’s position as Crown Prince was dangerously unstable.

One misstep was all it would take to lose everything.

Even death would not have been surprising.

To survive…

He was prepared to do anything.

Even if that meant using one of his most loyal subjects.

…

When the war finally ended and the victorious army returned to the Xie Empire…

Xie Lye rode proudly at its head.

Beside him rode the Red Demon.

The ministers and officials who had come to welcome the triumphant army stared in utter disbelief.

The blood-soaked butcher who had once slaughtered indiscriminately across the battlefield now calmly rode beside the Crown Prince.

It was the moment the balance of power within the Xie Empire truly began to shift.

After settling within the Empire, the Red Demon was granted the name Chi.

With every neighboring kingdom he conquered and forced into submission…

Xie Lye’s position became increasingly unshakable.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Red Demon was one of the greatest reasons Xie Lye eventually ascended the throne and secured absolute imperial authority.

That was why…

Even when the Red Demon behaved recklessly, Xie Lye usually chose to overlook it.

One moonlit night…

Beneath a pavilion where pale pink flower petals drifted like rain…

The Emperor dismissed even his personal guards.

Only he and the Red Demon remained, drinking together.

Anyone familiar with the Red Demon’s temperament would have been horrified to see the Emperor alone with him.

Yet Xie Lye leisurely raised his wine cup without concern.

The Red Demon leaned lazily against the pavilion railing, drinking directly from an entire wine jar.

Outwardly…

The two almost resembled old friends.

Smiling faintly, Xie Lye asked,

“General Chi.”

“When do you intend to depart for the western campaign?”

“Why should I?”

“To kill the barbarians stealing food from my people.”

“You go.”

The Red Demon answered without the slightest interest.

Apparently…

Only Xie Lye regarded them as old companions.

More than ten years had passed since he first lured the demon away from the battlefield into the Xie Empire.

Yet the Red Demon’s attitude had never changed.

After ten years, anyone else might have called them lifelong friends.

To the demon…

Xie Lye still ranked lower than a stray dog wandering the roadside.

The Emperor merely chuckled helplessly before taking another sip of wine.

He knew exactly who the Red Demon truly cared about.

Enough pointless conversation.

Time for the real purpose.

“Han likes it…”

Xie Lye smiled.

“…when people soften the end of his name and call him Hanaa.”

“You call him that?”

The Red Demon, who had been slouching against the railing moments before, immediately sat upright.

It was a striking contrast to the annoyance he’d shown upon arriving.

How could he make his feelings so obvious…

And yet…

How was it that Han still hadn’t noticed?

Thinking of his loyal and painfully earnest retainer, Xie Lye maintained his pleasant smile.

“Would you like to know what Han likes?”

He dangled irresistible bait.

Then simply smiled, pretending ignorance.

Now that the hook had been taken…

The impatient one would be the Red Demon.

Just as he had done more than ten years ago upon the battlefield…

Xie Lye leaned forward and whispered kindly.

To draw the Red Demon onto his side…

He hid calculation and self-interest beneath the mask of gentle sincerity.

The very next day…

General Chi gathered his army and marched west to wage war against the barbarians.

Seven days had passed since the Red Demon departed for the western frontier.

I had no idea what kind of persuasion His Majesty had used.

The man who had stubbornly refused to leave suddenly assembled an army and set off before dawn.

Thanks to that…

The Imperial Capital had been unusually peaceful these past several days.

No bloodshed.

No chaos.

I had enjoyed every moment of the demon’s absence.

Lifting the brim of my bamboo hat slightly, I surveyed the surroundings.

Dilapidated thatched cottages lined the narrow alley.

Half-collapsed walls stood one after another.

Not a single soul could be seen.

Broken junk littered the ground.

Weeds had grown unchecked from neglected courtyards until they spilled into the street itself.

There wasn’t even a stray dog wandering about.

And yet…

The flattened weeds beneath my feet told a different story.

Someone had walked this path repeatedly over many days.

I slowly looked around.

Though it was broad daylight, the interiors of the crumbling houses remained shrouded in darkness.

From the cracks of broken doors…

Pairs of gleaming eyes silently watched me.

I lowered the brim of my hat once more, hiding my face.

With every step I took…

Those ominous eyes followed.

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